Lp. has sufficiently wrong'd the Dissenters by falsly imputing such a Principle to 'em so he has greatly added to the injury by telling the world That on this account the pious custom of training up young people to a constant course of Devotion in their morning and evening secret prayers is too universally laid aside among the Dissenters as he has found by experience and for the truth of the observation he saith he dare appeal to all of the Dissenters Answ What is it that a man who is grown remarkable for his Talent of asserting boldly dare not venture on But sure he cannot hope by meer confidence to persuade us out of our senses And therefore since he appeals to us in this matter we must needs tell him We take what he asserts to be contrary to undoubted matter of Fact For we know of no Protestants in the world that more universally urge all in their Families to constant secret prayer than the Dissenters And we cou'd wish there were proportionably to the numbers on each side one of their Communion for five or ten of the Dissenters that maintain daily Family-prayer I know comparisons are odious and therefore shou'd never have made this if his Lp's gross partiality had not extorted it who in this charge has seem'd to lay aside all regard to truth or indeed to any appearance and shew of it It were very desirable that some of our Convocations wou'd take as effectual a course to promote secret and Family-devotion as that General Assembly in Scotland on whose words he wou'd have obtruded his first pretended Principle of the Dissenters who not only advise all particular persons to prayer and meditation but enjoyn Pastors to press it on all under their charge and the Heads of Familys to have a care that both themselves and all within their charge be daily diligent therein Directions c. p. 1. And I can hear of no Ministers that so frequently urge this duty on their People as theirs Nor do I know of any among the Dissenters that scruple the teaching their children the Lord's Prayer or other short Forms tho they may perhaps take more pains than others to prevent their saying 'em by rote without understanding ' em But I wonder much what his Lp. means when he tells us so gravely p. 64. As for children and ignorant people among those of this persuasion I am well assured many of 'em never bow their knees in secret to God and several of those that are grown up are forc'd to speak aloud or cannot pray at all which is against the nature of secret-prayer and exposes not only the person that uses it to the censure of hypocrisy but the duty to contempt I shall not now enquire how he is assur'd of what they do or do not in secret Nor need he sure be told that there are too many children and ignorant people in their Communion as well as that of the Dissenters that after all the pains taken to persuade 'em to their duty do yet neglect it But sure there is some strange mystery in what he asserts of those that are grown up if we cou'd but find it out Dos hâ—s Lp. then imagin that praying without a Form must necâ—ssâ—rily dispose a man to speak loud whereas if he pray'd by a Form it wou'd oblige him to whisper his devotions softly Or wou'd a conforming Lay-man that 's unaccustom'd to secret Prayer be less liable to this inconvenience of bawling out because he has his Prayer book before him Sure one wou'd think there 's as little danger of this in conceived prayer in which we need not foâ—m our dâ—sires into words or use our voice at all But if his Lp. in this only design'd to â—ell us of the weakness that some indiscreet persons have run into perhaps thro their zeal and earnestness tho ill-govern'd but which their opinion or practice as Dissenters has no influence on Why dos he trouble the world with such little impertinent storys as signify nothing to the purpose unless it be to expose his way of arguing to be smil'd at by the children and ignorant people themselves But what trifling things may not a wise man say when he pleads the Cause of a Party instead of that of Truth For his Lp's Third Principle of Dissenters viz. That the Minister is the Mouth of the Congregation and that the people have nothing to do but to joyn with him in their hearts I shall only suggest concerning it That 't is true we think the Minister is the Mouth of the Congregation and can find neither precept or pattern in Scripture for the Congregation's repeating a whole prayer together with the Minister much less of their so dividing the words between 'em as that the people rather make the Prayer as in most Petitions of she Litany nor dos the passage he alledges from 15 Rom. 6. prove any such thing And therefore on his weak Principles we might condemn their practice in this point as unlawful But we are far from being so