execution hereof the Queens most excellent Majesty the Lords Temporal and all the Commons in this present Parliament assembled doth in Gods name earnestly require and charge all the Arch-Bishops Bishops and other Ordinaries that they shall ende about themselves to the uttermost of their knowledges that the due and true execution hereof may be had throughout their Diocesse and charges as they will answere before God for such evils and plagues wherewith Almighty God may justly punish his people for neglecting his good and wholsome Law And for their authority in this behalf be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid that all and singular the same arch-Arch-Bishops Bishops and all other their officers exercising Ecclestastical iurisdiction as well in place exepmt as not exempt within their Diocesse shall have full power and authority by this act to reform correct and punish by Censures of the Church all and singular persons which shall offend within any their jurisdictions or Diocesse after the said feast of the Nativity of saint John Baptist next comming against this act and statute Any other law statute priviledge liberty or provision heretofore made had or suffered to the contrary notwithstanding And it is ordeined and enacted by the authority aforsaid that all and every Justices of Oyer and Determiner or Justices of Assise shall have full power and authority in every of their open and general Sessions to enquire heare and determine all and all manner of offences that shall be committed or done contrary to any article conteined in this present act within the limits of the Commission to them directed and to make processe for the execution of the same as they may do against any person being indited before them of trespasse or lawfully convicted thereof Provided alwayes and be it enacted by the authority aforesaid that all and every Arch-Bishop and Bishop shall or may at all time and times at his liberty and pleasure joyn and associate himself by vertue of this act to the said Justices of Oyer and Determiner or to the said Justices of Assise at every of the said open and said general Sessions to be holden in any place within his Diocesse for and to the inquiry hearing and determining of the offences aforsaid Provided also and be it enacted by the authority aforesaid that the books concerning the said services shall at the costs and charges of the Parishioners of every Parish and Cathedral Church be attained and gotten before the said feast of the Nativty of saint John Baptist next following and that all such Parishes and Cathedral Churches or other places where the said books shall be attained and gotten before the said feast of the Nativity of saint John Baptist shall within three weekes next after the said books so atteined and gotten use the said service and put the same in ure according to this act And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid that no person or persons shall be at any time hereafter impeached or otherwise molested of or for any of the offences above-mentioned hereafter to be committed or done contrary to this Act unlesse he or they so offending be thereof indited at the next general Sessions to be holden before any such Justices of Oyer and Determiner or Justices of assise next after any offence committed or done contrary to the tenour of this act Provided alwayes and be it ordeined and enacted by the authority aforesaid that all and singular Lords of the Parliament for the third offence above-mentioned shall be tried by their Peeres Provided also that and be it ordeined and enacted by the authority aforesaid that the Major of London and all other Majors Bayliffes and other head officers of all and singular cities boroughs and towns corporate within this Relam Wales and the Matches of the same to the which Justices of Assise do not commonly repaire shall have full power and authority by vertue of this act to enquire heare and determine the offences bobe-said and every of them yeerly within xv dayes ofter the feasts of Easter and saint Michael the archangel in like manuer and form as Justices of Assise and Dyer and Determiner may do Provided alwayes and be it ordeined and enacted by the authority aforesaid that all and singular arch-Arch-Bishops and Bishops and every of their Chancellours Commissaries Archdeacons and other Ordinaries having any peculiar Ecclesiastical jurisoiction shall have full power and authority by vertue of this act as well to enquire in their visitation synods and else where within their jurisoiction at any other time and place to take accusations and informations of all and every the things above mentioned done committed or perpetrated within the limits of their iurisdictions and authority and to punish the same by admonition excommunication sequestration or deprivation and other Censures and processe in like form as heretofore hath been used in like cases by the Queens Ecclesiastical laws Provided alwayes and be it enacted that whatsoever person offending in the premisses shall for the offence first receive punishment of the Ordinary having a testimonial thereof under the said Ordinaries seal shall not for the same offence eftsoones be condicted before the Justices And likewise receiving the said first offence punishment by the Justices be shall not for the same offence estsoones ceive punishment of the Ordinary any thing contained in this act to the contrary notwithstanding Provided alwayes and be it enacted that such ornaments of the Church and of the Ministers thereof shall be reteined and be in use as was in this Church of England by the authority of Parliament in the second year of the raign of King Edward the sixt until other order shall be therein taken by authority of the Queens Majesty with the advise of her Commissioners appointed and authorised under the great seal of England for causes Ecclesiastical or of the Metropolitans of this realnt And also that if there shall happen any contempt or irreverence to be used in the Ceremonies or Rites of the Church by the misusing of the orders appointed in this book the Queens majesty may by the like advice of the said Commissioners or Metropolitans ordein and publish such farther Ceremonies or Rites as may be most for the advancement of Gods glory the edifying of his Church and the due reverence of Christs holy mysteries and Sacraments And ve it further enacted by the authority aforsaid that all laws statutes and ordinances wherein or whereby any other service administration of Sacraments or Common prayer is limited established or set forth to be used within this Realm or any other the Queens domiuions and contreyes shall from henceforth be utterly void and of noue effect By the King A proclamation for the authorizing an uniformity of the Book of Common Prayer to be used throughout the Realm ALthough it cannot be unknown to our Subjects by the former Declarations we have published what Our purposes and proceedings have been in matters of Religion since our coming to this Crown Yet
