A Second Admonition TO THE Dissenting Inhabitants Of the Diocess of DERRY CONCERNING Mr. J. Boyse's Vindication of his Remarks on a Discourse Concerning The Inventions of Men IN THE Worship of GOD. With an APPENDIX Containing an Answer to Mr. B's Objections against the Sign of the Cross. By WILLIAM Lord Bishop of Derry London Printed for R. Clavel at the Peacock in St. Paul's Church-yard 1696. Heads of the Discourse CHAP. I. Matters of Fact Sect. I. THE Numbers of those that Neglect all Publick Worship on the Lord's Day p. 3. II. The frequency of Sacraments p. 11 III. The Number of Communicants p. 20 IV. The Directory a hindrance to Communions p. 24 V. Mr. B's Excuses for few Communions Examined p. 27 VI. The Reading the Scriptures p. 38 VII The Mysteries of Religion p. 44 VIII The Catechism p. 54 IX Bodily Worship p. 59 X. The Practice of Reverence by Dissenters p. 75 XI The Praises of God p. 77 XII The Rule of Human Prudence p. 79 XIII The 3d 4th and 5th Canons p. 97 XIV Mr. B's Demands p. 99 XV. Mr. Sq. p. 107 XVI Personal Vindication p. 112 CHAP. II. Of the Reasoning part of Mr. B's Book Sect. I. MR. B's stating the Case as to purity of Worship and Discipline p. 126 II. Mr. B's Partiality p. 138 APPENDIX Containing an Answer to Mr. B's Objections against the Sign of the Cross. Sect. I. THE proper Method to discover the true Nature of Sacraments as Signs p. 159 II. That Sacraments are primarily Signs of God's Grace not of our duty 171 III. That the Scriptures Warrant us to use other Signs that are not Sacraments for the several uses assigned by Mr. B. to Sacraments 201 IV. Of Representing Signs 208 V. Of Obliging Signs 221 VI. Of Distinguishing Signs 240 VII That the Cross is such a Sign as the Scriptures Warrant 251 Conclusion 274 A SECOND ADMONITION TO THE Dissenting Inhabitants Of the Diocess of DERRY Concerning Mr. J. Boyse his Vindication of his Remarks on a late Discourse of William Lord Bishop of DERRY CONCERNING The Inventions of Men in the Worship of GOD. CHAP. I. Concerning Matters of Fact I. I Thought it necessary in a former Admonition to give you some account of my design in my Book concerning The Inventions of Men in the Worship of God in order to enable you to pass a judgment on Mr. Boyse's Remarks on it He has thought himself concerned to write a Vindication of them And tho' I do not suppose it very necessary I shall give you a few Reflections on it It consists of Matters of Fact and Reasonings I shall say a little to each of them and leave you to judge of it And I pray most heartily to God that it would please him to direct you The matter is of great moment since it concerns the Worship of God and whatever Mr. Boyse would suggest the true point is Whether about Nine in Ten of you shall Worship God publickly any where on the Lord's Day or stay at home If I can prevail with you to come to the Established Worship you may easily and conveniently Worship God in your Parish Churches every Lords Day or oftner and receive the Lords-Supper four times every Year at least and oftener if you desire it But if I cannot perswade you to this about Nine in Ten of you must stay at Home as you have done for many Years and perhaps not have a fit opportunity of Communicating afforded you once in Seven Years Sect. I. Concerning the Numbers of those that neglect all Publick Worship on the Lord's Day THis then shall be the First Matter of Fact of which I shall endeavour to make you sensible since Mr. Boyse questions it and jests at my concern about it Vind. p. 2. The account he opposes to it is in these words That in the Parish of Templemore alias Derry there are two Meetings in which there will be found above 2400 who ordinarily Worship God every Lord's Day the least Congregation amongst you are ordinarily 600 and some above a thousand that do Worship God every Lord's Day so that where Ministers are settled you do not know of one in twenty that do not ordinarily attend Publick Worship This account he says he has from your Ministers You will easily be Judges of the truth of it and therefore I desire you to consider II. First That even in Derry there are Congregations much less than 600 and seldom in Burt above 400 or 500 and that those two Meeting-Houses tho the largest will not hold 1200 to Hear I sent to count and am assured both have not a thousand ordinarily 2dly I desire you to remember that tho' these Meeting-Houses are both in the Parish of Derry yet the Inhabitants of 11 Parishes depend on them who have no nearer or more convenient Meetings to go to That is to say Fanthen Desertegny Clonmany Coldagh Clonca Donagh Movill Clandermot part of Faughanvale part of Cumber and part of Donaghedey a District in length from Malin to Donaghedey Church about 33 Miles and in breadth from the Church of Faughanvale to the lower end of Inch about 14 Miles In which there are 14 Churches and Chappels and in which 12 Conformable Clergy-Men continually Officiate Preaching in the Morning and Catechizing for about one half of the Year in the Afternoons with an Explanation of some heads of the Catechism This scope of ground is well Inhabited and if I mistake not is near as big as the County of Dublin and contains at least one fourth part of the whole Diocess and if there be in the Parish of Templemore of your perswasion 2400 as Mr. Boyse intimates and I do believe there are there can hardly be less in the other 11 Parishes than 4 times as many and then in all about 12000 depend on these two Meeting-Houses Of which I doubt if a thousand attend Publick Worship on one Lord's Day with another And if we allow 1200 as Mr Boyse suggests yet it doth not mend the matter for it is still but a tenth part of the whole III. Your next Meeting is yet in a worse condition for there depends on it Tamlaghfinlagan alias Ballykilly Drumchose Aughanlow Balteagh Dongevin Banagher part of Cumber part of Faughanvale and of Tamlanghard a District containing some of the richest and best planted Parishes in the County of Londonderry and in length from the point of Magilligan to the further part of Banagher at least 20 Miles and in breadth from the Church of Faughanvale to the utmost part of Balteagh or Drumchose about 14. Yet here the Meeting-House will not contain as I am informed above 400. The like may be said of the Meeting of Aghadowy upon which there depend the Parishes of Aghadowy Kilrea Desertoghill Erregill part of Macosquin part of Tamlaghocrielly and the Chappel of Fagevy in length from the old Church of Camus to the most distant parts of Tamlaghocrielly 13 or 14 Miles and from the Ban River to the most
