considerable and excellent a part of Holy Writ Aliqui sunt saith Aquinas qui non intelligunt quid cantatur 22 d. Q. 91. But suppose them read and not sung yet when they are read alternately one Verse by the Minister the other by the People the latter Verse will be no better than an inarticulate sound and confused noise to those who are unlearned and cannot read or to them who have not their Books at hand to go along with the Congregation as may be easily experimented in our London Congregations where this Form of Reading is commonly if not universally observed Another Custom or Manner of performing Divine Service which must not be omitted at least in Cathedrals is reading the second Service at the Altar A thing which to some seems out of the Churches Power to injoin which can only use it in commanding things proper to Edification For whilst the People sit in the lower part of the Quire they may hear the noise of the Minister's Voice who is reading the Service at the Altar but no distinction of sound as hath been often experimented And I 'd fain know whether the Practice of the Roman Church by performing their Service in an unknown Tongue or secret Whispers of a Priest can less tend to Edification or Instruction then to render it unintelligible by removing beyond the Ken or Compass of the Ear or by causing it to be uttered by the confused noise of a mixed Multitude Which I leave to those who are of highest esteem in the Church to judge of As also to take into their Consideration how far a Reformation of our Publick Service may be adviseable and necessary in regard to the Form of it in this and some other respects 2dly The next thing I have to offer is as to the Length and Burthen of it a Task which neither we nor our Forefathers were ever able to bear Were this grievance redrest that occasion of Scandal cast upon the Rulers and Dignitaries of the Church might be removed the Complaints of the weary and heavy laden Ministers of the Church silenced who may in the mean time be tempted perhaps to speak unadvisedly with their Lips and say Must we still like Issachar couch down under this heavy Burthen whilst such as impose it will scarce touch it with a tip of their own Fingers to ease others or to perform it for themselves Dicit enim Greg. habetur in decretis distinc 92. Can. insecta Romana Ecclesia constituo ut in sede hâc scil Romanâ Ecclesia sacri altaris ministri cantare non debeant Aquinus tells us that Gregory would have none who were ordained to Preach the Gospel to be imployed in the Office of Singing being as that Angelical Doctor observes a Work beneath them When we see the Masters of our Assemblies engage the meanest among 〈◊〉 Priests in the Celebration of the Divine Service of the Church by Reading or Singing of it we may conclude they think it either too mean or too hard for themselves As to the first there 's none of us have reason to think any Work of the Lord beneath them We can labour as in the Fire work in the Furnaces and Brick-kilns with great delight if we may thereby prepare for building the Lord's Temple (a) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Supra modum supra vires gravati sumus 2. Cor. 1.8 But our Task-masters have doubled the Tale of our Brick to that degree that though we work hard yet unless our Strength were the Strength of Stones we never can accomplish our Task and whoever shall fall short the Law hath provided it shall be made up with Stripes which will make deep furrows upon the Backs of those that shall happen to fall under the dintor Lash of it This Grievance in some Cities and Corporations by the Wealth and Kindness of the People hath been much provided against clubbing their Purses and providing Readers to discharge their Ministers of the Burthen of the Desk As knowing that they on whom necessity is laid and Woes denounced against them if they Preach not the Gospel will find work enough in the Pulpit But this were an unreasonable expectancy in Country Villages where the number of the People is small and their substance less Where in many places two or three Cures will scarce do more than afford Necessaries for an ordinary Subsistance or Livelihood nor provide larger Supplies than could answer the reasonable Desires of that contented Man viz. Sit mihi mensa tripes concha puri salis toga quae defenderit frigus licet crassa queat Yet so vast and opulent are the Revenues of the Church that as there needs no other Arguments to prove the incomparable Charity and Bounty of our Ancestors So also a Sufficiency yea a Redundancy for the Support of the Office and Work of the Ministry But so disproportionate hath the distribution of them been that whilst some have lived delicately and fared deliciously every day others can scarce find a Competency to furnish their Tables with daily Bread And is it not a Grievance that the most difficult and constant Labour should meet with the least Encouragement 'T is scarce credible to