e why dos he not lay aside all the Collects of the Common prayer-book that are certainly of human Invention and confine himself to the Psalter as his only Liturgy for prayer as well as praise What can excuse his using worse when he has better Or rather why shou'd he imagin 'em intended for forms of prose-prayer to us at all any farther than David's devout expressions may be us'd so far as they suit our case when the New Testament so largely instructs us to offer our prayers in so different a manner from that practis'd in the Old particularly with a more express reference to J. C rist as our great Mediator of Intercession nay when the Gospel more clearly furnishes us with sutable matter of Prayer by that â—uller Revelation it brings of the divine Will to us III. God was so far from confining the Jews to any stinted Liturgy that most of the prayers both private and publick recorded in the Old Testament are conceiv'd or free prayers without any sett or prescrib'd Forms Such were most of the private Prayers mention'd in the sacred History What prescrib'd form had Abraham's Servant when he so heartily prays 24 Gen. 12 13 for success in the errand on which his Master had sent him to fetch a Wife for his Son Isaac unless it had been compos'd for him by a spirit of prophecy Abraham's prayer 20 Gen. 17. was doubtless occasional and extempore So was Jacob's for deliverance from his Brother â—sau 32 Gen. 9 So are many of Moses on particular occasions of God's displeasure against the people 32 Exod. 11 12. c. 31 32 c. No doubt Hannah's Prayer for Children was of this sort and that too after she had obtain'd what she desir'd 1 Sam. 1.10 2 Sam. 1 c. Such was Hezekiah's when visited with sickness 38 Is 3. And such was Nehemiah's mention'd 1 ch 4 5 6 c. It were endless to produce all the particular instances of this kind And 't is plain these holy men wou'd have been at a sad loss how to address themselves to God on such occasions if they cou'd not have pray'd without a Book or had been ty'd to sett forms But they needed no Prompter when their necessities suggested arguments and expressions and out of the abundance of the heart their mouths spake For Publick Prayers there are no less clear Instances of such as were conceived or free even after the Psalms of David were penn'd which the Bp. imagines to have been the Jewish Liturgy Such was that Excellent Prayer of Solomon's upon the Dedication of the Temple 1 Kings 8.22 Such was that of Asa when that vast Ethiopian Host came against him 2 Chron. 14.11 such was that of Jehosaphat on a like occasion 2 Chron. 20.5 c. That of Hezekiah in reference to Rabshekah's blasphemous Threats was an Instance of either private or publick free Prayer 36 Is 15 16. Of the same kind was Ezra's 9 Ezra 5 6 7. The Confession in Nehemiah 9 ch 5 6 7. c. is not taken from any precedent Form but wholly new And yet 't is evident that in most of these cases those Holy Men might have made up Forms of Prayer for those occasions out of H. Davids ' words in some of the Psalm prayers but they chose rather to offer up such Prayers as the serious sense of their present case did suggest to 'em and that made 'em ready suppliants to God for Relief without the need of seeking out a prescrib'd Form for their purpose Now as the Bp. may safely infer from God's having recommended a Form of words in Prayer in reference to some cases that prayer by a set Form is not in it self unlawful so I may much more infer from these more numerous Instances of free prayers That our prayers according to the Examples of these H. Men shou'd be accommodated to our several particular occasions and necessities and therefore 't is so far from being unlawfull to use conceived or free prayers without any prescribed Form that to tye up our selves to such sett and prescribed Forms will not ordinarily answer the frequent Calls which we have in the Providence of God to this holy Duty by such various Emergency's as no sett Forms can Exactly suit Nay whereas the Bp. can infer no more from his Instances then that when God prescribes us a Form we shou'd use it and he approves our doing so we may from these Examples last produc'd with equal reason infer that we may use free prayer in those occasions in which God has not prescribed us any such Forms and that he do's approve this way of addressing our selves to him with such Prayers as the feeling of our own necessities and consideration of our particular case dos prompt us to offer I shall only add That if there be no Evidence of such a stinted Liturgy in the Jewish we can much less expect any proof of one in the Christian Church because such a Liturgy if necessary at all was much more so under the Old Testament when there was not such an abundant Effusion of the H. Spirit in his Graces and Gifts as now under the New Nay if the Jewish Church had no stinted Liturgy prescribed by God much less had any uninspired men any power given 'em to prescribe one and confine all publick Administrations to Forms of their own Composure But this will lead me to consider the Directions Secondly Of the New Testament And here I shall first consider those 2 things the Bp. insists on and then shall propose some farther account of the directions that occur in reference to the mode of Praying in this part of the H. Scriptures I. I shall consider those 2 things the Bp. insists on in favour of Praying by prescrib'd Forms 1. I think it says he certain that our Saviour and his Apostles prayed by a Form for they joyn'd in the Worship of the Temple and Synagogues which consisted in Psalms as I have already shew'd and in some certain Forms of Prayers added to 'em and constantly us'd in their daily service as we learn from those that give an Account of the Jewish Worship at that time Now our Saviour and his Apostles being frequently prâ—sent at their service both in the Temple and Synagogues 't is manifest they approv'd their manner of addressing themselves to God by sett Forms p. 30. 31. Answ That our Saviour and his Apostles pray'd by a Form when they us'd the psalm prayers there is no doubt and so do all those that sing ' em That there was a stinted Liturgy besides or a collection of Forms of prose-prayer to which the publick Administrations were confin'd to the exclusion of occasional free Prayer the Bp. has no where prov'd and the contrary is far more probable from many instances of such free-prayer in the Old Testament which I have before alledg'd Nay shou'd we to oblige his Lp grant him that some forms of prose-prayer were ordinarily us'd in the Jewish Worship tho
as I shall observe anon do far more directly favour and countenance free prayer than this one instance dos the use of forms especially of forms impos'd by others about which the main dispute lyes And what he has here offer'd to confirm it signifies nothing to the purpose or if it did wou'd prove too much For our Saviour may teach men the way of free prayer without directing 'em to wait for the Impulscs of the Spirit and immediate Inspiration from God since none pretend to such impulses and immediate inspiration as necessary in order to it He himself owns that in cases of necessity we may depend on the assistance of the Spirit to pray extempore and yet he dos not I hope mean we may expect such immediate inspiration Nay our Saviour may advise us to free prayer without telling us We must speak what comes into our minds or shall be given us in that hour without taking thought what we are to say For free prayer is so far from excluding serious premeditation that no man shou'd use it especially in publick without it unless in cases of absolute necessity Nay if this reason signify'd any thing it wou'd prove too much that we are never to pray extempore at all because we have no ground even in cases of necessity to expect such immediate Inspiration And here I wou'd once for all caution his Lp. against that common mistake he seems to run into as if we imagin'd the assistance of the H. Spirit in Prayer to lye in immediately dictating our words to us Whereas we no more expect that in Prayer than in Preaching For we suppose this Gift of Prayer to be a common gift And tho we have known many private Christians whose natural parts in all other things are but weak and low endued by the Spirit of God with a considerable measure of this Gift as the fruit and reward of their diligence in this duty Yet we doubt not that many natural Endowments as readiness of apprehension copiousness of fancy tenderness of affection fluency of expression may contribute much to dispose a man for greater eminency in it Nor do we think the assistance of the H. Spirit in this duty alters that style or way of expression that nature or custom has habituated men to So that the H. Spirit is no more accountable for the indecent expressions of good men in Prayer than in Preaching tho we may expect his help both in our endeavours to acquire abilities and gifts for these duties and in the exercise of ' em But before I dismiss what he hath said in reference to this Prayer of our Lord I shall subjoyn the following Remarks thereon 1. If it shouâ—â— bâ— granted that our Saviour gave this as a Form of Prayer to his Disciples and intended it for the perpetual use of his Church yet no more can be inferr'd from thence than our obligation to use that particular 〈◊〉 For if he had intended our ordinary use of other Forms 't is reasâ—nable to suppose he wou'd have prescrib'd 'em himself or commission'd his Apostles to do so or instructed them to leave some orders with other ordinary Pastors to have compos'd ' em 2. Many learned men that do allow the Lord's Prayer to have been a prescrib'd Form do not think it design'd for the perpetual use of the Church but only for a temporary Form To this purpose they observe that the three first Petitions Hallowed be thy Name Thy Kingdom come Thy Will be done c. seem to be chiefly calculated both to the doctrine which Christ as well as John deliver'd concerning the Kingdom of God being at hand and to the expectation the pious Jews then generally entertain'd of the Messiah's Kingdom being publickly set up in the world They observe farther that in the Petition for forgiveness of sins There is not the least mention made of the sacrifice the death or blood of Christ in vertue whereof we must now sue for pardon whereas our Saviour after his Resurrection and Ascention is every where propos'd as our High-Priest Mediator Intercessor and Advocate of which there is no notice taken in this Form And hence they suppose that 't is on this account that our Lord long after the delivery of this Form tells his Disciples 16 Joh. 24. Hitherto have ye asked nothing in my Name and therefore he requires 'em now to ask the Father in his Name and assures 'em he will grant their Petitions And accordingly they observe that the Doxologys mention'd in Scripture after our Saviour's Ascension lead us directly and expresly to ascribe our Praises to God by Christ or in his Name of which there is not the least hint in that us'd in the Ld's-Prayer Whence they conclude it to be chiefly suited to the state of the Disciples of Christ while under his personal Ministry on Earth in which the principal mysteries of the Gospel that depended on his Death Resurrection and Ascension were not yet so â—learly reveal'd And the more some labour to prove these Peâ—itions taken out of some Jewish Forms the more do they strengâ—hen this Opinion That this Form was no farther intended for our â—â—se than as a Pattern in respect of the things pray'd for but was â—ot so much as to be a Pattern in respect of the manner of prayâ—ng In which respect 't is most reasonable to suppose our manner â—f praying shou'd greatly differ from that of the Jews particuâ—arly by being offer'd up in the name of Christ I do not give this opinion as my own but propose it to his Lp's â—onsideration to allay that confidence wherewith he asserts so poâ—itively our obligation to the constant use of the Lords Prayer for which I do not see any thing so Plausible and Probable produc'd â—y him as the Authors of this Opinion alledg in favour of it For â—e tells us without any limitation that we are particularly Commandâ—d whenever we pray to use this Prayer For which Assertion I can â—ee no shew of Proof Nor can I reconcile it to those many Instanâ—es of Prayer recorded in the New Testament in none of which do we Read of this being us'd Nay I do not think his Lp. or any Man else supposes himself oblig'd to use the Lords Prayer always â—e pray whenever we crave a Blessing on our food But dos his Lp. â—lways use the Lords Prayer on that occasion So that we must be cautious of stretching our Saviours words too far For if we shou'd take 'em in their most strict sense we shou'd never offer up any other Prayer but that at all 3. The compilers of the Directory seem to give the most fair and just Account of the Lords Prayer viz. That it was chiefly design'd as a perfect Pattern but may also be conveniently us'd as a Form of Prayer That 't is a perfect Pattern his Lp-will not deny and the admirable method and order as well as the comprehensiveness of it's Petitions shew it be so as to the matter
