Token of his living in this Age that he will not plainly write down any one Form Yet we may see clearly that they had a certain prescribed Form both for the Administring of Baptism and of the Lords Supper First By his writing a Commentary and Contemplations upon these Mysterious Administrations which had they been performed in the Extempore way he could not have done Secondly Because he assures us that not only the Psalms were sung alternately (q) Dionys de Eccles Hierar cap. 3. §. 2. pag. 283. but that the Congregation did always joyn with the Priest in Singing the Hymns in Baptism and the Eucharist (r) Ibid. cap. 2. §. 4. pag. 252. cap. 3. §. 2. p. 284. So that these must be Forms yea his Scholiast thinks that Dionysius plainly enough declares the Song of Miriam to have been the first Hymn at Baptism and the xxix Psalm the Second which are both Forms of Praise (s) Schol. Maximi pag. 267. and so is the xxxiv Psalm O tast and see how gracious the Lord is which he intimates was sung after the Eucharist (t) Dionys Eccl. Hier. cap. 3. §. 15. pag. 301. and it is very observable that the Liturgy in the Constitution prescribes that very Psalm as an Hymn in that very place (u) Constit Apostol lib. 8. cap. 20. Thirdly And not only in that instance but in all the whole proceeding of these Mysteries this Pseudo-Dionysius doth so exactly follow the Order and Method yea and allude so often to the Phrases of the ancient Liturgies especially that of Antioch which was near to Laodicea where Apollinaris lived contained in the Constitutions that there is no doubt but he had this very Liturgy in his Eye when he writ these Commentaries I could prove this by innumerable particulars if it were worth while but I shall refer it to the Reader to compare these Books of Dionysius with the Liturgy in the Apostolical Constitution and he will be convinced that he commented upon that very Liturgy as plainly as he in his Mystical way can be expected to do Lastly There are many Forms of Prayer supposed to be well known to the Faithful all along these Discourses as also Forms of renouncing the Devil professing the Faith c. He mentions also the Bishops Praying for peace to all and then their giving each other the kiss of charity (w) Compare Dionys Eccles hier cap. 3. pag. 284. with Constit Apostol lib. 8. cap. 15. And calls the Prayer for Commemoration of all the Faithful departed the Reading of the Holy Dypticks which we know was a Custom mentioned in the Council of Laodicea And he saith the Priest having confessed his unworthiness to Celebrate then goes on to Cry out to Christ Thou hast Commanded us to do this in Remembrance of Thee which is part of the Form of Consecration (x) Dionys Eccles Hier. cap. 3. §. 12. pag. 298 299. Which being put together is as much Evidence as we can desire or expect from so Mysterious a Writer that there was a prescribed Liturgy in this Age known to the Faithful and of daily use § 17. I proceed to S. Ambrose S. Ambrose An. Dom. 374. who confirms the same Truth and we learn from him That there was in his Time Forms both of Praise and Prayer The first our Adversary grants in saying He imitated S. Basil 's way of singing Psalms and Hymns by turns and brought this Custom into the Church of Milan from whence it spread almost over all the Western Church (y) Discourse of Liturg. p. 167. and there are great and very ancient Authors who testifie the same thing (z) Aug. confes lib. 9. cap. 7. Paulin. vit Ambros p. 79. 〈◊〉 ipse Ambro◠Com. in Luc. cap. 15. Tom. 3. p. 169. Now we have shewed that Alternate Singing can no way be performed but by a known Form and therefore S. Ambrose his Flock who no question sang with the Spirit and with fervent Devotion yet sang by Forms Yea S. Ambrose himself takes notice That the Music in the Parable of the Prodigal signifies The whole Churches singing together and the People of different Ages and Qualities like the several Strings of an Instrument with one accord answer at the Psalm and say Amen (a) Ambros Com. in Luc. ut supr He also saith He was accused for deceiving the People by his Hymns in Verse and he owns that he made such Hymns and taught them to the People who now could every day praise the Trinity with their Mouths and with Verses glorifie the Father Son and Holy Ghost (b) Idem Cbacione de Basilicis non tradend Tom. 4. pag. 104. Which cannot be meant of the Gloria Patri c. That was an ancienter Hymn and did not consist of more than one Response so that probably it may be meant of the Te Deum which though our Adversary will have to be a later Composure (c) Discourse of Liturg. p. 167 168. yet the Matter of it is so excellent and so void of any mixture of the later Corruptions that it is not unworthy