for through default of their concurrent Ratification many of their Canons became insignificant ciphers and where custome and Canon chanced to justle and enterfere the people if their either inclination or interest might be gainers by it alwayes fled to prescription And prescription was sure to carry the cause where no Act of Parliament interposed to the contrary Now at our first entry into the Realm c. The complaint implyed in this Proclamation is a Libel miscalled The humble petition of the Ministers of the Church of England desiring Reformation of certain Ceremones and abuses in the Church that they might the better fore-speak impunity for so strange boldnesse they exhibit their muster-roll thus formidable To the number of more then a thousand This Petition they presented in April 1603. Formed it was into four heads comprehending a summary of all their pitiful grievances concerning first the Church service Secondly Church ministers Thirdly Church livings Fourthly concerning Church discipline To encounter these schismaticks both the Vniversities presently endeavour what they can Oxford models out a very brief but solid answer to all their objections not suffering one to escape Cambridge passeth a grace in their publick Congregation June 9. in the same year That whosoever shall openly oppose the Doctrine or Discipline of the Church of England or any part thereof either in words or writing shall be forthwith suspended of all degrees already taken and made uncapable of taking any hereafter This notwithstanding they held private conventicles the usual forerunners of sedition so as the King was compelled in October next to restrain them by Proclamation but promising withal that he intended a conference should shortly be had for the sopiting and quieting of those disputes This was the great occasion of that Conference of Hampton Court. According to the form which the Laws of this Realm c. The Kings of this Realm are by the statute 26. H. c. 1. declared justly and rightfully to be the supream Governours of the Church of England to have full power and Authority from time to time to visit represse redresse reform order correct restrain and amend all such errours c. which by any manner spiritual Authority or jurisdiction ought or may lawfully be reformed repressed ordered redressed corrected restrained or amended Agreeable to this power Henry the 8. Edw. the 6. Queen Mary her self Queen Elizabeth severally in their respective reignes did act But the laws referred to by this Proclamation is first that Act of Parliament 1. Eliz. wherein it is ordained that the Kings and Queens of this Realm shall have have full power and authority by letters Patents under the great Seal of England to assigne name and Authorize when and as often as their Heires and Successors shall think meet and convenient such person or persons as they shall think meet c. to visit reform redresse c. Secondly the latter end of the Act for uniformity where the Queen and consequently her Successors are authorized by the Advice of their Commissioners or the metropolitan to ordain and publish further Rites and Ceremonies And this helps us with an answer to an objection of Smecttymnuus who from the several Alterations made in our Liturgy both by Queen Elizabeth and King James from that of the second establishment by Edw. 6. infer that the Liturgie now in use is not the Liturgie that was established by Act of Parliament and therefore that Act bindeth not to the use of this Liturgie To this we reply that those Alterations can excuse from that act onely in part and for what is altered as to what remaineth the same it bindeth undoubtedly still in tanto though not in â—oto And for the Alterations themselves the first being made by Act of Parliament expresse that of 1 Elis. and the second by Act of Parliament reductive and implied those afore-mentioned what gain Smecttymnuus by their illation that those alterations are not established by the first Act And whereas it may be supposed that that Proclamation may lose its vigor by that Kings death and consequently the Service book may be conceived to be thereby in statu quo prius yet considering his late Majesty did not null it by any expresse edict that several Parliaments sitting after did not disallow it that all subscriptions have been unanimous in reference to those changes that the Emendations were made to satisfie the Litigant party I conceive the Proclamation valid notwithstanding the death of that King The first original and ground whereof c. Here our Church is explicite expresse enough to confute the vulgar errour of her seduced children who fill the world with more noise then truth that our service hath its original from the Masse-Book her resort is to the Antient Fathers to their godly and decent orders she conforms her self leaving the Romanists to the yesterday devised innovations of their Church The Pye Pica or in English the Pye I observe used by three several sorts of men First by the quondam Popish Clergy here in England before the Reformation who called their ordinal or Directory ad usum Sarum devised for the more speedy finding out the order of Reading their several services appointed for several occasions at several times the Pye Secondly by Printers which call the letters wherewith they Print books and treatises in party colours the Pica letters Thirdly by Officers of civil Courts who call their Kalendars or Alphabetical Catalogues directing to the names and things contained in the Rolls and Records of their Courts the Pyes Whence it gained this denomination is difficult to determine whether from the Bird Pica variegated with divers colours or whether from the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 contracted into 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which denoteth a Table the Pye in the Directory being nothing else but a Table of rules directing to the proper service for every day I cannot say from one of these probably derived it was and no great matter which Wherein the reading of the Scriptures is so set forth c. The Lessons appointed in the Kalendar are onely ordered for the week dayes or such festivals as happen upon them not for the Sundayes for which resort must be had to a future order Nothing but the pure word of God or that which is evidently grounded upon the same Here the Church declareth that over and besides the Canonical Scripture what is evidently grounded upon the same viâ— Some part of the Apocrypha she approveth and appointeth to be read in Churches to which end some Lessons in the Kalendar are selected thence but neither considered by her in a party of honour with the Canon nor so strictly enjoyned but that she in some cases tolerateth yea commendeth a swerving from her prescriptions For where it may so chance some one or other Chapter of the Old Testament to fall in order to be read upon the Sundayes or holy-dayes which were better to be changed with some other of the New
Church Our manner of reading them most conformable to antiquity The Contents of the Chapters of what use Q The Primitive custome before every Lesson R The Benefit of mixing Psalmes or hymnes with Lessons S Te deum how ancient T Benedicite ancient V Benedictus and other hymns vindicated used by the Dutch Church W The Creed anciently no part of the Liturgy how imployed why called the Apostles the Catholick Church a phrase as ancient as Ignatius reason why so called The variety of Symbols whence derived why the Creed pronounced standing X The Lord be with you whence derived difference betwixt it and Peace be to you Y Let us pray an ancient formula Z Lord have mercy upon us c. called the Lesser Litany AA O Lord shew thy mercy upon us c. are canonical Scripture BB Collects why so called MOrning and Evening Prayer Prayer ought to be made as oft as occasion requireth as there is daily occasion so there must be daily prayer Our daily sins exact a daily confession our daily wants teach us as our Saviour prescribed us to say Give us this day our daily bread The Lords mercies are new every morning so should our prayers and thanksgivings be new in practice though the same in form Upon this account were the Diurnal sacrifices of the Temple upon this account did the Primitive Christians practice it sacrificia quot idie ceâ—â—bramus we daily offer sacrifices to God saith