prescribed Forms shou'd exactly suit This is most obvious in our Closet-prayers There is scarce any one day in which we have not some occasion to vary our Requests There are some particular failings we have occasion particularly to confess renounce and implore divine Aid against Or there are some particular dutys which we need to beg direction and assistance for the discharge of So that our own meditation every day must suggest to us the most proper matter of our addresses to God and many requests sutable to our particular case must be excluded if we confine our devotions to the sett forms of others So that such as are at present forc'd thro their Ignorance and inability to confine themselves to such Forms are like lame People that cannot go without the help of Crutches And for such so to sit down and satisfie themselves with their Book-prayer and prescrib'd Forms as to go no farther wou'd be to use the significant expressions of the excellent Bishop Wilkins as if a Man who had once need of crutches shou'd always afterwards make use of 'em and so necessitate himself to a continual Impotency Nay the Bp. himself cou'd not but own that the use of conceiv'd prayers is founded on that general Rule of Scripture which Commands us to ask of God what we lack p 56. But then he groundlesly adds the following words which 't is most proper I shou'd consider in this place viz. of this Rule our own Prudence makes the Application in such extemporary occasions but when we set up this human Application of this general Rule in opposition to that particular manner of asking Commanded by God and Practis'd by H. Men which is by sett and premeditated Forms in the ordinary Worship of God and turn God's way out of his worship to make room for one of our own This is to displace a particular Command of God on pretence of guiding our selves by a general one In which we are not only more liable to mistakes but we fail of paying due respect to God's directions For general Commands only take place in such Cases where God has not laid down a Particular Rule Answ His Lp. here very Prudently takes for granted what he has no where Prov'd that God has given a particular Command to the Christian Church to Pray in all ordinary cases by sett and premeditated Forms But has he brought any other Proof of this then that Christ once Recommended one comprehensive Pattern or Form And dos he think this amounts to a Command that we shou'd in all ordinary cases use Forms when there is not one tittle to that purpose in the H. Scriptures and Particularly in the New Testament when there are no such Forms given us by God nor the least Direction who shou'd compose 'em for us If we shou'd allow him that the Lords Prayer is prescrib'd as a Form that must be constantly us'd in Private and Publick Worship which he neither has nor indeed can any man Prove yet all that he cou'd infer thence were That we have a particular Command to use that Form but it will by no means follow that we have any such particular Command to use other human prescribed Forms in all our ordinary Prayers So that to use free prayer in our ordinary Publick Worship dos not displace any particular command nor turn God's way out of his Worship to make room for our own For God has undoubtedly by this general precept oblig'd us to free-prayer and has no way confin'd the use of it to extraordinary cases only having no way recommended any sett form to Christians unless we take this comprehensive patern of Christ's to be One and if we do that 's the only one he has enjoyn'd So that I may more justly hence infer That those turn God's way out of his Worship who confine men in their publick Administrations to such human sett-forms as God has no where enjoyn'd the use of by either general or particular precept and are indeed in the Bp's sense only human Inventions whereas those more exactly observe his directions who use the only form which there is any appearance of his having prescrib'd to us Christians but as to all other Prayers use the freedom which God allows us when he enjoyns no other Forms but this IV. It seems highly agreeable to the Wisdom of God that the mode of praying with or without a form shou'd be left so far undetermin'd as to confine us to neither way by any particular precept And therefore he has only given us general rules relating to this duty and one comprehensive either Pattern or Form but has left us in the particular exercises of this duty to the determination of Christian Prudence whether we shall use a sett-form or not For there is no doubt but that the ignorance and weakness of some may need such crutches as sett-forms especially when they pray with others and therefore such helps are allow'd ' em And yet more grown and improv'd Christians shou'd by their advancement in divine knowledge by their frequent consideration of their own necessities and by frequent exercise in this duty endeavour to attain those Gifts that may sett 'em above the need of those helps and enable 'em to express their own sentiments and desires in Prayer to God on all emergent occasions without running to other mens books and composures for that end Especially Ministers shou'd be furnisht with such a Gift And therefore God has not thought fit to hinder the exercise of and improvement in such an excellent Gift by prescribing to either People or Ministers a stinted Liturgy even in reference to the most ordinary occasions of Prayer V. For what his Lp. adds about the peoples joyning with the Minister in repeating of publick Prayer p. 36 37 38 c. I shall only subjoyn 1. That 't is not deny'd that the people exprest their joyning in the publick Prayers in Christian Assemblys by adding their Amen to 'em as appears from 1 Cor. 14.16 And if under the Old Testament they added to their Amen Hallelujah as 106 Ps 48. or He is good for his mercy endures for ever 2 Chron. 7.3 It makes no great difference in the matter 2. Yet he has brought neither precept nor example from the New Testament of the peoples Repeating the Prayer together with the Minister For that passage 4 Acts 24. proves no more than a consent of their minds 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to that Prayer which was then offer'd up And the same might be said of his instance out of the Old Testament 21 Judges 2. And here the Bp. very gravely obtrudes upon us a wonderful conceit of that Assembly being inspir'd not only to think the same thing but to utter the same words p. 37 for which there is no necessity from the words nor indeed any great probability For the instance of Paul and Silas it has less weight in it They might pray together tho one only spake and yet both use their
a Souldier to be without skill in the use of Arms from its special advantages and fruits as enabling a man on all occasions to relate his condition and suit his desires and expressions according to several emergencys and from the inconveniences a man is expos'd to by the want of it when being surpriz'd with any sudden exigency or strait he knows not how to relate his condition or bespeak God's assistance without having recourse to some prescribed Form which perhaps has no proper reference to the particular occasion p. 22 23 24. And I cannot better represent our judgment concerning these 2 different modes of Praying than in his excellent words What one saith of Counsel to be had from Books may be fitly applied to this Prayer by Book That 't is commonly of it self something flat and dead floating for the most part too much in generalitys and not particular enough for each several occasion There is not that life and vigour in it to engage the affections as when it proceeds immediately from the soul it self and is the natural expression of those particulars whereof we are most sensible And if it be a fault not to strive and labour after this gift much more is it to jeer and despise it by the name of extempore-prayer and praying by the Spirit which expressions as they are frequently us'd by some men by way of reproach are for the most part the sign of a profane heart and such as are altogether strangers from the power and comfort of this duty p. 12. Thus far that learned and pious Bp. whose sentiments in this matter are I perceive very different from his Lp's 4. They are far from excluding premeditation in the exercise of this Gift of Prayer On the contrary they think it ordinarily necessary as to the matter of our Prayers Nay they do not exclude all premeditation as to words any farther than the tying our selves to a Form of 'em may shut out such sutable petitions as the Spirit of God may suggest to our minds in the fervour of our Devotions which did not occur to 'em in our previous meditation And therefore they think the name of extempore and much more that of unpremeditated Prayers very unfit to express those which they offer up according to such an ability and gift For they suppose that such as pray with others especially in publick Assemblys shou'd prepare themselves for it by considering before-hand the particular cases and necessities of those that joyn with ' em And against such Prayers I can find nothing in that Text he alledges When thou goest to the house of God be not rash with thy mouth and let not thine heart be hasty to utter any thing before God For God is in Heaven and thou upon Earth therefore let thy words be few 5 Eccles 1 2. For sure his Lp. cannot think they enjoyn of Prayers by a prescrib'd Liturgy For if we pray so there 's no need of this caution that we shou'd not be rash with our mouth and that our wâ—rds be but â—ew because it will not lye in our power to enlarge or contract what we say when we confine our selves to the words that others dictate to us The Text dos indeed properly refer to private vows in the house of God but may by parity of reason be suppos'd to forbid our Praying without due premeditation and multiplying our expressions without any sutable affections Which caution we account very necessary in all free-free-prayers even in private and much more in publick ones So that this place affords a much stronger Argument for Free-prayers than against ' em 5. They do not condemn all Forms of Prayer either in private or publick as unlawful in themselves They recommend such Forms to those whose inability renders such helps needful Many of their practical writings propose such Forms to the ignorant and weak The Westminster-Assembly expresly recommend the use of the Ld's-Prayer as a Form Nay the Nâ— Ministers that treated with those commissionated by K. Charles the 2d at the Savoy propos'd a Reformed Liturgy with some allowance of liberty to Ministers for free occasional Prayer as a ground of accommodation Of which I shall have occasion to take more notice in what follows Having premis'd this just Account of the Dissenters Principles I come II. To examine those which his Lp. ascribes to 'em p. 43 44 c. which I shall do in his own words least I shou'd be thought to wrong him as notoriously as he has done his Brethren Speaking concerning their way of Prayer I shall endeavour saith he to represent it with all fairness and impartiality and leave you to judge as God shall direct you and as you 'll answer it at the last day 1. And here I find that some of your Writers are of opinion that the Spirit of Prayer is given to all the children of God in some measure for enabling their hearts to conceive and their tongues to express convenient desires to God and that therefore Forms of Prayer are of no necessary use either in publick or private on the contrary that they stint the Spirit and hinder men from stirring up or using that Gift that God has given ' em 2. Others of you go farther and affirm that all Forms of Prayer are unlawful to Christians and that therefore 't is a sin to joyn in a Worship where they are us'd or to be present at it 3. That the Minister is the mouth of the Congregation and and that he only is to speak publickly to God in behalf of the people and that they are not to joyn their voices but only their hearts with him Upon these Principles you forsake our Worship c. And First For that position of your Directory that the Spirit of Prayer is given to all the children of God in some measure for enabling their hearts to conceive and their tongues to express convenient desires to God I entreat you to consider what promise or foundation it has in Scripture c. and in the same p. 45. This Doctrine is a meer Invention of men and the Worship built on it a vanity in the sense of our Saviour 7 Mark 7. This Principle his Lp. largely endeavors to confute from p. 45. to p. 53. where he calls it the great Principle of the Dissenters Worship and tells the people Now my friends it lies upon your Teachers who are of this persuasion to produce plain Scripture for your Principles or else to confess c. Again p. 62. he falls severely on this poor Principle Answ I am afraid I shall much surprize his Lp. when I tell him that I can find no such Principle nor indeed any thing like it either in sense or sound in the whole Directory I wou'd therefore entreat him to read it over once more that he may oblige me with the account of the page where it lies And I may the more reasonably request this favour of him because he has put me to the