of so great an Author nor of so pure an Age The Chronicle of Dacius one of S. Ambrose's Successors saith He Composed it (d) Chron. Dacii Med. lib. 1. cap. 10. and though some Manuscripts ascribe it to one Abundius who was Bishop of Coma An. Dom. 450. that is about 70 years after the Death of S. Ambrose and another Copy calls it The Hymn of Nicetius who was Bishop of Triers An. Dom. 530. that may arise from such Manuscripts as were for the use of these two Churches which probably might ascribe this Hymn to one of their own Bishops who first brought it into their Service This is certain That S. Benedict mentions it in his Rule which was writ Anno 530 (e) Regula D. Bened. cap. 11. and the Council of Toledo in the next Age approves the Hymn made by S. Ambrose as being fit to be sung in the Church (f) Concil Tolet Can. 12. Anno 633. Bin. Tom. 2. par 2. pag. 349. which can be no other than this Te Deum which hath been reputed to be his by All Churches ever since This I thought fit to say concerning this pious and excellent Hymn which probably was made by S. Ambrose but however that be it is certain he made divers Forms of Praise which is that I am to prove And the like Evidence we have in him concerning the use of Forms of Prayer For he calls that place of S. Paul 1 Tim. ii 1 2. The Ecclesiastical Rule delivered by the Master of the Gentiles which all our Priests use For they supplicate for all Men and pray for the Kings of the World that the Nations may be subject unto them so that they Reigning in peace we may serve our God in tranquility of mind and quietness And he goes on to describe the Prayers for those in Authority for
IMPRIMATUR April 26. 1690. C. Alston R.P.D. HEN. Episc Lond. à Sacris A Scholastical HISTORY OF THE Primitive and General Use OF LITURGIES IN The Christian Church Together with An Answer to Mr. Dav. Clarkson's late Discourse concerning LITURGIES PART II. Of the Time after the Year 400 With an Answer to the Arguments against Liturgies and the Testimony of Protestant Divines for them By THO COMBER D. D. Precentor of YORK Publica est nobis communis Oratio Cypr. de Orat. Dom. § 5. pag. 310. LONDON Printed by S. Roycroft for Robert Clavell at the Peacock at the West-end of S. Pauls 1690. THE PREFACE TO THE Second Part. WHEN those who oppose the Vse of LITURGIES had appealed to Antiquity and boasted it would disown them I concluded they were obliged to stand to the Sentence of a Judge of their own choosing (a) Acts xxv 12. and therefore followed them to that Tribunal before which they had brought their Cause And when the First Four Centuries whose Authority is most venerable and their Testimony the most convincing (b) Antiquitas quo propiùs aberat ab ortu divinâ progenie hoc meliùs ea fortasse quae erant vera cernebat Cicer. Tuscul quaest had given it on Our Side It was the Opinion of some of my good Friends that I need descend no lower and might save the labour of a Second Part But I considered That though it was enough to such as were Impartial to prove that Liturgies began so Early Yet others who were prejudiced against them would question the Truth of that unless I could clear the following Ages also from all the Objections that their Friend hath raised out of them against this great Truth He hath fixed the Original of Prescribed Forms a Century or two Lower and made a shew of proving That the Vse of these Forms was left arbitrary even till the beginning of the Ninth Century And scattered divers Arguments in several places of his Book collected out of some General Observations which could not be brought under any one of the Ancienter Fathers Names nor Answered in the First Part because they depended on Miscellaneous Quotations chiefly relating to the Time after the Fifth Century began Wherefore I was compelled to follow him down through all these Later Ages and shew That Liturgies not only continued to be imposed and used then but were generally believed to have come down to them by Tradition from the most Eminent Bishops of the Primitive and Apostolical Ages and that his Objections rather confirm than weaken this Assertion I was obliged also to Examine every thing that looked like an Argument that I might neither give the obstinate Occasion to call those Reasonings Invincible which scarce deserved a serious Answer (c) Tacere ultra non oportet ne jam non verecundiae sed diffidentiae esse incipiat Cypr. ad Demetr nor leave any Scruples in the Minds of such as are willing to be undeceived And for their sakes as well as to make this History more compleat I have added the Testimonies of the most Eminent Reformed Divines both concerning the Antiquity and Vsefulness of Liturgies in general and concerning the Excellency