j,X Or n 
 
 J^pf( 
 
 FEB 27 1911 *: 
 
 BR 50 .K46 1872 | 
 
 Ken, Thomas, 1637-1711. j 
 
 The prose works of the Rignt 
 
 Reverend Thomas Ken, D.D.,| 
 
 •JXZK. VJUU 
 
BISHOP KEN'S PROSE WORKS. 
 
 l|llln'll|llllllimilllllll'lTlfl 
 
 ^/ 
 
 Ancient and Modern Library of Theological Literature. 
 
THE PROSE WORKS _ 
 
 G; 
 
 OF THE 
 
 * FEB 27 1911 
 
 RIGHT REVEREND ^%£^i^L*S^>^^'^ 
 
 THOMAS 'ken, D.b, " 
 
 SOMETIME BISHOP OF BATH AND WELLS 
 
 NOfV FIRST COLLECTED AND EDITED WITH A 
 BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICE 
 
 Rev. W. ben ham, B.D. 
 
 HON. CANON OF CANTERBUKY. 
 
 LONDON 
 GRIFFITH, FARRAN, OKEDEN & WELSH 
 
 (SrCCESSORS TO NEWBERY AND HARRIS) 
 
 WEST CORNER ST PAUL'S CHURCHYARD 
 
 AND SYDNEY, N.S.W. 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL INTRODUCTION. 
 
 'T^HE admirable biography of the saintly Bishop Ken by 
 the Dean of Wells, which was published last year, will 
 probably always remain the standard work. Very little addi- 
 tional information is likely to be forthcoming. We there- 
 fore have no intention of detailing events at length, but 
 refer the reader who seeks knowledge concerning Ken's 
 life and character, or concerning the times in which he 
 lived, to Dr Plumptre's fascinating volumes, and only set 
 down the simple outlines of his life by way of introduction 
 to the following collection of his pros6 works, the fullest that 
 has ever yet been published. His " Practice of Divine Love," 
 and "Manual" for the Winchester Scholars, are easily acces- 
 sible; and his sermons, though less common, are not very 
 difficult to procure, but the first work in the present volume 
 is excessively rare, and the last is seldom met with except in 
 old libraries. 
 
 Thomas Ken was born at Berkhamstead in July 1637. 
 His mother died when he was four years old ; his father, when 
 he was fourteen. Happily for the boy, he had a half-sister, 
 Anne Ken, twenty-seven years his senior, who, five years 
 before her father's death, had married Izaak Walton, then 
 fifty-three, thus giving the boy a brother-in-law forty-four 
 
 b 
 
vi Biographical Introduction. 
 
 years older than himself. Faithfully they fulfilled all their 
 lives a parental part to their young brother. In 1651 he 
 became a scholar at Wykeham's famous school at Winchester, 
 thence in due course went to Oxford, became a fellow of New, 
 and was ordained on his fellowship in 1661. 
 
 In 1663 appeared anonymously the pamphlet " Ichabod," 
 which we have placed first amongst his prose writings. There 
 is no hint, as will be seen on examination, which connects it 
 with his name, no clue whatever to guide to the authorship. 
 In 1689 it was reprinted, under the title of "Lachrymas Ecclesi- 
 arum," but not by the author, as is evident from the preface, 
 in which the editor says that he has chanced to meet with it, 
 and finds it so admirable and so likely to be useful, that he 
 has republished it. And two months after Ken's death a new 
 edition appeared under the title of " Expostulatoria," in which 
 for the first time it was stated to be his. Hawkins, Ken's 
 great-nephew and executor, immediately published advertise- 
 ments in the London papers denying Ken's authorship, but 
 Dean Plumptre adduces arguments proving it to be almost 
 certain that Hawkins was mistaken. Ken was a young man 
 when he wrote it, of fervid piety, and eager for the spread of 
 religion among the people; he had rejoiced in the Restoration 
 of the Monarchy and the Church, and had been proportion- 
 ately disappointed when the manifest worldliness of the 
 clergy had well-nigh dashed his ideal to pieces. Hence this 
 remarkable, even startling, pamphlet. In 1663 he was 
 appointed, by Lord Maynard, Rector of Little Easton, 
 Essex, and his friendship with Lady Margaret Maynard was 
 one of the privileges and blessings of his life. He resigned 
 in two years and returned to Winchester ; the Dean thinks 
 that he did so in simple conscientiousness, from the conviction 
 
Biographical hiU-odiiction. vii 
 
 that the pleasantness and ease of the pretty country living and 
 his surroundings there, were not such as a young man should 
 rest in, but that he should go forth to harder and more busy 
 life. Dr George Morley, who was now Bishop of Winchester, 
 had been greatly befriended by Walton in the dark days of 
 the Commonwealth, and had now brought his kind friend and 
 his son, Ken's nephew, to his palace in the city, and there the 
 old angler made his home until his death in 1683. The 
 bishop was no doubt glad to have the devout young clergy- 
 man as his chaplain, and as Ken had already resolved not to 
 marry, his fellowship afforded him the means of livelihood. 
 He was elected fellow of Winchester College in 1666, and 
 for a short time held the living of Brighstone, in the Isle 
 of Wight. His fame as a preacher had by this time risen to 
 a supreme height; we know from Pepys, that when he was 
 announced to preach in London, the church was crowded. 
 But apparently he preached extempore, for all the sermons 
 which have survived are those in the present volume. 
 
 He soon retired from Brighstone, and after a while accepted 
 the charge, without emolument, of a poor parish in Winchester, 
 and now he wrote his " Manual " for the Winchester scholars, 
 and probably his Morning and Evening Hymns. The first 
 edition of the "Manual," however, was published in 1674, 
 and the hymns do not appear in it before the edition of 1695. 
 
 Immediately after publishing his " Manual," Ken went 
 abroad with his nephew, the younger Izaak Walton, and 
 travelled about the Continent for two years, then returned 
 to Winchester. In 1679 he went to the Hague as chaplain 
 to the Princess Mary, the future Queen, returning next year, 
 when he was appointed chaplain to Charles II. The next 
 two years were spent quietly at Winchester, but in 1682 he 
 
X Biographical Introduction. 
 
 phesier of smooth things. Queen Mary was well known to 
 Ken, who loved her faithfully, and recognised the good side 
 of her character. But he must have felt that it was her duty 
 to ask for her father's forgiveness, or at least for recon- 
 ciliation with him. She had done nothing of the sort. Was 
 she a person to receive extravagant laudation from the Primate 
 of all England? In the bitter grief which this act, as he 
 deemed it, of unfaithfulness, caused, he wrote the letter which 
 forms our last document in this volume. 
 
 Having thus delivered his conscience, it is instructive and 
 also helpful to us, to watch him afterwards refraining, as we 
 have already said, from violence of expression against the 
 Government, and bringing on himself from hot-headed Non- 
 jurers the imputation of lukewarmness. He went calmly on 
 his way, as they went ill-judgingly on theirs, and he has left 
 hereby the record of a life of self-sacrifice, and also of forbear- 
 ance and abstinence from retaliatory spirit. Much of his time 
 in his last years was spent in writing poetry. The greater 
 portion of it has never been reprinted. Should the reading 
 public shew that they find the present volume acceptable, we 
 may hereafter be encouraged to publish a companion volume, 
 containing his epic, "Edmund," and his poems on the Christian 
 Year. He died March 19th, 1709, and was buried at sunrise 
 of the 2 1 St beneath the chancel window in the churchyard of 
 Frome Selwood, the nearest parish of his diocese to Longleat. 
 
 W. B. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 IcHABOD ; OR, The Five Groans of the Church . i 
 
 Three Sermons — 
 
 I. Preached at the Funeral of the Right 
 Hon. The Lady Margaret Mainard, on 
 Prov. XI. i6 . . . . -57 
 
 II. Preached in the King's Chapel at White- 
 
 hall, IN the Year 1685, on Dan. x. ii . 75 
 
 III. Preached upon Passion Sunday, on Micah 
 
 VII. 8, 9 . , . . . .92 
 
 The Practice of Divine Love, being an Exposition 
 
 OF THE Church Catechism . . . .111 
 
 Directions for Prayer, taken out of the Church 
 
 Catechism . . . . . . 192 
 
 A Manual of Prayers for the Use of the Scholars 
 of Winchester College, and all other devout 
 Christians ...... 207 
 
xii Contents. 
 
 FAGE 
 
 Three Hymns- 
 Morning ...... 257 
 
 Evening ...... 259 
 
 Midnight ...... 261 
 
 Prayers for the Use of all Persons, who come to 
 
 THE Baths for Cure ..... 263 
 
 A Pastoral Letter from the Bishop of Bath and 
 Wells, to his Clergy, concerning their Be- 
 haviour during Lent . . . .283 
 
 A Letter exhorting the Clergy of the diocese of 
 Bath and Wells, to collect in behalf of the 
 French Protestants .... 289 
 
 Articles of Visitation and Enquiry within the 
 
 Diocese of Bath AND Wells . . . 291 
 
 A Letter to Archbishop Tenison, on his Funeral 
 
 Sermon on Queen Mary . . . .299 
 
ICHABOD; 
 
 OR, 
 
 FIVE GROANS OF THE CHURCH; 
 
 PRUDENTLY FORESEEING AND PASSIONATELY 
 BEWAILING HER SECOND FALL : 
 
 Threatened by these five dangerous though undis- 
 CERNED Miscarriages that caused her, First— 
 
 1. Undue Ordination. 
 
 2. Loose Profaneness. 
 
 3. Unconscionable Simony. 
 
 4. Careless Non-Residence. 
 
 5. Encroaching Pluralities. 
 
 Ibumbls presented to bcc supreme IbeaD ant) Governor, 
 
 THE KING'S MOST EXCELLENT MAJESTY, AND HIS 
 GREAT COUNCIL, THE PARLIAMENT OF 
 
 ENGLAND. 
 
Jcbabob; 
 
 ®r, ^bc ifive (Broane of tbe Cburcb* 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 OALL you that pass by me, stand and see if there be any sorrow 
 like niito my soitow ; if it hath been done to any Reformed 
 or Protestant Church under heaven, as it is done unto me ! O, 
 now my wounds were ready to be closed, my ruins to be repaired, 
 my desolations and wastes to be finished ; when the barbarous 
 was checked, the licentious was restrained, the usurpers were 
 removed, the professed enemies of different interests and religion 
 which persecuted me, were subdued, and I ready to settle upon 
 the eternal foundations of sound doctrine, of primitive government, 
 of an holy and pure worship, of a decent and comely order, to the 
 amazement of the world, to the honour of religion, to the glory of 
 God, to the peace of the whole earth, and for good will among 
 men. Behold ! my children are discontent, my government is 
 complained of, my ordinances are neglected, my ministers are 
 despised, my peace is disturbed, and my safety endangered. 
 Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth ! 
 What could I have done that I have not done ? 
 Have I not taught the truth of God sincerely, 
 giving milk to babes, and stronger meat to 
 them that were able to bear it, and the oracles 
 of God to all in a language they best understood ? Have I con- 
 cealed any part of God's sacred counsel from you ? Have 
 I not set forth with all plainness and freedom the blessed 
 fulness and excellences of my Lord Jesus Christ, in such a 
 manner and measure as I received from the Word and 
 Spirit? Have 1 not administered all the ordinances of God 
 
 The Chtirches^ 
 sense of her re- 
 proach a?id suf- 
 fering. 
 
4 Ichabod ; or, Five Groans of tJie ChurcJi. 
 
 faithfully ? have I not enjoined and taught all virtue and all grace, 
 carefully recommending to my children " whatsoever things are 
 good, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, 
 whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever 
 things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report ; " every 
 holy duty, every necessary rule ; and every imitable example ; with 
 all the advantages of sound knowledge, powerful preaching, which 
 at once was able to inform the weak, to reclaim the most errone- 
 ous, to reform the most debauched, to satisfy the most curious, 
 and to silence the most refractory ? Have I not prepared with 
 much study and industry, with many prayers and tears, with long 
 education, and diligent care, reverend bishops, orderly presbyters, 
 able ministers, workmen that need not be ashamed, duly ordained, 
 and called after an uninterrupted and catholic succession through 
 all ages, agreeable to that original institution which was from 
 Jesus Christ, the great High Priest, the true Prophet, the sovereign 
 King of the Church, the chief preacher of righteousness, and 
 TT . bishop of our souls? Have I not, I say, taken 
 
 an holy care of a succession of ministers 
 about holy things, who might divide the word aright by 
 solid preaching, might wait upon God solemnly by a devout and 
 discreet praying, might convince gainsayers by acute disputing, 
 might instruct the world by exact writing, might maintain peace 
 and order by wise governing, might reform the world by holy 
 living? Hath it not been my care and endeavour to keep 
 up the soundness, power, and life of Christian religion ? Have 
 not I laboured that my good people might everywhere have what 
 is necessary and wholesome for their souls' good, in devout prayers, 
 in holy sacraments, in powerful sermons ; whereby I desired (God 
 knoweth) to preserve wholesome and saving truth, to promote true 
 holiness, to set up an holy decency, to maintain the wholesome 
 form and power of godliness, in truth, peace, order, and unity ? 
 Have not I held forth an holy light, rule, and life, in the plain 
 parts of Scripture everywhere read ; in the articles everywhere 
 acknowledged, in the creeds and catechism every year explained, 
 in the liturgy constantly used, whereby poor souls had a plain, 
 easy, and sure way to heaven, through an unfeigned faith, sincere 
 repentance, a catholic charity, a devout humility, a good con- 
 science, and an holy obedience to God and man, according to the 
 will of God, unto all well pleasing ? Do not I take care to instruct 
 the ignorant diligently, to comfort the weak-hearted tenderly, to 
 raise up them that fall compassionately, to visit those that are 
 sick charitably, to relieve those that want mercifully, to bury my 
 dead that sleep in Jesus solemnly, to punish those that do amiss 
 severely, to restore them that have gone astray pitifully, to instruct 
 them that oppose themselves meekly, to frame a way of peace, 
 order, and communion (in which brethren might happily dwell 
 together in unity) prudently, rationally, and discreetly ? O, what 
 
Ichahod ; 07', Five Groans of the Church. 5 
 
 failings of mine, then, have occasioned these impatient murmurs 
 which I hear ? What faults of mine have raised those bitter 
 reproaches which I bear ? What enormities of mine have pro- 
 voked those imminent dangers which I fear ? O, why is it that 
 ye who own my God as Saviour, who have submitted to my doc- 
 trine as your rule, who have partaken of my Sacrament as your 
 refreshment and comfort ; O, why is it that ye hate and despise 
 me, that ye strip and wound me, that ye tear and mangle me, 
 that ye impoverish and debase me, that ye make me a scorn, 
 an abomination, an hissing and astonishment to all that see 
 me, a derision and a mocking to my enemies round about me ? 
 
 Alas, all men of weight and worth, for parts and piety, for 
 judgment and ingenuity, for conscience and Her abolo^v for 
 integrity, for grace, learning, and renown, .•) .•■^■^•^ 
 
 know my innocency thus far, that as to the <^07ismuiion. 
 foundation of faith and rule of holiness, I have only adhered to 
 God's blessed Word : as for the circumstances and ceremonies ot 
 religion, I use in them prudently and charitably that liberty and 
 power which I suppose is allowed here for peace, order, and 
 decency, by that blessed God who is not the author of confusion, 
 but of peace, as in all the Churches of the saints. If we may believe 
 the integrity of those reformers that settled this Church, whose 
 learning, worth, and piety have been confirmed by the testimony of 
 so many wise and religious princes, by the approbation of so many 
 honourable and unanimous Houses of Parliament, by the suffrages 
 of so many learned and reverend convocations, by the applauses 
 of so many other Reformed Churches ; if we may believe the 
 preaching, living, and dying of so many hundred excellent bishops 
 and ministers, or the prayers and proficiencies of so many thousand 
 of godly Christians ; or if we may believe the wonderful blessings 
 and special graces of a merciful God, attesting the verity, integrity, 
 and sanctity of my Christian constitution for many happy years : 
 or if you will believe all men in England, who have, by oaths and 
 subscriptions, by vows and protestations, resolved to maintain the 
 Protestant religion as it was established in the Church of England ; 
 who despair anywhere to find the way of truth and peace, of holi- 
 ness and happiness, but in the use of those holy means, and in the 
 exercise of those divine graces which accompany salvation, within 
 me professed and enjoyed. I know nothing excellent in any 
 Church for outward policy, inward tranquillity, and eternal felicity ; 
 nothing that was pious or peaceable, moral or virtuous, ritual or 
 spiritual, orderly or comely, or any way conducing to truth and 
 holiness, to grace or virtue, to the soul's edification and comfort, 
 which was not by me entertained with competent maintenance, 
 noble encouragements, ingenuous honours, peaceable serenity, and 
 munificent plenty ; in which I flourished so many years by God's 
 goodness and man's indulgence. 
 
 Alas, whatever I have done in the settlements of the rites, cir- 
 
6 Ichabod ; 07\ Five Groans of the CJmrch. 
 
 cumstances, and decencies of religion, I have observed that 
 modesty, wisdom, and humility that became a Church of Christ, 
 in discreetly and ingenuously complying with sober, primitive, and 
 venerable antiquity in the Church, as far as it observed the rules 
 of God's Word, and went not beyond the liberty allowed it in 
 point of order and decency. O, you are too knowing to be ignorant, 
 and too ingenious to be insensible of your duty to God, and your 
 respect to me, who was heretofore so much loved by my children, 
 applauded by my friends, reverenced by my neighbours, feared and 
 envied by mine enemies for those spiritual gifts, ministerial, devo- 
 tional, and practical, which were evidently seen in me, those 
 heavenly influences which people received from me, those gracious 
 examples and frequent good works set forth by me, the blessed 
 experiences men enjoyed with me, the charitable simplicities exer- 
 cised by my members, the numerous assemblies, the frequent 
 devotions, the reverent attentions, the unanimous communions, 
 the well-grounded hopes, and unspeakable comforts which thou- 
 sands enjoyed, both living and dying, in obedience to, and 
 communion with me ; which to impartial men were most impreg- 
 nant evidences, and valid demonstrations of true religion, and 
 a true Church, settled by the joint consent and public piety 
 of a Christian nation. He was a wise, holy, and reverend son of 
 my bosom, who said, " That in the greatest maturity of his judg- 
 ment, and integrity of his conscience, when most redeemed from 
 juvenile fervours, popular fallacies, vulgar partialities, and secular 
 flatteries, he declared to the present age and posterity, that since 
 he was capable to move in so serious a search and weighty 
 a disquisition as that of religion is ; as his greatest design was 
 through God's grace to find out and persevere in such a profession 
 of Christian religion as hath most of truth and order, of power 
 and peace, of holiness and solemnity, of Divine verity and Catholic 
 antiquity, of true charity and holy constancy: so he could not (apart 
 from all prejudices and prepossessions) find in any other Church 
 or Church-way, ancient or modern, either more of the good he 
 desired, or less of the evil he would avoid, than he had a long 
 time discerned, and upon a stricter scrutiny more and more in the 
 frame and form, in the constitution and settled dispensation of 
 ••^e Church of England. Nowhere," saith he, " diviner mysteries, 
 nowhere sounder doctrinals, holier morals, warmer devotionals, 
 apter rituals, or comelier ceremonials. All which together by a 
 meet and happy concurrence of piety and prudence, brought forth 
 such spirituals and graces, both in their habits, exercises, and com- 
 forts, as are the quintessence and life, the soul and seal of true 
 religion ; those more immediate and special influences of God's 
 Holy Spirit upon the soul, those joint operations of the blessed 
 Trinity, for the justification, sanctification, and salvation of a 
 sinner," / 
 
IcJiabod ; or,. Five Groans of the Church. 7 
 
 I. Can you blame my government, that ancient and Catholic 
 government of godly bishops; which is so c^. . .-^ .j 7 
 agreeable to right reason, so suitable to the ^J^^J^^i^M^^^^^^ 
 principles of due order and pohcy among ^o^^^'^"^^'^^' 
 men, so consonant to Scripture wisdom both in rules and patterns, 
 so conform to the catholic and primitive way of all Christian 
 Churches throughout all ages, and in all places of the world ? 
 Would you have me, against all charity, modesty, humility or equity, 
 to fall away from the apostolical way of all famous churches and 
 religious Christians ; to cast off the edos dpxatov, /cat Trapadoacv, the 
 ^dd/xov Upov, nec conciliis instituium, sed semper retention, et non 
 nisi authoritate Apostolica institutiim ; the Apostolici seminis 
 traduces Episcopos ; that universal successionem Episcoporum ; 
 those siiccessiones ab initio deciirrentiiun Episcoponun ; that 
 ordinent Episcoporum qui in Joha7inem stat authorem ; that toto 
 orbe decretiim. Shall I not inquire of the former age, and prepare 
 myself to the search of my Fathers ? for 1 am but of yesterday, 
 and nothing. Shall not they teach me, and tell me, and utter 
 words out of their hearts? Shall not I stand in the way, and 
 ask for the old way, which is the good way, and walk therein ? 
 
 Would you have me give offence to the whole Christian world, 
 which either is or would be governed by bishops, as the most 
 apostohc, primitive, and universal way? Would you have me 
 disown the right succession of the power ministerial, conferred 
 by Episcopal hands unto this day ? Shall the Jewish Church 
 have the heads of their tribes as bishops and rulers over their 
 brethren the priests and Levites, and the Christian Church (in 
 imitation of them, as in other particulars, so in this) have their 
 Apostles, Evangehsts, their pastors, and teachers, without reproach, 
 and may not I ? O it is certain, that what is once well done, in 
 a regular public way, is ever after done as to the permanency 
 of that virtue that is always in a great and good example. Shall 1 
 lay aside primitive and right Episcopacy, which hath such grounds 
 from Scripture, both as to the Divine wisdom so ordering 
 His Church among the Jews, as also by the example, precept, 
 and direction evident from our Lord Jesus Christ, and the holy 
 Apostles in the New Testament, who preferred worthy persons 
 for their piety, zeal, and holy gravity, to exercise a Christian 
 authority over ministers and people for their souls' good, which 
 might consist with chanty and humility, for the preservation of the 
 Church's peace and purity in the best and primitive times ; such 
 grave persons as for their age, were Fathers ; for their innocency, 
 saints ; for their industry, labourers ; for constancy, confessors ; 
 for zeal, martyrs ; for charity, brethren ; for their light, angels ; 
 and venerable for all excellences? And I own no other bishops 
 but such in whom are remarkable the virtues of the most ancient 
 and imitable bishops ; the industry of St Austin, the courage of 
 St Ambrose, the devotion of St Gregory, the learning of Nazianzen, 
 
8 tchahod; or, Five Groans of the CJinrch. 
 
 the eloquence of St Chrysostom, the mildness of St Cyprian, the 
 love of St Ignatius, the constancy of St Polycarp, the nobleness of 
 St Basil ; and those come nearest the apostolical pattern, and 
 resemble the most of any Christians or ministers, the grace and 
 glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. I endeavour that my bishops 
 may be among Christians the most faithful ; among men, the 
 most civil ; among preachers, the most painful ; among orators, 
 the most persuasive ; among governors, the most moderate ; among 
 pious men, the most fervent ; among professors, the most forward ; 
 among severe men, the most exact ; among sufferers, the most 
 patient ; among perseverants, the most constant : the most com- 
 plete every way, and perfect unto every good work. These I take 
 care should be duly chosen, should be esteemed with honour, and 
 reverenced with love. My rule to them is, that they should over- 
 rule with vigilance, should rule with joint counsel, neither levelled 
 with younger preachers and novices, nor exalted too much above the 
 grave and elder. I allow these men an honourable competency, 
 with eminency, wherewith they may exercise a large heart and 
 liberal hand, which may conciliate a general respect, and deserve 
 the common love. My direction to them is, that their virtue and 
 piety may preserve the authority of their places ; and this is the 
 order, peace and dignity of the Church, that they may be the 
 touchstone of truth, the loadstone of love, the standard of faith, 
 the pattern of holiness, the pillars of stability, and the centres of 
 unity ; such as the erroneous may hate, the factious envy, good men 
 may love, and bad men may fear. 
 
 2. Can ye blame my doctrine, approved by the reformed, and 
 CA • f'/; fi 7 agreeable with the primitive Church? a doctrine 
 c^nejumjietn ner according to godliness, teaching all men that, 
 
 oc rine. a denying all ungodliness and worldly lust, they 
 
 should live righteously, soberly, and godly in this present world." 
 
 3. Do you find fault with my devotion in the public worship of 
 ^hpiu^tifipthhrr ^^^^ ^y confession, prayers, praises, psalms, 
 ^/lejumjiemnef ^^^ ^^^^^ ^^^^ oblations of a rational and 
 
 evo 101 . evangelical service, offered up to our God by 
 
 the joint piety of all my children (the KOLval eOxai, the /xta dirjats, 
 the Commimi Oratio), where nothing is expressed as my mind, 
 which I thought not agreeable with the mind of God's Spirit in the 
 Scripture.^ nor do I know any part of it to which a judicious 
 Christian might not in faith say Amen, taking the expressions of 
 it in that pious and benign sense which the Church intended, and 
 the words may well bear. Indeed the whole composure of my 
 hturgy is (in my judgment) so wholesome, so holy, so complete, so 
 discreet, so devout, so useful, so savoury, so well-advised, that I 
 find nothing in the eighteen liturgies composed in the Eastern and 
 Western Church that is excellent, but is in this of mine ; and many 
 things, which are less clear or necessary in thenf, are better ex- 
 pressed or wisely omitted here ; the whole being so ordered, as 
 
Ichabod ; 01% Five Groans of the CJmrch. 9 
 
 might best inform all people's understandings, stir up their affec- 
 tions, and quicken their devotions, in a wholesome form of sound 
 words ; such as Moses, David, the prophets, and the Lord Jesus 
 left behind them, solemnly recorded in the Scriptures. So that, 
 according to the primitive care, I first laid down Scripture grounds 
 in the creeds and confessions, and then I enlarged and fixed my 
 Liturgies and devotions as near as I could to the majesty, solemnity, 
 and exactness, unanimity and fulness of public prayers upon all 
 holy public occasions, so plainly, that the devout soul knows well 
 what it should desire of God ; and so affectionately, that it earnestly 
 desires in it what it knoweth God alloweth ; and so uniformly, that 
 it peaceably goeth along with the congregation, with one mind and 
 one heart " in the unity of the spirit, in the bond of peace." 
 
 4. Is it the rites and ceremonies I impose that displease 
 you ? Alas, I find the God of Heaven which we worship in 
 England enjoining more ceremonies on His own people, and 
 forbidding no holy custom to any Christians, in order to advance 
 the decency and order of His service, or Christians' mutual edifi- 
 cation and joint devotion under the gospel. Our blessed Saviour 
 hath, by His spirit guiding the pens and practices of the apostles, 
 sufficiently manifested the power and liberty given the Church, 
 and the governors of it, for the choice and use of such decent cus- 
 toms, riles, and ceremonies (not as divine institutions upon the 
 consciences, but as humane injunctions upon the practices) as 
 agree with godly manners, and the truth of the Gospel, and may 
 best serve for order, decency, peace, solemnity, and mutual edifica- 
 tion of Christians, agreed upon l3y public consent ; in which 
 every one's vote is personally or virtually included. It is true, as 
 the liturgy, so the ceremonies have something of Rome in them : 
 for to deal plainly I did freely and justly assert to my own use and 
 God's glory whatever upon due trial I found to have the stamp of 
 God's truth and grace, or the Church's wisdom and charity upon 
 it. I would not refuse any good I found amongst them, because it 
 was mixed with some evil ; but trying all things, I held fast that 
 which is good, being intent upon the great ends of piety, devotion, 
 and charity. It is true I enjoin my people an inward worship of 
 soul, in spirit and in truth, before God ; but withal I enjoin out- 
 ward worship of the body (which is but a reasonable service to God 
 that made the body), exemplary and significant before men, in 
 such habits and gestures as may most conduce (by the advice of 
 the whole Church ; for the private spirit of the prophets, in those 
 things ought to be subject to the public spirit of the prophets) to 
 reverence, devotion and edification, in knowing, humble, meek, 
 and quiet spirits, rightly discerning the innocent nature of such 
 things not prohibited and so indifferent ; and the Christian liberty 
 allowed to them, to use those things indifferent when commanded, 
 and to lay them aside when not commanded. However, let the 
 
10 Ichabod ; or, Five Groans of the Omrch. 
 
 many obligations to unity by the true faith you jointly profess give 
 you more satisfaction, than the occasions of dividing the ceremonies 
 in which you differ give you offence : so that you may not upon so 
 small occasions, in such small matters, sacrifice to your private 
 passion and persuasion the public peace and prosperity of the 
 Church ; especially since I never heard of any sober Christian, or 
 truly godly minister, who (being in other things prudent, unblame- 
 able, and sincere) did ever suffer any check of conscience merely 
 upon the account of having been conformable to, and keeping 
 communion with me : nor did they ever complain of ceremonies, 
 liturgy, and Episcopacy, as any damps to their real graces, or to 
 their holy communion with God's blessed spirit ; but admired them 
 as the united influence, the joint consent, the combined devotion 
 of all good Christians in this nation, who publicly agreed with one 
 mind, and in one manner to serve the Lord, in a way allowed by 
 the most pious of princes, practised by the best nobility, owned by 
 the wisest gentry, maintained by the most learned clergy, and 
 embraced by the best sort of commons. I allow only such cere- 
 monies as make religious duties not more pious, but more con- 
 spicuous ; not more sacred, but more solemn ; not more spiritual 
 and holy, but more visible, imitable and exemplary ; to quicken 
 my children, to allure others, to instruct and edify all. 
 
 5. Are ye offended with my canons and injunctions .'* Is it fit 
 that a few men whom order and policy hath made inferior to 
 others, as the rulers and representatives of the whole society, 
 should prefer their own private opinions and judgments before the 
 well-advised results, the learned counsels, the pious endeavours, 
 and solemn sanctions of so many, eminent for piety, prudence, 
 integrity, public influence, and just authority ? 
 
 6. Are my solemn fasts and feasts, your grievances ? those 
 solemn remembrances of God's mercy to men in Christ celebrated 
 with prayer, praises, preaching, and communicating to God's 
 glory, and all sober Christians' improvement, according to the 
 known precedent of the Jews, and the general practice of the 
 Christian Church ? What harm is there if some good men 
 observing a day, observe it to the Lord ; and others not observ- 
 ing a day, observe it not to the Lord ? 
 
 7. Do you resent my endeavours for unity and uniformity? Alas, 
 I desire only that men sincerely worship one tme God, and profess 
 the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, that they may be partakers of 
 the gifts and graces of the Blessed Spirit, and may have an holy 
 communion with that adorable Trinity, and with one another in 
 love and charity, as Christians enjoying the noblest life, the 
 sweetest society, and most heavenly fraternity ; imitating God, emu- 
 lating angels ; children, and servants of Christ's family, candidates 
 of heaven, expectants of happiness, partakers of grace, and daily 
 preparing for eternal glory : that all men who have been called, 
 
Ichabod ; or, Five Groans of the Church. II 
 
 baptised, and instructed by lawful ministers here, in the mysteries 
 and duties of the gospel, may make a joint and public profession 
 of the Christian faith, and reformed religion, in the name, and as 
 the sense of the whole nation, grounded upon the holy Scripture, 
 guided also and administered by that uniform order, due authority, 
 and holy ministry for worship and government, which according 
 to the mind of Christ, the pattern of the Apostles, and the practice 
 of all primitive Churches, hath been lawfully established by the 
 wisdom and consent of all estates in this kingdom, for God's 
 honour, the Church's safety, the public peace, and the common 
 good of souls. 
 
 8. Do I not allow you a just liberty to do such things constantly 
 and cheerfully which are most proper and advantageous to the 
 nature and excellency of men ? to think what is true, to do what 
 is fit, and enjoy what is just in reference to God, others, and 
 yourselves ? I have taken from you no liberty but that of doing 
 evil : you are at liberty to enjoy all the comforts, privileges, and 
 ordinances which Christ hath instituted, in an holy order, and 
 regular way, for private or public good ; and to hope for that 
 reward and crown which God the righteous judge hath promised 
 those that persevere in well doing. My highest aim is, th^t you 
 may have liberty to exercise a good conscience, void of offence 
 towards God and towards man, that they may willingly in all 
 things live honestly. 
 
 9. Are ye displeased with my members ? Alas, innocent men, 
 they pursue after the knowledge of, and communion with God, in 
 order to a rational, rehgious, spiritual, gracious, perfect, and un- 
 changeable life ; enjoying themselves in the blessed enjoyment of 
 God, the enjoyment of whom satisfieth all their desires, rewards 
 all their duties, requites all their sufferings, completes all their 
 happiness ; yea, crowns and perfects true religion. They endeavour 
 that on earth which they hope for in heaven ; viz., a right know- 
 ledge and a willing performance, which as reasonable creatures 
 they owe for ever to God their Maker, Preserver, and Redeemer 
 in Christ. With this religious frame and temper, of which them- 
 selves only are conscientious, they prepare for a glorious and 
 blessed immortahty, with a sincerity of heart, and uprightness of 
 conversation, which hath no other rule but God's Word, no other 
 end but God's glory, no other comfort but the constancy of this 
 disposition to their lives' end. Innocent men, they look for one 
 common salvation, they use one common sacrament, they profess 
 one faith and rule of holiness, they have one gracious temper, the 
 same inward sense of duty and devotion ; they walk in the same 
 order with the Catholic Church over the face of the earth. 
 
 10. Do you envy me my patrimony and maintenance, what the 
 law of God allows me, what the gospel hath provided for me, 
 what the piety of elder times hath bestowed upon me, what good 
 
12 IcJiabod; or, Five Groans of the CJmrch. 
 
 kings, peers, and people of their own endowed me with, freely 
 honouring the Lord with their substance, that they that served 
 the altar, might live by the altar? O why may not my children 
 who attend the gospel, live by the gospel, since they attend a 
 ministry as venerable in its mysteries, as clear in its doctrine, as 
 glorious in its chief Minister Jesus, as painful to its ministers, and 
 as comfortable to pious and devout souls, as the ministry of the 
 law ? Why are you offended that they of my children that are 
 taught, should communicate to them of my children that teach in 
 every good thing ? 
 
 11. Do you envy my just power and authority, whereby with 
 the wisdom, gravity, and integrity of such men as are invested with 
 that power, I may check all abuses and disorders in the Church, 
 and by a well-ordered discipline, I may recover myself to my 
 former glory and renown, for which I was spoken of throughout 
 the world ? 
 
 12. Do you except against the private infirmities, the personal 
 failing of my bishops and ministers, as less strict and unblameable 
 in their lives, less painful in their caUing, less prudent in their 
 undertakings, or less compassionate in their government ? though 
 all the world knoweth that within me learning flourisheth, know- 
 ledge multiplieth, grace aboundeth, excellent preaching thriveth, 
 sacraments are duly administered, the fruits of God's spirit are 
 mightily diffused, hospitable kindness is exercised. Christian 
 charity is maintained, plain heartedness and good works are 
 eminent ; though I know the Christian world cannot show men 
 more eminent than some of my clergy are for well-weighed know- 
 ledge, for Christian courage and patience, for sincere piety, for 
 indefatigable industry, for care and vigilancy, for exemplary virtue, 
 for sound doctrine, useful writing, prudent governing ; for a firm 
 constancy, for fatherly instructions, charitable corrections, and 
 imitable conversations ; who guide the people without any allowed 
 licentiousness in conversation, any undecency in devotion, any 
 irregularity in administration ; in all which according to the sacred 
 direction of God's Word, according to the heavenly assistance of 
 God's Spirit through faith in Jesus Christ, they teach them to 
 worship the only true God, who is blessed for ever ; as the admir- 
 able instruments of God's glory, and the good of men's souls : 
 teaching them a fruitful and effectual faith, a sound and judicious 
 knowledge, an hearty and sincere love, a discreet and prudent zeal, 
 a severe and thorough repentance, fervent and devout prayers, 
 godly and unfeigned sorrow, spiritual and unspeakable comforts, 
 well grounded and firm hope, heavenly and holy conversation, a 
 meek obedience and submission in the general frame of Christian 
 men's carriage. Though I have men famous for greatness of learn- 
 ing, soundness of judgment, gravity of manners, and sanctity of 
 lives ; yet among my ten thousand ministers, it is Hkely some 
 
ichabod ; or. Five Groans of the Church. 13 
 
 may do amiss. If when there was but three men in the world, one 
 was a murderer ; if among Noah's sons, one of the three was dis- 
 obedient ; if among Jacob's children, of two one was profane ; 
 if of twelve Apostles, one was a devil, another dissembled, and a 
 third denied his Master ; if among the Asian angels, there is none 
 but was to be reproved ; if among the few primitive preachers, 
 there was a Demas that loved the present world, a Diotrephes 
 that loved the pre-eminence : among my so many thousand clergy, 
 it is not likely but that some may fall short of the severe exactness 
 required in all ministers who ought to be patterns in good works. 
 Oh my clergy are not angels, but men subject to the like in- 
 firmities with other men. "If they should say they have no sin, 
 they would deceive themselves, and the truth would not be in them : 
 but if they confess their sins, He is faithful and just to forgive them 
 their sins, and to cleanse them from all unrighteousness." Be per- 
 fection the glory of other church members, the glory of mine is 
 sincerity. " Without all peradventure, the most holy and all- 
 seeing God, who walketh in the midst of the golden candlesticks, 
 whose pure eyes are most intent upon the ministers of the Church, 
 hath found iniquity in His servants the bishops and other ministers, 
 both as to their persons and professions ; all things being open 
 and naked to Him with whom we have to do." 
 
 1. He observes how many consecrated and set apart to the 
 service of God and His Church in the name, place, power, and 
 authority of Jesus Christ, and approaching His gracious presence 
 with Aaron in the holy of holies, in the glorious manifestations of 
 God in Christ to His Church, by public ordinances and spiritual 
 influences, have not so sanctified the name of the Lord God, their 
 God, in their hearts and lives, in their doctrines and duties. 
 
 2. The great Searcher of hearts knoweth how rashly many of 
 His ministers undertake, how carelessly they manage that great 
 and terrible work under which angels may swoon, and great 
 Apostles cry, "Who is sufficient for these things!" how vulgarly they 
 converse, how lazily they live, how loosely they behave themselves, 
 how ambitiously they design, how covetously they reach, how 
 enviously they repine, how unexemplarily they walk unworthy of 
 the favour and indulgence showed them, to the amazement of their 
 high calhng, the dishonour of their profession, to the forfeiture of 
 their dignity and plenty, the endangering of their peace and safety. 
 
 3. He that is about our paths, and about our dweUings, hath 
 observed how unpreparedly, negligently, and irreverently, how 
 partially, popularly, and passionately, how formally and vainly, 
 without any power of godliness, hfe of religion, some perform the 
 work of God, the great work of eternal concernment to our own 
 and other men's souls. 
 
 4. He whose eyes see, whose eyelids try the children of men, 
 hath looked down from heaven, and observed the iniquity of some 
 
14 I c ha bod ; or, Five Groans of the Church. 
 
 men's holy things ; their dead and unreasonable, instead of a living 
 and acceptable, service : He hath taken notice of that supine negli- 
 gence which hath sunk some men's ministrations below the just 
 majesty, solidity, and gravity of gospel dispensations ; others by 
 an affected height and depth, for want of plain instruction, and 
 charitable condescending, amuse the poor people, who know not 
 what they say, nor whereof they do affirm. 
 
 5. He that will reprove, and set men's sins in order before them, 
 hath taken notice of some men's remiss compliance, and others' 
 exact rigours (according to their private tempers, judgments, and 
 passions), whereby they swerved too much from that just charity, 
 discretion, legality, and constancy which my canons intended, and 
 my constitution, health, and peace required ; especially in the 
 peevish touchiness of these times, when so many subtle and 
 envious ones lie in wait to destroy me. 
 
 Yet my churchmen's exorbitancies are not my constitutions, 
 their failings are not my frame, their infirmities are not my nature ; 
 their fall is no more mine who disallows it, than the angels' fall 
 may be the heaven's that forbid it ; their weaknesses are human, 
 my authority is divine : that charity which thinketh no evil, will not 
 lay upon me those enormities which I forbid by a law, which I 
 restrain by discipHne, which I mourn for in mine humiliation, and 
 discountenance in those great patterns that shew a most excellent 
 way. These sins (O the Christian world !) are transgressions of 
 my law, affronts to my authority, the baffles of my canons and 
 injunctions. Oh that my apology were written, yea, printed in a 
 book, for the satisfaction of the world, " that the good that I would 
 do, that I cannot do ! and the evil that I would not do that I do ! 
 I find a law of my members against the law of my mind." So that 
 it is no more I, but the sins and the sinners that dwell in me. 
 
 4. It is you, it is you whom I have nourished and brought up as 
 children, whom I have encouraged as ministers, whom I have pro- 
 moted as governors ; it is you that have brought this reproach 
 and danger upon me. When I had with heroic patience endured 
 the oppression of adversaries, by a Christian prudence defeated 
 the attempts of schismatics, by an exemplary humility and piety 
 turned the hearts of enemies, and by a miracle of restoration 
 silenced the mouths of all men ; you my sons, opened the mouth 
 of scandal, strengthened the cry of reproach, raised the clamours 
 of the envious. Oh, if an enemy had done this, I could with the 
 same Christian courage I have suffered these twenty years, have 
 borne it ; but it is you of my own bosom, family, and profession : 
 O you, my clergy, whom I expected more glorious, more esteemed, 
 more reverenced before all the world, after your constant suffer- 
 ings, who coming out of this fiery furnace, might shine brighter 
 than ever you did with the love of Christ, and of me his Church, 
 both as to the care of those private charges and public inspections, 
 
Ichabod ; or, Five Groans of the Church. 1 5 
 
 committed to you in excellent order, and by due authority : and 1 
 expected that neither pride nor envy, pomp nor popularity, neither 
 covetousness nor ambition, should distract the thoughts, divide 
 the hearts, exasperate the humours, or provoke the reproach of an 
 incensed people against my order and government, and the good 
 of all sorts of Christians. Whosoever of you, notwithstanding the 
 miracles both of your sufferings and relief, at such a time as this, 
 when the mouth of hell is open against me, shall open any other 
 mouth to join in the cry against the Church, give life or tongue to 
 any scandalous sin, and set that to its damans de terra^ crying 
 from the ground; that by luxury or sloth, by covetousness or 
 griping, by insolence or pride, by carelessness or looseness, by 
 disorder and irregularity, shall justify men's malice against me, 
 and by that means persuade credulous and easy people, that is 
 true that hath been said of me, all is just that hath been inflicted 
 upon me ; I know not what woe is heavy enough for him : O alas, 
 my brother ! O it had been better for him he had never been born. 
 5. My doctrine I can maintain, my disciphne I can assert, my 
 constitution I can vindicate : you, you, O my sons, I cannot 
 justify : woe is me that 1 must hear your reproach, and cannot 
 gainsay it. Five things there are that tend equally to mine and 
 your own ruin, which I must charge you before the world : five 
 things that will insensibly undermine my famous fabric, which 
 hath been the care and labour of so many years when erected, and 
 the miracle of this last year when restored. These five sad par- 
 ticulars are : 
 
 1. Undue ordination. 
 
 2. An unconscionable simony. 
 
 3. Careless non -residence. 
 
 4. Loose profaneness. 
 
 5. Encroaching pluraHties. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 ORDINATION. 
 
 ALTHOUGH I am well satisfied (whatever the Romanists and 
 others have of late suggested) that my ordination is authentic, 
 primitive and proper in the form of it ; is valid in the author, 
 being by men ordained in an uninterrupted succession by the 
 primitive bishops, as they were by the Apostles, and the Apostles 
 by Christ, and Jesus Christ by God Himself; and is regular and 
 legal in the circumstances of it, being agreeable to the established 
 
1 6 Ichabod; or, Five Groans of the Chnreh. 
 
 laws of the realm ; yet not without much regret must I confess, 
 that solemn investiture of men to the great calling of ministers 
 fallen much below its native glory, much shrunk in its primitive 
 sacredness and reverence, and extremely decayed in its first 
 esteem and honour, because my reverend bishops, in the great 
 intricacies of late alterations, are surprised to bestow the honour 
 of that high calling (i) upon the young ; (2) upon the unlearned ; 
 (3) upon the debauched ; and (4) upon the factious. 
 
 Sect. I. 
 
 Of young uiinisters^ whereof I have a call of above three thousand'. 
 
 Woe is me ! when I have those that teach before they have 
 learned ; that I have those that would instruct others, and have 
 need themselves be instructed which are the first principles of the 
 doctrine of Christ. Instead of the ancient Fathers, we have 
 children who are made priests in all lands. Former times 
 honoured my excellent clergy for their age and gravity, reverenced 
 them for their learning and austerity, and esteemed them as the 
 wonder of the world ; and said, " Ask the Father, and He will 
 show thee ; thine ancients, and they shall tell thee." This age 
 slights them for their youth and weakness, for their ignorance and 
 inexperience, as persons that are but of yesterday, and know 
 nothing. We have understanding, saith the common people to 
 the young men, as well as you : we are not inferior to you ; yea, 
 who knoweth not such things as these? As the patriarchs 
 separated their first-born for the priesthood, and Moses and 
 Aaron reserved themselves many years for their ministries, and 
 the Law prepared men thirty years for the sacred service ; and the 
 blessed Jesus, the Preacher of righteousness, entered not until the 
 thirtieth year of His age upon the great work of the ministry : so 
 my bishops, knowing how to behave themselves in the work of 
 God, which is the Church of the living God, the pillar and ground 
 of truth, took heed to themselves and the flocks over which the 
 Holy Ghost had made them overseers, that they laid hands 
 suddenly on no man, neither were partakers of other men's sins, 
 but keep themselves pure, taking care that men be first proved, 
 and then use the office of a deacon, being found blameless ; and 
 then when they had used the office of a deacon well, and pur- 
 chased to themselves a good degree of a priest or bishop, then 
 they took care that they should be blameless, vigilant, sober, 
 of good behaviour, given to hospitality, apt to teach : — not 
 novices, lest being lifted up with pride, they fall into the condem- 
 nation of the devil.— Moreover, they took care they might have 
 a good report of them that are without, lest they fall to reproach 
 
Ichabod; or, Five Groans of the Chureh. 17 
 
 and condemnation of the devil. But now since the looseness of 
 these late times, there are admitted to the priesthood of the 
 meanest of the people, who are not the sons of Levi • as in 
 Jeroboam's days, every one that will, is made a priest, that he 
 may have bread to eat. Those pulpits that were filled with 
 ancient fathers, are now desks for young children : those solemn 
 assemblies that were rapt up into the third heaven with pious 
 sermons and devout prayers, hear the late pedantic harano-ues 
 and juvenile orations with scorn and laughter : those people that 
 thronged to hear the wisdom of God delivered in the demonstra- 
 tion of the Spirit and with power, are quite weary of that true 
 foohshness of preaching, that consists only in the childish wisdom 
 of words, and in the trifling enticing words of man's wisdom I 
 had reverend men that shewed themselves a pattern of good 
 works in doctrine shewing uncorruptness, gravity, sincerity, sound 
 speech that cannot be condemned; that they that were of the 
 
 CONTRARY PARTY WERE ASHAMED, HAVING NO EVIL TO S\Y OF 
 
 THEM, vvhen I ordained elders in every city. I had men blame- 
 less, sober, just, holy, temperate ; whose judgments were settled 
 whose passions were allayed, whose affections were composed' 
 whose actions were advised, and conversation exact and uniform • 
 since, every one did what is good in his own eyes. My young minis' 
 ters have been unstable in all their ways, unsettled in their minds 
 rash in their undertakings, imprudent in their carriage, weak in their 
 discourses, inexperienced in their behaviour, not even orderly and 
 staid m their conversation ; to the grief of good men, who esteem 
 all ministers very highly in love for their work's sake ; to the iov of 
 those evil men that have ill-will for Sion, who cry Aha aha so 
 would we have It. O young men, who requireth these things at 
 your hands ? Why do you run before I am willing to send ?ou ? 
 O how dare you take this office upon you, until you are called with 
 solemn preparation, as was Aaron ? Are not you afraid (now vou 
 have newly passed the elements of philosophy, and the first prin- 
 ciples of Nature) to look into those mysteries which the angels 
 desire to look into, to search into that knowledge which passeth 
 knowledge? Are not you afraid to ascend that pulpit whither 
 Luther said he never ascended (though very aged) without fear 
 and trembling ? Are not you afraid to undertake that dreadful 
 ^york from which the prophets fled, the Fathers avoided, the primi- 
 tive pastors trembled at; do you know what you do, when you un- 
 dertake to be ambassadors in Christ's stead, to bring back the world 
 to God, to be co-workers with God in the salvation of souls to be 
 angels ot the Church, to be as stars in God's right hand 'to be 
 stewards of the mysteries of God, to watch for precious s'ouls as 
 they that must give an account .?— How can you govern others 
 who cannot govern yourselves .? What power have you over others' 
 who have hardly any power over yourselves .? What esteem can 
 
1 8 Ichabod ; or. Five Groans of the Church. 
 
 you find among them, who will naturally despise your youth? Did 
 not philosophy think you fit (O young men) to hear morals, and 
 shall divinity admit you to read divine lectures ? How can you in 
 the heat of youth, in the vigour of your lusts, appear in the world 
 persuading men to mortify their lusts, to crucify the flesh with the 
 affections and lusts ? With what hope can you endeavour to com- 
 pose the world to that great rule, to which you cannot compose 
 yourselves ? How will you behave yourselves as guides among 
 persons whose years and experience are so much beyond yours ? 
 How impertinently will you converse, how weakly will you dis- 
 course, how imprudently will you deal ! How contemptibly will 
 you live among a staid and discreet people, wiser than you in their 
 generations ! 
 
 " The goodness of God having furnished man with two chief 
 instruments," saith an incomparable man, " both necessar^^ for this 
 life, hands to exercise, and a mind to devise great things ; the one 
 is not profitable longer than the vigour of youth doth strengthen 
 it, nor the other greatly till age and experience have brought it to 
 perfection." 
 
 Sect. II. 
 
 Of Debatiched Men ordtwied, 1500. 
 
 Oh, am I, as Julian blasphemed, the sanctuary of all profaneness ? 
 Am I a refuge for all licentiousness ? Whom a strict_ college ex- 
 pels, whom the severe university discountenanceth, whom civil 
 men note with a mark of hatred and abhorrence, must I admit to 
 my sacred order, and honour with my most solemn ministrations ? 
 My care is, that each minister should be of a holy and unblame- 
 able conversation : what have these poor creatures to do to take 
 God's Word held forth by me in their mouths, seeing they hate to 
 be reformed ? O my reverend sons, what, do you bring a man to 
 teach the world a God and His service, who is without God in the 
 world ? — What, do you send them to speak of that God who is not 
 in all their thoughts ? Why are they employed to propagate the 
 knowledge of God, who desire that the knowledge of the holy One 
 may cease from them ? To what purpose do they preach a holy 
 life, who never intend to live it ? Why do they put those poor 
 souls to pray for those things of God, which they do not desire ? 
 to read that Bible which they do not believe, to bind those heavy 
 burthens upon the people, which they themselves do not intend to 
 bear ? to teach that on the Sabbath demurely, which they will con- 
 tradict throughout the week profanely ? Is there any need of 
 authorizing public patterns of impiety ? Do you intend to destroy 
 what ye have built ? I know you do not. Why then do you send 
 lewd ministers to teach men by an evil example that profaneness 
 
Ichabod ; or, Five Groans of the Chicrch. 19 
 
 which I have endeavoured to reform by my good instructions ? 
 Woe is me, that I see those within me running to all excess of riot, 
 who are employed to teach a pure religion, and undefiled before God. 
 You, O reverend fathers, taught men to deny all ungodliness and 
 worldly lusts, and live soberly, justly and godly in this present world; 
 and will you suffer men to go from among you, to teach all ungodli- 
 ness and Avorldly lusts ? O alas ! one man a divine and a beast ! 
 What, consecrated to God, and devoted to sin ! An abomination 
 in the holy place ! — " Behold, thou art called a minister, and 
 resteth in the law, and makest thy boast of God, and knowest 
 His \\\\\, and approvest the things that are more excellent, being 
 instructed out of the law ; and art confident that thou thyself art 
 a guide to the blind, a light of them which are in darkness, an 
 instructor of the foolish, a teacher of babes, which hast the form 
 of knowledge and of the truth in the law, thou therefore that 
 teachest another, teachest thou not thyself? thou that preachest 
 a man should not steal, dost thou steal ? thou that sayest a man 
 should not commit adultery, dost thou commit adultery ? thou that 
 abhorrest idols, dost thou commit sacrilege ? thou that makest 
 thy boast of the law, through breaking the law dishonoureth thou 
 God? for the name of God is blasphemed among the people 
 through you. 
 