relate to what Sums the Acruments and Perquisites of the Bishopricks in England did amount to upon their Restoration with Charles II. Had not immense Treasures descended into their Coffers the many extravagant Works of State and Magnificence Vain-glory some think Acts of Piety and Charity could never have exhausted such unaccountable Sums as are by Dr. C. computed out of them He tells us that Dr. Juxon Arch-bishop of Canterbury gave or expended in Building Repairing Redemption of Captives c. 48000 l. Sterling besides 16000 l. abated to the Tenants Gilbert Sheldon Bishop of London afterwards Arch-bishop of Canterbury gave and bestowed in such like expences besides his common Disbursements and what he left to his Heirs and Executors 40000 l. Brian Duppa late Bishop of Winchester in such like Charges together with the Abatements of Fines to his Tenants 46000 l. Dr. Fruen Arch-bishop of York 15000 l. Dr. Cousins Bishop of Durham 44000 l. Dr. Warner Bishop of Rochester 30000 l. Besides the Building of a Colledge for poor Clergy-mens Widows which cost 7200 l. which was besides endowed by him with ample Provisions besides 50 l. per Annum Rent-charge for maintaining of a Chaplain Nor were the Deans and Chapters less liberal in proportion Insomuch that the several Sums when put together amount to no less than 443000 l. besides the Monies they spent in their Splendid way of living together with their Equipage and Retinue not to mention their personal and real Estates they left behind them to agrandize their Posterities and to make their Names great But whilst the Prelates wallowed in their overgrown Wealth how many laborious Ministers lay swelkt and macerated with the Heat and Burthen imposed upon them in the Worship of God Their Task being over
Flesh and Incarnation of our Saviour viz. That Christ is one not by Conversion of the Codhead into Flesh but by taking the Manhood into God one altogether not by confusion of Substance It ought to be considered concerning Athanasius's Creed how many People understand it not Lib. of Proph. p. 54. I confess saith that Author I cannot see the moderate Sentence and gentleness of Charity in this Preface and Conclusion as then was in the Nicene Creed nothing there but damnation and perishing everlastingly unless the Article of the Trinity be believed as it is there with Curiosity and minute Particulars explained Ibid. pag. 54. but by unity of Person And that this c. is the Catholick Faith which except a Man believe he cannot be saved Which Propositions should they be repeated to many a simple and yet sincere Christian they would seem little less to them than Sampson's Ridle and shall we deny Salvation to those who have not an explicite Faith of those things they understand not If Water ascends higher than the Fountain from whence it springs the Motion must be ascribed to force If Faith should ascend beyond Knowledge if such may be called Faith 't is no better than force or fancy to compel that to be confessed with the Mouth which is not believed with the Heart because it never entred into the Head Doth it not therefore concern the Fathers of the Church to consider now that they have a Price put into their Hands whether this be not to make the Gate of Heaven narrower than God hath made it which is already so streight that alas there be too few that find it Of Regeneration by the Spirit ANother thing which might justly deserve the Notice of our Reverend Brethren and Fathers of the Church is the Doctrine of Regeneration by the Spirit which I take to be an act of Grace upon the Heart (a) Unto whom now I send thee to open their Eyes and to turn them from Darkness to Light and from the Power of Satan unto God c. Acts 26.17 renewing that Image which was drawn in Righteousness and true Holiness But alas How have we effac'd it and sought out many Inventions in the Croud of which we lost our Integrity God had at first imbarkt our Innocency in a Vessel sufficiently built to have secured the Cargo and finally to have brought the Soul safe to its desirable Port I mean Heaven he having put on board with it that which might with due watchfulness and care have secured it viz. A posse non peccandi But hapning where two Seas met I mean Satan's Policy and Man's Frailty or facile Disposition being too gentle and easie to be intreated by his Temptations he suffered Shipwrack of a good Conscience losing that which the whole World was not competent to redeem For alas What can be given in exchange for the Soul But God would not suffer the Sea to swallow such a Prize and therefore when he saw Man labouring for Life in the midst of those mighty Waves those Waters of Iniquity he cast out a Plank Post naufragium tabulam by which he came safe to Land he set up this Bankrupt again with a fresh Stock putting him into a Capacity and State of Salvation by a redeemer but upon such Terms and Conditions as he thought fit to appoint and prescribe viz. That unless we