of Our Churches Forms of Prayer By all which it will appear That such as scruple to Hear or Read our Common-Prayer are so very singular in that Notion that they are not only contrary to Vs and to all Antiquity but also to the Best and most Regular of the Protestant Foreign Churches 'T is true when Men have an Interest to serve they will have no Inclination to yield to the clearest Demonstration nor to the plainest Matter of Fact And therefore perhaps Some of this Party may hope to run down all that is brought out of the Ages after the Year 400 with the old Cry of POPERY and SUPERSTITION But I would anticipate so weak an Objection by observing That their Friend led me into these Ages and they must not blame me for following him Again There is nothing deserves these hard Names in this later Period but only that which was then first brought into the Church and was not known nor used in purer Times Now the First Part sufficiently proves That Liturgies were none of the Inventions of these Ages by shewing they were used and approved in the former Centuries before any of those Corruptions came in I grant that those Copies of Ancient Liturgies which come to our hands have many passages in them which relish of the Superstition of later Ages But then we are also sure by those Passages which the Fathers cite out of them before they were corrupted that they were pure at first and these Exceptionable places have been tacked to them long after they were first composed Which the Compilers and Reformers of our Liturgy well understood and therefore though they imitated them in all that was agreeable to the Doctrin and Practice of the First Four Centuries they cut off and rejected all the rest and so have reduced the Primitive way of Praying to its Original purity and ancient soundness They knew the Praying by Forms was very Ancient the Corruption of those Forms of later date So that when they and other Reformed Churches have purged out all the Superstitious Innovations and restored the Primitive Method of Serving God by prescribed Forms agreeably to the Scriptures and the Practice and Opinions of the best Ages I would hope that all who are prepared to submit to Truth by which it is every Mans interest to be conquered (d) Qui veritati cedit utiliter vincitur Petr. Damian lib. 1. ep 20. will renounce their groundless Prejudices against this useful and Ancient Method of Praying And no longer dote upon the new Extempore and Arbitrary way which was never used in public till of late since the Ages of Inspiration whose practice can be no Rule to us who have not those extraordinary Gifts And which is inconsistent with the Safety the Honour and the Quiet of all Established Churches To conclude The best Christians and the most regular Churches in all Ages have used and approved Forms of Prayer and found great comfort in them and much benefit by them And if our Dissenters would be content to serve God so also they would then be capable of being Members of our Established Church and we should no longer be disturbed weakned and endangered by this unhappy Separation But so long as they retain this Fundamental Error and profess their aversation to our whole way of Worship All projects of Vnion and hopes of Accomodation are vain And for that reason I have so fully considered this Question and set all that relates to it in one Orderly View because it is Evident that the Right Determination thereof must be the first step to that Peace which is the Interest and would be the Safety of this divided Nation the Welfare whereof all good Men unfeignedly desire ERRATA PAg. 9. lin 5. read Scribi fas p. 11. l.
Prefaces to be received into the Sacred Catalogue which for many Ages past the Roman Churches Truth hath hitherto observed (o) Sacrum Ordinem Romanum sacraque constituta nostrorum Antecessorum solertèr relegentes invenimus has novem Praesationes in sacro Catalogo tantuminodo recipiendas quas longa retro veritas in Romanâ Ecclesià hactenus servavit Pelag. Ep. 11. Bin. Tom. 2. par 2. pag. 259. And then he proceeds to reckon up the particulars viz The first at Easter The second at Ascension-day The third at Pentecost The fourth at Christmass The fifth at the Epiphany The sixth on the Festival of the Apostles The seventh on Trinity Sunday The eighth on the Feast of the Cross The ninth in Lent and time of Fasting From which Answer it appears the holy Roman Order was a Written Book a Liturgy containing not only the Method in which the several parts of the Offices were disposed but the very Forms themselves at large and particularly the several proper Prefaces for the great Festivals As also it is affirmed That these proper Prefaces of which he hath here occasion to treat