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Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
truth_n	author_n	conviction_n	great_a	28	3	2.0643	3	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A61498	The old Puritan detected and defeated, or, A brief treatise shewing how by the artifice of pulpit-prayers our dissenters, at all times, have endeavour'd to undermine the liturgy of the reformed Church of England together with the fault and danger of such prayers, whether vented extempore, or forethought by the speaker / by a most learned and reverend divine now with God.	Steward, Richard, 1593?-1651.	1682 (1682)	Wing S5524; ESTC R16271	6,447	12

THE OLD PURITAN Detected and Defeated OR A BRIEF TREATISE SHEWING How by the Artifice of Pulpit-Prayers our Dissenters at all times have endeavour'd to undermine the Liturgy of the Reformed CHURCH of ENGLAND Together with The Fault and Danger of such Prayers whether vented Extempore or fore-thought by the Speaker By a most Learned and Reverend Divine now with God Now I beseech you Brethren that ye all speak the same thing and that there be no Divisions among you 1 Cor. 1.10 LONDON Printed for W. Davis in Amen-Corner 1682. The Publisher to the Reader AT this time of day when the Reverend and Learned Clergy of the Church of England are so great Ornaments of the Pulpit and so justly admir'd for their performances in Preaching he that would take upon him to instruct them how to behave themselves in it had need be a very wonderful and extraordinary Person for Learning and Authority or else he will be thought to charge himself with a most invidious and vain glorious Task But the Author of the following Tract was well known to be such a Person a man of great Reverence and Learning and worthily Design'd for a Principal Governor in this Church if it had pleas'd God to spare us so great a Blessing a little longer And therefore it should not be thought any great presumption to set down His sence of the Clergies Duty Especially in a matter that does not touch on the preaching part but concerns only Discipline and is neglected by most as himself thought it was through mistake of its bad consequences or by Inadvertency of the Law that has enjoyn'd it For some years both before and since this Copy came to my hands I have observ'd in many places and especially about London a great disuse of the practice here contended for And having discours'd with several concerning it I must needs say I have not been yet so fortunate as to meet with any Reasons sufficient in my Iudgment to justify the Common practice or to outweigh my Author's arguments against it I know that the Title of the Canon cited by him viz 55. primo Jacobi runs thus Precationis Forma à Concionatoribus in concionum suarum Ingressu imitanda but I am not convinc'd that the intention of the Canon is fullfil'd when the matter of it is turn'd into the proper Form of a Prayer Because we are hereby oblig'd to follow this very Form which is plainly the Form of Bidding Prayer the word being all along precamini and not precemur And in the Beginning 't is populum hortabuntur they shall move or exhort the People to pray but not pray with them till the Conclusion So that the next words I● hunc aut similem modum may not be understood of changing the Form of Bidding Prayer into a formal direct Prayer but barely to allow a Liberty of altering only the words so as may be suitable to any Emergent occasion or particular Circumstance keeping still to this Form in the nature of an Exhortation Wherefore seeing 't is so praescrib'd by K. Edw. 6th by Q. Eliz. and here by K. James and ratify'd since by the succeeding Powers a●● not repeal'd by any later Constitutions I see no reason why it may safely be dispenc't with unless we infer from the general usage that there is in this case a Tacit Consent of the Church But I don't find why the Church should be thought to Agree and Consent privily to that which she has Decreed otherwise in a publick manner And however she may Connive or tolerate or forbear to punish Offenders yet this will in no case acquit them of the guilt Besides there is the less ground to Argue upon the Churches Consent because many Eminent Church-men that should share in it have declar'd themselves of this Authors opinion and do practice accordingly The Dissenters tho' they hate nothing but Monarchy perhaps more than our Establisht Uniformity yet are so fond of any pretence against us that of late they have had the hardiness to Tax the Conforming Clergy with the Breach of it in matters as of less moment and not so ill consequence as this here treated of so much more Difficult if not impossible to be remedied And I am told the Popish Faction hath taken hold of the very same occasion to bespatter and revile our Discipline And farther I know many Regular and sound Divines that both use this Form of Bidding Prayer and no other and are also dissatisfy'd with such as do not use it so that such would do well either to shew good reasons why they disuse it and to make those Reasons as publick as this Paper Or else to Testify their Conviction by the use of it For if my Authors proofs stand firm and unshaken their contrary Custom or their great numbers will not justify them in the other practice How long soever they have been in the wrong 't is no shame at last to yield Obedience to the Truth and to the Law But if they make it appear against this Author that they are in the Right or that 't is but a matter of meer Indifferency whether we use this or another Form t is hop'd that the Rest of the Clergy may follow their way for Uniformity's sake Or that whether they do or no yet neither they nor the People may be Scandaliz'd if both ways be prov'd Lawful There is no other Design in the Publication of this paper than to procure a strict Conformity in the practice of the matter in hand or a General satisfaction to such as are Scrupulous about it I shall say no more but only give notice that the Authors words are kept entire in the Body of the Text The marginal notes being added by the publisher to make his meaning clear and to ease the Reader in perusal of his Citations by referring directly to their places THE GENERAL PROPOSITION Maintaining That it is not Lawful for any Person that has received Holy Orders in the Church of England to use any Extemporary or Praemeditated Prayers of his own private Composure either before or after Sermon in the Church in the publick Worship and service but only the Liturgy set forth and allowed FIrst Because it is directly against his own Solemn Promise made to the Church when he came to be Ordained And that promise is set under his hand when he subscribed the Three Articles contained in Canon 36 the Second whereof runs thus That he will use the Service-Book praescribed in Publick Prayer and no other Secondly Because the use of such prayers is directly against an Act of Parliament viz. That For the Vniformity of Common-Prayers which enjoyns peremptorily under sharp punishments that no man shall use any other open Prayer than is mentioned and set forth in the said Book Thirdly No man is to presume to exercise any Sacerdotal Office except he be called to it as was Aaron Seeing therefore both the Church and State have expresly