trouble of reading it twice or thrice over on this occasion to no purpose And I suppose the Reverend Compilers of the Directory gave him no commission to coyn principles for 'em meerly that he might have the satisfaction of confuting ' em But I 'll do him the Justice he has not done them by acquainting the Reader that upon a strict enquiry I suppose his Lp. has mistaken some directions of a General Assembly in Scotland concerning secret and Family Worship c. printed there A. D. 1647. for the Directory of publick Worship publisht by the Assembly of Divines at Westminster A. D. 1644. And if I be in the right in this conjecture I must add that I cou'd very easily forgive him this mistake if he had us'd any sincerity in representing the judgment of that grave and pious Synod But if it appear that he has obtruded upon 'em an Opinion which they no way assert nay which the passage from whence he draws it is rather inconsistent with then the best Apology he can make for himself is to own his mistake and to make 'em some reparation for so gross an abuse And whether this be not the true Account of the matter I leave the Reader to judge when he compares the words of the Assembly with the Opinion the Bp. ascribes to ' em In the fore-mentioned directions of that Assembly concerning secret and Family-Worship p. 9. Direct 9. are these words So many as can conceive Prayer ought to make use of that Gift of God Albeit these who are rude and weaker may begin at a sett Form of Prayer but so as they be not sluggish in stirring up in themselves according to their daily necessities the Spirit of Prayer which is given to all the children of God in some measure To which effect they ought to be more fervent and frequent in secret Prayer to God for enabling their hearts to conceive and their tongues to express convenient desires for their Family Now if these be the words his Lp. refers to I wou'd desire him to consider a little better how he can deduce this principle out of 'em viz. That the Spirit of Prayer is given to all the children of God in some measure for enabling their hearts to conceive and their tongues to express convenient desires to God and as his Lp. adds p. 53. without a Form For the Bp. hereby supposes that this Assembly thought that the Spirit of Prayer was the Gift of Prayer and that this Gift was in some measure given to all the children of God to enable 'em to pray without a Form And therefore what the Assembly calls stirring up in themselves the Spirit of Prayer he explains by stirring up the Gift p. 44. And accordingly his arguments against 'em all run on this supposition that they oppose praying by the Spirit to praying by a Form and imagin the Spirit and Gift of Prayer to be the same thing and accordingly he makes decency of expression a part of the Spirit of Prayer p. 46. Now what can be more opposite to the words and scope of that Assembly Do they not distinguish Christians into 2 sorts such as are more judicious and strong and such as are more rude and weak Is it not the formâ—r whom they suppose to have the gift of conceiving Prayer And do they not suppose the latter to be at present destitute of that gift and as Bp. Wilkins expresses it to need Forms as impotent people do crutches they do indeed say the spirit of prayer i. e. a devout and praying disposition is given in some measure to all the children of God But they do not suppose therefore that all who have the spirit of prayer have the gift also but the quite contrary All that their words can be reasonably extended to import is That whereas there are manifold daily necessities of Christian Families which prescribed Forms cannot suit 't is a great infelicity to be unable to express our desires to God in those cases And therefore such as labour under that impotency shou'd be earnest to beg of God such an ability and gift so far as 't is necessary for their due discharge of this duty to the edification and comfort of their Familys that they ought in order to the attainment of it to cherish the spirit of Prayer i. e. those devout desires and affections which the spirit of God communicates in some measure to all his children according to their various necessities and which cannot but be greatly hindred and dampt when our inability confines us wholly to the use of Forms which cannot suit the particular condition of our selves and Families And they suppose that such an ability to pray sutably to our particular necessities is one of the ordinary gifts of the H. Spirit which private Christians shou'd beg of God and have encouragement to hope for so far as 't is necessary to their complyance with his general commands of making known their requests to him in every thing in the diligent use of such helps as they are furnisht with and frequent exercising themselves in this excellent duty Their words also do imply that the more we grow in a devout and praying disposition the more easily may we attain some measure of that Gift since out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks and the more we feel our own spiritual necessities the more easily dos the pinching sense of 'em supply us with expressions and arguments in pleading with God for relief of ' em And as this is all that can be drawn from their words without offering violence to 'em so 't is no more than as I have shewn him Bp. Wilkins asserts and if his Lp. have any thing to object against any of these Assertions which are genuinely deduc'd from their words I shall be very glad to hear it But for the Position he ascribes to that Assembly as laid down and expounded by him 't is his own and not theirs And therefore 't is he is concern'd to prove it and seems not to deal so ingenuously as he shou'd in insulting so scornfully over his own man of straw For all his grave Reasonings concern no avowed Principle of the Dissenters and his discourse from p. 46. to p. 57. on this head is so far from being grateful and instructive to the Readers of all sorts as he imagins p. 49 that it rather nauseates all judicious Readers to find his Lp. when he pretends to explain these matters and set 'em in so clear a light so miserably confound those 2 things the Spirit and Gift of Prayer which all accurate Writers on both sides so carefully distinguish and must necessarily do so unless they have a mind to fight with shadows and contend in the dark without understanding one another And therefore because he may despise our Instructions I wou'd desire his Lp. before he writes any more on this subject to read the 3 first Chapters of Bp. Wilkins Gift of Prayer which he
we must do it on the uncertain credit of Rabbinical Writers whose testimony is of little value and not on the testimony of the H. Scripture yet I see not how the Bp. can make any more of this than that our Saviour thought it not unlawful to joyn in such publick forms of prose-prayer but it will by no means follow that he preferr'd such publick forms before free-prayers and design'd by his practice to recommend the former to the Christian Church to the exclusion of the latter For as I shall shew him anon there are strong presumptions to the contrary And yet unless his Lp. cou'd draw this Inference from our Saviour's and the Apostles practice I see little service it can do him Nay I fear if the Argument from our Saviour's and his Apostles practice herein be urg'd so far it will prove much more than those intend who use it For it will prove that we ought in imitation of their example to retain and adhere to that Liturgy which these Gentlemen pretend the Jews had and which they tell us they can yet produce the particular parts of to whose forms of Prayer Dr. Comber tells us that our Saviour added his and was herein so afraid of Innovation as to take every sentence out of the jewish Forms then in use * Orig. of Lis. p. 6. If so why is not this jewish Liturgy still us'd by us If we must have a stinted Liturgy such a one were most unexceptionable as we are sure our Saviour approv'd by joyning in Why then shou'd ordinary Pastors presume to frame Liturgys of their own and use that liberty in composing 'em which our Saviour was too mâ—dest to allow himself And why shou'd they impose so many forms on others when our great Master impos'd but one and such a one as he borrow'd the very sentences of from the Forms then publickly us'd So that these Gentlemen shou'd if they will be consistent with themselves plead for laying aside our Liturgy and using that old one which Dr. Lightfoot has so happily retriev'd for us out of the Jewish Rabbins I wou'd therefore advise 'em to use this Argument from the practice of the Jewish Church in our Saviour's time about which we are at the best but very uncertain with great tenderness and caution least they overdo with it and least the jewish Liturgy instead of under propping the Common-Prayer-Book undermine and throw it down 2. He tells us p. 31. That our Saviour has put this matter out of all dispute with impartial men by prescribing a Form to his Disciples when they desired him to teach them to pray as John did his Disciples For we find his way of teaching 'em was not by directing 'em to wait for the impulses of the Spirit and immediate Inspiration from God of what they were to offer up to him We do not find him saying When ye pray speak what shall then come into your minds or what shall be given you in that hour without taking thought about what they shou'd say c. But here is an express command of Christ to his Disciples to use these words when they pray Answ His Lp. has a very happy faculty of arguing matters of Dispute before he state 'em For indeed the stating 'em might chance to spoyl all the force of his Arguments and therefore he generally thinks it more adviseable to let that alone He tells us Our Saviour has put this matter out of all Dispute with impartial Men by prescribing a Form to his Disciples What matter of Dispute dos his Lp. mean Is it whether a form of Prayer be lawfull Or is it whether our Saviour has prescrib'd a stinted Liturgy to the Christian Church in their publick Administrations or whether he has commission'd Ordinary Pastors to prescribe and impose such a Liturgy and confine others to the use of it Or whether he in general enjoyns us to pray only by a Form or not ordinarily without one If he mean the first whether a Form of Prayer be lawfull That 's no matter of Dispute at all between the Dissenters and the Establisht Church for as I shall shew him anon there is never a Meeting in which they do not use one and there are many in which this particular form of prayer is constantly us'd So that if this be all he wou'd prove he may spare his labour tho perhaps his Arguments for this are not altogether so convincing and solid as he imagines If the Question be whether our Saviour has prescrib'd a stinted Liturgy to the Christian Church as one wou'd think it shou'd What signifies his prescribing this single form to the proof of it unless the Bp thinks our Liturgy shou'd consist only of that one prayer or cou'd produce more forms prescrib'd by our Saviour to make up a Liturgy And if he cou'd do that what will become of the Service-Book What have we to do with that human Invention when we have a Liturgy appointed and compos'd by our Saviour himself If the Quest be Whether our Saviour has commission'd the ordinary Pastors of the Church to prescribe and impose publick Forms what dos all he here alledges about this single form prescrib'd by Christ signifie to prove any such thing when he can produce no such commission nor the least shadow of it in all the New Testament nay when the Rules of it about Prayer seem rather inconsistent with any such Commission as I shall shew him anon If the Quest be Whether our Saviour in general enjoyns us to pray only by a form or not ordinarily without one what dos any thing his Lp. has alledg'd signifie to the right determination of this Question If he design to prove that Christ by prescribing this form has enjoynd in general our Praying only by a sett form and never otherwise as one wou'd think his following words wou'd import when he tells us That our Saviour's teaching 'em was not by directing 'em to wait for the impulses of the Spirit and immediate Inspiration from God of what they were to offer up to him We do not find him saying when ye pray speak what shall come into your minds or what shall be given you in that hour without taking thought about what they were to say he knows well enough his Argument is no way conclusive For he himself owns that God has not forbidden all extempore prayers nay owns that some occasions require the use of 'em in publick and that in such cases a man may depend on the assistance of God's Spirit when he has not-time to reduce his desires into form before he offers 'em p. 54 55. He cannot therefore without contradicting himself pretend that our Saviour by prescribing this form intended to exclude all extempore or free prayer Nor is there any force in the Argument to prove that our Saviour intended to oblige us ordinarily to pray by a form because he once prescrib'd one as a comprehensive summary of our desires For his general Rules