distant parts of Desertoghill about 10 or 12. The like might be shewed of Maghâ—ra Ardstra and Donaghmore and there needs no more to prove the truth of this than to consult the Maps of the Counties IV Let me add that even these are not constantly supplyed for the Ministers what on account of assisting their Neighbour Ministers at Sacraments what on account of their visiting other parts of the Kingdom and what on account of their private Affairs do frequently miss and disappoint their People Insomuch that in Ardstra for Example their Minister has been absent at least 7 or 8 Months If then we lay these things together and take one Meeting and one Sunday with another I think my Computation was very modest when I conjectured that hardly one in ten of you Worshiped God any where on the Lords-day V. But because I would have as little dispute with Mr. Boyse as possible I will take his own Computation and allow 1st That there are 9 Meeting-Houses in the Diocess tho really for the last 2 Years there has been only 8 and for the last 7 or 8 Months only 7 2dly I will allow that there are 700 at each Meeting Mr. Boyse sayes 600 ordinarily and some above 1000 tho' really take one Sunday and one Meeting with another there are not 300. 3dly I will allow that there are but 30 thousand Dissenters in the Diocess tho really there are more And now let us see how many Worship God on the Lords day and how many prophane it by staying at home according to Mr. Boyse's own account And it is thus Nine times 700 make 6300 the Number of Worshipers which taken out of 30000 there remains 23700 that stay at home and attend no Worship at all Perhaps half as many as Worship God in all the Dissenters Meetings in Ireland A thing that deserves a serious Consideration and Concern and tho Mr. B. seemes to make light of it Vind. p. 2. yet sure to use my endeavours to perswade these 23000 to attend their Parish Churches rather than to stay at home on the Lords day was my duty as a Christian Bishop and Pastour And how Mr. B. will Answer to God that he has contributed to hinder my Endeavours tho he professes he did not design it I leave it to our Common Judge and Master VI. Neither Mr. Boyse nor your Ministers could be ignorant of this since it arises clearly from their own Compuration And I leave you to judge whether it looks not like amusing the World and serving a Party to publish such an Account as he and they have done For to tell us of two Meeting-Houses in one Parish when indeed there are only those two in one quarter of the Diocess I am sure looks like such a Design Yet this has been your case for many years past and is like to be in a great measure for many to come For when can you expect Ten Ministers more than you have in the District of Derry and Burt And yet these would be rather of the fewest to accommodate each place with a Meeting at a due distance VVhen can you expect Seven instead of one in the District of Ballykelly or Six in the District of Aghadowy and proportionally in the rest VII I desire you to observe that Mr. B. p. 26. declares That it was not his design to hinder you from joyning with the Established Church in our ordinary Lords-day Service and Expresly declares his own Opinion for the Lawfulness of it I hope your own Ministers are of the same Opinion since he professes p. 24. That he had a just call to write his Remarks and that from the Dissenting Ministers of this Diocess And Three of them by their Certificates seem to approve of his Performances If then it be their Opinion that it is lawful for you to joyn in Our Publick Worship at least when you cannot go to your own Meetings and that you had better do so than stay at home especially where the Established Ministers are sober able orthodox and diligent as those of this Diocess I presume generally are I desire you to call to mind whether your Ministers have declared their opinion to you in this point or no. If they have consider how you will answer your neglect of God's Publick Worship so long at the last day when it shall appear you might lawfully have joyned in it But if your Ministers have not made any such Declaration of their Opinion in this point tho they know it to be Lawful judge with your selves whether they have discharged the Office of Faithful Guides to you in revealing to you the whole will of God as they ought to have done since they have suffered for many Years and yet do suffer about Nine in Ten of you to stay at home on the Lord's day and joyn in no Publick Service of God rather than joyn in the Worship Praises Prayers and Sacraments Celebrated in your own Parish Churches or hear the Scriptures Read and the great Mysteries of the Kingdom of Heaven opened to you by such Ministers as you cannot but in your Conscience acknowledge and many of you have acknowledged to be equal to your own in Piety Learning Diligence and Industry and who would have been eminent amongst you if they had been of your Party I conceive the resolution of this