had been prescribed in this Roman Liturgy long before this Time and for divers Ages had been preserved therein Which shews there were Written Forms at Rome in very early Times and that they were no invention of this or the last Age. And we may give the more credit to this Assertion because even to this very Time the Church of Rome was wholly free from the corrupt and superstitious Worship which since they have given to the Blessed Virgin Mary there being not to be found at this Time one Festival dedicated to her Honour which had a special Preface appropriate to it in the Offices then used at Rome to the shame of the later Popes who have made the Worship of the Virgin the main part of all their Offices Leander Episc H â—pal An. Dom. 588. § 11. After the Steps made toward one uniform Liturgy among the Suevians in the Province of Gallicia by the Consultation of Vigilius and the Council of Braga Leander the famous Bishop of Sevil Converted Reccaredus King of the Goths from Arianism within a few years after these Goths had Conquered the Suevians and were become Lords of all Spain And the first Care he took was to purge out the Errors from the Gothic Office and to take away the various Forms used in the several Provinces of Spain which had been Peopled with several Nations governed by different Kings and had held divers Opinions in Religion but he now composes one Office for the whole Kingdom which his next Successor Isidore perfected and fully setled there For which Reason the Writers of this History generally ascribe it to them both Roderic of Toledo calls it The Office of the Mass instituted by the Bishops Leander and Isidore (p) Roderic Tolet. de reb Hispan lib. 6. cap. 25. And Jo. Vasaeus in his Chronicle saith The Christians who lived among the Arabians were called Mozarabes that is Mixt with the Arabians and therefore they used that Ecclesiastical Office then which S. Leander and Isidore composed and all Spain used it until the days of Alfonso the Sixth (q) Jo. Vasaei Chron. Hispanâ— pag. 579. But that Leander first put this Office into order is plain from the Testimony of Isidore himself who faith Leander took no small pains in the Ecclesiastical Offices and in the Hymns at the Communion and Psalms he Composed many sweet things (r) Isidor de script Eccles in Leandr vict Bona de reb Liturg. lib. 1. cap. 11. p. 364. Another Historian saith Leander writ one Book of Prayers and another of the Communion (s) Fran. Taraph de reg Hisp pag. 704. Wherefore we conclude that this Leander having before him the Liturgy used by the Arian Goths the Order made for the Suevians in Gallicia And probably the Gallican Roman and African Forms made up one Office out of them all which afterwards when the Moers who spake Arabick came into Spain and were some of them Converted to the Faith was called the Mozarabic Liturgy which is extant to this day in the Bibliotheca Patrum and elsewhere (t) Bib. Patr. edit Colon. Tom. 15 p. 777. vid. Ben. de reb Liturg. lib. 1. cap. 11 12. in Appendice For that this was not the first time that prescribed Forms were used in these Parts of the World is evident from what hath been shewed before concerning the Goths and Suevians both in France and Spain and may further appear by these few Observations viz. That the old Gothic Office yet retains a Collect on S. Martins-day wherein he is called A Man whom our Age hath produced Now S. Martin died An. Dom. 402. and therefore the Missal from whence Leander or Isidore took this Form must have been composed in the Fifth century that is as soon as the Goths in France became Christians And Gregory of Tours mentions an Embassador coming from Leonigild the Father of Reccaredus who was an Arian and so was this Embassador for he would not Communicate with them in France because they did not say Glory be to the Father by the Son as they did in their Offices in Spain (u) Greg. Turon lib. 6. cap. 48. pag. 289. And in the Third Council of Toledo under Reccaredus the First Orthodox Gothish King when Leader had begun to correct the Arian Forms they pronounce an Anathema against all that say Glory be to the Father by the Son and will not say To the Father and the Son (w) Concil Tolet. 