 Sect. III. 
 
 Of Unlearned Men Ordained. 
 
 I AM ashamed that that ignorance which formerly found prefer- 
 ment, should now find orders too ; and that I should settle them 
 legally in that calling, whereunto I always said they had illegally 
 intruded themselves. It was too much to suffer that daring ignor- 
 ance to usurp the sacred of^ce, much more to consecrate it to it. 
 The late miscarriages want nothing to complete them, but to be 
 hallowed. The Catholic Church never entertained a ministry but 
 what was quahfied either with extraordinary gifts from above, 
 or with human learning from below : by which the mind being 
 instructed and improved in all the riches of wisdom and knowledge, 
 which are part of the glory and image of God in man, by this 
 learning all truths are clearly unfolded. How do you think poor 
 souls can clear Divine truths, lying hid in the depth, darkness 
 and ambiguity of original words, without skill in languages ? 
 How can they attain the genuine and emphatic sense of the 
 Word of God without skill in the original words and phrases? 
 How can they maintain the truths I have estabhshed, and con- 
 fute the errors I have condemned? How can they detect the 
 fallacies with which my poor people are deluded, and convince 
 the gainsayers with which I am troubled, and discover those 
 
20 Ichabod ; or, Five Groans of the Chureh. 
 
 sophisms in which poor souls wrap themselves, darkening wisdom 
 with words without understanding, without the art of sound reason- 
 ing? How can they convey the holy truths they are furnished 
 with to others, without an holy eloquence, a sacred persuasion and 
 rhetoric, which may commend them to men's minds, and enforce 
 them upon their hearts? how can they satisfy themselves and 
 others in the controversies of this age, without the observations, 
 histories, and customs of former ages ; and standing in the ways, 
 and asking for the old, which is the good way, and walk therein, 
 so find rest for their souls ? 
 
 How is it possible for those poor creatures to understand sundry 
 passages of Scripture, depending upon propriety of words and 
 idioms, or upon the customs, rites, proverbs, forms, usages, laws, 
 ofiices, and antiquities of the Assyrian, Persian, Greek, and 
 Roman Governments, without a competent portion of human 
 learning? My religion was as the king's daughter, all glorious 
 within : attended on by arts and sciences, those handmaids who 
 clothed her with garments wrought with needlework of divers 
 colours, embroidering her with pathetic elegancies, with solid 
 eloquence and orations, with sublimity and gravity, with method 
 and acuteness, with excellent morals and useful observations of a 
 very sober sense. But now, alas, it is exposed to a profane world, 
 with the ridiculous impertinencies and foolish adventures of men 
 zealous, but not according to knowledge. What empty discourses 
 do I hear ? what incoherent notions do I read ? what vain trifles 
 am I troubled with? what pilfering learned men's works do I 
 endure ? O what abundance of things should a minister under- 
 stand ! O what a great defect is it to be ignorant of them ! O 
 how much do we miss a competent knowledge in ordinary 
 ministers: — (i) To satisfy themselves and others exactly in the 
 true and original will of God; (2) To explain and unfold the 
 words in which God's will is originally expressed, and to endeavour 
 by all means a right notion and conception of them, as they are 
 to be understood in the Scripture ; (3) To show exactly what 
 are those saving truths, which are naturally contained in those 
 words so explained ; (4) To confirm those truths so drawn out 
 of the Scripture, by such evident arguments and powerful reasons as 
 may establish the true believer, and convince the gainsayer ; (5) 
 To press those truths so made manifest upon men with that power, 
 that they may have their proper influence and efficacy upon men's 
 hearts and lives. The honest men that are industrious, I would 
 willingly encourage, provided they have (what I wished always, and 
 shall now expect in all my priests and deacons) solidity, gravity, 
 modesty, piety, and some savour of learning, joined with humility 
 and zeal, with humanity ; some methods of intelligible reason, and 
 profitable Scripture divinity. — The law was published by Moses, 
 learned in all the learning of the Egyptians : the Gospel was 
 
Ichabod ; or, Five Groans of the Church. 2i 
 
 propagated by St Paul, bred up at the feet of Gamaliel, in all the 
 varieties of heathenish and Jewish knowledge : the primitive 
 Fathers (as Clemens Alexandrinus, Eusebius, TertuUian, St 
 Augustine, St Ambrose, Minutius, Felix Lactantius, and others) 
 maintained the faith so propagated, by their comprehensive 
 learning. Therefore I have taken care that none should be ad- 
 mitted to holy orders, but they who are approved by sober and 
 wise men, as who have given themselves wholly to these things ; 
 that their profiting may appear unto all as men of whom there is 
 some hope, because of their promptness of wit, quickness of con- 
 ceit, fastness of memory, clearness of understanding, soundness of 
 judgment, and readiness of speech ; that they may in time, by art, 
 industry, experience, and observation, become skilful linguists, 
 subtle disputants, copious orators, exact critics, comprehensive 
 historians, profound divines, and powerful preachers ; that through- 
 out the three kingdoms I may have those that may settle the 
 people rightly, instruct the ignorant clearly, satisfy the doubtful 
 fully, meet with the seducers skilfully, and promote piety and peace 
 successfully. As the times now are, wherein learning aboundeth 
 even unto wantonness, and wherein the world is full of questions, 
 controversies, novelties, and niceties in religion, and wherein most 
 of our gentry and people are (by the advantage of long peace, and 
 the customs of modern education, together with a multitude of 
 English books) able to look through the ignorance of a clergy- 
 man, and censure it, if he be tripping in any point of history, 
 cosmography, moral or natural philosophy, divinity or the arts ; 
 yea, and to chastise his very method and phrase, if he speak 
 loosely or impertinently, or but improperly: I, as these times are, 
 must not admit any clergymen without a competency of learning ; 
 as who may endeavour by their prayers, care, and industry to 
 improve the learning they have, so as they may be able upon good 
 occasion to impart a spiritual gift to the people of God, whereby 
 they may be established, and to speak with such understanding, 
 sufficiency, and pertinency, in some good measure of proportion to 
 the quickness and ripeness of these present times, showing in their 
 doctrine uncorruptness, gravity, sincerity, sound speech which 
 cannot be condemned ; that they which are of the contrary party 
 may be ashamed, having no evil to say of them. I, whose clergy 
 professed to use, and prayed to God to bless their long preparative 
 studies, meditations, writings, readings, habitually to fit them for 
 that dreadful work, and for every actual discharge of it ; I am 
 ashamed of those poor smatterers, who have gathered a few 
 raw and undigested notions, either by superficial reading of the 
 Scriptures^, or by hearing some sermons or by gleaning a little 
 here and there from the plainest writings (without any critical, 
 historical, or polemical learning), who are fit implements to bring 
 in such ignorance, irreverence, atheism, superstition, and con- 
 
22 Ichahod ; or, Five Groans of the Church. 
 
 fusion, as shall quite put out the Christian and reformed religion 
 in this nation (reducing all to the ancient darkness, looseness, and 
 barbarousness), which hath been established by persons of real 
 abilities, of good learning, sound knowledge, sober judgments, 
 orderly method, grave utterance, and weighty eloquence ; which 
 all wise and sober Christians expect should appear in every true 
 minister of the Church of Christ, in such a competent measure and 
 evident manner, as they may be able comfortably to discern them 
 and usefully to enjoy them. I am ashamed to see a roll of four 
 hundred and six-and-twenty tradesmen, who, (i) out of desultory 
 restlessness, (2) out of covetousness and ambition, (3) out of suUen- 
 ness and discontent, (4) out of pride and envy, having intruded in 
 former years into the sacred calling of a minister, are now ordained 
 to it. I [am ashamed that my authority should consecrate their 
 extravagancies ; and that what I looked upon as the misery of 
 late times, should be allowed in this ; that I should countenance 
 vain men that run from that calling wherein they are called, and 
 usurp the office, honour, and authority of that sacred priesthood and 
 evangelical ministry, instituted by the Lord Jesus Christ, as sent of 
 God the Father ; a mischief that greatly threateneth the Church 
 and State, faith and good manners, all things civil as well as 
 sacred. O what wise and honest-hearted Protestant (that hath 
 any care of posterity, or prospect for the future) finds not a sad 
 despondency, with a holy impatience arising in his soul, while he 
 seeth so many weak shoulders, such unwashen hands, such unpre- 
 pared feet, such rash heads, such empty souls, publicly intruding 
 themselves upon all holy duties, all sacred offices, all solemn 
 mysteries, all divine ministrations, with equal insolency and in- 
 sufficiency, being for the most part so much the more impudent, 
 by how much they are grossly ignorant ; in whom you cannot 
 discern any either rational or religious, orderly or honest ex- 
 pressions in any degree proportionable to what was observable in 
 my most solid ministers, my most acute scholars, and most pro- 
 found divines, who have been hitherto my support and ornament. 
 Certainly (reverend fathers) you will not so debase and undervalue 
 the evangelical offices of Christ, as to admit every self-flatterer and 
 obtruder presently to officiate, without any due examination or 
 approbation from those with whom that commission and power 
 hath been ever deposited in a regular and visible succession from 
 Christ, the great Exemplar or original ; although (duly considering 
 the diversities of gifts from the same Spirit) you are not to exclude 
 any modest person though of meaner parts and less improved 
 education (if he be of ingenious education, of pious affections, and 
 an orderly life) from a place in Christ's ministry, where one may 
 sow, another may reap, according to the several dispensations and 
 gifts of the same God, who worketh all in all. ^ 
 
Ichabod ; or, Five Groans of the Church. 23 
 
 Sect. IV. 
 
 The Church of E?tgland's resetitment of the thirteen hundred forty 
 and two factious Ministers that have been lately ordained. 
 
 Yet I will justify you (O ye my reverend sons) in this, that though 
 you were surprised to ordain young men, yet you hoped that years 
 might improve them ; and debauched, yet you may hope that dis- 
 cipline may reform them ; and unlearned men, yet you may hope 
 that time (with God's blessing upon their private industry and 
 studious piety) may instruct them ; but I cannot with patience see 
 your hands laid upon their heads so suddenly for their ordination, 
 who laid their hands lately upon you for your ruin. O that mine 
 head were waters, that mine eyes were a fountain of tears, to weep 
 for the unhappiness of the daughter of my people, that must needs 
 unadvisedly authorise men principled against its government, pre- 
 judiced against its order, prepossessed against its liturgy, and 
 privately practising against its peace and happiness ! In vam 
 doth authority silence your old adversaries, if you consecrate new 
 ones : in vain do they suppress ',h . former race of Non-conformists, 
 if you raise up a new general-- , a seed of evil-doers, children that 
 are corrupters.— Shall we ^jerpetuate our miseries, and keep up 
 our unhappiness ? Mu? . a sad race of Dissenters run parallel with 
 the orthodox succession to the end of the world ? whereby I must 
 languish and die, my reformed religion must decay, my piety and 
 charity must be weakened, and my authority and discipline lan- 
 guish. What eye will pity me, when I have raised those men that 
 shall ruin me, when I have commissioned those men that shall 
 oppose me, and given them an opportunity for popular applause 
 who shall use it against me ? without my leave no ordination ; no or- 
 dination, no pretence to preach ; no preaching, no public opportunity 
 to seduce whole multitudes against doctrine and discipline, against 
 order and government. My safety is now in mine own hands : 
 if I take care whom I prefer, I need not care whom I may fear : 
 if I carefully choose my ministers, I need not offensively suspend 
 them • if I took care whom I ordained, I might without any noise 
 put an end to all my trouble : mortahty would silence those 
 ministers that now disturb my peace, and my care may prevent 
 any more How ominously do some men discourse ! how popu- 
 larly do they endeavour to preach ! what dangerous intimations do 
 they make ' how untowardly do they conform ! how awkwardly 
 do they use my ceremonies, and read my liturgy ! When I consider 
 the o-eneral approbation and submission to my government and 
 disciphne before the wars, by all the clergy and laity of these 
 kingdoms ; I withal, remember how contrary to true learning 
 and honest integrity, as if they understood not what they did, 
 or that they did conform contrary to their conscience, con- 
 
24 Ichabod: or, Five Groans of the Church. 
 
 trary to their former oaths and practices, against their obedience 
 to the laws in being before the points in controversy had any 
 free and impartial debate, these men cried down the estab- 
 lished government and religion, and approved and encouraged the 
 violent and most illegal extravagances, tending to the utter ruin of 
 religion and government. 
 
 Indeed, I must confess that most of all sides who have thought 
 or done amiss, have done so not out of malice or wilfulness, but 
 out of misinformation or misapprehension of things ; and there- 
 fore I charitably think none will be more faithful than those persons 
 who, upon mature deliberation, being made sensible of their errors, 
 do feel in their hearts most vehement motives of repentance, and 
 earnest desires to make some reparations for former defects. Yet 
 such sincere converts are they, who are not so much frightened 
 with the sudden miscarriages, as convinced of the continued error 
 of their ways, who are rather persuaded by the truth and reason 
 I always urged, than awed by the authority and power I now 
 enjoy, and so are not blindly carried on by that Providence that 
 advanceth me now, as it did, and may again overturn me ; but 
 are rationally wrought upon by the pregnant evidence of the Word, 
 the clear practice of the Catholic Church, the best comment upon 
 that Word, and the irresistible strength of reason for order and 
 obedience, upon which I was always established, which they have 
 not rashly complied with, until they had examined all allegations 
 impartially, surveyed the merit of the cause leisurely, waited upon 
 God by prayer humbly, searched the will of God and the constant 
 practice of good men diligently and sincerely, conversed with good 
 and knowing men profitably and satisfactorily, and denied them- 
 selves in all worldly respects most Christianly. The lapsed were 
 not formerly admitted to the communion of Christians, much less 
 to the honour of ministers, without that discreet delay wherein 
 they might have time to satisfy themselves in the reason, and 
 others in the sincerity, of their repentance and conversion. With 
 what caution was the Jewish proselyte received to the sjoiagogue : 
 with what care ought a Christian be brought to the pulpit ? Do 
 they serve God in this compliance, or do they serve the times : 
 if they serve God, He was the same as yesterday, so to-day, and 
 for ever. Do they serve the times ? God forbid that they who 
 teach a religion whose interest is in another world, should yet own 
 no more religion than may consist with their interest in this. 
 Alas (say poor souls, distracted with alterations of times and men, 
 to their unconstant ministers), is this way lawful you submit to ? 
 Why then did you declare it superstitious. Popish, and intolerable 
 these twenty years, before God, angels, and men ? Is it unlawful ? 
 Why do you practise it now ? Was it against your consciences all 
 the while it was discountenanced, and is it agreeable to your con- 
 sciences now it is upon a sudden countenanced ? Oh, have you 
 
tchabod ; or, Five Groans of the Church. 25 
 
 persuaded us these twenty years to venture lives and estates 
 against those things you now allow and practice? Is it for this 
 you prayed ? Is it for this we fought ? Is this the issue of all our 
 blood and treasure ? &c. Oh, it is a sad thing to see men in the 
 same desk reading common prayer in a surplice, where they 
 preached against both common prayer and surplice. Oh, it is a 
 sad thing to see men build up in a day, that which they have 
 destroyed these twenty years. It is intolerable to see men keep 
 their places by conformity, which they gained by non-conformity ; 
 when they turned out honest men by crying down my government 
 and worship, now they keep them out by compliance with my 
 government and worship. Alas, to see men Presbyterian in the 
 beginning of the war, Independent in the end of it, and now Epis- 
 copal. Where shall we stop ? Where we are now, we know ; 
 where we shall be a year hence, God knoweth. Alas, is a good 
 living the only creed men have ? and preferment their only confes- 
 sion of faith.? It was a miracle that, St Peter could convert three 
 thousand at one sermon. It is nothing now that his majesty 
 hath converted ten thousand ministers with one glance of his eye. 
 Ah, blessed Hammond, thou didst write rationally ; excellent 
 Gauden, thou didst persuade powerfully ; devout Taylor, thou 
 didst urge pathetically; honest Nicholson, thou didst answer satis- 
 factorily; solid Sanderson, thou didst state clearly ; holy Usher and 
 Hall, you did offer moderately, heartily, and learnedly. But who, 
 
 ye worthies ! believed your report ? -Who would hear you ? Who 
 was convinced by you ? The king is restored, I flourish, and dis- 
 pose of all preferments, and my converts are innumerable. Well, 
 
 1 have but two wishes ; the first is, that all who are gone 
 astray may be reclaimed to the way of truth ; the second is, that 
 all who are reclaimed, may be reclaimed upon mature deliberation, 
 and a serious consideration of all that can be alleged on all hands, 
 " trying all things," and upon good grounds "holding fast that which 
 is good," Give me the men who conform upon the conscience of 
 my principles, and not upon the prosperity of my cause — who can 
 neglect the most successful error, and own the most afflicted truth; 
 who are settled upon my principles which are constant, and not 
 upon my preferments which are uncertain. Is it the king's majesty's 
 favour they depend upon ? he may fail. Is it the Church go- 
 vernment they depend upon ? that may fail. Is it Church en- 
 couragement they stick to.? that may fail. Is it the ancient truth 
 and faith they comply with ? that hath never failed, and that will 
 never fail. Give me ministers who as they preach so live upon 
 the things which are not seen, and not the things which are seen ; 
 the things which are seen are temporal, the things which are not 
 seen are eternal. 
 
 And must I have a Samaritanism of rehgion, serve the true God 
 in the temple, and the calves at Bethel ? Must I have a sound 
 
26 Ichabod ; or, Five Groans of the CJmrch. 
 
 form of words in the desk, and an extempore effusion in the pulpit? 
 must I have the same man read episcopally to walls, and preach 
 factiously to a throng ? use the ceremonies, and say to his con- 
 fidants "they are a burden to him"? use the surplice, " yet unwilling 
 to give offence"? use the cross in baptism, yet say, " I wish it were 
 forborne " ? Well, I shall never forget the words of a wise and 
 judicious father, now with God : " They themselves (meaning the 
 Nonconformists) when time was, seemed to be, and if they dis- 
 sembled not, which we are unwilling to believe, were indeed 
 reasonable well affected : for they submitted to the government, 
 used the liturgy, and observed the ceremonies appointed according 
 to law and order : and gave their own professed approbation of 
 the same as well by express words from their mouths, as by sub- 
 scription under their hands, yet remaining upon record : what 
 hath wrought this change in them (evidence of reason, or worldly 
 interest), and how far it hath wrought upon them (in reality, or but 
 in compliance), and in what order too (by immediate assault upon 
 their judgment, or by dealing underhand first with their affection), 
 themselves do or should best know. It highly concerneth them as 
 much as the peace of their conscience is worth (and much more 
 than so), to be well assured that their hearts are upright in this 
 affair : and in order thereunto, not to content themselves with 
 slight and overly examination (there is more wickedness and deceit- 
 fulness in the hearts of all men than most men are aware of), but 
 to make the more diligent, district, and impartial search possible 
 into the true causes and motives of this change (and for so much 
 as fears and hopes have been ever found the fittest engines to work 
 such feats) ; to inquire particularly what influence or operation 
 either the fear of losing what they had, or the hope of getting 
 more, might have in this work towards the producing such an 
 effect." It will best become others to judge as charitably as they 
 may ; but doubtless it will be safest for them to be very jealous 
 over themselves, lest so great a change could not have been 
 wrought in so short a space, without a strong infusion of the one, 
 or of the other, or both, into the medicine that wrought it ; espe- 
 cially since the conjuncture of time wherein this change happened, 
 may very probably raise some suspicion that a visible hope and 
 advantage had some co-operation at least with whatsoever was 
 the principal cause of this so sudden an alteration. If not so, nor 
 so, but that they find themselves clearly convinced in their judg- 
 ments of their former error, and that they are fully persuaded that 
 they are now in a better way than that wherein they formerly 
 walked, it is happy for them, and I doubt not but that they will 
 find matter of rejoicing in it if they be not mistaken (a thing not 
 impossible) in the trial of their own hearts. Oh, that I had men 
 that in the change of times were unchangeable in thpir mind and 
 opinion, and to hold to their former and well-grounded principle, 
 
Ichahod ; or, Five Groans of tJie OinrcJi. 27 
 
 so long as they can neither apprehend any reason of sufficient 
 strength to convince their understandings that they are in the 
 wrong, or to manifest unto them the necessity of making such a 
 change. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND'S RESENTMENT OF SCANDALOUS 
 PROFANENESS. 
 
 OH you, my sons, why do you these things ? for I hear of your 
 evil dealings by all this people. Oh, sirs, my God above 
 looks upon you, and is provoked ; the blessed angels see you, their 
 fellow-servants (for you are a spectacle to God and angels), and 
 are grieved ; wicked men observe you, and blaspheme God; good 
 men behold you, and are ashamed. Is it for this that you 
 are delivered, that you may work wickedness ? Hath God 
 punished you, and will you yet sin more and more? Will not 
 twelve years' sufferings reform you? will not twenty years' re- 
 proaches awake you? will not miracles of judgment deter you 
 from evil ? will not miracles of mercy oblige you to good ? Oh, 
 despise you the riches of God's goodness towards you, not knowing 
 that the goodness of God should lead you to repentance ? But 
 after your hardness and impenitency of heart, will you treasure 
 up more wrath against another day of wrath ? Is this the return 
 you make to a gracious God, to dishonour Him? Is this your 
 kindness to me, to undo me ? Is this your gratitude for the public 
 favours of king and parliament, to be utterly unworthy ? Religion 
 hath honoured you with a high calling, you betray it ; your prince 
 vouchsafed you royal favours, you shame him ; honest people 
 afforded you their pity and compassion, you deceive them. Is 
 this your kindness to your friends ? 
 
 I saw indeed the late scandalous centuries, but I neglected 
 them as slanders and calumnies ; I heard the late complaints and 
 outcries, but slighted them as I do envy, malice and hatred. 
 Dreadful things were daily suggested against you ; great things 
 were daily offered for you : the faction reviled, the orthodox main- 
 tained you : sober men writ for you ; but now you confute them : 
 holy men excused you, but you contradict them : good and great 
 men spoke for you ; but who will now believe them ? Must you 
 needs justify mahce itself? Must you needs justify what uncharit- 
 ableness itself durst not suggest against you ? Do you hear what 
 they say— There, there, go your ministers ? If you hear no 
 
28 IcJiabod ; or, Five Groans of the CJmrcJL 
 
 what they say, see what you are : You are the salt of the earth ; if 
 the salt now lose its savour, wherewith shall it be salted? it is 
 thenceforth good for nothing but to be cast out, and to be trodden 
 under foot of men. You are the salt ; yet, how unsavoury ! you 
 are the light of the world, and do you walk as children of light ? 
 are you burning, are you shining lights ? Oh, your carelessness, 
 oh, your indifferency, in matter of religion ! Oh, how negligently 
 you do the work of the Lord, while you know God is serious in 
 the word He speaks, in the judgments He inflicts, in the mercies He 
 bestows ! when you know Christ is serious in redeeming souls, the 
 Holy Spirit is serious in sanctifying them, the devil is serious in 
 undoing them ; the whole creation is serious round about you. 
 How you trifle with immortal souls ! how you play with the great 
 and terrible work of the ministry ! how formally do you pray ! 
 how unconcernedly do you preach ! how vain and unprofitably do 
 you discourse ! how unevenly do you walk ! What, do you speak 
 for eternity ? do you preach for immortality ? Are you sent of 
 God t Are you here to save souls } and yet Gallio-like, care for 
 none of those things ? Woe is me, to see you " walk in the counsel 
 of the ungodly, stand in the way of sinners, and sit in the seat of 
 the scornful " ; whose delight should be in the law of the Lord, in 
 whose law you should meditate day and night ! What, the same 
 man laugh at religion and preach it ! the same soul droll upon 
 serious holiness in company, and yet urge it in the great congre- 
 gation ! What, persuade men to virtue in the pulpit, and laugh 
 men out of it in the parlour ! Where is that serious holiness that 
 crowned, that solemn gravity that adorned, that severe virtue that 
 advanced my sober ministers, my reverend pastors, and holy men ? 
 Where is thy pious spirit, devout Hall ! where is thy gracious 
 temper, excellent Usher ! where is thy even and settled frame, 
 serious Hammond ! where is thy virtuous deportment, famous 
 Morton ! where is thy rational, well-weighed, and stayed soul, O 
 venerable Sanderson ! In England, as in Rama, there is a voice 
 heard, lamentation and weeping, and great mourning ; I as Rachel 
 weeping for my excellent children ; but they are not. Woe is me 
 for your covetousness, Oh, ye my sons, that you instruct men for 
 another world, yet look not beyond this ; that you who are sent 
 to teach men to live by faith, should yet live by sense ; that you 
 who teach faith the evidence of things not seen, should yet eye 
 only the things which are seen. O shame ! self-denial is the great 
 duty you enjoin, self-seeking is the great sin you are guilty of. 
 Love not the world, is one of the most remarkable axioms of our 
 religion ; Love the world, is the considerablest rule of your lives. 
 " I have coveted no man's silver or gold," saith the Apostle : Oh 
 what say you ? " I seek not yours, but you," saith he ; "I seek not 
 you but yours," saith you, " neither at any time used I a cloak for 
 covetousness, God is my witness," saith the Apostle; Oh, what you 
 
Ichabod ; or, Five Groans of the CJnirch. 29 
 
 have done, God and men are witness. " Give me the souls (saith 
 Abraham), take Thou the goods " : " give us the goods (say you), 
 take you the souls." Is to live to Christ, in this sense, thy gain? 
 is to die to Him, thy advantage ? Alas ! alas ! 
 
 Oh, your debauched courses (you vile and sordid souls), an holy 
 calling, and an unholy life ! Spiritual persons, and yet live after 
 the flesh ! a clean garment, and an unclean heart ! servants of 
 God, and yet servants of sin ! reverend in your function, and yet 
 shameful in your lives ! a minister, and yet given to wine ! a 
 priest, and yet wanton ! in holy orders, and yet in riotous dis- 
 order ! walk circumspectly, and yet reel ! a man devoted to the 
 study and the closet, in chambering and wantonness ! conversa- 
 tion in heaven, and in ale-houses and taverns ! study eternity, and 
 yet trifle away time ! stand at the communion of saints, yet sit 
 down in the company of scorners ! Oh, these things ought not 
 to be. 
 
 Thus vile you are, and yet you are proud ; thus dishonouring 
 yourselves, and yet ambitious. " Learn of Me (said Christ), for I 
 am meek and lowly " : look upon you, you are proud and lordly. I 
 made you ministers for the service of souls, you advance yourselves 
 to be rulers. I taught every soul of you to be subject ; you are 
 impatient of subjection. Humility and meekness was the glory of 
 my ministers ; haughtiness and pride is your shame. Were you 
 raised by the favour of God and men lately, to be high now? God 
 remembered, and man pitied you in your low estate ; God will 
 remember, and man will punish you in your high estate. You 
 humbled yourselves, and you were exalted ; you exalt yourselves, 
 and you may be made low. Oh, the pride that composeth your 
 sermons, that contrives your designs, that fills your thoughts, that 
 formeth your countenances, that putteth the accents and emphasis 
 on your words, that ordereth your habit, modelleth your gestures ; 
 that makes you aim at yourselves in all you do, and forget God ; 
 when you should aim at God and forget yourselves. Shall 
 ministers that bring men to heaven live in pride, that cast angels 
 to hell ? 
 
 You are proud, poor souls, and ye must be contentious too : 
 ambassadors of peace ye are, yet in strife and envy : you profess 
 a gospel of peace, yet what emulation ? what wrath ? Christ left 
 peace among you when He went to heaven, shall He find peace 
 when He returns from heaven ? Oh, no : though religion obligeth 
 you to peace, although divisions have undone us, although truth 
 be almost lost, the power of godliness be decayed, good men be 
 grieved, I be endangered ; though enemies be encouraged, and 
 atheism be promoted by your unhappy differences ; yet still you 
 quarrel, still you dispute. Why do you strive, seeing ye are 
 brethren? Have you not one God ? have you not one faith? have 
 you not one baptism ? have you not one hope ? O why do you 
 
30 IcJiabod ; or, Five Groans of the Church. 
 
 not keep the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace ? why these 
 jealousies, these fears, these distances, these bitternesses? I 
 mark them which cause divisions contrary to the truth and peace ; 
 I always owned, and shall avoid them. Bishop Usher proposed 
 what was moderate, you hearkened not ; Bishop Davenant wrote 
 peaceably, you read him not ; Bishop Sanderson offered modestly, 
 you regarded him not ; many sober men offered healing principles 
 agreeable to the concessions on all hands, yet they are neglected ; 
 God Himself united you in your miseries, yet you disagree in your 
 judgments ; He joined you in sufferings, yet you divide yourselves 
 in His service. "O tell it not in Gath, publish it not in Askelon" — 
 that ministers of the Gospel disagree among themselves, and head 
 and lead their people to disagreements. What, shall a minister 
 live and not love? How do you read? How is it written? Is it 
 not, " Follow peace with all men as much as in you lieth, if it be 
 possible?" Do not you read, do not you preach thus? Oh, 
 why do you not live thus ? Yea, there is utterly a fault among 
 you, that you fall out with your neighbours. Now there is 
 utterly a fault among you, " that you go to law one with an- 
 other, I speak this to your shame : " why do not you rather suffer 
 wrong ? why do not you suffer yourselves to be defrauded ? 
 How preach you, how read you, is it not, that "ye resist not 
 evil? and if any man shall sue thee at the law, and take away 
 thy coat, give him thy cloak also. Who is a wise man, and 
 endued with knowledge among you ?" Let him show out of a good 
 conversation his works with meekness and wisdom : but if you 
 have bitter envyings and strifes in your hearts, glory not, and lie not 
 against the truth. This wisdom descendeth not from above, but 
 is earthly, sensual and devilish ; for where envying and strife is, 
 there is confusion and every evil work : but the wisdom which is 
 from above, is first pure, and then peaceable, gentle, easy to be 
 entreated, full of mercy and good works, without partialit}^, with- 
 out hypocrisy : and the " fruit of righteousness is sown in peace of 
 them that make peace." 
 
 W^ell, if you go on professing religion indifferently, doing the 
 work of God negligently ; if you carry on only a form of godliness 
 hypocritically ; if you live without the grace of God within you pro- 
 fanely ; if you live without the fear of God before you loosely ; if 
 you live without the love of God uncharitably ; if you live against 
 your profession shamefully : farewell the most flourishing Church, 
 farewell ordinances, farewell ministry, farewell comforts, farewell 
 blessings, farewell our glory, farewell our God ; " and woe unto us 
 when He is departed from us." 
 
 Oh, my sons, hearken to this one wish ; and oh that it be not my 
 last ! For God's sake, for our own sake, for my sake, for three 
 kingdoms' sake, for our gracious king's sake, for the sake of late 
 posterity, 
 
IcJiahod ; or, Five Groans of the Church. 31 
 
 TAKE HEED TO YOURSELVES. 
 
 1. That you want not that grace you offer others ; that when you 
 save others, you perish not as castaways yourselves. Oh, feel the 
 power of that religion you preach, and preach the power you feel : 
 be what you persuade others to be. 
 
 2. Take heed to yourselves, and consider what manner of men 
 ye ought to be in all holy conversation and godliness. 
 
 3. Take heed to yourselves, that you pull not down with a 
 wicked life, what you build up with an holy doctrine. If there be 
 no such thing as religion, preach it not ; if there be, live it ; if a 
 loose life may be allowed, do not preach against it : and if it may 
 not be allowed, do not live it ; be not deceived and deceive not 
 others. Do you know the judgment of God, that all that commit 
 such things as you do, are worthy of death .? then why do you do 
 them .'' if not, why do you preach the other } Oh, preach exactly, 
 and live exactly : as you think all the week how to speak upon 
 Sunday, so resolve upon Sunday how to live all the week. How 
 curiously you preach ! Oh, how carelessly you live ! 
 
 4. Take heed to yourselves, and walk wisely towards them that 
 are without ; that whereas they speak evil of you, they may be 
 ashamed, considering the nature and end of your conversation. 
 
 Oh, take heed to yourselves : you have many eyes upon your 
 infirmities ; you have many spectators of your falls, to find to 
 aggravate, and to publish them : God forbid that you should do 
 evil in the eyes of the whole world ; the good part whereof watch- 
 eth on your virtues, to imitate you : the evil part watcheth on your 
 vices, to traduce you ; you are as lights upon a hill, O walk as in 
 the light. 
 
 Take heed to yourselves : if not for others, yet for your own 
 immortal souls. Oh, preach not of heaven, and fall short of it : Oh, 
 preach not of hell, and fall into it ; of grace and duty, and yet live 
 without them. 
 
 Oh, take heed to yourselves. Vigilant is your tempter, great 
 are your trials, many are your temptations, much the opposition 
 you will meet : for weighty is your work : you destroy the power 
 of Satan : you engage the powers of hell : Oh, take heed to 
 yourselves. 
 
 Oh, take heed to yourselves. You have the same nature with 
 others, but you commit not the like sins with others : the sins that 
 dwell in you are the same with other men's, the sins that are com- 
 mitted by you are greater than other men's : Oh, watch then over 
 your evil nature, take care of your great transgressions: i. 
 Against knowledge, wilfully : 2, Against your trust unfaithfully : 
 3. Against your profession, hypocritically : 4. Against others very 
 offensively ; against the honour of God and His ways, very 
 
32 IcJiabod ; 07% Five Groans of the CJuivcIl 
 
 dangerously ; who is blasphemed by the ignorant and ungodly 
 through you. 
 
 Take heed to yourselves, that you may be blessed in your under- 
 taking. Let your ways please God, as you hope God will bless 
 your ways. If not for your own, yet for other men's souls' sake take 
 heed to yourselves : speak from your hearts to their hearts : be 
 not entangled by sin, that you may be able to speak against sin. 
 Oh, do as you preach, that the world may see you mean as you 
 preach. 
 
 Oh, reverend Fathers, enjoin my wholesome canons severely, 
 visit men's lives and carriages exactly, oversee the flocks over 
 which the Holy Ghost has made you overseers, carefully : pity 
 religion that is a dying ; pity me that am decaying ; pity your- 
 selves that are again falling. Reform my clergy and you are safe ; 
 neglect them, and you perish : keep up the life and practice of 
 religion, and that will keep you ; if the power of religion be lost, 
 the profession of it will ; your calling will fail, your order will fail ; 
 and God knows what will be the end thereof : I fear nothing but 
 sin, I want nothing but true grace eminent in all my ministers, 
 whereby they may please God, adorn the Gospel, convince gain- 
 sayers, and reform the world. 
 
 Have you not enjoined, that "no ecclesiastical persons shall at 
 any time, other than for their honest necessities, resort to any 
 taverns or alehouses, neither shall they board or lodge in any such 
 {Ca7i *i^\ place? Furthermore, they shall not give them- 
 
 ^ • 75-y selves to any base or servile labour, or to drink- 
 
 ing or rioting, spending their time idly by day or night, playing at 
 dice, cards, or tables, or any other unlawful game ; but at all times 
 convenient they shall hear or read somewhat of the Holy Scrip- 
 tures, or shall occupy themselves with some other honest study or 
 exercise, always doing the things which shall appertain to honesty, 
 and endeavouring to profit the Church of God ; having always 
 in mind that they ought to excel all others in purity of life, and 
 should be examples of the people to live well, and Christianly, 
 under pain of ecclesiastical censures to be inflicted with severity, 
 according to the qualities of their offences." 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND'S COMPLAINT AGAINST 
 UNCONSCIONABLE SIMONY. 
 
 IN your other courses, O ye my sons, fear of authority may deter 
 you, conscience may check you, strict laws may restrain you, 
 a severe oversight may reform you. In this strange, in this sad 
 miscarriage of simony, 1 have made laws, yet you transgress 
 
IcJiabod ; or, Five Groans of the Church. 35 
 
 \hem. I have enacted, 31 of Queen Elizabeth 6, "That if any per- 
 sons, bodies politic or corporate, shall or do at any time for any 
 sum of money, reward, gift, profit, or benefit, directly or indirectly, 
 or for or by reason of any promise, grant, bond, covenant, or othei 
 assurance of or for any sum of money, reward, gift, profit, 01 
 benefit whatsoever, directly, or indirectly, present or collate any 
 person to any benefice with cure of souls, dignity, prebend, or 
 living ecclesiastical ; or give or bestow the same for or in respect 
 of any such corrupt cause or consideration ; that then every such 
 presentation, collation, gift, ^c, should be utterly void, and of none 
 effect in law, and that any person accepting of any ecclesiastical 
 promotion upon such sordid accounts, shall be judged a disabled 
 person in law to have or enjoy any benefice, dignity, prebend, or 
 living ecclesiastical." Yet still you truck for livings, you market 
 for benefices ; still you buy and sell in the Temple. This abom- 
 ination is still forbidden, and yet still allowed : my canons tie 
 from it by an oath, yet you venture. You swear thus : 
 
 " I, N. N., do swear that I have made no simoniacal payment, 
 contract or promise, directly or indirectly,by myself, or by any other 
 to my knowledge, or with my consent, to any ,^ s 
 
 person or persons whatsoever, for or concerning ^ • 4 •; 
 
 the procuring and obtaining of this ecclesiastical dignity, place, 
 preferment, office or living, nor will any time hereafter perform 
 or satisfy any such kind of payment, contract or promise made 
 by any other without my knowledge or consent. So help me God 
 through Jesus Christ." 
 
 Yet you do it. Oh, you men of God, can you forswear this 
 abominable sin, and yet commit it 1 Will you publicly disown it 
 before God and the Church, and yet own it between yourselves 
 and your patrons ? Shall not God search out this ? These things 
 you do and God keeps silence : you think He is altogether such an 
 one as yourselves. Ah, He, He will reprove you ; He will set your 
 sins in order before you. Oh, consider this, ye that in this forget 
 God ! Oh, be sure your sins shall find you out. Shall a man take 
 the name of God in vain and be guiltless ? Shall a man break his 
 solemn oath and be delivered .? Shall he escape that doth such 
 things ? Shall he prosper ? How will you look that God in 
 the face in prayer whom you have blasphemed in your oath? 
 How can you behold that congregation that knows you are for- 
 sworn ? What, preach the Word of God, and regard not the oath 
 of God ! What, gain a parsonage and lose thy soul ! To attain 
 to a preferment, shall you hazard more than the whole world ? 
 
 I. Have you never read that in Acts viii. 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23 — 
 "And when Simon saw that through laying on of the Apostles' hands 
 the Holy Ghost was given, he offered them money, saying. Give 
 me also this power, that on whomsoever I lay hands, he may re- 
 ceive the Holy Ghost. But Peter said unto him, Thy money 
 
34 Ichabod; or. Five Groans of the Church. 
 
 perish with thee, because that thou hast thought that the gift of 
 God may be purchased with money. Thou hast neither part nor 
 lot in this matter ; for thy heart is not right in the sight of God. 
 Repent therefore of this thy wickedness ; and pray God, if perhaps 
 the thoughts of thyheait maybe forgiven thee. For I perceive 
 that thou art in the gail of bitterness, and in the bond of iniquity." 
 You will say, 
 
 Object. You buy not any gift of grace, as Simon would have 
 done ; but some encouragement to exercise your gifts and your 
 graces. 
 
 Sot. Alas ! is it not the gift of God you buy } Are tithes of 
 God, or are they not ? If they are not, why do you challenge them ? 
 If they are of God, why do ye buy them of men? Shall a man 
 rob God .'' Yet ye have robbed me, even this whole nation. They 
 say. Wherein have we robbed God ? In tithes and offerings. The 
 lay patron takes from God, and you take from him ; he steals from 
 God, you receive from him. Is it his 1 Why do you say tithe 
 belongs only to ministers .^ Is it the minister's ? Why do you pay 
 hmi for it ? Why do you justify his encroachment, betray God's 
 right, wrong me, and undo yourselves ? Who goeth to warfare at 
 his own charge ? You do it. Do ye not know that they who 
 minister about holy things, live of the things of the Temple ? and 
 that so the Lord hath ordained, that they that preach the Gospel, 
 should live of the Gospel .'' 
 
 Object. I deal not with the patron himself, you will say. 
 
 Sot. Oh, be not deceived ! God is not mocked. What you do 
 by others you do yourselves. Simon himself went not to God, 
 whose the Holy Ghost was, but to Peter, one of the stewards of 
 the manifold gifts of God. 
 
 Object. I am only civil to the steward. 
 
 Answer. How read you 2 Kings v. 20, &c. "Gehazi, the servant 
 of Ehsha, the man of God, said, Behold, my master hath spared 
 Naaman the Syrian, in not receiving at his hands that which he 
 brought : but, as the Lord liveth, I will run after him, and take 
 somewhat of him. So Gehazi followed after him. And when 
 Naaman saw him running after him, he lighted down from the 
 chariot to meet him, and said, Is all well ? And he said. All is 
 well : my master hath sent me, saying. Behold, even now there be 
 come to me from Mount Ephraim two young men of the sons of the 
 Prophets : give them, I pray thee, a talent of silver and two changes 
 of garments. And Naaman said. Be content, take two talents. 
 And he urged him, and bound two talents of silver in two bags, 
 with two changes of garments, and laid them upon two of his 
 servants, and they bare them before him. And when he came to 
 the tower, he took them from their hand, and bestowed them in 
 the house : and he let the men go, and they departed. But he 
 went in, and stood before his master. And Elisha said unto him, 
 
Ichabod; or^ Five Groa?is of the ChnrcJi. 35 
 
 Whence comest thou, Gehazi ? And he said, Thy servant went 
 no whither. And he said unto him. Went not mine heart with 
 thee, when the man turned again from his chariot to meet thee ? 
 Is it a time to receive money, and to receive garments, and oHve- 
 yards, and vineyards, and sheep, and oxen, and men-servants, and 
 maid-servants ? The leprosy therefore of Naaman shall cleave 
 unto thee, and unto thy seed for ever. And he went out from his 
 presence a leper as white as snow." 
 
 Object. Yes, let Gehazi look to that. 
 
 Sol. Is it a sin in him to receive a gift, and is it not a sin in you 
 to give it ? 
 
 Object. I only laid a wager, bought a horse, married my patron's 
 daughter, or gave bond to resign. 
 
 Sol. Fie, fie ! Are you called to be ministers 1 Do your duty ; 
 you may look for your due, and make no terms with men for what 
 God freely gives you. Will you add a cheat to your sacrilege, 
 rob God, and put a trick upon the law? Is this, is this to obey 
 for conscience' sake ? 
 
 Object. I only bought an advowson. 
 
 Sol. If you cannot buy a living when it is void, how can you 
 buy it over another man's head when it is not ? What do you 
 aim at in the advowson ? Do you aim at the good of souls ? 
 those souls are provided for already. Do you aim at the benefit 
 of the place } Oh, unworthy man ! What, embrace the present 
 world ! is the tithe a minister's ? what need you buy it beforehand? 
 Is it the people's ? why do you take it at all ? 
 
 2. And is the Church grown so contemptible, that it may be 
 bought and sold for money ? Is preferment rather a prize for the 
 richest, than a reward for the worthiest ? who will spend their days 
 in serious study, and their life in wearisome retirement, and their 
 estates in a chargeable education, and at last must either buy their 
 preferment, or live neglected, and die unobserved ? what ingenious 
 man can endure tedious allowance, unsupportable fees, intolerable 
 baffles, and not retire to his closet, and there give himself to 
 despondency and despair, cursing the day wherein he was born, 
 and the years wherein he was bred up : saying, as Elijah secretly 
 to his soul, " Lord, it is enough, take away my life," since I have 
 out-lived the glory of the Churchy the honour of my calling, the 
 encouragements of parts and worth ? — I cannot live usefully ; 
 O that I might die comfortably ! 
 
 3. Have I no true ministers, but a generation of Demasses, that 
 embrace the present world? Have I no ministers called of God, 
 that will live upon God ? none that can trust God with their main- 
 tenance ? Will you all crouch for the priest's office only that you 
 may eat a morsel of bread ? will you all degrade yourselves, and 
 buy and sell your sacred persons and employments ? Justly would 
 the Catholic Church have degraded you, Ca7t. ap. 10, Cone. Chalc. 
 
36 Ichabod ; or, Five Gromis of the Chtirch. 
 
 2, Cone. Azirias. 14. And will you go on making merchandise of 
 the Word? and will you go on in the ministry, out of filthy lucre, 
 and not out of a ready mind ? 
 
 Thus, thus are my worthy sons laid aside, the unworthy are 
 promoted : my people perish, my religion decays, my enemies 
 break in upon me, and I have only here and there one to stand by 
 me. The weak, the scandalous that came in by simony, betray 
 ^me. O sacred majesty, O ye the honourable nobility, O ye worthy 
 gentlemen, let it be your honour that ye can dispose of livings to 
 the glory of God, the honour of the Church, and your own comfort: 
 let it be your shame that you make any advantage of your livings 
 to the dishonour of God, the danger of the Church, and the ruin 
 of souls. O ye ingenious ministers, content yourselves rather that 
 you deserve preferment, than endeavour to enjoy them in this vile, 
 unworthy, and dangerous way : never stoop to these low terms : 
 be rather buried in an honest privacy, than appear with a public 
 infamy. Noji si nimc et olim sic erit. Oh sacred and august 
 authority of king and parliament, own your former laws ; vindicate 
 your authority ; meet, meet this threatening mischief; set a watch 
 upon patrons and their stewards ; frown upon the reaching clergy ; 
 find out the panders of simony that lie about town, and set up as 
 it were an office for abomination. Take heed, O ye patrons, how 
 you lay the child's portion in a parsonage, and devour that which 
 is holy, and after make an inquiry ; forcing the hopeful youth to 
 begin with perjury, and commence with sacrilege. Oh ! words 
 fail me : I must leave with you the excellent Jewel's words to 
 Queen Ehzabeth, 1561, 
 
 " The livings of such as are in the ministry, are not in their hands 
 to whom they are due : they seldom pass now-a-days from the 
 patron if he be no better than a gentleman, but either for the 
 lease or present money. Such merchants are broken into the 
 Church of God, a great deal more intolerable than were they whom 
 Christ whipped out of the Temple. Thus they who should be 
 careful for God's Church, that should be patrons to provide for 
 the consciences of the people, and to place among them a learned 
 minister, who might be able to preach the Word to them in season 
 and out of season, and to fulfil His ministry, seek their own, and 
 not that which is Jesus Christ's ; they serve not Jesus Christ, but 
 their belly : and this is done not in one county, in one place, but 
 throughout all England. Oh merciful God, whither will this grow 
 at the last .'* If the misery which this plague worketh would reach 
 but to one age, it were intolerable ; it will be a plague to posterity; 
 it will be the decay and desolation of God's Church. Young men 
 see this, and they are weary and discouraged, they divert their 
 studies another way. I know your Grace heareth not of these 
 matters, and I hope God will work in your graciolis heart some 
 
IcJiabod ; or, Five Groans of the ChiircJi. 37 
 
 emedies against them : for otherwise the schools will be forsaken, 
 the Church desolate, the people wild and dismayed, the Gospel 
 discredited ; and this noble realm, which ever was famous for the 
 name of learning, likely to come to such ignorance and barbarity 
 as hath not been heard of in any memory before our time. Poor 
 souls are destitute without a guide, the afflicted in conscience have 
 none to quiet them ; they grow wild and savage as a people that 
 hath no God ; they are commanded to change their religion, 
 and for lack of instruction they know not whither to turn them. 
 Oh, if the kingdom of God be not worthy to be promoted, yet the 
 kingdom of Satan is worthy to be overthrown. 
 
 " Oh, our posterity shall rue, that ever such fathers went before 
 them ; and chronicles will report this miscarriage : they shall 
 leave it written in whose time and in whose reign this was done. 
 Or if we grow so barbarous that we consider not this, or be not 
 able to draw it into chronicle ; yet foreign nations will not spare 
 to write this, and pubhsh it, to our everlasting reproach and sharne. 
 By these means foreign power, which by God's mercy this realm 
 is delivered from, shall be brought upon us ; such things shall be 
 done to us as we before suffered : the truth of God shall be taken 
 away ; the Holy Scripture burnt and consumed in fire ; a marvel- 
 lous darkness and calamity must needs ensue. 
 
 " Oh, that your Grace might behold the miserable disorder of 
 God's Church ! or that you might see the calamities that will ensue ! 
 It is a part of your kingdom, and such a part as is a prop and stay 
 of the rest. I will say to your majesty as Cyrillus sometimes said 
 to the godly emperors, Theodosius and Valentinian : ' Ab ea qucB 
 e7'ga Detan est pietate reip. vestrcs status pendet.^ You are our 
 governor, you are the nurse of God's Church : we must open this 
 grief before you, and God knoweth whether it may be redressed, 
 it is let grown so long, it is gone so far : but if it may be redressed, 
 there is no other but your highness that can redress it." 
 
 The Dejinitioji of Simony. 
 
 Simony is an intentive desire or purpose to buy or sell a spiritual 
 living, or any corporal thing annexed to the Church. — Grat. dist. 
 I. ^. 2, 91 ; Za7ich. de inter, ctiltu. Concil. coinpL, sect. 43 ; dec. cant. 
 Nic. ca?i., 96. 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND'S COMPLAINT AGAINST 
 ENCROACHING PLURALITIES. 
 
 IS your portion, oh my sons, in this hfe, or is it in another? Is 
 the satisfaction your immortal souls look for in the empty, 
 vain, low and perishing contents of this world, or in the full, high 
 
38 Ichabod ; or, Five Groans of the ChtircJi, 
 
 and everlasting enjoyments of the other world ? If in this life you 
 have hope only, you are of all men the most miserable, the most 
 contemptible, and most deceitful : if in another, why so many 
 imperial laws, so many ecclesiastical canons, so many decrees of 
 councils, so many severe reproofs from fathers and casuists, so 
 many complaints and reproaches, so many laws and injunctions, 
 so many attempts and endeavours in Parliament these sixty years 
 against your monopoly of livings and pluralities of benefices ? 
 Why do you heap upon yourselves this envy ? why do you pro- 
 voke these reproaches ? I provided for you liberally ; I checked 
 those that opposed your maintenance, seasonably ; I encouraged 
 your industry and merit carefully, beyond any reformed Church in 
 the world ; I restored you to your rights handsomely, I secured your 
 rights legally : will not this satisfy you ? will not this content you ? 
 
 1. It is but lately that you were thought incapable of one living ; 
 and now three, four, five, cannot suffice you. It is not long since 
 you wanted necessaries, and do you now heap up superfluities ? 
 Lately you could not provide for your families' wants, and do you 
 now provide for their excess and pride ? Have you forgot how 
 lately you grasped all, and you lost all ? Alas ! alas ! 
 
