the Psalmist nay with our Saviour Christ as I have before observed I will declare thy Name unto my Brethren in the midst of the Congregation will I praise thee Ye that fear the Lord praise him all ye Seed of Jacob glorifie him and fear him all ye Seed of Israel My praise shall be of thee in the great Congregation I will pay my Vows before them that fear him Psal xxii 22 23 25. I will praise thee O God among the People I will sing unto thee among the Nations For thy Merey is great unto the Heavens and thy Truth unto the Clouds Psal lvii 9 10. Blessed are they that dwell in thy House they will be still praising thee Psal lxxxiv 4. The Dead praise not the Lord neither any that go down into silence But we will bless the Lord from this time forth and for evermore Praise the Lord. Psal cxv 17 18. Which last words teach us that this is a piece of publick Service we do to God in this World which we are uncapable to perform when we are gone from hence Then the time is past of honouring God among Men by decâ—â—ring the sense we have of his Greatness and speaking good of his Name Foâ— though the dead are not quite silent yet what they say or do signifies nothiâ—â— to us in this World where we muâ—â— serve God while we live or else noâ— at all Which is a new consideration to quicken us to this Duty and to silence all those Objections which are apt to rise in our hearts against it Yes may some say We like the thing you press but are against the way of doing it in this Church In which some are distasted at all Forms of Prayer and others at that Form wherein we Worship God and him alone Unto the first of these I have this to say That when there were no Forms of Prayer left in this Church they that destroyed them did not dayly hold publick Assemblies Nor do they now make it their constant practice Which gives us too much cause to think they have not such a sense as is to be wished of their necessity But to let that pass supposing some have and that they only dislike a Form of Prayer it is something strange that the same Arguments which make them think dayly publick Assemblies to be needful should not also reconcile them to a Form of Prayer Which was constantly used by the Ancient Jews in their Assemblies as hath been undeniably proved by many of our Writers and was prescribed by our Blessed Lord and Master who made his Prayer I have shown for the publick Service in which he joyned with the Jews when he was at the Temple in Jerusalem and when he was in the Country went to the Synagogues which the Chaldee Paraphrast calls Houses of Praise in Isa vii 19. And so did his Apostles who themselves used a constant Form of Praise For they rested not Day and Night saying Holy Holy Holy Lord God Almighty which was and is and is to come Rev. iv 8. This as I showed before was their continual Hymn which they offered to God and it appears by St. Paul's usual way of recommending the Churches to whom he wrote unto the Grace of God that they had their Forms of Prayer also For he himself constantly used these words The Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all 2 Thess iii. 17 18. The same Power every Bishop had in his Church to compose Prayers for the necessities of it as we may gather from 1 Tim. ii 1 2. Which Exhortation is directed not to the people but to Timothy who was to take care to have all Men recommended unto God in the publick Offices by Prayers and Supplications with Intercessions and Thanksgivings for Kings especially and for all in Authority c. This could not be done orderly as all things were to be in the Christian Church without a set Form of Words which Timothy we may well think composed For those words 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that Prayers be made signifie as literally the Apostle would have Prayers and Supplications composed as that he would have them put up to God And I doubt not they signifie both First That they should be composed and then put up to God by the Church For you may observe further that the Apostles speak of this as their work Act. vi 4. where having bidden the Church look out some Men to be appointed to attend the business of providing for the poor they add but we will give our selves continually to Prayer and to the Ministry of the Word They made the Prayers where they were present as much as they ministred the Word Which is further manifest from hence that the Prayers of the Church of Jerusalem are called the Apostles Prayers Act. ii 42. And they continued stedfastly in the Apostles Doctrine and Fellowship and in breaking of Bread and in Prayers Observe here how all the faithful stedfastly continued in Prayers as well as hearing the Word And that they are First called Prayers in the Plural number not one but many Prayers and then that they are called the Apostles Prayers Prayers made by them For the word Apostles in the beginning belongs to all the three things that follow as well as to the first To the Apostles Fellowship and their breaking of Bread and their Prayers as well as to their Doctrine To be brief as John Baptist being a publick Minister sent of God taught his Disciples how to pray and our Blessed Lord taught his Apostles So his Apostles in like manner taught those whom they Converted according to the pattern Christ had left them and no question delivered the same power to those that should have the Supreme Guidance Direction and Government of the Church to compose Prayers suteable to Mens necessities in the several Nations where they