Cyyrian 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 saith Theodoret. Yea not only daily but twice a day at Morning and Evening according to the order of our Church 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 saith Chrysostome all the faithful can bear witness of this how it is observed in the Morning and Evening Service and to the same purpose d Epiphanius 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Morning Prayers and Hymns are continually used in the holy Church as also Evening Prayers and Hymns what these morning and evening hymns were shall be seen afterwards As for the hour of morning prayer with us it is nine in the forenoon agreeable to the Primitive practice of the Greek Church especially derived either from the miraculous descent of the holy Ghost at that hour upon the Apostles or from the Jewish custome of assembling for the performance of Religious duties at that hour their Third whereof instances there are enough in H. Scripture This in all probability of divine establishment not so I conceive the next or sixth in order of Canonical hours this being added by private devotion at which hour after dinner devout people resorted to the Temple to offer up their more pecular supplications in reference to their private and proper wants So Hannah rose up early after they had eaten in Shiloh and after they had drunk and went into the Temple and prayed unto the Lord. 1 Sam. 1. 9. whence old Eli mistook her to be drunk 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 saith S. Chrysostome from the heat of the day for it was about noon So the Prophet David at Morning and Evening and at high noon day will I rise up to praise thee In conformity to which the Antient Christians preserved the same observation though satisfied I am not that it was an universal practice because Clemens Alexandrinus restraineth it to some 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 some allot set hours for Prayers the Third Sixth and Ninth Except it shall be otherwise determined by the Ordinary c. The first Reformat on putting a positive restraint that general upon all Divine Offices to the Chorus or Quire Bucer whose judgment was called in to aid by Arch-Bishop Cranmer in order to a future Reformation of our Liturgy justly faulted it wishing quam primum corrigi that with all expedition it might be mended for Oportet ut sacra omnia Populus audiant percipiant que religione summâ Fit it is that all holy offices the people should both hear and minde with all possible devotion and this they could not doe in such Churches where the high Altars were disposed very distant from the Nave or Body of the Church by the interposition of a Belfrey as in many places it happened Thereupon in the next Liturgy order was given for the service to be used in such places of the Church c. as the people might best hear And if controverted the Ordinary to determine the place Now the last Reformers in Q. Elizabeth her time observing that in many Churches the edification of the people might be secured and the ancient practice observed restored the service to its former station leaving notwithstanding an overruling power in the Ordinary to dispose it otherwise if he saw just cause so to doe Whereby it appeareth that the Bishops lately enjoyning the service to be said at the holy Table or in the Chancel did not innovate but held to the Rubrick and that the officiating in the Desk was a swerving from the rule unless where it was able to shew Episcopal dispensation expresly to warrant it And the Chancels shall stand as they have done In the beginning of the Reformation under King Edward the 6. his Reign Altars were taken down upon good and godly consideration as King Edwards Letter to Bishop Ridley imports But as there is no constat that all altars were then taken down for the letter speaketh but of most part not of all the Churches in the Realm so is it dubious whether they were taken down by publick order or popular tumult for the consideration might be good and Godly yet the way of proceeding therein not approvable But taken down they were and by way of concomitancy probably in many places the steps of ascent were levelled also set so as some were notwithstanding left in their former state about which much strife and contention arising in several places some eager to pull them down others as earnest to continue them The wisdom of the Church interposeth to part the fray ordering in this Rubrick no alteration to be attempted therein which notwithstanding the people in the begining of Queen Elizabeth her Reign began to be unquiet again in this particular so as she was enforced to restrain them by a new order in these words Also that the Steps which be as yet at this day remaining in any our Cathedral Collegiate or Pâ—rish Churches be not stirred nor altered but be suffered to continue And if in any Chancel the steps be transposed that they be not erected again but that the place be decently paved By which words evident it is Authority had no designe to end the dispute by closing with either party but by stating things in their present posture The minister shall use such Ornaments c. In the latter end of the Act for uniformity there was reserved to the Queen a power to make some further order with the advice of her Commissioners c. concerning Ornaments for Ministers but I do not finde that she made any use of that Authority or
a loud voice by the Priest And in the next Canon it is ordained that none dissolve the Fast children aged and sick persons excepted ante peractas Indulgentiae preces before the absolution office be over Why it is called Good Friday needs slender elucidation every ordinary pretender to Christianity is able to say because it was the completory of our eternal Redemption Upon this day the Gospel is taken out of St. John probably as the Rationalists inform us because he was 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 an eye witness of what he relateth In the African Church St. Augustine tells us it was taken out of St. Matthew Passio quia uno die legitur non solet leg i nisi secundum Mattheum Because the Gospel appointed for the Passion is read but one day it is wont to be taken out of St. Matthew Easter Eve This was stiled Sabbatum magnum the great Sabbath upon this day were the Competents Baptised and this day with the next sabbath ensuing called Clausum Paschae the close of Easter and all the dayes within that enclosure were called octo dies Neophytorum the eight dayes of the Neophytes or new-made Christians which wore white vestments all that time There was a tradition amongst the Jews that Christ should come again upon Easter-day at midnight about the hour of his Resurrection upon which ground St. Hierom conceived the tradition continued ut in die vigiliarum Paschae ante noctis medium Populos dimittere non liceat expectantes adventum Christi That on Easter-Eve the people should not be dismissed before midnight as waiting for Christs coming The like is attested by Theodorus Balsamon limiting the practise to those onely who were 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of the devoutest sort A Relick of which custom remained in this Church until the first reformation implyed in that ceremony of setting up the Sepulture of Christ and watching of the Sepulchre frequently mentioned in the Ritual monuments of those times Upon this day it was the custom for the Bishop in imitation of our Saviour to wash the feet of the new baptised persons Ascendisti de fonte quid secutum est succinctus est Sacerdos licet enim Presbyteri fecerint tamen exordium ministerii est à summo Sacerdote pedes tibi lavat saith St. Ambrose Thou