3. An. 589. ap Bin. Tom. 2. par 2. pag. 276. So that we see the Goths had Forms suited to their Heresie while they were Arians but made Orthodox as soon as they embraced the Catholic Faith Moreover this same Council which was before Isidore's Time in order to discover those who yet secretly favoured Arianism Ordain That the Creed shall be repeated by all the People with an audible Voice before the Lords Prayer in the Communion (x) Concil Tol. t. 3. Can. 2. ibid. Which Usage still is kept in the Mozarabic Liturgy and is peculiar to that Office From all which we may infer That Leander compiled this Office but did not first invent the Forms only he collected them out of more ancient Liturgies especially the old Gallican Missal which the Arian Goths had corrupted but he now restored it to its ancient Purity and therefore there is a very great Agreement between the old Gallican and Mozarabic Missals and they are nearer to each other than either of them are to the ancient Roman Forms Which confirms our Observation That this Age did not first Worship God by Liturgies but continued the ancient Way only by the New Conversion of divers Countries from Paganism or Heresie one pure Liturgy was collected and published for the use of that Country or Province from which none of their Ecclesiastics were allowed to vary The
scattered and dispersed Fourthly His Quotations are not faithful for he frequently disguises the Evidence which he produces both by false Translating divers Passages and Citing them wrong So in the Council of Carthage he reads Quascunque for Quicunque (n) Disc of Lit. pag. 44. And in that of Milevis Cum prudentioribus collatae for à prudentioribus collectae (o) Ib. p. 49. So he Translates 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Cum his caeteris hujusmodi gratiarum actionibus (p) Ib. p. 76. pretending they used a diversity in their Praises whereas S. Chrysostom's Words only import That they did give Thanks for Variety of Blessings for these and all such like And it is very remarkable that he cites many Authors imperfectly drawing a Line thus and leaving out the most material Words if they seem to make against him So when he perverts Nazianzen as if he spake of Words in Extempore Prayer he draws a Line before 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and applies it falsly to 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but in Nazianzen there are three Substantives The Throne the Altar and the Holy Things in that Sentence which he twice leaves out (q) Disc of Lit. pag. 60 pag. 77. to which Substantives 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 plainly belongs for it was not the Words but the Throne the Altar c. which were present to him by the Holy Ghost By the same Trick he draws a Line in S. Cyprian after Quidam dicunt (r) Ib. p. 98. to conceal the next Words which shew it was Hereticks only which said this My Answer hath variety of Instances of such like dealing which a Man might expect rather from the Disciples of Loyola than from Persons that pretend to Tenderness of Conscience Lastly Whereas he often saith He hath Answered all the Places of the Ancients which either others had alledged or He in his diligent search of Antiquity had met with which seem to make for Liturgies (s) Disc of Lit. p. 179 alibi I doubt not but to make it appear that he hath not only omitted but industriously concealed some Hundreds of Proofs for Liturgies which I shall produce in my Answer and by comparing that clear Evidence with the slight Testimonies which he produces to confute it will appear to every Intelligent Reader that he resolved to keep all Testimonies of this kind out of sight except only those which he hoped he could either blunder or pervert to some other Sense Having given this short but just Character of his Book I will say something of my own wherein I have taken Care that this Ill-dealing should not transport me into any Personal reflexions and am plainly content to shew my Adversary is either ignorantly or wilfully mistaken without giving the Epithets that properly belong to both kinds of Mistakes Nor will I make it my chief business to confute his Book but to render my Discourse more useful than it could possibly have been if I had only followed him through his various Windings and Turnings I have Collected in every Century as many Testimonies concerning Liturgies and their Antiquity Original and Use as my Time would permit or the Argument needs though not all which might have been found and I have placed these in the exact Order of time under the several Names of the Fathers and then reduced the scattered Pieces which he objects under every one of these Fathers as I go along giving a distinct answer to them all that are material which I judge to be the fairest way to find out the true Sense of Antiquity in this Question And by this distinct and regular proceeding I hope not only to discover the Weakness of my Adversaries pretended Evidence but to give a clearer and fuller account of the early beginning and general use of Liturgick Forms than hath yet been done by any who have Writ upon this Subject And the use hereof may be First to confirm the Devout Members of our own Church who are the