lived and over whom they presided It may be thought indeed that the Extraordinary Gift they had in those dayes supplyed all But it is manifest both that every one had not that Extraordinary Gift of Prayer and that they also who had were to be so ordered and regulated in the exercise of it by the Governours of the Church that it might serve its Edification And nothing tended more to the Edification of the Church than that it should have a standing known Form of Prayers and Praises without which it could not be known how they Worshipped God and not depend merely upon that extraordinary Gift which was not constant but vouchsafed only on some special occasion according as God pleased to impart it Which is not said arbitrarily by me but it appears by a convincing Argument that this extraordinary Gift was not intended to serve the constant necessities of the Church but only some particular purposes for they who had it could not make others understand it and are therefore directed by the Apostle to pray they might be able to interpret that others might reap some benefit
coâ—dition as our Bodies tell us when thâ— are ill or in pain or hungry aâ— thirsty or labouring under any othâ— burthen 3. And then there is supposed a â—â—sire to have these wants supplyed as 〈◊〉 have already said Emptiness is troublesome to us when we feel it and it â—s impossible we should not long to be â—ased by getting it filled If we do â—ut fancy we are in need there is no â—est till we find some satisfaction We must be either satisfied that we do not â—eed it or we must have what we are â—tisfied is needful And in this consists Internal Prayer the desire or longing of the Soul to be â—lled with all the fulness of God to be satisfied with his likeness to be reconciled to him and to be made dayly more conformable to his Will and Pleasure in every thing 4 Which desires we are strongly inâ—ined even by Nature it self to exâ—ess in Words which are the interâ—reters of our minds and declare that is in our hearts For all sensible Creatures we see make their moans by â—â—dible Cryes of several sorts when their needs are great And therefore â—an cannot be the only silent thing â—â—t is formed by God to implore his â—elp and beg his relief on all occasiâ—ns in such words as are apt signiâ—cations of his inward desires And that 's the last thing observable 5. Prayer is an expression of our inward desires unto God the Author anâ— Fountain of all good For when wâ— are desirous to receive an Alms from any person we alwayes ask it of sucâ— as we believe are able and we hopâ— are willing to bestow it But neveâ— make our applications to those whâ— are as beggarly as our selves Now 〈◊〉 is God only who is able to supply aâ— our needs and hath revealed himself 〈◊〉 be willing to bestow what we ask 〈◊〉 him nay hath invited us to come 〈◊〉 him and assured us he will grant oâ— desires And who alone knows oâ— needs and can hear the desires of aâ— men and likewise is the only Judgâ— whether that be fit for us which we as 〈◊〉 or there be not something better thaâ— our own wishes Upon which account Saints and Aâ—gels are not to be invocated For 〈◊〉 we know not whether they hear uâ— nay it seems impossible to us thâ— they should be able to hear such greâ— numbers of Supplicants as in seveâ— and very distant places call upon thâ— same Saint or Angel So we know 〈◊〉 what power they have to help us nor what they can do for us if they could hear us but we know they cannot be in so many places at once as they have Suitors to give them their succour and assistance And besides they have made no promises to us that they will so much as prefer our petitions to God or do all they can for us Nor are they wise enough to judge what Petitions are fit to be preferred and what not that is what is most behoveful for us in all conditions and states of Life and in all the particular passages and circumstances thereof It might be added that all these Petitions must be put up in the Name and through the Mediation of our Blessed Lord and Saviour Christ Jesus who is our only Advocate with the Father But that belongs rather to the manner of addressing our Prayers unto God and therefore I here omit it And shall only observe for the further explication of it that there are several parts of Prayer to God As may be gathered even from that remark at the conclusion of the lxxii Psalm The Prayers of David the Son of Jesse are ended Where the foregoiâ—â— Psalms are all called Prayers thougâ— some of them be doleful complaints 〈◊〉 the sadness of his condition others 〈◊〉 them confessions of sin which hâ—â— brought him into that doleful estate others acknowledgments of his intiâ—â— dependance on God others magniâ—â—â— his powerful and wise Goodness anâ— render thanks for benefits receiveâ— and promise dutiful obedience as we as petition for pardon and deliverancâ— By which we learn that Prayer unâ—â— God is made up of all these and thâ— in a sense of his Greatness and Gooâ—ness of our absolute dependance upâ—â— him and all the benefits we have râ—ceived from him we ought to addreâ— our selves to him confessing how wâ— have offended him bewailing the â—â—serable estate into which we have therâ— by brought our selves begging hâ—â— pardon imploring the Grace of hâ—â— Holy Spirit and in the sincerity anâ— uprightness of our hearts resolving tâ—â— be wholly his and to serve him in newness of life all our dayes And the truth is every one of theâ—â— is vertually a petition to him Wheâ—â—ther we