Question to be of great Moment to you and a great step to our Peace and Union and therefore you ought every one of you to require your Ministers direct and positive Resolution in it By which you will perceive whether your Guides are of one mind in this weighty Affair and if they be you 'l consider how you came to be ignorant of it as your Practice and Profession declare you are and where the fault is to be laid I the rather press this because I know that several are willing and desirous to frequent the publick Worship but dare not fearing the malice and hatred of their Neghbours who treat them as Apostates that do so and contrive their Ruine The truth is Your Ministers have Preached you into a Dislike of the Established Worship they have represented it as Idolatrous and by these means they have entirely separated you from us as to all publick Worship and have got you to depend on themselves And now when they have you they are not able to supply you but have dealt with you as the false Mother did with the Child before Solâ—mon they would rather you should not worship God at all than with us But whether this looks like Zeal for God's Worship I must leave it with you to judge As for my self I hope I shall not be reputed I am sure I shall not become your Enemy because I tell you the Truth And shall apply the words of St. Paul Gal. 4. 17. To you and your Teachers They zealously affect you but not well they would Exclude you or rather Us as in the Margine of your Bibles that you may
had reformed effectually these Abuses I should not have troubled my self with a Vindication for my design was not to Accuse but Reform you yet I thank God my Endeavours have not altogether proved unsuccessful upon you even in this point VIII Mr. B. affirms Rem p. 111. That your Ministers frequently in their Discourses to their People recommend Standing or Kneeling in their publick Prayers and p. 112 That they have faithfully declared to their people their dislike of Sitting Now pray let me give you this easie Test to distinguish your Faithful Ministers from the Unfaithful Those of them that have frequently and heartily reproved you for Sitting at your publick Prayers before my Book appeared count them in this point Faithful Ministers of the Gospel and those that have not done so reckon them as they truly are Unfaithful and conniving Shepherds And take heed how you trust them in other cases I thank God for it that by all I can learn my Book has done more to reform this Unseemly Practice as Mr. B. himself calls it Rem p. 112. amongst you than all your Ministers these 50 years and plainly shews that they need some inspection to mind them of their Duty Sect. X. Concerning the Practise of Bodily Reverence by Dissenters 1. A Seventh Matter of Fact with which Mr. B. anew charges me Vind. p. 23. is That I affirm that the Dissenters are Taught that external postures of Bodily Worship may in no case be practised for which he quotes my Discourse p. 137. I wish that Mr. B. while he taxes me for Accusing you Unjustly and misrepresenting you were careful of avoiding such dealings toward others If you look into the place quoted you will neither find the Words nor Sence of what he alledges against me my Words are That in case of Necessity we think our Outward Performances may be lawfully omitted but you are Taught that in no case they may be lawfully practised You are Taught rather to stay at home and not to Worship God at all publickly than to conform in Outward Gestures or Circumstances In which words it is plain First That I address my self to you in particular and not to Dissenters in general as he represents me Secondly It is evident I spake here of the Outward Gestures and Circumstances to which our Church requires you to conform in order to joyn in her publick Worship and not of all External Postures of Bodily Worship And it is too sad a Truth that above Twenty thousand of you in this Diocess refrain and have refrained every Lord's day from all Publick Worship for many Years rather than joyn in these and that you have counted our Standing Kneeling c. idolatrous heretofore appears not only from your Practice and Profession but from your Authors Witness the Reasons for which the Service-book urged upon Scotland ought to be refused printed 1638 in which the Third Reason is because it hath a number of Popish Superstitious and Idolatrous Ceremonies amongst which are reckoned the Priest's Standing Kneeling Turning to the People and the Peoples Standing at Gospels at Gloria Patri c. Creeds their Answering the Minister and many such-like in number above Fifty These unchristian and unjust Censures are still in many of your Minds and for ought I find they are the chief Objections you have against our Service and I beseech God in his Mercy to grant that either my Reasons or Mr. B's Concessions may remove them so that we may hear no more from you of the Idolatry Superstition or Popery of our Ministers Kneeling at their Prayers or standing at their Blessings or of our Peoples Kneeling at their Confessions of Sins at their Prayers and Communions or Standing at their Praises Thanksgivings Professions of Faith and other parts of our Service that require a more solemn attention and concern Sect. XI Concerning the Praises of God 1. I Shall add an Eighth Matter of Fact that has relation to the same Affair and that is concerning your praising God Mr. B. alledges Vind. p. 23. these as my words and puts them as such in Italian Characters That You have no other way of Praising God but by singing a Verse or two of a Psalm And quotes my Discourse p. 24 for them but if you look into the place you will find that these are neither my words nor sense I am there only comparing your use of Psalms and Hymns in the Praises of God with ours and I observed