didst arise out of the font what was next the chief Priest being girt washt thy feet for though the Presbyter officiateth yet the derivation of his power is from the chief Priest where he seemeth to make this ceremony proper onely to the Bishop as indeed so was all relating to Baptisme according to the sense of Antiquity 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 saith Ignatius it is not lawfull to Baptise without licence from the Bishop Dandi Baptismum ius habet summus Sacerdos dein Presbyteri Diaconi non tamen sine Episcopi authoritate so Tertullian The Chief Priest hath power to administer Baptisme so also have Presbyters and Deacons but not without authority derived from the Bishop Easter-Day This was the Birth-day of our Saviour in his state of Glory and exaltation as his first nativity was the Birth-day to his state of humiliation It was anciently called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the great day By Gregory Nazianzen 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Feast of Feasts How could it be lesse it being the day 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 by way of eminence which the Lord hath made Psal. 118. 24. for of this day do the Fathers unanimously expound that place and therefore with them as it is with us that Psalm was alwayes part of the office of this day For the antiquity of the observation of this day innumerable Authors might be produced but in a matter not at all controverted it would edifie little I shall therefore supersede from others and content my self with a Reference to that known contest betwixt the Churches of the East and West about it whether it should be observed on the 14. of the first New-moon in March as they of the East pretended or on the Lords-day as the Western custom was wherein both pleaded and justly too as I conceive Apostolical tradition The Quarta decimani or they who kept the fourteenth day derived their practise from St. John the other from St. Peter The matter being adiaphorous they of the Levant the East might in this as they did in other things condescend to the customs of the Jews their cohabitants on designe to win upon them in higher matters And the Western Churches more conversant with Gentiles having not the same occasion might rather make choice of the Lords day it being the very day of Christs Resurrection in memory whereof that feast was observed That the celebration of this day was Apostolical is a truth as radient as if it were written with the beams of the Sun and needs no further demonstration then the consideration how early this Question invaded the Church The first news we hear of it is from Polycarpus his journey to the Roman Bishop Anicetus Propter quasdam super die Paschae quaestiones by reason of some questions raised about Easter-day So Hierom and Eusebius Polycarpus was St. Johns disciple and when Anicetus endeavoured to gain him to the western usage his answer was he would never desert that custom which he had received from St. John So that though Polycarpus and Anicetus argued the question yet like stout Champions both kept their ground and which is most laudable like good Christians kept also the peace of the Church So did not Victor Bishop of Rome a while after for being a man composed of fire and tow and inflamed with an Epistle of Policrates then Bishop of Ephesus to him he grew so cholerick that he renounced Communion with all Asia upon that sole account for which Ireneus of Victors perswasion not of his Spirit sent him a sound rattle Let this suffice for the Antiquity of this grand festival This day with Christs Nativity Epiphany and Pentecost were dayes of so high solemnity as all the Clergy were bound upon pain of excommunication for three years not to be absent from their Cures at any of them And that such was the Practise for Easter St. Cyprian giveth us early account for being desired by Fortunatus and others to consult with his confraternity about the receptions of Persons lapsed through torture he referreth them for his answer to another time because saith he Nunc omnes inter Paschae prima solemnia apud se cum fratribus demorantur Now all my Collegues are tied to their proper Cures until the Easter holy-dayes be over The Anthymnes appointed by our Church are pure Canonical Scripture wherof the last beginning thus Christ is risen again being taken out of 1 Cor. 15. 20. seemeth to be an Imitation of the Ancient practise of the Primitive Christians who were accustomed to greet one another every Easter morning one saying 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the
body or in soul that the Almighty would send them the thing that is most profitable as well bodily as ghostly Also ye shall pray for all Pilgrims and Palmers that have taken the way to Rome to saint James of Jerusalem or to any other place that Almighty God may give them grace to go safe and to come safe and give us grace to have part of their prayers and they part of ours Also ye shall pray for the holy Crosse that is in possession and hands of unrightful people that God Almighty may send it into the hands of Christian people when it pleaseth him Furthermore I commit unto your devout prayers all women that be in our Ladies bonds that Almighty God may send them grace the child to receive the Sacrament of Baptisme and the mother purification Also ye shall pray for the good man and woman that this day giveth bread to make the holy-loaf and for all those that first began it and them that longest continue For these and for all true Christian people every man and woman say a Pater Noster and an Ave c. After this followeth a Prayer for all Christian Souls reckoning first Arch-Bishops and Bishops and especially Bishops of the Diocess then for all Curates c. then for all Kings and Queens c. then for all Benefactors to the Church then for the Souls in Purgatory especially for the Soul of N. whose Anniversary then is kept This was the form preceding the Reformation of it made by King Henry the eighth This King having once ejected the Popes usurped Authority used all possible Artifice to keep possession of his new-gained Power That by the whole â—lergy in Convocation that by Act of Parliament he was recognized Supream Head of the Church of England he thought it not enough But further ordered the Popes name to be utterly rased out so are the words of the Proclamation of all Prayers Orisons Rubrioks Canons of Mass Books and all other Books in the Churches and his memory never more to be remembred except to his contumely and reproach Accordingly also he caused this Form to be amended by omitting the Popes name with all his Relations by annexing the title of Supream head to himself and by contracting it into a narrower model But though this King corrected so much as served his own turn yet all the Popery of this form he did not reform but left the Prayer of the Dead remaining As for King Edward the sixth the form enjoyned by him was the same precisely with that of Henry the eighth That of Queen Elizabeth varieth for the better from both these Praying for being changed into Praysing God for the dead and with her form agreeth that in the 55 Canon of our Church almost to a syllable Before all Sermons Lectures and Homilies Preachers and Ministers shall move the People to joyn with them in Prayer in this form or to this effect as briefly as conveniently they may Ye shall pray for Christs holy Catholick Church that is for the whole Congregation of Christian People dispersed throughout the whole world and especially for the Churches of England Scotland and Ireland And herein I require you most especially to pray for the Kings most excellent Majesty our Soveraign