heartily acknowledge what he â—s or adore him or praise him or give him thanks or confess our unworthiness or profess our dependance on him or promise fidelity to him c. they all bespeak his grace and favour towards us and move him to bestow his mercy upon us This is a short explication of the Nature of Prayer which will be something better understood by what follows concerning the Necessity of it though when I have said all that I can I am sensible it will be defective For Prayer is so sublime a thing that the noblest Wits have acknowledged we stand in need of the Father to inlighten of his first-begotten Word to teach and of the Spirit to operate in us as Origen's 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 N. 8. words are That we may be able to think and speak worthily in so great an Argument CHAP. II. Of the Necessity of Prayer WE shall be the more strongly moved to study this high and excellent Duty and to labour to perform it aright when we are made sensible it is so indispensable a part of aâ— godly Life that we cannot so much a pretend to the profession of Christianity if we do not practise it Of which there is this general demonstration which cannot be gainsaid That which is founded in our Nature and to which we are bound bâ— vertue of our being Creatures to thaâ— every Christian is indispensably tied it being the intention of our Lord Christ his coming not to loosen those obligations we have upon us as menâ— but to strengthen them and bind them harder upon us to heighten all natural Duties and to make us more deeply sensible of the Laws that are written in our very being Now such an one is this of Prayer which doth not stand upon a mere positive command as Baptism and the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper do That is it is not our Duty merely because our Lord by his Authority hath made it so but he hath made it so because we are made to it as I may speak and formed by God to acknowledge him in this manner For it is as natural a thing to Pray as it is to Believe there is a God and to be perswaded that we were made by him and not by our selves Hence it is That you shall
praying in the Holy Ghost with fervent that is and inflamed desires such as the Holy Ghost excites when it is pleased to breath upon our souls Now this as I said is even naturally stirred up by the fervour of those Devout Worshippers with whom we joyn our Petitions For who can see a great many good people fall down together and kneel before the Lord their Maker with hands and eyes lifted up to Heaven imploring his Grace and Mercy which are things supposed in Christian Assemblies and not be thereby put in mind that it is a matter of great concernment about which they are so earnest Nay be mightily moved to prostrate himself in like manner to Worship the great Lord of all and to make him the same acknowedgments which are as much due from him as from any body else in the World Were a man never so dull or backward to Religious Worship it is impossible but he should be in some measure affected when he comes among a multitude whose reverend and ferious behaviour in the Divine service testifies the inward respect they have in their minds unto that Almighty Being whom they so devoutly Worship It would certainly not only put him in mind of his Duty but incline him with the like signs of humble and hearty Devotion to cast down himself in his Blessed Presence And the greater signs of ardency of desire and warmth of affection there appears in those with whom we are assembled the more feeling we shall naturally have of it our selves it being impossible to be quite cold by the fire side and to have no touch of Zeal when we are in the company of those who manifest a vigorous flame of Divine Love in their hearts Besides It is a comfortable sight barely to behold a great company gathered together to own one and the same Father who therefore cannot but look upon one another as Brethren This is St. Hierome's observation in iv Galat. Major laetitiaex mutuo conspectu oritur the greater joy arises in every heart by the very mutual sight of each other For so it is when Friends meet together they rejoyce to see the Faces one of another they bless the occasion that brought them into one and the same place and the more there are of them the greater rejoycing is there among them Now joy inlarges the heart and dilates our Spirits it makes them spread so much that sometime we can scarce contain them but are transported beyond our selves As on the contrary sorrow and sadness contracts and shrinks up the Spirits flats and deadens them so much that we have scarce any life left in us Upon which account the Spiritual joy and gladness I spoke of arising from the sight of so many Christian Neighbours and Friends is a very great help to us in our Devotion making us to pour out our Souls as the Psalmist speaks with the more inlarged desire It is but a dull and melancholy thing to be alone in comparison with the chearfulness which a great company of the same mind and Spirit naturally excite in each others Breasts By which we may understand also the advantage of full Assemblies in our Churches which look more lovely and therefore quicken more than a thin scattered Congregation Which is a damp to Christian Spirits because it is a very sad sight to behold the Divine Service neglected as it is where there are but few that come together to do God honour The summ of this Argument is That as no man is so warm alone as in a crowd So our