 2. And will you eat bread out of your brethren's mouths, and 
 will you starve your fellow-servants ? Are you ministers ? so are 
 they. Are you orthodox .? so are they. Are you loyal .'' so are 
 they. Have you been constant ? so have they. Are you service- 
 able to the Church ? they more ; in labours more abundant. Oh, 
 how many excellent men who out-lived the late miseries, articles, 
 committees, sequestrations, protestations, covenants, engage- 
 ments, lingering out their lives, laden, and almost oppressed, worn 
 out, and quite tired with the burthen of years, cares, fears, labours, 
 necessities and afflictions, are now fain to die in obscurity, want, 
 and contempt, as if the sons of the Church of England wanted 
 only this to make up the measure of their sufferings, that they 
 should be undone when the Church is restored ! How many 
 hundreds, sober and able men, are laid aside, and contemned by 
 some as orthodox, and despised by others as poor.? whom the 
 people would relieve, but that they are faithful to me : whom I 
 would relieve, but that I am swallowed up by you. When you 
 look big with your abundance and superfluity, and glory in your 
 preferments, how many hundred able and sober men are ashamed 
 of their order and function, are wrapped up in poverty and dis- 
 content, and lost in poor employments and poorer encourage- 
 ments .-^ whose faithful labours I want, whose sober conversations 
 might honour me, whose diligence and care might restore me, 
 whose reason and learning might uphold me, whose powerful 
 preaching might establish me, whose self-denial and devotedness 
 to public good might save me. Alas, sirs, let none of you think of 
 himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly 
 
Ichabod ; or. Five Groans of the CJimxh. 39 
 
 according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith, 
 for as you have many members in one body, and all members 
 have not the same office, so I being made of many, am one body 
 in Christ, and every one in me is a member one of another. You, 
 my sons, having then gifts differing according to the grace that is 
 given you, whether prophecy, &c., why shall not they that pro- 
 phesy be encouraged according to the proportion of faith? or 
 ministry, why should not all be encouraged that wait on the 
 ministry ? or they that teach, on teaching ? or they that exhort, on 
 exhortation ? The body is not one member, but many : now hath 
 God set the members in the body as it pleaseth Him ; and if they 
 were all one member, where were the body ? the eye cannot say 
 to the head, I have no need of thee ; nor again the head to the 
 feet, I have no need of you. Nay, much more those members of 
 the body which seem to be more feeble, are necessary, and those 
 less honourable, upon these we ought to bestow more abundant 
 honour. And our uncomely parts have a more abundant comeh- 
 ness : for our comely parts have no need, but God hath tempered 
 the body together, having given more abundant honour to that 
 part which lacked, that there should be no schism in the body, 
 but that the members should have the same care one for another. 
 Now ye, my sons, are the body of Christ, and members in par- 
 ticular ; and God hath set some in the Church : first, Apostles ; 
 secondarily, prophets; thirdly, teachers. Are all Apostles? are 
 all prophets ? are all teachers ? are all provided for ? O covet 
 earnestly the best gifts, not the best livings ! And yet I could 
 shew you a more excellent way. 
 
 Why is that preferment engrossed by one, which might maintain 
 twenty ? Why are those revenues lost upon the folly, vanity, and 
 superfluity of one family, which might provide for the honest 
 occasions of five? O Justice, the equal distributor of affairs, whither 
 art thou fled ? O Equity, whither art thou retired ? 
 
 3. If you consider not the sin, do you consider the consequences 
 of these miscarriages ? the envy that you already sink under, the 
 occasion given unto them that seek occasion, which hath already 
 disgraced you ; the great discontent that already endangereth you. 
 Have not you enemies to your order, calling, and judgment, and 
 must you incense your friends ? Must you provoke that God that 
 hath hitherto upheld your order and function, by abusing the 
 maintenance He allows for His service and servants to your own 
 advantage? Must you displease his sacred majesty, by appro- 
 priating to a few ill-beloved persons, for whose sake his majesty 
 is thought the worse of, that encouragement which might be 
 equally bestowed upon well-deserving and well-beloved, who might 
 in each parish teach his subjects their duty faithfully, persuade 
 them to obedience successfully, and settle them in the doctrine of 
 government according to the great principles of Christianity, most 
 
40 IcJiabod ; or, Five Groans of the Churchy 
 
 happily ? Must you provoke your brethren of the clergy to dis- 
 content, by taking up all the encouragements of their studies, all 
 their employments and hopes ? How many hopeful young men 
 in city and country are forced either to want, or, which is worse, to 
 live upon your small pensions and scant allowance ; and, what is 
 natural for parts and ingenuity in want, to despair their fortunes, 
 and to envy yours? How readily do they now, hopeless of any 
 regular favour, apply themselves to popular applause, that their 
 compliance may gain that among the people which their merit could 
 not among you ? Do not you see how the people forsake you, as 
 self-seekers ? how the gentry censure you, as unconscionable ? 
 how the clergy abhor you, as invaders of their places and prefer- 
 ments ? Do you not see that the law can hardly secure you ? that 
 authority can scarcely defend you from all the affronts and baffles 
 that malice and fury do suggest to an incensed people ? the 
 adversaries triumph, the many friends I have weep, the sober 
 and serious are amazed, to see fourscore or an hundred odious 
 men filling up a whole Church. Do you imagine those many 
 active men will rest in a dispirited, poor, mendicant, decayed, 
 dejected, and vexatious condition ? Do not you fear their melan- 
 choly thought, their retired contrivance, their forlorn meetings ? 
 You know there are none so dangerous as the discontented 
 scholars. Monopoly is the ruin of the State ; pluralities are the 
 ruin of the Church. The one necessitates the indigent subject to 
 dangerous courses and practices ; the other, the poor scholar to as 
 dangerous discourses and thoughts. 
 
 Is it not enough that men's late malice and insolency against 
 the ministry reduced them to want and contempt, but that (to my 
 shame, who am blessed of God with abundance and honour) one 
 small part of the ministry should reduce the other to small con- 
 tributions, poor dependencies ; so uncertain and so base, that men 
 of ingenuous spirits and learning must detest them, who cannot 
 endure, when they do their work, to beg for their wages, not withput 
 sordid compliances and flatteries with vile men in their vilest 
 humours .? Oh, look upon the poor curates and their families ; 
 what is their portion of the prosperity we now enjoy ? Alas, they 
 live by God's mercy and men's charity. How despicable is their 
 calling ! How little their authority ! hov/ inconsiderable their in- 
 structions ! How successless their doctrine ! how uncreditable 
 their lives ! Do you not see that your fellow-ministers under 
 these necessities will not long be able to assert the honour of their 
 caUing, and that no after-generation will succeed to inherit their 
 poverty and pains, unless such as will further debase the dignity 
 of the function ? What, mus,t all the industrious ministers be 
 stipendiaries ? The faction threatened no more. Must they have 
 only their allowances? Anarchy could have done no more. Are 
 you restored to reduce your fellow-servants to that penury by law, 
 
Ichabod ; 07', Five Groans of the Church. 41 
 
 which fanatics would have brought them to without law ? They 
 wanted only this misery, to be undone by their brethren, and 
 perish by them of their own profession. 
 
 Object. These poor men, you will say, are provided for answer- 
 able to their parts. 
 
 A7iswer. Have they parts for the calling of ministers, and have 
 they not parts for the maintenance of ministers ? Can they preach 
 the Gospel, and can they not live by the Gospel.? Are they worthy 
 to discharge your cures, and are they not worthy to enjoy them ? 
 
 5. Do you desire the advantage of so many benefices, or do you 
 desire the charge ? if the advantage, then the poor Separatist was 
 in the right when he called you hirelings ; then, indeed, you make 
 merchandise of souls ; then you are the greatest jugglers and de- 
 ceivers in the world ; and you laugh among yourselves (as the 
 Tuscan soothsayers), and confer notes, as that pope with his 
 cardinal, saying, How much gain doth this fable of Christ bring 
 us .? — and poor souls should avoid you as the shadow of death. 
 What, shall I hear him whose godliness is gain, whose god is his 
 belly, whose faith is his advantage, whose hope is only in this 
 world ? "His watchmen are blind : they are ignorant, they are all 
 dumb dogs, they cannot bark ; sleeping, lying down, loving to 
 slumber. Yea, they are greedy dogs which can never have enough, 
 and they are shepherds that cannot understand : they all look for 
 their own way, every one for his gain from his quarter. Come ye, 
 say they, I will fetch wine, and we will fill ourselves with strong 
 drink ; and to-morrow shall be as this day, and much more abun- 
 dant" (Isa. Ivi. 10, II, 12). 
 
 If the charge, do you know what you do? do you know that you 
 must watch over the congregation as they that must give an 
 account? so many benefices, so many more hundreds of souls 
 that you nmst answer for ? Do you know what it is to answer 
 the great God for an immortal soul ? do you know what it is to 
 give an account of the purchase of Christ's blood ? do you know 
 what is the work, what is the charge of a minister ? Oh, poor 
 souls ! you consider not whether some have not accused you to God, 
 whom you never saw ; whether souls under your charge are not 
 daily going to another world, with doleful complaints against you, 
 whom you never knew ; whether any in hell do not cry out against 
 you, whom you never saw : thousands have appeared before the 
 judgment seat of God, excusing themselves with your faults, 
 though you lay it not to heart ; alleging, that they saw no more 
 religion in the world than interest and gain, they knew not what 
 to do to be saved. Alas, you are not sensible that there may be 
 hundreds in hell that you looked not after, cursing the day that 
 ever you were born, that ever you were sent into the world, 
 that there should be so many wretches that hved only to damn 
 men. If it be a charge you desire, why do you not attend unto 
 
42 Ichabod; or, Five Groans of the CJmrcJL 
 
 that flock over which the Holy Ghost made you overseers ? Why 
 do you not in that caUing wherein you are called abide with God ? 
 Is it possible for you to serve two cures ? you will hold to the one, 
 and despise or neglect the other : and is it possible for you to be 
 saved unless you serve both ? Must ye needs do that which makes 
 it impossible for you to be saved ? Lord, what if you gained the 
 world at the rate of undoing souls ? Do you consider that the 
 bread you eat is the price of souls, the drink you drink is the blood 
 of souls ? How can you eat with comfort, and think. Oh, some 
 of my charge may be now going to eternity, and I prepared them 
 not ? How can you sleep securely, and think, Some of my charge 
 may awake to-morrow in another world, whether of woe or weal 
 I know not ? How can you die peaceably and think, Where 
 shall we meet the many souls that have gone before us out of our 
 congregations? Oh, where are ye, O immortal souls ! with God, 
 or for ever departed from the presence of the Lord ! Oh, did you 
 ever read that of St Bernard, Qui non times sed phwes in beiieficiis^ 
 non nims sed plures m suppliciis ? If you pity not me once again 
 by these courses decaying, if you pity not poor souls by this means 
 perishing, O pity yourselves, and have mercy upon your own 
 souls. Alas, that men should be educated chargeably, should 
 study diligently, should be ordained solemnly to delude souls, to 
 mock God, to deceive the world, and undo men, for two, or three, 
 or four hundred pounds yearly, during a short life ! that you should 
 appear in a pulpit (if yet you do appear in a pulpit) for a little 
 maintenance ! that you should appear very solemnly every Sun- 
 day, only to put a trick upon God and men ! I hope better things 
 of you, and things that accompany salvation, though thus I speak. 
 " In the primitive times every Church of so many souls as are 
 of your parishes, had many ministers, whereof the ablest speakers 
 did most in public, and the rest did the more of the less pubHc 
 work (which some mistake for ruling elders), but now one of you 
 takes the care of many churches." The Popish times, I mean 
 years 632, could divide England into parishes, for the better 
 discharging of the cure of souls : our times unite those parishes 
 again, for the better maintenance of pride and vanity. Is it 
 for this that we are reformed ? is it for this we are Protestants ? 
 Then each parish had their ministers to pray with them fervently, 
 to teach them faithfully, to comfort them seasonably, to converse 
 with them usefully, to relieve them charitably, to direct them 
 carefully. Ah ! m giics 710s reservamiir iempora ! Now, now my 
 people are neglected, my buildings are ruined, my hospitality 
 is lost, my authority is shrunk and fallen, and the Church of Eng- 
 land is thought to be nothing else but the interest of a few crafty 
 clergymen, ordering all things to their best advantage. 
 
 Though envy may know, and prejudice itself may consider, I 
 am a Church made up of godly and religious men : princes, nobles, 
 
Ichahod ; or, Five Groans of the Church. 43 
 
 gentry, bishops, ministers and people maintaining an orthodox 
 doctrine, a primitive government, a pure and orderly worship, a 
 severe discipline, and a Christian communion in word and sacra- 
 ment ; who have forbidden these extravagances by wholesome laws, 
 checked them by severe canons, and disallowed them by fair and. 
 just means imaginable. In the darkest and most superstitious 
 times, I ordered, " That no monks, i.e.., idle persons, should take 
 livings of bishops, or appropriate the revenues of them to them- 
 selves ; but that the priests serving those cures, and the churches, 
 might be provided with necessaries." 
 
 Do you know why monks were pulled down in Henry VIII.'s 
 time ? Lay it to heart, I beseech you, for many look for your fall 
 too. 
 
 I, They were accused for engrossing wealth and trade ; and 
 do you [hear what the world saith of you .'* 2. They were 
 accused for impoverishing parish priests, by decrying preaching, 
 as ministering matter of schism and disputes, and magnifying 
 their own performances of prayer and devotion : by which and 
 other artifices, they undermined the poor priests, and procured 
 that many churches presentative, with their glebes and tithes, 
 were appropriated to their convents, leaving but a poor pittance 
 for the parish vicar. This was the occasion of the first impropria- 
 tions ; I pray God your carelessness doth not occasion another. 
 
 Oh, remember Robert VVhitgift's, the abbot of Wellow's, speech, 
 who was wont to say: "That they and their religion could not 
 long continue, because," said he, "I have read the whole Scrip- 
 ture over and over, and never found that monasteries " (and, I may 
 add, pluralities) " were founded by God: for," said the honest abbot, 
 " every planting which my heavenly Father hath not planted, shall 
 be rooted up." 
 
 Do you remember that lay parliament in King Henry VHI.'s 
 time .-* wherein the nobles and commons assembled signified to the 
 king, that the temporal profession of abbots, priors, &c., vainly 
 spent, would suffice to find 150 earls, 1500 knights, 6200 esquires, 
 100 hospitals.? Do you remember those mock parliaments that 
 often considered how many thousand men your tithes (ill- 
 bestowed upon you, as they thought) would maintain .'' You were 
 once undone, — now are you made whole : I beseech you, my 
 sons, sin no more, lest a worse thing come unto you. 
 
 Bishop Jewel on i Thes., p. 71. 
 
 " Forasmuch, brethren, as we were kept from you for a season 
 concerning sight, but not in heart, we are enforced the more to 
 see your face with great desire. Therefore we would have come 
 unto you, I Paul, at least once or twice, but Satan hindered us. 
 Such a zeal and care had he over the people of God. Oh in what 
 
44 Ichabod ; or, Five Groans of the Church. 
 
 case, then, are they that are careless, and have no regard of 
 the people of God ! which hunt after livings, and bend not them- 
 selves to do good ! which serve their own belly, and seek to be 
 rich, and eat up the people of God as if they were bread i They 
 cannot say they have a desire to see the face of their flock, and 
 that their heart is with them : howsoever they find time for other 
 matters ; they can never take time to know their sheep, and they 
 do the work of the ministry among them : they care not for them, 
 they think not of them ; they plant not, they water not, they watch 
 not, they give no warning of the dangers at hand : they teach them 
 not to deny all ungodliness and worldly lusts, and to live soberly, 
 righteously, and godly in this present world. It were happy if all 
 such were removed out of the Church of God : they destroy the 
 souls and lead them to destruction by their negligence. What 
 account shall they give unto God for the souls of their brethren ? 
 Where shall they stand ? or what will they say when He shall bid 
 them make a straight account } This is the practice of Satan, he 
 useth all means to snare us, and withdraw us from that blessed 
 hope : sometimes he letteth the increase of the Gospel, by raising 
 up tumults, and disquieting the Church of God, and stirring the 
 heart of such as are in authority, to persecute by all means the 
 teachers of the Gospel of Christ. Again, when God gives peace 
 and quietness to His Church, he leadeth the overseers of the people 
 to a forgetfulness of their duty, to seek the pleasures and delight 
 of this life, and to have no regard of the work of the Lord : such 
 occasion the devil seeketh to hinder our salvation, and to with- 
 stand the truth and glory of God." 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND'S RESENTMENT OF NON-RESIDENCE. 
 
 OH my sons, I have no pleasure in exposing you ; yet have I no 
 power to excuse you : you know that I have charity for you, 
 that suffereth long, that is kind, that is not easily provoked, 
 thinketh no evil, beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth 
 all things, endureth all things. Alas ! what shall I do now my 
 people complain, my adversaries reproach, my sovereign is dis- 
 pleased, my nobility and gentry are incensed ; and wherever I 
 turn myself, complaints are made, petitions are drawn up, jealousies 
 are whispered, and fears are murmured ! If I should hold my 
 peace, I should be thought altogether such an one as you are : if I 
 should speak, my tongue fails me. I am in a great strait ; yet you 
 had better hear your miscarriages faithfully reprovea by me, to 
 
Ichabod ; or, Five Groans of the Church. 45 
 
 your reformation, than maliciously aggravated by others to your 
 destruction. My words may be smart, yet they are wholesome ; 
 severe they may be, yet kind ; you hear me with sorrow, but not 
 with more than I speak to you with. 
 
 I. It is sad that after so many councils, decrees (as Carth. 6, Tol. 
 6, Chalc. 7, Nic. 15, Sardic. 14, after so many Fathers' charge, as 
 Hier. com. ii. p. \\\,Aiig.']. 4, in B. 16, A than, in Jo. 7, Naz. apol. 
 p. 16, Cy. Ep. 8, Greg, de cura pastorali passim) after so many 
 provisions of parliaments, as 30 Henry VIII. 4, 32 Elizabeth 6 ; so 
 many complaints from friends and foes, as 3 1 Queen Elizabeth, 3 
 King James, 12 King Charles ; a sin so dishonourable to your 
 profession, so dangerous to Church and State, so clearly repugnant 
 to your callings as non-residence is, should yet be named amongst 
 you. 
 
 As, I. Do you read that in Acts xx. 25, "Take heed to your- 
 selves, and to all the flock over which the Holy Ghost hath made 
 you overseers, to feed the Church of God which He hath purchased 
 with His own blood," &c. ? Take heed, be not absent, neglect not. 
 Do you consider where you are, what you have taken upon you ? 
 Over which the Holy Ghost :— hath the Holy Ghost set you over 
 your flocks, and do you forsake them ? hath heaven intrusted them 
 to you, and do you neglect them ? overseers, and yet come not 
 near your flock '^. bishops, and never visit them ? To feed the 
 Church of God, that Church for whose sake the world is upheld. 
 Oh, what a charge have you undertaken ! and will you be unfaithful 
 to this charge ? are you stewards of God's own family ? Oh, " it is 
 required of a steward that he be found faithful" (i Cor. iv. 2). 
 Have you the conduct of those saints that must live for ever with 
 God in glory, and will you neglect them t Are the souls of men 
 thought meet to see His face in glory, and are they not worthy of 
 your utmost care and pains ? Oh, if you keep beasts you might 
 say they are scarce worth looking after ; but do you think so of 
 the souls of men, of the Church of God, the peculiar people, the 
 holy nation? "which He hath purchased with His blood." God 
 the Son hath purchased the Church with His blood, and will not 
 you look to it ? What, sirs, will ye despise the blood of Christ ? 
 Shall the price of His blood be lost? Hath Christ died for souls, 
 and shall I not sweat ? Are my people they which Christ came 
 from Heaven to save, and shall not I go from the city, from the 
 court, &c., to save them ? Oh, what do I hear, may you say, when 
 it may be one of my poor flock perisheth, for whom Christ died ? 
 
 " After my departing (saith the text) grievous wolves shall enter 
 in among you, not sparing the flock." Oh, sirs, do you not know 
 that the Jesuit is busy, that the seducers are many? Why do you 
 forsake the flocks ? are you resolved to ruin me ? First you dis- 
 please the people, then you leave them open to any seditious or 
 
46 Ichahod ; or, Five Groans of the Church, 
 
 factious persons that will improve their prejudice, discontents, and 
 weakness, to their own advantage. It is true, you substitute your 
 curates ; but, alas, poor men, they are hardly able to live, much 
 less to dispute : they are hardly able to furnish themselves for 
 sermons, much less for controversies : besides that, they are so 
 contemptible, that I may here very pertinently allege that of 
 Eccles. ix. 13. 
 
 Oh, that you should betray his majesty's interest and my cause, 
 and leave his subjects and my people to the temptations of those 
 men who with good words and fair speeches deceive the hearts of 
 the simple, with feigned words making merchandise of them ! Can 
 you stay in court or city, and leave poor neighbours perverted, 
 honest men deluded, good subjects debauched, and a kingdom 
 almost overturned ? As Augustus said to Quint. Varus^ Qinntili 
 Vare redde Legiones; so his majesty, so I (if yet you will hear 
 me) say unto you : Oh, restore us the many souls which by your 
 neglect we have lost ! Oh, restore that peace which by your care- 
 lessness we want ! Oh, restore us that purity of doctrine and 
 worship, which by public and private diligence you might have 
 secured ! While you are asleep, the enemy soweth his tares ; while 
 you sleep, your ruin slumbers not ; while you ride to and fro seek- 
 ing that preferment your ambition may pitch upon, your adversary 
 the devil and his emissaries go to and fro seeking whom they 
 may devour. You compass sea and land for wealth, your adver- 
 saries compass sea and land for proselytes. 
 
 And did not the late times slander you ? and are you hirelings 
 indeed } " He that is an hireling, and not the shepherd, whose 
 own the sheep are not, seeth the wolf coming, and leaveth the 
 sheep and fleeth, and the wolf catcheth them, and scattereth the 
 sheep. The hireling fleeth because he is an hireling, and careth 
 not for the sheep" (John x.). Oh, of your own selves do men 
 arise speaking perverse things to draw away disciples after them. 
 Therefore watch ; and remember, that in the primitive times for 
 the space of many years the ministers ceased not to warn every 
 one night and day with tears : and they could say to their congre- 
 gations, " We take you to record that we are pure from the blood 
 of all men, for we have not shunned to declare unto you the whole 
 counsel of God. We have coveted no man's silver or gold, nor 
 apparel " (Acts xx.). 
 
 2. Are not you them that watch for men's souls .? and do you 
 not look after them? Are you to watch over them so as to give 
 an account ? and do you leave them 1 Are you the angels of the 
 Church, sent forth to minister to, them who shall be heirs of salva- 
 tion, and to behold the face of their father which is in Heaven ? 
 and do you not regard them ? Angels, and earthly ? angels, and 
 yet worldly.^ Are you the soldiers of Christ, and do you entangle 
 yourselves in the affairs of this life ? Are you ordained to preach 
 
Ichabod ; or, Five Groa?is of the Church. 47 
 
 the Gospel ? a necessity is laid upon you, and woe is you if you 
 preach not the Gospel. Are you stewards of the manifold gifts of 
 God, and do you not remember that you must give an account of 
 your stewardship, for you shall be no longer stewards ? Are you 
 in Christ's stead, and yet so careless of His people ? Ah, if Christ 
 had served you so, what had become of you ? what had become of 
 
 the world? r j tt- 
 
 3. Do you love the Lord Jesus Christ, and yet not feed His 
 flock? "Simon Peter, lovest thou Me? fe^-d my lambs. Simon 
 Peter, lovest thou Me ? Thou knowest, O Lord, that I love Thee : 
 feed My sheep." Have you any kindness for your people's souls ? 
 Do you not hear them cry, Come and help us ? Are they your 
 joy, your crown, your rejoicing? Oh, have^ mercy upon them! 
 Do' you not hear them say. Master, carest thou not that we perish ? 
 We have immortal souls to lose, and eiernity to hazard , carest 
 thou not that we perish ? Do you wonder that your people desert 
 you, when you have forsaken them ? Can you blame them that 
 they separate from you, who have no care of them ? They must 
 needs forget their duty towards you, when you have forgotten 
 yours towards them. No wonder if they cleave to their pastors and 
 teachers : for they find none like-minded, who naturally care for 
 their state. . . , , , , 
 
 O sirs, the harvest of souls at this time is great : ^ the prebends 
 are many, the priests are many, the deans are many— the 
 labourers are few : shall I pray the Lord of the harvest to turn 
 you out, and send forth labourers into His harvest ? The souls that 
 would be saved are many, but they die in ignorance, and you are 
 not among them to instruct them ; they die in doubt, and you not 
 near them to satisfy them ; they die in despair, and there is none 
 to comfort them ; they live in disorder, and there is none to guide 
 them ; they are in state of nature, and there is none to reclaim 
 them '; they are weak and there is none to strengthen them ; they 
 are liable to temptation, and there is none to assist them to 
 manage their temptation ; they go astray, and there is none to 
 seek them that are lost ; they are in the gall of bitterness, and 
 there is none to relieve them ; they are under the power of Satan, 
 in darkness, and there is none to turn them to God, that they may 
 receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among them that 
 are sanctified by faith in Christ, if God peradventure might give 
 them repentance to the acknowledgment of the truth, that they 
 might escape out of the snare of the devil ; iliat so they might be 
 converted, and their sins be forgiven them. Fam would they 
 hear, that their souls might live, but you are not among them to 
 preach • willing are they to receive the sacrament, but you are not 
 among them to administer it. They are declining in grace, and 
 there is none to recover them, or in the spirit of meekness to restore 
 
 1 Bishop Jewel. 
 
48 Ichahod ; or, Five Groans of the Church. 
 
 them ; they are at a loss, and there is none to advise them ; they 
 miscarry, and there is none to oversee them, to watch over them, 
 to look to them ; they are sick, and there is none to visit them, to 
 instruct and comfort them ; they are unruly, and there is none to 
 see that Church discipline be exercised upon them. 
 
 4. Will you receive the tithes of God, and not do the work of 
 God? Will you live of the Gospel, and not preach the Gospel? 
 Will you live of the altar, and yet not serve the altar ? Will you 
 eat, and not work ? Will you receive tithes given to Melchizedec, 
 and yet bless not the children of Abraham, that pay it ? Will you 
 receive the Levite's portion, and yet not wait on the tabernacle, 
 nor serve the sanctuary? Will you have the double honour of 
 reverence and maintenance, and yet not labour in the word and 
 doctrine? Must he that is taught communicate unto him that 
 teacheth him not in every good thing ? — How can you enjoy these 
 donations our forefathers made to ministers for teaching the Word 
 of God, for praying, &c., and yet neither teach nor pray ? Vide 
 Spel. cone. Br., p. 29 ; Vide Illyr. cent. 8, c. ix. col. 316, Ed. 1624 ; 
 Bede, Hist. Eccl. li., c. xvi. fin. ; Lamb. Arch., p. 22 ; Bonif. Ep., 
 p. 24 ; Polyd. Virg. 1. 5, p. 89-90; Stow. p. 99 vit. ; Eg. Ingulph. 
 sect. 6-7 ; Mat. West. Gest. Br. ii. 2 ; Tilsley anim. sed., p. 173 ; 
 Speed, Hist. 7, c. xxxii. ; Fox Martyrol. 3, p. 136 ; Prasfat. in Leg. 
 Alfred!., c. xxxviii. ; Leg. Eccl. Alur. Athelstan. Mulmesb. de 
 Gest. Br. 2, c. xi. ; Gemel. 1. 6, c. ix. ; Seld. Eadm. Hist, p. 171 ; 
 R. Bastingst. 3, p. 186. How will you look your ancestors in the 
 face, when you have taken their gifts, and neglected their desires ? 
 What, take the tithe they gave, and leave their posterity destitute ! 
 
 Ob. You will say, we have curates and they perform our duty. 
 
 Ans. I. Curates — What new generation of men are these 
 curates ? We have indeed some Prophets, some Apostles, some 
 Evangelists, some pastors, some doctors, but no curates. Your 
 commission (O my sons) is, " Go ye, and teach all nations ; " not 
 " Go ye, or send your curates to teach all nations." Hath your 
 servant liberty to bring whom he will to your service, while he 
 takes his pleasure ; and have you liberty to bring whom you will to 
 God's service, while you take your pleasure. Oh, sirs, the Scrip- 
 tures run thus : " Son of man, I have made thee a watchman to 
 the house of Israel, therefore hear the word of My mouth, and give 
 them warning from Me. When I say unto the wicked. Thou shalt 
 surely die, and thou givest him not warning, nor speakest to warn 
 the wicked from his wicked way to save his life : the same wicked 
 man shall die in his iniquity, but his blood will I require at thine 
 hand. Yet if thou warn the wicked, and he turn not from his 
 wickedness, nor from his wicked way, he shall die in his iniquity, 
 but thou hast delivered thy soul. Again, when a righteous man 
 doth turn from his righteousness, and commit iniquity, and I lay 
 a stumbling block before him, he shall die : because thou hast not 
 
Ichabod ; or. Five Groans of the C/mrch. 49 
 
 given him warning, he shall die in his sin, and his righteousness 
 which he hath done shall not be remembered, but his blood will I 
 require at thine hand. Nevertheless, if thou warn the righteous 
 that the righteous sin not, and he doth not sin, he shall surely live 
 because he is warned ; also thou hast delivered thy soul. I charge 
 thee, therefore, before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall 
 judge the quick and the dead at His appearing, and His kingdom : 
 preach the Word, be instant in season, out of season ; reprove, 
 rebuke, exhort with all long-suftering and doctrine. For the time 
 will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but after their 
 own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching 
 ears. And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and 
 shall be turned unto fables. But watch thou, in all things endure 
 afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, make full proof of thy 
 ministry." If you would be saved only by curates, then serve God 
 by curates : if you may be damned only by curates, then trust your 
 charge to curates. But how do you read } " Son of man, prophesy 
 against the shepherds of Israel, prophesy and say unto them, 
 Thus saith the Lord God unto the shepherds. Woe be to the shep- 
 herds of Israel, that do feed themselves : should not the shepherds 
 feed the flocks .? Ye eat the fat, and ye clothe you with the wool, 
 ye kill them that are fed : but you feed not the flock. The diseased 
 have ye not strengthened, neither have ye healed that which was 
 sick, neither have ye bound up that which was broken, neither 
 have ye brought again that which was driven away, neither have 
 ye sought that which was lost : but with force and with cruelty 
 have ye ruled them. And they were scattered, because there is 
 no shepherd, and they became meat to all the beasts of the field, 
 when they were scattered. My sheep wandered through all the 
 mountains, and upon every high hill ; yea, my flock was scattered 
 upon all the face of the earth, and none did search or seek after 
 them. Therefore ye shepherds hear the word of the Lord : As I 
 live, saith the Lord God, surely because My flock became a prey, 
 and My flock became meat to every beast of the field, because 
 there was no shepherd, neither did My shepherd search for My 
 flock, but the shepherds fed themselves, and fed not My flock : 
 Therefore, O ye shepherds, hear the word of the Lord ; Thus 
 saith the Lord God, behold, I am against the shepherds, and I will 
 require My flock at their hand, and cause them to cease from 
 feeding the flock, neither shall the shepherds feed themselves any 
 more, for I will deliver My flock from their mouth that they may 
 not be meat for them." 
 
 2. Are curates ministers, or are they not .'' If not, why do you 
 employ them ; if they are, why do they not live upon that main- 
 tenance that God hath allowed ministers .'' You could not endure 
 rationally in these late times to hear of stipends, yet now your 
 brethren must be content with allowances ; and besides, if they 
 
50 Ichabod ; or, Five Groans of the Church. 
 
 are ministers, then either they have cure of souls, or not ; if they 
 have cure of souls, why do they not attend their own charge ; if they 
 have no cure of souls, how can they exercise any ministerial act, 
 seeing they have none to exercise it upon? no people being obliged 
 to attend any but their own minister : yea, all people being obliged 
 to attend only their own minister. If you will say, he is your 
 people's minister, then you must say, you are not. — One people 
 can have but one minister at a time. 
 
 3. Do you, who are non-resident, expect tithes by man's law 
 only, or God's ? No, by man's law only ; for you have said, and 
 must say against the Anabaptists, that they are of divine right ; 
 otherwise they will say, " What man hath given, man may take 
 away ; " nor must you look for it by God's law, which never allowed 
 the maintenance of a minister to any but such as did the work 
 of the ministry. The labourer, and he only, is worthy of his hire. 
 
 4. Cannot the State keep curates as well as you.^ If this be all, 
 may not the Commonwealth allow salaries and stipends as well as 
 you, and so remove the burthen of tithe .'' Oh, sirs, you know not 
 what to do ; when the King, Lords, and Commons observe how 
 much tithe goeth to maintain your pride, vanity, and folly, and 
 how little to maintain the service of God, they say, what need 
 this waste ? why do ye throw away so much of the public revenue, 
 as amounts to two millions and a half, whereas half a million may 
 maintain men to read prayers, and do all the duties of minis- 
 ters t A gentleman hath a parsonage of ^200 a-year in his gift. 
 Why, saith he, shall I part with so much of my estate ? cannot I 
 give £10 or ^30 to a curate as well as a clergyman ? You will tell 
 him, Sir, you rob God. He will say. No more than you : you know 
 God only hath tithes when they are employed in His service, and I 
 shall allow so much more to God's interest than you do. Object. 
 Why should you, being a layman, meddle with tithes which 
 belong to God's service? Answer. I do not meddle with any 
 which belong to God's service, but with what is abused to 
 man's wantonness. Object. I am a clergyman. Answer. So 
 are thousands more ; yet none hath right to tithe, but he that 
 performs the duty enjoined them that receive tithe : tithe is 
 not so much the maintenance of ministers' persons, as their 
 wages for their work ; but a little of the tithe may suffice him 
 who does the work, as we may observe from what you allow, and 
 really I do not know by what law of God or man a clergyman 
 may turn his tithe to private advantage any more than a layman. 
 O, sirs, if you neglect your calling when you have maintenance, 
 what would you do if you had none? Oh, you that condemn 
 sacrilege, do you live by it ? You that say a man should not rob 
 the Church, do you rob it? You that preach and write against 
 taking away ministers' maintenance, do you take away ministers' 
 maintenance? Is it for this the nation upheld tithes against all 
 
tchabod ; or, Five Groans of the Church. 5 1 
 
 oppositions, to have a few readers and curates ? what, have we 
 saved them from the factious to be swallowed up by the covetous? 
 Oh, you are men born to undo yourselves, to ruin your calling, 
 and to tempt a greedy world to take away all your maintenance. 
 Do you read history? (Alas, I am afraid that a spirit hath seized 
 you.) Do you observe what was written in Ead., chap. x. p. 279, 
 and Chartres de nug. cur. 7, 21. They (the priests) grew scan- 
 dalous : — they neglected their cures ; they resided not upon their 
 livings ; — they went to and fro for their pleasure ; — the people arose 
 up against them ; the noblemen withdrew their tithe from them ; — 
 the whole kingdom cried. No service, no maintenance. Yea, the 
 poor people burned the tithes, being loath the unworthy ministers 
 should have any benefit by them, though loath themselves to meddle 
 with them. Thereupon it was agreed among the Thanes that 
 there should be no maintenance given to parsons, but to churches, 
 which might allow them to such persons as did them service, and 
 that none should live by Church allowance but they that did 
 Church duties (Seld., ibid. Excerpt. Egbert, can. 100). In continu- 
 ance of time the lazy and the idle had engrossed almost all Church 
 preferments ; then the tithes were alienated and impropriated as 
 it is at this day — whereupon the clergy awaked a while, and fol- 
 lowed their business diligently in King Edward VI. 's and the 
 beginning of Queen Elizabeth's reign. Yet men are men still ; for 
 about the 30 of Queen Elizabeth the remainder of Church livings 
 that had escaped the impropriators were engrossed by a few 
 pluralists and non-residents ; insomuch that the Commons in the 
 Parliament of that year petitioned the Lords earnestly, argued 
 rationally, concluded peremptorily against these miscarriages, as 
 they did in all Parliaments until the 12 of King Charles, when the 
 scandal of this usurpation was so great, the odium so general, the 
 clamour so universal, the juggle of the non-residents (in holding 
 tithes under the pretence of the ministry for nothing, and in 
 receiving a million of the national revenue for nothing else but 
 that they were in orders) was so apparent, that the whole main- 
 tenance of ministers was endangered, all Church preferment was 
 threatened. And you, who now cannot content yourselves with 
 handsome and honest competencies, were like to be^brought to a 
 morsel of bread. Oh, sirs, give not occasion to them that seek 
 occasion ; let the world see that duty is more your care than 
 maintenance, that you do not work to eat, but that you eat to 
 work; that to maintain the English clergy is (i) to uphold re- 
 ligion ; (2) to advance God's name ; (3) to promote the salvation 
 of souls, to support the glory and interest of the kingdom, together 
 with the peace, civiUty, and happiness of this age and posterity. 
 
52 Ichabod ; or, Five Groans of the C/mrch. 
 
 A Catalogue of Non-residencies. 
 
 In Berkshire, . 
 
 i8 
 
 In Northamptonshire, 
 
 76 
 
 „ Bedfordshire, 
 
 30 
 
 „ Northumberland, . 
 
 36 
 
 „ Buckinghamshire, 
 
 24 
 
 „ Nottinghamshire, . 
 
 34 
 
 „ Cambridgeshire and I sk 
 
 - 
 
 „ Oxfordshire, . 
 
 53 
 
 of Ely, . . . 
 
 45 
 
 ,, Shropshire, . 
 
 43 
 
 „ Cornwall, 
 
 46 
 
 „ Somerset, 
 
 H 
 
 „ Cheshire, 
 
 455 
 
 „ Suffolk,. 
 
 106 
 
 „ Cumberland, 
 
 12 
 
 „ Surrey, . 
 
 ^9 
 
 „ Derbyshire, . 
 
 32 
 
 „ Sussex, . 
 
 67 
 
 „ Devonshire, . 
 
 61 
 
 „ Worcestershire, . 
 
 78 
 
 „ Dorsetshire, . 
 
 79 
 
 „ Anglesey, . 
 
 31 
 
 „ Durham, 
 
 57 
 
 „ Brecknock, . 
 
 17 
 
 „ Essex, . 
 
 106 
 
 „ Caermarthenshire, 
 
 20 
 
 „ Gloucestershire, . 
 
 46 
 
 „ Caernarvonshire, . 
 
 35 
 
 „ Hampshire, . 
 
 65 
 
 ,, Denbighshire, 
 
 41 
 
 „ Herefordshire, 
 
 54 
 
 „ Flintshire, . 
 
 18 
 
 „ Kent, . 
 
 96 
 
 „ Glamorganshire, . 
 
 143 
 
 „ Lancashire, . 
 
 . 63 
 
 „ Merionethshire, . 
 
 . 24 
 
 „ Leicestershire, 
 
 . 62 
 
 „ Monmouthshire, . 
 
 . 26 
 
 „ Lincolnshire, 
 
 . 49 
 
 „ Montgomeryshire, 
 
 • 52 
 
 „ Middlesex, . 
 
 . 105 
 
 „ Pembrokeshire, . 
 
 • 33 
 
 „ Norfolk, 
 
 . 104 
 
 „ Radnorshire, 
 
 • 19 
 
 So that of 12,000 Church livings, or thereabouts, 3000 and more 
 being impropriate, and 4165 being Sinecures, or Non-residents' 
 livings ; what a poor remainder is there left for a painful and an 
 honest ministry, for the glory of God, and the salvation of souls. 
 
 [N'ote by the Editor. — I have unsuccessfully endeavoured to find 
 the data from which Ken took these figures.] 
 
THREE SERMONS. 
 
 1. 
 
 Preached at the Funeral of the Right Hon. the Lady 
 Margaret Mainard, at Little Easton, in Essex, 
 June 30, 1682. 
 
 On Prov. XI. 16. 
 
 IL 
 
 Preached in the King's Chapel, Whitehall, in the 
 
 Year 1685. 
 
 On Dan. x. ii. 
 
 in. 
 
 Preached upon Passion Sunday. 
 On Micah VII. 8, 9. 
 
^. • • • , .^^ 
 
 ^'r^j^^^ 
 
 
 ^%^^ 
 
 
 ^^^^mm^U 
 
 
 ^^P 
 
 ^^^^ 
 
 
 
 ^^^_ 
 
 DEDICATION, 
 
 To the Right Honoiwable William Lord Mainard, 
 Baron of Eastaijis and Comptroller of His Majesty's 
 Honsehold. 
 
 My Lord, 
 
 Though I am unwilling to decline any service which your 
 Lordship expects from me, yet when you enjoined me, the 
 printing of this sermon, I could not obey your command 
 without disputing it. For I considered, that in such an age 
 as this, where an exemplary holiness is very rare, I shall be 
 thought guilty of most gross flattery, in the character I have 
 given of your incomparable lady now in heaven. 
 
 But knowing I have so many unexceptionable witnesses to 
 attest every line I have said, especially yourself, who best 
 understood her value, and are most sensible of her loss ; and 
 being conscious to myself that I have spoken no other through- 
 out than the words of truth, I soon broke through all the dis- 
 couragements I had, either from the just censures the world 
 would fix on the meanness of the discourse, or from the unjust 
 ones it might pass on my insincerity : and resolved to do all 
 that little honour I could to her memory, and to give God the 
 glory of her example; and I humbly beseech the Divine good- 
 ness, that what I now oifer to the public, may not be wholly 
 unprofitable to those who read it ; however, I am sure, it will 
 not be unacceptable to your Lordship, or to those who were 
 so happy to know her, which will be satisfaction enough to 
 My good Lord, your Lordship's 
 
 most humble and faithful servant, 
 
 THO. KEN. 
 
A SERMON 
 
 PREACHED AT THE FUNERAL OF THE 
 Right Hon. THE LADY MARGARET MAINARD. 
 
 A gracious woman retaineth honour." — Prov\ xi. i6. 
 
 THE world was never yet so bad, but the good man, though his 
 life was a continued satire to the age he lived in, did always 
 either find or extort a veneration from it. So true is it of both 
 sexes, which Solomon here affirms of women only, that gracious 
 persons^ they who are in the grace and favour of God, and are 
 strengthened by His gracious assistances, they who by the 
 covenant of grace are enrolled in His service, and in whose hearts 
 there is a conspiration of all the graces of His Holy Spirit ; all 
 which particulars are included in the word grace, and do all con- 
 cur to make up a gracious soul ; such persons, I say, as these, 
 shall from the generality of men gain an inward esteem and a 
 great opinion, and, for the most part, an outward and a suitable 
 respect, or as the wise man words it, shall retain hojiour. 
 
 I must confess that there are many instances, even in our own 
 perverse generation, wherein virtue has rather been contemned 
 and ridiculed than honoured, but I will mention no other than the 
 most signal of all, God incarnate, whose example, though it was 
 as perfect and unblameable as the fulness of the Godhead could 
 render it ; yet His most divine Person was so far from being 
 honoured by many of the Jews, that He lay under the utmost im- 
 putations of slander and blasphemy which words could express ; 
 and as glorious as all His miracles were, they were ascribed to no 
 other than Beelzebub, the prince of the very devils. ^ 
 
 But though it be true that our blessed Lord, in regard to His 
 state of humiliation, seemed to have no form, no comeliness in 
 Him,2 yet all His conversation had so many irradiations of divinity 
 
 1 Matt. xii. 24. 2 isa. liii. 2, 3. 
 
58 A Funeral Sermon on 
 
 in it, which did abundantly evince His heavenly extraction ; and it 
 is no wonder He should suffer such contradictions of sinners, it 
 being usual for an heroic virtue, which is singly to encounter whole 
 legions, to contend with inveterate errors or reigning vices, to 
 reprove and reform the world, as our Saviour was, to be loaded 
 with most diabolical reproaches. But goodness has an insepar- 
 able splendour which can never suffer a total eclipse, and when it 
 is most reviled and persecuted it then shines brightest out of cloud. 
 So that all who are not wilfully blind, who will but make use of 
 their eyes to see, must acknowledge the force of its rays. 
 
 This did the very Jews themselves, as many as had any relics 
 of common ingenuity left ; the multitude owned our Saviour for a 
 great prophet, wondered at His gracious words,^ confessed he had 
 done all things well,^ insomuch that they would have exalted Him to 
 the throne, and have made Him their King ; Pilate could find no 
 fault in Him at all ; ^ and the centurion, a heathen, even when he 
 saw Him hanging on the cross, as a malefactor, cried out, " Cer- 
 tainly this was a righteous man." * So that a gracious person^ 
 under the most extreme degree of infamy and slander, shall yet 
 retain ho?wur, shall from all that are in their right minds have at 
 least an inward veneration. 
 
 If this be verified of a public virtue, there can be less doubt 
 of it in a private one, which not being on such a stage as may 
 provoke and affront the angry world, by openly contradicting, or 
 upbraiding, or chastising it, passes along with a less assaulted and 
 less envied reputation, and more undisturbedly retaifts hojiour 
 than the former. 
 
 There is, I know, an hofiour which is due to all men, as they 
 are God's workmanship,-^ and have some lines of His image in 
 them, but especially to kings and to magistrates, whom it is our 
 duty to honour, whether they be gracious persons or no ; this we 
 are to render to the froward and pagan, as well as to " gentle and 
 believing masters ; " "^ to princes that are " infidels and perse- 
 cutors," as well as to " Christian and nursing fathers." "^ But then 
 this honour is not paid them out of respect to any real goodness 
 in them, but only to their authority, as they are God's ordinance, 
 as we depend on their protection, and as our obedience is enforced 
 by law and penalties : but the honotir we give to a gracious person^ 
 is purely in reference to his moral excellences which are legible 
 in the whole conduct of his life. The former is merely civil, the 
 latter may, in some sort, be styled rehgious ; empire is honoured 
 as it resembles God's power, abstracted from His holiness, and 
 therefore it is compatible with an ungracious person, it is confined 
 only to this world and reaches no farther ; but graciousjiess is 
 
 1 Luke vii. 16, iv. 22. 3 Mark vii. 37. ^ John vi. 15, xviii. 38- 
 
 4 Luke xxiii. 47. 5 j pgt. ii. 17, i8. 6 \ Tyn. vi. 2. 
 
 7 Rom. xiii. i. 
 
the Lady Mainard, 59 
 
 honoured as a participation of the divine nature, appropriated to 
 no other than saints, and which has its prospect only on heaven : ^ 
 the former is Hke thunder and lightning, and works on our fear : 
 the latter is like the appearance of a good angel, arrayed in beams, 
 awful, but kind, which do not afflict but cheer the sight, and raise 
 in us a mixed passion of love and veneration together ; and in this 
 sense it is, that the gracious person, for the venerable goodness 
 that is visible in him, shall retai7i hofiour. 
 
 To attempt any laborious proof of so clear a truth as this, were 
 needless ; do but consult the universal practice of mankind, and 
 read it there. What rules do the philosophers prescribe to render 
 our lives most satisfactory to ourselves, and most commendable to 
 others ? with what colours do the orators paint those persons they 
 intend to celebrate? what images do the poets form when they 
 design an hero, are they any other than the rules, and colours, and 
 images of moral goodness ? do not hypocrites, to court the esteem 
 of the vulgar, personate the saint, and politicians, to make the 
 people honour them, pretend to religion ? and why do they both 
 put on this disguise, but because they know that wickedness bare- 
 faced is in the eyes of all men most detestable, and that the names 
 of saint and of religion are creditable in the world ? Show me 
 that profligate wretch, who in his cool thoughts, or on his death- 
 bed, does not decline all his loose companions, and seek out for 
 men truly good and conscientious, to whom he may intrust his 
 estate, his children, and all that is dearest to him, even his own soul 
 too, for which he then begs their ghostly counsel ? What man is 
 there so wicked, who on his death-bed does not wish that he may 
 "die the death of the righteous," and that "his latter end may be 
 like his " ? Look into the histories and customs of ages past, see 
 how greedily coveted, how dearly purchased, and how highly 
 valued, the statues, and all the little remains of good men have 
 been. The heathens, to express their great esteem of goodness, 
 built temples to virtue and honour, and joined these temples 
 together, and made the former the only passage into the latter ; 
 they thought praise to good men as just a tribute as sacrifice to 
 their gods ; and one of the wisest of them wonderfully pleased 
 himself in fancying how lovely and venerable, how divine and 
 transporting an idea he should see, could he but look into the 
 breast of a good man. We have then the practice and the judg- 
 ment of the whole world to confirm this truth, that virtue has 
 always had a great and a general esteem, that the gracious person 
 retains honour. 
 
 On the contrary, is there not a natural shame, a sense of turpi- 
 tude, or a confusion of face in vicious and unclean actions ? why 
 else are men afraid to commit them before the most inconsiderable 
 spectator, and choose darkness for a thick mantle to cover them ?, 
 
 1 2 Peter i. 4. 
 
6o A Fimeral Sermon on 
 
 why else do they blush to own them, wish a thousand times they 
 had never been done, and reflect on them with dissatisfaction and 
 horror ? why else do their own consciences lash and upbraid them ? 
 whereas, if we will but take the pains to make up an induction of 
 all Christian graces, we shall easily see, that there is none whose 
 friendship is more ambitiously sought, none with whom men would 
 sooner change persons, none who are accounted of more sub- 
 stantial worth, or more generally revered, or more influential to 
 thejgood of mankind, or sooner wanted in the world, or who make 
 a nobler figure in story, than the devout, the humble, the just, the 
 meek, the temperate, the charitable ; or to express all in one word, 
 the gracious person^ who therefore shall always retaiii honoiir. 
 
 I need not reckon up the numerous places of Holy Scripture 
 where goodness and honour are linked together ; how " the wise 
 are said to inherit glory ; "^ "the humble and meek to be exalted ;"2 
 how we are commanded " to keep our vessels in sanctification and 
 honour," 3 and how God has promised to "honour those who 
 honour Him : " * I need not mention the primitive Dyptics, or how 
 the Church Cathohc has celebrated the festivals, and honoured 
 the memories of the saints and of the martyrs ; I need not suggest 
 that obvious conclusion, that if gracious persons can draw even 
 wicked men to a reverential love of their virtue, much more will 
 they engage the friendship of all that are holy, and not only of 
 holy men but of holy angels too, who being all ministering spirits 
 deputed by God to attend them,^ the more heavenly they see any 
 committed to their charge does grow, the more respectful attend- 
 ance in all probabihty they give him. 
 
 And there is the highest reason in the world why there should 
 be so honourable a loveliness in 2l gracious person^ if we consider 
 the likeness he bears to that great God whom we adore. For as 
 there are on all men innate impressions of God's existence, so 
 there are also of His Attributes, and none ever yet in earnest 
 believed there was a God, but he also believed that God was a 
 Being, infinite in all perfections, in wisdom and power, justice and 
 mercy, purity and holiness, veracity and beneficence, and as these 
 excite our love, and our adoration to God, so wherever we see any, 
 though but imperfect resemblances of His inimitable perfections, 
 in the saints here on earth, wherever we see men in any measure 
 holy and pure, just and merciful, faithful and beneficent, we there 
 see the image of God Himself, and cannot but pay them a suitable 
 honour : thus as goodness and adorableness are co-eternal in God, 
 so are sanctity and venerableness coeval, m gracious perso?is. 
 
 Nor are we only by grace made like to God, but He is also 
 pleased actually to dwell in us, and to consecrate our souls to be 
 His temples ; and as God commanded the Jews to reverence His 
 
 1 Prov. iii. 35. - Luke i. 52. ^ i 'phess. iv. 4. 
 
 •1 Sam. ii. 30. ° Heb. i. 14. 
 
tJie Lady Maiiiard. 6i 
 
 sanctuary,! the place of His residence among them,^ where He sat 
 between the cherubims, and a glorious light that shined on the 
 propitiatory was the symbol of His presence : so, when in gracious 
 souls we discover all the fruits of the Spirit,^ a kind of glory 
 brightening their conversation, and a sacred amiableness breathed 
 on them from heaven, we are sure that God inhabits there, and 
 cannot but reverence His temples. 
 
 Such honour have all God^s saints from even wicked men, from 
 all holy persons, and from the good angels, and infinitely above 
 all these, from God Himself, who honours them with His image, 
 after which they are renewed, and with His presence, of which 
 they are possessed ; such honour, I say, have all His saints even 
 in this life, which, if we did but seriously contemplate, would stir 
 us up to a generous emulation, would encourage us to implore the 
 divine grace, that we may bewail all our past sins, cleanse our- 
 selves from all filthiness, both of flesh and of spirit, which produce 
 nothing in the end but shame and horror, and daily grow more 
 conformable to His likeness, which is the only way to assert the 
 dignity of our nature, and to retain honour. 
 
