Ignatius Hasten frequently to approach to the Eucharist the Glory of God For when this is Daily Celebrated we break the Powers of Satan If all our Bishops Deans and Prebends did constantly and devoutly attend this Solemn Worship at their several Cathedrals and there perform this Holy Service as it ought to be we should soon find that to be of greater Importance both to Church and State and the whole Nation than all the Service our Bishops ever did or ever will do in Parliament or the rest at their particular Cures Attendances and I know not what occasions to withdraw them from their proper and principal Business These are such Relicks of Popery as ought to be reformed if ever we expect to receive the Favour and Blessing of God in any great degree How others can satisfie their Consciences I know not but I am clear of Opinion that they who take such Preferments for Lucre sake and attend the Duty of them no farther than our Laws do require are guilty of the greatest Sacriledge And that those Princes and States who presume ordinarily to withdraw such Persons from the Service of God in their proper Places to serve them in Matters of State are likewise Guilty of Sacriledge Impiety and great Imprudence to make so bold with Sacred Matters The Reformation of these things would be a greater Demonstration of real Gratitude to God than any thing this Nation hath produced of a long time THE LITURGY Of the ANCIENTS REPRESENTED As near as well may be In ENGLISH Forms PART I. The Priest turning toward the People Note According to Ancient Usage what-ever is spoken to God is spoken toward the Altar whatever to the People toward them v. Mede Ep. 56. Pr. * The Lord he with you Pe. And with thy Spirit * O Come let us sing unto the Lord let us heartily rejoyce in the Strength of our Salvation Let us come before his Presence with Thanksgiving and shew our selves glad in him with Psalms For the Lord is a great God and a great King above all Gods In his hand are all the corners of the Earth and the strength of the Hills is his also The Sea is his and he made it and his hands prepared the dry Land O come let us Worship and Fall down and Kneel before the Lord our Maker For he is the Lord our God and we are the people of his pasture and sheep of his hand O come c. Then toward the Altar * Glory be to God on high and on Earth peace Good Will towards Men. * BLessed be the Lord God of Israel for he hath visited and redeemed his people And hath raised up a mighty Salvation for us in the house of his servant David As he spake by the mouth of his holy Prophets which have been since the world began That we should be saved from our Enemies and from the hands of all that hate us To perform the Mercy promised to our fore-fathers and to remember his holy Covenant To perform the Oath which he sware to our forefather Abraham that he would give us That we being delivered out of the hand of our enemies might serve him without fear In Holiness and Righteousness before him all the days of our life Glory be to the Father c. * GOD be merciful unto us and bless us and shew us the Light of his Countenance and be merciful unto us * PRevent us O Lord in all our doings with thy most gracious Favour and further us with thy continual Help that as by thy special Grace preventing us thou dost put into our minds good Desires so by thy continual Help we may bring the same to good Effect and in all our works begun continued and ended in thee we may glorifie thy holy Name and finally by thy mercy may obtain everlasting life through Iesus Christ our Lord. Amen OUR Father who art in Heaven Hallowed be thy Name Thy Kingdom come Thy Will be done on Earth As it is in Heaven Give us this day our Daily Bread And forgive us our Trespasses As we forgive them that trespass against us And lead us not into Temptation But deliver us from Evil. Amen ALmighty God unto whom all Hearts be open all Desires known and from whom no Secrets are hid Cleanse the thoughts of our hearts by the Inspiration of thy holy Spirit that we may perfectly love thee and worthily magnifie thy holy Name through Iesus Christ our Lord. Amen †Then turning toward the People Pr. GOD spake these words and said I am the Lord thy God Thou shalt have none other Gods but me Pe. Lord have Mercy upon us and incline our hearts to keep this Law Pr. Thou shalt not make to thy self any graven Image nor the Likeness of any thing that is in Heaven above or in the Earth beneath or in the Water under the Earth Thou shalt not bowe down to them nor worship them for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God and visit the Sins of the Fathers upon the Children unto the third and fourth Generation of them that hate me and shew mercy unto thousands in them that love me and keep my commandments Pe. Lord have Mercy upon us c. Pr. Thou shalt not take the Name of the Lord thy God in vain for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh his Name in vain