Spiritual fervour is more quickned in an Assembly of pious Worshippers than it is apt to be when we are retired by our selves Where we ought indeed to awaken our Thoughts and stir up our affections but it must be acknowledged that we want then a great help and spurr thereunto which is the Holy Zeal of those who joyn with us in the same Petitions in the Publick Assemblies especially the seriousness the gravity and earnestness of him who ministers the service of God there Which together with the Authority of his Office the Sacredness and Majestickness sometime of the place set apart intirely for such services is apt to raise in us more ardent Devotion than we can easily raise in our selves alone IV. But if we had the same advantages of this kind when we are alone which we have not yet there is one more which wholly arises from our frequenting the Publick Assemblies And that is the good example we give to others who may be hereby moved to become Religious What we do alone no body sees nor is it intended that they should but rather that it should be kept secret And therefore it can be no inducement unto others to do their Duty but is the bare discharge of our own For which cause it is the less valuable because it doth less good for that is the best thing which doth the most universal good By which measure if we judge of Prayer we must prefer the publick whereby others are put in mind of their Duty nay attracted to it by our example whereas we our selves alone are profited by what we do alone It may be said indeed that we do good to others by praying for them But this is a very small good in comparison because it is more than they know and while we neglect the publick service we do them more mischief than we can be supposed to do them good by our private Prayers For we bring Religion into contempt when it hath few or none that attend the publick Offices of it and we let them want as I said the force of Example to awaken them out of that careless neglect of God which is too common in the World This is an Argument that should prevail very much with all good minds both to frequent the Publick Service of God and to behave themselves with an awful reverence therein Which will have some effect upon the looser sort who now are hardned in their impiety by the emptiness of our Churches at the time of solemn Worship or by the negligence of their behaviour who vouchsafe to attend upon it A multitude swayes very much either way to incline men to be good as well as to be bad It is hard to resist numerous examples They are able to bring Devotion as well as other things in fashion But if our example have not this effect on others we have notwithstanding done the best we could to advance the service of God in the World which will be a great comfort to us at present and turn to our good account hereafter We have let our light shine before men we have testified openly to the truth of Religion we have expressed our affection to it and reproved the impiety of those who regard not God Yea we put a stop to the progress of this impiety we hinder its growth and increase by wresting a great Argument out of their hands against Religion which is that there
Christians Members of Christ's Body which is his Church Which being nothing else but an Assembly of Men devoted unto Christ met together for Religious Worship they are not a part of it if they do not assemble with it That is they are not Christians nor will any of their privatâ— Devotions be acceptable unto God being set in opposition to the Publick because they go about to destroy the very Body of Christ which is his Church whose very being consists iâ— Assemblies and not in separated Worship alone by our selves Which Private Worship is then acceptable unto God when performed by a true Member of Christ's Body that is by onâ— who attends upon the Publick Assemblies by which he procures acceptance for his secret and private Services Which are so far from being moâ—â— acceptable that we cannot reasonable think they are acceptable at all wheâ— they are set in opposition to the otherâ— or when the other is constantly neglected If I knew how to make this plaineâ— I would do it because it is a matter 〈◊〉 great importance that we may not 〈◊〉 guilty of neglecting the Publick Wâ—â— ship of God where it may be injoyeâ— For so far as we neglect this we 〈◊〉 our selves off from the Church which is the Body of Christ That is we cease to be Christians and become bare Natural Men and Women for Christians are made to Worship God together in a Body of which every particular person is a part which cannot subsist but in Conjunction with the rest of the Members of that Body Perhaps this will be better understood by considering how we come to be Christians Which is not barely by belief in Christ but by receiving Baptism where professing Faith in him we are admitted into the Christian Society and Communion to parâ—ake of those Blessings which are bestowed by Christ upon the Christian Fellowship But then we must continue therein by living like Christiâ—ns and particularly by assembling â—ogether continually for Christian Worship Otherwise we renounce our Baptism which admitted us into a Society and not to act separately by our selves alone In which Society if â—ny man behave himself so scandaâ—ously that he is thrust out of it he â—s denied to have Communion with them in their Prayers all the times 〈◊〉 remains so cut off from the Churcâ— Which is a demonstration that to haâ— communion with the