formed in our own Hearts and whether that Prayer which is such be not more spiritual than other That is 1. Whether there be not more of the Work of our own Spirit in it which I think no modest Man will deny 2. Whether there be not in such Prayer more room left to the Spirit of God to bring to our Remembrance what we have to confess to supplicate and give Thanks for No Words diminutive of spiritual Prayer become a Divine who ought to know that God is a Spirit and will be worshipped in Spirit and in Truth What if some Iesuites have discoursed for this kind of Prayer under the Name of Oratio acquisita acquired Prayer So they have discoursed very well for the Divine Nature of Christ the Trinity the Love of God c. All Sober Divines will grant that this acquired Prayer is the most perfect Prayer The Iesuites never discoursed for it but in Private They agree with some others that are no Dissenters as to Publick Prayer There was a Time when many can bear both the Dean and our late Casuist Witness that they both approved and practised this kind of Praying if they see better now they must Pardon others that cannot see by their Spectacles still acquired Prayer or free Prayer is what it was in the same Degree of Goodness and Praeference I know nothing that Spiritual Prayer can be opposed to but either carnal or meer formal Prayer from both which the good Lord deliver the whole Generation of those that seek his Face But this is enough to deliver free or conceived or acquired or if they will have it so spiritual Prayer from the false and fordid Calumny of being brought in by Iesuites 3. The Third is yet worse That the Devil may have a Causation in it The first that I remember I have met with who hath taught the World this new Imputation was the Author of Ravillac Redivivus proving it from the Instance of that prodigious Hypocrite in Scotland Major Weier The next that approved his saying was Dr. Falkner in his Vindication of Liturgies p. 41. who speaking how the faculty of Expression in Prayer may be procured faith It may be procured as he hath read in some particular Instances by Diabolical Contracts What his Answerer replieth to him see p. 43 44 45. Our Casuist hath improved the Notion Part 2. page 13. But then Secondly As for Diabolical Inspirations of Matter and Words in Prayer we have sundry very probable Instances such as Major Weier who is said to have received his Inspirations through a Staff Hacket David George and that Monster of Wickedness Iohn Basilides Duke of Russia who were all of them possessed with such a wonderful Gift of Prayer as did not only charm and ravish those that heard them but seemed in the Opinion of the most wise and impartial to exceed the Power of Nature which renders it very probable that the Matter of their Prayers was for the most part agreeable to Scripture otherwise it is hardly conceivable how they could have procured to themselves so many Admirers and abused so many honest Minds into a belief that they were immediately inspired by God For Answer to our Casuist his probable Instances of the Devil his inspiring ill Men with Matter and Words in Prayer I shall only desire the Reader to consider these few Things following First Consider That it is worth the observing how unreasonable this Casuist and his Liturgical Brethren are while they find a Difficulty to allow the Holy Spirit who is called The Spirit of Grace and Supplication Zech. 12.10 The Spirit of Adoption by which we cry Abba Father Rom. 8 15. Gal. 4.6 The Spirit that helpeth our Infirmities because of our Selves we know not what we should Pray for as we ought Rom. 8. 26. any influence on our Words in Prayer which is a good and Holy Action and yet find no difficulty to yield the evil Spirit such an influence who abhorreth Prayer and will leave the Room where he is molesting Men when they go to Prayer as we are assured in good Histories of such Molestations by the Devil such as that of the Devil of Mascon Published by Dr. Peter du Moulin and others Is not this very unfair dealing and an horrible Derogation from the Dignity and blessed influences of the Holy Spirit Secondly Consider That as for us we freely grant the possibility of all that our Casuist and his Brethren can reasonably demand and rightly infer from the foregoing Instances That is we grant it is possible that by Gods Holy Permission Satan may suggest many Things to ill Men he may represent various Objects to the Imagination and inward Sense he can impress the ideas of Objects upon Mens Fancy and Imagination and by means of those ideas he can raise their Passions and excite their Lusts and corrupt Affections He cannot only imprint new Idea's upon their Imagination but he can also revive in them the Memory of Things past and restore to them the Ideas of Things which they had forgotten and seemed to have lost and by the one or the other or by both these Means he can influence their corrupt Affections and