Pe. Lord have Mercy upon us c. Pr. Remember that thou keep holy the Sabbath-day Six days shalt thou labour and do all that thou hast to do but the Seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God In it thou shalt do no manner of Work thou nor thy Son nor thy Daughter thy Man-servant nor thy Maid-servant thy Cattle nor the Stranger that is within thy gates For in six days the Lord made Heaven and Earth the Sea and all that in them is and rested the Seventh day wherefore the Lord blessed the Seventh day and hallowed it Pe. Lord have Mercy upon us c. Pr. Honour thy Father and thy Mother that thy days may be long in the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee Pe. Lord have Mercy upon us c. Pr. Thou shalt do no Murther Pe. Lord have Mercy upon us c. Pr. Thou shalt not commit Adultery Pe. Lord have Mercy upon us c. Pr. Thou shalt not Steal Pe. Lord have Mercy upon us c. Pr. Thou shalt not bear false Witness against thy Neighbour Pe. Lord have Mercy upon us c. Pr. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbours house thou shalt not covet thy neighbours Wife nor his Servant nor his Maid nor his Ox nor his Ass nor any thing that is his Pe. Lord have Mercy upon us and write these and all thy Laws in our Hearts we beseech thee †Let us Pray And turning toward the Altar * O God the Strength of all them that put their Trust in thee Mercifully accept our Prayers and because through the Weakness of our mortal Nature we can
or among the Ancient Christians of the first Ages is known ever to have been held without it Thes 6. No Church upon the Face of the Earth from the Time of the Apostles to the Time of the Reformation nor to this Day except among Protestants is known to have kept the Lord's-Day or had any ordinary Assemblies for the And as to the Communion or Participation Thes 1. By most Ancient Order in the Church who-ever departed after the Reading of the Scriptures or Sermon and stay'd not at the Communion and received were to be excommunicated Thes 2. In the first Ages till about the Time of St. Augustin we find not any Doubt or Question concerning the Obligation of all to Communicate daily if they were where it was Celebrated and had no just Impediment But then when many especially among the Greeks began to neglect that Holy Duty that Question arose among the Latines and the more Devout continued to receive every Day an Argument of Daily Celebration then and others intermitted certain Days Thes 3. By Ancient Canons if any neglected to Communicate for Three Sundays together they were to be excommunicated Thes 4. It was Anciently commonly reputed a grievous thing to be hindered from Receiving the Blessed Sacrament but to be denyed it a grievous Punishment and such was the Judgment of the Church concerning the Importance of it that to such as were hindered from coming to the Church it was sent home to their Houses by the Deacons Thes 5. It was Anciently not only Scandalous but Punishable in a Clergy-Man to be in a City or other Place where it was celebrated and not to attend and communicate Thes 6. These Orders of later Ages concerning Receiving at least Three times in a Year and so indulging a Neglect for all the rest are most justly by Calvin said to be Certissimum Diaboli Inventum Thes 7. It hath been always the Practice and Advice of all Devout People to be very frequent at it and of most to neglect no Opportunity Dr. Taylor 's Conclusion concerning it in his Holy Living is very agreeable to the Sentiments of the Ancients and deserves to be Read by all Concl. 1. From all this it appears how far different the Devotion of this Age is from that of the ancient genuine Christianity and short of it 2. This Holy Service having been constantly performed in this City in Publick Churches ever since the Sixth of Janunry 1694. and in the Heart of the City for a Twelve-month together and frequented by so few is a Notorious Argument of the miserable Ignorance and Indevotion for all our Pretences both of Priests and People amongst us 3. It hath been the Opinion of several Learned Judicious and Observent Men that a great part of the Mischief which hath been in the World in these latter Ages is to be imputed to so woful a Neglect of this Holy Ordinance Now for Proofs of these things They who pretend to any kind of Learning I suppose will be cautious how they require it lest they betray their own Ignorance in Antiquity and for others they are not so much to be regarded as to insist upon them meerly for them but if there be Occasion abundant Proofs both Old and New may soon be produced And in the mean time for the Satisfaction of such well-meaning People as doubt they may be referred to Mr. Joseph Mede Dr. Sherlock the present Dean of St. Pauls in the last chap. of his Book of Religious Assemblies Dr. S. Patrick the present Bp. of Ely in his Discourse of Frequency of Holy Communion Mr. Thorndike Bp. Andrews Dr. Jeremy Taylor and others who have