rash and forward in our blind censures as he groundlesly insinuates p. 66. Nor do we as he here asserts suppose that the people have nothing to do but to joyn in their hearts with the Minister but suppose their adding their Amen a fit testimony of their assent to the publick Prayers they joyn in and he may in the Morning-Exerciâ—es of the Dissenting Ministers Printed at London find a whole Sermon on that head urging the people to pronounce their Amen more audibly than usually they do Having examin'd his Lp's unjust Account of their Principles I think it requisite to add a few things relating to Secondly Their general practice Concerning which I shall only suggest 1. Such as follow the Directory tho they are not confin'd to the words there propos'd yet look on 'em as the patterns to which the ordinary part of their Prayers shou'd be conform'd And accordingly The Directory dos require Ministers to pray to that effect Nor dos it disallow the use of those very expressions where the defectiveness of the Minister's Gifts or his unpreparedness by meditation renders it most conducive to publick edification So that neither are such Ministers left arbitrarily to choice as to the most stated and constant matters of Prayer nor the people left wholly at uncertainty about ' em 2. All Forms of Words in publick Worship are not disus'd by ' em They constantly use our Saviour's words 2 S Matth. 19. I Baptize thee in the Name c. in that Ordinance So do they retain his own words in the delivering the Bread and the Cup in the Lord's-Supper tho by the way our service-Service-Book has groundlesly alter'd and transform'd 'em into a Prayer for which I hope his Lp. will censure the Compilers of it as having preferr'd their own Invention before Christ's Institution So when they give the Blessing which is a Prayer they do it usually in some of the Apostolical Forms mention'd in the New
be instant in season and out of season to reprove rebuke exhort with all long-suffering and doctrine For these latter expressions seem to explain the former And I hope he will allow the Apostle Peter to have preacht in the 2 Acts from the 14th to the 40th ver And yet what he spoke is call'd an Exhortation v. 40. Nay to put the matter out of doubt 't is said of John the Baptist 3 Luke 18. That many other things in his Exhortation he preached unto the people 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Again he saith That interpreting the Scriptures applying 'em and exhorting the people from 'em in a Christian Auditory is never call'd Preaching Now either those many discourses of the Apostles recorded in the Acts are not Preaching or else quite contrary to the Bp's notion Preaching was interpreting the scriptures applying 'em and exhorting the people from ' em For I would fain know what else he can make of the Apostle Peter's Sermon 2 Acts from the 14th to the 40th 3 Acts from the 12th to the end 4 Acts from the 8th to the 20th Of Stephen's 7 Acts. Of the Apostle Peter's 10 Acts from the 34th to the 44th Of the Apostle Paul's 13 Acts in which single instance the Bp. will find almost all his Notions overthrown together For v. 15. After the reading the Law and Prophets the Rulers of the Synagogue send to Paul and his company this Message Ye men and brethren if ye have any word of Exhortation for the people say on The Apostle addresses himself to comply with their proposal And accordingly his discourse contains an Explication of several passages out of the Old Testament relating to the promised seed of Abraham an application of 'em to our Blessed Saviour and an exhortation to 'em from thence to believe in him and not despise and reject him And this very discourse the Apostle calls declaring glad tidings or preaching for the word is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 v. 32. If the Bp. object this discourse was not in a Christian Auditory 't is easily answer'd What can the difference of the Auditory signify to alter the nature of the discourse As if the very same discourse in a Synagogue shou'd be preaching but quite another thing in a Christian Church 'T is plain here that the Apostle preacht when he interpreted the Scriptures relating to Christ applyed 'em and exhorted the people from 'em so that these are the same thing And if he still pretend that such Exposition and Application had some other name given it when us'd in a Christian Auditory than that of preaching I shall to remove this shadow of a pretence farther add I suppose he will not doubt but the Apostle Paul either found or at least planted a Christian Church at Rome long before his two years expir'd and yet he is all that time said to preach the kingdom of God among ' em So no doubt there was a Christian Churâ—h at Ephesus and yet