to erect a stone in Bethel to be an house to thee which act of hâ—s thou didst call for and highly allow of By expresse Commandment from thine own mouth So did Moses make thee the Tabernacle of the Congregation in the Desert which thou didst honour by covering it with a Cloud and filling it with thy Glory And after when it came into the heart of thy servant David to think it was in no wise fitting that himself should dwell in an house of Cedar and the Ark of God remain but in a Tabernacle thou didst testifie with thine own mouth that in that David was so minded to build a House to thy Name it was well done of him to be so minded though he built it not The material Furniture for which house though his Father plentifully prepared yet Solomon his Son built it and brought it to perfection To which House thou wer 't pleased visibly to send fire from Heaven to consume the Sacrifice and to fill it with the Glory of thy presence before all the people And after when for the sins of thy people that Temple was destroyed thou didst by thy Prophets Aggai and Zachary by shewing how inconvenient it was that they should dwell in seeled houses and let thy house lye waste stir up the spirit of Zorobabel to build thee the second Temple anew which second House likewise by the fulness of the Glory of thy presence thou didst shew thy self to like and allow of Neither only wer't thou well pleased with such as did build thee these Temples but even with such of the people afterwards as being moved with Zeal added unto their Temple their Mother Church lesser places of prayer by the names of Synagogues in every Town thorowout the Land for the Tribes to ascend up to worship thee to learn thy holy will and to do it Which very Act of the Centurion to build thy people a Synagogue thou didst well approve and commend in the Gospel And by the bodily presence of thy Son our Saviour at the feast of the Dedication testified by S. John didst really well allow of and do honour to such devout Religious services as we are now about to perform Which also by thy holy Word hast taught us that thine Apostles themselves and the Christians in their time as they had houses to eat and drink in so had they also where the whole Congregation of the Faithful came together in one place which they expresly called Gods Church and would not have it despised nor abused nor eaten nor drunken in but had in great Reverence being the very place of their holy Assemblies By whose godly examples the Christians in all Ages successively have erected and consecrated sundry godly houses for the Celebration of Divine Service and Worship Monuments of their Piety and Devotion as our eyes see this day We then as Fellow-Citizens with the Saints and of the Houshold of God being built upon the Foundation of the Apostles and Prophets Jesus Christ himself being the head corner-stone walking in the steps of their most holy Faith and ensuing the examples of these thy Patriarchs Prophets and Apostles have together with them done the same work I say in building and dedicating this house as an habitation for thee and a place for us to assemble and meet together for the observation of thy Divine Worship invocation of thy Name reading preaching and hearing thy most holy Word administring thy most holy Sacraments and above all in thy most holy place the very gate of Heaven upon earth as Jacob nam'd it to do the work of Heaven to set forth thy most worthy praise to laud and magnify thy most glorious Majesty for all thy goodness to all men especially to us of the Houshold of Faith Accept therefore we beseech thee most gracious Father of this our bounden duty and service accept this for thine house and because Holiness becomes thine house for ever sanctifie this house with thy gracious presence which is erected to the honour of thy most glorious Name Now therefore arise O Lord and come into this place of thy rest thou and the ark of thy strength Let thine eye be open towards this House day and night Let thine ears be ready towards the prayers of thy children which they shall make unto thee in this place and let thine heart delight to dwell here perpetually And whensoever thy servants shall make to thee their petitions in this House either to bestow thy good graces blessings upon them or to remove thy punishments and judgements from them hear them from Heaven thy dwelling place the Throne of the glory of thy Kingdom and when thou hearest have mercy and grant O Lord we beseech thee that here and elsewhere thy Priests may be cloathed with Righteousnesse and thy Saints rejoyce in thy Salvation And whereas both in the Old and New Testament thou hast consecrated the measuring out and building of a material Church to such an excellent Mysterie that in it is signified and represented the fruition of the joy of thy Heavenly kingdome we beseech thee that in this material Temple made with hands we may so serve and please thee in all holy Exercises of Godliness and Christian Religion that in the end we may come to that thy Temple on high even to the holy places made without hands whose Builder and Maker is God so as when we shall cease to pray to thee on Earth we may with all those that have in the like manner erected such places to thy Name and with all thy Saints eternally praise thee in the highest Heavens for all thy goodness vouchsafed us for a time here on earth and laid up for us there in thy Kingdom for ever and ever and that for thy dear Sons sake our blessed Saviour Jesus Christ to whom c. Blessed Father who hast promised in thy holy Law that in every place where the remembrance of thy Name shall be put thou wilt come unto us and bless us according to that thy promise come unto us and bless us who put now upon this place the