that our Church praises God every day with five or six Psalms besides other Hymns Whereas You only praise him in a piece of a Psalm of a few Verses A thing so notoriously true that without perverting the words 't is impossible to find any Exception against them He objects indeed That your Directory prescribes Extemporary Thanksgivings and spends many Pages in his Remarks about them But I answer Thanksgivings and Praises are different things tho' they commonly go together and your Extempory Thanksgivings are reckoned in your Directory under the Head of Prayers The Title under which they are prescribed is that of publick Prayer after Sermon The Rule is The Sermon being ended the Minister shall give Thanks c. And then the Prayer ended let a Psalm be sung I had no intention to deny these but reckoned them as your Directory doth with your Prayers Which gives no other Rule for the Praises of God but under the head of singing Psalms the words there are It is the Duty of Christians to praise God by singing of Psalms the only Rule for the Praises of God in the whole Directory Properly speaking Psalms and Hymns are the Scripture way of praising God tho' in a large sense we praise him by our Confessions of Sins and Faith and by our Prayers as well as by our Thanksgivings Sect. XII Concerning the Rule of Human Prudence 1. A Ninth Matter of Fact is concerning the Rule of Human Prudence that we find Rem p. 7 9 he charges me Vind. p. 28 with Mistaking that Rule and supposing that he denied that God had given us any particular Directions at all in reference to the Modes of Worship But I must declare I neither did nor intended to ascribe any such Opinion to him I knew very well that he owned many such but he positively affirmed Rem p. 7. That tho' God has commanded publick Prayer Praise Hearing Celebration of the Lords-Supper c. yet at what time or place we shall assemble in in what order these parts of Worship shall be performed what particular devout posture we shall use among several equally expressive of our religious Reverence what Translation of the Bible or Version of the Psalms we shall chuse what portion of the Scripture shall be Read Explained and Applied what Utensils shall be employed in the celebration of the Sacraments and a multitude of such Circumstances and Modes of that kind are left to Human determination only therein the general Rules of Scripture must be regarded Now tho'
affect their Sect. II. Concerning Frequency of Sacraments I. BUt Secondly Because the Frequency of your Sacraments which is the next greatest Matter of Fact has a great dependance on this Last I shall consider it next and compare my Assertions with Mr. Boyse's and engage you to judge who comes nearest the Truth My words at which Mr. Boyse takes so great Exception are these Dis. Chap. 5. Sect. 3. N. 3. When People were relaxed from the particular and certain Rules of our Church by the first breaking off of those of your Perswasion from us the Lord's Supper was laid aside wholly for several Years by some Congregations I appeal to you whether it is not yet reckoned a great thing among you if once in a Year or two a Communion be Celebrated in one of your Meetings nay among some of you it is omitted for several Years By the best enquiry I could make I could not compute that one in ten that go to your Meetings ever Receive thro' the whole course of their Lives I should be glad to find that I were mistaken in this Computation Mr. B. denies every one of these with many hard words and asserts p. 136. That it is Universally usual in every Meeting where an Ordained Minister is to have the Lord's Supper Administred once a Year and twice in the larger Towns To convince the World of the Truth of what I said and of Mr. Boyse's mistake I laid down the account I received of this Matter and found that the Sacrament was Administred but about Nine times in Seven Years in all the Meeting-Houses of the Diocess before the writing of my Admonition which was May 1694 as appears from the date of it Mr. B. is very ill pleased with my Computation and alledges that a very particular enquiry has been made Vind. p. 16. The Account of which he sums up in these words The Year 88 falling within the Compass of the Seven Years mentioned by the Bishop you had it in that Seven Years 22 or 23 times If it had been thus it is very little to the purpose since even so it doth not amount to once a Year in every Meeting where there was an Ordained Minister But Mr. Boyse might have observed that Eight of these were Celebrated amongst you last Summer since my Admonition that is at Burt Strabane Donaghmore Ardstra Ballykelly Aughadowy Maghera and Derry This Last appears by the Derry Certificate it self to have been July 22 1694 near three Months after my Admonition was Written which shews that he includes the Sacraments of Summer 1694. There remains then confessedly but about 14 and I do not think it material to contend about five Sacraments in a whole Diocess in Seven Years II. But Secondly Mr. B. is so far from shewing any mistake in what I asserted that I think he has furnished me with a sufficient proof of it for he affirms p. 16. That after a very particular Enquiry he finds in the Years 87 and 88. The Sacrament was administred in Derry twice in Donagheede twice in Drumrah twice in Ardstra twice in Urny twice in Donaghmore twice in Lifford once in Clandermot once These then are all the Sacraments that your ministers on a particular Enquiry could find Administred in these two Years in this Diocess and indeed I perceive they took great pains in the Enquiry sending Quaeries about to this purpose It appears then that in other Meetings in this Diocess there was none Administred in those two Years and of such as had Ordained Ministers there was these