Lord James King of England Scotland France and Ireland Defendor of the Faith and Supreme Governour in these his Realms and all other his Dominions and Countries over all persons in all causes aswell Ecclesiastical as Temporal Ye shall also pray for our gracious Queen Anne the Noble Prince Charles Frederick Prince Elector Palatine and the Lady Elizabeth his wife Ye shall also pray for the Ministers of Gods holy word and Sacraments aswel Arch-Bishops and Bishops as other Pastours and Curates Ye shall also pray for the Kings most honourable Councel and for all the Nobility and Magistrates of this Realm that all and every of these in their several Callings may serve truely and painfully to the glory of God and the edifying and well governing of his people remembring the account that they must make Also ye shall pray for the whole Commons of this Realm that they may live in true Faith and Fear of God in humble obedience to the King and brotherly charity one to another Finally let us praise God for all those which are departed out of this life in the Faith of Christ and pray unto God that we may have grace to direct our lives after their good example that this life ended We may be made partakers with them of the glorious Resurrection in the life Everlasting Alwayes concluding with the Lords prayer Having beheld the Reformation of the form it will not be amisse to look into the practise This upon my best inquiry all along the dayes of Edward the 6. and Queen Elizabeth is exhibited by onely six Authors Two Arch-Bishops Parker and Sands Four Bishops Gardner Latimer Jewel and Andrews In all these I observe it interveneth betwixt the Text delivered and the Sermon Arch-Bishop Parker onely excepted who concludeth his Sermon with it I observe also in them all that it is terminated in the Lords Prayer or Pater Noster for which reason it was stiled Bidding of Beades Beads and Pater Nosters being then relatives Lastly I observe in every of them some variation more or lesse as occasion is administred not onely from the precise words but even contents of this form And from hence I infer that the Injunctions both of Edw. the 6. and Queen Elizabeth being framed before any reformed Liturgie was by Law established did not bind Preachers so strictly to the precise words of that form when the service was rendred in English as when in Latin for it is not presumable those eminent men would have assumed such a liberty to vary the expression and enlarge in some other matters had not they understood the Churches dispensation therein But there were afterward some overforward to abuse this Liberty and minding the interest of their owne Principles took the boldnesse to omit the main who could be content to pray for James King of England France and Ireland defender of the faith but as for supreme Governor in all causes and over all Persons as well Ecclesiastcal as Civil they passed that over in silence as that very King hath it who thereupon re-inforced the form by the Canon afore specified As for the late practical change of Exhortation Let us pray into Invocation we pray In my weak apprehension it is but the very same in effect and operation and neither to be justly quarrelled at especially when the Lords Prayer which 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 summarily comprehendeth all we can ask is the close to both Having discoursed the practise of our own Church it will not be amisse to examine that of the Primitive Church and the rather because many have been of that opinion that no prayer before the Sermon was used in those times Counter to which several Authorities may be opposed
Respectiveness of Gods Decrees points 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i. e. inscrutable to the most illuminate Doctor of the Gentiles and which put him to his 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i. e. O the depth of the Wisdom of God Rom. 11. 33. nor of any thing less then fundamental being there taken notice of Happy were we did all Practitioners in Theology they especially who pretend on high honor to our Church conform to her example Or laying on of hands As the Tongue is to the Heart such is the Hand to the Tongue an Interpreter Caeterae partes saith the excellent Orator loquentem adjuvant haec prope est ut dicam ipsae loquuntur In demonstrandis personis atque locis adverbiorum atque pronominum obtinent vicem Other members do help the Speaker but the Hands I almost say speak themselves In demonstrating Places and Persons they serve instead of Adverbs and Pronouns Adverbs for Place and Pronouns for Persons So according to the ancient mode of Renuntiation in Baptism the party to be Baptized was commanded protensâ manu 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Satanae renunciare to renounce Satan by stretching out his hand as to one present where the protending of the Hand towards the West that Quarter of the Heaven whence darkness begins the Prince of Darkness by this Prosopopâ—ea was indigitated So also according to the universal mode of all Nations the Hands in Prayer are lifted up towards Heaven the place whether our Prayers tend So when our Prayers are limited and restrained to any one peculiar thing or person the maner is to lay the hand upon that Object relative to the Invocation So the Paternal Benediction given by Jacob to the Children of Joseph was performed by laying his hands upon their heads Gen. 48. 14. After the same maner also did persons of remarkable Sanctity bless such Infants as were upon that account brought to them as our Savior Mark 10 16. And in Analogy or resemblance of that practice is the Ceremony of Imposition of hands in this office of Confirmation whereby the Church using the ministration of the venerable Fathers the Bishops Invocateth the Divine Benediction upon her Children now entring their adult state and riper years Then the Bishop shall lay his hands upon c. Our Savior being near his Ascension having given his last Charge and Commission to the Apostles tells them what should be the sequence of that Faith which should result from their Predication and Doctrine In my Name they shall cast out Devils they shall speak with tongues they shall take up Serpents and if they drink any deadly thing it shall not hurt them they shall lay hands on the sick and they shall recover Mark 16. 17 18. Which Miracles though Believers did afterward perform yet were not those operations the meer results of Faith nor did they do them as Beleevers but the Power enabling them thereto was conveyed to them by the Gift of the Holy Ghost which Gift not onely imported an extraordinary Collation upon new regenerated Converts of the invisible Graces of Gods Spirit confirming their Faiths daily more and more and assisting them in the exercise of an holy and sanctified Life and Conversation But also in outward Qualifications suitable to the exigent of those times for the working of Miracles Nor were those Believers to expect or receive those Gifts by any other Prayers or any other Hands then of the Apostles that the World might know God had a more then ordinary value for their Function and consequently would require the highest Honor deferr'd to it upon this very account the Apostles hearing that Samaria had received the word of God and were Baptized by Philip the Evangelist they sent Peter and John from Jerusalem to them to pray for them that they might receive the Holy Ghost implying thereby that though Philip had commission to Baptise and Preach yet could he not give the Holy Ghost And when Simon Magus perceived what strange feats were done by those Beleevers after such prayer and Imposition of hands of those Apostles he