memorial of thy Name by dedicating it wholly and only to thy Service and Worship Blessed Saviour who in the Gospel with thy bodily presence didst honour and adorn the Feast of the dedication of the Temple at this dedication of this Temple unto thee be present also and accept Good Lord and prosper the work of our hands Blessed Spirit without whom nothing is holy no person or place is sanctified aright send down upon this place thy sanctifying power and grace hallow it and make it to thee an holy habitation for ever Blessed and glorious Trinity by whose Power Wisdom and Love all things are purged lightened and made perfect enable us with thy Power enlighten us with thy Truth perfect us with thy Grace that both here and elsewhere acknowledging the glory of thy eternal Trinity and in the Power of thy Divine Majesty worshipping the Unity we may obtain to
probatoque Capellae hujus Jesu omni adparatu adest tandem Reverendissimus in Christo Pater Honorandissimus Lancelotus Episcopus Wintoniensis Septembris 17o. Anno 1620. horâ ectavâ matutinâ aut circiter erat autem dies Dominicus Episcopus Capellam statim ingressus induit se pontificalibus quem secuti itidem qui ipsi à sacris domesticis aderant Matthaeus Christopherus Wren SS Theol. Bacc. Saecerdotalibus induuntur Egressus dein cum illis Episcopus convenarum magnâ stipante catervâ Fundatorem affari orditur in haec ferè verba Captain Smith you have been an often and earnest Suiter to me that I would come hither to you now that we are come hither to you what have you to say to us Tum ille praefatâ humillime Reverentiâ schedulam porrigit quam suo nomine recitari cupit per Willielm Cole qui Episcopo à Registris erat eam ille ad nutum Episcopi clarâ voce sic perlegit IN the Name of Richard Smith of Peer-tree in the County of Southampton Esq Right Reverend Father in God I present unto you the state of the Village of Weston and the Hamlets Itchin Wolston Ridgeway and the part of Bittern Mannor being all of the Parish of S. Maries neer Southampton in the Diocess of Winton as well in his own as in the name of the Inhabitants of the said Village Hamlets c. wherein are many Housholds and much people of all sorts who not only dwell far from the Church but are also divided from the same by the great River of Itchin where the passage is very broad and often dangerous and very many times on the dayes appointed for Common-Prayer and that Service of God so tempestuous as the River cannot be pass'd and so the people go not over at all or if any do yet they both go and return back in great danger and sometimes not the same day Besides in the fairest weather at their return from Church they press so thick into the Boat for haste home that often it proves dangerous and ever fearful especially to women with childe old impotent sickly people and to young children many times also they are forc'd to baptize their Children in private Houses the water not being passable and when they lye sick they are without comfort to their souls and dye without any Ghostly advice or counsel their own Minister not being able to visit them by reason of the roughness of the water and other Ministers being some miles off remote from them And thus much formerly having been presented to your Predecessor he favourably gave leave to the said Richard Smith to erect a Chappel on the East-side of the said River at the only proper Cost and Charges of him the said Richard Smith which Chappel being now finish'd with intent and purpose that it may be dedicated to the worship of God and that his Holy and Blessed Name might there be honour'd and call'd upon by the said Richard Smith his Family and the Inhabitants aforesaid who cannot without great danger pass over unto their Parish Church I in the name of the said Richard Smith and in the names of them all do promise hereafter to refuse and renounce to put this Chappel or any part of it to any profane or common use whatsoever and desire it may be dedicated and consecrated wholly and only to religious uses for the Glory of God and the Salvation of our Souls In which respect he humbly beseecheth God to accept of this his sincere intent and purpose and he and they are together humble Suiters unto your Lordship as Gods Minister the Bishop and Ordinary of this Diocess in Gods stead to accept of this his Free-will offering and to decree this Chappel to be severed from all common and profane uses so to sever it as also by the Word of God and Prayer and other Spiritual and Religious Duties to dedicate and consecrate it to the sacred Name of God and to his Service and Worship only promising that we will ever hold it as an holy Place even as Gods House and use it accordingly and that we will from time to time and ever hereafter as need shall be see it conveniently repair'd and decently furnisht in such sort as a Chappel ought to be And that we will procure us some sufficient Clerk being in the Holy Order of Priesthood by your Lordship as Ordinary of that place and by your Successors to be allow'd and licenced and unto him to yield competent Maintenance to the end that he may take upon him the Cure of the said Chappel and duely say divine Service in the same at times appointed and perform all other such offices and duties as by the Canons of that Church and the Laws of the Realm every Curate is bound to perform Post haec Episcopus Captain Smith is this the Desire of you and your Neighbours Quo affirmato Ille In the Name of God let us begin Orditur igitur â Psalmo 24º THe earth is the Lords and all that is therein c. Alterni verò respondent uterque Sacellanus sic deinceps ad finem Psalmi dictâ autem 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 paulatim se promovet Episcopus ad portam Capellae atque recitat è Psalmo 122o. I Was glad when they said unto me we will go into the House of the Lord. Our feet shall stand in thy Gates O Jerusalem Substitit itaque prae foribus universa multitudo intrante Episcopo et Fundatore cum Sacellanis qui genua statim flectunt ubi spectari commodè audirÃque possint a plebe atque Episcopus infit Let us dedicate and offer up unto God this Place with the same prayer that King David did dedicate and offer up his 1 Chron. 