several considerable Passages to the Purpose in several Parts of their Works very consonant to the Sentiments and Practices of the Ancient Christians and the whole Catholick Church And certainly it is a wonderful thing that Almighty God should ever permit the Enemy of Mankind so to impose upon such as may well be supposed did really intend his Service and had a great Zeal for it as some leading Men in the Beginning of the Reformation and that such Men of Learning and Parts should be so imposed upon as by a mistaken Zeal against Superstition to abolish and deface so considerable a Part of the most Holy and Solemn Worship of God and even of the true Notion and proper Use thereof But our most Wise and Gracious God for most Excellent Ends no doubt though we cannot comprehend them all hath again concluded all under Sin that he might have Mercy upon all abolish that Enmity and Uncharitableness which the Enemy hath fomented amongst us and teach us henceforward by a very remarkable Example in the Work of God to attend with more Reverence and Circumspection to his Conduct and not presume too much upon our own Conceits and Opinions These Men who so much over-shot themselves had the Honour and Service of God for their End and the Word of God for their Rule and yet How have they erred from both done Dis-honour and Dis-service to God for the Honour and Service they intended and instead of the Pure Word of God followed their own or their Leaders meer Fancies and Imaginations The Great Business of Man upon Earth is the Intire Subjection of the Creature to the Creator in the Subjection of the Intellect as well as the Will and therefore it is absolutely necessary that we should have great Experiments of the Danger of Presuming too much upon our own Opinions as well as of adhering too much to our own Wills And such is this we are now considering And if we inquire into the Causes of it they are such as I have just now touched 1. Not sufficient Attendance to the Conduct of God over us for he is always present in a special manner with all those who are imployed in any special Service for Him to direct them if they be careful to follow Him fully and not unadvisedly conclude upon their own Opinions like them Jos 9. when they should ask Counsel of the Lord. 2. Conceitedness and Presumption upon our own Judgments which makes us apt to neglect that Attendance 3. Want of Charity to such as are otherwise minded and a Spirit of Opposition apt to run without due Consideration and be insensibly transported from one Extream or Errour into another beyond either the Conduct of God or Mature Deliberation of our own Minds 4. Want of due regard to Humane Authority For though we must obey God rather than Man yet we must be subject to Humane Ordinances too so far as they are not inconsistent with the Orders of God and even in those things wherein we cannot obey yet have due regard to the Authority 5. Having Mens Persons in Admiration and receiving their Opinions as the Oracles of God a secret Principle of all Sectaries 6. Indiscreet Zeal without Knowledge for the Honour and Service of God another Occasion of running out of one Extream or Errour into another 7. Mixture
are other Matters very observable in this Case as several indirect Ends and Motives which probably might be and certainly were the Inducements to many of the Beginners and Promoters of it the Irregular Manner in which it was managed and settled the subtile Accommodations of the principal parts of the Work to recommend the Preachers and gratifie the People but undermining the Honour of Christ and the Power of Godliness and settling the People in Presumption and Security upon a False Foundation according to the Description of the Apostle Speaking perverse things to draw away Disciples after them and the Fruits and Effects agreeable thereunto a plain Indication that it was not of God but in the Nature of a Judgment and that they knew not what they did nor what Spirit they were of which tho' certain Truths and very evident when looked into yet are not so obvious to common Observation Nor indeed was I my self so sensible of much of them till after much Study and Indeavours to promote the Service of God and Good of my Country it all seemed to me to be under an Enchantment so that no Good could be done Whereupon considering the Fruits according to our Saviour's Rule upon a fair Invitation and Opportunity I resolved upon a Retirement and a Review of the Reformation the Root which produced no better Fruits And coming to it with much Sincerity and Impartiality I soon perceived all this that I have here said and more very clearly and some things which relate to the Civil State and present Settlement of this Nation of which I soon gave an account to such Persons as I thought most proper to acquaint His Majesty with it to discharge my own Conscience what-ever was farther done in it I do not deny but there was need of a Reformation of