thinking it would prove a money matter bad liberally for it till he understood he was in the wrong And though in tract of time and by degrees whole Nations being converted to the Christian Faith the main cause of those Miracles ceasing they themselves began to abate both in number and quality and so Confirmation was not practised much upon that pretence yet it being an Apostolical usage and instituted also for another end viz. An Invocation of Gods inward sanctifying the Person new Baptized by the Grace of his holy Spirit a Petition necessary at all times The Bishops succeeding the Apostles in the Government of the Church thought fit to continue it still retaining it as the Apostles did to themselves alone and not communicating it to any of the inferior Clergy Qui in Ecclesia Baptisantur Praepositis Ecclesiae offeruntur saith Cyprian They who are Baptized in the Church are straightways presented to the Presidents of the Church Ut per nostramorationem ac manus impositionem Spiritum Sanctum consequantur That by our Prayers and Imposition of Hands they may obtain the Holy Ghost The reason whereof is this that whereas the Bishop had condescended and delegated the Power of Baptizing to Presbyters which was originally resident in himself as hath been said already yet seeing requisite it was that Gods Blessing should be implored upon those Neophites by them and Blessing is an Act of Paternal Authority it was convenient it should be reserved to himself ad honorem sacerdotii as St. Hierome saith in honor of his Priestly Superiority Other Imposition of hands have been performed some by Presbyters and Bishops indifferently as that in receiving Penetents to the peace of the church as that in consecrating of Marriage some by Presbyters with Bishops joyntly as that of Ordination But never any meer Presbyter assumed this of Confirmation nor was it ever in the Primitive Church permitted to any but to the Bishop alone To the contrary whereof never was there produced any Testimony Authentick Authentick I say for that Ambrose upon the Ephesians whom some urge against it is by the men who cite him confesled supposititious and a counterfeit But be he who they please what says the man Apud Aegyptum Presbyteri consignant si praesens non sit Episcopus In Aegypt the Presbyters consign if the Bishop be not present Now if consignant here should prove not to import confirming this shadow of a Father will stand them in little stead And who dares positively say it not Blundellus I am certain and yet he would as gladly have it so as another for he is put to his sive's either Confirmation or blessing of Penetents or consecrating Persons by Ordination not knowing in which to fix So that this they know not who speaks they know not what And of all these sive's which stand in competition that of Confirmation is least like
mighty working whereby he is able to subdue all things to himself I commend this soul to God the Father Almighty and thy Body to the ground c. Then shall be said or sung I Heard a voyce from Heaven saying unto me Write from henceforth Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord Even so saith the Spirit that they rest from their labors 1 B. of Edw. 6. Let us pray WE commend into thy hands of mercy most merciful Father the soul of this our Brother departed N. And his body we commit to the Earth beseeching thine infinite goodness to give us grace to live in thy fear and love and to die in thy favor that when the Judgement shall come which thou hast committed to thy well-beloved Son both this our Brother and we may be found acceptable in thy sight and receive that blessing which thy well-beloved Son shall then pronounce to all that love and fear thee saying Come ye blessed Children of my Father Receive the Kingdom prepared for you before the beginning of the world Grant this merciful Eather for the Honor of Jesus Christ our onely Saviour Mediator and Advocate Amen This Prayer shall also be added ALmighty God we give thee hearty thanks for this thy servant whom thou hast delivered from the miseries of this wretched world from the body of death and all temptation And as we trust hast brought his soul which he committed into thy holy hands into sure consolation and rest Grant we beseech thee that at the day of Judgement his soul and all the souls of the elect departed out of this life may with us and we with them fully receive thy promises and be made perfect altogether through the glorious resurrection of thy Son Jesus Christ our Lord. These Psalms with other suffrages following are to be said in the Church either before or after the burial of the Corps I am well pleased that the Lord c. Psal. 116. Glory to the Father c. As it was in the beginning c. Praise the Lord O my soul c. Psalm 146. Glory to the Father c. As it was in the beginning c. omitted by Bucer O Lord thou hast searched me out c. Psalm 139. Glory be to the Father c. As it was in the beginning c. Then shall follow this Lesson taken out of the 15 Chapter to the Corinthians the first Epistle CHrist is risen from the dead and become the first fruits of them that slept For by a man came death and by a man came the resurrection of the dead For as by Adam all die even so by Christ shall all be made alive but every man in his own order The first is Christ then they that are Christs at his coming Then cometh the end when he hath delivered up the kingdom to God the Father when he hath put down all rule and all authority and power For he must reign till he have put all his enemies under his feet The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death For he hath put all things under his feet But when he saith All things are put under him it is manifest that he is excepted which did put all things under him When all things are subdued unto him then shall the son also himself be subject unto him that put all things under him that God may be all in all Else what do they which are baptized over the dead if the dead rise not at all Why are they then baptized over them yea and why stand we alway then in jeopardy By our rejoycing which I have in Christ Jesu our Lord I die daily That I have fought with beasts at Ephesus after the maner of men what advantageth it me if the dead rise not again Let us eat and drink for to morrow we shall die Be not ye deceived evil words corrupt good maners Awake truly out of sleep and sin not For some have not the knowledge of God I speak this to your shame But some man will say How arise the dead With what body shall they come Thou fool that which thou sowest is not quickned except it die And what sowest thou thou sowest not that body that shall be but bare corn as of wheat or some other But God giveth it a body at his pleasure to every seed his own body All flesh is not one maner of flesh but there is one maner of flesh of men another maner of flesh of beasts another of fishes another of birds There are also celestial bodies and there are bodies terrestrial But the glory of the celestial is one and the glory of the terrestrial is another There is one maner glory of the sun another glory of the moon and another glory of the stars For one star differeth from another in glory So is the resurrection of the dead It is sown in corruption it riseth again in incorruption it is sown in dishonor it riseth again in honor it is sown in weakness it riseth again in power it is sown a natural body it riseth again a spiritual body There is a natural body and there is a spiritual body as it is also written The first man Adam was made a liâ—ing soul and the last Adam was made a quickning spirit Howbeit that is not first which is spiritual but that which is natural and then that which is