Timothy residing there is exhorted to preach the word to be instant in season and out of season And in the place I first alledg'd the Apostle Paul was desirous to preach the Gospel to those at Rome whose Faith was already so eminent and so publickly known and celebrated And indeed tho the Gospel be in the strictest sense only news to those that first hear it yet it dos not cease to be good tidings or a joyful message for being often repeated So that since the Bp. has so ill hap in every one of his Criticisms I wou'd advise him to be more sparing and deliberate in offering 'em to publick view for his talent dos not seem to lye much that way IV. The Scriptures have left it to human prudence to determine What portion of 'em shall be read in our publick Assemblys and in what order and method To clear this We must consider there are two ways of Reading the Scriptures in order to the peoples instruction from ' em As either 1. When some considâ—rable portion of 'em is read together As some part of a Book or Epistle a Psalm c. For the division of the Scriptures into chapter and verse are but a matter of late Invention 2. When several passages are read out of several Books of the Old or New Testament which are parallel to each other and serve to explain the same Doctrine or clear and enforce the same duty And tho the phrase of Reading the Scriptures be by common custom appropriated to the former yet if we will speak strictly It dos as truly belong to the latter and 't is of this latter way of Reading the Scriptures for the people's instruction that we have the clearest warrant from the examples of the Apostles and the accounts given us in the New Testament of the practice of the Christian Church Nor do those banish either of these ways of reading either an entire portion or several parallel Texts that interpose an explicatory and applicatory Paraphrase between the several parts that are read Nor dos the Bp that I can find so much as pretend to produce any thing from Scripture against the intermixing such a paraphrase in our reading the Scriptures Now if he consult all the Sermons of the Apostles recorded in the Acts he will find that they did read or what is the same did recite verbatim and propose to the consideration of the people several passages of the word of God all tending to illustrate and prove some truth or duty of the Christian Religion And their practice herein was conformable to that of our Blessed Saviour who employd the first Christian Sabbath I mean the day of his Resurrection not in reading an entire portion of Scripture but in expounding to the two Disciples all those passages in Moses and the Prophets that related to himself and his death resurrection and ascention 24 Luke 24 Luke from the 13th to the 28th Nor do I find in that account given of the Worship of Christian Churches 1 Cor. 14 chap. any mention made of Reading the Scriptures as a distinct thing from Doctrine and Interpretation So that I know of no one precept or example in all the New Testament relating to the Christian Church for this way of reading unless what may be inferr'd from the 4 Col. 16. And when this Epistle is read omong you cause that it be read also in the Church of the Laodiceans and that ye likewise read the Epistle from Laodicea But then we must not urge the Inference from these words too far for I know of none that think themselves oblig'd by it to read a whole Epistle at one time tho no doubt it was fit the Colossians shou'd so read this Epistle then as we shou'd be as forward to read a much longer that came newly to us from the same inspired Pen. And yet because reading an entire portion of Scripture was so constantly practis'd in the Old Testament and the reason of it seems in part to extend to us I do
and so strangely mistakes the Remedy for the Disease I confess how much soever our Ears may itch after Novelty and Variety yet he cou'd not reasonably expect they wou'd be charm'd with contradictions which instead of tickling 'em grate upon ' em And truly if our Author gives us no better Exposition and Application of Scripture then this Wee 'l be much rather satisfy'd he shou'd only read it to us For then there wou'd be less danger of misunderstanding it But I wonder why his Lp. shou'd tell us of Prayers and Praises of God's appointment Dos he not know the Collects of the Liturgy are as much of human Composure as our free prayers Why then shou'd they be any more compar'd to Angels Food then ours which are rather more agreeable to scriptural precept and Pattern Nay if the Scriptures read be Sermons of Gods Appointment they are not the less so but the more for being explain'd and applied as appears from this very direction of the Apostle to Timothy to preach the word to be instant