 But when once our souls shall be divorced from our bodies, 
 when the name of the wicked shall rot and stink sooner than his 
 carcase, leaving no memorials behind, unless it be of his sin, his 
 infamy, his madness, or his folly ; ^ precious then in the sight of 
 the Lord shall be the death of His saints,^ blessed shall be their 
 memories, they shall be had in everlasting remembrance,^ and 
 their good names, being registered in the book of life, shall flourish 
 to immortality. 
 
 All this while I have not done justice to my subject, by affirming 
 only in general, that goodness is honourable ; I must therefore be 
 more particular, and inquire, why Solomon does here instance in 
 the woman rather than in the man, A gracious woinan retains 
 Jwnoiir. 
 
 And the reason seems to me to be either this, that as vice is 
 more odious and more detested, so on the other hand, virtue 
 is more attractive, and looks more lovely in women, than it usually 
 does in men, insomuch that the gracious wojnan shall be sure 
 to purchase and to retai?i hotiour. 
 
 Or it is, because men have more advantages of aspiring to honour 
 in all public stations of the Church, the court, the camp, the bar, 
 and the city, than women have, and the only way for a woman 
 to gain honour, is an exemplary holiness ; this makes " her chil- 
 dren rise up and call her blessed, her husband and her own works 
 to praise her in the gate," ^ the sole glory then of that sex is 
 to be good, for it is a gracious 'W07nan only who retains honour. 
 
 1 I Cor. iii. i6. - Lev. xix. 30. ^ Gal. v. 22. 
 
 4 Prov, X 7. ^ Psalm cxvi. 15. 6 Psalm cxii. 6. 
 
 7 Prov. xxxi. 28, 31. 
 
62 A Funeral Sermon on 
 
 Or it is, because women are made of a temper more soft and 
 frail, are more endangered by snares and temptations, less able 
 to control their passions, and more inclinable to extremes of good 
 or bad than men, and generally speaking goodness is a tenderer 
 thing, more hazardous and brittle in the former than in the latter, 
 and consequently a firm and steady virtue is more to be valued 
 in the weaker sex than in the stronger ; so that a gracious woman 
 is most worthy to receive and to retain hojiour. 
 
 Or it is because women in all ages have given many heroic 
 examples of sanctity ; besides those recorded in the Old Testa- 
 ment, many of them are named with great honour in the New, 
 for their assiduity and zeal, in following our Saviour, and their 
 charity, in ministering to Him of their substance;^ they accom- 
 panied Him to Mount Calvary, lamented His sufferings, waited 
 on the Cross, attended the sepulchre,^ prepared spices and oint- 
 ments ; ^ and regardless either of the insolence of the rude soldiers, 
 or of the malice of the Jews, with a love that cast out all fear, 
 they came on the first day of the week, before the morning light, 
 to embalm Him ; and God was pleased to honour these holy 
 women accordingly, for they first saw the angel, who told them 
 the joyful news that He was risen ; ^ and as if an angel had not 
 been a messenger honourable enough, Jesus Himself first appeared 
 to the women, the women first saw, and adored Him ; and it was 
 these very gracious women whom our Lord sent to His disciples, 
 that women might be first pubhshers of His resurrection, as angels 
 had been of His nativity. Our Saviour Himself has erected 
 an everlasting monument in the Gospel, for the penitent woman 
 that anointed Him ; ° and God incarnate honoured the sex to the 
 highest degree imaginable, in being born of a woman, in becoming 
 the son of a virgin mother, whom all generations shall call blessed ; 
 and I know not how to call it, but there is a meltingness of dis- 
 position, and afi'ectionateness of devotion, an easy sensibility, an 
 industrious alacrity, a languishing ardour, in piety, pecuhar to the 
 sex, which naturally renders them subjects more pliable to the 
 Divine grace than men commonly are ; so that Solomon had reason 
 to bestow the epithet gracious particularly on them, and to say 
 that a gracious woman retaineth honour. 
 
 I am well aware, that if we consult the sensual and debauched 
 rank of men, it is not the gracious or the chaste woman they 
 esteem, but only the fair, or the lascivious ; esteem, did I say ! men 
 may court an idle or a wanton beauty, for their lust, but they 
 can only esteem -sl gracious and a chaste one, and when all is done, 
 she only deserves the name of beautiful ; as for the lascivious, and 
 the prostitute, against whom Solomon so often and so pathetically 
 warns the young man, she is so utterly impure, that I will not so 
 
 1 Luke viii. 3. - Matt, xxvii. 55. 3 Luke xjdii. 27, 55, 56. 
 
 ^ Matt, xxviii. 5. 5 Matt. xXvi. 13. 
 
tJie Lady Mainard. 6^ 
 
 much as name her in the same discourse with a gracious woman ; 
 I will then make the comparison between mere outward beauty 
 only, and ^r<^<;^, and you will soon perceive the difference. 
 
 For beauty, if it be natural, is from a woman's birth, it is 
 her chance, and not her merit ; if it be artificial, it makes her 
 no other than a painted sepulchre, gaudy without, and that 
 has nothing but rottenness and stench within ; but grace is the 
 free gift of God, and our own free choice, in a happy conjunction, 
 it is no other than a God-like loveliness impressed on our spirit. 
 
 Beauty is often incident to stark fools, and to the profane, and 
 irreligious. But grace is peculiar to holy persons, who like the 
 king's daughter are all glorious within.^ 
 
 Beauty is prone to admire itself, and to swell with pride ; grace 
 instils a just sense of our own vileness, and teaches humihty ; that 
 is apt to invite temptation ; this is a preservative against it. The 
 former spends her morning hours at her glass ; the latter at her 
 prayers ; that most delights herself in new fashions, and fine 
 clothes, in platting the hair, and wearing of gold ;"- this puts 
 on the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight 
 of God of great price. 
 
 Beauty has been often, to the best and wisest of men, witness 
 Solomon himself, destructive and fatal, for which reason holy Job 
 made a covenant with his eyes ;'^ and our Saviour commands us, 
 not to look on a woman to lust after her,'* and the fairer she is the 
 greater is the danger ; but grace secures our innocence, awes men 
 into sobriety, looks them into chastity, and the more intense it 
 grows, its influence is the more sovereign and efficacious. 
 
 Beauty gratifies only our outward sense, it is a mixture of 
 colour, and figure, and feature, and parts, all in due proportion 
 and symmetry ; or indeed it is a well-shaped frame of dust and 
 ashes, beloved by fond men only, who, like the most stupid of 
 idolaters, worship the bare statue, without regard to the deity there 
 enshrined : but grace is a confluence of all attractives, which 
 approves itself to our own most deliberate judgments, and is 
 beloved by God. Do but imagine you were in the spouse's garden, 
 where, when the south wind blows,^ the several spices and gums, 
 the spikenard and the cinnamon, the frankincense and the myrrh, 
 send forth their various smells, which meeting together, and mix- 
 ing in the air, make a compounded odour, such a composition of 
 all virtues ; such an universal and uniform agreeableness is there 
 in a gracious soul, which in a manner, whether we will or no, 
 engages our affections. 
 
 Beauty is vain, and favour is deceitful,^ says the wise man, it 
 soon evaporates and cheats our expectation, in a little time it 
 
 1 Psalm xlv. 13. 2 I Pet. iii. 3. 3 Job xxxi. i. 
 
 4 Matt. V. 28. 5 Cant. iv. 16. ^ Prov. xxxi. 30. 
 
64 A Funeral Sermoti 
 
 071 
 
 decays, by cares, or child-bearing, or sickness, or a thousand other 
 accidents ; men no sooner begin to crop the flower, but it fades, 
 and sinks, and dies, or it is often soured with such inward disposi- 
 tions which render it afflicting, and insupportable ; but grace 
 creates to our minds an entire satisfaction, has a goodness intrinsic 
 and eternal, grows more amiable the more it is enjoyed, so that 
 the woman that feareth the Lord, she shall be praised, she shall for 
 ever retain Ji07iour. 
 
 As a jewel of gold in a swine's snout,^ which is hung there on 
 purpose to be defiled, to be rolled in filth and mire, and is one of 
 the most notorious and ugly incongruities in the world ; such a 
 kind of absurdity, if you will believe Solomon, is a fair woman 
 without discretion ; her beauty, it is true, is a jewel, but a jewel 
 extremely ill-placed, and serves for no other purpose, but to make 
 her folly more conspicuous, to expose her the more to impurity^ 
 and to a swinish sensuality, but grace makes a woman a crown to 
 her husband,- the glory of the man, and advances her price above 
 rubies ; so that a gracious woman is a jewel of a value inestimable, 
 she has worth and ornament, and lustre, and beauty, and honour, 
 all combined together. Most deservedly then did wise Solomon 
 give the preference to grace, and did assure us, that a strong man 
 is not more powerful to get, and when gotten " to retain his riches,"' 
 than a gracious woman to acquire honour and to retain H when 
 acquired. 
 
 It is now time to do all the right I am able to the noble lady 
 deceased, who was a woman so x^m.:\xV2i!o\y gracious^ and retained 
 an honour so entire and unblemished, that all the measures I have 
 hitherto laid down, either of grace or of honour, are but a faint 
 copy, drawn after her ; she was all the while before my thoughts, 
 her holy example is the original, and though I will not say, that 
 among the many daughters who have done virtuously,^ she absol- 
 utely excels them all, yet I am sure, she deserves to be esteemed 
 one of the highest order. 
 
 But, alas ! we have nothing now left, except this poor relique of 
 clay, which in a few minutes must be restored to its native earth, 
 and for ever hid from our eyes ; the gracious soul that informed 
 it, is flowed back again to God, from whom it first streamed, and 
 His most blessed will be done, who is compassionate and adorable 
 in all His chastisements ; yet as we are flesh and blood, we cannot 
 but feel the stroke which even His Fatherly hand has given us. It 
 is the curse of the wicked, to die unlamented, unless it be, that 
 they are sometimes carried to the grave,^ with the mercenary tears 
 of those who make mourning a trade ; but the death of the right- 
 eous being a loss irrecoverable, and a real calamity, to us who 
 survive, must needs fill us with sad resentments, when we consider 
 of how great a blessing we are deprived. 
 
 1 Prov. xi 22. - Prov xii. 4 ; i Cor. .xi. 7 ; Prov. xxxi. 10. 
 
 •* Prov. xxxi. 29. ^ Jer. xvi. 4. 
 
the Lady Mainard. 65 
 
 Our Saviour Himself has countenanced a moderate grief for our 
 friends in weeping over His own dead friend Lazarus \^ so that if 
 we shed our tears over the grave of this gracious and honourable 
 lady, it is but to be just to her ashes, to ease our own sorrowful 
 spirits, and to testify to the world how dear a sense we have of 
 her worth. For had she had nothing but her quality to have 
 recommended her, we might have performed her funeral cere- 
 monies with a bare outward solemnity, but without any more 
 concern than a common object of mortality gives us : but she was 
 a wovia?! so truly gracious^ that we could not but most affection- 
 ately honour her, and cannot but have a grief that bears some 
 proportion to our loss. 
 
 For it is our loss only we can bewail ; we grieve for ourselves, 
 not for her ; she has a joyful deliverance from temptation and in- 
 firmity, from sin and misery, and from all the evil to come ; she is 
 now past all the storms and dangers of this troubled life, and is 
 safely arrived at her everlasting haven ; she is now fully possessed 
 of all that she desired, which was to be dissolved and to be with 
 Christ, and we cannot lament her being happy. When we weep 
 for common Christians, we are not to be sorry, as men without 
 hope,- but when we have so many, so uninterrupted, and so un- 
 deniable demonstrations of the sanctity of a person, as we have 
 of this gracious woman^ we have no reason at all to grieve on her 
 account, since we have not only a bare hope, but an assurance 
 rather, that she is now in glory. 
 
 But why did I call her death a loss ? it is rather our gain ; we 
 were all travelling the same way, as pilgrims towards our heavenly 
 country, she has only got the start of us, and is gone before, and 
 is happy first, and I am persuaded that we still enjoy her prayers 
 for us above, however I am sure that we enjoy her good works 
 here below, which now appear more illustrious, and without that 
 veil her modesty and her humility cast over them ; we still enjoy 
 her example, which being now set in its true light, and at its 
 proper distance, and delivered from that cloud of flesh which did 
 obscure and lessen it, looks the more gracious and the more 
 honourable ; and if we follow the track she trod, we shall ere long 
 enjoy her society in heaven. 
 
 Let us then alter our note, and rather honour than bewail her : 
 she was a gracious woman^ and honour is her due ; her good 
 name, like a precious ointment poured forth, has perfumed the 
 whole sphere in which she moved. To paint her fully to the life 
 I dare not undertake, she had a graciousness in all her conver- 
 sation that cannot be expressed, and should I endeavour to do it, 
 I must run over all the whole catalogue of evangelical graces, which 
 do all concentre in her character ; I must tell you how inflamed 
 she was with heavenly love, how well guided a zeal she had for 
 
 1 John xi. 35. - I Thes;. iv. 13. 
 
66 A Funeral Sermon on 
 
 God's glory, how particular a reverence she paid to all things and 
 to all persons that were dedicated to His service, how God was 
 always in her thoughts, how great a tenderness she had to offend 
 her heavenly Father, how great a delight to please Him. But you 
 must be content with some rude strokes only, for such particulars 
 would be endless ; all my fear is, that I shall speak too little, but 
 I am sure I can hardly speak too much. 
 
 Say, all you who have been eye-witnesses of her life, did you from 
 her very cradle ever know her any other than a gracious womajt f 
 As to myself, I have had the honour to know her near twenty years, 
 and to be admitted to her most intimate thoughts ; and I cannot 
 but think, upon the utmost of my observation, that she always 
 preserved her baptismal innocence, that she never committed any 
 one mortal sin, which put her out of the state of grace ; insomuch, 
 that after all the frequent and severe examinations she made of 
 her own conscience, her confessions were made up of no other 
 than sins of infirmity, and yet even for them, she had as deep an 
 humiliation and as penitential a sorrow, as high a sense of the 
 divine forgiveness, and loved as much, as if she had had much to 
 be forgiven : so that after a life of above forty years, nine of which 
 were spent in the court, bating her involuntary failings, which are 
 unavoidable, and for which allowances are made in the covenant 
 of grace, she " kept herself unspotted from the world ; " ^ and if 
 it may be affirmed of any, I dare venture to affirm it of i\i\s gracious 
 'W07nan, that by the peculiar favour of heaven, she passed from the 
 font unsullied to her grave. 
 
 Her understanding was admirable, and she daily improved it 
 by reading, in which she employed most of her time ; and the 
 books she chose were only serious or devout, and her memory was 
 faithful to retain what she read : she took not up her religion on 
 an implicit faith, or from education only, but from a well studied 
 choice, directed by God's Holy Spirit, whose guidance she daily 
 invoked, and when once she had made that choice, she was im- 
 movable as a rock, and so well satisfied in the Catholic faith 
 professed in the Church of England, that I make no doubt, but 
 that she always lived, not only with the strictness of a primitive 
 saint, but with the resolution also of a martyr : it was strange to 
 hear how strongly she would argue, how clearly she understood 
 the force of a consequence, and how ready at all times she was 
 " to give a reason of the hope that was in her, with meekness and 
 fear ; " ^ her letters which were found in her cabinet, not to be 
 delivered till after her death, and very many others in the hands 
 of her relations, sufficiently show how good and how great she 
 was. In them this humble saint, before she was aware, has her- 
 self made an exact impression of her own graciousness ; they are 
 penned in so proper and unaffected a style, and animated through 
 
 1 James i. 27. - i Peter iii. 15. 
 
the Lady Mainard. Sy 
 
 out with so divine a spirit, with such ardours of devotion and 
 charity, as might have become a Proba, a Monica, or the most emi- 
 nent of her sex, insomuch, that her very absence was the more 
 supportable to her friends, in regard she compensated the want of 
 her presence by writing, and sent them a blessing by every return. 
 
 I cannot tell what one help she neglected to secure her per- 
 severance, and to heighten her graces, " that she might shine more 
 and more, to a perfect day ; " ^ her oratory was the place, where 
 she principally resided, and where she was most at home, and her 
 chief employment was prayer and praise. Out of several authors, 
 she for her own use transcribed many excellent forms, the very 
 choice of which does argue a most experienced piety, she had 
 devotions suited to all the primitive hours of prayer, which she 
 used, as far as her bodily infirmities, and necessary avocations 
 would permit, and with " David, praised God seven times a day," 
 or supplied the want of those solemn hours, by a kind of perpetuity 
 of ejaculations, which she had ready to answer all occasions, and 
 to fill up all vacant intervals, and if she happened to wake in the 
 night, of proper prayers even for midnight she was never unpro- 
 vided. Thus did this gracious soul, having been enkindled by fire 
 from heaven in her baptism, live a continual sacrifice, and kept 
 the fire always burning, always in ascension, always aspiring to- 
 wards heaven from whence it fell. Besides her own private 
 prayers, she morning and evening offered up to God the public 
 offices, and when she was not able to go to the house of prayer, 
 she had it read to her in her chamber. 
 
 To prayers she added fasting till her weakness had made it 
 impossible to her constitution, and yet even then, on days of 
 abstinence, she made amends for the omission, by other supple- 
 mental mortifications. Her devotions she enlarged on the fasts 
 and festivals of the Church, but especially on the Lord's days, 
 dividing the hours between the Church and her closet. 
 
 She never failed, on all opportunities to approach the holy altar, 
 came with a spiritual hunger and thirst to that heavenly feast, and 
 communicated with a Hvely, with a crucifying, but yet endearing 
 remembrance, of her crucified Saviour. 
 
 The sermons she heard, when she came home she recollected, 
 and wrote down out of her memory abstracts of them all, which 
 are in a great number among her papers, that she might be, " not 
 only a hearer of the word, but a doer also," 
 
 The Holy Scriptures she attentively read, and on what she read, 
 she did devoutly meditate, and did by meditation appropriate to 
 herself; it was her soul's daily bread, it was " her delight and her 
 counsellor," and, like the most blessed Virgin Mother, " she kept 
 all things she read, and pondered them in her heart." 
 
 Who is there can say they ever saw her idle.'' No, she had 
 
 1 Prov. iv. iS. 
 
6s A Funeral Sermon 
 
 on 
 
 always affairs to transact with heaven, she was all her life long 
 " numbering her days, and applying her heart to wisdom," or, to 
 describe her with her own pen, she was " making it her business 
 to fit herself for her change, knowing the moment of it to be un- 
 certain, and having no assurance that her warning would be 
 great." Oh happy soul, that was thus wise, in a timely considera- 
 tion of that, which of all things in the world is of greatest import- 
 ance to us to be considered, namely our latter end I 
 
 You may easily conclude that a saint, who was always thus 
 conversant with her grave, and had heaven always in her view, 
 must have little or no value for things below; as indeed she had 
 not, she did not only conquer the world, but she triumphed over 
 it, had a noble contempt of secular greatness, lived several years 
 in the very court with the abstraction of a recluse, and was so far 
 from being " solicitous for riches, for herself or her children," that 
 to use her own words, she looked on them " as dangerous things, 
 which did only clog and press down our souls to this earth, and 
 judged a competency to be certainly the best." 
 
 All the temporal blessings the divine goodness was pleased to 
 vouchsafe her, she received with an overflowing thankfulness, yet 
 her affections were so disengaged, her temperance and moderation 
 so habitual, that she did rather use than enjoy them, and was 
 always ready to restore them to the same gracious hand that gave 
 them, but no one can express her thoughts so pathetically as her 
 own self. Oh, says that blessed saint, " since God gives us all, let 
 us not be sorrowful though we are to part with all, the kingdom of 
 heaven is a prize that is worth striving for, though it costs us 
 dear : alas ! what is there in this world, that links our hearts so 
 close to it!" and elsewhere she affirms, that "all blessings are 
 given on this condition, that either they must be taken from us, 
 or we from them ; if then we lose any thing which we esteem a 
 blessing, we are to give God the glory, and to resign it freely." 
 
 She was a perfect despiser of all those vanities and divertise- 
 ments which most of her sex do usually admire ; her chief, and 
 in a manner, sole recreation was to do good, and to oblige, and if 
 we will be advised by one so wise to salvation, " we are to seek 
 for comfort and joy from God's ordinances, and the converse of 
 pious Christians, and not to take the usual course of the world to 
 drive away melancholy, by exposing ourselves to temptations ;" 
 and this was really her practice, insomuch that next to the service 
 of the temple, which she daily frequented, there was no entertain- 
 ment in the whole world so pleasing to her, as the discourse of 
 heavenly things, and those she spake of with such a spiritual 
 relish, that at first hearing, you might perceive she was in 
 earnest, that she really " tasted the Lord was good," and felt all 
 she spake. 
 
 Amidst all her pains and her sicknesses, which were sharp, 
 
the Lady Mainard. 69 
 
 and many, who ever saw her shew any one symptom of im- 
 patience ? So far was she from it, that she laments, when she 
 reflects " how apt we are to abuse prosperity," demands, " where 
 our conformity is to the great Captain of our salvation, if we have 
 no sufterings ; " professes, " that God by suffering our conditions 
 to be uneasy, by that gentle way, invites us to higher satisfactions, 
 than are to be met with here," and with a prostrate spirit, " ac- 
 knowledges that God was most righteous in all that had befallen 
 her, and that there had been so much mercy mixed with His chas- 
 tising, that she had been but too happy." Thus humble, thus 
 content, thus thankful, was this gracious woman, amidst her very 
 afflictions. Her soul always rested on God's paternal mercy, and 
 on all His exceeding great and precious promises, as on a sure 
 and steadfast anchor, which she knew would secure her, in the 
 most tempestuous calamities ; to His blessed will, she hourly 
 offered up her own, and knew it was as much her duty to suffer 
 His fatherly inflictions, as to obey His commands. Her charity 
 made her sympathize with all in misery, and besides her private 
 alms, wherein her left hand was not conscious to her right, she 
 was a common patroness to the poor and needy, and a common 
 physician to her sick neighbours, and would often with her own 
 hands dress their most loathsome sores, and sometimes keep them 
 in her family, and would give them both diet and lodging till they 
 were cured, and then clothe them and send them home, to give 
 God thanks for their recovery, and if they died, her charity ac- 
 companied them sometimes to the very grave, and she took care 
 even of their burial. She would by no means endure, " that by 
 the care of plentifully providing for her children, the wants and 
 necessities of any poor Christian should be overlooked, and 
 desired it might be remembered that alms and the poor's prayers 
 will bring a greater blessing to them, than thousands a year.'^ 
 Look abroad now in the world, and see, how rarely you shall 
 meet with a charity like that of this gracious woman, who next to 
 her own flesh and blood, was tender of the poor, and thought an 
 alms as much due to them as portions to her children. 
 
 To corporal alms, as often as she saw occasion, she joined 
 spiritual, and she had a singular talent in dispensing that alms to 
 souls ; she had a masculine reason to persuade, a steady wisdom 
 to advise, a perspicuity both of thought and language to instruct, 
 a mildness that endeared a reproof, and could comfort the afflicted 
 from her own manifold experience of the divine goodness, and 
 with so condoling a tenderness that she seemed to translate their 
 anguish on herself. 
 
 And happy was it for others, that her charity was so compre- 
 hensive, for she often met with objects so deplorable that were to 
 be relieved in all these capacities, that she was fain to become 
 their benefactress, their physician, and their divine altogether, or 
 
70 A Funeral Sermon on 
 
 if need were, she bid them shew themselves to the priest or else 
 took care to send the priest to them ; thus was it visibly her con- 
 stant endeavour to be in all respects merciful, as her Father in 
 heaven is merciful. 
 
 She could bear long, and most easily forgive, and no one ever 
 injured her but she would heap coals of fire on his head, to melt 
 him into a charitable temper, and would often repay the injury 
 with a kindness so surprising, that if the injurious person were not 
 wholly obdurate and brutish must needs affect him. But if any 
 one did her the least good office, none could be more grateful ; she 
 would if possible return it a hundred-fold, if she could not in 
 kind, she would at least do it in her prayers to God, that out of 
 His inexhaustible goodness He would reward him. 
 
 Her soul seemed to possess a continued serenity, at peace with 
 herself, at peace with God, and at peace with all the world ; her 
 study was to give all their due, and she was exactly sincere and 
 faithful to all her obligations, she kept her heart always with all 
 diligence, was watchful against all temptations and naturally con- 
 siderate in all her actions ; her disposition was peaceful, and in- 
 offensive ; she looked always pleased rather than cheerful, her 
 converse was even and serious but yet easy and affable ; her 
 interpretations of what others did or said were always candid and 
 charitable, you should never see her indecently angry or out of 
 humour, never hear her give an ill character, or pass a hard 
 censure, or speak an idle word, but " she opened her mouth in 
 wisdom, and in her tongue was the law of kindness." ^ 
 
 If you look on her, in her several relations, in her childhood, 
 her father the Right Honourable the Earl of Dysart, being 
 banished for his loyalty, she was under the breeding of the 
 excellent lady her mother, to whom she was in all respects so 
 dutiful a child that she protested her daughter had never in any 
 one instance offended her ; by that time the young lady was about 
 eleven or twelve years old, God was pleased to take her good 
 mother to Himself, and from that time to her marriage, this 
 gracious wo?nan lived with a discretion so much above her years, 
 with so conspicuous a virtue and so constant a wariness, that she 
 always retained honour^ such an hojiour as never had the least 
 mote in it. And to her honour be it spoken, that in an age when 
 the generality of the nation were like children tossed to and fro 
 with every wind of doctrine, she still continued steadfast in the 
 communion of the Church of England, and when the priests and 
 service of God were driven into corners, she daily resorted, 
 though with great difficulty, to the public prayers, and was re- 
 markably charitable to all the suffering royalists, whom she 
 visited and relieved and fed and clothed and condoled, with a 
 zeal like that which the ancient Christians showed to the primi- 
 tive martyrs. 
 
 1 Prov. xxxi. 26. 
 
the Lady Mainard. 71 
 
 The silenced, and plundered, and persecuted clergy, she thought 
 worthy of double honour ; did vow a certain sum yearly, out of 
 her income, which she laid aside only to succour them. The con- 
 gregations, where she then usually communicated, were those of 
 the reverend and pious Dr Thruscross, and Dr Mossom, both 
 now in heaven, and that of the then Mr Gunning, the now most 
 worthy Bishop of Ely, for whom she ever after had a peculiar 
 veneration. 
 
 But I must by no means pass by the Right Reverend Father in 
 God, Bishop Duppa, then of Salisbury, afterwards of Winchester, 
 but now with God, who was then put out of all, and an exemplary 
 confessor, for the king and the Church ; this holy man, when she 
 resided in the country, lived in the neighbourhood, and she often 
 visited him, and he seemed to be designed on purpose by God's 
 most gracious direction to be her spiritual guide, to confirm her 
 in all her holy resolutions, to satisfy all those scruples, to becalm 
 all those fears and regulate all those fervours which are incident 
 to an early and tender piety ; and God's goodness rendered him 
 so successful, that she retained the happy influence of his ghostly 
 advice to her dying day. 
 
 Before the age of twenty she was married to the Right Honour- 
 able WilHam Lord Mainard, to whom in her letters she often 
 gives the most aiTectionate thanks imaginable, for his invaluable 
 and unparalleled kindness towards her, as she herself terms it, 
 and most fervently prays that the Lord Jesus Christ would be his 
 exceeding great reward and his portion for ever ; but I forbear to 
 offer violence to the modesty of the survivor, and will content 
 myself to say only in general, that when she was a wife, she still 
 retained her accustomed devotion which she practised when a 
 virgin, and her greatest concern was " for the things of the Lord, 
 how she might please the Lord, how in a marriage honourable, 
 and a bed undefiled, she might be holy both in body and in 
 spirit, and attend upon the Lord, without distraction."^ And 
 since, as Solomon affirms, " a prudent wife is from the Lord," ^ 
 she was certainly the immediate gift of God, and sent by propitious 
 heaven, for a good angel, as well as for a wife. 
 
 As a mother she was unspeakably tender, and careful, of the 
 two children with which God had blest her ; but her zeal for their 
 eternal welfare was predominant, and she made it her dying 
 request that in their education, their piety should be principally 
 regarded, or to speak her own words, " that the chief care should 
 be, to make them pious Christians, which would be the best pro- 
 vision that could be made for them." 
 
 In reference to her son, it was her express desire, that he should 
 be good, rather than either rich or great, " that he should be bred 
 in the strictest principles of sobriety, piety, and charity, of tem- 
 
 1 1 Cor, vii. 32. 2 Prov. xix. 14. 
 
72 A Funeral Sermon on 
 
 perance and innocency of life, that could be ; that he should never 
 be indulged in the least sin, that he should never be that, which 
 these corrupt days call a wit, or a fine gentleman, but an honest 
 and sincere Christian, she desired he might be," 
 
 She professed, " there was nothing hard to be parted with, but her 
 lord, and her dear children," but though her passion for them was 
 as intense as can well be imagined, yet for the sake of her God, 
 whom she loved infinitely better, she was willing to part with 
 them also, had long foreseen the parting and prepared for it, and 
 " humbly begged of her heavenly Father, to take them into His 
 protection : " she took care of their souls, even after her death, in 
 the letters she left behind her, and comforted herself with an 
 entire acquiescence in the good pleasure of her beloved, with hopes 
 that she should still pray for them in heaven, and that she should, 
 ere long, meet them there ; and this consideration of meeting 
 above put her into a transport which makes her, in one of her 
 letters, cry out, *' O how joyful shall we be, to meet at Christ's 
 right hand, if we may be admitted into that elect number ! " 
 
 In her family, she always united Martha and Mary^ together, 
 took a due care of all her domestic affairs, and managed them 
 with a wise frugality, with a constant deference to God's merciful 
 providence, and without either covetous fears or restless anxiety; 
 but withal, "she sat at the feet of Jesus, and heard His word, and 
 of the two was still more intent on the better part." 
 
 She studiously endeav^oured by private and particular and warm 
 iapplications to make all that attended her, more God's servants 
 than her own, and treated them with a meekness and indulgence 
 and condescension like one who was always mindful " that she her- 
 self also had a Master in heaven."^ 
 
 Her near relations, and all that were blest with her friendship, 
 had a daily share in her intercessions, all their concerns, all their 
 afflictions were really her own ; her chief kindness was for their 
 souls, and she loved them with a charity, like that which the 
 blessed shew to one another in heaven, in their reciprocal com- 
 plaisance at each other's happiness, and mutual incitements to 
 devotion. 
 
 In respect of the public, which she often laid sadly to heart, her 
 eyes ran down in secret, for all our national provocations, and she 
 had a particular office on fasting days for that purpose ; which 
 shews how importunate she was, at the throne of grace, to avert 
 God's judgments and to implore His blessing on the land. 
 
 And now, after all these great truths which I have said of this 
 excellent lady, one grace I must add, greater than all I have 
 hitherto mentioned, and it is her humility ; she was so little given 
 to talk, and had that art to conceal her goodness, that, it did not 
 appear at first sight, but after some time her virt;ue would break 
 
 1 Luke X. 41, 42. 2 Eph. vi. 9. 
 
the Lady Mainard. 73 
 
 out, whether she would or no ; she seemed to be wholly ignorant 
 of her own graces, and had as mean an opinion of herself, as if 
 she had had no excellence at all ; like Moses, " her face shined, 
 and she did not know it ; ^ " others she esteemed so much better, 
 had that abasing sense of her own infirmities, and that profound 
 awe of the divine Majesty, that though she was great in God's 
 eyes, she was always little in her own. 
 
 After the Whitsun-week was over, she removed from Whitehall 
 to Easton-lodge in Essex, not out of any hopes of recovery, but 
 only that she might have some little present relief from the air, or 
 that she might die in a place which she loved, in which God had 
 made her an instrument of so great good to the country, and which 
 was near her grave ; and you may easily imagine, that after a life 
 so holy, the death of this gracious woman must needs be signally 
 happy ; and so it was, not but that during her pains, she had often 
 doubts and fears that afflicted her, with which in her health she 
 was unmolested, and which did manifestly arise from her dis- 
 temper, and did cease as that intermitted ; but the day before she 
 died, God was pleased to vouchsafe her some clearer manifesta- 
 tions of His mercy, which in the tenderness of His compassion He 
 sent her as preparatives of her last conflict, and as earnests of 
 heaven, whither He intended the day following to translate her. 
 
 How she behaved herself in her sickness, I cannot better express 
 than by saying, that she prayed continually ; and when the prayers 
 of the Church were read by her, or when the hour of her own 
 private prayer came, though she was not able to stand or to help 
 herself, she would yet be placed on her knees ; and when her 
 knees were no longer able to support her, she would be put into 
 the humblest posture she could possibly endure, not being satisfied 
 unless she gave God His entire oblation, and "glorified Him in 
 her body, as well as in her spirit, which were both God's own " ^ by 
 purchase here, and were both to be united in bliss hereafter. 
 
 On Whitsunday she received her viaticum^ the most holy body 
 and blood of her Saviour, and had received it again, had not her 
 death surprised us, yet in the strength of that immortal food she 
 was enabled to go out her journey, and seemed to have had a new 
 transfusion of grace from it, insomuch, that though her limbs were 
 all convulsed, her pains great, and without intermission, her 
 strength quite exhausted, and her head disturbed with a perpetual 
 drowsiness, yet above and beyond all seeming possibility she 
 would use force to herself, to keep herself waking, to offer to God 
 her customary sacrifice to the full, to recollect her thoughts, and 
 to lodge them in heaven, where her heart and her treasure was, as 
 if she had already taken possession of her mansion there, or as if 
 she were teaching her soul to act independently from the body, 
 and practising beforehand the state of separation, into which; 
 
 1 Exod. xxxiv. 29. 2 I Cor. vL 20. 
 
74 A Funeral Sermon on the Lady Mainard. 
 
 having received absolution, she in a short time happily launched ; 
 for all the bands of union being untied, her soul was set at liberty, 
 and on the wings of angels took a direct and vigorous flight to its 
 native country, heaven, from whence it first flew down.^ 
 
 There, then, we must leave her, in the bosom of her heavenly 
 bridegroom, where, how radiant her crown is, how ecstatic her joy, 
 how high exalted she is in degrees of glory, is impossible to be de- 
 scribed ; for " neither eye hath seen, nor ear heard, nor has it 
 entered into the heart of man to be conceived, the good things 
 which God hath prepared for those that love Him," ^ of all which she 
 is now partaker. 
 
 We have nothing then to do but to congratulate this gracious 
 woman her eternal and unchangeable honour, and as she always 
 and in all things gave God the glory here, so that His praise was 
 continually in her mouth, for all the multitude of His mercies, and 
 of His loving-kindness towards her, and is now praising Him in 
 heaven ; let us also offer up a sacrifice of praise for her great 
 example ; her light has long shined before us, and we have seen 
 her good works. Let us therefore glorify the Father of Lights, at 
 whose beams her soul was first lighted. 
 
 Blessed then for ever be the infinite goodness of God, who was 
 so liberal of His graces to this humble saint, who made her so 
 lively a picture of His own perfections, so gracious, and so honour- 
 able : blessed be His mercy, for indulging her to us so long, for 
 taking her in His good time to Himself, and for that happiness 
 she has now in heaven. To God be the glory of all that honour 
 her graciousness did here acquire, for to Him only it is due ; let 
 therefore His most holy name have all the praise. 
 
 To our thanksgiving let us add our prayers also, that God 
 would vouchsafe us all His Holy Spirit, so to assist, and sanctify, 
 and guide us, that every one of our souls may be gracious like hers, 
 that our life may be like hers, our latter end like hers, and our 
 portion in heaven like hers, which God of His infinite mercy grant, 
 for the sake of His most beloved Son, to whom with the Father, 
 and the blessed Spirit, be all honour and glory, adoration, and 
 obedience, now and for ever. Amen. 
 
 1 Luke xvi. 22. - i Cor. ii. 9. 
 
A SERMON • 
 
 PREACHED 
 IN THE KING'S CHAPEL AT WHITEHALL, 1685. 
 
 "O Daniel, a man greatly beloved." — Dan. x. ii. 
 
 T AM not surprised, if at the first hearing you censure the choice 
 -*- of my text, as having no regard to those two important circum- 
 stances, time and place : not to time, because the story of Daniel 
 seems foreign to the fast of Lent; not to place, because Daniel seems 
 an example unfit for the court, being a prophet, one whose religion 
 looks as much like his calling as his virtue ; one who had super- 
 natural gifts, and immediate inspirations, which make up an 
 original too singular and extraordinary for any but prophets to 
 copy out. 
 
 But if it shall appear that Daniel was not of the sacerdotal but 
 regal line : if it shall appear that he was a courtier, and not only a 
 courtier but a favourite ; and not only a courtier and a favourite, 
 but a minister too ; such a courtier, and favourite, and minister,' 
 as no age can parallel : if to the courtier, the favourite, and the 
 minister, be added the ascetic and the saint ; if in all these 
 respects, he was, as the margin literally renders it, a man of 
 desires, or, according to the Hebrew idiom, a man greatly beloved 
 both by God and men : if from these materials I form such an 
 idea, which shall be proportioned to your imitation, and show you 
 Daniel's secret, that every one of you may skill the art to become 
 greatly beloved, like him ; I hope you will be reconciled to the 
 subject I have chosen, as not being unsuitable to this penitential 
 season, as not being improper for this august assembly, whose 
 edification is both my duty and design. 
 
 If, then, you will be pleased to take a view of the several excel- 
 
y6 A Sermon preached 
 
 lences of this great man, so greatly* beloved, and so greatly worthy 
 of your observation ; the first that occurs is his noble extraction. 
 He and his three kinsmen, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah,^ as 
 to their tribe were of the children of Judah ; and not only of the 
 royal tribe in general, but in particular of the royal family, as all 
 agree : and though Josephus will have them of the kindred of 
 King Zedekiah, yet they seem to speak more probably who affirm 
 them to be sons of King Hezekiah, or rather descended from him. 
 This being most consonant to the prophecy of Isaiah, who foretells 
 concerning Hezekiah, "that his sons which should issue from him, 
 should be taken away, and should be in the palace of the king of 
 Babylon : " and this was punctually fulfilled, when Nebuchadnezzar 
 commanded Ashpenaz to bring "certain of the children of Israel, and 
 of the king's seed, and of the princes, that they might stand in the 
 king's palace, and before the king," ^ that they might live constantly 
 in the court : and the persons who were thus brought were Daniel, 
 and his three companions, who were therefore all four princes by 
 royal descent, and courtiers by royal designation. 
 
 But that I may more particularly pursue the character of 
 Daniel, leaving his other three fellow-courtiers, I am next to 
 add, that Daniel was not only a courtier like them, but also a 
 favourite. The name courtier belongs to all who have the honour 
 to attend their prince ; but the title favourite implies a peculiar 
 grace, which is indulged but to a few, whom their sovereign is 
 pleased to treat more like friends than servants, more like familiars 
 than subjects : and yet a minister sounds something greater than 
 a favourite : one is created in a moment, the other is framed 
 by degrees out of great abilities and a long experience : one is 
 often the choice of an unaccountable affection ; the other, of a 
 deliberate judgment : one studies how to please his prince, the 
 other how to greaten and to secure him. And Daniel, the man 
 greatly beloved, was favourite and minister to at least five great 
 emperors of the world : I say at least five ; because, if it were 
 proper to entertain this auditory with the perplexities m this part 
 of chronology, from the different enumerations which are given 
 of the Babylonian kings, I might reckon more than five : but in 
 regard the sacred history mentions no more, I shall confine myself 
 to that number. 
 
 Of these five, three were kings of Babylon ; which are all in- 
 timated by the Prophet Jeremy ; where, speaking of Nebuchad- 
 nezzar, he predicts, that ''all nations should serve him, and his 
 son, and his son's son, until the time of his land come : " ^ where 
 three only are mentioned ; the first of whom is Nebuchadnezzar, 
 who had a particular favour for Daniel above his three fellow- 
 captives, and therefore gave him the most honourable name, 
 
 1 Chap. i. 6. 2 Chap. i. 3, 5. ^ Jer. xxvii. 7. 
 
at Whitehall^ 1685. yy 
 
 " Belteshazzar : " ^ a name which seems appropriate to the royal 
 family, and is either the same or very little different from " Bel- 
 shazzar," ~ the name of his grandchild, who afterwards succeeded 
 in the empire ; and that which rendered the favour much greater 
 was, that he called him " Belteshazzar ; " ^ f^om the name of his 
 god, of his great god Bel : nay, so fixed was the kindness the king 
 bare him, that when his three friends were thrown into the 
 fiery furnace, for not " falling down and worshipping the golden 
 image," ^ Daniel, who without all doubt abhorred that idolatry as 
 well as they, was yet too dear to the king to run the same fate ; 
 and he stood exempt from that fiery trial, from that inhuman 
 condemnation. 
 
 Nor was he only " Nebuchadnezzar's favourite, but his minister 
 too ; " for he made him " a great man, and gave him many great 
 gifts, and made him ruler over the whole province of Babylon, and 
 chief of the governors over all the wise men of Babylon.'' ^ More 
 than this, at Daniel's request, to whom it seems he could deny 
 nothing, he set his three dear associates, " Shadrach, Meshach, 
 and Abednego, over the affairs of the province of Babylon." ^ 
 
 But we cannot take the true height of that favour and of that 
 trust which Daniel had, unless we estimate it from the greatness 
 and dominion of the king he served : " greatness which reached 
 unto heaven, and dominion which spread to the end of the earth." ^ 
 Insomuch that God is said " to give him a kingdom and majesty, 
 and glory, and honour ; and for the majesty God gave him, all 
 people and nations and languages trembled and feared before 
 him ; whom he would he slew, and whom he would he kept alive ; 
 whom he would he set up, and whom he would he put dowil." ^ 
 Now to be entire favourite and chief minister to so universal a 
 monarch as this is certainly to be one of the greatest subjects that 
 ever was ; and to this sublimity of honour was Daniel exalted. 
 
 King Nebuchadnezzar enjoyed the monarchy of the world about 
 forty-three years ; and then left it to his son, Evil-Merodach, not 
 mentioned by Daniel, possibly, because the prophet had no re- 
 markable visions during his reign, as he had during the reigns 
 of the other emperors. But whatever the reason be of Daniel's 
 silence in this particular, he is mentioned in other places of Holy 
 Writ ; and we may reasonably presume, that the son could not 
 easily forget how mightily Daniel had merited of his father, and 
 how useful and necessary he was to the affairs of the empire. 
 And if the story of Bel and the Dragon, which our Church reads 
 for example of life, and instruction of manners ; if that story 
 happened under this emperor's reign, as some good chronologers 
 attempt to prove, then Daniel still kept the same pitch of great- 
 
 1 Dan i. 7. 2 Chap. v. 12, 3 Chap. iv. 8. 
 
 4 Chap. iii. 20. 5 Chap. ii. 48. 6 Chap. ii. 49. 
 
 7 Chap. iv. 22. 8 Chap. v. 18, 19. 
 
78 A Sermon preached 
 
 ness under the son, as he did under the father ; for it is there 
 expressly said, that " he conversed with the king, and was honoured 
 above all his friends." ^ And we may probably enough impute 
 that great liberty, and that royal treatment, which the captive 
 king of Judah, Jehoiachin, then found from Evil-Merodach, to the 
 power and intercession of Daniel, his beloved minister.^ 
 
 Evil-Merodach having worn the imperial crown about twenty- 
 two years, Belshazzar succeeds next ; and Daniel was still the 
 same great man under the son, as he had been under the father 
 and the grandfather. For it was Belshazzar who commanded, that 
 " Daniel should be clothed with scarlet, and a chain of gold should 
 be put about his neck, and proclamation made, he should be the 
 third ruler in his kingdom," ^ next to himself, and, as it is most 
 likely, to his own son. And he was as much his minister as his 
 favourite ; and is therefore said to " rise up, and to do the king's 
 business."* 
 
 Belshazzar within about four years disappeared, and Darius 
 seized the kingdom ; and translated the empire from the Baby- 
 lonians to the Medes. And Daniel still shone with the same 
 lustre as before ; and was by " Darius set over all the Median 
 princes," ^ and designed to be set over the whole realm. And how 
 greatly beloved he was by his new master you may easily guess, 
 by that great sorrow, and concern, and zeal for his deliverance the 
 king showed, by his refusing all instruments of music, and his 
 being able to take no rest, whilst his beloved Daniel, by an unjust 
 extorted sentence, was surrendered to the lions ; by that exceeding 
 joy he betrayed for his safety ; and by the exemplary vengeance 
 he retaliated on his accusers, making their very wives and children 
 share in their destruction.^ 
 
 Darius having wielded the imperial sceptre eighteen years, or 
 thereabouts, Cyrus invaded his throne, and began a new monarchy 
 of the Persians : and Daniel is said to prosper under the reign of 
 Cyrus, as well as of Darius. '' And in the third year of this 
 emperor's reign, we are sure that Daniel was alive, ^ though how 
 long after we cannot tell ; but undoubtedly whilst he lived he had 
 as great influence on Cyrus, as he had on the former emperors ; 
 and his dexterous application, together with his informing him of 
 those prophecies of Isaiah, where the great God of Israel had 
 honoured him with the glorious appellations of His shepherd and 
 of His anointed,^ niight, in all probability, be one great incentive 
 which God used, to stir up the spirit of that infidel monarch to 
 make that auspicious proclamation for the return of the captivity, 
 and for the rebuilding of both the city and the temple. ^^ One 
 
 1 History of Bel and the Dragon, v. 2. _ '2 Kings, xxv. 27 ; Jer. Hi. 31. 
 
 3 Chap. V. 29. * Chap. viii. 27. ^ Chap. vi. 3. 
 
 6 Chap. vi. I, 2, 3, 14, 18, 23, 24. ^ Chap. vi. 28. 8 Chap. x. i. 
 
 9 Isa. xliv. 28; xlv. I. 10 2 Chron. xxxvi. 22; Ezra. i. r, &c. 
 
at Whitehall, 1685. 79 
 
 thing more is very remarkable, that though Daniel was exceeded by 
 none in the zealous love he bore to his own native country, and was 
 by no means fond of his sovereign greatness ; yet we do not read, 
 he ever returned with his countrymen, but denied himself that 
 consolation for his dear Israel's sake ; that, being his nation's 
 resident in the Persian court, he might keep his interest alive, 
 and be ready on all occasions to negotiate and further their 
 affairs. 
 
 It is now time to reflect, how rare and difficult it is for a person 
 of conspicuous eminence to get a sure footing in the very land of 
 his own nativity, where places and customs and laws are all 
 familiar and natural to him; and where he has so many friends 
 and relations to assist and support him. But when we con- 
 template Daniel's greatness, and how impregnable it was, it 
 seems to be prodigious, especially considering the many dis- 
 advantages under which he lay. He was a captive, and his very 
 captivity rendered him vile and contemptible ; he was a stranger, 
 and yet engrossed the highest honours in a foreign country, by 
 which he became obnoxious to a national envy ; he was a Jew, 
 one who had an utter antipathy to the Pagan idolatry, and was 
 the infidels' common enemy. Now to see a captive, a stranger, a 
 Jew, both courtier and favourite, and minister to five succeeding 
 monarchs of the Gentiles, in no less than three universal monarchies; 
 to see a Jewish slave dive into the counsels, and please the humours 
 of so many imperious masters ; to shift empires so often, and to 
 accommodate himself so properly, first to the Babylonian, then to 
 the Median, then to the Persian rites, and maxims, and interests, 
 and dependences ; in such amazing revolutions, to be fixed in an 
 orb above all clouds, and storms, and mutations, in the region 
 below ; when fate fell three several times in labour of new empires ; 
 to feel none of those pangs and convulsions under which all the 
 world besides did groan ; to stand unshaken, when the public 
 suffered so many universal earthquakes ; for a Hebrew slave to be 
 so greatly beloved and honoured by so many heathen emperors, 
 for about ninety years together, and in that time to see the ruin 
 and the resurrection of his own native country ; more than this, to 
 be ordained by propitious heaven on purpose, by his interest in 
 those emperors, to be his country's patron in misery, its advocate 
 under oppression, its deliverer out of captivity, and its restorer to 
 its pristine glory ; is certainly to be such a courtier, and favourite, 
 and minister, as no period of time could ever shew such another ; 
 and Daniel was all this, who, like an intelligence, was ever moving 
 his sphere, and ever immoveable himself. 
 
 Thus was Daniel a man greatly beloved by kings ; and so he 
 was by the people too : the history of Susanna expressly says, 
 " that from that day forth, Daniel was had in great reputation in 
 
86 A Sen/ioH preached 
 
 the sight of the people." ^ From that day forth, which is as much 
 as to say that he was in universal esteem all the time he lived. 
 For at that time, when he gave judgment on the two elders, he was 
 but a young youth,- about twelve years old, if some of the ancients 
 may be believed : and the Jewish historian affirms, that Daniel 
 had that great happiness all his Hfe long to be honoured, not only 
 by kings, but by the people too ; nay, so constant and notorious 
 a favourite he was, both to the prince, and to the whole empire, 
 that as Nebuchadnezzar changed his name from Daniel to Belte- 
 shazzar ; so the angel Gabriel seems to change his name once 
 more from Belteshazzar to the man greatly beloved, for so he is 
 there called, " O man, greatly beloved." ^ 
 
 But that which crowns all is this, that when he had served 
 three mighty monarchies, with five the greatest monarchs in the 
 world, for so many years together, his death, after a very busy life, 
 was most pacific and honourable ; and after his death, his memory 
 was precious and eternal : he died as great as he Hved ; for either 
 he was buried in a most magnificent tower of his own building 
 at Ecbatan in Media, where the Median, and Persian, and 
 Parthian kings were ever after ambitious to be interred ; or, 
 as others affirm, he was buried at Babylon in the very imperial 
 sepulchre ; the greatest monarchs esteeming his neighbourhood 
 in the very grave the highest of all honours, hoping that his sacred 
 ashes mJght hallow theirs. 
 
 And yet for Daniel to be the darling of so many mighty king- 
 doms, was infinitely short of that incomparable fehcity he had, to 
 be the peculiar favourite of heaven ; in which respect he was most 
 eminently the man greatly beloved. For if to receive the greatest 
 favours from God that mortal man is capable of receiving, be an 
 argument of God's love, then was Daniel beloved, greatly beloved 
 by God. 
 
 It was this love of God, which made His greatly beloved Daniel 
 prosperous in adversity, that gave him freedom in captivity, 
 friendship among enemies, safety among infidels, victory over his 
 conquerors, and all the privileges of a native in strange countries : 
 it was this love of God, that gave His greatly beloved " knowledge 
 and skill in all learning and wisdom, and understanding in all 
 visions and dreams."^ It was this love of God, that dehvered 
 him in dangers ; from the conspiracy and malice of the Median 
 princes, and from the fury of the lions : that sent one angel into 
 the den to stop their mouths ; and another angel at another time, 
 to bring a prophet on purpose to feed him : that signally revenged 
 him of his enemies, and did by a miracle vindicate his integrity." 
 It was the love of God, that sent the angel Gabriel to visit him, 
 to be his interpreter, to strengthen, and comfort, and encourage 
 
 1 Susanna, ver. 64. 2 ibid., 45. ^ Daniel ix. 23; x. 19. 
 
 ♦ Daniel i. 17. 5 Daniel vi. 4, 5, 22, 24. Hist, of Bel., 36, 42. 
 
at Whitehall, 1685, 8 1 
 
 him ; to reveal secrets to him, and to assure him that his prayers 
 were heard. ^ It was the love of God, which gave him the spirit 
 of prophecy, that excellent spirit, that spirit of the holy gods, 
 as the Babylonians styled it, by which he foretold the rise and 
 period of the four monarchies, the return of the captivity, and wrote 
 long beforehand the affairs of future ages.^ But beyond all this, 
 it was the love of God that presented him with a clearer landscape 
 of the Gospel than any other prophet ever had : he was the 
 beloved prophet under the old dispensation, as John was the 
 beloved disciple under the new : and both being animated with 
 the same divine love, there was a wonderful harmony between 
 them : both of them had miraculous preservations, one from 
 the hons, the other from the boiling cauldron ; both engaged 
 young in the service of God, and consecrated their lives by an 
 early piety, and both lived to a great and equal age, to about 
 an hundred years ; both had the like intimacy with God, the like 
 admittance into the most adorable mysteries, and the like abund- 
 ance of heavenly visions ; both had the like lofty flights, and 
 ecstatic revelations. Read what Daniel saw, of the " Ancient 
 of Days, and of His throne, and of the angels His attendants," ^ 
 and you must needs say, that his visions in this life were next 
 to beatific. His prophecies of the Messiah,'* of the precise time of 
 His coming, and of His cutting off; of the destruction of Jerusa- 
 lem, and of Antichrist ; of the Son of Man,^ and of the universality 
 and perpetuity of His kingdom, the Church Catholic ; of the day 
 of judgment, of the resurrection, of heaven, and of hell ; were 
 so literally fulfilled in the Gospel, and so legible there, and all his 
 predictions so express, and full, and particular, that for this very 
 reason his writings were questioned by both the Gentiles and the 
 Jews, because they looked more like the history of things past, 
 than a prophecy of things to come. But the Jews' own historian 
 esteemed Daniel one of the greatest prophets, for the same reason 
 for which others unjustly reproach him. The mouth of truth, our 
 blessed Saviour, has declared Daniel a prophet ; ^ and the greater 
 clearness his prophecies have, the more likely they are to be wrote 
 by Daniel ; who the more greatly he was beloved, the greater were 
 the communications of Divine love to him, and the greater by 
 consequence were his illuminations. 
 