following 1 Burt. Mr. Ferguson their present Minister No Sacrament in 1687 or 88. They had before Mr. Grahms Mr. Haunton Mr. Haliday These Officiated about 20 Years and had but three Sacraments that I can find 2 Ballykelly Mr. Crooke their present Minister has served above 30 Years No Sacrament in 87 or 88. When or how often before not known 3 Aughadowy Mr. Boyd their present Minister for above 30 Years No Sacrament in 87 or 88. Nor can I find when or how often before 4 Tamlaghocricly Mr. Gilchrest for many Years before the Troubles No Sacrament in 87 or 88. Nor any before that I can find 5 Macosquin Mr. Lowry before the Troubles No Sacrament in 87 or 88. Before him they had Mr. Boyd Mr. Wilson Mr. Eliot but no Sacrament for 16 Years that I can find 6 Maghera Mr. Kilpatrick who officiated above 20 Years No Sacrament in 87 or 88. The Sacrament Administred Seven or Eight times and no more in those 20 Years that I can find 7 Dumboe Mr. Wilson till the troubles and four Years before No Sacrament in his time Mr. Blair before no Sacrament two Years before he died I cannot find how many before 8 Strabane Mr. Wilson before the troubles for 20 Years No Sacrament in 87 or 88. But one or two at the most in his time as I can find Here you may observe that Eight Meetings in this Diocess for the Years 87 and 88 had no Sacrament at all of the rest some had one some had two as is alledged which to shorten the dispute I will take for granted since this is sufficient to prove that it is a great matter if a Sacrament be Administred in one of your Meetings in a Year or two which was my Assertion And I have been so far from wronging you in it that it appears after the most strict Enquiry that none had above one in a Year in which number Mr. B. reckons six two had but one in two Years and Eight Meetings had none at all in these two Years But Secondly How they behaved themselves before those two Years appears sufficiently from the Account I have added and if there should happen to have been twice more Sacraments than I have an Account of yet it would not excuse your Ministers from a very Criminal Neglect and fully justifies my Assertion That the Sacrament is often omitted for several Years together in some of your Meetings and in some places for ten Years or more In which Number are Tamlaugh o Crilly Macosquin and Strabane the second best Town in the Diocess Thirdly It shews what you are to judge of Mr. B's Assertion p. 14. That it is Universally usual in every Meeting where an Ordained Minister is settled to have the Lords-Supper Administred constantly once a Year Here are eight had none in two years and I doubt whether it has been a constant Custom in any one Meeting to have it once a year at least I have seen no Voucher for it III. As to his asserting Your having the Lord's Supper administred constantly twice a Year in the larger Towns I have told you in my Admonition p. 153 That I can call only three such in this part of the Country that is Londonderry and Strabane in this Diocess and Colrain in the border of it Now as to Londonderry it has had this Sacrament administred but twice in Six or Seven Years and Colrain but once in that time
set up his Reasons against the Letter of it as I have observed him often to do To conclude That the Assemblies of Christians are places for secret Prayers of each apart when they do not interfere with any Publick Office as well as for Publick appears from the whole tenour of the Scripture and the constant practice of the Churches of God Antient and Reformed And that those secret Prayers ought to be offered with Adoration as well as the Publick is likewise manifest And therefore the Directory by forbidding Adoration at our first coming into Church has excluded it where it was most proper III. But Thirdly I take it for granted that when an Old Law or Rule is laid aside and a new substituted in the place of it all things contained in the Old repealed Law or Order are laid aside which are not contained and again injoyned in the New By which Rule the Directory doth plainly exclude all Bodily Worship For in the Preface to it we are told that They resolve to lay aside the former Liturgy with the many Rites and Ceremonies formerly used in the Worship of God and have agreed on this following Directory for all the parts of Publick Worship at Ordinary and Extraordinary Times Here then the Liturgy with all the Rites and Ceremonies used formerly in the Worship of God are laid aside not only our Praises Prayers c. are excluded but all the Rites and Ceremonies with which they were performed such as Kneeling Standing c. And instead of these we are oblig'd to no more than is ordered in the Directory Prayers Praises c. are there indeed Ordered and the way of performing them prescribed but not a word of Bodily Worship and therefore it is plainly excluded among the other Rites and Ceremonies that are laid aside IV. All that Mr. B. alledges to prove that this Bodily Adoration is required by the Directory is Rem p. 109. That it requires such as come into the Congregation after Publick Worship is begun Not to betake themselves to their private Devotions but Reverently to compose themselves to joyn with the Assembly in that Ordinance of God that is then in hand which can import no less than putting themselves into a bodily posture most suitable to that Ordinance But I answer This passage imports no such thing the Assembly has no where explained Reverence in this sence or given the least reason to believe that they thought one posture more suitable to one Ordinance than another except Sitting at the Lords Supper which posture they seem to approve thro' the whole Service for they require those that come in To take their Seats or Places which in common acceptation is to sit down and they never