put them into Motion These are his venemous Darts wherewith he agitates their Blood and Spirits and fixes their Lusts and Passions He can also suggest to them Thoughts that it is Gods good Spirit who thus moves them and makes those Impressions upon them and then their own wicked Hearts inclining them too readily to believe the Truth of his Suggestions because of the agreeableness of some of the things suggested to the Vanity of their Minds out of the abundance of their Hearts their Months naturally speak and that with such defining and flourish of Words as bears Proportion to the natural volubility of their Tongues or to that readiness of Speech which by Use and Exercise they have acquired Thus it is granted that without bodily Possession the evil Spirit might Work in those Children of Disobedience Ephes. 2.2 and so doing might furnish them with Matter of Discourse and thereby so excite and inflame their corrupt Affections and Passions that their wicked Hearts so warmed should readily prepare Words for their Tongues to utter by a natural or acquired volubility of Speech But now Thirdly Consider That in all this there is nothing of that truly spiritual vocal Prayer which is the proper and genuin Effect of Gods Holy Spirit influencing the Souls of true penitent Believers For that vocal Prayer as such consists of gracious Words proceeding from and reverently and aptly expressing the inward workings of Grace the gracious devout Affections of the Heart and the Holy and humble Desires of the Soul towards God through Christ. But the Words spoken from the aforesaid wretched Men were no such gracious Words they proceeded from no such Good and so were expressive of no such gracious Affections of no such holy and humbly Desires The utmost that with any colour of
God if it be according to the Revealed Will of God Surely one who being about to pray hath any thing brought into his Mind to confess beg or give Thanks for which he knows is according to the Revealed Will of God his Duty to confess beg or give Thanks for may know or at least reasonably think it is brought to his Thoughts by the Holy Spirit of God tho' he cannot confirm it to be so by a miraculous Operation But saith our Casuist tho' the Scripture may be sufficient to discover the Matter of the Inspiration whether it be true or false yet it is not sufficient to distinguish the Inspiration whether it be Divine or Natural or Diabolical Then he runs into a Discourse of Natural and Diabolical Enthusiasms and concludes That Men may be inspired naturally or from the Devil and how dangerous it is to father such Inspirations upon the Spirit of God 1. For natural Inspiration it is a kind of unintelligible Thing for surely he that is inspired doth aliquid pati suffer something and to suffer it to receive the Action of a foreign Agent So that to speak modestly tho' Natural Inspiration be a Canting Term devised by some of late for no very good Purpose it is no very good Natural Sense carrying with it contradictionem in adjecto which is not very Scholastick It is true a Man may have a natural or accidental Fervency of Spirit occasioned several natural and honest ways as well as by some less honest and I do not think it much dishonourable to the Holy Spirit to make use of those natural Means to excite the Affections Our Casuist is aware that this Third Reason of his will have the same if not a greater Force against that Assistance of the Spirit in Prayer which he and others of his Mind are willing to allow that he might not be called the Spirit of Supplication for nothing viz. in exciting and inflaming the Affections whose Fervour cannot be denied also to proceed sometimes from the Temper of the Body and they will be at a Loss there also to distinguish betwixt the Fervour that is Divine and that which is Natural in its Causation But how will he avoid it He tells us p. 12. That as to this we have a sure Word of Promise but not for the latter and therefore if we can claim a Promise we have just Reason to conclude that how much soever other Causes might contribute towards it the Holy Spirit was the Principal Cause I hope my Reader from what I have said before will see Reason to conclude that we may as well claim Promises and more than one for that Influence which we claim for the Holy Spirit upon our Words in Prayer as for the Influence it hath upon our Affections and if he will but name us the Texts and Promises he hath for the Spirit 's Influence upon our Affections it is ten to one but we shall prove that those very Texts if Rom. 8. 15 26. Gal. 4. 6. as much concern Words and contain Promises for Assistance as to Words as the exciting of Affections and we are pretty sure of it considering the great Influence raised Affections have upon our Words expressive of them so as we are Even and if there need no Miracle to prove the one to be Divine neither doth there need any to prove the other Influence Divine also 2. As to Diabolical Inspiration we have spoken before The Probability of such a thing is a very bold Suggestion We cannot deny but the Devil may sometimes suggest Scriptures to us ' He did so to our Saviour Matth. 