in season c. to rebuke c. I shall conclude what relates to our practise with the concluding words of this chapter of the Bp's But as Aaron to please the Israelites made the Golden Calf so some Ministers tho contary to their own principles have changed God's Institution to please their People and left out the constant regular Reading God's word because their People grew weary of it But let all men judg who behave themselves most like the faithful Ministers of Christ We who keep to the reading God's word according to his own Institution whether the People will hear or forbear or they that comply with 'em and lay aside God's command to oblige and please ' em Answ I have already consider'd the injustice of this charge And only add That those more fully comply with God's command who read and expound then those that only read And I am sure as the Dissenters practise herein costs 'em more labour so if their People be not more edify'd by it It must be their own fault With what justice then or indeed with what sense dos his Lp. compare the Dissenters practise herein to Aarons making a Golden Calf to please the People Are indeed Lectures and Sermons such dangerous Idols Or is Hearing the Scriptures expounded when read so pernicious a piece of Idolatry Is not the Interpretation of Scripture as truly a divine Ordinance as the Reading of it And will any man that considers what he saith set the one in opposition to the other Or rather wou'd not the confining Ministers to the Reading the Scriptures only tend to debase 'em into such a sort of Priests as Jeroboam made of the meanest of the People when he set up the Worship of the Golden Calves 1 Kings 12.31 I mean such Priests as need little other furniture for their publick Ministrations then their book and their eyes and are under no obligation to study the Scriptures because they are under no necessity of interpreting 'em to the People And what a sort of Clergy are to be found in Russia Muscovy and other parts of the Christian World where they are turn'd into meer Readers we have so sad accounts from History that if his Lp. intend to turn his Clergy into such by thus discouraging Sermons as an human Invention I shou'd not blame the dissenting ministers for being loth to come under his conduct and regulation I shall conclude this Chapter with observing in reference to the practise of the Establish't Church 1. That I suppose the Bp. will not pretend any Warrant from precept or Example in the Holy Scriptures for the reading such un-inspired Books as those of the Apocrypha together with the Canonical Writings of the Old and New Testament in the time of publick Worship And therefore I hope he 'l censure this himself for one of his human Inventions Especially since himself owns there is a tenth part of the old Testament left out of the Churches order for the Reading it sure to exclude that and introduce in the stead of it the story of Bell and the Dragon Tobit and his Dog c. looks very like the preferring meer human Composures some of which contain foolish and incredible Relations before that part of God's living Oracles Not to mention how little care is taken to distinguish 'em when read from the Canonical Scriptures and prevent the common people's mistaking 'em for such But however his Lp's prudence is commendable in taking no notice of this matter because those Accusations are best past over in silence against which there is no defence 2. That the common practise of the Conforming Clergy in the Countrey of having only one Sermon on the Lord's day nay in the far greatest number of Parishes of having no publick Worship at all one part of the day is a defect that needs some effectual Reformation 3. That the Dissenters seem to have better reason to blame the Conforming Clergy for casting out the Exposition of the Scripture when read as that Exercise is now distinguish't from Sermons then the Bishop to reproach them for not reading the Scripture Remarks on the Chapter concerning Bodily Worship And here First As to the Directions of the holy Scriptures concerning it 1. I Do readily agree with the Bp That Bodily Worship is Commanded in the Scriptures Not that I suppose it as his Lp. dos to be a distinct part of Worship from Prayer Praise c. but only a sutable Adjunct of it of which more afterwards 2. I do agree with him also that the most common postures of Bodily Worship mention'd in Scripture as us'd in Thanksgivings and Prayers were prostration kneeling or standing As to this last of standing the Bp. takes notice of it as us'd in Thanksgivings and p. 143. owns it to have been a Scripture-posture in Prayer too But since he gives no instances of it as us'd in Prayer I shall take leave to subjoyn a few and the rather because this is the