spiritual The first man is of the earth earthy The second man is the Lord from Heaven heavenly As is the earthy such are they that be earthy And as is the heavenly such are they that are heavenly And as we have born the image of the earthy so shall we bear the image of the heavenly This say I brethren that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God neither doth corruption inherit incorruption Behold I shew you a mystery We shall not all sleep but we shall be changed and that in a moment in the twinckling of an eye by the last trump For the trump shall blow and the dead shall rise incorruptible and we shall be changed For this corruptible must put on incorruption and this mortal must put on immortality When this corruptible hath put on incorruption and this mortal hath put on immortality then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written Death is swallowen up Into victory Death where is thy sting Hell where is thy victory The sting of death is sin and the strength of sin is the law but thanks be unto God which hath given us victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore my dear brethren be ye stedfast and unmoveable always rich in the work of the Lord forasmuch as ye know how that your labor is not in vain in the Lord. The Lesson ended the Minister shall say Lord have mercy upon us Christ have mercy upon us Lord have mercy upon us Our Father c. And leav us not c. Answer But deliver us from evil Amen 1 B. of Edw. 6. Priest Enter
Penitent which were under excommunication should carry the bodies of Christians 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Where Epiâ—hanius lived others were â—eculiorly designed for this Office these were called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 whose care conversant about the disposal of dead bodies Whether voluntary charity inclined these Copiates to this Office or whether they were hirelings and mercenary I can not determine the labour they underwent maketh me suspect them servile and of the lowest row On the contrary Na ianzene speaking of St. Bazils funeral saith 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 His body was taken up and car◠〈◊〉 by the Saints Which Saints may very well be esteemed the eminentest of Christians especially when this St. Gregories Scholar St. Hierom tells us that his famous Paula was Translata Episcoporum manibus servicem feretro subjicientibus carried by the Bishops supporting the Bier with their hands and shoulders Whereby the Office was not it seems so servile nor of such disparagement as the first Authorities would pretend to render it To bring these ends neerer together and yet not to depreciate and undervalue the credit of the witnesses I conceive the best way is to yield up all for true and that the Bishops and eminent Persons did assume this Office onely at the first egress from the house and also at the last ingress into the Church and that the great toyl and drudgery between both was undergone by Penitents as part of their Canonical penance or by the Copiastae who therefore gained the name of Labourers because they contracted a lassitude by bearing the Corps to Church But by these all or which you will the Corps went 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in state with Psalmodies one after another 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 What 's the matter what means this singing of Psalms expoâ—tulateth St. Chrysostome and then makes answer Do we not praise and glorifie God because at length he hath given the deceased a Crown of Glory The body being in this solemn Pomp brought to the Church was placed in media Ecclesia in the midst of the Church over which before interment there was usually made in praise of the Dead a funeral Oration and sometimes more than one For as I said before of Sermons upon other occasions so at funeral solemnities Orations were performed by many the first at the end of his Harangue or Speech usually raising up another So St. Basil in his upon St. Barlaam 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. But why do I by my childish stammering disparage this Triumphant Martyr Let me give way for more eloquent tongues to resound his praise let me call up the louder Trumpets of more famous Doctors to set him forth Arise then I say c. And so Nazianzene bespeaketh St. Basil being present at his Fathers Funeral 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Strike up with thine own voice I am the Resurrection Our solemn attending on the hearse of a deceased friend the embalming of him with a funeral Oration the care to see him decently inhumed and all other dues of exteriour honour we pay to that Noble clod are but those civilities which ethnique Philosophy hath dictated to her disciples God certainly expects more from Christianity than from Infidelity he expecteth from Christians conformity to his own precepts whereof this is one 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 That ye be not sorrowful at all at the loss of your friends not so the tears our blessed Saviour shed at the death of Lazarus legitimate and warrant ours but we must not be sorrowful 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as others are some Jewes as the Sadduces and all Heathens how that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that are without hope They give all for lost if some few dreamed of I know not what Elisian fields for the soul yet generally concerning the body they were of opinion with the Tragedian post mortem nihil est after death nulla retrorsum no hope that ever the body should recover life and be re-united with the soul. So that upon such occasions Hope is our Christian duty our duty I say not our complement not what we may do or leave undone but what we must do Now the proper object of this Hope is the Resurrection of the Body which followeth in the next verse Them which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him So then here is cause of great comfort as to the state of our departed friend what though for the present and an inconsiderable moment his flesh shall rot and waste to dust yet shall it rise again and be restored to a state of Glory and as this meditation is of singular consolation in respect of the dead so is it no less applied to the living That spectacle of mortality presented to the eyes of the beholders is lecture enough to assure them of their like change and what must they do in the interim The Apostle bidds them Hope for what for temporal benefits and accommodations for things of this life No. If in this life only we have hope in Christ we are of all men most miserable Of the Resurrection of their flesh unto glory and eternal life this undoubtedly So then funeral solemnities ought to excite in us Hope that is a certain expectation of the General Resurrection Nor will closet soli-loquies and private contemplation of that day serve our turns it is a sociable duty for so the Apostle makes it Comfort your selves one another with these words 1 Thess. c. 4. v. 18. What words With discourses concerning the Resurrection The premised context certainly implyeth as much as if he should say that they who are laid into the earth and nothing said at their interment declaring the mystery of the Resurrection Let their bodies be never so decently treated human they may Christian burial they cannot have From all this which hath been said the excellency of our Church her burial Office and the true conformity it beareth to Canonical Scripture will evidently appear Of the whole Service three parts of four are nothing else but pure Canonical Scripture the choicest parcels thereof being collected thence to declare the Doctrine of the Resurrection agreable to the Primitive Practice 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Ministers reading those undoubted promises which are exhibitea â—â— Sacred Scripture concerning our holy Resurrection next devoutly sung such of the Sacred Psalms as were of the same subject and argument For the rest the praying part what is it but the application of that Doctrine to the benefit of the living and a desire that they with all the faithful departed may at that day have perfect consummation and bliss both in body and soul. In sure and certain hope of the Resurrection These words have not as some mistake peculiar reference to the party deceased but import the faith of the congregation then present in the Article of the Resurrection and that their own bodies shall rise again