require them to rise It was therefore incumbent on Mr. B. to prove that by Joyning Reverently in Prayers or Thanksgiving for Example is meant Standing or Kneeling at them or else this is no Vindication of the Directory But Secondly We are not left to guess what is meant by Joyning Reverently in the Ordinance then in hand The Sentence immediately going before explains it where the Assembly tells how the people are to Joyn in Publick Worship even by forbearing to read any thing Abstaining from private Whisperings Conferences Salutations or doing Reverence to any Persons From all gazing sleeping and other indecent behaviour which may disturb the Minister or People This is the way they are to joyn in the Service of God But not one word of putting themselves into a Bodily Posture most suitable to the Ordinance that is in hand It is plain therefore as I said before that they excluded these when they laid aside the many Rites and Ceremonies used formerly in the Worship of God and never restored them V. Let me add further That Reverence and Worship are very different things We ought to behave our selves Reverently to all our Betters and at all times But Worship is peculiarly to our Superiours who have power over us And as the things are different so there are different outward Acts that express them and neither Your Directory Confession of Faith or Catechism or any other Authentick Rule that I know of amongst you require any one visible Act peculiar to Worship in Your Assemblies Nor do I see by what Authority your Ministers can exact it from their People where they pretend to Conform to the Directory nor can it be pretended that the Composers of it forgot this For it is manifest that they remembred it so far as to forbid all Adoration where it was most proper that is at our coming into the Assembly and never require nor allow it any where after VI. Thirdly What I have said concerning the sense of the Assembly that Composed your Directory is agreeable to the Notion Dr. Twiss their Chairman had of this Matter as appears from his Letter directed to Mr. Mede dated July 27. 1635. 'T is the 59 in the Collection In which he gives this censure of Bodily Worship The Lord requires the true Worshippers should Worship him in Spirit and Truth in distinction from Worshipping him either at Jerusalem or in the Mount the Woman spake of but as to the outward gestures I doubt I shall prove a Novice as long as I breath and we affect not to make Ostentation of our Devotion in the face of the World the rather because thereby we draw upon our selves the censure of Hypocrisy And sometimes if a Man lift up his eyes he is censured as a P. I confess there is no outward gesture of Devotion which may not be as handsomly performed by as carnal a heart as breaths And in his thirteenth Letter being the seventieth in the forementioned Collection he adds And as for outward Complements nothing more pleases a Natural Man in Religious Worship and he finds himself apt enough in it yea far more apt than he who knowing and considering that God is a Spirit and they that Worship him must Worship him in Spirit are most carefull for the performance thereof Whereupon while their Minds are intent they find themselves not so free for outward Complements the care whereof is apt to cause avocation and disturbance in that unum necessarium Hence in the same Letter he blames himself for being prevailed with to rise up at the solemn Glory given to the Father Son and Holy Ghost and commends one that could never be perswaded to it Thus you see how the Prolocutor of the Assembly ridicules Outward Worship under the Names of Outward Postures and Complements You find himself likewise alledging in opposition to it our Saviours Command of Worshipping in Spirit Jo. 4. 24 And the very same Arguments that I mentioned and Answered in my Discourse Chap. 4. Sect. 3. Plainly intimating withal that it is a piece of Ostentation to use these Acts of Bodily Worship a sign of a carnal heart to be pleased with them and to neglect them a sign of an Heart intent on God's Spiritual Service Yet Mr. B.
of God by Images or any other way not appointed in his Word And in your Confession of Faith Chap. 21. N. 1. thus The acceptable way of Worshiping the true God is instituted by himself and so limited to his own revealed Will that he may not be Worshiped according to the imaginations and devises of Men or the suggestions of Satan under any visible Representations or any other way not prescribed in the Holy Scripture This Rule is stricter and needs greater Limitations than the words of my Book For First Here is no Allowance for things Warranted by Scripture tho' not prescribed as many things are Secondly There is no Authority given to the Examples of Holy Men in Scripture which are sufficient to warrant a Religious practice in Gods Worship tho' they do not amount to an appointment or prescription and are not alwayes obligatory In short your Catechism and Confession of Faith if we take them according to the Letter make all wayes of Worship unacceptable and unlawful that are not prescribed and appointed in Scripture Whereas my Rule allows Examples and Precedents of Holy Men to be a sufficient Warrant I supposed and I think with reason that you understood this Rule in your own Catechism and Confession of Faith with due Limitations and therefore had no reason to suspect but you would understand it with the same Limitations in my Book it being a manifest partiality to except against it when used by me and yet allow of it tho' expressed with less caution in your Catechism and Confession of Faith which yet ought to be more exact in wording a Rule than is necessary in a private Man's Writings Of this partiality Mr. B. is guilty and plainly discovers by it that he has one Rule