posture the Dissenters most generally use in this duty when publickly perform'd Of this posture in Prayer the best Expositors understand Abraham's standing before the Lord 18 Gen. 22. Thus the Levites stood up in that Confession and Prayer they made 9 Neh. 4. c. So to cry to God and stand up are us'd as synonimous expressions 30 Job 20. And 15 Jer. 1. Moses and Samuel's standing before God is put for praying to him So also 18 Jer. 20. And accordingly it was as Grotius observes on 6 Matt. 5. the most universally-receiv'd custom among the Jews to pray standing Thus 18 Luke 10 11. Two men went up to the Temple to pray and standing is the religious posture us'd by each of ' em So 11 Mark 25. When ye stand praying forgive c. Hence Prayers were not only call'd Stations by the Jews among whom it was a celebrated saying That without stations the world cou'd not subsist but also by some of the most
and religious have the same violent passion for prescribed Forms 3. We must beg his Lordships pardon if we cannot easily believe 't is only Conscience that makes the Conforming Clergy so generally decline Extemporary Prayers For if by Extempore Prayers he means such as are free and unconfin'd to any prescribed Forms he seems himself to own p. 54. That there are some occasions that require it even in publick p. 54. and I see no ground to doubt but that they are ordinarily more convenient then set Forms if those Prayers be most convenient that tend most to raise true Devotion in the minds of the People But we must much more beg his Lp's pardon for not believing what he adds for Confirmation of this account of their disusing free Prayer For it seems a very surprizing Discovery that he has made to us when he tells us p. 186. 'T is manifest that Extemporary Prayers wou'd be much more easy to most of us and less burthensom then the service we use You may think otherwise but assure your selves that you are mistaken And I dare appeal to those that have tried both whether is most easie There are such both amongst you and us that have made the experiment And I dare refer it to 'em to declare on their Consciences which of the two Services they look on to be the greater burthen to him that performs ' em Whatever you may think if we wou'd indulg our selves It were no hard matter for the meanest of us to pass an Extemporary Prayer on our Auditory or turn the heads of our Sermon into one Ans We pay a great deference to his Lp's Judgment but we cannot without offering great violence to our own understandings bring 'em to assent to so incredible a Paradox meerly because 't is deliver'd with so extraordinary an Air of assurance much less can we entertain that as a manifest Truth which to us seems so contrary to common sense For we cannot imagine what unsupportable burthen it shou'd be for a man to read the Service of the Church when he has the Book before him unless when he is pain'd with sore eyes or terribly hoarse with a great Cold For then it may possibly be some considerable Trouble to him But for a Minister to deliver a free Prayer in a Publick Assembly And the Bp. knows the Dissenters are seldom accused for theirs being too short requires both serious Meditation before hand to suit it to the occasion and to the state of his People and the Laborious Exercise of his Judgment his Invention and Memory which is a real burthen and difficulty to those that are not by deep Study and frequent Exercise habituated to it Nay tho the Dissenters shou'd Pray in that new way his Lp. has contriv'd for 'em by patching together several pieces of old Forms to make a new dress of it yet this wou'd require some Exercise of their Judgment and Memory to tack 'em right together and to repeat 'em without hesitation And this sure is not so easie a matter as what he cannot deny every School-boy to be capable of viz. to turn over the leaves and Read what is usually in a fair and large Print His Lp. may if he please appeal from common sense to Experience but by all that I have yet convers'd with on this Subject his assertion seems as strange to them as it does to us Nor can I meet with any of these Vertuoso's in Devotion that pretend upon any Experiments they have made to give their suffrage to his new Observation We do not indeed doubt of his Lp's Abilities but he must allow us to doubt of those of the body of the inferior Clergy who I fear wou'd think it a severe imposition upon 'em if their Diocesans shou'd oblige 'em to the frequent Exercise of their Talents this way For I have heard several Clergy-men of no mean parts complain of the unhappy inability for free Prayer that general disuse had brought upon 'em and I believe I might herein with much better reason appeal to Experience But since his Lp's hand is in for