4. 6. But it is a sure Rule that he never doth it but for obvious and apparently sinful Ends. If a Minister or a consciencious Christian be conscious to himself that he hath no other Ends in Prayer than to glorifie God in obeying his Will to humble his Soul before God for his Sins and to beg and obtain his Pardon and such Influences of Grace as his Soul stands in need of and he finds Scriptures pertinent to these Things brought to his Mind he hath no Reason but to conclude they come from the Holy Spirit nor needeth he any Miracle to confirm it The End will both demonstrate the Act and also discover the Principle plainly enough But p. 14. Our Casuist riseth higher telling us That we have not only no certain Sign of any such Inspiration in the conceived Prayers of those which most pretend to it but many certain ones of the contrary Four he will instance in upon which he deseants p. 15 16 17 18 19 20. 1. The great Impertinence and Nonsense and Rudeness to say no worse that are sometimes mingled with these extempore Prayers 2. That they are so generally tinctured with the particular Opinions of those that offer them 3. That that which gives them the Reputation of being so inspired is not so much the Matter as the way and manner of expressing them 4. That that extraordinary manner and way of expressing them for which they are thought to be inspired doth apparently proceed from natural Causes The two latter be calleth Plain Signs Let us try the Certainty and Truth of any of them I observe his first Sign is wonderfully qualified with Sometimes which takes out all the Efficacy of it for I suppose our Casuist hath heard of such an Axiome as this Spiritus Dei non semper tangit Prophetatum c. The best Prophet is not always a true Prophet even Nathan himself falsly revealed the Will of God to David 2 Sam. 7.3 Go do all that is in thine heart for the Lord is with thee God sent him the next Morning to tell David the quite contrary And Paul who sometimes spake what he had received from the Lord 1 Cor. 11.23 and 1 Cor. 7.10 saith Vnto the married I command yet not I but the Lord v. 12. of that same Chapter saith But to the rest spake I not the Lord. So that with our Casuist's Leave supposing it true that at some time some Phrases may slip which some Criticks may call Nonsense and oft-times they will call that so which is not so or which should in their Judgment be rude and indecent or perhaps worse Supposing that some at some times should in their Prayers declare their own Opinions which are not Truth Neither of these would any more prove that these Mens Words in other Parts of their Prayers or at other Times in Prayer were not influenced by the Holy Spirit then David's Murther and Adultery Lot's Incest Peter's Denial of his Master would prove that they were not in the general Course of their Conversation led by the Spirit of God or that Nathan was never influenced in his Prophecy by the Holy Spirit because he was not when he approved of David's Resolution to build God an House So plain are the two first Signs that indeed they are no Signs nor have any colour of such a thing further than concerns
to load his Ship to come to Portsmouth from thence to London and be Examined before the Council which makes it alone much like the Story of him that shot the Deer through his Claw and Right Ear at the same shot which might be true but not very easie to be credited by any thinking Man 2. Here are set formal Speeches reported betwixt the Pope and Commin upon his Private Discourse with the Pope which none could know or relate unless they wrote the Words in Characters a thing not so usual in Rome and upon the Truth of these Words of Commin to the Pope lies all the Stress of the Matter for which this Story is brought This is so bare-faced-a piece of Fiction as any Man of ordinary Modesty would blush at 3. Here are Forms of Speech used not very likely to be used either by a beggerly Priest to a Pope or by a Pope unto him it would also be inquired Whether Pius Quintus used that Phrase ordinarily In the Name of Iesus Mary and all the Saints 4. It is not very probable that he being committed for so high a Crime as railing at the Pope or the Church of Rome should be so soon discharged upon writing a Lie all know in such Cases there use to be Petitions upon Petitions nor is the Pope so much at leisure as to send for a Prisoner the next Day 5. What Evidence had the Pope of the Feats Commin had done did he take his own Word think we for the good Service he had done so as to acquit him of such a Crime 6. All I can say is If the Pope gave him 2000 Ducats upon these Terms Pius Quintus and his Money were sooner parted than I think any reasonable Man will believe they should I Appeal to the Judgment of the whole World whether this Story hath any thing of credibility in it The next Story brought to perswade us That free Spiritual Prayer was brought in by the Iesuits and Romish Priest's is the Story of one Heath related largely by the aforesaid Author of the Pamphlet called Foxes and Firebrands out of a pretended Registry of the Episcopal See of Rochester which begins Anno 2. 