of Prayer And the words of our Lord seem to recommend it also as a fit Compendium and Summary of our Desires Tho that it was so strictly intended for a Form as that all alteration of the words in it shou'd be so dangerous as the Bp. suggests I do not see And 't is strange he shou'd no better ward off the common objection against this conceit viz. That the words of the Prayer are not the same in the 2 Evangelists For tho we shou'd allow him that trespasses and debts are the same in the Syriack yet sure he cannot be ignorant that not only are the words different in the 4th Petition but what is more material the Doxology is left out in the Evangelist Luke where our Saviour's words seem more express for the use of this Prayer Nay 't is pleasant that his Lp. shou'd to aggravate the danger of altering the words compare it to the danger of altering those of our Creed p. 35. As if he did not know that the words of it have been frequently alter'd that no writer in the 3 first Centuries has the Creed call'd the Apostle's in the same words that we have now and that the Forms we meet with in Ignatius Irenaeus Tertullian Origen Cyprian and Gregory Neocaesar are all in different words nay in some Forms several Articles are inserted that are not in others Nay in the Creed as we have it no doubt the Article of Christ's descending into Hell shou'd be alter'd as to the words of it because we do not commonly take Hell for the invisible state which 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 was design'd to express I confess 't is something more formidable when he compares the danger of altering the words in the Lord's-Prayer to that of changing the word given by the General in a Battel p. 35. Tho where the wit or sense of the comparison lies I cannot imagine unless his Lp. thinks the bare words of that Prayer to be as frightful to the Infernal Fiends as some crafty Priests have pretended the Name or Psalter of the Virgin Mary is but apprehends those our spiritual enemies will resume their courage if we make the least change in ' em I shall only add here That his Lp. has not produc'd any other instance of a prescrib'd Form of Prayer in the New Testament besides this He dos indeed p. 50. tell us That Christ in his Agony repeated a verse of the 22d Psalm and as some believe says he the whole Psalm by which Act he recommends to us Forms of Prayer with his dying breath as the most proper means of expressing our condition to God and as most sutable to the divine Majesty To which I shall only return this brief Answer That his Lp. wou'd have done well first to have told us what grounds any have to believe that our Saviour repeated the whole Psalm and if he did not how the repeating one verse of it so applicable to his present case shou'd be a proof of his using a form of Prayer at all and much more how it shou'd prove his recommending such forms to us with his dying breath c. As if a man might not in a free prayer choose out and apply some scriptural expressions to his own case Indeed the words he quotes are not properly a Prayer at all and if they were look altogether as like an instance of occasional free-prayer so that if I wou'd argue at this loose rate I might with as good reason pretend that our Lord recommended extempore-prayers with his dying breath c. II. The Bp. has not produc'd the least evidence of Christ's enjoyning or recommending to Christian Churches the use of stinted Liturgys even as to the ordinary publick Prayers which they are to offer up So that tho the same matters of Prayer constantly occur in that duty when publickly offer'd especially in the celebration of Baptism and the Ld's-Supper yet neither dos our Saviour nor his Apostles prescribe any stated forms for ' em Whereas if our Lord had judg'd 'em so necessary or so highly useful as some pretend Nothing cou'd have been more conducive to have fixt the use of 'em and prevented all corruptions in 'em as well as scruple about 'em than to have furnisht the Church with a Divinely inspired Liturgy Nay what is more considerable Christ and his Apostles content themselves with giving us general commands to pray and with all prayer and suppliâ—ation for all men c. but never gave the least order to the Pastors of the Church to compose forms of Prayer for publick Worship in those Churches that were planted and settled under the care of ordinary Teachers who had not the same immediate Inspiration as the Apostles themselves Dos not this plainly imply that they took not such an imposed Liturgy to be necessary to the Churches Edification and Peace but rather suppos'd that the ordinary occasions of publick Prayer were too various and different to be confin'd to such sett and prescrib'd forms If it be pretended there was no need of their prescribing such Forms when the Jewish Liturgy was still extant and us'd I answer That not to repeat what has been objected against the pretensions of a stinted Liturgy among the Jews I hope none can imagin that a Jewish Liturgy cou'd be sutable to the Christian Oeconomy after our Saviour's Ascension in the Christian Churches that were planted by the Apostles So that if a Liturgy in general were necessary to the Christian Church there was the greater reason why they shou'd have substituted one in the room of the Jewish in the Churches they settl'd Since then they no way so much as recommend such a Liturgy but left even ordinary Pastors to the free exercise of their own abilities in Prayer as well as in other parts of their publick ministrations We may with great probability infer that they judg'd it more conducive to Edification that the Pastors of Churches shou'd use those ordinary gifts wherewith they were furnisht for the performance of this duty without being ty'd up to any sett-forms And accordingly those that have been most anxiously concern'd to find out fixed and stinted Liturgys in the 3 first and purest Ages of Christianity have but lost their labour and have but trifled with us in their most confident pretences to discover such Liturgys As appears by Mr. Clerkson's Discourse of Liturgys and Mr. S B's Examination of Dr. Comber's Answer in his Scholastical History of the use of Liturgys III. 'T is evident That the general Rules of Scripture cannot be duly observ'd by those that pray no otherwise than by a sett Form of Words They command us to pray with all Prayer and Supplication and for all men In every thing to make known our Request to God 6 Eph. 18. 4 Col. 6. 1 Tim. 2.1 c. Now 't is evident there is a vast variety of occasions and emergencys in which we shou'd apply our selves to God by Prayer which it cannot be expected any
will find wrote with admirable judgment and much more grateful and Instructive than those crude and indigested Notions he has here offer'd There are several passages in what he saith on this pretended Principle of the Dissenters which I have elsewhere taken notice of and shall only add that whereas p. 45. he tells us There is no Command in Scripture requiring us to worship or pray to God in a conceiv'd extemporary or unpremeditated Form or so much as an example in a settl'd ordinary Congregation where it was practis'd I hope I have already said enough to satisfy an unprejudic'd Reader that God's commands in reference to Prayer do certainly enjoyn free prayer that there is not the least command to pray in general by sett Forms that there is no command for the use of any particular Form unless the lord's-Lord's-Prayer which yet is but doubtful And that there are more examples of free prayer in Scripture than of Prayer by prescrib'd Forms That there is not the least evidence of any prescribed Liturgy us'd in the Apostles time or in the 2 or 3 succeeding ages and consequently there is great reason to conclude they us'd free prayer or pray'd in the exercise of their abilities and gifts so that we have far more probable grounds to conclude prescrib'd Liturgies of human composure destitute of scriptural precâ—pt and example And if his Lp. will on that account censure 'em as an human Invention and a piece of vain Worship he may use his liberty For I shall satisfy my self with defending our own practice without such harsh Reflections of that of others P. 50. His Lp. asserts without the least proof That Moses David and our Saviour us'd Forms of Prayer For the Instance that relates to our Saviour it has been already consider'd So when p. 52. he shou'd prove that H. men in Scripture reduc'd their Prayers into Forms before they offer'd 'em up in the Congregation he dos not produce one instance relating to Prayer in prose about which the only dispute lies much less dos he produce any instance of their using Forms of such Prayers compos'd by other men and those uninspired persons too His Lp. having examin'd this first Principle he charges the Dissenters with proceeds to the Second That all Forms of Prayer are unlawful to Christians and that 't is a sin to joyn in a Worship where they are us'd or so much as to be present at it And this Principle his Lp. takes the pains to confute from p. 57. to p. 65. I do indeed perceive that he was better advis'd than to quote any Writer among the Dissenters for this strange opinion But since in his laborious confutation of it he all along supposes some considerable part of the Dissenters to be maintainers of it I must freely tell his Lp. that unless he can produce some one Author at least that has asserted any such Principle I must make bold to charge the breach of the 9th Command upon him and hope he 'll either produce us some testimonies of such as avow and maintain it or do us the justice of retracting so gross a calumny For my own part I never yet met with any one person amongst either their Ministers or their people that ever entertain'd so wild and unreasonable an Opinion Nor indeed can they entertain it without plainly condemning their own continual practice Dos he not know that the Dissenters call'd Congregational as well as those call'd Presbyterian do every meeting dismiss the people with a Form of Prayer I mean the Apostolical Blessing The Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ the Love of God and the Communion of the H. Spirit be with you all Amen 2 Cor. 13. v. 14. And can he deny this to be a Form of Prayer when the solemn Blessing among the Jews 6 Numb 23. which Aaron and his Sons were order'd to pronounce is one of his Lordship's chief instances of a prescribed Form of Prayer So that if there be any Dissenters of the Opinion his Lordship attributes to 'em they shou'd renounce Communion with their own Churches and much more with the Dutch and French Churches among whom larger Forms are frequently us'd which he knows they are far from doing whatever others may have done who so uncharitably unchurch 'em for want of Prelatical Ordination I have already told him that the Directory recommends the Lord's Prayer as a Form and such Forms of Prayer were drawn up for publick use by the NC Divines at the Savoy in their Proposals for Accommodation and indeed the most unexceptionable ones I have yet seen as consisting almost entirely of scriptural expressions Nay even those who are most severe in condemning stinted Liturgys do it not because they think Forms of Prayer unlawful but because they look on the confining all publick Prayers to such prescribed Forms as a pernicious Engine to exclude the exercise of that Ability or Gift with which all duly qualifi'd Ministers are endu'd for Prayer as well as Preaching nay to exclude many occasional requests which such sett Forms cou'd make no particular provision for So that the whole of what he has said from p. 57. to p. 65. dos no more concern the Dissenters than himself and 't is easy for his Lp. to triumph when he meets with no Adversary And yet there are some things in his confutation of this pretended Principle very liable to exception As to instance in two 1. Since it appears by the foregoing Remarks that God has no more commanded our Praying with a Form than without one he shou'd if he had been impartial have represented the contrary Opinion of the unlawfulness of free prayer to be of altogether as dangerous consequence as that which he confutes and he 'll find that the best arguments he brings against the latter are altogether as valid against the former For that former Opinion wou'd have divided men from the Communion of the whole Church in its first and purest Ages And the forbidding free-prayer is attended with as many pernicious effâ—cts as the forbidding of Forms and perhaps more so that the Devil may have altogether as subtil and dangerous designs to drive on by seducing men to the one of these mistakes as to the other Nay this Opinion of the unlawfulness of free-prayer may as much tend to flatter men with a good opinion of themselves as if they discharg'd that duty sufficiently when like the Papists they have run over their Beads As the other Opinion can tempt men to think they are partakers of the sanctifying influences of the H. Spirit because they partake of a common Gift And I am sure the condemning free-prayer has a far more pernicious influence to hinder secret devotion For in free-prayer a man needs not express his desires in words at all and therefore need not forbear praying for want of a Form whereas if he omit free-free-prayer he must rarely ever suit that part of his devotions to his particular circumstances and condition 2. As his