Paradoxes I think he shou'd have added one more viz. That 't is manifest that 't is a far greater burden for the Clergy to Read the Homilies of the Church or other Mens Sermons than to Preach Sermons of their own and I doubt not he may with as much reason appeal to the Experience of those that have tried both to attest the Truth of it And if he can make good the Truth of these two Paradoxes the N.C. Ministers will hence forward pass for lazy Drones while the poor Readers of the Church are accounted the truest Labourers But to give the latter their due the most of 'em take too much pains for that sorry hire that 's allow'd 'em by such of their Brethren as are laborious enough to engross Church-Livings but too far consult their ease to make the Duties of their Function any burthen to ' em Lastly For his Request to the Dissenting Laiety That they wou'd believe he heartily desires and studies the good of their Souls I hope they are willing to gratify him herein as far as rational Charity can allow Only it wou'd greatly facilitate their Belief of it if they found him more tender of their good Name and just Reputation And they are sory to find that notwithstanding all his professions of good-will he shou'd shew so little regard to that not only in a continued Series of unjust Accusations through his whole Book but especially in the following words in which he has drawn up a comprehensive Summary charge sufficient to render 'em odious if it be believ'd but they are confident too apparently groundless to gain credit with any that will pass a Righteous and Impartial Judgement on these matters His Lp's words are For how is it possible that any Man that has a Zeal for the Purity of God's worship shou'd not have his Spirit mov'd within him to see a well meaning People so strangely mis-led as to content themselves to meet together perhaps for some years with a design to worship God and yet hardly ever see any thing of God's Immediate Appointment in their Meetings Now to my thoughts this is manifestly the case of many of you since a Man may frequent some Meetings among you for some years and never hear a Prayer a Psalm or Chapter which has been imediately dictated by God and never be call'd on to bow his knee to God or see either Minister or People Address themselves to him in that humble posture Lastly never see any body offer to Administer or desire to Receive the Food of Life in the Lord's Supper These are melancholy Reflections to me who believe that God has requir'd these in his Worship And therefore I hope you will take it in good part that I Endeavour to Restore them to you Ans If the Case of the Dissenters be truly such as the Bp. Represents it His Zeal to recover the
Testament Several of 'em use the Lord's-Prayer as a Form according to the advice of the Directory And for those that disuse it 't is because they either think it no Form suited to the Christian Church after Christ's Resurrection and Ascention or else think it not intended as a Form but only a Pattern because they never read afterwards in the New Testament of its being us'd as a Form Nay perhaps some may be too much led to the disuse of it in opposition to the contrary extreme of others who place some peculiar merit or vertue in the repeating these words And his Lp. seems to be one that has run into this extreme not only by supposing us oblig'd to use these words whenever we pray p. 32 33. and making the use of 'em a Badge of our Christian Profession p. 35. but by recommending the saying these words as the way to obtain pardon for our infirmities in our other prayers p. 34. But I wonder who those are of whom his Lp. tells us that they publickly dispute against this Form because of that Petition in it Forgive us our Trespasses as we forgive them that trespass against us p. 34. For I cou'd never hear of any such publick Disputation on that Subject nor indeed of any Dissenter that ever offer'd such a foolish Objection some of 'em perhaps may have censur'd those as hypocritical in the use of this Petition who are so far from forgiving their enemies as to bear an irreconcilable temper towards their Friends and their Brethren 3. The true Reason why the Dissenting Ministers so generally disuse Forms of Prayer compos'd by others is not because they judge all Forms of Prayer unlawful but because they think free-prayer gives 'em the advantage to suit this part of their Ministrations better to the Edification of their people And they are very much confirm'd in this Opinion both by what they observe in the H. Scriptures and by experience As to the H. Scriptures They not only find no such stinted Liturgys prescrib'd either by Christ or his Apostles but no orders given to any Pastors of the Church to compose 'em for others