believe we should not be saved except we be regenerate and born again we should not enter into the Kingdom of God But as the Wind blows where it listeth so the Spirit works these Graces when and where it pleaseth observing the Rule and Method he hath pleased to prescribe to himself viz. As he hath chosen us in Christ Jesus And therefore we cannot affirm that wherever the Means is used that the End ex opere operato is certainly attained especially in such subjects as are altogether incapable of it as I take Infants to be of Regeneration upon the Administration of Baptism 3 Q. 71.2 Unless it be said of Regeneration as Aquinas saith concerning the Infant 's being Catechiz'd before it be Baptiz'd Accommodat eis Ecclesia aliorum cor ut credant aliorum aures ut audiant intellectum ut per alios instruantur But he that is regenerated by a Proxy will be saved so too But suppose they be renew'd yet this Operation or Work of the Spirit is much in the dark there are no visible Footsteps or Impressions left behind it by which we can trace the Goings of the Almighty no more than that of a Serpent upon a Rock a Bird in the Air or Ship in the Sea if there be any Work of God upon the Soul of the Infant 't is very cryptical 't is hid from our Eyes We may say as the Lord said to Job He hath made a Cloud the garment of it 38 Job 9. and thick darkness a swadling Band for it If any shall say that though the Child in such tender Age be not a capable subject of the Act yet it may be of the Habit Thus it is accounted a Rational Creature though it cannot for the present exert and shew forth the Faculties which are potentially in it But no sooner doth the Child grow up towards Years of Maturity but those Seminal and Radical Powers of their own accord pullulate and spring up into Act the Rose which seminally or potentially laid dormant in the Root of the Plant of its own accord buds and blossoms upon the approaching Heat and Influence of the Sun If the Habit of Regeneration were sown in Baptism would it not in the Spring of Youth begin to bud and blossom and bring forth Almonds I mean Acts sutable to the Nature of it Whereas we experimentally find no more averseness or reprobacy to that which is good in an unbaptized Person who never was baptismally regenerated nor received for God's own Child by Adoption than in one baptized according to the Ordinance of God and Appointment of the Church But supposing the Subject capable of this Divine Impression yet we do not see that God doth let his Seal or that they are sealed up to the Day of Redemption ex opere operato or actual Administration of Baptism For wherever the Work of Regeneration is wrought the Soul is renewed in all its Faculties such were some of you But ye are washed but ye are sanctified in the Name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God But all that are Baptismally washed are not sanctified and regenerate for we find in adult Persons that those who were filthy before continue to be so still Nay as to those very Persons who in the Judgment of Charity do not ponere obicem yet we cannot see any immediate Cause to return Thanks for its actual Regeneration by the Holy Spirit till we find some Demonstration or Evidence more than the bare opus operatum or Administration of the Baptismal Rite that the Person is entred into the Womb
to take him for dishonest or a Fool As to the first I am very loath to call a Man a Knave without great Grounds for it especially a Minister upon whose Personal Reputation much of the Success of his Ministry depends Conscience I know is a tender thing and more especially ought so to be in the case of an Oath I will suppose that he acted sincerely in his Refusal and out of tenderness to the Faith he had plighted to his former Sovereign and I hope he hath not acted upon any worse Principle in swearing Allegiance to the present Powers and that he hath not the Person of his Prince in admiration because of advantage For many considering the nature of his Argument do think it may justly defeat his expectation of a Bishoprick if he had any such 〈…〉 As for the latter I mean his Wisdom something is to be said for that too for he who upon the Matter challenges an whole Party of Men to try their Skill with him had need have his Wits about him I find his Wit was once commended for refusing to give an Answer to Antisozzo and the Reason which himself gave for it was because he would not make the Dispute a trial of Wit But he hath given a fresher Argument still than this viz. That he wrote his Case of Allegiance under a just and moderate Prince who notwithstanding the smartest Reflections upon him being satisfied with the Testimony of a good Conscience and sincerity of his Designs did as Saul when they said this Man shall not reign over us and brought him no presents yet he held his peace Had he lived in a Reign when Men suffered by Innuendo's he might have found it much harder to have defended himself against