Lp. has sufficiently wrong'd the Dissenters by falsly imputing such a Principle to 'em so he has greatly added to the injury by telling the world That on this account the pious custom of training up young people to a constant course of Devotion in their morning and evening secret prayers is too universally laid aside among the Dissenters as he has found by experience and for the truth of the observation he saith he dare appeal to all of the Dissenters Answ What is it that a man who is grown remarkable for his Talent of asserting boldly dare not venture on But sure he cannot hope by meer confidence to persuade us out of our senses And therefore since he appeals to us in this matter we must needs tell him We take what he asserts to be contrary to undoubted matter of Fact For we know of no Protestants in the world that more universally urge all in their Families to constant secret prayer than the Dissenters And we cou'd wish there were proportionably to the numbers on each side one of their Communion for five or ten of the Dissenters that maintain daily Family-prayer I know comparisons are odious and therefore shou'd never have made this if his Lp's gross partiality had not extorted it who in this charge has seem'd to lay aside all regard to truth or indeed to any appearance and shew of it It were very desirable that some of our Convocations wou'd take as effectual a course to promote secret and Family-devotion as that General Assembly in Scotland on whose words he wou'd have obtruded his first pretended Principle of the Dissenters who not only advise all particular persons to prayer and meditation but enjoyn Pastors to press it on all under their charge and the Heads of Familys to have a care that both themselves and all within their charge be daily diligent therein Directions c. p. 1. And I can hear of no Ministers that so frequently urge this duty on their People as theirs Nor do I know of any among the Dissenters that scruple the teaching their children the Lord's Prayer or other short Forms tho they may perhaps take more pains than others to prevent their saying 'em by rote without understanding ' em But I wonder much what his Lp. means when he tells us so gravely p. 64. As for children and ignorant people among those of this persuasion I am well assured many of 'em never bow their knees in secret to God and several of those that are grown up are forc'd to speak aloud or cannot pray at all which is against the nature of secret-secret-prayer and exposes not only the person that uses it to the censure of hypocrisy but the duty to contempt I shall not now enquire how he is assur'd of what they do or do not in secret Nor need he sure be told that there are too many children and ignorant people in their Communion as well as that of the Dissenters that after all the pains taken to persuade 'em to their duty do yet neglect it But sure there is some strange mystery in what he asserts of those that are grown up if we cou'd but find it out Dos hâ—s Lp. then imagin that praying without a Form must necâ—ssâ—rily dispose a man to speak loud whereas if he pray'd by a Form it wou'd oblige him to whisper his devotions softly Or wou'd a conforming Lay-man that 's unaccustom'd to secret Prayer be less liable to this inconvenience of bawling out because he has his Prayer book before him Sure one wou'd think there 's as little danger of this in conceived prayer in which we need not foâ—m our dâ—sires into words or use our voice at all But if his Lp. in this only design'd to â—ell us of the weakness that some indiscreet persons have run into perhaps thro their zeal and earnestness tho ill-govern'd but which their opinion or practice as Dissenters has no influence on Why dos he trouble the world with such little impertinent storys as signify nothing to the purpose unless it be to expose his way of arguing to be smil'd at by the children and ignorant people themselves But what trifling things may not a wise man say when he pleads the Cause of a Party instead of that of Truth For his Lp's Third Principle of Dissenters viz. That the Minister is the Mouth of the Congregation and that the people have nothing to do but to joyn with him in their hearts I shall only suggest concerning it That 't is true we think the Minister is the Mouth of the Congregation and can find neither precept or pattern in Scripture for the Congregation's repeating a whole prayer together with the Minister much less of their so dividing the words between 'em as that the people rather make the Prayer as in most Petitions of she Litany nor dos the passage he alledges from 15 Rom. 6. prove any such thing And therefore on his weak Principles we might condemn their practice in this point as unlawful But we are far from being so rash and forward in our blind censures as he groundlesly insinuates p. 66. Nor do we as he here asserts suppose that the people have nothing to do but to joyn in their hearts with the Minister but suppose their adding their Amen a fit testimony of their assent to the publick Prayers they joyn in and he may in the Morning-Exerciâ—es of the Dissenting Ministers Printed at London find a whole Sermon on that head urging the people to pronounce their Amen more audibly than usually they do Having examin'd his Lp's unjust Account of their Principles I think it requisite to add a few things relating to Secondly Their general practice Concerning which I shall only suggest 1. Such as follow the Directory tho they are not confin'd to the words there propos'd yet look on 'em as the patterns to which the ordinary part of their Prayers shou'd be conform'd And accordingly The Directory dos require Ministers to pray to that effect Nor dos it disallow the use of those very expressions where the defectiveness of the Minister's Gifts or his unpreparedness by meditation renders it most conducive to publick edification So that neither are such Ministers left arbitrarily to choice as to the most stated and constant matters of Prayer nor the people left wholly at uncertainty about ' em 2. All Forms of Words in publick Worship are not disus'd by ' em They constantly use our Saviour's words 2 S Matth. 19. I Baptize thee in the Name c. in that Ordinance So do they retain his own words in the delivering the Bread and the Cup in the Lord's-Supper tho by the way our Service-Book has groundlesly alter'd and transform'd 'em into a Prayer for which I hope his Lp. will censure the Compilers of it as having preferr'd their own Invention before Christ's Institution So when they give the Blessing which is a Prayer they do it usually in some of the Apostolical Forms mention'd in the New
Testament Several of 'em use the Lord's-Prayer as a Form according to the advice of the Directory And for those that disuse it 't is because they either think it no Form suited to the Christian Church after Christ's Resurrection and Ascention or else think it not intended as a Form but only a Pattern because they never read afterwards in the New Testament of its being us'd as a Form Nay perhaps some may be too much led to the disuse of it in opposition to the contrary extreme of others who place some peculiar merit or vertue in the repeating these words And his Lp. seems to be one that has run into this extreme not only by supposing us oblig'd to use these words whenever we pray p. 32 33. and making the use of 'em a Badge of our Christian Profession p. 35. but by recommending the saying these words as the way to obtain pardon for our infirmities in our other prayers p. 34. But I wonder who those are of whom his Lp. tells us that they publickly dispute against this Form because of that Petition in it Forgive us our Trespasses as we forgive them that trespass against us p. 34. For I cou'd never hear of any such publick Disputation on that Subject nor indeed of any Dissenter that ever offer'd such a foolish Objection some of 'em perhaps may have censur'd those as hypocritical in the use of this Petition who are so far from forgiving their enemies as to bear an irreconcilable temper towards their Friends and their Brethren 3. The true Reason why the Dissenting Ministers so generally disuse Forms of Prayer compos'd by others is not because they judge all Forms of Prayer unlawful but because they think free-prayer gives 'em the advantage to suit this part of their Ministrations better to the Edification of their people And they are very much confirm'd in this Opinion both by what they observe in the H. Scriptures and by experience As to the H. Scriptures They not only find no such stinted Liturgys prescrib'd either by Christ or his Apostles but no orders given to any Pastors of the Church to compose 'em for others much less any warrant to enjoyn the use of ' em They think it therefore most probable if not certain that even ordinary Pastors in the Apostles time and in some Ages after us'd free-prayer i. e. their publick Prayers as well as Sermons were the exercise of those ordinary Gifts and Abilities with which they were furnisht for their ministerial Office and not a meer repetition or reading of Forms presâ—ribed to 'em by others Nay they think the confining Pastors to such prescribed Forms renders 'em incapable of complying with the general Rules of Scripture that require us to suit our Prayers to all particular emergent occasions which the Bishop himself owns cannot well be done without the use of free or as he calls 'em extempore-prayers p. 54. They think it therefore every way the safest to come herein as near as possible to the practice of the Christian Church in the Apostles time and those succeeding Ages wherein it retain'd most of its primitive purity Nor are they less strengthened in their judgment by experience on which some stress may be justly laid when we are to determine the modes of Worship â—eft undetermin'd in Scripture agreeably to the general Rules of Scripture and especially that of doing all to Edification Now the Dissenters observe that where publick Forms have been impos'd and the ministration of Pastors confin'd to 'em It has been generally attended with ill effects both in reference to Ministers and people 1. In reference to Ministers For as in those Christian Countreys where Preaching has been disus'd and Forms of Instruction and Exhortation call'd Homilys or Sermons provided for the Clergy they have by this use of 'em sunk into general ignorance and sloth and taken little pains to furnish themselves with abilities to instruct their people So where stinted Liturgys have been impos'd the Clergy by the constant use of 'em generally so habituate themselves to these Crutches that they are unable to go without 'em and find themselves at a great loss when they shou'd accommodate their publick or private prayers to that great variety of particular occasions wherein they shou'd be the mouth of their people in their addresses to God Whereas the constant exercise of their abilities in publick Prayer as well as Preaching greatly improves 'em and furnishes 'em for assisting their Flocks with their prayers in all those manifold necessities in which prescribed Forms are no more peâ—tinent to their case than general remedies to particular diseases 2. In reference to the peâ—ple For they generally observe them prone to grow more cold and unaffâ—cted under the continual use of such forms and consequently in greater danger of turning that holy duty into a customary lifeless repetition of the words prescribed to ' em And tho this be not in it self a necessary inevitable consequence of prescribed formâ— because no doubt a well prepared mind may use such with true fervor of pious affection yet considering the common temper of mankind there is something in the constant use of the same words that dos as naturally tend to dull our affections as the constant use of the same Instrument and Tune is tedious to a musical Ear whereas a sutable variety tends more to raise and elevate ' em And tho perhaps some few very devout persons may avoid this inconvenience of constant publick Forms yet it seems incurable in the generality of the people whose case must be chiefly consider'd when we consult their Edification in determining the particular modes of Worship I will not disown that there are some inconveniencys on the other side which I shall propose with the same freedom and offer my thoughts of ' em 'T is indeed true as the Bp. suggests p. 41. that in a stinted Liturgy the people are more exactly acquainted before-hand with the words of the Prayer they are to joyn in than when the Minister is left to the exercise of his own Abilities But as this inconvenience relates rather to the words than the ordinary matter of our Prayers so how little weight there is in the argument drawn thence against free-prayer I refer the Reader to the excellent reply given to it by the fore-mentioned Bp. Wilkins Gift of Prayer p. 12. Whereas saith that pious Author 't is commonly objected by some That they cannot so well joyn in an unknown Form For so he calls free-prayer in respect of those that hear it with which they are not before-hand acquainted I answer That 's an inconsiderable Objection and dos oppose all kind of Forms that are not publickly prescrib'd As a man may in his judgment assent unto any divine Truth deliver'd in a Sermon which he never heard before so may he joyn in his affections to a holy desire in a Prayer which he never heard before If he who is the Mouth of the rest deliver thro