 All these wonderful vouchsafements from above to Daniel, 
 though they were most illustrious demonstrations that he was 
 greatly beloved, yet they were indulged him for the sake of others, 
 as well as for his own : there is therefore one more illustrious than 
 
 1 Daniel ii. 19 ; viii. 16; ix. 22 ; x. 11, 12, ig. 
 
 2 Daniel iv. 9, 18; v. 11, 12, 14; x. 14; ix. 25. 
 
 3 Daniel vii. 9, 10. * Daniel ix. 23, &c. 
 5 Daniel vii. 9, 13, 14, 18, 27; xii. i, 2, 3. 
 
 " Matt. -xxiv. 15. 
 
82 A Sermon preached 
 
 all these, and that is a favour which God bestows on but very few, 
 and on none but great saints, who are greatly beloved ; and not 
 usually on them till near their death, and is the very top blessing 
 of which man is capable in this hfe, the highest bliss on this 
 side heaven ; and that is, an absolute assurance of a glorious im- 
 mortality ; and such an assurance as this had the beloved Daniel ; 
 for the angel having discoursed to him of the resurrection of those 
 that " sleep in the dust, and of their awaking to everlasting life ; " ^ 
 adds, " Go thy way till the end be ; for thou shalt rest, and stand 
 in thy lot at the end of the days." O the unutterable felicity of 
 this man, thus greatly beloved by God I whilst the generality of 
 saints sigh under their flesh and blood, which clogs, and loads and 
 depresses them ; whilst the penitent are still begging their pardon, 
 and the humble full of fears and misgivings, by reason of their 
 numerous failings ; whilst the best of them all see heaven only 
 through a glass darkly, and at a distance, and can reach no higher 
 in this w^orld than hope, and desire, and reliance on God's promise, 
 and patient expectation ; Daniel, the man greatly beloved, has an 
 angel sent on purpose by God, to assure him of his lot in a glorious 
 eternity, and that his mansion there was prepared and brightened 
 to receive him : and yet this is not all ; Daniel was not only 
 assured of future glory, but of a greater degree of glory than others 
 had ; for having made it his great business here below to love 
 God Himself, and greatly to love Him, and to excite others to love 
 God as greatly as he loved Him, he was to have a more sublime 
 exaltation in bhss than ordinary ; the greater his love was, the 
 nearer was he to be seated to the throne of God his beloved ; and 
 having "turned many to righteousness, he was to shine as the 
 stars for ever and ever.'^ ^ 
 
 If ever then there was a happy man on earth, Daniel was the 
 man ; who lived beloved, greatly beloved by five mighty monarchs ; 
 greatly beloved by his own people ; greatly beloved by three 
 foreign nations ; and greatly beloved by God : and after a long, a 
 happy, an honourable life, died a peaceable and lamented death, 
 with full assurance of God's favour, was buried in the royal 
 sepulchre, and left an immortal blessed memory behind him in 
 the world, and ascended to glory, to a superlative degree of gloiy 
 in the kingdom of heaven. Who is there that does not above all 
 things desire to live and die like this man, greatly beloved ? Who 
 is there that is not impatient to know the peculiar maxims by 
 which Daniel conducted his life, and by which he became so 
 universally, so greatly beloved by God and man.^ 
 
 If then you would learn Daniel's secret, that powerful inflam- 
 mative and preservative of love, which Daniel had, and which 
 made him, according to the text, understood in a passive sense, a 
 man greatly beloved : take the very same expression in an active 
 
 1 Daniel xii. 2, 13. - Daniel xli. 3. 
 
at Whitehall, 1685. 83 
 
 sense, and then you have it ; he did greatly love, and therefore he 
 was greatly beloved : that was all the court-cunning, all the philtre 
 that Daniel had. It is love that most naturally attracts love ; 
 and from this love he is called, ''a man of desires ;" of desires 
 for the glory of God, and for the welfare of king and people ; still 
 I am short : he was a man full of desires ; so full, that he was 
 made up of desires, he was all desires ; for so the original em- 
 phatically styles him, " thou art desires." 1 
 
 But to descend to particulars ; it is very observable, that the 
 preparation he had for a court life was affliction : he had from his 
 childhood a great share in the calamity of his country ; and in the 
 first year of Nebuchadnezzar,^ and the third of Jehoiakim, about 
 eighteen years before the destruction of the city and temple under 
 Zedekias, and the total captivity of Judah began, he was carried 
 captive into Babylon, as another Joseph sent afore by God to be 
 the father of his country ; and captivity was the more insupportable 
 to him, being a prince of a great spirit, and born to command ; 
 and to see himself a slave to an insulting infidel, must needs be 
 one of the most outrageous afflictions that could possibly befall 
 him. But it is an usual method with God to lay the foundation of 
 a great sanctity in affliction ; affliction, which made lasting im- 
 pressions of his dependence on God, and kindled a fervent de- 
 votion, which melted him into a compassionate charity, and sank 
 him into a profound humility ; affliction, which taught him betimes 
 resignation to the divine will, the vanity of the world, and the un- 
 certainty of greatness; that happily prevented the assaults of youth- 
 ful lust, and by the experience he felt of gracious supports, and 
 endearing consolations, charmed him to make God his first and 
 only love. 
 
 Thus prepared by God's paternal care,^ accustomed to the yoke 
 from his youth, and armed against all the ghostly dangers he was 
 to encounter, he comes in a very tender age, as all generally affirm, 
 to the Babylonian court ; and being entirely prepossessed with the 
 love of God, never any young noble person entered a court with a 
 nobler resolution than did young Daniel, and that was, to live in 
 the King's palace an ascetic and a saint, as well as a courtier, and 
 never wilfully to offend God, his greatly beloved. This made him 
 " purpose in his heart, that he would not defile himself with the 
 portion of the King's meat, nor with the wine that he drank;"* 
 lest he should either eat meats forbidden by the law, or conse- 
 crated to the idol Bel, or be tempted to excess. And it is incred- 
 ible to think, how such an abstinence as this (which the Church 
 now recommends to our practice) did naturally fit him for his 
 secular employment : since our common observation teaches us, 
 that nothing more clouds our understandings, and indisposes us 
 
 1 Daniel ix. 23. - Ibid. i. i. 3 Lam. iii. 27. 
 
 ^ Daniel i. 8. 
 
84 ^ Sermon preached 
 
 for business ; nothing does more debase a great man, or makes a 
 wise man look more like a fool, or more exposes them to the 
 mockery and contempt of the meanest of their servants, or sup- 
 plies more fuel to brutish and wandering sensuality, or more 
 certainly dilapidates their estates, or is more destructive to their 
 health, than the surfeits of intemperance ; which abstinence does 
 either prevent, or correct. 
 
 Abstinence, the best defensive a Christian can have : abstin- 
 ence, that preserved young Daniel safe, amidst allurements more 
 formidable than the ravening lions in their den, and though he 
 was very young and very beautiful withal,^ fit to be both tempter 
 and temptation, though this young beautiful prince lived in the 
 greatest favour and honour, affluence and authority, in three the 
 most luxurious courts in the whole world : yet he lived untainted, 
 he lived always in the fiery furnace, and not so much as the smell 
 of fire passed on him,- but he still kept his virgin love for God, his 
 greatly beloved. So certain it is, that nothing more conduces to 
 the health and vivacity, and purity, both of mind and body, 
 than to feed now and then (especially at such a solemn time as 
 this) on pulse, like Daniel ; to become (for a few weeks) ascetics, 
 like him. Make but the trial, and you will wonder to find, how 
 much an abstinence like this, preserves the whole man entire for 
 God, and disposed for all the offices of divine love. 
 
 Next to Daniel's temperance as an ascetic, consider his devotion 
 as a saint, devotion which was the oil that kept the lamp burning 
 and secured all his other graces. Besides the continual ejacula- 
 tions which divine love was always inspiring, and he always 
 breathing ; amidst all the multiplicity of state affairs, he never 
 made business a dispensation from God's service, he retired into 
 his chamber three times a day for solemn prayer i^ love made him 
 zealous to converse with his beloved, and love made God greatly 
 communicative to his friend : when He was in any great perplexity, 
 prayer was his refuge, and God his counsellor ; he instantly with- 
 drew into his oratory, to desire mercies of the God of heaven, 
 concerning the secret ;* and when his prayers were heard, he took 
 as much care to give God thanks, as he had done to pray, he as- 
 cribed all to God, and nothing to himself, and blessed the God of 
 heaven. 
 
 Nor were his prayers confined to his own person, but he inter- 
 ceded with God for his own people also : he bewailed their 
 miseries, and their sins which occasioned them ; implored their 
 pardon and deliverance ; and he prayed for them with great 
 intenseness, and affectionate fervency ; he set his face to seek 
 God for them by prayer and supplication,^ and with the same 
 concern with which he prayed for himself. More than this, his 
 
 1 Daniel i. 4. - Ibid. iii. 27. 3 Ibid. vi. 10, 13. 
 
 ■1 Ibid. ii. 18, 19, 29. o Ibid. ix. 3, 4, &c. 
 
at Whitehall, 1685. 85 
 
 charity extended to the Babylonians too, to enemies and un- 
 believers ; and he prays, that their wise men, who were devoted to 
 destruction, might not perish. ^ 
 
 And that you may be convinced how pertinent the example 
 of Daniel the ascetic is, to teach us to spend this holy season 
 devoutly,'to enforce all his prayers and supphcations he added 
 fasting, and sackcloth, and ashes ; and that fasting was accom- 
 panied with alms too, consonant to his own exhortation to 
 Nebuchadnezzar, to break off his sins by righteousness, and his 
 iniquities by shewing mercy to the poor ; 2 nay, we have him con- 
 tinuing his fast and mourning three whole weeks together ; during 
 which time, " he ate no pleasant bread, neither came flesh or wine 
 into his mouth ; neither did he anoint himself at all, till three 
 whole weeks were fulfilled."^ Nothing is more plain than this, that 
 Daniel did not think the bare abstaining from flesh to be fasting, 
 when in the meantime we indulge ourselves in all the most palat- 
 able wines, all the delicacies of fish, and all the luxury of banquets. 
 This is a licentious notion, which rose by the decay of Christian 
 piety. When he fasted, his diet was afflicting, and such as became 
 a mourner ; not to humour, but to chastise nature ; not to pamper 
 his appetite, but merely to appease it. The ancient Christians 
 knew no such distinction between fish and flesh ; their lenten fare 
 was bread and water and salt ; and their first meal on fasting days, 
 was not till the evening. 
 
 I mention this example, to show you what the ancients thought 
 fasting, and how they kept Lent ; 1 do not exhort you to follow 
 them any further than either our climate and our constitutions 
 will bear ; but we may easily follow Daniel, in abstaining from 
 wine, and from the more pleasurable meats, and such an abstinence 
 as this, with such a mourning for our own sins, and the sins of 
 others, is the proper exercise of a primitive spirit, during all the 
 weeks of Lent. 
 
 For what is Lent, in its original institution, but a spiritual con- 
 flict, to subdue the flesh to the spirit, to beat down our bodies, and 
 to bring them into subjection.? What is it, but a penitential 
 martyrdom for so many weeks together, which we suffer for our 
 own and others' sins ? A devout soul, that is able duly to observe 
 it, fastens himself to the cross on Ash Wednesday, and hangs 
 crucified by contrition all the Lent long ; that having felt in his 
 closet the burthen and the anguish, the nails and the thorns, and 
 tasted the gall of his own sins, he may by his own crucifixion be 
 better disposed to be crucified with Christ on Good Friday, and 
 most tenderly sympathize with all the dolors, and pressures, and 
 anguish, and torments, and desertion, infinite, unknown, and 
 unspeakable, which God incarnate endured, when He bled upon 
 the cross for the sins of the world ; that being purified by repent- 
 1 Daniel ii. i8. ^ Ibid. iv. 27. 3 ibid. x. 2. 
 
86 A Sennon preached 
 
 ance, and made conformable to Christ crucified/ he may otTer up 
 a pure oblation at Easter, and feel the power and the joys and the 
 triumph of his Saviour's resurrection. And to encourage you to 
 such a devotion, thus enforced with fasting, and mourning, and 
 alms, as was this of Daniel, reflect on the wonderful success he 
 found ; for when he began his supplications, the angel Gabriel was 
 sent to him by God, and arrived before he had ended them ; and 
 by that heavenly messenger, God then honoured him with that 
 glorious prophecy of the seventy weeks.- And the prophet Ezekiel 
 joins Daniel with Noah and Job,^ as the three greatest instances 
 of prevalence with God that ever prayed. 
 
 You have seen how Daniel served his God ; and you are next to 
 see how he served his prince, I may add, the people too ; for the 
 prince and the people have but one common interest, which is the 
 public prosperity ; and none can serve the prince well, but he does 
 serve the people too : and Daniel served his prince and not him- 
 self ; the love of God had given him an utter contempt of the 
 world. And this made him despise Belshazzar's presents, " Thy 
 gifts be to thyself, and give thy rewards to another ;"^ to show, 
 that it was a cordial zeal for the king, and not self-interest, that 
 inclined him to his service. This was evident in all his ministry ; 
 insomuch, that when the Median presidents and princes combined 
 in his destruction, he had so industriously done the king's busi- 
 ness,^ was so remarkably righteous a person,'^ so faithful in the 
 discharge of his duty, both to king and people, so beneficial to all, 
 and offensive to none, so remote from all flattery, so courageous 
 on just and fit occasions, in warning his great masters of their 
 dangers,'' and minding them of their duty f he had so universal a 
 benignity to all, so sincerely sought the good of Babylon,^ was so 
 forward to rescue an injured innocence, as he did Susanna ; so 
 tender of men's lives, that he was never at rest till he saved all the 
 wise men of Babylon,^^ when the decree was gone out for their 
 massacre ; so careful of their peace and prosperity that he sat in 
 the gate of the king to hear every man's cause, and with great 
 patience and assiduity to do justice to all : he had behaved him- 
 self so irreproachably, that they could find " no occasion nor fault 
 in him concerning the kingdom ; forasmuch as he was faithful, 
 neither was there any error or fault found in him." ^^ 
 
 For this reason, when no accusation, no slander could stick on 
 him from the law of the land, the conspirators resolved to take 
 advantage against him from the law of his God ; and put Darius 
 upon making that impious decree, " That whoever should ask any 
 petition of God or man for thirty days together, save of the king, 
 should be cast into the den of lions." ^'^ It was a decree which was 
 
 1 Phil. iii. lo. - Dan. ix. 21, 22. -^ Ezek. xiv. 14. 
 
 4 Dan. V. 17. 5 Dan. viii. 27. <> Ezek. xiv. 14. 
 
 J" Dan. iv. 25, 27. ^ Dan. v. 23, 25. '•' Jer. xxix. 7. 
 
 1*^ Dan. ii. 13, 24, 49. ^ Dan. vi. 4. l- Dan. vi. 7. 
 
at Whitehall, 1685. "^y 
 
 one of the greatest pieces of flattery imaginable : nothing could 
 better please a proud infidel king, than to be deified. It was the 
 most opportune device in the world, to try whether the Babylon- 
 ians would pay an entire obedience to their new Median emperor : 
 It was a kind of idolatry, the most plausible that could be invented. 
 To worship an idol, such as Bel, or such as Nebuchadnezzar's 
 golden image was, that had been a test too gross ; and a man may 
 much more rationally worship himself than a creature of his own 
 making. To worship an animal that had motion and strength, 
 such as the dragon, was better than to worship a lifeless trunk ; 
 yet this had been to sink the worshipper infinitely below the beast 
 he worshipped : but to worship a king, that is much more defen- 
 sible ; the very statues of kings have been venerated, even by 
 Christians, and met with solemn processions and placed in their 
 very temples ; insomuch, that from the honour there paid to the 
 images of emperors, an analogical inference was afterwards made, 
 for the introducing of the images of saints and martyrs into 
 churches. But to worship the king himself, seems much more 
 allowable, especially such a king, the greatest monarch on earth, 
 who has power of life and death, who in dominion, in rewards and 
 punishments, was the liveliest image of God in the world ; who 
 was able to hear and grant the petitions there offered him : if any 
 idolatry can be excusable or venial, it is certainly this. And 
 nothing could ever be thought on, so ensnaring to Daniel, as this 
 project of the Median princes. Not to worship the king, had been 
 to show him a personal dishonour ; and it was grievous for Daniel 
 personally to affront Darius, who had been so gracious and 
 indulgent a master to him. Not to pray to God for thirty days 
 together, and yet pray to the king in His stead, had been all the 
 while to renounce God, and to exalt a creature into His throne. 
 On the one hand, the den and the lions threaten him ; on the other, 
 the bottomless pit, and the damned spirits. 
 
 In this strait in which Daniel was, could no expedient be found .^ 
 What if he had worshipped the king, that worship might be in- 
 terpreted allegiance, rather than idolatry ; or it was only worship- 
 ping God in the king that represented him ; or he might for thirty 
 days together petition the king to repeal his ungodly decree, and 
 to worship the true God ; and all the time, secretly, and in a 
 corner, or mentally, he might have worshipped God \ any one of 
 these expedients had reconciled all, had gratified the king, secured 
 Daniel, and defeated all his enemies. But Daniel knew none of 
 these salvos, none of these reserves and evasions ; he durst not 
 deny God, and scandalise all good people, by giving that divine 
 worship to the king, which was due only to God. Religion was his 
 tenderest care, and he had hitherto kept it inviolable ; and would 
 never communicate with either the Babylonian or the Median, or 
 the Persian idolatries. A great love made him greatly zealous for 
 
88 A Sermon preached 
 
 God his beloved ; and the more publicly God was dishonoured, 
 the more pubHcly Daniel resolved to own Him ; and " prayed 
 three times a day in his chamber, on his knees," ^ more con- 
 spicuously than ever, with his windows open towards Jerusalem ; 
 not for ostentation, but example. When his duty to God and 
 obedience to his king stood in competition, though it was an in- 
 expressible grief to the good man that ever there should be such 
 a competition, he obeyed God, and patiently suffered the king's 
 displeasure, in being cast into the lions' den, from whence God 
 did miraculously deliver him ; and even the king himself, by con- 
 gratulating his deliverance, and destroying his enemies, showed 
 afterwards that he loved Daniel the better, for loving his God 
 better than his king ; for sagacious princes best measure the fidelity 
 of their subjects, from their sincerity to God, 
 
 I am well aware, that after all this, some will say that Daniel 
 had a supernatural git"t of prophecy, and of interpreting dreams, 
 which rendered him greatly beloved, and made him a pattern too 
 high for the imitation of ordinary persons. 'Tis true, Daniel was 
 a prophet, and inspired, and peculiarly honoured on that account ; 
 nay more, adored too, and that by proud Nebuchadnezzar himself: ^ 
 though his being a saint was more forcible to make him greatly 
 beloved, than being a prophet. But the several kings that made 
 him their minister, considered him more as a statesman than a 
 prophet. His inspirations were occasional, now and then ; his 
 political abihties, constant and habitual : and it was from the ex- 
 perience of those abilities that he was intrusted with the public 
 affairs. Nor is it necessary or usual, that prophets should be 
 poHticians ; they commonly are fitter for a cell, than a court ; for 
 contemplation, rather than an active life. 
 
 Besides, there are two sorts of divination, one sacred and in- 
 spired, the other natural and political ; the former might now and 
 then, while he was useful, make him a favourite ; the latter made 
 him always a minister : and in this latter Daniel excelled, as much 
 as in the former, insomuch that his wisdom became proverbial, 
 " Behold, thou art wiser than Daniel." ^ It is this kind of divina- 
 tion which is common to all wise men ; and was probably the 
 genius which accompanied Socrates. It was by this kind of 
 divination that Daniel gave safe counsels, foresaw consequences, 
 and to the utmost of his reach left nothing to chance. It was 
 such divination, such sagacity as this, which interpreted to him 
 all the dreams of human life, the vanities of the proudest wight, the 
 follies of the shrewdest contrivances, and the uncertainties of all 
 worldly success ; and therefore taught him greatly to adore that 
 allwise Almighty Providence, which holds the helm of the world ; 
 to implore the protection of Him, "who rules in the kingdom of 
 men, and gives it to whomsoever He will ; " ^ and greatly to love 
 
 1 Daniel vi. lo. - Daniel ii. 46. 
 
 ^ E^ek. xxviii. 3. ^ Daniel iv. 25. 
 
at Whitehall, 1685. 89 
 
 His most gracious conduct in all His disposals, which when all is 
 done, is our only true wisdom. 
 
 You have seen Daniel, one royally descended, an instance of 
 the greatest, both courtier and favourite and minister, that ever 
 was ; who was all three, to no less than five monarchs, and in three 
 several monarchies of the world; one that kept his station in the 
 greatest revolutions that ever were, under all the disadvantages 
 imaginable, of captive, and stranger, and Jew, for about ninety 
 years together ; one who to all his other characters, added that of 
 the ascetic and the saint : all which made him greatly beloved, 
 greatly beloved by God, at whose glory he ever aimed ; greatly 
 beloved by all those kings, whom he faithfully served ; greatly be- 
 loved by the people, whose good he studied. You have seen, how 
 love was reciprocal, how Daniel greatly loved the king and the 
 people : and this was the secret he had, which naturally attracted 
 so universal a love. A secret that is neither too mysterious for 
 your comprehension, nor too heroic for your imitation : a secret 
 of a certain and approved virtue. For goodness is awful and 
 amiable to all mankind, and has charms that are irresistible. 
 There is a powerful sweetness, a propitious obligingness, such 
 effusions and irradiations of divinity in it, which commxand our 
 affections, and are able to overcome all our aversions ; and I am 
 confident, that there is no one here, but if he would make the ex- 
 periment, would find a proportionable success. 
 
 Let me then exhort, let me beseech you, to consider all the 
 attractives of the divine love, till God's sovereign love inflame 
 you, and you habitually breathe His praises. Learn hke Daniel, 
 humility by affliction, purity by temperance ; to keep your graces 
 alive by prayer, and frequenting your oratory; to subdue re- 
 bellious nature, by fasting and mortifications. Learn from 
 Daniel, a universal obligingness and benignity, an awful love to 
 your prince, a constant fidelity, an undaunted courage, an un- 
 wearied zeal in serving him. Learn from Daniel, an equal 
 mixture of the wisdom of the serpent, and of the innocence of 
 the dove, an inoffensive conversation, a clean integrity, and an 
 impartial justice to all within your sphere. 
 
 Learn from the man greatly beloved, to reconcile policy and 
 religion, business and devotion, abstinence and abundance, great- 
 ness and goodness, magnanimity and humility, power and subjec- 
 tion, authority and affability, conversation and retirement, interest 
 and integrity, heaven and the court, the favour of God, and the 
 favour of the king, and you are masters of Daniel's secret ; you 
 will secure yourselves an universal and lasting interest ; you will 
 like him be greatly beloved, both by God and man. 
 
 For when we have in vain tried all other methods, there is 
 nothing stable but virtue ; nothing that can keep us steady in all 
 revolutions, but the love of God; and when the worldly wise men, 
 
90 A Sermo7i preached 
 
 and the mighty, fall by their own weakness, or moulder by the 
 decays of time, or wear out of fashion, or are overwhelmed by a 
 deluge of envy, or are blown away by the breath of God's dis- 
 pleasure, or when the world, of its own accord, frowns and for- 
 sakes them, and their name and memory perish ; the man that 
 loves God is still the same, God whom he loves is still the same, 
 with Him is no variableness, nor shadow of turning ; his incen- 
 tives are still the same, infinite philanthropy, loving-kindness and 
 amiableness ; his end is still the same, the glory of his beloved ; 
 his duty is still the same, and has a goodness essential and un- 
 changeable; his retreat to a peaceful conscience is still the same ; 
 his assistances have still the same sweet force ; his ambition, 
 the same heavenly prospect ; his designs, and affections, and 
 resolutions, have still the same centre ; his will is in the disposal 
 of the same gracious providence ; his very afflictions meet in the 
 same point with his prosperity, and both work together for his 
 good. Search now, and see, if over the whole universe you can 
 find a place of rest, a steady happiness in any thing, but in the 
 love of God, and you will return with Solomon's account, " All 
 here below is vanity and vexation of spirit." " For this world is 
 founded upon the seas and established on the floods," ^ the very 
 foundation of it is laid in mutability. But he that loves God, and 
 trusts in his beloved, is Hke mount Sion that cannot be removed, 
 but stands fast for ever ; - he is built on the rock of ages, he 
 stands firm on a height, that has no precipice, and is above all 
 assaults, and is in eternal security. For what, or who, shall 
 separate a resolute lover from the love of Christ ; shall tribulation, 
 or distress, or persecution, &c. 
 
 But alas, when we frail creatures have done all we can, it is im- 
 possible for us to love God so as He is worthy to be beloved, so as 
 to satisfy ourselves we love Him enough. No holy person can 
 love God to that degree, but he passionately desires to love Him 
 much more ; and through the unavoidable weakness of lapsed 
 nature, the best of men do often fail in their duty, and are reduced 
 to bare desires only. Love no sooner begins to offer up a sacrifice 
 to our beloved, but the fire is apt to go out ; and nothing many 
 times but the dying embers of languid desires remain on the altar. 
 And this is suitable to the name the angel gives to Daniel, when 
 he styles him a man of desires : it is the proper description of a 
 good man here on earth, that he is a man of desires. For this 
 world is the region of want, and consequently of desires : and 
 happy is the man, who being first greatly beloved by God, to his 
 power loves God again ; and out of that motive of divine love, 
 earnestly desires, like Daniel, to oblige, and help, and relieve,'^and 
 serve, and pray for all mankind, as bearing the image of his be- 
 loved ; but above all, to have a reverential and zealous love for 
 
 1 Psal. xxiv. 2. « Isa. xxvi 4. 
 
at Whitehall, 1685. 91 
 
 his prince, who more immediately represents, and resembles, God 
 his beloved. 
 
 O may every soul here present live and die this happy lover, 
 thus greatly beloved by men, if it be the divine will ; but above 
 all, thus greatly beloved by God ; " to whom with the Son, and 
 Holy Spirit, be Glory," &c. 
 
A SERMON 
 
 PREACHED UPON 
 
 PASSION SUNDAY. 
 
 *' Rejoice not against me, O mine enemy ; when I fall, I shall rise ; when 
 I sit in darkness, the Lord shall be a light unto me. 
 
 I will bear the indignation of the Lord, because I have sinned against 
 Him, until He plead my cause, and execute judgment for me ; He 
 will bring me forth to the light, and I shall behold His righteous- 
 ness." — MiCAH vii. 8, 9. 
 
 EVERY ^ one that hears this passage of Scripture, will soon 
 perceive what the prophet intends, namely, a representation 
 of the Church of Judah under the Babylonish captivity. I say of 
 Judah ; for though the prophet prophesied of Samaria as well as 
 of Jerusalem,^ yet from the ninth verse of the third chapter, to the 
 end of the prophecy, he undoubtedly speaks of the latter, as 
 appears from the series of the prophecy itself, which we have no 
 reason to disjoint, and from the several predictions here scattered 
 of deliverance and restoration, which were never literally fulfilled 
 in the ten tribes, who were never restored, but only in Judah, to 
 whom God had promised a restoration. 
 
 It was then the Church of Judah, of whom, and to whom, the 
 
 1 Evelyn gives the following account of the delivery of this sermon, vol. i. page 647 : — 
 " ist April in the morning, the first sermon was preached by Dr Stillingfleet, Dean of 
 St Paul's (at Whitehall), on Luke x. 41. 42. The holy communion followed, but was 
 so interrupted by the rude breaking in of multitudes, zealous to hear the second sermon, 
 to be preached by the Bishop of Bath and Wells, that the latter part of that holy office 
 could hardly be heard, or the sacred elements be distributed without great trouble. 
 
 " The Princess being come, he preached on Micah vii. 8, g, 10, describing the 
 calamity of the reformed Church of Judah, under the Babylonian persecution, for her 
 sins, and God's delivery of her, on her repentance; that as Judah emerged, so should 
 the new reformed Church, wherever insulted and persecuted. He preached with his 
 accustomed action, zeal, and energy, so that people flocked from all quarters to hear 
 him." 
 
 - Micah i. i. 
 
A Sermon preached at White hall. 93 
 
 prophet spake ; and more than that, it was to the reformed 
 Church of Judah. For though Micah prophesied in the days 
 of Jotham and Ahaz, as well as of Hezekiah, yet this latter part of 
 the prophecy was uttered in the days of King Hezekiah, as we 
 learn from the prophet Jeremy, who makes mention of the twelfth 
 verse of the third chapter, as spoken in that king's time ; and in 
 all probability, so was all that follows, and spoken after the cap- 
 tivity of the ten tribes, which fell out in the sixth year of his 
 reign : and it is evident to all who read the sacred story, that the 
 King Hezekiah was a most illustrious reformer of God's Church, 
 as was Jotham before, and Josias after him. 
 
 As the prophet directed his discourse to the Church, to the re- 
 formed Church in general, so he applied himself to all degrees of 
 men in particular. He preached not only to the people and 
 to the priests, but to the court ; " to the heads of the house of 
 Jacob, and to the princes of the house of Israel,"^ nay, to King 
 Hezekiah himself; in whose presence, as the prophet Jeremy 
 informs us,^ he delivered that direful prophecy, "therefore shall 
 Zion for your sake be ploughed as a field, and Jerusalem shall 
 become heaps, and the mountain of the house, as the high places 
 of the forest," -^ warning the king and the court of the danger of 
 national sins ; of the national judgments they would certainly bring 
 down, unless prevented by a national repentance. 
 
 It was a bold undertaking, to denounce God's judgments to the 
 king, and to the court ; and to tell them, that the king's palace and 
 that the whole city of Jerusalem should be ploughed, should be 
 utterly destroyed : such mortifying subjects as these, courts, above 
 all others, are not willing to hear of. But true prophets, in the 
 delivery of their messages, fear none but God, and dare say any- 
 thing that God commands them. And there are times 'when 
 prophets cannot, must not, keep silence ; when the watchmen 
 ought to blow the trumpet, to give the warning of repentance to 
 the whole land, or if the land will not take the warning, to free 
 their own souls. 
 
 Amos, who was originally " neither prophet, nor prophet's son, 
 but a poor herdsman of Tekoa ;" yet when God sent him he had 
 courage from above, to prophesy against Israel, against King 
 Jeroboam, and against the worship of the calves, "that the high 
 places of Isaac should be desolate, and the sanctuaries of Israel 
 laid waste, and that God would rise against the house of Jeroboam 
 with the sword." And to prophesy these terrible things, even 
 at Bethel, which was the king's chapel, and the king's court : and 
 to prophesy in spite of Amaziah, the priest of Bethel, who falsely 
 accused Amos to Jeroboam, for conspiring against him ; adding 
 "that the land was not able to bear all his words :" as if a true 
 zeal for God, had been rebellion against the king. 
 
 1 :Micah iii. 9, - Jer. xxvi. 18, 3 Micah iii. 12, 
 
94 A Sermon preached at Whitehall, 
 
 The prophet Jeremy once thought to leave off prophesying, 
 when he saw the word of the Lord made a reproach, and a derision 
 daily ; but he was not able to continue silent, as he himself con- 
 fesses. " I said, I will not make mention of Him, nor speak any 
 more in His name : but His word was in my heart, as a burning 
 fire shut up in my bones : I was weary with forbearing, and I 
 could not stay." 
 
 The prophet Micah was very powerfully moved, and assisted, 
 and cries out, " Truly I am full of power by the spirit of the Lord, 
 and of judgment, and of might, to declare unto Jacob his trans- 
 gression, and to Israel his sin;"i and that assistance of God's 
 spirit made him wonderfully successful ; insomuch that King 
 Hezekiah was so wrought on by Micah's words, " that he feared 
 the Lord^ and besought the Lord, and the Lord repented him of 
 the evil which he had pronounced against them." 
 
 Happy was it for the king, that he so devoutly attended to the 
 prophet ; happy was it for the prophet, that he had the opportunity 
 of preaching to the king himself. Had he preached these severe 
 though necessary truths, in another congregation, where a sort of 
 men, such as the Psalmist complains of, came "on purpose to 
 wrest his words, and with thoughts against him for evil," what 
 tragical relations had been made of his sermon ? But the prophet 
 was safe under the king's gracious protection, and in having the 
 king himself for his auditor ; " who being like an angel of God," 
 liked the preacher the better, for the conscientious discharge of 
 his prophetic duty. 
 
 But though the prophet preached to the Church, to the reformed 
 Church of Judah, and to all degrees of men in it ; to the people, to 
 the priests, to the court, and to the king himself; yet the words I 
 have chosen to discourse on, are to be appropriated to the penitent 
 part only of this reformed Church ; because that reliance on God's 
 mercy, and that sense of their own guilt which is here expressed, 
 is applicable only to them ; and to them only, the character here 
 given can fully agree. 
 
 You all know, that the whole Church of Judah was by Hezekiah 
 reformed from idolatry, and had the true worship of God restored, 
 and all sorts of people seemed with great readiness to contribute 
 to that reformation ; not only the priests, but the people, and the 
 princes, all shewed a vigorous zeal in all the cities of Judah, break- 
 ing down the images, and cutting down the groves, and throwing 
 down the high places and altars, and offering very liberally to the 
 service of the temple. But even in this good king's days, though 
 they were reformed in their faith, and in the public worship, the 
 generality of them were still unreformed in their lives. And yet 
 as wicked as they were, they thought themselves very secure from 
 God's anger. A strange stupidity had possessed them to that 
 
 1 Micah iii. 8. 
 
on Passio7i Sunday, 95 
 
 degree, that "they leaned upon the Lord and said, is not the Lord 
 among us ? no evil can come upon us." Of all this the prophet 
 frequently m this prophecy, and in this very chapter, sadly com- 
 plams, lamentmg the universal corruption of manners, which he 
 saw m the people, in the princes, in the priests, in all orders of 
 men, and threatenmg very sore judgments to their impenitence 
 
 Yet still, by the great goodness of God, there was in this, and in 
 the following reigns, which were all wicked and irreligious, except 
 that of Josias, among a great number of apostates to idolatry a 
 remnant left. There were some gleanings of good men, who took 
 warning from the prophet, and from the captivity of the ten tribes 
 who wisely learned repentance from the woful experience of their 
 captive neighbours, and kept alive that reformation which had 
 been so happily begun. The prophet saw, that on such as these 
 his sermons had their desired effect ; and professes, that " his 
 words did good to him that walked uprightly ;"i and it is of such 
 as these, it is of this penitent remnant of the reformed Church 
 of Judah, the prophet here speaks, "rejoice not against me," &c 
 
 It IS easy to observe, that the prophet in these words draws 
 three several pictures of reformed Judah : and he draws her in 
 three distinct postures, like a captive, like a penitent, and hke a 
 conqueror. He draws her calamity, in the first ; her behaviour 
 under it, in the second ; and her deliverance from it, in the 
 third. 
 
 I. He draws her first like a captive, like a captive woman sitting 
 m the dust, in a disconsolate, forlorn condition, bewailing her 
 captivity. And the particulars out of which this mournful idea is 
 composed is couched in these expressions, " her enemy, her enemy 
 rejoicing, her fall, her sitting in darkness, and the indignation of 
 the Lord." 
 
 If you please then to listen to the lamentations of captive Judah 
 you will hear her begin them with " O mine enemy :" and great 
 reason she had so to do. For her enemy, or rather enemies the 
 singular being here put for the plural, were very numerous, and in 
 all respects very formidable ; more nations than one were immedi- 
 ately combined in her ruin, and particularly the Babylonians, and 
 the Edomites, who are chiefly remarked in Holy Scripture. 
 
 The Babylonians were a mighty nation, whose quiver was as an 
 open sepulchre : and they were all mighty men, who would eat up 
 all the harvest, the flocks and the herds, the vines and the fig- 
 trees, and impoverish all the fenced cities wherein Judah trusted 
 with the sword. They were cruel, and would show no mercy • a 
 bitter and hasty nation, terrible and dreadful, and very heavily 
 laid their yoke on God^s people. I need say no more of them 
 than this, that St John when he was to draw a prophetic descrip- 
 tion of the great Antichrist under the Gospel, was directed by the 
 
 1 Micah ii. 7. 
 
96 A Serynon preached at Whitehall, 
 
 Spirit of God to make Babylon the type, and to paint spiritual 
 Babylon in the colours of the temporal ; as if no nation under 
 heaven were infamous and wicked enough, to furnish him with 
 idolatry, and pride, and uncleanness, and covetousness, and 
 cruelty, and impiety, in full perfection, fit to resemble the man of 
 sin, but only the Bayblonian. 
 
 The Edomites were the children of Esau, and originally of the 
 same blood, and of the same religion with Judah, though they 
 revolted from the Church of God. And these seemed to have 
 derived from Esau their father his perverseness, which he remark- 
 ably shewed to his aged mother : insomuch that Josephus gives 
 them this character, " that they were a turbulent and unruly nation, 
 always prone to commotions, and rejoicing in changes." ^ But 
 their animosity against Judah seemed to be hereditary; the loss 
 of the birth-right, and of the blessing in their father, entailed 
 revenge on all his posterity. And they were all along the natural 
 enemies of the children of Jacob. And when they saw Judah 
 assaulted by the Babylonians, they sided with Judah's enemies, 
 and thirsted to have a share in the destruction of God's Church. 
 " They had a perpetual hatred, and shed the blood of the children 
 of Israel by the force of the sword, in the time of their calamity. 
 Edom pursued his brother with the sword, and did cast off all 
 pity, and his anger did tear perpetually, and he kept his wrath for 
 ever." The prophet Obadiah spends his whole prophecy on 
 " Edom, for his violence to his brother, for standing in the cross- 
 way to cut off those that did escape, and for delivering those that 
 did remain in the day of distress." So that the Edomite was an 
 enemy as merciless, and as implacable, as the very Babylonian. 
 
 Such were the enemies of afflicted Judah ; and God in His just 
 indignation against Judah's sins, gave both these enemies their 
 desired success ; success that was able to satiate the most im- 
 petuous and revengeful cruelty. For they did not only make a 
 complete conquest over Judah ; but when she was conquered, and 
 prostrate at their feet, and past all possibility of the least resist- 
 ance, they insolently insulted over the conquered ; they rejoiced 
 against her. This cut captive Judah to the heart, and gored her 
 soul with a multitude of new sorrows. It was a grievous calamity 
 to be conquered ; but all her miseries were acted over again, and 
 again, and again, when they insulted, when the '• enemy rejoiced 
 against her." 
 
 The Babylonians, they rejoiced against captive Judah ; and as 
 they pass by, " they clap their hands, they hiss, and wag the 
 head at the daughter of Jerusalem, saying. Is this the city that 
 men call the perfection of beauty, the joy of the whole earth ? " But 
 that which cut deepest was their blasphemous taunt, ver. 10, 
 '' Where is the Lord thy God .^ the gods of Hamath, and Arphad, 
 
 1 De Bell. Jud., 1. 4. c. 6. 
 
upon Passion Sunday. 97 
 
 and the gods of Sepharvaim/' were not able to deliver Samaria 
 out of the hand of the king of Assyria ; and your great Jehovah 
 we now find is as feeble as any of them, and as unable to resist 
 the great king of Babylon ; or the God of Israel has abandoned 
 His own hated Israel ; or He is fled to Babylon, as a tributary god, 
 to do homage to the imperial deity of our great god Bel. You 
 yourselves daily profane the name of your own God ; you your- 
 selves renounce Him, and fly to our gods for refuge ; your own 
 God being no longer able to protect you; your own God, who is 
 as much king Nebuchadnezzar's captive, as you are his vain 
 adorers : tell us, miserable wretches, tell us now, which is the 
 Almighty, Jehovah or Bel? 
 
 The Edomites they also " rejoiced against captive Judah," and 
 impiously reproached her ; " Where is the Lord thy God ? " Your 
 Jehovah is become a fugitive ; He wandexs about the world without 
 temple, or house to dwell in. How is your prophecy now fulfilled, 
 *' That the elder should serve the younger ? " Say, which now 
 inherits the blessing ; Esau the conqueror, or Judah the captive ? 
 Thus did Judah's enemies insultingly open their mouths against 
 her ; " They hissed and gnashed the teeth, and said, we have 
 swallowed her up : certainly this is the day we look for ; we have 
 found, we have seen it." Go on, victorious Babylonians ; root out 
 the memory of Judah from the earth : Judah, forsaken by their 
 God, and detestable to the whole world. "Thus did the children 
 of Edom, in the day of Jerusalem, cry, down with it, down with it, 
 even to the ground." Thus, with the joy of all their heart, and 
 with despiteful minds, did Idumea rejoice at the inheritance of the 
 house of Israel, because she was made desolate. 
 
 Such insults as these from the Babylonians and the Edomites, 
 were the very gall of bitterness to captive Judah ; and so much 
 the more afflicting, because her fall, her destruction, was so dread- 
 ful and consummate. The whole country, the land flowing with 
 milk and honey, was laid waste : the city, all the palaces, the 
 king's house, and the temple, were burnt to ashes. All her people, 
 her nobles, and her priests, were either starved by famine, or 
 struck dead by raging pestilence, or barbarously put to the sword, 
 or, which is less eligible to generous minds, enslaved. Her king 
 Zedekiah saw his sons, the young princes, the hope of the kingdom, 
 murdered before his eyes ; the last sight they were for ever to see : 
 for his weeping eyes, as they dropped tears for his murdered chil- 
 dren, were by the Babylonians put out ; and the captive, childless, 
 blind, mournful king, was bound in fetters, and carried to Babylon. 
 
 And yet this calamity, as great, as general as it was, did in this 
 
 receive a very doleful aggravation, that it was not only great but 
 
 _ lasting. Judah did not only fall, was not only in darkness, which 
 
 in Holy Scripture signifies a very heavy affliction ; but she was to 
 
 sit, to continue in darkness : for sitting implies continuance. Her 
 
98 A Sermon preached at White/uill, 
 
 captivity, reckoning it from the reign of Jehoiakim, was to endure 
 seventy years together ; so that very few, or none, who saw the 
 beginning of their misery, could cherish any hope of Hving to see 
 the end of it : 'the captivity itself being commensurate to the age 
 of man, which is threescore years and ten ; an age to which very 
 few attain. And it was a killing consideration, to lie buried in 
 such a sorrow, from whence there was no hope of a resurrection. 
 
 But Judah's enemy, her enemy rejoicing, her fall, her sitting in 
 darkness, though they were very bitter and deadly ingredients of 
 her calamity, yet that which made her in all respects completely 
 miserable, was, the indignation of the Lord. All the rest are easy 
 to be endured, when God is on our side ; but the sins of Judah 
 had most justly provoked God's anger and made Him their enemy. 
 And the anger, much more the indignation of God, has such a 
 confluence of terrors in it, of terrors in body and in soul, of terrors 
 particular and national, of terrors temporal and eternal, that had 
 Judah never had enemy, had Judah never fallen, had Judah never 
 sat in darkness, yet the indignation of the Lord was sufficient of 
 itself to have soured all her prosperity, and would have rendered 
 her condition infinitely more deplorable than the Babylonians and 
 the Edomites, and all the damned spirits they invoked, could 
 possibly have done. Great reason then had captive Judah to have 
 an indelible impression of her miseries, and most sadly to bewail 
 her calamity ; which being universal to the whole land, we may 
 easily imagine the sorrow to have been universal also. The ob- 
 stinate as well as the penitent had a sense of their bondage : they 
 all felt the punishment ; but the penitent only felt the sin. The 
 penitent only had the skill to turn their very misery into a blessing, 
 by their religious demeanour under it. Which is the next thing 
 to be considered ; the behaviour of the reformed Judah under her 
 calamity : and this is the 
 
 Second posture in which she is drawn by the prophet ; like a 
 captive before, but now like a penitent. And her behaviour is 
 considerable in respect of her enemy ; in respect of God ; and, in 
 respect of herself. 
 
 In respect of her enemy, her behaviour is expressed in these 
 words ; "Rejoice not against me, O mine enemy." Judah gives 
 her enemies no ill language : she knew it was her burthen to bear 
 reproach, as well as captivity. The hardest word she here uses 
 towards either the Babylonian, or the Edomite, is enemy. And 
 such they professedly were, and she sighed under the violence of 
 that enmity, with which they both had overwhelmed her : and all 
 the humble captive has to say to her enemy, is either a modest 
 rebuke, or a fearless request, or a charitable item, not to grow too 
 insolent by success ; " rejoice not against me, O mine enemy." 
 
 " Rejoice not against me," O ye Babylonians ; remember " that 
 the Most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to 
 
upon Passion Sunday. 99 
 
 whomsoever He will." He only is the God of battle, the sole 
 arbiter of peace and war, and can in one minute turn the whole 
 torrent of calamity on you : and so He certainly will ; for the 
 prophets that foretold my captivity, have also promised and fore- 
 told my deliverance : and the very same prophets have threatened 
 miseries much more dreadful to befall you ; miseries to which no 
 relief is promised, to which nothing is foretold but outrageous 
 despair. " The burthen which God will lay on Babylon, shall 
 sink her " much lower than captive Judah is now ; " when the 
 measure of her covetousness is full, her end will then come." And 
 it is filling apace, if not brim-full already. Judah's calamity has a 
 determinate period ; it shall last but seventy years at the longest ; 
 but Babylon's shall be eternal : therefore " rejoice not against me, 
 O ye Babylonians." 
 
 Rejoice not, O ye Edomites ; for in insulting over me, ye insult 
 over your own miseries as well as mine. Our God has commanded 
 the Jew not to abhor an Edomite ; " for he is his brother." Why 
 should not this command be mutually observed on both sides ? 
 Why should the Edomite abhor his brother Jew ? If both sides 
 had been to blame, why should not their common danger have 
 reconciled them ? Ah, had Judah and Edom revived that brotherly 
 affection, which, before the loss of the birthright, harboured in the 
 breasts of their fathers, Jacob and Esau ; had they both joined 
 for the common safety against the Babylonian, the common 
 enemy humanly speaking ; both might have preserved their 
 liberty : but Edom will be an easy prey to the Babylonian, now 
 her neighbour Judah is led captive. Rejoice not then against 
 captive Judah ; since every wound you give Judah, makes Edom. 
 bleed. Rejoice not ; for there can be no greater sign of judicial 
 infatuation, " that God has destroyed the wise men out of Edom," 
 than Edom's rejoicing at Judah's captivity, which must needs pre- 
 cipitate her own. And to assure Edom that her burthen shall be 
 much heavier than that of Judah, the prophets have foretold m^ore 
 terrible judgments to befall Edom, than Judah ever endured. 
 " The sword shall come upon Edom, the people of God's curse \ 
 the calamity of Esau shall be brought upon him. Ye shall be 
 desolate ; your pride shall be brought down : ye shall be as stubble. 
 God will speak against all Idumea, in the fire of His jealousy : 
 He will cut off man and beast ; your kings, and your princes ; and 
 ye shall drink the cup of God's fury ; and therefore, rejoice not 
 against me, O ye Edomites." 
 
 No reason then, you see, had either the Babylonian or the 
 Edomite to rejoice over penitent, reformed Judah, when in the 
 lowest ebb of her misery : but great reason had Judah, amidst 
 all her sorrows, to rejoice herself. And that from her behaviour. 
 
 In respect of God : in whom she here expresses a very firm 
 confidence, of deliverance and of support. Of deliverance ; 
 
100 A Sermon preacJied at Whitehall, 
 
 •' When I fall, I shall rise." Of support ; " When I sit in dark- 
 ness, the Lord shall be a light unto me." 
 
 Of deliverance : " When I fall, I shall rise." When I fall : 
 when Jerusalem is laid waste, and the temple turned to ashes, and 
 the whole nation carried captive into a strange land. From such 
 an utter desolation as this, for Judah to date, or to infer her restora- 
 tion ; " W^hen I fall, I shall rise ; " seems to be a confidence very- 
 preposterous. And yet it is further observable, that penitent 
 Judah does not only conclude her own rise from her fall ; but 
 concludes the same of all the nation in general, though she well 
 knew, that it was a remnant only that repented. And as preposter- 
 ous as such conclusions seem, they were most rational ones for 
 penitent Judah to make, and very strongly built, not only on God's 
 promise of restoring her after seventy years, but on the usual 
 known methods of Divine Providence. 
 
 For God is wont to introduce His most eminent mercies, by 
 some sharp previous affliction, that His people may be the better 
 prepared to bear prosperity, which is too apt to alienate our affec- 
 tions from God, and to fix them on the world ; unless calamity 
 does first mortify and humble them, and make us more sohcitous 
 to perform the duty, than to enjoy the blessing. I need go no 
 further for an instance, than the first lesson read this day (Exod. 
 iii. 9, lo), where we are taught, " That when the children of Israel's 
 cry was come up to God," and their oppression was grown in- 
 supportable, then God sent Moses miraculously to deliver them. 
 So that whensoever the servants of God see their miseries seem- 
 ingly past all remedy, then is God's season for their rescue. The 
 more to magnify His power, and to endear His paternal care ; to 
 make the blessing the more valuable ; to manifest that it is His 
 own work, and that all the glory of it is due only to Himself : 
 to enkindle the greater love ; to excite the more exalted praise ; 
 and so to dispose the receiver, that he may not abuse God's 
 favour when it comes, and turn the blessing into a curse. Well 
 then might Judah prognosticate her exaltation from her humiliation, 
 and say, " When I fall, I shall rise." 
 
 Sometimes God works deliverances for His people, not because 
 they are universally humbled and reclaimed, but purely for His 
 own name's sake. This God Himself declares again and again : 
 " I had pity for My holy name, which the house of Israel had pro- 
 faned among the heathen. I do not this for your sakes, O house 
 of Israel ; but for My holy name's sake, which ye have profaned 
 among the heathen," &c. Well then might penitent Judah, from 
 that essential zeal God has to assert His own sovereign glory, 
 infer the deliverance of the people called by His name ; though 
 but a remnant only did repent. " When I fall, I shall rise." 
 