divers things but none know better than your Lordships and the Gentlemen of your Profession how common a thing it is for Men who have really a good Cause to make it ill through Passion Partiality unreasonable Demands or Charges and such ill Management as if it come to Tryal it must be found against them or tho' it be not Good yet through Partiality or Prejudice to think it Good and then when by degrees they have well fixed and rivetted that Opinion and besides engaged their Reputation in it to persuade themselves that those things are lawful for the Maintenance of it which in truth are not and those things useful or necessary which in conclusion will but expose and ruine it how much Mischief People thus affected frequently bring upon themselves and others and endless Vexations when obstinate in their Opinion resolute in their Demands and pertinacious in their Contentions right or wrong how undecent and unbecoming even in Civil Matters this appears to all wise and good Men who have Opportunity to observe the Truth of the Case On the other side how much more Prudent it is as well as Just and Honest if a Man have the Misfortune to purchase an ill Title or be unhappily concerned in an ill Cause to indeavour to make it Good by fair Agreement with Parties concerned and Tender of what is just and reasonable and such honest Means as will at least secure his Reputation if not his Cause also however much mend the matter This has been always my Practice and this I am resolved to do in this Case of what I have discover'd upon my Review aforesaid I do utterly disclaim all the Iniquity of the Case that I have already discovered or can discover all the Sacrilege Schism and Heresie and other Corruptions of the pretended Reformation in general and of that of England in particular And tho' I do not forsake the Corruptions of this Church to espouse those of another yet I think fit to make my own Cause good and to stand only upon such Terms as I can comfortably refer to the Goodness and Mercy of God and as I am satisfied will make it their Faults not mine who shall refuse Agreement and Communion with me What I think prudent in my own Case if it be so indeed I could wish the whole Nation did see it as well as I For I believe it a more firm Foundation for a lasting Peace and true Happiness than any other we can build upon And if I be not mistaken in the Matters in Difference there is scarce any but such as many principal Men of the one side think ought to be yielded by them or as all on the other confess may for just Cause be granted by them or may be otherwise accommodated by only fit Explications and Expressions To which since the most considerable on both sides have shewed a very good Disposition and the Nature and Precepts of the Gospel and the Peace and Repose and Common Good of Mankind especially in this part of the World which may have a great Influence upon the rest do require it I believe it would be for the Honour and Interest of which side soever should do it to make the Proposal provided it be very just and reasonable Of those Matters which are thought ought to be yielded this which I propose to your Lordships Consideration concerning the ancient Practice of Prayers for the Dead is one and the most proper Instance that can be in all respects It is indeed a double Instance for it is a plain Evidence that one of the principal Suppositions with which not only Multitudes of People in these last Ages but ever since the first Ages of Christianity have been deceived and misled with very plausible pretence is notwithstanding false in it self besides fallacious misapplications of what is true as appears abundantly by Irenaeus Tertullian and the Common Practice of the Ancient Christians in their Contests with Hereticks and Schismaticks And it is in its self one of the greatest Instances of the Power of Prejudice to abuse weak Men out of their apparent Interest without any other competent ground or reason of the Weakness of Men to be so abused and of the Inconsiderateness of those who presume to be positive and direct others in such Cases that I know of My intention at first was to have published a Vindication of the True English Liturgy the first Book of Ed. 6. composed by known English Clergy-Men and afterward corrupted and disordered by Cranmer and a Faction of Foreigners and other unknown Calvinian Sectaries in Secret and so craftily imposed upon the Church and Nation But when I considered in these unhappy Differences how partially Zealous the Generality of Clergy-Men who have any Zeal at all are for their own Party more than for the common Concerns of Religion or of their Country and how unconcerned the chief of the Clergy of this Nation are and have been ever since the State assumed the Supream Power of Ecclesiastical Matters as if either dispirited or presuming that the Care also is incumbent only upon them who have assumed the Power and how little I have found by