imprudence what we cannot approve of God dos not look upon it as our Prayer if our desires do not say Amen to it But the main inconvenience arises from the danger of exâ—osing the duty to contempt by unbeseeming expressions which men of weak judgments often fall into Of which his Lp. gives us a hint p. 56. and give him his due expresses himself with great modesty and truly Christian prudence on that occasion where the weakness and indecencys of some might perhaps have given him some real advantage to expose ' em But as to this I shall only suggest That I think such as are incapable of using free-prayer without apparent hazard of rendring it contemptible by their indecent manner of performing it shou'd no more be admitted to the Ministerial Office than those that cannot Preach without the same danger Or at least that where no better can be had such shou'd rather according to the direction the General Assembly in Scotland fore-mention'd gives to Masters of Familys begin with some good Forms till by study and exercise they are capable to do better Having said thus much in reference to our practice I shall only subjoyn as to that of the Establisht Church 1. That for persons uninspir'd to compose Forms of Prayer and impose the use of 'em upon others is neither warranted by scriptural precept or pattern and is in the Bp's sense only an human Invention But to confine all publick Prayers to such prescribed Forms is inconsistent with the general Rules of the H. Scriptures relating to this duty 2. That the Reading of publick Prayer I mean Prose not Psalm-prayers has neither precept nor example in the Word of God nor indeed in the practice of the Primitive Church in which it was the common custom to pray either with their eyes shut or lifted up towards Heaven And indeed this practice tends so much to dull the affections of those that joyn in this duty that 't is great pitty that those who for want of the gift of prayer are obliged to use Forms shou'd not at least be furnisht with the gift of memory to repeat 'em without Book 3. I think the Arguments us'd in the grand Debate at the Savoy against the frequent Repetitions in the Litany and the shortness of the Collects as defects that needed being reform'd have never yet been well answer'd And now I shall conclude this Chapter by taking a little notice of the wonderful discovery the Bishop has made of that double Artifice or Trick the Dissenters use to make Forms of Prayer of their own pass with the people for extempore-ones The one by composing several Forms and committing 'em to memory and then transposing the several parts of 'em The other by remembring the several ways they have tried in their secret prayers to express the same thing p. 55 56. As to which I shall only observe That the Dissenters have some reason to take it unkindly that he shou'd expose their secrets to the world But this is a piece of treachery that must always be expected from those that desert their own Party and have no other way to ingratiate themselves with their new friends Only they wonder why he shou'd strive to make two secrets of one For they cannot clearly discern any greâ—ter difference between these two methods than between two different ways of expressing the same thing But to do right to his Lp's admirable Wit what he has discover'd is yet so real a secret to all I have discourst about it that I cannot find one of 'em was acquainted with it before and therefore we are all oblig'd to return him thanks for teaching us this new and more dexterous Art of managing our Devotions Remarks on the Chapter concerning Hearing And First for the Directions of the H. Scriptures about it I shall only observe I. THat I do fully agree with him in general That the Word of God shou'd be Read in Christian as well as in Jewish Assemblys There is no doubt it was so in the Jewish Synagogues And 't is highly reasonable to suppose that the Writings of the New Testament were design'd to be read in Christian Churches according to what the Bp. has quoted from 4 Col. 16. And there is no doubt they were so read in the Primitive Churches Tho that other place which the Bp. cites wherein the Apostle Paul charges Timothy to give Attendance to Reading as well as Exhortation and Doctrine 1 Tim. 4.13 will not afford any cogent argument to this purpose Because Reading here as well as Meditation v. 15. may be understood of those private subservient means which young Timothy was here advis'd to use for promoting his proficiency in divine knowledge and furnishing him the better for the exercise of his Ministry in Exhortation and Doctrine And this I take to be the more probable sense of the words II. That Reading the Law is in the Scriptures call'd Preaching of it I do not find any solid proof for For in the passage he alledges for this purpose 15 Acts 21. Moses in old time has in every City them that Preach him being read in the Synagogues every Sabbath-day Preaching may be there justly understood of those Expositions of the Law and Applications of it which were usual and are elsewhere observ'd by the Bp. from 13 Acts 14. p 75. And of such Exposition and Application 't is most reasonable to understand that noted place 8 Neh. 8. where 't is said They read in the Book in the Law of God distinctly and gave the sense and caus'd 'em to understand the Reading And the Bp. dos not expresly determine whether giving the sense must be understood of a Grammatical or a Theological Interpretation p. 74. I hope he includes the latter For indeed to suppose that those words meâ—râ—y relate to translating the words of the Law out of the Hebrew into another Language is to put a very jejune sense on 'em without the least necessity and contrary to probable evidence from other places and particularly from that fore-mention'd 13 Acts 14. To which I might add the testimony of Philo who tells us apud Euseb de Prepar Evang. lib. 8. cap. 2. that the Priests or one of the Elders was wont to read the Law and then distinctly explain it But tho I wou'd not exclude a Grammatical Exposition of the words of the Law from being intended here yet I fee no reason why the Bp. shou'd hence recommend to us the Reading the Original sometimes in publick Assemblys as he seems here to do p. 74. unless he cou'd suppose two things First that the body of our people cou'd as easily come to understand Hebrew and Greek as those Jewish Exiles might recover the knowledge of their mother-tongue and Secondly that the generality of Readers had the same Gift of Reading those Original Languages as some in the Primitive Church had of speaking all others viz. by Inspiration For I am afraid otherwise many of 'em wou'd but
children and using this common Jewish custom as our Saviour did of laying his hands on their heads while he prayd I shou'd not much quarrel with it tho why the Parish-Minister's Prayers and Blessing under whose Pastoral care they are shou'd not be as significant I know not But I understand no good reason why the Bishop shou'd be order'd to say in the Collect us'd on this occasion That he lays hands on 'em by the example of the H. Apostles to certify 'em by this sign of God's favour and gracious goodness towards ' em For I take the Arguments which the learned Daillé has produc'd against his Romish Adversaries in his admirable Discourse about Confirmation to prove That the Apostles laid hands on the newly-baptiz'd only to communicate the extraordinary gifts not the ordinary sanctifying influences of the H. Spirit to be unanswerable How come our Bishops then to lay hands on children after their Example when they do not pretend to any such power of communicating those extraordinary gifts as the Apostles had Nay what divine warrant have they to certify children by this sign of God's favour and gracious goodness towards ' em What promise can they produce of God's annexing his favour to this sign If they can produce such a promise here is a New Sacrament of divine Institution in the Christian Church besides Baptism and the Lord's-Supper If they can produce none here seems to be a new Human Sacrament For according to the definition of the Church-Catechism Here is an outward visible sign viz. The Imposition of hands 'T is a sign of spiritual grace no less than God's favour and gracious goodness The Sign is made a means of conferring it because those that use it profess to do it in imitation of the holy Apostles who did certainly by their Imposition of hands communicate the holy Spirit And 't is expresly made by the Collect a pledge to assure 'em of it Here wants nothing then but Christ's Institution which if it be not produc'd here is in the proper sense of the word a sinful Invention of men in the worship of God And we shall have the greater reason to be jealous of it if our Author advance the doctrine of it into an Essential Article of our Religion However we may hence perceive that 't was not in vain that the Church Catechism puts so wary an Answer into the childrens mouths when that Question is propos'd How many Sacraments are there Answ Two only as generally necessary to Salvation viz. Baptism and the Lord's-Supper But if Confirmation be a Sacrament of divine Institution at all I know not why it shou'd not be as necessary to Salvation as either of the other If it be not Why is it retain'd I know indeed there is a sort of Confirmation which those excellent Divines Mr. Hanmer and Mr. Baxter plead for i. e. They wou'd have adult persons oblig'd publickly to own their Consent to the Baptismal Covenant in order to their Admission to the Lord's-Supper But then they wou'd have this done at such years when they are capable of professing an understanding serious and credible consent to it But this can no way excuse the common practice of the Establisht Church in admitting children to it as soon as they can say the Creed the Lord's-Prayer and Ten Comandments tho no such understanding consent to their Baptismal Engagements can be expected from ' em For this is no better than perverting a most useful practice and agreeable to the general Rules of Scripture into an empty Formality or rather a solemn Trifling and Mockery Having dispatch't the First I come to consider the Bp's II CHarge against the practice of Dissenters which I shall deliver in his own words But the most sad and deplorable defect of your performance of this duty is your casting out the Reading of the Word of God from most of your publick Assemblys directly contrary to God's Institution and Ordinance for the Instruction of his Church Insomuch that in many of your Meetings setting aside a verse or two for a Text or Quotation at the discretion of the Teacher the voice of God is never publickly heard among ' em This is matter of fact and undeniable And in all the Meetings of the North of Ireland in a whole year perhaps there is not so much Scripture read as in one day in our Church by the strictest enquiry I cou'd make c. Sure 't is a sad thing that a man may go to most Meetings many years and never hear one entire Chapter read in ' em Answ T is really deplorable that some men when they write for a Party make so little conscience of Truth as to offer the most barefac't untruths for undeniable matters of fact And I am sorry that the Bp. shou'd be so unfortunate in his Enquirys as to meet with no better Informers than such as have so grossly impos'd upon his credulity in the accounts they have given him of the practice of Dissenters And therefore to ease him of these sad thoughs that he seems possest with on this occasion I must relate matters of fact more truly to him viz. That 't is the general practice of the Ministers in the North of Ireland for about three quarters of the year For in most Meetings the Winter quarter is only excepted to read every morning an entire portion of Scripture usually a whole Chapter or at least so much of one as they can go thro with in an Exposition of half an hours length And upon the best enenquiry I can make he will find very few Meetings if any at all that vary from this practice What Apology then can he make not only for his charging 'em with casting-out the Reading of the Scriptures but for his telling us that perhaps there is not so much Scripture read in all the Meetings in the North of Ireland in a year as in one day in the Establisht Church Let us suppose there are 40 Meetings in the North of Ireland and let us suppose in each Meeting half a Chapter read every Ld's-day for three quarters of the year And this is the least that is really read for they more commonly read a whole Chapter yet by this computation there will be near 800 Chapters read in those Meetings in a year And will his Lordship persuade us that there is as much read in one day in the Church If he mean that there is as much read in one day in all the Parish-Churches in the North there 's nothing like Truth in his Assertion If he mean there is as much read every day in each Parish-Church as his words seem to import what he asserts is so ridiculous that one wou'd think if he had no regard to truth yet he shou'd have some to common sense in his accusations Nay I must add that I look upon his Lordship's charge as so unjust that if we take the Scriptures to be read when-ever they are verbatim recited to the People