 Again. It is customary with God, to spare a multitude, for the 
 sake of a few : as He would have done Sodom, at Abraham's 
 
upon Passion Sunday. iof 
 
 prayers, had there been ten righteous persons in it. And the hke 
 we read of Jerusalem ; where if, before the captivity, there "had 
 been any that had executed judgment, and had sought the truth, God 
 would have pardoned it." Besides, God is powerfully prevailed on 
 by the prayers of those few righteous persons, that cry unto Him 
 for the rest : and Judah knew, that under the captivity there was 
 a remnant of such righteous persons, of souls truly humbled, crying 
 day and night to God, bewailing the sins of Sion, and praying for 
 the peace of Jerusalem. These holy persons continually " stood 
 in the gap before God, that He should not utterly destroy the 
 nation." These were God's remembrancers, who kept not silence, 
 and would give Him no rest, till He estabhshed, till He made 
 Jerusalem a praise in the earth. Judah well knew the mighty 
 force that such "effectual fervent prayers" had on the tender 
 mercy of God ; and that made her confident for herself, and for 
 the whole captivity, and put her into a transport of devout admira- 
 tion : " Who is a God like unto Thee ; that pardoneth iniquity, and 
 passeth by the transgression of the remnant of His heritage ? He 
 retaineth not His anger for ever ; He will turn again ; He will have 
 compassion on us," &c., verses i8, 19, 20. Thus from the repent- 
 ance and devout supplications of the remnant only of God's heri- 
 tage, Judah firmly concludes the deliverance of the whole heritage ; 
 " when I fall, I shall rise." 
 
 Nor was Judah only confident of deliverance, but of support also 
 in the meantime : " \Vhen I sit in darkness, the Lord will be a light 
 unto me." And this confidence was grounded on the usual con- 
 duct of propitious Providence, as well as the other. For in Micah, 
 and the rest of the prophets, when God denounces judgments 
 against His people. His threats are intermingled with promises of 
 blessings, either temporal or evangelical. Well then might penitent 
 Judah say, " when I sit in darkness, the Lord will be a light unto 
 me." When I am deprived of all the comforts of Hfe, abandoned 
 by all worldly succours ; when God Himself seems to desert me, 
 and suffers me to lie seventy years together in a vexatious cap- 
 tivity ; when God seems to cover Himself with a cloud, that my 
 prayer shall not pass through ; then will the Lord be a light unto 
 me ; at midnight I shall see a clear sunshine. " In the multitude 
 of the sorrows I shall then have in my heart, God's comforts shall 
 refresh my soul." My insulting enemies hinder my other friends, 
 but cannot hinder God, who is my best friend, from visiting me. 
 When poor, captive, exile, penitent Judah, lies chained in a Baby- 
 lonish dungeon, dark as hell ; yet the rays of the divine benignity 
 can pierce through the thickest darkness, to enlighten and revive 
 me. My chains will be then more eligible than liberty ; Babylon 
 will make me forget Sion. My very dungeon will be heaven upon 
 earth, when I enjoy God there. No sad thought shall arise, but I 
 can take sanctuary in one of His gracious promises, which shall 
 
102 A Sermon preached at Whitehall, 
 
 instantly dispel it. If this be captivity, by becoming a Babylonish 
 slave to become the Lord's freeman, O may my captivity last not 
 seventy, but seventy times seven years. No time, O Lord, is long ; 
 eternity itself is not tedious, that is spent in Thy fruition. Oh, 
 Almighty Goodness, Thou only canst make captivity desirable ; 
 welcome then darkness, there will I sit, desiring to see no light, 
 but what comes from Thy countenance : for Thou art light, and 
 liberty, and joy, and all in all to those, who for Thy sake are 
 content for a while to sit in darkness. 
 
 Such was the behaviour, such was the glorious confidence of the 
 penitent reformed Church of Judah, under the Babylonish yoke, 
 which she had always in her God ; a confidence which was a much 
 greater blessing to her, than her safety, her freedom, her prosperity 
 could have been. Will you next see her behaviour 
 
 In respect of herself.? which is penitential, and was the true 
 solid ground of all her confidence in God : and it includes three 
 particulars. 
 
 Her submission, in regard to the greatness of her affliction ; " I 
 will bear the indignation of the Lord." 
 
 Her patience, in regard to its continuance ; " I will bear the in- 
 dignation of the Lord, until He plead my cause," &c. 
 
 Her confession, in regard to her sins ; which drew down that 
 great and continued affliction on her ; " because I have sinned 
 against Him." 
 
 Her submission, in regard to the greatness of her affliction, is 
 placed first ; " I will bear the indignation of the Lord." The in- 
 dignation of the Lord is a frightful expression, and in Holy 
 Scripture does not only signify God's anger, but the fierceness of 
 that anger. And when God is once provoked to that degree, that 
 " He takes to Himself the weapons of His indignation, when He 
 marches through the land in indignation, and threshes the people 
 in His anger ; when the mountains quake, and the hills melt, and 
 the earth trembles ; who can stand before His indignation ; and 
 who can abide in the fierceness of His anger t " Who, of all the 
 sons of Adam, can stand in God's sight when He is angry, much 
 less when He is moved to "indignation, to fiery indignation, which 
 devours His adversaries ; " David was so terrified at the thoughts 
 of it, that " he ate ashes like bread, and mingled his drink with 
 weeping, because of God's indignation." How then could Judah 
 resolve to bear that, which is impossible to be borne ; and to cry 
 out, " I will bear the indignation of the Lord ?" 
 
 True it is, the indignation of the Lord is a weight too heavy for 
 any to sustain but the Son of God, who had the iniquities of the 
 whole world laid on His shoulders ; too heavy for a sinner to bear, 
 but not for a penitent, such as Judah was, who could therefore 
 bear it, " because the Lamb of God, who was fore-ordained before 
 the beginning of the world," had rendered it supportable. " The 
 
upon Passion Sunday. 1 03 
 
 wicked drink the wine of God's wrath," poured out without mix- 
 ture, without any mixture of mercy, into " the cup of His indigna- 
 tion ; " and they perish by the draught ; but the penitent, when 
 they drink " the wine of God's wrath," they always drink it with a 
 mixture of mercy ; and that which is deadly poison to the one, is 
 a restorative to the other. It was mingled for Judah with mercy. 
 God did not, on the humble captive, suffer His whole displeasure 
 to arise ; but corrected her in measure, laid on her no more than 
 He supported her to bear, and by degrees made the hearts of the 
 very Babylonians to relent towards her; so that "in the peace 
 of the land, Judah also enjoyed peace" All the time the impeni- 
 tent felt the terrors of the Lord, God called the mourners into His 
 peculiar care, into a refuge from the storm ; " Come, My people, 
 enter thou into thy chambers and shut thy door about thee, and 
 hide thyself as it were for a little moment, until the indignation be 
 overpast." The indignation lasted but for a moment, but for a 
 little moment ; and God was so infinitely tender of His Church, 
 that He gave warning of the indignation before it came, and warn- 
 ing of the critical, dangerous little moment, when it was to come ; 
 and would not, for that one little moment, leave it exposed ; but 
 hid it in safe shelter, that the indignation could not reach it. 
 Since then the paternal indulgence of God levelled His judgments 
 ofjudah's strength, and sustained her all the while with cordial 
 consolations ; well might she resolve, as bitter as the cup was, to 
 drink it off, as great as the calamity seemed, to endure it : "I will 
 bear the indignation of the Lord ; " let Him lay more on me, so 
 that as He increases my load. He increases my supports ; I will 
 bear as much load as He is pleased to lay on me j " I will bear the 
 indignation of the Lord." 
 
 Thus did penitent reformed Judah exercise an humble sub- 
 mission to the greatness of her affliction. And so she did an un- 
 wearied patience to its continuance also : " I will bear the indigna- 
 tion of the Lord, until He plead my cause." Until intimates her 
 affliction to be lasting, as well as great ; and so it was. For the 
 prophet Jeremy had told Judah that her captivity was "to last 
 seventy years. It seemed a long time to live in exile and sla^^ery, 
 and to suffer the affronts and indignities of insulting enemies. 
 But God, to chastise His own people, to cure them of idolatry, to 
 scatter some beams of saving knowledge, some notices of the true 
 God among the Gentiles, and some preparatory intimations of the 
 future Messias ; for these, and the like most holy, wise, and 
 gracious purposes, had so decreed it. And there was nothing left 
 for Judah, but an entire acquiescence in, and resignation to the 
 divine will ; and patiently, without murmuring, to wait on God, 
 and to attend His time, which is always best for us, always better 
 than to choose for ourselves. And this was her daily practice, as 
 she professes,^ " I will look unto the Lord : I will wait for the 
 
 * Micah vii- 7. 
 
104 ^ Sermon preached at Whitehall, 
 
 God of my salvation. My God will hear me." And while she 
 was thus waiting on God, for a return of her prayers, all holy 
 persons who died in captivity, died with the satisfaction of Moses ; 
 they had a joyful prospect of the promised land, though they did 
 not live to enter it ; but instead of the earthly Jerusalem, they both 
 saw and entered the heavenly. And this consideration was 
 enough to make them esteem their captivity short, when it pro- 
 cured their eternal freedom. Well then might penitent Judah be 
 content with her fetters ; and say, " I will bear the indignation of 
 the Lord ; I will bear it, until He plead my cause." 
 
 But that which created this confidence in God, which made 
 Judah so submissive to the greatness, and so patient under the 
 continuance of her affliction, was the deep sense of her guilt, which 
 occasioned her penitential confession ; because I have sinned 
 against Him. For to a penitent, who has once felt the evil of sin ; 
 to a penitent, who bemoans in the bitterness of his soul, who 
 detests with the utmost abhorrence, the great and the continued 
 outrages he has offered to infinite goodness ; no temporal punish- 
 ment can appear too great, or too lasting. He is content to be 
 miserable here, so he may be eternally happy hereafter ; and 
 thinlcs it most just he should bear the indignation of the Lord, 
 because he has sinned against Him. 
 
 It is long ere God, who is slow to anger, is provoked ; longer, 
 ere that anger rises to indignation. And nothing can provoke the 
 God of mercy to His strange work, to anger, but sin : nothing can 
 kindle His indignation, but obstinate sin ; when we " do evil with 
 both hands, earnestly."^ And when His anger is provoked, and 
 His indignation is kindled, and He begins to punish ; the original 
 design of punishment, in the most merciful God, who dehghts not 
 in the death of a sinner, is to awaken him to repentance. When 
 His judgments are in the land. His intent is, that the "inhabitants 
 should learn righteousness." When He is about to strike with His 
 rod, Micah tells us, that " the Lord's voice cries, and the man of 
 wisdom shall see thy name. Hear ye the rod, and who hath 
 appointed it." And if there be any men of wisdom in the city, 
 men. that are wise to salvation, and will hear the rod, when God 
 calls them to hear it ; and will rend their hearts, and turn unto 
 the Lord with fasting, and weeping, and mourning, for their own, 
 and for the nation's sins ; God is gracious and merciful, slow to 
 anger, and of great kindness ; He repenteth Him of the evil ; He 
 returns, and repents, and leaves a blessing behind Him. It is 
 then God melts into tenderest compassion ; how shall I give thee 
 up, O Ephraim ! how shall I deliver thee, Israel ! My heart is 
 turned within Me ; My repentings are kindled together. Judah 
 had no sooner submitted to God, and confessed the justness of her 
 punishment, from the greatness and continuance of her sins, but 
 
 1 Micah vii. 3. 
 
upon Passion Stinday. 105 
 
 God Himself condescends to the penitent ; His anger is in a 
 moment becalmed, His indignation cooled, and all that follows is 
 the happy consequence of Judah's repentance, and patient sub- 
 mission : which is 
 
 The third thing considerable ; and the last posture in which the 
 prophet draws the Church of Judah. For having drawn her as a 
 captive, and as a penitent, he now draws her as a conqueror. In 
 the two former, he painted her calamity, and her behaviour under 
 it ; and now he paints her deliverance from it ; and that in no less 
 than four very signal mercies which God vouchsafed her. For 
 He pleads her cause ; He executes judgment for her ; He brings 
 her forth to the light ; and she beholds His righteousness. 
 
 The first mercy God shows to reformed Judah, when by her 
 repentance His indignation was appeased, is, to plead her cause. 
 To plead for the widow, who groans under the oppressor ; the 
 widow who is poor and helpless, and unable to speak for herself, 
 or to hire any one to plead for her, is a great act of charity among 
 men, and recommended as such in Holy Scripture. And from 
 hence we may make some estimate, how great a mercy it is in God, 
 " to plead for His people." Judah had been long loaded with the 
 reproaches and oppressions of the Babylonians and the Edomites; 
 who, measuring the goodness of their cause from their present 
 temporal success (as the most flagitious are wont to do), boasted 
 of the favours their gods had bestowed on them, and of their own 
 virtue. " They sacrificed to their net, and burnt incense to their 
 drag ; because by them their portion was fat, and their meat 
 plenteous." And in the meantime, they reviled the poor captive 
 Jews, for the most wicked wretches in the world, because they 
 were the most calamitous. Judah was forced to hear all their 
 insolent calumnies, and did not dare to make a reply. But God, 
 who is wont to "plead for His people" when they are most 
 destitute, and their condition is most desperate, appears Himself 
 as Judah's advocate, and "pleads her cause; pleads it from 
 heaven," in turning all His providential chastisements to her good; 
 in making it appear, that the God of Israel had not abandoned 
 His own Israel ; that He was still the Lord their God ; that their 
 enemies' success was not from their virtue, but from His wise 
 disposal ; that Judah's sins only made Babylon and Edom 
 victorious : "that He ordained the Chaldeans for judgment, and 
 established them for correction ; and suffered for a while the 
 wicked to devour the man that was more righteous than himself ; " 
 and then poured a multiplication of woes on the devourer. That 
 correction was only intended for Judah ; but utter destruction for 
 Babylon and Edom. For God is not only Judah's advocate, to 
 plead her cause ; but in the 
 
 Second place, her avenger ; " He executes judgment for her." 
 For as our Lord puts the question, and answers it Himself; "Shall 
 
lo6 A Sermon preached at Whitehall, 
 
 not God avenge His own elect, that cry day and night to him, 
 though He bear long with them ? I tell you, that He will avenge 
 them speedily." And God did avenge His people here, as He had 
 promised to do : "I will execute vengeance in anger, and fury on 
 the heathen, such as they have not heard." This was a tremendous 
 threat ; and it was made good, both on the Babylonian, and on the 
 Edomite. 
 
 The Babylonian assaulted Judah for his glory ; out of his 
 ambition of that universal monarchy which Providence, to make 
 him a scourge to the world, designed him : and therefore God com- 
 manded Judah to serve the king of Babylon ; and assured them, 
 that if they served him, they should live. And they were to " pray 
 for the peace of that city ; that in the peace thereof, they might 
 have [peace." So that all Judah was enjoined by God, patient 
 submission to that king. They were to subject their persons to 
 the Babylonish government, but not to prostitute their consciences 
 to the Babylonish idolatry, whensoever the commands of God, and 
 of the king of Babylon, stood in competition. To have then 
 obeyed the king, had not been allegiance, but apostasy. In such 
 cases, the true Israelites would always be martyrs, but never 
 rebels : they resolutely chose to obey God, and patiently to suffer 
 the lion's den, the fiery furnace, and the extremity of the king's 
 displeasure. 
 
 How difficult soever this command of patient submission at first 
 seemed, their security manifestly lay in its punctual observation. 
 For by their patient submission, they renounced all carnal ex- 
 pedients; they renounced the arm of flesh, and put themselves 
 wholly under God's immediate protection : and the closer they 
 sheltered themselves under the Almighty's wings, the safer still 
 they were. Having put off their armour, and thrown away their 
 swords, in entire obedience to God, the Lord of Hosts was their 
 guard and their champion. Their own human counsels and 
 attempts might have proved as unsuccessful as they were unlaw- 
 ful; and might have doubled their miseries : but in God's hands 
 they were safe; putting their full trust in Him, they were "sure 
 never to be confounded." God readily espoused their cause ; and 
 within about fifty years after the burning of Jerusalem, retaliated 
 upon Babylon all the evils she had brought on His people, and 
 that in a much more plentiful measure, than ever He suffered her 
 to mete to Judah. 
 
 The judgment God executed for His people, was in all circum- 
 stances most remarkable. For vengeance surprised Babylon, when 
 the great Belshazzar, and his court and his concubines, were 
 gorging themselves at a luxurious, idolatrous feast ; " drinking 
 themselves drunk in the vessels of the temple," and wallowing in 
 their own loathsome vomits. It was then the king saw the fatal 
 hand-writing on the wall ; " At which his countenance fell, and 
 
upon Passion Sunday. 107 
 
 his thoughts troubled him, and the joints of his loins were loosed, 
 and his knees smote one against another." Then it was, in the 
 depth of their security, in the dead of the night, that Belshazzar 
 was slain, the city was taken, and Darius seized the kingdom. 
 The Babylonians were destroyed in the midst of a debauch ; in 
 the height of their impiety they all went drunk to hell, and their 
 souls and bodies perished both together. 
 
 Thus terrible was God's vengeance on the Babylonians. We 
 must next see how He executed judgment for His people on the 
 Edomites. The Edomites, whose chief motive in vexing Judah 
 was pure revenge : God Himself expressly tells us so. " Thus 
 saith the Lord, because that Edom hath dealt against the house 
 of Judah, by taking vengeance, and hath greatly offended, and 
 revenged himself upon them ; therefore I will make him desolate." 
 There was nothing in the world, which did more greatly offend 
 God, and which was more likely to make Edom unprosperous, and 
 obnoxious to the fury of God's anger, than their revenge. For 
 " vengeance is Mine ; I will repay, saith the Lord." And when 
 once audacious sinners endeavour to wrest the sword out of God's 
 hand, it is then time " for the God of vengeance to show Himself :" 
 and so He did. For within about five years after the destruction 
 of Jerusalem, " God laid His vengeance on Edom ; He executed 
 judgment on Edom for Judah," by the hands of the very Baby- 
 lonians, whom they had a little before assisted to destroy her. 
 And the judgment God executed on revengeful Edom was so very 
 dreadful and lasting, that they are emphatically called the people, 
 "against whom the Lord has indignation for ever." So little 
 reason had Edom to rejoice at the Babylonian conquest ; and so 
 fatally did Edom's revenge against Judah prove as much her 
 punishment as her sin. 
 
 When God, in respect of Judah's enemies, had, as her Advocate, 
 pleaded her cause, and, as her Avenger, executed judgment, and 
 fought for her, Judah had nothing to do, but to reap the fruits of 
 that victory God Himself had gained in her behalf. She now 
 recovers her entire freedom; and "God brings her forth to the 
 light." Hitherto she endured a long night of affliction, with some 
 lightsome gleams only to refresh her : now God takes her up out 
 of the dungeon, and brings her to open day : and He brings her 
 out, without any of her own contrivance or endeavour ; without 
 anything on her part but repentance and patient submission ; and 
 on a sudden to convince all the world it was His own work, it was 
 the Lord, it was only the Lord, who, at the expiration of seventy 
 years, stirred up the spirit of Cyrus, to make that transporting, 
 that surprising decree, for building the temple, and for the restora- 
 tion of captive Judah. Then was she brought forth to the light 
 in full splendour ; the dawnings of which, all along, were to the 
 faithful Israelites the solace of their captivity, and in all their 
 
io8 A Sermon preached at Whitehall^ 
 
 cheerful intervals the subject of their songs ; when they took 
 down their harps from the willows, and by the waters of Baby- 
 lon strove, with the descriptions of future Sion, to forget the 
 past. 
 
 But such was the goodness of God, and the care He had for 
 His people, that they should love as well as fear Him, that He 
 made Judah see not only the justice, but the benignity of all His 
 proceedings. " He made her behold His righteousness;" which 
 in Holy Scripture signifies benignity, or mercifulness, as well as 
 justice. And this is the happy effect of affliction in all devout 
 people. At first God seems to act severely toward them ; but the 
 cloud by httle and little vanishes, and the light breaks in upon us ; 
 and upon our own experience we cannot choose but say, " I know, 
 Lord, that Thy judgments are right ; and that Thou of very faith- 
 fulness hast caused me to be troubled." Nor have we reason only 
 to justify God, but to love Him also, for His medicinal and fatherly 
 chastisements ; and to say, " It is good for me that I have been 
 afflicted, that I may learn Thy statutes." This was Judah's con- 
 dition : she saw herself happy, and her God most just, benign and 
 merciful ; and her happiness being founded on affliction, she 
 relished it the better ; she did the better taste and see that the 
 Lord was gracious ; she experimentally felt, and confessed, and 
 loved, and adored the righteousness of God. 
 
 The righteousness of God, which made penitent, patient Judah, 
 not only victorious but triumphant. She rode in triumph over the 
 once insulting Babylon, in triumph, the most illustrious that ever 
 was ; in triumph, such as the good angels kept above at the defeat 
 of Lucifer and his apostate spirits, when they saw the accursed 
 rebels falling headlong from heaven, down to the place of endless 
 torments, and heard them shrieking and howling all the way they 
 fell ; and the loyal host in the meantime, full of the mighty joys of 
 victory, exulted in the just damnation of the rebellious legions, and 
 sang triumphant hymns to the Lord of Hosts, by whose arm they 
 had been conquerors. For thus the faithful triumphed over 
 Babylon : "How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of 
 the morning?" So certain was the victory, so glorious was the 
 triumph, with which penitent, patient Judah was honoured by God, 
 who was her most tender Advocate, to plead her cause ; her most 
 just Avenger, to execute judgment for her ; her most mighty De- 
 liverer, to bring her forth to the light ; and her most indulgent 
 Patron, "to make her behold His righteousness." 
 
 It was not a greater consolation to penitent, patient Judah, so 
 clearly to " behold the righteousness of God," than it was a con- 
 fusion to her enemies to see her restoration, and God's thunder- 
 bolts falling thick on their own heads, which the prophet has 
 described in the following verse : " Then she that is mine enemy 
 shall see it ; and shame shall cover her which said unto me, where 
 
%ipon Passion Sunday. 109 
 
 is the Lord thy God ? Mine eyes shall behold her ; now shall she 
 be trodden down, as the mire in the street." 
 
 Hitherto I have only insisted on the case of Judah, and in 
 making the application (since we have not that happiness which 
 Micah had, to have the king himself for our auditor, in whose 
 royal candour a faithful preacher might be secure), to prevent all 
 misrepresentations, by which the most innocent discourse, and the 
 very Scripture itself may, by insidious men, be perverted, and 
 charged with odious insinuations ; I beseech you to observe, that 
 as to Babylon, it lies in St John's visions under so many detestable 
 characters ; the prophecies concerning it are so obscure, and the 
 interpretations of them are so various, some of them so uncertain, 
 some of them so forced, that I confess they are abstrusenesses 
 which I do not sufficiently understand, and therefore forbear par- 
 ticularly to apply. 
 
 As to Edom, their father Esau is made, in the New Testament, 
 the idea of a profane person, of an apostate, of one hated by God, 
 and of a reprobate : and God forbid I should bestow such names 
 as these on any one communion of Christians whatsoever. 
 
 But if we meet with any such in the world, who, professing Chris- 
 tianity m words, do so far deny it in their works, as to reach those 
 characters which the Scripture gives of Babylon and of Edom ; we 
 are to deplore them, and pray to God to turn their hearts, and to 
 warn all people "to come out from them, that they be not par- 
 takers of their sins, and that they receive not of their plagues." 
 And whensoever such enemies as these attempt the ruin of God's 
 Church, our Saviour has taught His followers to encounter them. 
 " Love your enemies ; bless them that curse you ; do good to them 
 that hate you ; and pray for them which despitefully use you, and 
 persecute you." St John has taught all Christians how to over- 
 come them ; " by the blood of the Lamb, by the word of their 
 testimony, and by not loving their lives unto death." Judah has 
 taught all the faithful, how to weather out a captivity under them ; 
 by repentance and patient submission. And my design in this 
 discourse, is, from penitent, patient, reformed Judah, to draw an 
 example for the reformed Church of England, as far as their condi- 
 tions may any way agree, to imitate. 
 
 From the example then before you of penitent Judah, I earnestly 
 exhort you to a serious and undelayed repentance, which is the 
 duty proper to this penitential season. I exhort you to repent of 
 your great, and numerous, and continued provocations ; lest they 
 bring down on the land that indignation of the Lord, under which 
 Judah, because she had sinned, actually groaned ; and which 
 England, because she has sinned, may justly expect. 
 
 I earnestly exhort you, from the example of patient Judah, to 
 patient submission ; the duty proper for this very day, v/hich is 
 Passion Sunday. I exhort you to patient submission, to whatever 
 
no A Sermon preached at Whitehall. 
 
 chastisement or curse God is pleased to send you. I exhort you 
 to those fervent prayers and tears, and to that firm confidence of 
 either deliverance or support, with which the patient submission of 
 penitent Judah, and of the primitive saints, was always accom- 
 panied. I exhort you to patient submission to God's indignation, 
 though it be great, though it be lasting ; since on this account it 
 is the more justly proportioned to the greatness and perpetuity of 
 our sins. I exhort you " to bear the indignation of the Lord ; to 
 bear it, until He pleads your cause ; to bear it, because you have 
 sinned against Him," But to learn patient submission perfectly, I 
 exhort you above all to the patience of Jesus ; who " when He was 
 reviled, reviled not again ; when He suffered. He threatened not ; 
 but committed Himself to Him that judgeth righteously." 
 
 In a word, I earnestly exhort you to a uniform zeal for the re- 
 formation ; that as, blessed be God, you are happily reformed in 
 your faith, and in your worship, you would become wholly re- 
 formed in your lives. From such a reformation as this, we may 
 confidently hope for a blessing : and whatsoever enemies our 
 Church may at any time have, should they be as insulting as the 
 Babylonian, or as revengeful as the Edomite ; nay, should they 
 for awhile be never so successful, yet penitent, patient, reformed 
 England, may then say with penitent, patient, reformed Judah, 
 " Rejoice not against me, O mine enemy : when I fall, I shall 
 rise, when I sit in darkness, the Lord shall be a light unto me. 
 I will bear the indignation! of the Lord, because I have sinned 
 against Him ; until He plead my cause, and execute judgment 
 for me. He will bring me forth to the light, and I shall behold 
 His righteousness." 
 
 Now to God, who pleads the cause of His Church, and executes 
 judgment for her ; who brings her forth to the light, and makes 
 her behold His righteousness : to the Father, Son, and Holy 
 Ghost, be blessing, and glory, and wisdom, and thanksgiving, and 
 honour, and power, and might, for ever and ever. Amen. 
 
THE PRACTICE OF DIVINE LOVE; 
 
 BEING AN 
 
 EXPOSITION OF THE CHURCH CATECHISM. 
 
EXTRACT FROM GENTLEMAN'S MAGAZINE, 
 
 FOR MARCH 1814. ) 
 
 " Ehnsihorpe^ near Hi7ickley^ Mai'di 8. 
 " As your intelligent Magazine teems with a copious streim of 
 interesting and amusing subjects, &c. herewith I send you a copy 
 of a letter, now in my possession, written by Queen Anne when 
 she was Princess of Denmark, in the reign of King James II., 
 sent to Dr Francis Turner, then bishop of Ely, to keep ler a 
 place in Ely Chapel, for hearing the catechism there expomded 
 by Dr Thomas Ken, Bishop of Bath and Wells. Yours, &c. 
 
 " Richard Fowki." 
 
 " ' I hear the Bishop of Bath and Wells expounds this afternoon 
 at your chapel, and I have a great mind to hear him ; therefore, 
 I desire you would do me the favour, to lett some place be l«pt 
 for me where I may hear well and be the least taken notice of : 
 for I will bring but one body with me, and desire I may not be 
 known. I should not have given you the trouble, but that I wis 
 afraid if I had sent any body, they might have made some mii- 
 take. Pray lett me know what time it begins.' " 
 
DEDICATION. 
 
 To the Inhabitants within the Diocese of Bath and Welts, Thomas, 
 their unworthy Bishop, wisheth the knowledge and the Love 
 of God. 
 
 Dearly Beloved in Our Lord, 
 
 The Church has provided this short Catechism, or Instruction, 
 to be learned of every person, before he be brought to be confirmed 
 by the bishop, wherein she teaches all things that a Christian 
 ought to know and believe for his soul's health ; and she has in- 
 joined all fathers and mothers, masters and dames, to cause their 
 children and servants, and apprentices, to come to the Church 
 at the time appointed, and obediently to hear, and be ordered by 
 the curate, until such time as they have learned all that is here 
 appointed to be learned.^ 
 
 How seasonable and necessary this injunction is, in these days, 
 our woeful experience does sufficiently convince us, when we 
 reflect on the gross ignorance and irreligion of persons in those 
 places where catechizing is neglected, which all sober Christians 
 do sadly deplore. 
 
 Since then the providence of God, who is wont to glorify His 
 strength in the Vv^eakness of the instruments He uses, has caught 
 me up from among the meanest herdmen^ into the pastoral 
 throne, and has been pleased to commit you to my care ; the love 
 I ought to pay to the chief Shepherd obliges me to feed all His 
 lambs and His sheep,^ that belong to my flock ; and, according 
 to my poor abilities, to teach them the knowledge and the love 
 of God, and how they may make them both their daily study and 
 practice. 
 
 One thing only I most heartily beg of you all, whether old or 
 young, that ye would help me to save your own souls ; that ye 
 
 1 See the Rubric after the Catechism. 
 
 - Amos i. I. 
 
 3 John xxi. 15, 16. 
 
114 Dedicatory Epistle. 
 
 would learn and seriously consider, again and again, the terms on 
 which your salvation is to be had. 
 
 As for you who have families, I beseech you to instil into your 
 children and servants their duty, both by your teaching, and your 
 example. In good earnest, it is less cruel and unnatural to deny 
 them bread for their mortal bodies, than saving knowledge for 
 their immortal souls. 
 
 Ye that are fathers or mothers, I exhort you to tread in the steps 
 of Abraham, the father of the faithful, and the friend ^ of God, and 
 like him, to command ^ your children and households to keep the 
 way of the Lord. 
 
 Ye that are mothers or mistresses, I exhort you to imitate that 
 unfeigned faith ^ which dwelt in young Timothy's grandmother 
 Lois, and his mother Eunice, who taught him from a child * to 
 know the Holy Scriptures, which were able to make him wise to 
 salvation ; and like them, to bring up your children and servants 
 " in the nurture and admonition of the Lord." ° 
 
 I passionately exhort and beseech you all of either sex, never to 
 cease your conscientious zeal for their instruction, till ye bring 
 them to confirmation ; to renew their baptismal vow ; to make 
 open profession of their Christianity ; to discharge their godfathers 
 and godmothers ; to receive the solemn benediction of the bishop ; 
 to share in the public intercessions of the Church, and to partake 
 of all the graces of God's Holy Spirit, implored on their behalf; 
 that God, who has begun ^ a good work in them, may perfect it 
 till the day of Christ ; and that I myself at that dreadful day, may 
 render'' an account of you with joy. 
 
 How much the Catechism of our Church may conduce to so 
 desirable an end, you will in some measure judge by the following 
 explication, as imperfect as it is, and which, by God's gracious 
 assistance, I have so contrived, that at one and the same time it 
 may both inform your understanding, and raise your affections ; 
 and that it might the better suit with every one's leisure and 
 infirmities, it is penned in short forms of devotion, to be used in 
 whole, or in part ; in separate collects or ejaculations, or occasion- 
 ally, as your spiritual necessities shall require. 
 
 God of His infinite mercy bless the whole, to His own glory, and 
 to your edification, through Jesus the beloved. Amen. Amen. 
 
 1 James ii. 23. - Gen. xviii. 19. -^ 2 Tim. i. =;. 
 
 4 2 Tim. iii. 15. 5 Eph.vi. 4. « Phil. i. 6. 
 
 7 Heb. xiii. 17. 
 
The Author thinks himself obliged to declare, that he does now, 
 and always did, humbly submit this Exposition to the judgment of 
 the Church of England, conformably to whose articles he desires 
 all good Christians to interpret it ; and to prevent all misunder- 
 standings for the future, he has, in his revising it, made some few 
 little alterations,^ not at all varying his meaning, but his ex- 
 pressions, to render the whole as unexceptionable as becomes a 
 book, not designed for dispute, but for devotion. 
 
 1 The expressions used in the first edition are printed at the bottom of each page. 
 
^r/^ 
 
 <€ 
 
 
 ^ 
 
 
 > 
 
 
 ^ 
 
 ^v^ 
 
 ^4 
 
 5>^ 
 
 ^ 
 
 
 \ 1 
 
 ^W>f 
 
 M 
 
 
 P 
 
 
 ^ 
 
 ^^ 
 
 5^ 
 
 i\^ 
 
 ^™ 
 
 h% 
 
 W 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 K>^ 
 
 & 
 
 ^ 
 
 1^ 
 
 
 
 
 w 
 
 
 m 
 
 
 ^^^ 
 
 B^^ 
 
 
 e== 
 
 S^ 
 
 AN EXPOSITION 
 
 CHURCH CATECHISM, 
 
 " /QUESTION. What is your name? 
 ^ "^«j2t/m N.-or M." 
 
 g. Why do you answer by that name, rather than by your sur- 
 name? 
 
 A. Because it is my Christian name, and was given me when I 
 was made a Christian, and puts me in mind both of the happiness 
 and duty of a Christian. 
 
 T/ie Happiness of a Christian. 
 
 Q. Where do you learn the happiness, and the duty, of a 
 Christian ? 
 
 A . The very next answer teaches me the happiness, and all the 
 rest of the catechism the duty, of a Christian. 
 
 " Q. Who gave you this name ? 
 
 " A. My godfathers and godmothers in my baptism, wherein I 
 was made a member of Christ, the child of God, and an inheritor 
 of the kingdom of heaven." 
 
 Q. Shew me from hence the happiness of a Christian. 
 
 A. The happiness of a good Christian is altogether unutterable ; 
 he is one who has Christ for his head, God for his father, and 
 heaven, with all its joys and glories, which are all eternal, for his 
 inheritance. 
 
 Q. Show me on the contrary the condition of a bad Christian. 
 
 A. The misery of a bad Christian is altogether insupportable ; 
 he has Christ for his enemy, the devil for his father, and hell, with 
 all its miseries, and torments, and despair, which are all eternal, 
 for his doom. 
 
1 1 8 ' An Exposition of 
 
 The Christia?i's choice. 
 
 Q. Which of these conditions do you choose ? 
 
 A. I adore the goodness of God, who has set before me Hfe and 
 death, blessing and cursing ; ^ and in great compassion to my 
 soul, has bid me choose life, and with all my heart I choose life, 
 even life eternal. 
 
 Q. Are there not many in the world that choose death ? 
 
 A, It is too, too visible there are ; such is the extreme madness 
 and folly of obstinate sinners, that they choose the service of the 
 devil before the service of God, and hell before heaven. The 
 damnation of such men is wholly from themselves ;'^ and having 
 chosen death, even death eternal, it is most just with God to give 
 them their choice. 
 
 His Duty is Love. 
 
 Q. Blessed be God, who has given you grace to make a right 
 choice ! tell me what you must do to obtain that which you have 
 chosen, life eternal. 
 
 A. All that I am to do is reduced to one word only, and that is, 
 love ; this is the first and the great command, which compre- 
 hends all others, the proper evangelical grace ; and eternal truth 
 has assured me, " this do, and thou shalt live," ^ so that if I truly 
 love God, I shall live beloved by God, to all eternity. 
 
 The Nature of Love. 
 
 Q. Tell me wherein the love of God doth consist. 
 
 A. The love of God is a grace rather to be felt than defined, so 
 that I can do no more than rudely describe it : it is the general 
 inclination and tendency of the whole man, of all his heart, and 
 soul, and strength, of all his powers and affections, and of the 
 utmost strength of them all, to God, as his chief, and only, and 
 perfect and infinite good. 
 
 Q. Is this love of God taught in the catechism ? 
 
 A. The catechism, having in the entrance of it presented to our 
 choice the happiness of a Christian, does throughout all the re- 
 maining parts of it, instruct us in the duties of a Christian, by 
 which that happiness is to be attained ; which are all summed up 
 in the love of God, which is here most methodically taught. 
 
 The Method of Love. 
 
 Q. In what method does the catechism teach the love of God.-* 
 A. In a. method so excellent and natural, that if by God's 
 
 I Deut. XXX. 19. - Ezek. xxxiii. ir: Hos. xiii. 9. 
 
 ^ Luke x., 27, 28. 
 
the Church Catechism. 119 
 
 help, I can but faithfully observe it, I shall not fail of the love 
 of God. 
 
 Q, Explain this method to me. 
 
 A, \\. teaches me how the love of God is produced, how prac- 
 tised, and how preserved. 
 
 Q. Show me more distinctly, in what parts of the catechism 
 each of these particulars is couched. 
 
 A. If I seriously desire the love of God, I must first expel all 
 contrary loves out of my heart, and then consider the motives 
 and causes that excite it ; the former is taught in the vow of 
 baptism, the latter in the creed. 
 
 When divine love is once produced, my next care is to put it in 
 practice ; and that is, by bringing forth the fruits or effects of 
 love, which are all contained in the ten commandments. 
 
 When the love of God is produced in my heart, and is set on 
 work, my last concern is to preserve, and ensure, and quicken it ; 
 it is preserved by prayer, the pattern of which is the Lord's 
 prayer; it is ensured to us by the sacraments, which are the 
 pledges of love ; and more particularly, it is quickened by the 
 holy Eucharist, which is the feast of love : so that the plain 
 order of the catechism teaches me the rise, the progress, and the 
 perfection of divine love ; which God of His great mercy give me 
 grace to follow. 
 
 Q. I beseech God to give you the grace you pray for, that you 
 may prosecute this method with your heart, as well as with your 
 words ! 
 
 A. It is the full purpose of my soul so to do, and I trust in God 
 I shall do it. 
 
 Expulsion of contrary loves in our Baptismal Vow. 
 
 Q. You are to begin with the vow you made at your baptism : 
 tell me, 
 
 " What did your godfathers and godmothers then for you ? 
 
 " A. They did promise and vow three things in my name. 
 
 " First, that I should renounce the devil and all his works ; the 
 pomps and vanity of this wicked world, and all the sinful lusts of 
 the flesh. 
 
 " Secondly, that I should beheve all the articles of the Christian 
 faith. 
 
 " And thirdly, that I should keep God's holy will and command- 
 ments : and walk in the same all the days of my life. 
 
 " Q. Dost thou not think thou art bound to believe and to do as 
 they have promised for thee ? 
 
 " A. Yes, verily ; and by God's help so I will ; and I heartily 
 thank our heavenly Father, that He hath called me to this state of 
 salvation, through Jesus Christ our Saviour : and I pray unto God 
 
120 An Exposition of 
 
 to give me His grace, that I may continue in the same unto my 
 life's end." 
 
 Q. The promises of faith and obedience, which you made in 
 your baptism, will be mentioned in their proper places, when you 
 come to the creed, and to the decalogue ; that which now Hes 
 before you is to shew, how your abrenunciation is preparatory to 
 the love of God. 
 
 A. As all particular graces are but the love of God, varied by 
 different instances and relations, so all particular sins are nothing 
 but concupiscence, or the love of one creature or other, in com- 
 petition with, or opposition to, the love of God : now all the 
 creatures on which we set our love, are reducible to these three, 
 the devil, the world, and the flesh ; and my heart must be emptied 
 of these impure loves, before it is capable of entertaining the pure - 
 love of God. 
 
 Q. If you are conscious to yourself, that you have entertained 
 these impure loves, and have violated your baptismal vow, and 
 have in your heart renounced God, instead of renouncing His 
 enemies, what must you do to recover that favour of God you have 
 lost, and to be delivered from the wrath to come ? 
 
 A. I must thoroughly repent of all the breaches of my vow, and 
 I must seriously renew it. 
 
 Repentance for our Vow broken. 
 
 Q. Express your repentance for breaking it. 
 
 A. I express it thus : 
 
 O Lord God, with shame, and sorrow, and confusion of face, I 
 confess and acknowledge Thy infinite mercy and goodness to me, 
 my infinite vileness and ingratitude to Thee ! 
 
 Thou, Lord, infinitely good and gracious, wast pleased, out of 
 Thy own free mercy, first to love me, to excite me to love again ; 
 glory be to Thee. 
 
 Thou, Lord, didst vouchsafe, of a miserable sinner, to make me 
 a member of my Saviour, Thy own child and an heir of heaven ; 
 glory be to Thee. 
 
 I, infinitely wicked and unworthy, have despised, and rejected, 
 and forfeited all the inestimable blessings, to which I was entitled 
 by my baptism : Lord, have mercy upon me. 
 
 Woe is me, wretch that I am ! I have cut myself off by my sins, 
 from being a true member of Christ's mystical body, and from all 
 the gracious influences I might have derived from my union to 
 Him ; Lord, have mercy upon me. 
 
 Woe is me, wretch that I am ! I have by my numerous provoca- 
 tions lost that holy spirit of adoption, whereby I might become 
 thy child, O God, and call Thee Father, and am become a child of 
 wrath ! Lord, have mercy upon me. 
 
the Church Catechism. 121 
 
 Woe is me, wretch that I am ! I have, by my own wilful impiety, 
 disclaimed my being an inheritor of the kingdom of heaven, and 
 am become an heir to the kingdom of darkness ; Lord, have mercy 
 upon me. 
 
 Woe is me ! I have easily yielded to the temptations of Satan, 
 and have wrought the works of my father the devil : Lord, have 
 mercy upon me. 
 
 Woe is me ! I have greedily coveted and pursued the pomps 
 and vanity of this wicked world : Lord, have mercy upon me. 
 
 Woe is me ! I have often indulged the sinful lusts of the flesh : 
 Lord, have mercy upon me. 
 
 Woe is me ! I have loved all things which Thou Lord hatest, 
 and am myself become odious in Thy sight : Lord, have mercy 
 upon me. 
 
 Woe is me ! I have neither believed in Thee, O my God, nor 
 obeyed Thee, nor loved Thee, as I ought and as I solemnly vowed 
 I would : Lord, have mercy upon me. 
 
 Lord God, most gracious and reconcileable, pity and pardon 
 me, 
 
 1 lament, O Lord God, my detestable impiety, for having so long, 
 and so often, and so obstinately offended Thee. 
 
 In the bitterness of my soul, O Father of mercy, I bewail and 
 abhor my unworthiness, and the hardness of my heart, that has 
 despised the riches of Thy goodness, and forbearance, and long- 
 suffering, which should have led me to repentance.^ 
 
 Lord God, whatever Thou deniest me, deny me not " a broken 
 and a contrite heart." ^ 
 
 " O that my head were waters, and my eyes fountains of tears," ^ 
 that I might weep much, and love much,* having much to be 
 forgiven ! 
 
 Lord, hear me, help me, save me, for Thy own gracious promise 
 sake, for Thy own tender mercies' sake, for the merits and suffer- 
 ings of Jesus Thy beloved, in whom Thou hast made penitents 
 accepted. Amen. Amen, 
 
 Otir Vow renewed. 
 
 Q. Having repented of the violations of your baptismal vow, 
 show me how you will renew it. 
 A. I shall do it after this manner : 
 
 1 have sinned, O Lord God, I have sinned, and done evil in Thy 
 sight ; but I repent, I turn to Thee. 
 
 " I confess, and forsake my wickedness, and am sorry for my 
 sins." ^ 
 
 1 Rom. ii. 4. - Psalm li. 17. ... ^ Jer. ix. ?. 
 
 ■* Luke vii. 47. ^ Psalm xxxviii. 18. 
 
122 An Exposition of 
 
 It grieves me, O most amiable goodness, it grieves me, that ever 
 I offended Thee. 
 
 With all my heart, O my God, do I now renew the sacred vow, 
 which, alas ! alas ! I have so often violated. 
 
 Lord God, I do for the future renounce the devil, that arch- 
 rebel against Thee, with all his apostate angels. 
 
 1 renounce all his worship,^ all his impious suggestions,^ de- 
 lusions,^ and temptations, for which he is called the tempter,* and 
 all the ways of consulting him, which ungodly men have taken.^ 
 
 I renounce all his works, all those sins of the spirit, all pride,'' 
 and malice,'' and envy ; all treachery ^ and lying, revenge and 
 cruelty ; all tempting others to sin, hatred to hoHness,^ and 
 apostasy,!^ which are his daily practice, and are truly diabolical. 
 
 I utterly renounce, O Lord God, "the pomps and vanity of 
 this wicked world ; " all covetous desires of honour, riches, and 
 pleasure,^^ all sinful excesses in things lawful.^^ 
 
 I renounce. Lord, all evil customs,^^ all evil companions ; ^'^ all 
 that is vain or wicked in the world,i° " all that friendship with the 
 world, which is enmity with Thee," ^^ all things that may alienate 
 my heart from Thee. 
 
 , I renounce, O Lord God, all worldly comforts and possessions ; 
 all my natural relations, and my own life,^'' whenever they stand 
 in competition with my duty to Thee. 
 
 I utterly renounce, O Lord God, "all the sinful lusts of the 
 flesh," all the inordinate desires of my own corrupt nature, of my 
 Qwn carnal mind, which is enmity with Thee." ^^ 
 
 I renounce. Lord, " all fleshly lusts, which war against Thee,^^ 
 and against my own soul ; " all sloth, and idleness, and intemper- 
 ance ; all lasciviousness ; all " filthiness of flesh and spirit," ^^ 
 which render us unclean in Thy sight. 
 
 Lord God, I utterly renounce all things that may any way 
 displease Thee ; from them all let it be Thy good pleasure to 
 deliver me. 
 
 1 know. Lord, that sin is the utmost abomination to Thy purity,^! 
 the most audacious outrage to Thy adorable majesty, the perfect 
 contradiction to Thy deity, and therefore I utterly renounce and 
 abhor it. 
 
 I know. Lord, that sin exposes us to all the phials of Thy wrath, 
 and to vengeance eternal ; I know it sets the sinner at the ex- 
 tremest distance, and opposition, and defiance to Thee, and there- 
 fore I utterly renounce and abhor it. 
 
 1 1 Cor. X. 2o; Eph. ii. 2. - John xiii. 2. 3 2 Cor. iv. 4. 
 
 ^ Matt. iv. 3. 5 Acts xix. 19. 6 i Tim. iii. 6. 
 
 ^ John viii. 44. 8 John vi. 70. ^ Acts xiii. 10. 
 
 10 Jude 6. 11 Tit. ii. 12. 12 Cor. vii. 30, 31. 
 
 18 Rom. xii. 2. I'l Prov. i. 10 ; i Cor. xv. 33. 
 
 15 John xvii. 15 ; i John v. 19. 1^ James iv. 4. I'' Luke xiv. 26 
 
 18 Rom. vii. 18, 25; viii. 7. 1^ i Peter ii. 11; i John ii. 15 ; Gal. v. 19. 
 
 r9 2 Cor. vii. i. ~1 Prov. xv. 9. 
 
tJu Church Catechism. 123 
 
 I know, Lord, I cannot love Thee,i but I must hate evil and 
 therefore I renounce and detest it. 
 
 " Turn Thou me,2 O Lord God, and so shall I be turned." 
 
 Turn, O Lord, the whole stream of my affections, from sensual 
 love to the love of Thee. 
 
 O my God, let Thy heavenly love be the constant bias of my 
 soul ! O may it be the natural spring and weight of my heart, 
 that it may always move towards Thee ! 
 
 Thy love, O my God, shall hereafter be the sole rule and guide 
 of my life ; I will love Thee, and love whatever Thou lovest, and 
 hate whatever Thou hatest ; I will believe all the articles of the 
 Christian Faith, and I will keep Thy holy will and commandments, 
 and walk in the same all the days of my life. 
 
 All this, O my God, I own myself bound to believe and do, and 
 though of myself I am impotent to all good,^ yet by Thy help I 
 will perform it ; ^ and I heartily thank thee, O heavenly Father,^ 
 who, out of mere compassion to my soul, hast called me to this 
 state of salvation, through Jesus Christ our Lord. 
 
 Glory be to Thee, O Lord, who hast indulged me this oppor- 
 tunity of repentance ; glory be to Thee, who hast wrought in me 
 this will, to renew my baptismal vow. 
 
 O my God, I humbly, I earnestly pray unto Thee to give me 
 continual supplies of Thy grace, that I may continue in Thy love 
 unto my life's end, that, being " faithful to death," I may receive 
 " the crown of life." ^ 
 
 O Lord God, " I have sworn,'' and I will perform it, that I will 
 keep thy righteous judgments." 
 
 My heart is empty and disengaged, and longs for Thee ; my 
 heart is entirely devoted to Thee : enter, O my God ; possess it 
 with Thy gracious presence, and fill it with Thy love. 
 
 Lord, for Thy tender mercies' sake, restore me to Thy favour ; 
 to all the graces and privileges of my baptism, of which I have 
 been spoiled by my sins. 
 
 Lord, make me a living member of Thy Church, the mystical 
 body of Thy Son.^ 
 
 O my God, unite me inseparably to Christ my head,^ and from 
 thence let His gracious influences be ever streaming into my 
 soul.io 
 
 " Father, I have sinned against heaven and in Thy sight, and 
 am no more worthy to be called Thy son : " but I return with the 
 prodigal,!! O let Thy paternal bowels yearn on me, and graciously 
 receive me. 
 
 Lord, send Thy Spirit of adoption into my heart,!^ to instil true 
 
 1 Ps. xcvii. 10. 2 jer. xxxi. i8. 3 2 Cor. iii. 5; John xv. 5. 
 
 4 Phil. IV. 13. 5 Eph. i. 3 ; I Pet. i. 3. « Rev. ii. lo; 
 
 7 Ps. exix. io6. 8 I Cor. xii. 13, 27. " Eph. i. 22. 
 
 1" Eph. iv. 15 ; Col. ii. 19. n Luke xv. 18. l^ Gal. iii. 26, 27. 
 
124 All Exposition of 
 
 filial affections, that 1 may again be owned by Thee for Thy child, 
 and call Thee Father, and share in the blessings of Thy children, 
 and at last become an inheritor of the kingdom of heaven. ^ 
 
 O heavenly Father, accept my imperfect repentance, compas- 
 sionate my infirmities, forgive my wickedness, purify my unclean- 
 ness, strengthen my weakness, fix my unstableness, and let Thy 
 love ever rule in my heart, through the merits and sufi'erings and 
 love of the Son of Thy love, in whom Thoa art always infinitely 
 pleased.2 Ame?t. 
 
 This office may be used in times of devout retirement, or on the 
 Lord^s Day, or in affliction, or sickness ; but especially before the 
 Holy Eucharist. 
 
 The Motives of Love. 
 
 Q. Rehearse the articles of your Belief. 
 
 A. L " I believe in God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven 
 and earth. 
 
 II. "And in Jesus Christ His only Son our Lord. 
 
 III. "Who was conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of the 
 Virgin Mary. 
 
 IV. " Suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead and 
 buried : He descended into hell. 
 
 V. "The third day He rose again from the dead. 
 VI. " He ascended into heaven, and sitteth at the right hand 
 of God the Father Almighty. 
 
 VII. "From thence He shall come to judge the quick and the 
 dead. 
 VIII. " I believe in the Holy Ghost. 
 IX. " The Holy Catholic Church, the communion of saints. 
 X. " The forgiveness of sins. 
 XI. " The resurrection of the body. 
 XII. " And the life everlasting. Amen." 
 
 Q. "What dost thou chiefly learn in these articles of thy 
 belief?" 
 
 A. " First, I learn to believe in God the Father, who hath made 
 me, and all the world. 
 
 " Secondly, In God the Son, who hath redeemed me, and all 
 mankind. 
 
 "Thirdly, In God the Holy Ghost, who sanctifieth me, and all 
 the elect people of God." 
 
 Q. What is the method of the Creed ? 
 
 A. The Creed teaches me to believe in God, and to believe His 
 Church. 
 
 1 Rom. viii. i6, 17. - Matt. iii. 17. 
 
the Church Catechism, 12^ 
 
 Q. How in God ? 
 
 A. It teaches me to believe in God, with respect to His unity, 
 and then to the Trinity of persons in that unity, Father, Son, and 
 Holy Ghost. 
 
 Q. How does it teach you to believe the Church? 
 
 A. It teaches me to believe the Church with regard to its two 
 different states, either militant below, or triumphant above. 
 
 Q. How are the articles of the Creed motives of love ? 
 
 A. Every article includes a blessing as well as a mysteiy, and is 
 as proper to excite our love, as to engage our faith. 
 
 Q. Give me such a paraphrase on the Creed that throughout the 
 whole, your faith may work by love.^ 
 
 A. I shall do it to the best of my power, in such instructive and 
 pathetical aspirations, as follow : — 
 
 " I BELIEVE." 
 Faith working by Love. 
 