faithful in Prayâ— is the very thing unto which we are aâ—mitted by being made Christians 〈◊〉 being the thing of which men are 〈◊〉 barred when they are turned out 〈◊〉 the Christian Society For the further manifestation 〈◊〉 which great truth which I have thâ— explained in general I shall in the 〈◊〉 lowing Chapters offer several paâ—â—â—cular considerations which deserveâ— be seriously pondered in every Câ— stians thoughts CHAP. XV. Our Blessed Saviour the Founder the Church teaches us this Dâ—ctrine I. AND first of all I desire it 〈◊〉 be considered that our Bâ—â—â—sed Lord doth plainly suppose 〈◊〉 Notion of a Church that is of Râ—â—â—gious Assemblies in the very Prayer â—he taught his Disciples The first words of which being Our Father not my Father are an indication it was not made for a single person only but for a company of men joyning together in their Petitions to God Who are put in mind by this expression when any of them sayes this Prayer alone by himself that his Prayer is at that time acceptable because he is a Member of the Church of Christ and â—olds communion with the rest of his Christian Brethren There can be no other reason given why we say Our Father even in our Closets but that we pray as part of a Body and hope to be heard because we are in union therewith and not divided from it â—nd therefore stand bound as oft as we have opportunity to communicate with it in Prayer and all other Holy Offices when it meets together for that purpose II And therefore we may further observe that Christ most especially promises his Blessed Presence in such Publick Assemblies Matth. xviii 20. For where two or three are gathered together in my Name there am I in 〈◊〉 midst of them That he speaks of the being assembled in his Name foâ— Prayer appears from the foregoinâ— verse where he saith if two of yâ—â— agree on Earth as touching any thiâ— they shall ask it shall be done c. Aâ— the word gathered together shows 〈◊〉 speaks of Publick Prayer such as use to be in the Synagogues unto whiâ—â— the word in the Greek alludes Aâ— two or three so gathered together aâ—â— put for any number whatsoever bâ—â— rather mentioned than any other greâ—ter number that Christians might 〈◊〉 be discouraged though they couâ—â— meet but in very small Companies 〈◊〉 reason of the difficulties and distresâ— they laboured under in the beginniâ—â— of our Religion The Rules of the Synagogue was aâ— Dr. Lightfoot and otheâ— have observed that 〈◊〉 less the number of 〈◊〉 persons Temple-Service C. vii Sect. 3. who were 〈◊〉 Years were gathered together it wâ— no Assembly nor could there be aâ— Prayer But our Lord would not havâ— his Church thus abridged in this high priviledge of Prayer knowing as Mr. Thorndike observes it might so fall out that such a number of his Disciples could not get together either because of the persecutions which scattered them abroad or because there were but few suppose only two or three as yet converted in a place where the Gospel was preached Who if they did unanimously agree in common Petitions our Saviour promises should find notwithstanding their small number that he would be present among them That 's the Blessing promised to their consent and agreement in common Prayer Which is not to be understood as if he would not be present with a good Christian when he prays alone but the meaning is that then when they joyned in common Prayer he would be more especially present For if our Lord Christ have a love to every Christian Soul and delights to have its company then is he much more pleased with a great number of them who present themselves together to seek his Grace and Favour They are more welcome to him their company is more lovely the sight of them more amiable and they are more beloved of him and prevail for greater Tokens of his love And thus all wise Christians Ancient and Modern have understood it I will name one of later times for there is no doubt of the Ancient Conventus verò Sacros ad loca condicta deputata c. But as for Sacred Assemblies in places appointed and deputed for that purpose we have a very great veneration and highly approve and love them cùm nobis conjunctis Christum magis adesse existimamus for we believe Christ to be more present with us when we are met in conjunction together They are the words of Peter Martyr upon Gen. xxviii 12. And here it may not be unfit to note for a fuller explication of this matter
are few who are Religious If that then be good for us whereby we do the most good to others which is an undoubted truth we ought to be most in love with the publick Prayers That we may invite others by our constant attendance on them to joyn with us in giving God the Honour that is due unto him and free our selves from the guilt of other mens sins which we draw upon our selves when by giving little or no publick sign of our Devotion we tempt them to become or continue irreligious For as by performing our Duty alone by our selves we do only ourselves good but profit not others who receive great benefit by our Publick Devotion so if we should at any time neglect our Duty alone we thereby hurt only our selves but by neglecting the Publick Service of God we hurt all that are near us by our pernitious Example tempting them to think that Religion is only a private fancy which some men have taken up without any reason for were it a reality all men would be concerned to maintain and uphold it the best they can in the World Thus I have given an Account of the first Argument for the