greatest and most considerable part of the Nation in their just Veneration for those Holy Forms by which they daily serve God when they find them so very agreeable to pure and genuin Antiquity which the Romanists have deserted by new Additions to their Forms consonant to their Superstitious Innovations and Corruptions and so have our High-flown Separatists also by new pretences to a Gift of Prayer long since ceased and by Praying Extempore upon ordinary occasions in Public Assemblies a Method unknown to the Ancients ever since there was a setled Christian Church And Secondly I will not despair but those moderate Dissenters who honestly desire to serve God in the best manner and have been abused by False-Teachers into an ill Opinion of Forms may by perusing these Papers lay aside their Ill-grounded prejudices against Liturgies when they clearly discern that the most Pious and Learned of the Primitive Martyrs and Fathers in the best and purest Ages of the Church did always approve of and use prescribed Forms in their public Worship So that they cannot reject Liturgies as a corrupt carnal cold and formal way of Praying without condemming the Devotions of the best and dearest Servants of God in all Ages both of the Jewish and Christian Church Which is a censure as void of Truth and Modesty as it is of Charity and Humility It is certain Millions of Holy and Admirable Men have Prayed thus with wondrous Fervency and God hath heard such Prayers and if they be lawful in themselves aceptable to Heaven and sufficient to procure what we Pray for there can be no reason why this Church should not enjoyn them now as all other Modern regular Churches do and the Primitive Church also did I grant such as have had a false Notion of them cannot be expected to use them so devoutly as others do but if their Judgment were rectisied those prejudices would soon wear off and a little Time and Experience of the great benefit of Holy Forms would convince them That a Pure and Prudent Pious and proper Liturgie such as ours is the most rational and Advantageous way of Paying our public Service to Almighty God and the greatest help to true Devotion in the World I confess my first design was to have gon through every Century that can be called Ancient but my time not permitting me as yet to transcrible all my Observations in Vindication of the Antiquity of Liturgies from the unjust Cavils of my Adversary I have now published only the first Four Centuries till the rest be made ready because if we find them within that compass all Men must own they are Truly Primitive And it is not fit to delay a just Censure of this Fallacious Treatise Since that Party so extremely dote upon it as to think it unanswerable For one of them in his Book called The healing Attempt that is a project to heal the Dissenters by the Wounds of the established Church lately talks at this vain
Antiq Brit. Eccles pag. 370. An. Dom. 560. Moreover Baleus further tells us That S. Asaph the Scholar and Successor of Kentigern writ a Book Of the Ordinations of his Church (g) Balaeus de script Brit. fol. 34. An. Dom. 590. which seems to be the Forms used there in Ordaining Presbyters and Deacons and perhaps in Admitting of Monks This may suffice to shew us the Britons had written and prescribed Forms before my Adversary will allow them to have been used any where and if any require further satisfaction he may consult the Learned B. Vsher's Antiquity of the British Churches where there are divers Evidences of this Truth We proceed therefore to the Saxons who were Converted by Augustin the Monk about the end of the Sixth Century And He no doubt according to S. Gregory's direction made a Liturgy for them taken out of the Roman the Gallican and other Forms which continued in use for some time But after Gregory's Roman way of Singing began to be so generally admired in all these Parts of the World That was also laboured by Augustin's Successors to be brought in here For Bede mentions one James a Deacon who was skilled both in the Roman and the Canterbury way of Song saying of him That Paulinus leaving York and returning to Rochester left this James behind him in the North who when that Province had Peace and the Number of the Faithful encreased being very skilful in Singing in the Church became a Master of Ecclesiastical Song to many after the way either of Rome or of Canterbury (h) Bedae histor lib. 2. cap. 20. circ A. D. 640. Which must signifie his teaching Clerks how to recite Gregory's or Augustin's Forms of Service because in that Age they chanted their Prayers and Praises both About Thirty years after this in Theodorus his Time They learned to Sing the Office all England over and one Eddi after the