 My Lord and my God, with a full, free, and firm assent, I be- 
 heve all the articles of my Creed, because Thou hast revealed them ; 
 I know Thou art infallible truth and canst not;^ Thou art infinite 
 love,3 and wilt not deceive me : glory be to Thee. 
 
 With all my heart, O my God, do I love and praise Thee, who 
 art so infinitely amiable in Thyself, and so full of love to us, that all 
 I can know, or believe of Thee, excites me to love Thee. 
 
 Lord, daily increase my faith ; make it active and fruitful,* that 
 I may believe and love Thee as entirely as becomes one entirely 
 devoted to Thee. 
 
 " IN GOD." 
 
 Its Objects. The unity of God. 
 
 I believe, O my God, that Thou art one ,5 and that there is no 
 other God besides Thee ; Thou art that one infinite and indepen- 
 dent being, that one only true God, whom all men, and all angels, 
 are to adore : all glory be to Thee. 
 
 Lord God, help me to love and to praise Thee with God-like 
 affections, and a suitable devotion. 
 
 The Trinity i7i Unity. 
 
 1 believe, O my God, that in the unity of Thy Godhead there is 
 a Trinity of persons.^ I believe in Thee, O Father, Son, and Holy 
 
 1 Gal. V. 6. 2 Deut. xxxii. 4. ; Heb. vi. 18. 3 Psalm xxv. 8. 
 
 •* James ii. 20. 5 Deut. iv. 35 ; Isa. xliv. 6; xlv. 5, 6. 
 
 6 Matt. iii. 17 ; xxviii. 19; i John v. 7. 
 
126 An Exposition of 
 
 Ghost, in whose name I was baptized, to whose service I am 
 religiously devoted : all glory be to Thee. 
 
 I believe, I admire, I love, I praise, I adore Thee, O most 
 blessed and glorious Trinity, God the Father, God the Son, and 
 God the Holy Ghost, for being the joint authors of our salvation : 
 all glory be to Thee. 
 
 sacred, and dreadful, and mysterious Trinity, though I cannot 
 conceive Thee, yet let me daily experiment Thy goodness ; let 
 Thy grace, O Lord Jesus ; let Thy love, O God the Father ; ^ let 
 Thy communications, O Holy Spirit, be ever with me. 
 
 "the father." 
 The First Perso7i of the Trinity. 
 
 1 believe, and love, and praise Thee, O my God, the first person 
 in the most adorable Trinity, the fountain of the Godhead, the 
 eternal Father of Thy co-eternal Son,^ Jesus my Saviour. 
 
 His distinctive Property^ Father. 
 
 Glory be to Thee, O God the Father, for so loving the world, ^ 
 as to give Thy only begotten Son to redeem us. 
 
 Glory be to Thee, O heavenly Father, for first loving us, and 
 giving the dearest thing Thou hadst for us : O help me to love 
 again, and to think nothing too dear for Thee. 
 
 " ALMIGHTY." 
 
 His Attributes. 
 
 I believe, O my God, that Thou art a Spirit "* most pure and 
 holy,^ and infinite in all perfections,*' in power," in knowledge,^ and 
 goodness ; '-^ that Thou art eternal,!^ immutable ; ^^ and omni- 
 present : ^- all love, all glory, be to Thee. 
 
 I believe, O Lord, that Thou art most wise ^^ and just,i* most 
 happy ^^ and glorious,^*' and all-sufficient ; ^" most gracious, and 
 merciful, and tender, and benign, and liberal, and beneficent : ^'^ 
 all love, all glory, be to Thee. 
 
 I beheve Thy divine nature, O my God, to be in all respects 
 
 1 2 Cor. xiii. 14. - John i. 18. v. 18. ^ John iii. 16. 
 
 ■* John iv. 23, 24. •'' I Pet. i. 16. 6 Ps. cxlv. 3. 
 
 7 Ps. cxv. 3. 8 Isa. xl. 28 *• Matt. xix. 17. 
 
 i*> Ps. xc. 2. 11 James i. 17. 12 Pg. cxxxix. i, &c. 
 
 13 Ps. cxlvii. 5. 1^ Rom. ii. 6. l5Ps. xvi. 11. 
 
 16 I Tim. vi. 16. 17 2 Cor. xii. 9. 18 Tit. iii. 4.; Eph. ii. 4 ; Ps. li. i. 
 
the Church Catechism. 127 
 
 amiable, to be amiableness in itself, to be love itself ; ^ and there- 
 fore I love, I admire, I praise, I fear, and I adore Thee. 
 
 Thou, Lord, art my hope, my trust, my life, my joy, my glory 
 my God, my all, my love. 
 
 "maker of heaven and earth." 
 
 His Works. 
 
 I believe that Thou, O Father Almighty, didst create heaven 
 and earth, the whole world, and all things in it, visible and in- 
 visible, out of nothing, and by Thy word only : ^ all glory be to 
 Thee. 
 
 I believe, O Thou great Creator, that Thy divine love made 
 Thee communicate being to Thy creatures ; that Thou lovest all 
 things, and hatest nothing Thou hast made : glory be to Thee, 
 
 I believe, O God, that Thou art the sole Lord and proprietor of 
 all things Thou hast made;^ that all things do necessarily depend 
 on Thee ; that it is in Thee only we live, and move, and have our 
 being : * all love, all glory, be to Thee. 
 
 I believe, O Thou communicative goodness, that Thou dost 
 preserve, and sustain, and protect, and bless all things Thou hast 
 made, suitably to the natures Thou hast given them (read the 
 cxlvth psalm) : all love, all glory, be to Thee. 
 
 I believe, O mighty wisdom, that Thou dost most sweetly order, 
 and govern, and dispose all things ; ^ even the most minute ; ^ 
 even the very sins of men,'' to conspire in Thy glory ; O do Thou 
 conduct my whole life, steer every motion of my soul, towards the 
 great end of our creation, to love and to glorify Thee. 
 
 I beheve, O Lord, that Thy love was more illustrious in the 
 creation of man, than in all the rest of the visible world ; Thou 
 wert pleased to make him in Thy own image,^ and after Thy own 
 divine likeness : all love, all glory, be to Thee. 
 
 Thou, Lord, didst make man for Thyself, and all things visible 
 for man ; Thou designedest all creatures for his use,*^ and didst 
 subject them to his dominion ; the very angels Thou didst charge 
 to keep him in all his ways : ^^^ all love, all glory, be to Thee. 
 
 Thy works, O Lord, are wonderful and amiable.^^ I love, and 
 admire, and praise Thy universal providence over the whole 
 world : the perpetual flux of Thy goodness on every creature : all 
 glory be to Thee. 
 
 I love and praise Thee, O my God, for all the particular 
 vouchsafements of Thy love to me,^^ foj- all Thy deliverances and 
 
 1 Cant. V. 16 ; i John iv. 8, i6. - Gen. i. i ; Heb. xi. 3 ; Ps. xxxiii. 
 
 2 Deut. X. 14 ; Ps. Ixxxix. 11. ^ Acts xvii. 28. 
 6 Ps. civ. 24. 6 Matt. vi. 26, 28 ; x. 30. 
 
 ^ Gen. 1. 20. « Gen. i. 26. '* Ps. viii. 
 
 10 Ps. xci. II. 11 Ibid. cxi. 2, 3, 4. l- Ibid. Ixviii. 19. 
 
128 Ail Exposition oj 
 
 blessings, either to my body or to my soul, known or unknown 
 (read the ciii. Psalm) ; for all that I do not remember, or did not 
 consider : all love, all glory, be to Thee. 
 
 The longer I live, O my God, the more reason I have to love 
 Thee, because every day supplies me with fresh experiments and 
 new motives of Thy manifold love to me : and therefore all love, 
 all glory, be to Thee. 
 
 " AND IN JESUS." 
 
 The Second Person in the Trinity, God the Son, His Offices. 
 
 I believe in Thee, O Jesus, and I rejoice in that dear name, 
 which is so full and expressive of Thy love. 
 
 Thou art Jesus our Saviour, because Thou camest into the world 
 on purpose to save us from our sins : ^ all love, all glory, be to 
 Thee. 
 
 O be Thou ever Jesus to me ; O let me feel the kind force of that 
 sweet name, in which I and all sinners do read our danger, and 
 our deliverance, our guilt, and our salvation. 
 
 most benign Jesu ! he well deserves to be accursed, that does 
 not love Thee : - who, Lord, can ever hope to share in Thy salva- 
 tion, who does not love Thee his Saviour } 
 
 " CHRIST." 
 
 1 believe, O merciful Jesus, that Thou art Christ the true 
 Messias,^ the anointed of the Lord, the promised seed, " which was 
 to bruise the serpent's head," ^ long expected by the fathers," fore- 
 told by the prophets,^ represented by types,'' which were all fulfilled 
 in Thee, O Thou the desire of all nations : ^ all love, all glory, be 
 to Thee. 
 
 I believe, that Thou, O Jesus, wert anointed with the Holy Spirit,*^ 
 that all His gifts and graces were poured out, and diffused like a 
 sweet ointment on Thy soul, without measure ; ^^ Thou art altogether 
 lovely, O Christ, and of Thy fulness we all receive : ^^ all love, all 
 glory, be to Thee. 
 
 I beHeve,'0 thou Anointed of God, that as kings,^^ ^nd priests,^^^ 
 and prophets,!*^ were heretofore anointed with material oil ; so by 
 Thy heavenly anointing,i^ Thou wast consecrated to be our Prophet, 
 our King, and our Priest, and in all those three offices, to manifest 
 Thy love to us ; and therefore, all love, all glory, be to Thee. 
 
 1 Matt. i. 21. - I Cor. xvi. 22. 3 John i. 41 ; Daniel ix. 26 
 
 4Gen. iii. 15. 5 Luke ii. 25. 6 Acts x. 43. 
 
 7 Col. 4i. 17. 8 Hag. ii. 7. 9 Acts x. 38 ; Heb. i. 9, 
 
 ; 10 John iii. 34. ^^ John i. 16, l" i Sam. xv. i. 
 
 13 Lev. iv. 3, s, 16. !•* 1 Kings xix. 16. 15 Matt. iii. 16. 
 
tJie Church Catechism. 1 29 
 
 Glory be to Thee, O Christ, our Prophet,^ who didst teach, and 
 reveal, and interpret Thy Father's will, and all saving truth, to the 
 world. 
 
 Glory be to Thee, O Christ, our King,^ who dost give laws to Thy 
 people, dost govern and protect us, and hast subdued all our 
 ghostly enemies. 
 
 Glory be to Thee, O Christ, our Priest, who dost bless us,^ who 
 didst offer Thyself a sacrifice,'* and dost still " make intercession 
 for us." ^ 
 
 Our redemption, our illumination, our support, is wholly from 
 Thy love, O Thou Anointed of God : all love, all glory, be 
 to Thee. 
 
 *' HIS ONLY SON." 
 His two Natures, i. Of God. His Eternal Generation. 
 
 I beheve that Thou, O most adorable Jesus, art the Son of God 
 by ineffable generation ; ^ Thou didst from eternity derive Thy 
 Godhead from the Father ; Thou art " the brightness of His glory, 
 and the express image of His person : " '' all love, all glory, be to 
 Thee. 
 
 Thou, O blessed Jesu, art the only Son of God, "the only 
 begotten Son, full of grace and truth ;"^ Thou art the only "be- 
 loved Son, in whom Thy Father is well pleased ; " it is only in 
 Thee, and for Thee, that sinners have hope ; and therefore, all 
 love, all glory, be to Thee. 
 
 Thou art equal to Thy Father,^ O Jesu, in amiableness and in 
 love to us, and art equally to be loved by us ; and therefore, 
 all love and praise be to the Father that eternally begat,^^ and to 
 the Son eternally begotten. 
 
 " OUR LORD." 
 His Deity. 
 
 I believe, O Thou eternal Son of the Father, that Thou art 
 " the great " ^^ and " true God," 1- "Jehovah our righteousness," ^^ 
 " over all, God blessed for ever, "^^ and mighty to save : ^^ all love, 
 all glory be to Thee. 
 
 I believe, O Lord Jesus, that Thou didst make,^^ "and dost 
 sustain all things by Thy power," ^"^ and that Thou art to be 
 
 1 John IV. 25 ; Acts vii. 37 ; Luke iv. 18. 
 
 - Luke i. 33, 69, 71. 3 Acts iii. 26 
 
 4 Isa. liii. 10 ; Eph. v. 2 ; Heb. ix. 14. 5 Rom. viii. 34 ; Heb. vii. 25. 
 
 6 Heb. i. 5 ; Isa. liii. 8 ; John i. i. '' Heb. i. 3. 
 
 8 John i. 14, 18 ; v. 18; Rom. viii. 32 ; Matt. iii. 17. ^ Phil. ii. 6. 
 
 10 I John V. I. 11 Tit. ii. 13. l2iJohnv.20. 
 
 13 Jer. xxiii. 6. 1^ Rom. ix. 5. 1^ Isa. Ixiii. i. 
 
 16 John i. 3. I'' Heb. i. 3, 10. 
 
130 A 71 Exposition 
 
 " honoured by men, and by angels, as Thy Father is honoured : " ^ 
 all love, all glory, be to Thee, 
 
 I believe, O Thou "King of kings, and Lord of lords," ^ that 
 Thou art the Lord, and .the Author of the new creation,^ as well 
 as of the old ; that Thou art more peculiarly Lord of us sinners 
 by purchase.* O that I, and all that own Thy dominion, may for 
 ever love, and revere, and obey,^ so powerful and gracious a 
 Lord! 
 
 " WHO WAS CONCEIVED BY THE HOLY GHOST." 
 
 2. Of Mail in his State of Hwnitiation. His Conception. 
 
 I believe, O most condescending Majesty, that when Thou didst 
 stoop so low as to assume our frail nature, the Holy Ghost came 
 on Thy sacred mother, and that " the power of the Highest did 
 overshadow her,"^ and that she did conceive and lodge Thee in her 
 womb, where Thou, who fillest heaven and earth, vvert about nine 
 months for our sakes imprisoned ; and therefore, all love, all glory, 
 be to Thee. 
 
 "born of the virgin MARY." 
 
 His Birth. 
 
 I believe, O most adorable Humihty, that Thou wast at last 
 born into the world ;'' that Thou having only God for Thy Father, 
 and Mary, a pure Virgin, for Thy mother, whom all " generations 
 do call blessed," ^ both Thy conception and birth were perfectly 
 immaculate ; that being without sin Thyself, Thou mightest be a 
 tit sacrifice to ^ atone for us sinners, who being born of unclean 
 parents, were all by nature unclean ; ^^ and therefore, all love, all 
 glory, be to Thee, immaculate " Lamb of God, who takest away 
 the sins of the world." " 
 
 I believe, O blessed Saviour, that the two natures of God and of 
 man were in Thee so mysteriously united, without either change 
 or confusion, that they made in Thee but one person, but one 
 " mediator," 12 « one Lord :" 13 Thou, O eternal Word, didst "be- 
 come flesh, and didst dwell among us," 1* on purpose to save us ; 
 and therefore, all love, all glory, be to Thee. 
 
 " SUFFERED." 
 
 His Life of Sorrow. 
 
 I believe, O adorable Love, that Thy whole life was made up of 
 sufferings, and that for sinful men, and in particular for me : O let 
 me never cease to adore and love Thee. 
 
 1 Heb. i. 6 ; Phil. ii. lo ; John v. 23. 2 Rev.'xix. 16. 
 
 " Eph. i. 21, 22; ii. 10. ■* I Cor. vi. 20. 5 Luke vi. 46. 
 
 6 Luke i. 31, 34, 35, 42. 7 Luke ii. 6, 7. 8 Luke i. 48. 
 
 ^ I John ii. 1, 2. 10 Job xiv. 4. 11 John i. 29. 
 
 1- I Tim. ii. 5. 1^ Eph. iv. 5. i^ John i. 14. 
 
the Church Catechism. 131 
 
 It was for us sinners, O tenderest Love, that in Thy very infancy 
 Thou wast circumcised,! and designed by Herod for slaughter, and 
 forced to fly into Egypt ; ^ and therefore I praise and love Thee. 
 
 It was for us sinners, that Thou, O afflicted Love, wert all Thy life 
 long " a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief ; " ^ that Thou 
 wast persecuted and reviled, despised and rejected, and hadst 
 "not where to lay Thy head;"* and therefore I am bound to 
 praise and love Thee. 
 
 It was for us sinners, that Thou, O compassionate Love, when 
 Thou tookest on Thee our nature, " wast touched with a feeling of 
 our infirmities, and wast in all points tempted like as we are, yet 
 without sin," ^ that Thou mightest the more affectionately pity the 
 weak, and succour the tempted ; and therefore I praise and love 
 Thee. 
 
 It was for us sinners, that Thou, O beneficent Love, didst "go 
 about doing good,"*' preaching repentance, pubHshing the glad 
 tidings of salvation,^ sending Thy disciples,^ confirming Thy 
 heavenly doctrine by many glorious miracles,^ and illustrating it 
 by a God-like example ; all Thy life is full of attractives of sweetest 
 love and pity to us sinners ; ^^ which kindly and forcibly constrain 
 us to praise and love Thee. 
 
 most exuberant Love, how amiable are all Thy graces ! O fill 
 my heart with Thy love, and transform me into Thy likeness," that 
 I rnay all my life long imitate Thy perfect obedience, unspotted 
 holiness, unchangeable resolution, universal charity, uninterrupted 
 devotion, contempt of the world, heavenly-mindedness, gracious 
 condescension, ardent zeal for Thy Father's glory, and unbounded 
 love, and that for the sake of that dearest love, which inclined 
 Thee to become incarnate for me. 
 
 "under PONTIUS PILATE." 
 His Sufferings previous to His Crucifixion. 
 
 1 believe, O my Lord, and my God, that though Thou didst 
 suffer all Thy life long ; yet Thy greatest sufferings were under 
 the Roman governor of Judea, Pontius Pilate ; I believe all those 
 mighty sufferings ; but am as little able to express the greatness 
 of them, as I am the greatness of Thy Love, which moved Thee to 
 suffer : all I can do is to love and to praise Thee. 
 
 How great were Thy sufferings, O Saviour of the world ! when 
 the very apprehension of them made Thy " soul very heavy, ex- 
 ceeding sorrowful, even to death ; " made Thee " offer up prayers, 
 
 1 Luke ii. 21. 
 
 " Matt. ii. 13, 16. 
 
 
 3 Isa. liii. 3. 
 
 •* Matt. viii. 20. 
 
 5 Heb. iv. 15. 
 
 
 6 Acts X. 38. 
 9 Matt. xi. 5. 
 
 7 Matt. iv. 17 ; Luke iv. i8. 
 
 8 Matt. X. I, 5. 
 
 
 JO 2 Cor. V. 14. 
 
 ^1 Rom. viii. 2g : Phil, i 
 
 i-5. 
 
 
132 An Exposition of 
 
 with strong crying and tears ; " that if it were " Thy Father's will, 
 the cup might pass from Thee;" threw Thee into an "agony and 
 bloody sweat ;"i insomuch that there was an angel sent from 
 heaven on purpose to strengthen Thee. O Thou agonizing Love ! 
 impress on my heart so tender a sense of Thy sufferings for me, 
 that I may agonize with Thee, that I may feel all Thy sorrows, 
 that though I cannot sweat blood like Thee, I may dissolve into 
 tears for Thee, that I may love and suffer with Thee throughout 
 every part of Thy passion. 
 
 suffering Jesus, when my meditations follow Thee from the 
 garden to Mount Calvary, I grieve, and I love, all the way. 
 
 1 grieve, and I love, when I see Thee, O incarnate God, who 
 couldst command more than twelve legions of angels for Thy 
 rescue ; out of love to sinners, and in particular to me, one of the 
 vilest of all that number, humbling Thyself to be apprehended, and 
 bound by the rude soldiers, as a malefactor.^ 
 
 I grieve, and I love, when I see Thee, O gracious Lord, for my 
 sake, betrayed by the treacherous kiss of Judas,^ denied by Peter, 
 and forsaken of all Thy disciples. 
 
 I grieve, and I love, when I see Thee, O spotless Innocence, out 
 of love to me, dragged to Annas,"^ and Caiaphas,^ the high priest ; 
 when I see Thee accused by false witnesses, arraigned and con- 
 demned. 
 
 I grieve, and I love, when I see Thee, O divine Majesty, out of 
 love to me, spit upon, and blind-folded, and buffeted, and mocked,^ 
 sent to Pilate, an infidel judge," then to wicked Herod,^ who with 
 his men of war set Thee at naught, arrayed Thee in a white robe 
 of mockery, and sent Thee again to Pilate. 
 
 I _ grieve, and I love, O injured Goodness, when I see Thee, 
 though declared innocent by the very traitor Judas, who out of 
 horror for his crime went and hanged himself, though declared 
 innocent by Pilate himself, the Judge to whom Thine enemies 
 appealed, yet worried to death by the clamours of the rabble, that 
 cried out, crucify, crucify ; when I see Barabbas, a traitor and a 
 murderer, preferred before Thee.'^ 
 
 I grieve, and I love, when I see Thee, O Lover of Souls, for my 
 sake, most unjustly given up into the hands of infidel soldiers, to 
 be stript naked, and tied to a pillar, and scourged ;'^^ to see " the 
 plowers plowing on Thy back, and making long furrows." 
 
 I grieve, and I love, O King of Heaven, when I see Thee, out 
 of love to me, humbling Thyself to be arrayed in "purple, with a 
 reed in Thy hand ;" ^^ when I see Thee " crowned with thorns," 
 
 1 Heb. V. 7 ; Matt. xxvi. 38; Luke xxii. 4 ^, 44. 
 
 '- Matt. xxvi. 47, 53, 57; John xviii. 4. 3 Matt. xxvi. 49, 56, 70. 
 
 ■1 John xviii. 12. 5 Matt. xxvi. 57, 59; Luke xxii. 66. 
 
 6 Matt. xxvi. 67 ; Luke xxii. 63. J Ibid, xxvii. 2. 8 Luke xxiii. 6, 11, 12. 
 
 9 Luke xxiii. 14, 18, 19, 21 ; Matt, xxvii. 3, 4, 5. 10 John xix. i ; Ps. cxxix. 3. 
 
 11 Matt, xxvii. 28. 29. 
 
tJie CJiurcJi Catechism. 133 
 
 to multiply Thy torments ; when I see Thee mocked by barbar- 
 ous wretches, with their bended knee, and with " Hail, King of 
 the Jews/' 
 
 I grieve, and I love, when I see Thee, O Lord God, whom the 
 angels worship, spit upon again and bufFeted,^ and for my sake 
 made the extreme scorn, and contempt, and sport, of Thy insolent 
 and insulting enemies ; and though still declared innocent by 
 Pilate,2 yet surrendered to the unrelenting cruelty of the multitude 
 to be crucified. 
 
 My Lord, my God, my Saviour, with all my heart, I love and 
 adore Thy infinite love and benignity to sinners : with, all my 
 heart, I lament and detest the hatred and outrage of sinners to 
 Thee. 
 
 " WAS CRUCIFIED." 
 
 His Crucijixioft. 
 
 I grieve, and I love, O sorrowful Jesus, when I see Thee, for 
 my sake, oppressed with the weight of Thy own cross,^ till Thy 
 tender body, quite spent with sufferings, sank under it* 
 
 I grieve, and I love, O Thou great Martyr of Love, when, for 
 my sake, I see Thy virgin body stript naked, Thy hands and Thy 
 feet nailed to the cross ; when I see Thee "crucified between two 
 thieves," ° and numbered with the transgressors ; when I see gall 
 given Thee to eat, and vinegar to drink. "^ 
 
 I grieve, and I love, when I see Thee, O incarnate Deity, hang- 
 ing on the cross, and for my sake, by Thy own people, in the 
 height of Thy anguish, derided, reproached and blasphemed, with 
 " wagging their heads," mocked by the soldiers, and by the im- 
 penitent thief 
 
 I grieve, and I love, when I see Thee, O God, blessed for ever- 
 more, O Fountain of all blessing, hang bleeding on the cross, and 
 made "a curse for me." ^ How does my indignation swell against 
 the injustice, and ingratitude, and inhumanity of the Jews, who 
 could thus cruelly treat so unreproachable an innocence, so 
 amiable a charity, so compassionate a Saviour ! 
 
 Alas ! alas ! it was the sinner, O Love Incarnate, rather than the 
 Jew, that betrayed, and derided, and blasphemed, and tortured, 
 and crucified Thee ; the sins of lapsed mankind,^ and particularly 
 my sins, they were Thy tormentors ; and therefore, from my heart, 
 I bewail, detest and abjure them. 
 
 My Lord, and my God, instil penitential love into my soul, that 
 
 1 Mark xv. 19. 2 Matt, xxvii. 24, 26. 3 John xix. 17. 
 
 4 Matt, xxvii. 32. 5 Matt, xxvii. 38. 6 Ps. Ixix. 21. 
 
 7 Matt, xxvii. 39; Luke xxiii. ■t.g. 8 Gal iii. 13. 
 y Isa. liii. 6. 
 
134 An Exposition of 
 
 I may grieve for my sins, which grieved Thee ; that I may love 
 Thee for suffering for us sinners, who occasioned all Thy griefs ; 
 O may I always love Thee, O may I never grieve Thee more ! 
 
 DEAD. 
 His Death. 
 
 I grieve, and I love, O bleeding Love, when I see Thee on the 
 cross, quite spent with pain and anguish, when I see Thee in Thy 
 dying pangs, commending Thy spirit into the hands of Thy heavenly 
 Father,^ bowing Thy head,^ and giving up the ghost. Thou, O 
 Lord of life, didst for us sinners humble Thyself to death, even to 
 the death of the cross, a death of utmost shame and ignominy, and 
 of torment insupportable : all love, all glory be to Thee. 
 
 Was ever any sorrow, O crucified Lord, like that sorrow my sins 
 created Thee ! 
 
 Was ever any love, O outraged Mercy, like that love Thou didst 
 shew in dying for sinners ! 
 
 All the frame of nature, O dying Saviour, fell into convulsions 
 at the crucifixion of their great Creator : " the sun was darkened,^ 
 the veil of the temple was rent from the top to the bottom, the 
 earth quaked, the rocks clave asunder, the bodies of dead saints 
 rose out of their graves," insomuch that the centurion and infidel 
 soldiers acknowledged Thee to be the Son of God ; Thou wast 
 lovely, and glorious, and adorable, in Thy lowest humiliation : all 
 love, all praise, be to Thee. 
 
 His tmkiiown Sufferings, 
 
 Thy bodily sufferings, O Almighty Love, were intolerable, but 
 yet Thy inward were far greater. 
 
 I grieve, I love, I melt all o'er when I hear Thee on the cross 
 crying out, " My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me .? " ^ 
 Ah, sinful wretch that I am, how infinite and unconceivable were 
 the inward dolors and agonies Thou didst undergo for us sinners, 
 when Thou didst tread the wine-press of Thy Father's wrath alone,''^ 
 when it pleased Thy own most beloved Father " to bruise Thee, 
 and to put Thee to grief," when the iniquities of the whole world 
 were laid on Thee ; ^ and my numerous sins increased Thy load, 
 and heightened Thy torment, when Thy own Deity withdrew all 
 consolation from Thee, when God, offended by our sins, did 
 "afflict Thee in the day of His fierce anger."' No sufferings, no 
 love was ever like unto Thine for me ; no grief, no love, but my own, 
 should exceed mine for Thee. 
 
 1 Luke xxiii. 46. ^ John xix. 30. ^ Matt.xxvii. 51. 
 
 •1 Matt, xxvii. 46. 5 Isa. Ixiii. 3. C Isa. liii. 6, 10. 
 
 '' Lam. i. 12. 
 
tJie Church Catechism. 135 
 
 For whom, O unutterable Goodness, didst Thou suffer the ex- 
 treme bitterness of sorrow, but for the vilest of all Thy creatures, 
 sinful man, and for me, one of the worst of sinners ? and therefore 
 I praise and love Thee. 
 
 For what end didst Thou suffer, O most ardent Charity, but to 
 save sinners from all things that were destructive, — the curse of 
 the law,^ the terrors of death,^ the tyranny of sin,^ the power of 
 darkness and torments eternal,* to purchase for us all things con- 
 ducible to our happiness,^ pardon and grace, consolation and 
 acceptance, and the everlasting joys and glories of the kingdom of 
 heaven ? and therefore I praise and love Thee. 
 
 Out of what motive didst Thou suffer, O boundless Benignity, 
 but out of Thy own preventing love,^ free mercy, and pure com- 
 passion ? and therefore I praise and love Thee. 
 
 When no other sacrifice could atone Thy Father's anger, O Thou 
 beloved Son of God, and reconcile divine justice and mercy 
 together, but the sacrifice of God incarnate, who, as Man, was 
 to die,^ and to suffer in our stead ; as God, was to merit and make 
 satisfaction for our sins ; it was then that Thou, O God the Son, 
 didst become man, the very meanest of men, didst " take upon 
 Thee the form of a servant," ^ and didst on the cross show us the 
 mystery and the miracle of love, God crucified for sinners, and 
 sinners redeemed by the blood of God.^ 
 
 O Thou propitious Wonder, God incarnate on the cross, by what 
 names shall I adore Thee ? All are too short, too scanty, to express 
 Thee ; love only, nothing but love, will reach Thee; Thou art love ! ^^ 
 O Jesu, Thou art all love ; O tenderest, O sweetest, O purest, O 
 dearest Love, soften, sw^eeten, refine, love me, into all love like 
 Thee ! 
 
 By the love of Thy cross, O Jesu, I live,!^ in that I will only glory, 
 that above all things will I study,i^ that before all things will I 
 value ; ^^ by the love of Thy cross I will take up my cross daily ,^* 
 and follow Thee ; I will persecute, and torment, and crucify,^^ my 
 sinful affections and lusts, which persecuted, tormented and cruci- 
 fied Thee ; and if Thy love calls me to it, I will suffer on the cross 
 for Thee, as Thou hast done for me.^^ 
 
 How illustrious and amiable were Thy graces amidst all Thy 
 sufferings, O Thou afflicted Jesu ! I admire, and I love. Thy pro- 
 found humility, unwearied patience, lamb-like meekness, immacu- 
 late innocence, invincible courage, absolute resignation, compas- 
 sionate love of souls, and perfect charity to Thy enemies. O my 
 Love, I cannot love Thee, but I must desire, above all things, to be 
 
 1 Gal. iii. 13. 2 Heb. ii. 14, 15. 3 Rom. vi. 14. 
 
 4 1 Thess. i. 10. 5 Eph. i. 7 ; Heb. ix. 12, 15. 
 
 6 I John iv. 19. '' Heb. ix. 28. ^ Phil. ii. 7. 
 
 » Acts XX. 28 1" I John iv. 8. H Gal. ii. 20. vi. 14. 
 
 12 I Cor. ii. 2. 13 Phil. iii. 8. 14 Luke ix. 23. 
 
 15 Rom. vi. 6. ; Gal. v. 24. 16 Acts xxi. 13. 
 
1 3^5 Alt Exposition of 
 
 like my beloved : O give me grace to tread in Thy steps,^ and con- 
 form me to Thy divine image, that the more I grow like Thee 
 the more I may love Thee, and the more I may be loved by Thee. 
 
 "AND BURIED. HE DESCENDED INTO HELL." 
 
 His Burial and Descent. 
 
 I believe, O crucified Lord, that Thou wast really dead, and that 
 there was a separation of Thy body and soul : that Thy side was 
 mortally wounded, and " pierced with a spear " on the cross,^ and 
 Thy sacred body was buried,^ to assure us of Thy death : all love, 
 all glory, be to Thee. 
 
 I believe, O pierced, O wounded Love, that Thy soul, in the 
 state of separation, did descend into hell,* to vanquish death, and 
 all the spirits of darkness, in their own dominions ; and therefore 
 I adore and love Thee. 
 
 Glory be to Thee, O Thou great Champion of Love, who didst for 
 our sakes singly encounter all our ghostly enemies, who didst Thy- 
 self " taste of death," 5 that Thou mightest take away the " sting of 
 death," *5 who didst wrestle with " principahties and powers,"'' and 
 all the force of hell, that we might share in Thy victory ; for which 
 wonderful salvation, I will always praise and love Thee. 
 
 " THE THIRD DAY HE ROSE AGAIN FROM THE DEAD." 
 
 I?i His state of Exaltation. His Resurrection. 
 
 I believe, O Almighty Love, that according to the types and 
 prophecies which went before of Thee,^ and according to Thy own 
 infallible predictions, Thou didst, by Thy own power,^ rise from the 
 dead the third day : all love, all glory be to Thee. 
 
 Glory be to Thee, who didst lie so long in the grave to undergo 
 the full condition of the dead, and to convince all the world Thou 
 wert dead ; and didst rise so soon, that Thou mightest not see cor- 
 ruption,!'^ or retard our joy :^^ all love, all glory, be to Thee. 
 
 " HE ASCENDED INTO HEAVEN." 
 
 His Ascensiofi. 
 
 I believe, O victorious Love, that Thou, after Thy conquest over 
 death and hell, didst ascend in triumph to heaven,!^ t^^t Thou 
 
 1 I Peter ii. 21. 2 John xix. 34 3 Matt, xxvii. 57, 60. 
 
 ■* Eph. iv. 9. 5 Heb. ii. 9. 6 i Cor. xv. 55, 56, 57. 
 
 7 Col. ii. 15. 8 Luke xxiv. 26, 27 ; Matt. xii. 40. 
 
 y John ii. 19. 10 Acts ii. 31. 11 John xvi. 22. 
 
 1- Luke xxiv. 51.; Acts i. 9, 10. 
 
tJie C J lurch Catechism. 137 
 
 mightest prepare mansions for us,i and from thence, as Conqueror, 
 bestow the gifts of Thy conquest on us ;2 and above all, the gift of 
 Thy Holy Spirit •,^ that Thou mightest enter into the Holy of hoHes, 
 as our great High-Priest,* to present to Thy Father the sweet-smell- 
 ing sacrifice of His crucified Son, the sole propitiation for sinners; 
 and therefore, all love, all glory, be to Thee. 
 
 Glory be to Thee, O Jesu, who didst leave the world, and ascend 
 to heaven about the thirty-third year of Thy age, to teach us, in the 
 prime of our years, to despise this world, when we are best able to 
 enjoy it, and to reserve our full vigour for heaven, and for Thy love. 
 
 Thou, whom my soul loveth, since Thou hast left the world, 
 what was there ever in it worthy of our love ! O let all my affections 
 ascend after Thee, and never return to the earth more ; for " whom 
 have I in heaven but Thee ? and there is none upon earth that I 
 desire in comparison of Thee."^ 
 
 "and sitteth at the right hand of god, the 
 father almighty." 
 
 His Sessio)i. 
 
 1 believe, O triumphant Love, that Thou now sittest in full and 
 peaceful possession of bliss, ^ and at the right-hand of God ; that 
 Thy human nature is exalted to the most honourable place in 
 heaven, where Thou sittest on Thy throne of glory, adored by 
 angels, " and interceding for sinners ; ^ and therefore, all love, all 
 glory be to Thee. 
 
 Glory be to Thee, O Love enthroned ! Thy resurrection, ascen- 
 sion and session are all signal instances of Thy love, and earnests 
 of- our future felicity, the entire purchase of Thy love ; all our 
 hopes of heaven, our resurrection, ascension and glorification, 
 depend on, and are derived from Thine, and are all the trophies 
 of Thy love to us ; and therefore, I will ever praise and love 
 Thee. 
 
 " FROM THENCE HE SHALL COME TO JUDGE THE QUICK 
 AND THE DEAD." 
 
 His coining to Judgjtient. 
 
 I believe, O glorified Love, that from Thy throne, at God's 
 right hand, where Thou now sittest, Thou wilt come again ^ to 
 judge the world, attended with Thy holy angels : ^° all glory be to 
 Thee. 
 
 1 John xiv. 2. I Eph. iv. 8. ^ John xvi. 7 
 
 ■* Heb. vi. 19, 20; X. 20, 21. ^ Ps. Ixxiii. 25. ^ i Pet. iii. 22. 
 
 " Rev. V. 8, 9, 12. ^ Rom. viii. 34. ^ Acts i. 11 ; Phil. iii. 20. 
 
 10 2 Thess. i. 7. 
 
138 A 71 Exposition of 
 
 I believe, O Thou adorable Judge, that all mankind shall be 
 summoned before Thy awful tribunal. All the dead, who shall be 
 waked out of their graves, when the angel shall blow the last 
 trump, 1 and all that are then quick, and alive, shall then appear 
 before Thee : all glory be to Thee. 
 
 I believe, Lord, that I, and all the world, shall give a strict 
 account of all our thoughts, and words, and actions : that the 
 books will be then opened ; that out of those dreadful registers we 
 shall be judged ; ^ that Satan and our own consciences will be our 
 accusers. O let the last trump be ever sounding in my ears, that 
 I may ever be mindful of my great account : ^ and that I may 
 neither speak, nor do, nor think, any thing, that may wound my 
 own conscience, or provoke Thy anger, or make me tremble at 
 the awful day. 
 
 I know, O Thou adorable Judge, that love only shall then endure 
 that terrible test, that love only shall be acquitted, that love only 
 shall be eternally blest ; and therefore, I will ever praise and 
 love Thee. 
 
 Glory be to Thee, O Thou beloved Son of God, to whom the 
 Father has committed all judgment. * 
 
 How can they that love Thee, O Jesu, ever despond, though 
 their love in this life is always imperfect, when at last they shall 
 have Love for their Judge, Love that hath felt and will compas- 
 sionate all their infirmities : and therefore, all love, all glory, be 
 to Thee. 
 
 " I BELIEVE IN THE HOLY GHOST." 
 
 The third Person in the T7'i?iity. 
 
 I believe in Thee, O Thou Spirit of God, the third Person in 
 the most adorable Trinity ; I believe, O blessed Spirit, that Thou 
 art the Lord,^ that Thou art God,^ eternal,'' and omniscient,^ a 
 person distinct from both the Father and the Son, eternally pro- 
 ceeding from both,^ and equally sent by both,!*^ and joint Author 
 with both of our salvation ; and therefore, all love, all glory, be to 
 Thee. 
 
 I believe, O blessed Spirit, that Thou art holy, essentially holy,ii 
 in respect of Thy own divine nature ; and being essentially holy, 
 art infinitely amiable ; and therefore, all love, all glory, be to 
 Thee. 
 
 I believe, O blessed Spirit, that Thou art personally holy, that 
 Thou art the author of all internal holiness, and of all internal and 
 
 1 I Cor. XV. 52. - Rom. xiv. 10; Matt. xii. 36 ; Rev. xx. 12. 
 
 ^ Eccles. xii. 13, 14. ^ John v. 22. 5 2 Cor. iii. 17, 18. 
 
 '> John iv. 24 ; Acts v. iii. 7 Heb. ix. 14. 8 i Cor. ii. 10. 
 
 9 Matt. X. 20 ; Rom, viii. g. 10 John xiv. 26 ; xvi. 7. n i Pet. i. 15. 
 
tJie ChnrcJi Catechism. 139 
 
 sanctifying grace ; ^ that Thou art the principle of all spiritual life 
 in us ; '^ and therefore, all love, all glory, be to Thee. 
 
 Glory be to Thee, O Love Incarnate, for sending the Spirit in 
 Thy stead, and for promising it to our prayers : ^ all love, all 
 glory, be to Thee. 
 
 Glory be to Thee, O Spirit of Love, for " shedding the love of 
 God abroad in our hearts," ^ for filling all that love Thee with ex- 
 uberance of joy and consolation : all love, all glory, be to Thee. 
 
 Thou blessed Spirit the Comforter, purify my soul, and infuse 
 Thy love into it, and consecrate it to be Thy temple,^ and fix Thy 
 throne immoveably there, and set all my affections on fire, that 
 my heart may be a continual sacrifice of love offered up to Thee, 
 and the flame may be ever aspiring towards Thee. 
 
 "the holy catholic church." 
 Our belief of the Church. \. Militant. Its nature. 
 
 1 believe, O blessed and adorable Mediator, that the Church is 
 a society of persons, founded by Thy love to sinners,*^ united into 
 one body, of which Thou art the head,'' initiated by baptism,^ 
 nourished by the Eucharist,^ governed by pastors commissioi;ied 
 by Thee, and endowed with the power of the keys,^^ professing the 
 doctrine taught by Thee,^^ and delivered to the saints,^^ and devoted 
 to praise and to love Thee. 
 
 I beheve, O holy Jesus, that Thy Church is holy, like Thee its 
 Author ; holy, by the original design of its institution ; ^"^ holy, by 
 baptismal dedication ; holy, in all its administrations, which tend 
 to produce holiness ; ^^ and though there will be always a mixture 
 of good and bad in it in this world,i^ yet it has always many real 
 saints in it ; and therefore, all love, all glory be to Thee. 
 
 I believe. Lord, this Church to be Catholic or universal, made 
 up of the collection of all particular Churches ; I believe it to be 
 Catholic in respect of time, comprehending all ages to the world's 
 end, to which it is to endure ; ^^ Catholic in respect of all places, 
 out of which believers are to be gathered ; ^" Catholic^in respect, of 
 all saving faith, of which this creed contains the substance, which 
 shall in it always be taught ; ^^ Catholic in respect of all graces, 
 which shall in it be practised ; and Catholic in respect of that 
 Catholic war it is to wage against all its ghostly enemies for which 
 it is called militant. O preserve me always a true member of Thy 
 
 I Gal. V. 22. - John iii. 5. 3 Luke xi. 13. 
 •* Rom. V. 5. 5 I Cor. vi. 19. 
 
 6 Matt. xvi. 18 ; Eph. v. 25. 7 Col. i. 18. 8 Matt, xxviii. 19, 
 
 8 Matt. xxvi. 26. 10 Matt, xviii. 18 ; John xx. 22, 23. 
 
 II Acts ii. 41, 42. 12 Jude, ver. 3. 13 2 Tim. i. 9. 
 1^ 2 Tim. ii. 19. 15 Matt. xiii. 24. 
 
 16 Matt. xvi. 18 ; xxviii. 20. 17 Matt, xxviii. 19. is John xvi. 13. 
 
140 An Exposition of 
 
 Catholic Church, that I may always inseparably adhere to Thee, 
 that I may always devoutly praise and love Thee. 
 
 Glory be to Thee, O Lord my God, who hast made me a 
 member of the particular Church of England, whose faith, and 
 government, and worship, are holy, and Catholic, and Apostolic, 
 and free from the extremes of irreverence or superstition ; and 
 which I firmly believe to be a sound part of Thy Church universal, 
 and which teaches me charity to those who dissent from me ; and 
 therefore, all love, all glory, be to Thee. 
 
 my God, give me grace to continue steadfast in her bosom, to 
 improve all those helps to true piety, all those means of grace, all 
 those incentives of Thy love. Thou hast mercifully indulged me in* 
 her communion, that I may with primitive affections and fervour 
 praise and love Thee. 
 
 "the communion of saints." 
 Communion. 
 
 1 believe, O King of Saints, that among the saints on earth, 
 whether real, or in outward profession only, there ought to be a 
 mutual Catholic participation of all good things," ^ which is the 
 immediate effect of Catholic love. Thou, O God of love, restore 
 it to Thy Church. 
 
 I believe, O Thou God of love, that all the saints on earth, by 
 profession, ought to communicate one with another in evangelical 
 worship, and the same holy sacraments, in the same divine and 
 apostolical faith ; ^ in all offices of corporal ^ and spiritual charity,^ 
 in reciprocal delight in each other's salvation, and in tender 
 sympathy as members of one and the same body ; ^ O God of 
 peace, restore in Thy good time this Catholic communion, that 
 with one heart, and one mouth, we may all praise and love Thee. 
 
 my God, amidst the deplorable divisions of Thy Church, O 
 let me never widen its breaches, but give me Catholic charity to 
 all that are baptized in Thy name, and Catholic communion with 
 all Christians in desire. O deliver me from the sins and errors, 
 from the schisms and heresies of the age. O give me grace to 
 pray daily for the peace of Thy Church,^ and earnestly to seek it, 
 and to excite all I can to praise and love Thee. 
 
 1 believe, O most holy Jesu, that Thy saints here below have 
 communion with Thy saints above," they praying for us ^ in heaven, 
 we here on earth celebrating their memorials, rejoicing at their 
 
 1 John i. 7. 2 Acts li. 42, 46. 3 Gal. vi. 10. 
 
 4 Rom. xii. 9, &c. ; i Thess. v. 14; Heb. x. 25. ^ i Cor. xii. 13, 26. 
 
 6 Psalm cxxii. 6. ^ Heb. xii. 22. 
 
 8 That they pray for us, while we celebrate their memories, congratulate their bliss, 
 &c. ist Edition. 
 
tJie ChiircJi Catechism. 141 
 
 bliss, giving Thee thanks for their labours of love, and imitating 
 their examples ; for which, all love, all glory, be to Thee. 
 
 I believe, O gracious Redeemer, that Thy saints here on earth 
 have communion with the holy angels above ; that they are 
 '■ ministering spirits,^ sent forth to minister for them who shall be 
 heirs of salvation," and watch over us ; 2 and we give thanks to 
 Thee for their protection, and emulate their incessant praises, and 
 ready obedience ; for which, all love, all glory, be to Thee. 
 
 I believe, O my Lord, and my God, that the saints in this life 
 have communion with the Three Persons of the most adorable 
 Trinity,^ in the same most benign influences of love, in which all 
 three conspire ; for which, all love, all glory be to Thee, O Father, 
 Son, and Holy Ghost, world without end. 
 
 Glory be to Thee, O Goodness infinitely diffusive, for all the 
 graces and blessings in which the saints communicate, for breath- 
 ing Thy love into Thy mystical body, as the very soul that informs 
 it, that all that believe in Thee may love one another, and all join 
 in loving Thee. 
 
 "the forgiveness of sins." 
 Reconciliaiio7i with God. 
 
 I believe, O my God, that none can forgive sins but Thou alone,^ 
 and that in Thy Church forgiveness is always to be had ; and for 
 so inestimable a blessing, all love, all glory, be to Thee. 
 
 I believe, O Thou Lover of Souls, that without true repentance 
 we cannot hope for pardon ; ^ that our repentance is, at the best, 
 imperfect ; that it is out of Thy mere mercy, O heavenly Father,^ 
 and for the merits and passion of Thy crucified Son,' that Thou 
 dost accept our imperfect repentance, and art pleased to forgive 
 us ; and therefore, all love, all glory, be to Thee. . , . , 
 
 Glory be to Thee, O most adorable Trinity, for Thy infinite love 
 in our forgiveness ;8 glory be to Thee, O Father forgiving, O Son 
 propitiating, O Holy Ghost purifying : I miserable sinner, who 
 sigh and pant and languish for Thy forgiveness, and to be at 
 peace with Thee,^ praise, and adore, and love that most sweet, and 
 liberal, and tender, and amiable mercy, that delights in forgiving 
 
 sinners. 
 
 THE RESURRECTION OF THE BODY." 
 
 Triumphant Resm-redion. 
 I believe, O victorious Jesu, that by the virtue of Thy resurrec- 
 tionall the dead shall rise,^" bad as well as good : all love, all glory 
 be to Thee, by whom " death is swallowed up m victory. 
 
 1 Heb. i. 14. 2 p.salm xxxlv. 7- I ^ Jo^}} i- 3 : Phil. ii. 1. 
 
 4 Mark ii. 7. 5 X John i. 9 ll''^'V\''- 
 
 7 1 Peter i. 18. 8 Rom. v. 8, 10. » Rom v x 
 
 10 I Cor. XV. 20 ; John v. 28, 29. ^^ i Cor. xv. 54. 
 
142 An Exposition of 
 
 I believe, O Almighty Jesu, that by Thy power all shall rise 
 with the same bodies they had on earth ; ^ that Thou wilt re-collect 
 their scattered dust into the same form again ; that our souls 
 shall be reunited to our bodies ; that we shall be judged both in 
 body and soul, for the sins committed by both ; that the bodies of 
 the wicked shall be fitted for torment, and the bodies of the saints 
 changed in quality, and made glorified bodies,^ immortal and in- 
 corruptible, fitted for heaven, and eternally to love and enjoy 
 Thee ; for which glorious vouchsafement, I will always praise and 
 love thee. 
 
 " AND THE LIFE EVERLASTING." 
 
 Happiness eternal. 
 
 I believe, O great Judge of heaven and earth, that after all the 
 quick and dead have appeared before Thy judgment-seat, then the 
 most just and unrepealable sentence shall pass, and be executed 
 to all eternity, joyful only to those that love Thee ; and therefore, 
 all love, all glory, be to Thee. 
 
 I believe, O righteous Jesu, that the wicked shall be set on Thy 
 left hand, and be damned to hell, to be tormented with everlasting 
 and unconceivable anguish and despair, by the devil and his 
 angels,^ and their own conscience, both in soul and body, in the 
 lake of fire and brimstone,'^ from which there never can be any 
 redemption ; O just reward of those that do not love Thee ! 
 
 merciful Jesu, how desirous art Thou that we shall be happy 
 in loving Thee, when Thou hast created hell on purpose to deter 
 us from hating Thee, and heaven to compel us to love Thee ! and 
 therefore, all love, all glory, be to Thee. 
 
 1 believe, O my Lord and my God, that the righteous shall be 
 rewarded with "joys unspeakable and full of glory,'' with the 
 beatific vision and love of Thyself in heaven,^ with a happiness of 
 body and soul, which shall be in all respects most perfect, eternal, 
 and unchangeable ; ^ that they shall never sorrow nor sin more,'' 
 which is all the free gift of Thy infinite love,^ O heavenly Father, 
 and the purchase of Thy blood, O God incarnate ; for which I 
 will ever, to the utmost of my power, adore and love Thee. 
 
 O boundless Love, when shall I love Thee in heaven, without 
 either coldness or interruption, which, alas ! too often seize me 
 here below ? 
 
 When, O my God, O when shall I have the transporting vision 
 of Thy most amiable goodness, that I may unalterably love Thee, 
 that I may never more offend Thee .'* 
 
 1 Job xix. 26. - 1 Cor. xv. 53 ; Phil. iii. 21. 
 
 3 Matt. XXV. 41. ■* Rev. xiv. 10, 11. 5 i John iii. 2; i Cor. xiii. 12. 
 
 6 I Pet. i. 4 " Rev. xxi. 4. 8 Matt. xxv. 34. 
 
the Church Catechism. 143 
 
 Thou whom my soul loveth, I would not desire heaven but 
 because Thou art there ; for Thou makest heaven wherever Thou 
 art. 
 
 1 would not, O Jesu, desire life everlasting, but that I may there 
 everlas;ingly love Thee. 
 
 O inexhaustible Love, do Thou eternally breathe love into me, 
 that my love to Thee may be eternally increasing, and tending 
 towards infinity, since a love less than infinite is not worthy of 
 Thee. 
 
 " AMEN," 
 
 O Thou great Author and Finisher of our faith, do Thou daily 
 increase my faith, and heighten my love ; O grant, that in holy 
 ardours of love, to love crucified, my love may at last ascend to 
 the region of love, that I may have nothing to do, to all eternity, 
 but to praise and to love Thee, Amen. O infinite Love. Amen, 
 amen. 
 
 This office may be divided into several parts, and used on the 
 Lord's days, or o?i holy days, especially on the great festivals of 
 Chrisf7nas, Easter, Pentecost, in Le7it also, a?td particularly o?t 
 Good-Friday, a?id before the reception of the blessed Sacrament, 
 as is most suitable to the occasion, or to the state, temper, a?id 
 disposition of every devout soul. 
 
 The fj'uits of Love. 
 
 Q. "You said that your Godfathers and Godmothers did pro- 
 mise for you, that you should keep God's commandments. Tell 
 me how many there be ? 
 
 A. "Ten. 
 
 Q. "Which be they? 
 
 A. "The same which God spake in the twentieth chapter of 
 Exodus, saying, I am the Lord thy God, who brought thee out of 
 the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. 
 