for interpreting the words of his own Party and another for interpreting those of his Adversary But Secondly I desire you to observe That in my whole Book I never used this Rule otherwise than with those Limitations that I have now expressed nor has Mr. B. produced one instance wherein I did otherwise As for Example I tax you with bringing in the Inventions of Men into the Service of God in your Use of the Psalms not for singing the Meetre Psalms for that I allow lawful but for introducing them without necessity to the exclusion of the Prose Psalms for Singing of which we have Scripture-Warrant and Example I taxed you likewise with introducing a Human Invention into the Worship of God in your Expounding Scripture not that Expositions of Scripture are unlawful but to make them necessary every time the Scripture is read is Literally such an invention and so is likewise your excluding the Regular and Orderly Reading the Word of God as he has appointed for the Edification of his Church to make room for your Lectures of both which you have been guilty these Fifty Years last past I past the same Censure on your Extemporary Prayers not that I condemned them in all Cases but because on the account of them you had turned the Lord's Prayer prescribed in God's Word and the Use of Forms in the Ordinary Prayers of the Assembly which is the Scripture way of Praying on such Occasions out of your Meetings Whereas it is manifestly a Teaching for Doctrine the Commandments of Men to Teach as you do that Praying extemporary is more acceptable to God or more edifying than Praying by a Form there not being the least colour in Scripture for such a Doctrine I might shew the like in every place of my Book where I used this Rule either in proving the Orders of our Church or in disproving yours so that Mr. B. had no reason to find fault with it But Thirdly The Rule needs not these Limitations it being agreed by all sober Interpreters That whatever can be deduced from Scriptures by Clear Consequence or Parity of Reason is sufficiently warranted by them though not expresly contained in them so there was no necessity to explain the Rule though I was willing to avoid the Exceptions even of the Captious and there fore put in the Explication you find in my Second Edition Fourthly Mr. B. excepts against my using the Phrase of Ways of Worship and alledges I used it frequently to signifie Circumstantiâ—â— Modes of it Vind. p. 30. But I Answer That I used the Phrase with which you were acquainted whereas I believe few of you ever heard of Circumstantial Modes of Worship before and I used it in the Sense you generally do when you ask for Scripture to warrant our using the Psalms by way of Answering our using Forms of Prayer our singing with Instrumental Musick our joyning our Voices in some Prayers our Receiving the Sacrament in a Worshiping posture and the other particulars against which you except in our Publick Service and I shewed these Ways are not only warranted but prescribed for the most part in Scripture Whereas those Ways you have introduced in the place of them have neither Command or Precedent in Scripture If these that I have named in our Service and yours be Circumstantial Modes they are the chief and greatest Exceptions that I ever found any of you make against joyning with us and they are the great matter of Reformation set forth in your Directory tho' Mr. B. seems to make light of them From the whole I think it appears That Mr. B. has both perverted and misapplyed my Rule and yet on this perverted sense of my Words are founded most of his Arguments against our publick Worship X. Lastly This Method of sixing Principles upon me and then writing a Book to Confute them is not new with Mr. B. He did it once before at a very unseasonable time and still persists in Taxing me with his own Consequences as if I indeed owned them Thus Vind. p. 25. he charges me with passing a Vertual Sentence of Damnation publickly upon you by Denying you to be a part of the Catholick Church and this he puts in Italian Letters as if they were my Words but there are no such Words in any Book I have yet written nor any just Ground to fix such a Sentence on me the whole Mystery of this so far as I know it is thus Mr. Manâ—y formerly Dean of Derry on his turning Papist published his Motives which prevailed with him to do so To these I wrote an Answer in the Year 1687 by which I thank God the Protestant Cause lost nothing and it was so well approved that it was Twice Reprinted in England But Mr. B. cou'd not digest it and therefore wrote Reflections on it and the greatest Exception he has against it is that I say in it That I meant by the Catholick Church the whole Body of Men professing the Religion of Christ and living under their Lawful Governours From which Words Mr. B. draws many strange and absurd Consequences alledging that they Un-Church all Dissenters all foreign Churches and render the Relation of all true Christians to our Blessed Lord as his