an Impeachment for his Crime against the State than his too late Submission to the present Government The Crowns of Princes are heavy enough of themselves without the exceeding weight and guilt of Usurpation or Intrusion into another's Right being added to them King William would pay dear for his Kingdom to purchase it at the price of a good Conscience and loss of a far better Inheritance and the Providence of God placing him upon the Throne will prove no very good Plea for holding the Possession of it against the just Claim and civil Right of another For though the Providence of God may make use of the unjust Actions of one to punish justly the Sin of another yet the Injustice and Violence of such dealings can no way be excused by the disposal of an over-ruling Providence directing bad Actions to work a good End If a Person stronger than I by virtue of his Power or Interest take away my Goods God by such means may punish me perhaps for my Sins yet it will be a very insufficient Plea on his part before God or hi◠own Conscience For those whom the Lord hath made use of as the Rods of his Anger he hath afterward cast into the Fire notwithstanding they have effected his Will upon others who have sinned against him and whom he hath justly punished by such means for their offences And therefore it will be worth the inquiry whether our King be so only de facto or de jure for if he wants a civil Right his Possession will not make his Chair of State easie be it never so august or great nor quiet his Conscience and Kings have Consciences as well as other Men For though he accounted not his Life dear to him nor too much to hazard for the rescuing our Lifes and Properties yet to purchase them with the loss of that which is of more worth than the whole World and all the Kingdoms of it and to live and die in mortal Sin for our sakes would be too costly a Ransome That one Sovereign Prince may levy War against another Quot actionum forensium sunt fontes totidem sunt belli where Matters in Controversie can be no other ways determined is I am sure though I be no Lawyer agreeable to the Law of * Jure gentium inquit Livius ita comparatum est ut arma armis propulsentur Et Florentinus jus esse gentium ait ut vim atque injuriam propulsemus Vim vi repellere licere Cassius scribit Apud Vlpianum idque naturâ comparatum esse viserit See Grotius de jure Bell. pac Lib. 1. Cap. 2. Nations and Nature too That being the last Appeal to him who is the Judge of all the Earth imploring him to determine the Question and to give Victory and Success according to the Merits of the Cause That the Prince of Orange was a Sovereign Prince is no question who by the pretended Birth of a Prince of Wales was barred of his right of Succession an Heir apparent being set up in room of the Presumptive This 't is well known was the subject Matter of various Discourses and the common Entertainment wherever we came the usual Question that was started being De foetu formato Which in every corner of the Nation was lampooned and ridiculed as a Court-stratagem for ever to extirpate Heresie and to settle the Romish Faith in these Kingdoms to all Generations As this made many Infidels at home so it created Unbelievers abroad The Queen when the days were accomplished that she should bring forth was delivered or pretended to be delivered of a Son by which all the Expectations of the P. of O. to succeed in the Government must consequentially miscarry as also the Peoples hopes of securing their Religion in the next Reign became wholly abortive The Prince judging the Crown of England worth a Trial who being encouraged by the Equity of his Cause and Invitation of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal made a Descent upon England not with any design of Conquest witness the small Numbers he had levied to attend him but that a Parliament might be called and the Matters in question without any Blood shed not only relating to himself but the People too who at one Heat were by the Dispensing Power despoiled of their ancient Liberties and reduced to the greatest Slavery yea the best and most equitable Constitution under Heaven sunk into an Arbitrary and meer Despotick Rule and Government But to forestal the Prince and foreclose him as to any Examination in Parliament Witnesses were called Affidavits were made to prove the Birth of the P. of Wales But what were the Witnesses But either Court-Officers and Dependants profest Papists feigned Protestants whose Evidences filled a Paper with such stuff as would sooner turn a Man's Stomach that his Faith For many think that if fair dealing had been designed Proxies would have been allowed at the choice of the two next Princesses of the Blood and Heirs to the Crown to have been present at the Labour who might if what is pretended were true have averred upon Oath that they saw the Queen delivered of this Son by which that long and fulsom Affidavit might have been spared the