put her power into exercise further then is expressed in her Advertisments of the 7. year of her reign by which it is ordered that in Cathedrals the Chief Minister officiating at the Communion shall wear a decent Cope with Gospellor and Epistoler agreeable Shall use a Surplice Of civil concernment and politick necessity it is that men be distinguished into several not onely degrees but sorts To these sorts Custome hitherto uncontroled hath rationally assigned such vestments as set a peculiar mark upon them distinguishing each from other If amongst the rest sacred institution hath separated some to serve at the Altar why should not they be known by their livery to what profession they belong as well as others and if so why may not also some attyre be allotted them select from the the ordinary when they are called to officiate in holy administrations Religio Divina alterum habitum habet in ministerio alterum in usu communi saith Hierom Divine religion hath one habit for ministration in the Church another for ordinary uses What habit more decent then white the badge and cognisance of innocence and which the practise of the primitive Church commendeth to us Quae sunt rogo inimicitia contra Deum si Episcopus Presbyter Diaconus reliquus ordo Ecclesiasticus in Administratione sacrificiorunâ— candida veste processerint what defiance is it I pray to God expostulateth Hier. with the Pelagians if the Bishop Presbyter and Deacon and others of the Clergy in ministring at the Altar use a white garment did ever man speak more expresse and clear restraining the usage of these white vestments to the Clergy alone and to them onely in officiating at the holy Altar yet Mr. Brightman the Oracle of them of the Revolt hath the face to tell us that this Candida vestis of Hierom was no garment belonging to the minister alone in Divine service but a decent and cleanly vesture The like interpretation he gives us of St. Chrysostom who reproving the Clergy of Antioch for not excluding notorious offenders from the Eucharist tells them God requireth somewhat more from them then onely walking up and down the Church in white and shining garments when the Sacrament is administred Such barefaced opposition to manifest verities is to be pittied not quarrel'd at To these evidences out of Hierom and Chrysostom let me adde that of Gregory Nazianzen antient to them both and Master to the first who rendring the narrative of his dream describeth himself sitting in his Throne his Presbyters seated on either hand and his Deacons standing by 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 adorned in shining garments no doubt according to his wonted fashion when he was present at divine service Indeed exterior objects have a potent influence upon the soul and variously affect it according to the quality of them should one behold a Priest officiating about those dreadful mysteries in cuerpo or a foolscoate it would certainly excite thoughts of lesse respect whereas a vesture solemn grave and becoming fitted with agreeable actions must need move to a sutable reverence The Priest shall read with a loud voice some one of these sentences The first step to repentance the heathen could teach us is to know we have offended the next is to acknowledge it By these degrees our Church labours to bring us to our knees leading us to Confession by these Excellent sentences and an exhortation sutable to her purpose and without an humble and unfeined confession it were madnesse in us to hope for pardon for our transgressions Homoes saith the Father vis rogari ut ignoscas putas Dâ—um tibi non roganti ignoscere Thou art a contemptible man yet wilt be entreated before thou forgivest and shall God remit thine own sins unasked But before I advance further at this first threshold of our Liturgy I stumble upon an objection and an untoward one it is I confesse for this first sentence referred by the margin to Ezechiel is not there to be found 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or expressly the words of the Prophet being these c. 18 v. 21. 22. But if the wicked will turn from all his sins that he hath committed and keep all my statutes and do that which is lawful and right he shall surely live he shall not die all his transgressions that he hath committed they shall not be mentioned unto him Whereby it is evident that this sentence in our Liturgy resulteth from the Original rather by inference then by translation Now because many such seeming blemishes will perhaps occur to captious inquirers in the comparing of this old translation with that of the best edition it will be time well spent to alleviate the burthen of this and all other Objections emergent upon this account And first we are ready to justifie our Church thus far that she never swerveth from the native verity in any one particular relating to the fundamentals of either faith or morality Secondly it will be proper to examine what translation we follow The first translation of the Bible into the English tongue in order to our reformation was performed by Mr. Tyndal Anno 1530. afterwards Martyr But some Bishops had represented to King Henry the 8. that Tyndal was of a seditious spirit and had dispersed several books tending thereunto a most false aspersion witnesse that most Loyal peece called the obedience of a Christian man and that his Translation was very corrupt whereupon it was immediatly called in and suppressed But the Popes Authority about the year 1536 going down upon the entreaty petition of the Clergy King Henry issued out an order for a new translation indulging in the intrim to his Subjects the use of a Bible then passing under a feined name of Matthews Bible not much differing from Tyndals the King promising a new and more perfect Translation shortly to be published This Translation came forth in the year 1540 and was called the Bible of the great volume or the Great Bible and sometimes Coverdales Translation And though this Bible was enforced by the aid of a Proclamation yet was both it and all other Translations abolished by act of Parliamant 1542. and the publick use of the Bible interdicted in Churches without leave from the King or Ordinary first had which interdict lasted all King Henries reign But he not living many years after and his son Edward succeeding him the former statute was soon repealed and the Scripturs made publick again according to the Translation of Miles Coverdale which in truth doth not differ much from Tyndals In King Edwards time was our Liturgy compiled and no Translation being then more perfect then this of Coverdals reason good it should follow that And from that doth our Liturgy derive both the Translations of the Psalms and other portions of Canonical Scripture But there have been two new and more correct translations since one in Queen Elizabeths Reign called the Bishops-Bible it being the