that accepts the King's Pardon and Protection under the Great Seal is obliged to be a good Subject and keep the Laws yet it doth not follow as I have already shewed that the King 's great Seal is a Sign from us to the King but solely from him to us 10thly He argues Vind p. 41. That Baptism was called a Sacrament because it was reckoned like the Military Oath of the Roman Soldiers as a solemn listing of the Person Baptized into the Service and Warfare of Christ. To this I answer First That the same Persons that call Baptism and the Lords-Supper Sacraments on this Account do likewise call several other Rites Sacraments And therefore in their Opinion to bind and oblige our selves to our Duty was not peculiar to those Signs which we now only call Sacraments Secondly I own there is such an Oath made at Baptism which binds and obliges us to be Faithful and thereupon we are admitted by Baptism into the Number and Priviledges of Christ's Soldiers But Baptism signifies God's act admitting us not ours any other way than by Consequence and Supposition And therefore we may make many such Vows beside what we make at Baptism and signify them by such Signs as are proper without any offence if we should do it by Writing and Sealing it were no harm which wou'd both be binding and obliging Signs on our parts yet no Sacraments or sinfull human Inventions any more than the Cross. 11thly He argues p. 42. That Sacrifices were Covenanting Rites and quotes Psal. 50. 5. Gather my Saints together those that have made a Covenant with me by Sacrifice To which I answer There were two things in Sacrifices First The offering of them to God as a Sign of our Homage and Duty which we owe him as we pay Tribute to the King And this was the Offerers Act and fully signified his Duty And then there was God's admitting the Offerer to feed on them after they were made his and this was God's Act and a Sign of his Favour and Reconciliation to the Person Therefore Sacrifices were Signs of our Duty to God as well as of his Favour to us but the case is otherwise in Baptism and the Lord's-Supper the offering that reconciles us to God was made by Christ not by us and we are reconcil'd by vertue of that And the Sacraments do only apply to us the Washing or Propitiation of Christ's Blood and feed us as reconcil'd Guests on his Body and therefore are wholly Signs from God to us and other Signs are necessary on our part to signify our Duty And therefore the Primitive Christians brought Meat and Drink for a common Feast at the Lord's Supper to signify the sincerity of their Love and Testify it to the World and we do yet Offer part of our Substance for the Relief of God's Servants at this Sacrament both which are Signs as well as Instances of our Duty and plainly shew that our Duty is not so signified in the Sacraments but other Signs are necessary on our part And if a man who came to demand Baptism shou'd as a Sign and Token of his Resolution to renounce the Devil the World and Flesh give a large Portion of his Substance to some Charitable use it were very lawful for him to use this Sign and no affront to Baptism as if it were not sufficient to signify our Duty and Obligation to God And such an Act would be a very acceptable Sacrifice to him 12thly He urges Acts 2. 38. Then Peter said unto them Repent and be Baptised every one of you in the Name of Christ for the remission of Sins and ye shall receive the Holy Ghost for the Promise is unto you and to your Children Whence he infers That they were by Baptism first to profess their Repentance towards God and Faith in our Lord Jesus and then receive the promised Benefit Remission of Sins Vind. p. 41. But here is not one word of professing Repentance by Baptism nor can any such thing be inferred from the Words but on the contrary they prove that the Sins of the Penitents are remitted by Baptism and they intitled to the promise of the Holy Ghost the granting both which are Acts of God's Favour bestowed on us in Baptism If Baptism were designed to profess or signify our Repentance directly there needed no other Profession or Signs of Repentance according to Mr. B. because the Sign appointed by God wou'd be sufficient but no Minister ought to Baptize any till by a solemn Profession before and other Signs and Tokens they satisfy him in some measure of the sincerity of their Faith and Repentance as I have already shewed 13thly He alledges our Saviours Command to Baptize Mat. 28. v. 19. Go ye therefore and Teach all Nations Baptising them c. This Command he says Vind. p. 41. plainly implies that one great use of Baptism was to be a solemn Bond upon them to the Duty of that Christan Profession they had imbraced and the Baptising them In the Name of the Father c. has been always supposed to imply a solemn Dedication of them by this Sacred Rite to the Faith Worship and Service of the Blessed Trinity But I answer That the plain meaning of these words is that Christ gives his Apostles power to admit Disciples by Baptism into the Priviledge of being Taught by the Father Son and Holy Ghost as their Master and Law-giver The Question is whether Baptism signifies God's admitting us to this Priviledge or our chusing him for our Lord and Master That is whether it signifies God's Act or ours I think it easy to determine this Question since it is manifest that Faith and Repentance which include our Submitting our selves to God are Qualifications required to Baptism and the person that demands it must satisfy the Ministers of the Sacraments that he is sincere in his Submission by such Signs and Profession of Repentance and of Faith as are proper to signify them before they ought to admit him I own Baptism is a Bond and dedicates us to God's Service but it is a Bond laid on us by God who requires Faith and Repentance of those that are Baptised and sets them apart and Consecrates them to his peculiar Service and to the Priviledges that attend and are promised to such 14thly He produces 1. Tim. 2. 19. Nevertheless the Foundation or Covenant of God stands sure having this Seal on God's part the Lord knows them that are his and this Seal on our part as he alledges Let him that names the Name of Christ depart from iniquity From whence he infers As the Covenant is mutual so the external Rite is intended to ratify our Restipulation as well as Gods promise But I answer This place proves that the Covenant of God requires on our part a Duty to depart from iniquity as well as it includes a Promise that God knows who are his that is will Own Protect and Reward them but that the Sacraments are our