29.10 BLessed be thou O Lord our God and the God of our Fathers for ever and ever c. usque ad finem vers 18. paucis mutatis Deinde MOst glorious God the Heaven is thy Throne and the Earth is thy Footstool what house then can be built for thee or what place is there that thou canst rest in Howbeit we are taught by thy Holy Word that thy will is not to dwell in the dark Cloud but that thy delight hath bin ever with the Sons of Men so that in any place whatsoever where two or three are gathered together in thy name thou art in the midst of them But specially in such places as are set apart and sanctified to thy name and to the memory of it there thou hast said thou wilt vouchsafe thy gracious Presence after a more special manner come to us and bless us Wherefore in all Ages of the world thy Servants have separated certain places from all profane and common uses and hallow'd unto thy Divine Worship and service either by inspiration of thy blessed Spirit or by express Commandment from thine own mouth By inspiration of thy holy Spirit So didst thou put into the heart of thy Holy Patriarch Jacob
sufficienter reparatum fuerit in clausuris et an omniae ibi decenter et secundum ordinem fiant et si minus fiant per censur as Ecclesiastic as corrigendi His finitis precatur denuò LOrd God of Abraham Isaac and Jacob who because thou art the God not of the dead but of the Living shewest hereby that they are living and not dead and that with thee do live the spirits of all them that dye in the Lord and in whom the Souls of them that are Elect after they be delivered from the burden of this flesh be in joy and felicity Thou hast said thou wilt turn men into small dust and after that wilt say Return again you Children of men Thou art the God of Truth and hast said it thou art the God of power and might and wilt do it by that power whereby thou art able to subdue all things unto thy self and bring to pass whatsoever pleaseth thee in Heaven and Earth with whom nothing is impossible Lord Jesu Christ who art the Resurrection and the Life in whom if we believe though we be dead yet shall we live who by thy death hast overcome death and by thy râ—sing again hast opened to us the Gate of everlasting life who shalt send thine Angels and gather the bodies of thine Elect from all the Ends of the Earth and especially those who by a mystical union are flesh of thy flesh and in whose hearts thou hast dwelt by Faith We humbly beseech thee for them whose bodies shall in this place be gathered to their Fathers that they may rest in this hope of Resurrection to eternal life through thee O blessed Lord God who shalt change their vile bodies that they may be like thy Glorious body according to the mighty working whereby thou art able to bring all things even death and all into subjection to thy self Holy and blessed Spirit the Lord and giver of life whose Temples the bodies of thy Servants are by thy sanctifying Grace dwelling in them we verily trust that their bodies that have been thy Temples and those hearts in which Christ hath dwelt by Faith shall not ever dwell in corruption but that as by thy sending forth thy Breath at first we received our being Motion and Life in the beginning of the Creation so at the last by the same Spirit sending forth the same breath in the end of the Consummation Life Being and Moving shall be restored us again so that after our dissolution as thou didst shew thy holy Prophet the dry bones shall come together again Bone to his Bone and Sinews and Flesh shall come upon them and thou shalt cause thy Breath to enter into them and we shall live and this Corruption shall put on Incorruption and this Mortal shall put on Immortality God the Father God the Son and God the Holy Ghost accept sanctify and bless this place to that end whereunto according to thine own Ordinance we have ordain'd it even to bestow the Bodies of thy Servants in till the number of thine Elect being accomplished they with us and we with them and with all other departed in the true Faith of thy Holy Name shall have our consummation and Bliss both in Body and Soul in thy eternal and everlasting glory Blessed Saviour that didst for this end dye and rise again that thou mightest be Lord both of the Living and the Dead whether we live or die thou art our Lord and we are thine living or dying we commend our selves unto thee have mercy upon us and keep us thine for evermore Reintrantes igitur Capellam cantant priorem partem Psal 16. Conscendit Suggestum Magister Matthaeus Wren Thema ei posterior pars vers 17. cap. 2. S. Joan. Zelus domus tuae c. Agit de affectibus in Christo Zelo inter coereros nec illo falso sed pro Deo nec coeco sed secundùm scientiam pro Domo pro Cultu Dei de praesentiâ Dei praecipuè in Templis magno non Morum solummodò nostrorum sed spei quoque et Fidei incremento fulcimentoque Denm Locorum distinctione gaudere confirmat tum exemplo mirifico Jacobi tantoperè distinguentis Bethel tum maximo omnium miraculo quo Christus Mercatores è Templo ejecit Enarratis Christi per hoc factum devotionibus concludit in debitam à nobis Templorum reve entiam atque istius Fundatoris Encomium meritissimum Cantatur pars reliqua Vespertinae precationes incipiendo jam á Symbolo Apostolico secundùm communem Ecclesiae formulam finiuntur FINIS