necessity of Publick Prayers taken from the Nature of Prayer it self both as it respects God and our selves By which it appears that all those motives which I used in the first part of this Book to perswade us to Prayer in general are most efficacious to draw us to the Publick Worship of God There being no greater Honour than to be known to be the Servants of the most High by attending upon whose Publick Service our minds are inlarged unto great and worthy thoughts of God and our affections stirred up to the highest admiration of him and love to him who provides for so many as there wait upon him nay dispenses his Blessings to the whole Universe which we commend unto him Whereby our hope and confidence in him is also exceedingly advanced though we had never such great things to ask of him having the united force also of a great many Petitioners to strengthen it who joyn together to solicite his favour Which there likewise we are naturally inclined to seek in the most serious and the most composed manner it being a shame not to frame our selves when we appear publickly upon such a weighty business unto the most reverend deportment which I have shown is of it self alone a singular benefit we receive by Prayer to God The sense of whom is the guide of our Life and the stay of our heart which is both upheld and raised to the highest degree by his Publick Worship Whereby if we do not prevail for all those whose welfare and happiness we seek we maintain and increase notwithstanding in our own minds a lively sense an high esteem of those Graces and Blessings which we earnestly desire and ask for all Mankind For whose good as we ought to be concerned so we are made more sensible of it more affected with it and solicitous for it by the publick Service of God than we are inclined to be in our private Devotions This will appear in the management of the second general argument propounded in the beginning of this Discourse for which I design the next Chapter CHAP. XIII Publick Prayers most sutable to the Nature of Man I Proceed now to consider the Nature of Man as I have done the Nature of Prayer from whence we shall more fully learn the necessity of God's Publick service and that it is to be preferred before all other Prayer being a natural Duty as I have proved in the beginning arising from the necessity of our own being which is precarious and dependent on another who ought therefore to be continually acknowledged by us it will easily appear from thence that it ought to be publick and not only alone by our selves because Nature hath formed us to society without which we cannot be preserved in safety From whence innumerable Arguments may be deduced for our publick Assembling together constantly to Worship that Almighty Being who hath thus by the very Laws of our Creation disposed us to joyn together for our common preservation For I. We cannot but see at the very first mention of this that we being made to have society one with another should above all things have society in Prayer to him that made us and continually maintains and preserves us For what can be more absurd than to have society in the lowect actions of humane Life and not in the highest which are of principal concern to us for our conservation It is such an absurdity as if we should joyn together to save one anothers houses but not to save one anothers lives And yet there is far less difference between a building of Wood or Stone and this excellent structure of our Body than there is between our worldly affairs and those of our immortal Souls Which teach us at the first thought of such things that if we were made to live together in society and not alone it is a just reason that God should be acknowledged by us all together who is the founder of society and as we transact all our common concerns together by meeting in a Body so the business of Religion especially which is the cement of Society and the Fountain of all Justice and Charity should be thus transacted and we should with a common consent meet together in one place to adore and acknowledge Him which is the greatest concern we have in this World even for this reason because it supports as you have heard a sense of him without which all society will be dissolved II. And there is the greater reason for this because men are the only Creatures here that are indued with a sense of God and of Religion and therefore should above all things joyn in that and study to promote it which is most proper to them and distinguishes them more than any thing else from the Brutes In whom we see some faint imitation of Reason and Discourse but not the least sign of Religion Which may well be look't upon as the discriminating property in man and make us think that he may be better defined a Religious than a Rational Creature This at least should be joyned with the other and he defined a rational Religious Creature For all definitions are taken from that which most peculiarly belongs to every Being and there is nothing so peculiar to us as a sense of Religion Which if we do not exercise together we do not act like men who in all reason should joyn to maintain and promote that which is most proper to them viz. Religion more than any thing else in the World For which end God hath given to us alone the gift of Speech which no other Creatures have besides our selves that we should proclaim his Praises and make it known that we honour him and excite one another to the love of him the Supream Being Who needs no words