and so strangely mistakes the Remedy for the Disease I confess how much soever our Ears may itch after Novelty and Variety yet he cou'd not reasonably expect they wou'd be charm'd with contradictions which instead of tickling 'em grate upon ' em And truly if our Author gives us no better Exposition and Application of Scripture then this Wee 'l be much rather satisfy'd he shou'd only read it to us For then there wou'd be less danger of misunderstanding it But I wonder why his Lp. shou'd tell us of Prayers and Praises of God's appointment Dos he not know the Collects of the Liturgy are as much of human Composure as our free prayers Why then shou'd they be any more compar'd to Angels Food then ours which are rather more agreeable to scriptural precept and Pattern Nay if the Scriptures read be Sermons of Gods Appointment they are not the less so but the more for being explain'd and applied as appears from this very direction of the Apostle to Timothy to preach the word to be instant in season c. to rebuke c. I shall conclude what relates to our practise with the concluding words of this chapter of the Bp's But as Aaron to please the Israelites made the Golden Calf so some Ministers tho contary to their own principles have changed God's Institution to please their People and left out the constant regular Reading God's word because their People grew weary of it But let all men judg who behave themselves most like the faithful Ministers of Christ We who keep to the reading God's word according to his own Institution whether the People will hear or forbear or they that comply with 'em and lay aside God's command to oblige and please ' em Answ I have already consider'd the injustice of this charge And only add That those more fully comply with God's command who read and expound then those that only read And I am sure as the Dissenters practise herein costs 'em more labour so if their People be not more edify'd by it It must be their own fault With what justice then or indeed with what sense dos his Lp. compare the Dissenters practise herein to Aarons making a Golden Calf to please the People Are indeed Lectures and Sermons such dangerous Idols Or is Hearing the Scriptures expounded when read so pernicious a piece of Idolatry Is not the Interpretation of Scripture as truly a divine Ordinance as the Reading of it And will any man that considers what he saith set the one in opposition to the other Or rather wou'd not the confining Ministers to the Reading the Scriptures only tend to debase 'em into such a sort of Priests as Jeroboam made of the meanest of the People when he set up the Worship of the Golden Calves 1 Kings 12.31 I mean such Priests as need little other furniture for their publick Ministrations then their book and their eyes and are under no obligation to study the Scriptures because they are under no necessity of interpreting 'em to the People And what a sort of Clergy are to be found in Russia Muscovy and other parts of the Christian World where they are turn'd into meer Readers we have so sad accounts from History that if his Lp. intend to turn his Clergy into such by thus discouraging Sermons as an human Invention I shou'd not blame the dissenting ministers for being loth to come under his conduct and regulation I shall conclude this Chapter with observing in reference to the practise of the Establish't Church 1. That I suppose the Bp. will not pretend any Warrant from precept or Example in the Holy Scriptures for the reading such un-inspired Books as those of the Apocrypha together with the Canonical Writings of the Old and New Testament in the time of publick Worship And therefore I hope he 'l censure this himself for one of his human Inventions Especially since himself owns there is a tenth part of the old Testament left out of the Churches order for the Reading it sure to exclude that and introduce in the stead of it the story of Bell and the Dragon Tobit and his Dog c. looks very like the preferring meer human Composures some of which contain foolish and incredible Relations before that part of God's living Oracles Not to mention how little care is taken to distinguish 'em when read from the Canonical Scriptures and prevent the common people's mistaking 'em for such But however his Lp's prudence is commendable in taking no notice of this matter because those Accusations are best past over in silence against which there is no defence 2. That the common practise of the Conforming Clergy in the Countrey of having only one Sermon on the Lord's day nay in the far greatest number of Parishes of having no publick Worship at all one part of the day is a defect that needs some effectual Reformation 3. That the Dissenters seem to have better reason to blame the Conforming Clergy for casting out the Exposition of the Scripture when read as that Exercise is now distinguish't from Sermons then the Bishop to reproach them for not reading the Scripture Remarks on the Chapter concerning Bodily Worship And here First As to the Directions of the holy Scriptures concerning it 1. I Do readily agree with the Bp That Bodily Worship is Commanded in the Scriptures Not that I suppose it as his Lp. dos to be a distinct part of Worship from Prayer Praise c. but only a sutable Adjunct of it of which more afterwards 2. I do agree with him also that the most common postures of Bodily Worship mention'd in Scripture as us'd in Thanksgivings and Prayers were prostration kneeling or standing As to this last of standing the Bp. takes notice of it as us'd in Thanksgivings and p. 143. owns it to have been a Scripture-posture in Prayer too But since he gives no instances of it as us'd in Prayer I shall take leave to subjoyn a few and the rather because this is the posture the Dissenters most generally use in this duty when publickly perform'd Of this posture in Prayer the best Expositors understand Abraham's standing before the Lord 18 Gen. 22. Thus the Levites stood up in that Confession and Prayer they made 9 Neh. 4. c. So to cry to God and stand up are us'd as synonimous expressions 30 Job 20. And 15 Jer. 1. Moses and Samuel's standing before God is put for praying to him So also 18 Jer. 20. And accordingly it was as Grotius observes on 6 Matt. 5. the most universally-receiv'd custom among the Jews to pray standing Thus 18 Luke 10 11. Two men went up to the Temple to pray and standing is the religious posture us'd by each of ' em So 11 Mark 25. When ye stand praying forgive c. Hence Prayers were not only call'd Stations by the Jews among whom it was a celebrated saying That without stations the world cou'd not subsist but also by some of the most
in the Western as well as Eastern Churches for some Ages till by the Artifices and Tyranny of the Popes all or most of the Western Churches were reduc'd to a Conformity herein to that of Rome whose Publick Offices had frequent Additions to 'em and Changes in ' em And therefore 't is no wonder that when our first Reformers began to oppose the Corruptions of Popery they should yet retain the use of Liturgies For the Clergy were at that time so generally over-spread with deplorable Ignorance that it was not to be expected that those of 'em that embrac'd the Reformation should be immediately qualify'd to pray without Forms to which they had never been accustomed They were so far from being capable of that that they were judged generally unfit to instruct the People and therefore Homilies were composed for their use as well as Liturgies But as when by the Revival and Increase of Learning the Clergy generally acquir'd better Abilities and so Homilies were gradually laid aside the strong having no more need of such Crutches so the same might have been expected in reference to Prayer as well as Preaching And accordingly the Dissenters in England and the Presbyterians in Scotland did gradually revive the practice of praying without a stinted Liturgy And those in France and Holland that retain some few short Forms yet leave their 2Ministers at liberty to exercise their Gifts in free-occasional-free-occasional-Prayer and look on such stinted Liturgies as exclude this Exercise of the Ministers Abilities as too great an Encouragement to Sloth and Ignorance in ' em Insomuch as the foresaid Capellus when upon the like mistake with our Author he so sharply chides the N. C's in England for condemning Forms of Prayer as Vnlawful yet does he warmly censure the rigour of such as under pretence of certain and prescribed Forms of Liturgies study to banish out of the Church all use of Prayers conceived by particular Ministers Themselves and disowns this from being his Design So that the main Reason why our first Reformers retain'd Liturgies does not extend to such a state of the Church wherein the Learning and Abilities of Ministers are or should be so improv'd as to set 'em as much above the need of stinted Forms of Prayer as of Preaching And accordingly those Churches whose Reformation was carried to the greatest height did not by any Forms of Prayer they retain'd to express their Concord in that Duty exclude the use of free-Prayer Nor do any Dissenters condemn all publick use of Forms but only such as tempts Ministers to a neglect of the Gift of Prayer and hinders 'em from suiting all the Exigencies and Occasions of their Flocks in that part of their Publick Devotions For the Bishop's Reason why the generality of the People are better pleas'd with Extemporary Prayers than with such Forms viz. Because the Novelty of the one gratifies more Men's carnal and itching Ears with a kind of sensual delight and requires less pains to strain up their Minds to true Devotion p. 184 185. 'T is a very confused one wherein there is something of Truth mixt with weak and censorious Mistakes 'T is true indeed that considering the general temper of Mankind the Variety of Matter as well as of Expression in free Prayer tends more to raise Mens Devotion than the constant Repetition of the same Forms Nor can the People so readily believe that a Minister prays from his heart when he reads a prescribed Form as when he delivers a free Prayer that is the result of his previous meditation So that in this respect free Prayer has much the Advantage above Forms that 't is a greater Help to inward Devotion which is sufficient to recommend this mode of praying as in general far preferrable to the other There is something of Truth in those Expressions of Sir W. C. * Character of a Whig and Tory p. 20. tho' perhaps there is too much of the Air of a Gentleman in 'em When a Man qualify'd endu'd with Learning too and adorn'd with a good Life breaks out into a warm and well-deliver'd Prayer before a Sermon it has the appearance of a Divine Rapture He raises and leads the Hearts of the Assembly in another manner than the most composed and best studied Forms can do And the Pray-we's wou'd look like so many Statues or Men of Straw in the Pulpit compar'd with those who speak with so powerful Zeal that men are tempted to believe Heaven it self has directed their Words to ' em But why the Bp. should make it a carnal temper in the People to desire the best Helps that can be given 'em to excite their Devotions in Prayer and cure their natural indisposition to that Duty I cannot conceive It looks rather like a carnal temper in the Clergy to deny 'em this excellent Help to indulge their own Sloth and Ease Nor do I see why the People must be accus'd of itching Ears because they are prone to be more dull under the constant Repetition of the same Forms than under the Variety of Matter and Expression that occurs in free Prayer He might as well upbraid 'em with itching Ears because they wou'd be more dull in singing if the same Psalm and Tune were constantly used than when Variety of both is allow'd 'em or because they wou'd be more dull if the same Homilies were constantly read than under that more grateful variety of Instructions that Sermons contain But I wonder most why his Lordship shou'd in this respect compare free Prayer to Images and Relicks and Mediatory Saints p. 185. unless he fancies that the use of Images Relicks and Mediatory Saints does as much more contribute to raise true Devotion in the Worship of God than the simplicity of his own Uncorrupted Institutions as the use of free Prayer contributes more to it than stinted Forms And if he truly think so the Papists are greatly obliged to his Lordship for this favourable Character of the tendency and effects of these Superstitions But if his Lordship had duly consider'd that while free-Prayer continu'd in the Church these Superstitions were unknown in it and that they were gradually introduc'd in the same Ages in which stinted Liturgies gradually came into general use it might have prevented this invidious but groundless comparison between the influence of free Prayer and that of those gross Corruptions I am sure such stinted Forms when read out of a Book look more like lifeless Images of Devotion than those Prayers that are the result of the serious Meditations and Affections of him that delivers ' em And if the fondness of Ill People for any way of Devotion be an Argument that 't is not of God as the Bishop farther insinuates p. 185. I am apt to think it will make much more against stinted Liturgies than against free Prayer For he will hardly be able to perswade us that the Debauchee's of the Age dote on Extempore Prayers as he calls 'em and that the most serious