aforesaid James was their Master in the Churches on the North of Humber (i) Beda ibid. lib. 4. cap. 2. circ An. 670. And a little after those who Instructed Men in Ecclesiastical Offices are called Masters of Singing (k) Idem lib. 5. cap. 20. because the Offices were set to some certain Notes and that alone is enough to prove they then Prayed by certain prescribed Forms it being impossible to set Arbitrary or Extempore Prayers to Notes which though some have affirmed liable to be Canted yet none ever thought them capable to be Chanted But we proceed I doubt not but the Gregorian Forms as well as his way of Singing came into use here before the Year 700 For in the late elaborare Collection of Old Saxon Books and Manuscripts put out by my Worthy Friend Dr. Hicks there is a Sacramentary of S. Gregory which is at least a Thousand years old (l) Grammatica Maeso-Gothic D. Hick p. 148. and then it must be Written about the Year 690. But this is more plain in the Famous Council of Clovesho which sat 24 year after wherein there is not only clear Testimony for the use of Forms but a full Evidence of the prevailing Interest of the Roman Offices For there it is appointed That All Priests shall learn to repeat the whole Office by Law appointed for their Order and shall be able to interpret the Creed the Lords Prayer and the holy Words pronounced in the Mass into the Vulgar Tongue Can 10th As also That all Priests shall perform all their Offices after the same way and manner Can. 11th And further it is Decreed That the Festivals in memory of our Lord be celebrated in one and the same manner in all Offices belonging to them as to Baptism Administring the Communion and the manner of Singing according to the Written Form which we have received from the Roman Church and that the Festivals of the Martyrs shall be observed on the same day according to the Roman Martyrology with the Psalms and Hymns proper to each of them Can. 13th And finally That the Seven Canonical Hours of Prayer be observed with the proper Psalms and Hymns and that the Monasteries shall all Sing alike and shall neither Sing or Read any thing but what is generally used and is derived from Scripture or permitted by the Custom of the Roman Church that so all may with one Mind and one Mouth glorifie God Can. 15th (m) Concil Clovesho Can. 10 11 13 15. apud Spelm. Concil Tom. l. p. 249. circ An. D. 714. From which Canons it is very plain that the Saxons within one Century after their Conversion had Written Forms of Prayer for all Offices and that the Roman Liturgy was now beginning to be generally received in this Land I shall make but one Remark more in so clear a case which is That Venerable Bede dying on Ascension-day is by ancient Historians said to have repeated the Collect for the Day in these Words O King of Glory and Lord of Hosts who as on this day didst ascend triumphantly into the Heaven of Heavens leave us not comfortless but send us the Promise of the Father even the Spirit of Truth (n) Gul. Malms de gest reg lib. 1. cap. 3. pag. 12. Sim. Dunelm lib. 1. cap. 15. and soon after he gave up the Ghost Now this is the Collect in the Old Roman Forms and is yet continued in our Liturgy almost Verbatim which gives that Collect the honour of having been received in this Nation for near a Thousand years But since my Adversary dares not attempt the Saxons and Spelman's Councils afford so many undeniable Proofs of prescribed and imposed Forms used here from the Time of their Conversion I shall not heap up needless Instances but proceed to the Kingdoms and Churches in France and Germany where the same Order and Method of Praying was observed § 5. I have so fully proved Ecclesia Gallicana ab An. Dom. 450. that there was a Form of Service peculiar to the Gallican Church that I need not have added any thing on that Subject but that my Adversary hath the confidence to say In France they had Books for public Service in the 8th Century yet they were used at the discretion of those that officiated who added and left out as they thought fit till Charlemain in the beginning of the Ninth Age would have them Reformed after the Roman guise And this he proves by a Passage cited out of the Chronicle of Engolism related in Mornay of the Mass (o) Disc of Lit. p. 134. but the whole Story is nothing else but Falshood and Fallacy For First He speaks of Books for public Service in France in the 8th Century as if they had none before Whereas we have made it appear That S. Hilary made a Book of Hymns for the Gallican Church in the Fourth Age An. 354. That Museaus of Marseils composed a Book of Prayers for Consecrating the Sacrament in the Fifth Century An. 458. We have shewed That the Gallican Office which is