much less any warrant to enjoyn the use of ' em They think it therefore most probable if not certain that even ordinary Pastors in the Apostles time and in some Ages after us'd free-prayer i. e. their publick Prayers as well as Sermons were the exercise of those ordinary Gifts and Abilities with which they were furnisht for their ministerial Office and not a meer repetition or reading of Forms presâ—ribed to 'em by others Nay they think the confining Pastors to such prescribed Forms renders 'em incapable of complying with the general Rules of Scripture that require us to suit our Prayers to all particular emergent occasions which the Bishop himself owns cannot well be done without the use of free or as he calls 'em extempore-prayers p. 54. They think it therefore every way the safest to come herein as near as possible to the practice of the Christian Church in the Apostles time and those succeeding Ages wherein it retain'd most of its primitive purity Nor are they less strengthened in their judgment by experience on which some stress may be justly laid when we are to determine the modes of Worship â—eft undetermin'd in Scripture agreeably to the general Rules of Scripture and especially that of doing all to Edification Now the Dissenters observe that where publick Forms have been impos'd and the ministration of Pastors confin'd to 'em It has been generally attended with ill effects both in reference to Ministers and people 1. In reference to Ministers For as in those Christian Countreys where Preaching has been disus'd and Forms of Instruction and Exhortation call'd Homilys or Sermons provided for the Clergy they have by this use of 'em sunk into general ignorance and sloth and taken little pains to furnish themselves with abilities to instruct their people So where stinted Liturgys have been impos'd the Clergy by the constant use of 'em generally so habituate themselves to these Crutches that they are unable to go without 'em and find themselves at a great loss when they shou'd accommodate their publick or private prayers to that great variety of particular occasions wherein they shou'd be the mouth of their people in their addresses to God Whereas the constant exercise of their abilities in publick Prayer as well as Preaching greatly improves 'em and furnishes 'em for assisting their Flocks with their prayers in all those manifold necessities in which prescribed Forms are no more peâ—tinent to their case than general remedies to particular diseases 2. In reference to the peâ—ple For they generally observe them prone to grow more cold and unaffâ—cted under the continual use of such forms and consequently in greater danger of turning that holy duty into a customary lifeless repetition of the words prescribed to ' em And tho this be not in it self a necessary inevitable consequence of prescribed formâ— because no doubt a well prepared mind may use such with true fervor of pious affection yet considering the common temper of mankind there is something in the constant use of the same words that dos as naturally tend to dull our affections as the constant use of the same Instrument and Tune is tedious to a musical Ear whereas a sutable variety tends more to raise and elevate ' em And tho perhaps some few very devout persons may avoid this inconvenience of constant publick Forms yet it seems incurable in the generality of the people whose case must be chiefly consider'd when we consult their Edification in determining the particular modes of Worship I will not disown that there are some inconveniencys on the other side which I shall propose with the same freedom and offer my thoughts of ' em 'T is indeed true as the Bp. suggests p. 41. that in a stinted Liturgy the people are more exactly acquainted before-hand with the words of the Prayer they are to joyn in than when the Minister is left to the exercise of his own Abilities But as this inconvenience relates rather to the words than the ordinary matter of our Prayers so how little weight there is in the argument drawn thence against free-prayer I refer the Reader to the excellent reply given to it by the fore-mentioned Bp. Wilkins Gift of Prayer p. 12. Whereas saith that pious Author 't is commonly objected by some That they cannot so well joyn in an unknown Form For so he calls free-prayer in respect of those that hear it with which they are not before-hand acquainted I answer That 's an inconsiderable Objection and dos oppose all kind of Forms that are not publickly prescrib'd As a man may in his judgment assent unto any divine Truth deliver'd in a Sermon which he never heard before so may he joyn in his affections to a holy desire in a Prayer which he never heard before If he who is the Mouth of the rest deliver thro