voices in singing together And as the Bp. himself observes It might be a Psalm they sung including both matter of prayer and praise Nor will it follow that because they might sing a Psalm-prayer that they might say a prose-prayer together And 't is strange that his Lp. shou'd produce the 6 Rev. 9 10 c. as an example of peoples joyning their voices in publick Prayer because we read there of the souls of the Martyrs under the Altar crying with a loud voice How long O Lord holy and true c. For sure he dos not take crying with a loud voice in a literal sense when spoken of departed souls that have none If indeed he cou'd prove that those souls had aetherial vehicles and in those vehicles were furnisht with organs of speech this might be a notable argument to his purpose But otherwise That argument he uses p. 40. from the peoples saying Amen at the end of the Prayer is better of the two tho how it will prove their repeating the whole Prayer I know not any more than how the peoples joyning with the Minister in singing will prove their joyning in those Prayers that require no such use of their voice For the Angels and Elders 7 Rev. 11. I have shewn him his mistake before So that he is far from having brought any clear proof as he pretends p. 40. to excuse their practice herein from being one of his own sort of human Inventions And tho I am more charitable than to take this advantage to arraign it as unlawful yet I must confess I am not very fond of it because it seems less sutable to the gravity and solemnity of Christian Worship and brings in a confused noise in a Christian Assembly too like that of a Dover court where 't is said all speak and none hear Having consider'd the Directions of the H. Scriptures concerning this part of Religious Worship I come to examin the Application his Lp. makes of 'em to the principles and practice of Conformists and Dissenters And First for the Principles of Dissenters I shall give a true Account of 'em and then consider that very strange one his Lp. has offer'd I I shall give a true Account of their Judgment as far as it can be taken from their most judicious Writers on this subject or the publick proposals they have made in reference to these matters 1. Thâ—y always carefully distinguish between the Gift and the Grace or Spirit of Prayer By the Grace or Spirit of Prayer they understand those inward holy desires and devout affections which the H. Spirit forms and excites in the minds of good men and which are the life and soul of our external Prayers By the Gift of Prayer they understand An ability of choosing sutable matter of Prayer and offering it up to God in expressions fit to represent our inward pious desires and affections on all emergent occasions This Gift they have always own'd to be separable from the Grace of Prayer Many that have the one being destitute of the other So far are they from confounding these two distinct things as the Bp. unhappily supposes 'em to do This Gift of Prayer they suppose the effect of the divine blessing on our diligent study and meditation and frequent exercise in this holy duty As all other ordinary Gifts of the Spirit of God are For they suppose the Gift of Prayer as well as that of Preaching capable of falling under Rules for its attainment and exercise and do accordingly highly approve of those which that Judicious Divine Bp. Wilkins has laid down in that excellent Discourse he calls his Gift of Prayer That there is such a Gift his Lp. himself owns p. 46. and p. 54. And I shall add under this Head that there are very different degrees of this as there are of all other Abilities and Gifts 2. They do indeed suppose that ordinarily all Ministers shou'â— be furnisht with a competent measure of the gift of prayer as well as that of Preaching in order to their due discharge of this duty on that variety of occasions that occurs in their publick ministrations and private visits For as no prescribed Forms can possibly suit all such occasions so to be incapable of assisting the devotion of their people in 'em is they think a miserable defect in those whose office it is to give themselves continually unto Prayer 6 Acts v. 4. and who will but very lamely perform it without such abilities And therefore Bp. Wilkins justly censures the want of it in them as their great fault and shame * Gift of Prayer p. 13. 3. They do by no means suppose every good man to be endued with this Gift much less with such a measure of it as will qualify him to perform that duty in his Family without the help of Forms And therefore they often urge such to the use of Forms in their Families as cannot without such helps keep up that duty in 'em without the hazard of exposing it to contempt Nor do they disallow all use of forms in secret Prayer it self tho they think it no way adviseable for Christians to confine themselves to 'em in their Closet-devotions since they cannot do so without suppressing many desires sutable to their present condition Nor can their want of words be a just reason for their limiting themselves to such forms since they are not needful in secret Prayer Our very groans and sighs are a language our heavenly Father sufficiently understands But yet they do suppose the want of this gift to be a great defect and judge such a degree of it ordinarily attainable by continued diligence and exercise as is necessary to the suiting our Family-Prayers to our particular necessities and therefore do urge those under their care to endeavour after it And they do suppose that the H. Spirit is ready to assist good men in such endeavors not only by exciting their devout affections but by enlightning their minds to understand their spiritual necessities by directing 'em in the matter of their Prayers by bringing the promises of God to their remembrance by strengthening and elevating their natural faculties to more vigorous exercise by quickning their indisposed minds and helping 'em against their manifold infirmities And so much they think included in what the Apostle declares concerning the assistance of the H. Spirit in this duty 8 Rom. 26. And herein they assert no more than the Reverend Bp. Wilkins has done before 'em who not only affirms That this Gift if seriously endeavour'd after may be attain'd in some measure by any one that has common capacity p. 13. but speaks of such Christians as satisfy themselves with their Book-prayer and go no farther as remaining still in their Infancy p. 11. and recommends this gift even to private Christians from the Excellency of it from its sutableness and necessity as being part of our spiritual Armour which 't is as unbecoming a Christian to be defective in as for
rather think the Assemblys Catechism is herein excellently suited to the various capacities of Catechumens It has at the end the Creed the Lord's Prayer and Ten Commandments as the summary of our Belief desires and practice And in those I hope his Lp. will grant the first and necessary principles of the Oracles of God are plainly laid down And indeed the Church-Catechism contains little more But for those whose capacity is something more emprov'd the Questions and Answers in that Catechism do excellently explain the three fore-mention'd summarys of our Religion and lay down such other Principles as are the most important and needful inferences from ' em And why dos our Author imagin that no form of sound words must comprehend more than what is to be first taught the lowest sort of Catechumens when almost all the Reformed Churches do herein differ from him few of whom compose Catechisms for their people that are not rather longer than the shorter one compos'd by the Assembly And whereas he adds Our Catechism is full of hard words school-terms and abstruse notions no wise necessary to be known nor possible to be understood by children or unlearned persons for whose Edification principally a Catechism ought to be design'd I only add If he had expected any Answer he shou'd have been particular in his accusation and not left us to ghess in the dark what instances he grounds it upon Again He accuses it of being so long and intricate that no one child in ten gets it by heart nor one in 500 retains it as he saith he has found by experience To which I shall only answer that as we have little reason to believe the Bp. has so often tried this matter as to enable him to pass so particular a judgment about it so his experience and ours who have better opportunity of trying it do no way agree For we know there is nothing in this particular computation that comes near to truth in matter of fact And I believe if his Lp. make a more accurate trial he will find as many of the Dissenters children that have got their Catechism by heart as of others that have done so by the Church-Catechism even tho the former be so much larger And if any of 'em forget it again 't is their own fault not their Minister's who more exactly examin 'em in that point than any others that I know of But 2. His severest charge against this Catechism is That notwithstanding its length it is imperfect some of the principles of the Apostle's Catechism being quite left out of it I mean laying on of hands joyn'd with Baptism 6 Heb. 2. A great defect sure in a Catechism to leave out a fundamental of Christianity Answ Is it not strange that the Bp. shou'd have no regard to the reputation of his own Church in such weak censures as these Dos he mean that our Catechism has laid aside the expression of of laying on of hands or the thing signify'd by it If he mean only the expression cou'd he not easily foresee that such an objection against the Assemblys Catechism has no weight in it Nay that the Church-Catechism is liable to the same objection I wou'd desire him to take the pains to read it over and tell us where he can find laying on of hands mention'd in it If he means the thing signify'd by laying on of hands Why dos he not tell us what it is but leave us to blind conjectures what this fundamental Principle is which he charges our Catechism as defective for the omission of Dos he mean such laying on of hands on children as our Saviour us'd when he blest 'em 19 Matth. 13 Or laying on of hands on the sick when they were heal'd 7 Mark 32 Or Imposition of hands on such as the Apostles Baptiz'd in order to the communicating the extraordinary gifts of the H. Spirit to 'em 8 Act 17 Or imposition of hands in order to the setting persons apart to some sacred Office or Charge 6 Acts 6 Or imposition of hands on the Sacrifice 1 Lev. 4. 8 Numb 12. 29 Exod. 15. 2 Chron. 19. v. 23 For Expositors mention all these various senses of the word in their comments on 6 Heb. 2. Now I wou'd entreat him to review 'em and tell me which of these sorts of imposition of hands is spoken of in the Church-Catechism For I hope he dos not mistake the Rubrick about Confirmation for a part of it If none of 'em are mention'd in it for the Instruction of Catechumens why shou'd he charge that as a great defect in our Catechism which is wanting in their own But what if I shou'd tell him 't is highly probable that neither Baptisms nor Imposition of hands are mention'd in that fore-cited summary of Principles 6 Heb. 2. as distinct Principles at all He knows Expositors observe that the Original may be read thus Not laying again the foundation of Repentance from dead works and Faith in God being the Doctrine of Baptisms and Imposition of hands i. e. the Doctrine typify'd by those two rites in the Jewish Religion their legal Washings or Purifications and the Imposition of hands on the head of the Sacrifice For as those legal Purifications were typical of Repentance from dead words so that Imposition of hands on the head of the Sacrifice was typical of Faith in God thro a Mediator and his attoning sacrifice Or we may take both these rites as typical of Faith in God thro the expiatory and cleansing vertue of the Mediator's Sacrifice And I shall suggest three things to strengthen this Exposition First that this Exposition is most agreeable to the scope of the Inspired Writer who was about to treat of this Sacrifice of Christ and its expiatory vertue as the Antitype of the legal Purifications and Sacrifices as appears from the 9th ch of that Ep Secondly because Baptisms in the plural number is never that I know of in all the Scriptures us'd concerning Christian Baptism but is us'd in this very Ep. concerning the Jewish Washings or Purifications 9 Heb. 10. Thirdly because 't is not easily conceivable how any of the other sorts of Imposition of hands shou'd come to be made here by the Inspired Writer a fundamental principle of the Christian Religion For why shou'd the Doctrine of External Baptism or that of Imposition of hands in any of the senses fore-mention'd be any more rank't among Fundamental Articles than the Doctrine of the Lord's-Supper of which there is not the least mention made here But since the Bp. seems to insinuate here as if he took the Confirmation practis'd in the Establisht Church to be one of the Principles mention'd 6 Heb. 2. I wou'd very gladly if he be of that Opinion understand what grounds he has for it For I am prone to suspect that the Order of the Church about Confirmation is an Abuse that needs to be reform'd Were there nothing more in it than a grave Bishop's praying over