3. Phil. Mar. and continued to the 15 th Elizabeth The Passage which makes up the Story he saith was 11. Eliz. he tells us the Story at large p. 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22. Dr. St. mentions it in his Preface to his Vnreasonableness of Separation p. 13 14. Our Casuist hath it again Part 2. p. 60. I shall not trouble my Reader with the History at large which may be read by any that are curious in the afore-mentioned Pamphlet called Foxes and Firebrands All in it which looks towards our Purpose is that this Heath confessed that he had been a Iesuit Six Years before viz. Anno 1562. but owned himself at that Time a Protestant and accordingly applied himself to the Dean of Rochester his Brother having been lately Bishop of that See for some Church preferment and had incouragement only the Dean would first hear him Preach and appointed him 21. Nov. when he Preached and that in the Cathedral upon Acts 12.6 Peter therefore was kept in Prison but Prayers were made without ceasing to God for him It seemeth this subtle Iesuit was so simple as in a Probation Sermon to tell the Dean and his other Hearers That they were not the Prayers of the Church of England as then established that brought Peter out of Prison but spiritual Prayers The Sexton as the Story goes after Sermon found a Letter in the Pulpit Tinne of 〈◊〉 i◠directed to one Mr. Thomas Thinn he carrieth it to the Bishop and it was as followeth Brother THe Council of our Fraternity have thought fit to send you David George Theodorus Sarter and Iohn Hutts their Collections which you may distribute where ever you see it may be for your Purpose according to the Peoples Inclinations these mixtures with your own will not only puzzle the Understandings of your Auditors but make your self Famous We suppose your wants are not considerable at present by what we have heard how your Flock do admire you every Day more and more Be not over zealous in your Proceedings in the beginning but gradually win on them as you visit them and according as you find their Inclinations bend to your Design Let us hear how you have proceeded for it will satisfie our Brethren much and inable them to instruct you for the Future Hallingam Coleman and Benson have set a Faction amongst the German Hereticks so as several who have turned from us have denied their Baptism which we hope will soon turn the Scale and bring them back to their old Principles This we have certified to the Council and Cardinals That there is no other way to prevent People from turning Hereticks and for recalling others back again to the Mother Church then by Diversity of Doctrines we wish you to Prosper Madrid Oct. 26 1658. Samuel Malt. Upon this Letter thus found the Bishop of Rochester Convented the Preacher Nov. 22. chargeth him with nothing but a Suspicion that he was a Iesuit and that this Letter came indeed to him though under the Fictitious Name of Thomas Thinn If we may believe the Story he confessed that he had been a Iesuit Six Years before 1562. but faith that he had for Six Years before past withdrawn from them The Bishop to prove him a Iesuit still urged his Saying in his Sermon the Day before That they were not the Prayers of the Church of England but spiritual Prayers that brought Peter out of Prison and was not this a concludent Argument that he was a Iesuit And by and by the Bishop asks him if he had no Letters from those of his own Order If he knew one Malt sheweth him the Letter supposed to be by him dropped in the Pulpit He owned that he had heard of Malt and perhaps had formerly known him but would not own that he yet was a Papist But it is said that upon search at his Inn for he had been in Town but Three Weeks his Beads were found in his Boots and amongst his Papers a License from the Fraternity of the Iesuits and a Bull dated the first of Pius Quintus which by the way was that Year To Preach what Doctrines that Society pleased for dividing Protestants and in his Trunk were found several Books denying Infant Baptism Upon which it is said the Bishop adjourned the Court Three Days to the 25. Nov. and in the mean time sent to the Council for Instructions Vpon 25. Nov. be remanded him to Prison Sentenced him to stand in the Pillory Three Days and on the Third Day to have his Ears cut off his Nose slit Fore-head branded with F. and to be perpetually Imprisoned This is the Story Admit now it were true in all Points I see nothing in it that either makes against free conceived Prayer or against Dissenters Who doubteth but