 I. " Thou shalt have none other gods but Me. 
 II. "Thou shalt not make to thyself 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 bow 
 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 
 show me"rcy unto thousands in them that love Me, and keep My 
 commandments. 
 
144 ^'^ Exposition of j 
 
 III. "Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in 
 vain : for the Lord will not hold him guiltless, that take^h His 
 name in vain. 
 
 IV. "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, and thy son, and thy daughter, 
 thy man-servant, and thy maid-servant, thy cattle, and 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. 
 V. " Honour thy father and thy mother, that thy days may 
 be long in the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee. 
 VI. " Thou shalt do no murder. 
 VI I. " Thou shalt not commit adultery. 
 VI I L. " Thou shalt not steal. 
 
 IX. " Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour. 
 X. " Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's house, thou shalt 
 not covet thy neighbour's wife, nor his servant, nor his maid, nor 
 his ox, nor his ass, nor anything that is his. 
 
 Q. " What dost thou chiefly learn by these commandments ? 
 A. " I learn two things : my duty towards God, and my duty 
 towards my neighbour. 
 
 Q. " What is thy duty towards God.^ 
 A. " My duty towards God is, 
 
 I. II. " To believe in Him, to fear Him, and to love Him, with 
 all my heart, with all my mind, with all my soul, and with all my 
 strength : to worship Him, to give Him thanks, to put my whole 
 trust in Him, to call upon Him. 
 
 III. " To honour His holy name and His word : 
 
 IV. " And to serve Him truly all the days of my life. 
 Q. " What is thy duty towards thy neighbour ? 
 
 A. " My duty towards my neighbour is, 
 
 " To love him as myself, and to do to all men as I would they 
 should do to me : 
 
 V. " To love, honour, and succour my father and mother : 
 to honour and obey the King, and all that are put in authority 
 under him : to submit myself to all my governors, teachers, 
 spiritual pastors and masters ; to order myself lowly and rever- 
 ently to all my betters : 
 
 VT. " To hurt nobody by word or deed : 
 VII. " To be true and just in all my dealings : 
 VIII. "To bear no malice nor hatred in my heart. 
 IX. " To keep my hands from picking and stealing : 
 X. " A nd my tongue from evil-speaking, lying, and slandering: 
 XI. " To keep my body in temperance, soberness, and chastity: 
 XII. "Not to covet nor desire other men's goods, but to learn 
 
the Church CattcJusin. 
 
 145 
 
 and labour truly to get mine own living, and to do my duty in that 
 state of life unto which it shall please God to call me," 
 
 Q. You have showed me how the creed presents to us the 
 motives ; shew me next how the ten commandments contain the 
 fruits or effects of divine love. 
 
 A. Jesus our love, the great Prophet of love, has given us this 
 trial of our love, "if ye love Me keep My commandments." ^ 
 
 Q. Are there not some general rules, very useful to be observed, 
 in expounding the commandments ? 
 
 A. Divine love does suggest to us the best rules, and is the best 
 expositor to teach us the full importance of every command. 
 
 O. Show me how. 
 
 A. The love of God does necessarily include these two things ; 
 a tenderness to please, and a fearfulness to offend our beloved : 
 and this love will be a sure guide to us, in both the affirmative 
 and negative part of each command. 
 
 Q. Express this more distinctly.? 
 
 A. I do it in these following particulars. 
 
 Rides for expoundi7ig the Coinmmidinents. 
 
 I. O my God, when in any of Thy commands a duty is enjoined, 
 love tells me the contrary evil is forbidden ; when any evil is for- 
 bidden, love tells me the contrary duty is enjoined ; 2 O do Thou 
 daily increase my love to good, and my antipathy to evil. 
 
 II. Though Thy commands and prohibitions, O Lord, are in 
 general terms, yet let Thy love direct my particular practice, and 
 teach me, that in one general are implied all the kinds, and degrees, 
 and occasions, and incitements, and approaches, and allowances, 
 relating to that good or evil, which are also commanded ^ or 
 forbidden, and give me grace to pursue, or to fly them. 
 
 III. O my God, keep my love always watchful, and on its guard, 
 that in Thy negative precepts I may continually resist evil ; keep 
 my love warm with an habitual zeal, that in all Thy affirmative 
 precepts I may lay hold on all seasons and opportunities of doing 
 good. 
 
 IV. Let Thy love, O Thou that only art worthy to be beloved, 
 make me careful to persuade and engage others to love Thee, and 
 to keep Thy commandments as well as myself"^ 
 
 V. None can love Thee, and endeavour to keep Thy holy com- 
 mands, but his daily failings in his duty, his frequent involuntary 
 and unavoidable slips, and surreptitions, and wanderings, afflict 
 and humble him ;^ the infirmities of lapsed nature create him a 
 
 1 John xiv. 15. -'2 Cor. vi. 14. 
 
 3 Matt. V. 21, 22, 28 : I Thess. v. 22. ^ Heb. x. 24 ; Matt. v. 16, 
 
 o Prov. xxiv. 16. 
 
146 An Exposition of 
 
 kind of perpetual martyrdom, because he can love Thee no more, 
 because he can so little serve Thee. 
 
 But Thou, O most compassionate Father, in Thy covenant 
 of grace dost require sincerity,^ not perfection ; and therefore 
 I praise and love Thee. 
 
 O my God, though I cannot love and obey Thee as much 
 as I desire, I will do it as much as I am able : I will, to the utmost 
 of my power, keep "all Thy commandments, with my whole heart, 
 and to the end," - O accept of my imperfect duty, and supply all 
 the defects of it by the merits, and love, and obedience, of Jesus 
 Thy beloved. 
 
 VI. Glory be to Thee, O Thou supreme Lawgiver, for delivering 
 these commands to sinful men ; they are the words which Thou 
 Thyself, O great Jehovah, didst speak. O let me ever have 
 an awful regard for every word Thou hast spoken : O let me ever 
 love Thee for speaking them, and for giving us the laws of love. 
 
 VII. Glory be to Thee, O Lord God, who, to make every one 
 of us sensible of our obligation, hast given all Thy commands in 
 the second person, and by saying thou, hast spoken in particular 
 to every soul, that every soul might love and obey Thee. 
 
 Glory be to Thee, O my God, who in this short abstract, 
 in these ten commandments, hast comprised the full extent of our 
 duty, all the effects of divine love. 
 
 Teach me, O Lord, to examine my love by Thy commands, that 
 I may know how to please Thee, that I may know wherein I have 
 offended Thee, and grieve for my offences, that I may bewail all 
 my commissions of sin, all my omissions of duty. 
 
 Teach me, O Lord, by this Thy law, which is the rule of love, 
 and of all my actions, to examine not only my several sins, but 
 also all their several aggravations, whether they have been wilful, 
 or known, or frequent, or obstinate, or habitual, or ensnaring 
 to others, that love may shed the more tears, and in some measure 
 proportion my contrition to my guilt. 
 
 VIII. Glory be to Thee, O Lord God, who givest us Christians 
 higher obligations to keep Thy commands, than Thou didst to 
 the Jews : they had only the memory of their temporal deliver- 
 ance out of the land of Egypt, and the house of bondage, set 
 before them ; we are delivered out of the spiritual Egypt, from 
 the bondage of sin, the power of Satan, and the torments of hell. 
 
 give us grace to exceed them as much in our love, and thanks- 
 giving, and obedience, as we do in our blessings. 
 
 IX. Glory be to Thee, O great Jehovah, who, to constrain us to 
 love and obey Thee, art pleased to honour every faithful soul with 
 a near and intimate propriety in Thyself, and graciously to declare, 
 
 1 am the Lord thy God. 
 
 O merciful Lord, what is it possible for me to desire more than 
 
 1 2 Cor. viii. 12. - Psalm cxix. 2, 6, 112. 
 
tlie CI III re] I Catechism. 147 
 
 to have Thee for my God ? i If Thou be my God, the relation 
 ought to be mutual, and I must be Thy servant : Lord, be Thou 
 mine, and I will be for ever Thine. 
 
 My Beloved is mine, and I am His. 
 
 My God, my Father, my Friend, my Love, whatever is Thme I 
 will love ; and particularly Thy law will I love for teaching me to 
 love Thee ; Thy law I will highly esteem, and dihgently read and 
 study; Thy law shall be daily "my delight, my counsellor, and 
 my meditation." ^ 
 
 O my good God, keep me always Thine, and let nothmg ever 
 divorce me from Thy love. 
 
 Q. You have laid down proper rules for interpreting the com- 
 mandments : shew me how they are divided. 
 
 A. Into two sorts, or tables, suitable to the two respects they 
 have to God, and to our neighbour. 
 
 The first table. 
 
 Q. Begin with the first table, and shew me the number and 
 order of the commands which it contains. 
 
 A. It contains the four first commands, which relate to God, 
 and teach us the worship of God, even that reverential love we 
 are to pay to God, which naturally arises from a true sense of His 
 infinite both goodness and greatness. 
 
 This worship of God is either inward or outward. 
 
 The inward worship, being that of the heart, is the nobler of the 
 two ; and this, together with the right object of our worship, is 
 taught, in the first commandment, as the foundation of all the 
 rest. 
 
 The outward is comprised in the three followmg, which teach 
 us the regulation of God's worship in reference to our gestures 
 in the second, to our tongues in the third, to our time in the 
 fourth. 
 
 Q. Which are the duties of the second table ? 
 
 A. They are the six remaining commands, which do all relate 
 to our neighbour, of which I shall speak in their due place. 
 
 Q. What have you farther to observe of the commandments in 
 general ? 
 
 A. It is observable, that those which refer to God are put first, 
 to teach us, that the love of God is the chief and original com- 
 mand, and ought chiefly to be studied ; and to teach us also, that 
 all the duties of the second table must yield to the first, whenever 
 they stand in any competition.^ 
 
 Q. Go all over the ten commandments in particular, and show 
 
 1 Gen. xvii. 7 ; Deut. xxvi. 17 ; Exod. xix. 5, 6. 2 p^alm cxix. 24, 97. 
 
 y Luke xiv. 26. 
 
143 An Exposition of 
 
 me how they are all the genuine fruits and effects of divine iove 
 exercised either in doing good, or eschewing evil. 
 
 A. I shall gladly do it, and as distinctly as I possibly can, 
 taking every commandment apart. 
 
 THE FIRST COMMANDMENT. 
 Duties commanded. 
 
 O Thou, who only art Jehovah, if Thou be my God, and if I 
 truly love Thee, I can never suffer any creature to be Thy rival, 
 or to share my heart with Thee ; I can have no other God, no 
 other love, but only Thee.^ 
 
 O infinite Goodness, Thou only art amiable ; whatever is 
 amiable besides Thee, is no farther amiable, than as it bears some 
 impressions on it of Thy amiableness ; and therefore, all love, all 
 glory be to Thee alone. 
 
 O my God, O my Love, instil into my soul so entire, reverential 
 a love of Thee,'-^ that I may love nothing but for Thy sake, or in 
 subordination to Thy love. 
 
 O Love, give me grace to study Thy knowledge,^ that the more 
 I love Thee, the more I may love Thee. 
 
 O my God, O my Love, do Thou create in me a steadfast faith ^ 
 in the veracity, a lively hope"' in the promises, a firm trust*' in the 
 power, a confident reliance ' on the goodness, and satisfactory 
 acquiescence ^ in the all-sufficiency of Thee my Beloved. 
 
 O my God, O my Love, do Thou create in me an ardent desire 
 of Thy presence,*^ an heavenly delight in the fruitionj^*^ of Thee 
 my Beloved. 
 
 O my God, O my Love, fill my heart with thanksgiving ^^ for 
 the blessings, praise ^- of the excellence, adoration of the majesty/^ 
 zeal i"* for the glory of Thee my Beloved. 
 
 O my God, O my Love, fill my heart with a repentance ^^ for 
 offending, with a constant fear ^'^ of provoking Thee, my Beloved. 
 
 O my God, O my Love, fill ixiy heart with an affective devotion ^'^ 
 in prayer, and with a profound humility ^^ in ascribing all honour 
 to Thee, my beloved. 
 
 O my God, O my Love, create in me a sincere obedience ^^ to 
 all the commands, a submissive patience-*^ under all chastisements, 
 an absolute resignation "-'^ to all the disposals of Thee, my Beloved. 
 
 O my God, O my Love, let Thy all-powerful love abound '^"^ in 
 
 1 Matt.vi. 24. 2 Deut. x. 12. ^ John xvii. 3. 
 
 •1 Heb. xi. 1,6. 5 I Pet. i. 4. 6 Ps. ix. to. 
 
 ^ Ibid, xxxiv. 8. 8 Ibid. Ixii. i, 2, 5. » Ibid. xlii. j. 
 
 10 Ibid, xxxvii. 4. H Ibid, xxxiv. i. l- Ibid, cxlvii. i. 
 
 13 Ibid. xcix. 5. 1'^ I Cor. x. 31. l"' Ezek. xviii. 21. 
 
 1'' Ps. cxii. I. 17 James v. 16. 18 Pf. cxv. i. 
 
 19 Matt. vii. 21. -0 Ps. xxxix. 9. 21 Matt. xxyi. 39. 
 " Phil. i. 9. 
 
the Church Catechisni. 149 
 
 my heart, and in the hearts of all that profess Thy name, that in 
 all these, and in all other possible instances of Thy love, our souls 
 may be continually employed to praise and to love Thee. 
 
 O my God, O my Love, let me ever be seeking occasions to 
 excite all I can ^ to adore and love Thee. 
 
 Sins forbidden. 
 
 O my God, O my Love, I renounce, and detest, and bewail, as 
 odious and offensive to Thee, as directly opposite to Thy love, and 
 to Thy glory. 
 
 All self-love,2 and inordinate love of things below.^ 
 
 All vv^ilful and affected ignorance.^ 
 
 All atheism,^ or having no God, and polytheism,*^ or having more 
 gods than one. 
 
 All heresy," apostasy,^ and infidelity.^ 
 
 All presumption ^^ and despair,ii distrust,^^ and carnal security.^-^ 
 
 All voluntary humility, and vv^orshipping of angels ;^* reliance on 
 the creature, 1-5 or recourse to evil spirits.^^ 
 
 All unthankfulness i'' and irreligion,!^ lukewarmness ^"^ and 
 indifference.^*^ 
 
 All impenitence ^^ and disregard of divine wrath.^^ 
 
 All indevotion ^3 and pride,"^^ disobedience,^'^ impatience and 
 murmuring. 2*5 
 
 All the least tendencies 2' to any of these impieties. 
 
 From all these and the like hateful violations of Thy love, and 
 from that vengeance they justly deserve, O my God, O my Love, 
 deliver me, and deliver all faithful people. 
 
 O my God, O my Love, I earnestly pray, that Thy love may so 
 prevail over our hearts, that we may sadly lament and abhor all 
 these abominations, and may never provoke Thee. 
 
 THE SECOND COMMANDMENT. 
 
 Sins forbidde?i. 
 
 O my God, O my Love, I know the true love of Thee is incom- 
 municable to any but Thee ; and therefore I renounce, and detest, 
 and bewail, as odious and offensive to Thee, as directly opposite 
 to Thy love, and to Thy glory, 
 
 1 Ps. xxxiv. 3 ; evil. 8. "2 Tim. iii. 2. 3 i John ii. 15. 
 
 4 2 Thess. i. 8. -5 Ps. xiv. I. « Jer. xvi. it. 
 
 7 2 Pet. ii. 1. ^ Heb. x. 39. " 2 Thess. 11. 12. 
 
 10 Ps. 1. 21. ^^ Matt, xxvii. 5. ^- Ps. Ixxviii. 22. 
 
 13 Eccles. viii. 11. l'^ Col. ii. 18. ' 15 Ps. Iii. 7. 
 
 16 Lev. XX. 6. -^^ 2 Tim. iii. 2. 18 Ps. x. 4. 
 
 19 Rev. iii. 15, 16. ^0 Zeph. i. 12. 21 Luke xix. 41. 
 
 22 isa. V. 12. -2 Isa. xxix. 13- 24 Prov. viii. 13. 
 
 25 Rom. ii. 8. 26 i Cor. x. 10. 27 Pg. cxli. 4. 
 
150 An Exposition of 
 
 All making of idols or false gods, or of graven images, with 
 intent of worshipping and bowing down before them> 
 
 All representations and picturing of Thee, O my God, by visible 
 likenesses of things in heaven or in earth. 
 
 All corporeal shapes, which are infinitely unsuitable to Thy 
 invisible and spiritual nature, and derogatory from Thy adorable- 
 ness.- 
 
 All idolatry,^ and religious invocation of creatures."* 
 
 All sacrilege ^ and profanations of Thy house, and of things 
 sacred.*^ 
 
 All abuse, or disesteem, or carelessness of Thy word,'' and con- 
 tempt of Thy ministers.'' 
 
 All superstitious or unlawful rites,^ superfluities or mutilations,^*^ 
 irreverence or indecencies,^! in Thy public worship, by which Thou 
 art any way dishonoured. 
 
 All resting in mere outward observances,^^ or refusing to give 
 Thee bodily worship and to fall down before Thee.^^ 
 
 All the least tendencies to any of these impieties. 
 
 From all these and the like violations of Thy incommunicable 
 love, and from that vengeance they justly deserve ; O my God, O 
 my Love, deliver me, and deliver all faithful people. 
 
 O my God, O my Love, I earnestly pray, that Thy love may so 
 prevail over our hearts, that we may sadly lament and abhor all 
 these -abominations, and may never more provoke Thee. 
 
 Duties commanded. 
 
 O my God, O my Love, imprint on my soul an awful love of 
 Thy majesty,!'* ^^^ j ^^.^y " worship Thee in spirit and in truth," ^^ 
 and in a manner worthy of Thee. 
 
 O my God, O my Love, make me so tender of the honour of 
 Thee my beloved, that I may shew a due regard to all the parts of 
 Thy worship. 
 
 That with lowest humiliation of soul and body,**' whenever I 
 appear in the presence of infinite Love, " I may fall down and 
 adore Thee." 
 
 O my God, O my Love, O may I always enter Thy house, the 
 habitation of unbounded love, with recollected thoughts, composed 
 behaviour, becoming reverence, and sincere intentions of love ! !'' 
 
 O my God, O my Love, O may I ever frequent the public prayers, 
 
 1 Deut. vii. 25, 26; xxvii. 15. 2 Deut. iv. 15; Isa. xl. 18; Acts xvii. 29. 
 
 3 Isa. ii. 8, 9. ^ Rev. xix. 10 ; xiv. 9, 10. ^ Prov. xx. 25. 
 
 •> Matt. xxi. 13. '' Matt. xiii. 15 ; James i. 22. 8 Luke x. 16. 
 
 9 Jer. X. 2, 3. 10 Deut. iv. 2; Rs. cvi. 39. 
 
 11 Eccles. V. I ; Mai. i. 7, 8, 14. _ 1- Matt. xv. 8, 11. 
 
 13 Isa. xlv. 23 1^ Isa. viii. 13. 1-5 John iv. 24. 
 16 Ps. xcv. 6; Matt. xxvi. 39 17 Gen. xxviii. 17; John ii. 17. 
 
the Church Catechism. 151 
 
 and approach thine altar with fervent and heavenly affections, 
 with holy impatience for the blessings of Thy love ! ^ 
 
 O my God, O my Love, O may I always read and hear Thy 
 word, the heavenly register of Thy love, with a serious attention, 
 and inflammable heart, and a particular application, and ever learn 
 from it some lesson of Thy love ! - 
 
 O my God, O my Love, for Thy dearest sake give me grace to 
 pay a religious, suitable veneration-^ to all sacred persons, or places,^ 
 or things," which are Thine by solemn dedication, and separated 
 for the uses of divine love, and the communications of Thy grace, 
 or which may promote the decency and order of Thy worship, or 
 the edification of faithful people.^ 
 
 O my God, O my Love, let Thy all-powerful love abound in my 
 heart, and in the hearts of all that profess Thy name, that in all 
 these, and in all other possible instances of Thy love, our souls 
 may be continually employed to praise and to love Thee. 
 
 my God, O my Love, let me ever be seeking occasions to 
 excite all I can, to adore and to love Thee. 
 
 The reason of the Covimandment. 
 
 Thou, O my God, O my Love, art " a jealous God," jealous of 
 Thy own honour,'' and of the chasteness of my love : O let me 
 never run after other loves, or commit spiritual adultery against 
 Thee, to provoke Thee to anger. 
 
 Thou, O my God, O my Love, dost " visit the iniquities of the 
 fathers upon the children ; " Thou, " when Thy jealousy burns like 
 fire," ^ against idolaters, and those that rob Thee of Thy worship, 
 art wont to punish them in their very posterity, with temporal 
 evils, and with spiritual too, when their children tread in their 
 steps"; for then Thou makest their father's sins occasions of 
 hastening, or of increasing Thy judgments, though Thou always 
 sparest the children that repent:^ O let Thy just indignation, 
 against violating Thy worship, deter me, and all that profess Thy 
 name, from such violations. 
 
 Thy jealousy, O my God, O my Love, falls heavy " upon them 
 that hate Thee ; " but how is it possible for any one to hate Thee, 
 who art infinite love ? And yet, alas ! all that are enemies to Thy 
 divine worship ; all that exalt any lust, any creature, into Thy 
 throne, to ascribe their happiness, to sacrifice their esteem, and 
 zeal, and affections, and to offer up sovereign honours to it ; what 
 do they do but love false gods, and hate Thee, and are therefore 
 hated by Thee? 10 
 
 1 Ps. Ixxxiv. I, &c.; xlviii. 9 ; xxxvi. 8 ; Ixiii. i, 2, 5. 
 
 - Luke viii. 15; i Thess. ii. 13. 3 Matt. x. 40. •* Lev. xix. 3c. 
 
 5 Ezek. xxii. 8, 26. ^ i Cor. xiv. 4, 26, 40. 
 
 ^ Deut. iv. 24; Isa. xlii. 8; Exod. xxxiv. 14, 15. 8 Ps. Ixxix. 5. 
 
 9 Isa. Ixv. 6, 7; Ezek. xviii. 17, 20; Jer. x.xxi. 30. 1^ Deut, vii. 10. 
 
152 An Exposition of 
 
 O Lord God, to hate Thee is the proper character of devils, and 
 Lucifer himself cannot sin beyond that utmost extremity of evil, 
 the hatred of Thee ; and my heart is full of horror and grief, 
 to think, that ever those that bear Thy image, and daily subsist by 
 Thy love, should turn themselves into devils, and this world into a 
 hell, by hating Thee : ^ O boundless Love, turn them, O turn them 
 into men again, and then they cannot choose but love Thee. 
 
 Glory be to Thee, O my God, "who shewest mercy to them that 
 love Thee and keep Thy commandments : " love and obedience 
 always go together, and entail a blessing on the posterity of Thy 
 lovers : ^ O keep me always one of that happy number ; O let me 
 ever love and obey Thee. 
 
 Glory be to Thee, O Lord God, w^hose love is more diffusive than 
 Thy anger ; Thy vengeance extends but to the third, or, at most, 
 " the fourth generation," Thy " mercy unto thousands " ; and the 
 more diffusive Thy love is, the more powerfully it moves us to praise 
 and to love Thee. 
 
 THE THIRD COMMANDMENT. 
 
 Duties Comma7ided. 
 
 O my God, O my Love, Thy name is Thy own glorious and 
 amiable self,^ Thy divine nature, and perfections, and works, most 
 worthy to be adored, most worthy to be loved ; ^ arid therefore I 
 will always adore and love Thy name. 
 
 my God, O my Love, may I ever have awful thoughts of 
 Thee ! -^ May I never mention Thy venerable name, unless on 
 solemn, and just, and devout occasions ! May I never mention it 
 on those occasions without acts of love and adoration !^ 
 
 O my God, O my Love, to love and to glorify Thy name, is the 
 great end of our creation, w^hich is still more enforced by our re- 
 demption : O let it be the greatest business of my whole life to 
 love and to glorify it all the possible ways I can, by my mouth,'' 
 by my conversation,^ by my public confession of Thee before men, 
 even to death,'-' whenever Thou art pleased to call me to it, by 
 engaging all I can to glorify and love Thee. O happy life, O 
 blessed death, which is spent, and expires, in glorifying, in loving 
 Thee! 
 
 O my God, O my Love, my heart shall ever be jealous of Thy 
 name.^^ I can have no true love, no real concern for Thee if I do 
 not, to the utmost of my power, assert and vindicate the name of 
 my beloved, whenever I hear it dishonoured. 
 
 1 I John iii. 8: Rom. i. 30; John xv. 18. 2 Deut. iv. 40. 
 
 •5 Ps. Lxxxiii. 18. ■^ Ps. v. 11 ; xxix. 2 ; Ixxii. 19 ; Ezek. xxxvi. 23: Neh. ix 5. 
 
 u Ps. cxi. 9. •» Isa. xii. 4: xlviii. t. 7 Ps. ij. 15/ 
 
 8 Matt. V. 16. ^ Matt. x. 32. ; i Peter iii 15. l"^ i Kings xix, 10. 
 
tJic ChurcJi CatecJiism. 153 
 
 _ O my God, O my Love, fix in my soul an habitual pure inten- 
 tion of Thy glory in all my actions " that whether I eat or drink, 
 or whatever I do, I may do all to the glory "i of my beloved. 
 
 OATHS. 
 
 The Honour of God^s Name is i7tore particularly concertied in 
 Oaths. 
 
 my God, O my Love, fill me with a religious awe of oaths, in 
 which the honour of Thy beloved name is so highly concerned. 
 
 1 know, O great Jehovah, that in an oath I solemnly invoke 
 Thee, as a Witness to attest the truth of what I swear,^ as a Judge 
 to punish me, if I swear falsely. 
 
 Far be it from me, O Lord God, ever to swear, and in swearing 
 to invoke Thee, unless upon inducements lawful and important, 
 when Thy glory,^ the command of my superiors, the visible good 
 of my neighbour, "the ending of strife,"* or my own innocence, 
 obliges me to do it ! 
 
 O Lord God, whenever I am duly called to an assertory oath, 
 grant I may swear " in truth, in righteousness, and in judgment."^ 
 
 Whatever lawful promissory oaths I take. Lord, give me grace 
 conscientiously to perform them, "though to my own hindrance." ^ 
 
 vows. 
 And in Vows. 
 
 The glory of Thy most beloved name, O great Jehovah, next to 
 the truth of our oaths we invoke Thee to attest, is concerned in 
 the sincerity of those vows we offer Thee to accept :'' O do Thou 
 therefore create in me a serious sense of the rehgiousness of vows, 
 that my vows may not dishonour Thee. 
 
 O my God, O my Love, whenever I voluntarily vow a vow to 
 Thee, give me grace to vow with all the due caution I can, that I 
 may vow those things only which are lawful and acceptable to 
 Thee,^ and which Thou hast put in my power,^ that I may vow 
 with deliberation and ghostly advice, and on weighty and con- 
 siderable occasions only, and with a design of glory,i° and thank- 
 fulness, and love to Thee. 
 
 O my God, O my Love, give me grace faithfully to perform all 
 the vows I make to Thee,^^ especially my baptismal vow, and all 
 
 1 I Cor. X. 31. 2 Gen. xxxi. 50, 53. ^ Deut. vi. 13. 
 
 ■* Heb. vi. 16. 5 Jer. iv. 2. 6 Ps. xv. 4 ; 2 Sam. xxi. 7. 
 
 7 Eccles. V. 5. 8 Gen. xxviii. 20, 21, 22. ^ Num. .xxx. 5, 8. 
 
 !<> Pb. c.x-xxii. 2. 11 Ps. Ixi. 8. 
 
154 An Exposition of 
 
 my repeated vows of amendment, in which I have so often vowed 
 to glorify and love Thy name. 
 
 O my God, O my Love, let Thy all-powerful love abound in my 
 heart, and in the hearts of all that profess Thy name, that in all 
 these, and in all other possible instances of Thy love, our souls 
 may be continually employed to praise and to love Thee. 
 
 O my God, O my Love, let me ever be seeking occasions to 
 excite all I can to adore and love Thee. 
 
 Si7is forbidden, 
 
 O my God, O my Love, who is there that knows Thy great, 
 Thy beloved name, can ever in the least dishonour it ? ^ 
 
 O my God, O my Love, I renounce, and detest, and bewail, as 
 odious and offensive to Thee, as directly opposite to Thy love, 
 and to Thy glory ; 
 
 All " taking of Thy name in vain." 
 
 All use of it on trivial occasions, and without holy awe.^ 
 
 All abuse of it in impious jests, in charms, or curses, or impre- 
 cations, or telling fortunes, or exploratory lots ;^ all irreverent 
 thoughts of Thy name,^ profaneness and blasphemy.-^ 
 
 All denying Thee by my works,^ or refusing publicly to confess 
 Thee, when called to it,'' or tamely enduring to hear Thee 
 dishonoured.^ 
 
 All heathenish, or customary, or rash oaths, or swearing in 
 ordinary communication, or by any creature.^ 
 
 All breaking of lawful oaths, perjury, false swearing, and invok- 
 ing Thee, O God of truth, to attest a lie, sins most destructive 
 to public faith and society, and to our own souls, and most 
 dishonourable and hateful to Thee.^^ 
 
 All hasty, or unlawful, or superstitious, or impossible vows,^^ all 
 breaking those that are regularly made.^^ 
 
 All the least tendencies to any of these impieties. 
 
 From all these, and the like hateful violations of Thy love, and 
 from that vengeance they justly deserve, O my God, O my Love, 
 deliver me, and deliver all faithful people. 
 
 O my God, O my Love, I earnestly pray, that Thy love may so 
 prevail over our hearts, that we may sadly lament and abhor all 
 these abominations, and may never more provoke Thee. 
 
 The Threat aimexed to the Commandment. 
 
 great Jehovah, Thou art jealous for Thy glorious and beloved 
 name ; and without a particular and serious repentance, Thou 
 
 1 Deut. xxviil. 58. - Ps. cxxxix. 20. 3 Dent, xvlil. 10, ir, 12. 
 ^ Ps. X. II, 13 ; I. 21. 5 James ii. 7. ; Lev. xxlv. 16. ^ Tit. i. 16. 
 
 7 John xii. 42. '^ Psalm cxxxix. 21. ^ Matt. v. 34, 35, 36, 37. 
 
 10 Zech. viii. 17 ; v. 4 ; Jer. xxiii. 10; Hos. iv. 2, 3. ^ Mai. i. 14; Jer. xliv. 25 
 
 3- Ps. xxii. 25. 
 
the Omrch Catechism. 155 
 
 "wilt not hold him guiltless, that taketh it in vain ;" Thou wilt 
 pour on him the phials of Thy wrath, Thy wrath eternal ; i 
 and yet Thy ever blessed name is, alas ! alas ! daily, hourly 
 blasphemed.^ 
 
 O apostate, infamous world, wherein Infinite Goodness is so 
 often blasphemed ! Were not Thy name Love,^ O Lord, as well 
 as Jehovah, Thou hadst long ago avenged Thyself of the blas- 
 phemous world, with a vengeance worthy of God. 
 
 Glory be to Thee, O long-suffering Love, for Thy forbearance, 
 efficacious of itself to convert the whole world, did the world but 
 seriously consider it. 
 
 O Almighty Love, Thou canst as easily diffuse Thy love over 
 the world, as Thou didst at first diffuse Hght : O let Thy fear, 
 and Thy love, so universally affect the age, that Thy great and 
 beloved name may be universally adored and loved. 
 
 THE FOURTH COMMANDMENT. 
 
 Duties Coinmanded. 
 Glory be to Thee, O my God, O my Love, who, in compassion 
 to human weakness, which is not capable of an interrupted con- 
 templation of Thee, such as the saints have above, hast appointed 
 a solemn day on purpose for Thy remembrance. 
 
 Glory be to Thee, O my God, my Love, for proportioning 
 a seventh part of our time to Thyself, and liberally indulging the 
 remainder to our own use. 
 
 O my God, O my Love, let me ever esteem it my privilege, and 
 my happiness, to have a day of rest set apart for Thy service,* and 
 the concerns of my own soul : to have a day free from distrac- 
 tions, disengaged from the world, wherein I have nothing to do, 
 but to praise and to love Thee. 
 
 Lord, grant that I may not only on Thy day give Thee due 
 worship myself, but may give rest and leisure also to my family, 
 to all under my charge, to serve Thee also,'^ to indulge ease to my 
 very beasts, since good men are merciful even to them.*^ 
 
 Glory be to Thee, O blessed Spirit, who on the first day of the 
 week didst descend in miraculous gifts and graces on the Apostles:^ 
 O descend upon me, that I may be always " in the Spirit on the 
 Lord's Day." 
 
 O my God, O my Love, give me grace on Thy day to worship 
 Thee in my closet, and in the congregation, to spend it in doing 
 good,^ in works of necessity, devotion and charity, in prayer, and 
 praise, and meditation : O let it ever be to me a day sacred to 
 Divine love, a day of heavenly rest and refreshment. 
 
 '^ I John iv. 8. 
 <5 Prov. xii. lo, 
 8 Mark iii. 4. 
 
 1 Ps. Ixxiv. 10, 18,22.23. 
 
 2 Isa. Hi. 5- 
 
 \ Isa. Iviii. 13. 
 
 •5 Josh. xxiv. 
 
 " Acts. ii. I. 
 
 
156 An Exposition of 
 
 Thou, O my God, O my Love, didst ordain the Judaical Sabbath 
 as a shadow of the true Gospel-Sabbath : ^ O may I every day 
 keep an Evangehcal Sabbath, and rest from my sins, which are 
 my own works, while I live here : and may I celebrate an eternal 
 Sabbath with Thee ^ in heaven hereafter ! 
 
 O my God, O my Love, for the like purposes of piety, and 
 of Thy glory, give me grace to sanctify the feasts and fasts of Thy 
 Church,^ as in the number of those happy days set apart for the 
 remembrance of Thy love. 
 
 Reason of the Co77imand7ne7it. 
 
 Glory be to Thee, O Lord God, who didst command the " Sab- 
 bath or seventh day to be kept holy," and strictly observed by the 
 Jews as Thy Sabbath, in memory of the creation ; * of Thy "making 
 heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and of Thy 
 resting the seventh day, of Thy blessing the seventh day and 
 hallowing it.'' 
 
 We Christians, O Lord God, following the moral equity of Thy 
 command, and authorised by apostolical practice," " celebrate the 
 Lord's Day"*' "the first day of the week," in memory of our 
 redemption, in memory of Thy resurrection from the dead, O most 
 beloved Jesu, when Thou didst rest from the labours and sorrows 
 of the new creation : " O may I ever remember Thy day, and 
 Thee! 
 
 Glory be to Thee, O my God, my Love, who hast under the 
 gospel delivered us from the rigours, but not from the piety of the 
 Jewish Sabbath. 
 
 Lord, since the blessing of everlasting salvation, which we 
 Christians on Thy day commemorate, does wonderfully exceed 
 the creation commemorated by the Jews : O let our love, and 
 praise, and devotion, and zeal, proportionably exceed theirs also.^ 
 
 O my God, O my Love, let Thy all-powerful love abound ^ in 
 my heart, and in the hearts of all that profess Thy name, that in 
 all these, and all other possible instances of Thy love, our souls 
 may be continually employed to praise and to love Thee. 
 
 O my God, O my Love, let me ever be seeking occasions to 
 excite all I can, to adore and love Thee. 
 
 Sifis FoTbiddcTi. 
 
 O my God, O my Love, I renounce, and detest, and bewail, as 
 odious and offensive to Thee, as directly opposite to Thy love, and 
 to Thy glory, 
 
 1 Col. ii. 16, 17. - Heb. iv. 9. 3 Ps. xlii. 4 ; Isa. Iviii. 6,7 , 8, 10. 
 
 * Gen. ii. 2. 5 Acts xx. 7 ; i Cor. xvi. 2. ^ Rev. i. 10. 
 
 7 Luke xxiv. 1. 8 Matt. v. 20. 9 Phil. i. 9. 
 
tJie Church Catechism. 157 
 
 All profanations of Thy hallowed day, and of all other holy 
 times 1 dedicated to Thy praise and Thy love. 
 
 All Judaising severities,'-^ all worldly-mindedness, and un- 
 necessary business/ or not allowing those under my care, liberty 
 and leisure for Thy service * on Thy day. 
 
 All unmercifulness to my very beasts.-^ 
 
 All indevotion, or forgetfulness of Thee.^ 
 
 All the least tendencies to any of those impieties. 
 
 From all these, and the like hateful violations of Thy love, and 
 from that vengeance they justly deserve, O my God, O my Love, 
 deliver me, and deliver all faithful people. 
 
 O my God, O my Love, I earnestly pray, that Thy love may so 
 prevail over our hearts, that we may sadly lament and abhor all 
 these abominations, and may never more provoke Thee. 
 
 The Secojtd Table. 
 
 Next to Thy glorious self, O my God, O my Love, and for the 
 sake of Thy supreme, independent love, Thou hast commanded 
 me to love my neighbour, allied to me by nature, or by grace, all 
 strangers and enemies, as well as friends ; ^ ''to honour all men," 
 as being made after Thy likeness, and the greater likeness they 
 retain to Thee, to honour them the more : ^ glory be to Thee. 
 
 Thou, O my God, O my Love, hast commanded me to love my 
 neighbour as myself : O for the sake of Thy love, give me love to 
 relieve and assist him in all instances wherein he may need my 
 help, as freely, as fully, as affectionately, as I myself would desire 
 to be treated, were I in his condition.^ 
 
 O my God, O my Love, for the sake of Thy dearest love, give 
 me grace to love my neighbour, " not in word, and in tongue only, 
 but in deed and in truth ; " ^^ to wish well to all men, and to con- 
 tribute my hearty prayers and endeavours, to give them, for Thy 
 sake, all lawful, and reasonable, and necessary succours.^^ 
 
 Glory be to Thee, O my God, O my Love, who commanding me 
 to love my neighbour as myself, dost imply the regular love of 
 myself ; ^- that I should do all I can to preserve myself free and 
 vigorous to glorify Thee in my station : it is for Thy sake only I 
 can love myself, and he does not wish or endeavour his own 
 happiness, he really hates himself, that does not love Thee. 
 
 Thou, Lord, by enjoining me to love my neighbour as myself, 
 hast intimated my duty of loving those best, which either in blood 
 are nearest my natural self, or in grace nearest my Christian self : 
 O let Thy love teach me to observe the true order of charity in 
 loving others. 
 
 1 Ezek. XX. 13, 16, ■2\. - Mark ii. 24 ; Luke vi. 7. ^ Neh. xiii. 15. 
 
 4 Deut. xii. 7. Luke xiii. 15. 6 Deut. vi. 12, viii. 14. 
 
 7 Luke X. 29, 30. '^ \ Pet. ii. 17. 8 Matt vii. 12. 
 
 10 I John iii. 18. H Col. iii, 12. 12 Eph. v. 29. 
 
158 An Exposition of 
 
 O thou Eternal Source of Goodness, give me grace to imitate 
 that boundless goodness ; let Thy love work in me an universal 
 propension to love, and to do good to all men, to be merciful to 
 others, as Thou, Lord, " art merciful." ^ 
 
 Q. Show me how the love of your neighbour is in the second 
 table divided. 
 
 A. The love of my neighbour, which is the fulfilling of the law 
 of all the commands of the second table, is divided according to 
 those different conditions of our neighbour, wherein we most 
 exercise our love or hatred to him. 
 
 ^. In how many ruling instances may we exercise that love or 
 hatred 1 
 
 A. Either in outward acts, or inward disposition. 
 
 Q. How in outward acts ? 
 
 A. Five several ways, in respect of his superiority in the fifth 
 commandment. 
 
 His safety, in the sixth. 
 
 His bed, in the seventh. 
 
 His property, in the eighth ; or. 
 
 His good name, in the ninth. 
 
 Q. How in our inward disposition? 
 
 A. By regulating our very desires in relation to him, as the 
 tenth obliges us to do. 
 
 Q. Let me hear how divine love moves in each of these 
 commands ? 
 
 A. It moves in such acts as follow. 
 
 THE FIFTH COMMANDMENT. 
 
 Ditties C0Tnma7ided i7t general. 
 
 Let Thy reverential love, O my God, teach and incline me to 
 show respectful love to all my superiors, in my inward esteem, in 
 my outward speech and behaviour.^ 
 
 Glory be to Thee, O Lord, who hast comprehended all that are 
 above me, under the tender and venerable names of father and 
 mother, that I looking on them as resemblances and instruments 
 of Thy sovereign power and paternal providence to me, may be 
 the more effectually engaged for Thy sake to reverence and love 
 them. 
 
 In particular ; of natural Pare?tts. 
 
 O my God, give me grace to imitate Thy paternal goodness, 
 and, for the sake of Thy love, to love and cherish, and provide 
 for, to educate, and instruct, and pray for my children ; ^ to take 
 
 I Luke vi. 36. - i Pet. ii. 17. 
 
 3 Deut. vi. 6. 7 ; Eph. vi. 4; Col. iii. 21 : 2 Cor. xii. 14. 
 
the Church Catechism. 1 59 
 
 conscientious care to give them medicinal correction, and good 
 example, and to make them Thy children, that they may truly 
 love Thee. 
 
 Of Childre7t. 
 
 O my God, give me grace, for the sake of Thy love, to honour 
 my father and mother, to render them all love, reverence, and 
 thankfulness, and all that regard which is due from a child,i i-j^at 
 I may pay obedience to their commands, submission to their 
 corrections, attention to their instructions, and succour to their 
 necessities,- and may daily pray for their welfare. 
 
 Of political Parents. The King. 
 
 Thou, O Lord, hast set our most gracious king over us ^ as our 
 political parent, as Thy supreme minister, to govern and protect 
 us, and to be a terror to those that do ill : O grant him a long and 
 happy reign, " that we may all live a peaceable and quiet life 
 under him, in all godliness and honesty." '^ Defend him from all 
 his enemies ; let him be ever beloved by Thee, and let him ever 
 love Thee, and ever promote Thy love. 
 
 The Royal Family. 
 
 Multiply, O Lord God, the blessings of Thy love on his Royal 
 Highness the Prince of Wales, the Princess Dowager of Wales, 
 and all the royal family : give them grace to exceed others, as 
 much in goodness as in greatness, and make them signal instru- 
 ments of Thy glory, and examples of Thy love. 
 
 Of Subjects. 
 
 O my God, give grace to me, and to all my fellow-subjects, 
 next to Thy own infinite self, to love and honour, to fear and obey 
 our sovereign lord the king, Thy own vicegerent, " for conscience- 
 sake," ° and for Thy own sake, who hast placed him over us : O 
 may we ever faithfully render him his due tribute ; O may we 
 ever pray for his posterity, sacrifice our fortunes and our lives 
 in his defence, and be always ready rather to suffer than resist. 
 
 Of Ecclesiastical Parents. 
 
 Glory be to Thee, O Lord, who hast ordained pastors, and hast 
 given them the power of the keys ; to be our ecclesiastical parents ; 
 
 1 Eph. vi. I, 2, 3; Col. iii. 20. - Matt. xv. 4, &c. !.PfOv. viii. 15. 
 
 ^ I Tim. ii. i, 2. » Rom. xiii. i, &c. ; i Pet. 11. 13 ; Tit. 111. i . 
 
i6o An Exposition of 
 
 to watch over our souls ; to instruct us in saving knowledge ; ^ to 
 guide us by their examples ; to pray for, and to bless us ; to ad- 
 minister spiritual discipline in Thy Church, and to manage all the 
 conveyances of Thy divine love. 
 
 Of the People under their Care. 
 
 O my God, for Thy love's sake, let me ever honour and love the 
 ministers of Thy love, " the ambassadors Thou dost send in Thy 
 stead, to beseech us sinners to be reconciled to Thee ; " ^ to offer 
 Thy enemies conditions of love, of love eternal : O may I ever hear 
 them attentively, practise their heavenly doctrine, imitate their holy 
 examples, pay them their dues, and revere their censures ! ^ 
 
 Of CEconojnical Parejits^ Master and Mistress. 
 
 my God, for the sake of Thy love, grant I may ever love, 
 and provide for my servants [servant], and may treat them like 
 brethren ; let me never exact from them immoderate work : O 
 may I always give them just wages, and equitable commands, and 
 good example, and merciful correction : grant, Lord, I may daily 
 allow them time for their prayers, indulge them due refreshments, 
 and may take care of their souls, and persuade them to love Thee ; 
 remembering " that I have also a master in heaven." * 
 
 Of Servants. 
 
 Give me grace, O my God, for the sake of Thy love, to honour, 
 and love, and obey my master [and mistress], and to serve him 
 [her] with diligence and faithfulness, and readiness to please -^ and 
 to pray for him [her, them] ; " and whatever I do, to do heartily, 
 as to Thee, O Lord, and not to him" [her, them]. 
 
 Of other Superiors. 
 
 O my God, let Thy love incline me to love and to honour all 
 whom Thou hast any way made my superiors, suitable to their 
 quality,^ or age, or gifts, or learning, or wisdom, or gravity, or 
 goodness. 
 
 O my God, grant that, for Thy sake, I may ever love and honour 
 all that are, or have been, instruments of Thy love to me, in doing 
 me good : O may I reverence my teachers," be grateful to my bene- 
 factors, and may I have always a peculiar respect to my particular 
 pastor ! 
 
 1 INIal. ii. 7. - 2 Cor. v. 20. '' Heb. .xiii. 7, 17; i Tim. v. 17. 
 ■^ Col. iv. I ; Eph, vi. 9. •'' i Tim. vi. i, 2 ; Col. iii. 22, 23, 24 ; Eph. vi. 5, 6, 7, 8. 
 6 Lev. xix. 32; I Tim. v. 1, 2, 3; i Pet. v. 5. '' Gal. vi. 6. 
 
the Church Catechism, i6i 
 
 Of Equals afid Inferiors. 
 
 O my God, let Thy love engage me to love those whom Thou 
 hast obliged to love me ; to show constancy, and fidelity, and sym- 
 pathy, and love, and communicativeness to my friend ; to be 
 affectionate to my brethren and sisters ; to be kind and affable to 
 my equals, condescending to my inferiors ; to be, all the possible 
 ways I can, universally helpful, and obliging, and loving to all.i 
 
 O my God, O my Love, let Thy all-powerful love abound in my 
 heart, and m the hearts of all that profess Thy name, that in all 
 these, and m all other possible instances of duty, our lives may be 
 contmually employed to love Thee, and for Thy sake to love our 
 neighbour, and to excite our neighbour to love Thee. 
 
 The several forms which contain the duties of parent and child, of 
 master and servant, &^c., are to be used by every one according 
 as may suit with his circumstances, or as he stands in any of those 
 relatio7is. 
 
 Sins fo7'bidden. 
 
 O my God, O my Love, I renounce, and detest, and bewail, as 
 odious and offensive to Thee, as directly opposite to Thy love, and 
 the love of my neighbour, for Thy sake ; 
 
 AH dishonour to our superiors, in either despising them, speaking 
 evil of them, or in irreverent behaviour. 
 
 All unnaturalness to children. 
 
 All undutifulness, or stubbornness, or disobedience, or disrespect, 
 to parents.^ 
 
 All rebelling, or reviling, or murmuring against the king, or 
 against his ministers.^ 
 
 All defrauding, undervaluing or rejecting lawful pastors.^ 
 
 All schism,^ and contempt of their regular censures. 
 
 AH falseness, or negligence, or refractoriness to masters or 
 mistresses.'' 
 
 All rudeness, ingratitude, treachery, want of brotherly love, and 
 unfaithfulness. 
 
 All the least tendencies to any of these impieties. 
 
 From all these, and the like hateful violations of Thy love, and 
 of the love of my neighbour, and from the vengeance they justly 
 deserve, O my God, O my Love, deliver me, and all faithful 
 people. 
 
 1 Rom. xiii. lo ; i Pet. iii. 8. 22 Tim. iii. 2. 3, 4. 
 
 'i I Sam. xxvi. 9 ; Eccles. x. 20; Acts xxiii. 5. 4 Matt. x. 14. 
 
 5 I Cor. i. 10; 3 John 9. 6 Tit. ii. 9, 10; Ma^l. ii. to. 
 
1 62 A 91 Expositioji of 
 
 O my God, O my Love, I earnestly pray, that Thy love, and the 
 love of our neighbour, may so prevail over our hearts, that we 
 may sadly lament and abhor all these abominations, and may 
 never more provoke Thee. 
 
 Protnise annexed to the Com7fiandment. 
 
 Glory be to Thee, O Lord, who, to teach us the importance of 
 this duty of subjection, hast placed it the first of all the second 
 table, of all that relate to our neighbour, and hast made it the first 
 commandment with a promise ^ to every soul that conscientiously 
 keeps it, that " thy days may be long in the land which the Lord 
 thy God giveth thee." 
 
 Who would not love and obey Thee, O my God, and for Thy 
 sake his superiors, when Thou hast promised to reward our duty 
 with a long happy life here, or if Thou seest it best for us, and to 
 "take us away from the evil to come,"^ ^y living a long tract of 
 holiness in a Httle time, and at last, by prolonging our bliss to all 
 eternity in heaven ? for which gracious promise, all love, all glory, 
 be to Thee. 
 
 THE SIXTH COMMANDMENT. 
 St?is forbidden. 
 
 my God, O my Love, I renounce, and detest, and bewail, as 
 odious and offensive to Thee, as directly opposite to Thy love, and 
 to the love of my neighbours, for Thy sake, 
 
 All duels and unlawful war.^ 
 
 All doing hurt to the body and life of my neighbour, directly^ by 
 wounding or murdering him.* 
 
 Indirectly, by contriving or employing others to harm him.^ 
 
 All the ways of procuring abortion.'' 
 
 All malice and envy, hatred ^ and revenge, contention and 
 cruelty. 
 
 All injury and violence, all rash, causeless, immoderate or im- 
 placable anger,^ or contumelious speaking or reviling.^ 
 
 All wilful vexing, grieving or disquieting him. 
 
 All threatening, ill-wishes, or curses,^'' 
 
 All needless endangering ourselves, and self-murder." 
 
 All murdering of souls,i- by encouraging, ensnaring, tempting, 
 commanding them to sin. 
 
 All the least tendencies of any of these impieties. 
 
 1 Eph. vi. 2. 2 isa. Ivii. i. 3 James iv. i, 2; Gen. iv. 10, 11. 
 ^ Gal. V. 21. s Luke xxii. 2. *> Exod. xxi. 22, 23. 
 
 " Tit. iii. 3. 8Eph. iv. 26; Rom. i. 30, 31. 
 
 9 Matt. V. 22. 10 Eph. iv. 29, 31. H i Tim. v. 23 ; Eph. v. 2q, 
 
 1- \ Tim, V. 22. 
 
the ChurcJi Catechism. 1G3 
 
 From all these, and the like hateful violations of Thy love, and 
 of the love of my neighbour, and from the vengeance they justly 
 deserve, O my God, O my Love, deliver me, and all faithful people. 
 
 O my God, O my Love, I earnestly pray, that Thy love, and the 
 love of our neighbour, may so prevail over our hearts, that we may 
 sadly lament and abhor all these abominations, and may never 
 more provoke Thee. 
 
 Duties commanded, 
 
 O my God, O my Love, let Thy unwearied and tender love to 
 me, make my love unwearied and tender to my neighbour, and 
 zealous to procure, promote, and preserve his health, and safety, 
 and happiness, and life, that he may be the better able to serve 
 and to love Thee. 
 
 O my God, O my Love, make me like Thy own self, all meek- 
 ness and benignity,! all goodness and sweetness, all gentleness and 
 long-suffering. 
 
 Fill me full of good wishes and compassion, of liberality in alms- 
 giving, according to my abilities,^ and of readiness to succour and 
 relieve, and comfort, and rescue, and pray for all, whom Thy love, 
 or their own necessities, or miseries, or dangers, recommend to 
 my charity.3 
 
 O let Thy love. Thou God of love, make me peaceful and recon- 
 cileable, always ready to return good for evil, to repay injuries 
 with kindness,* and easy to forgive, unless in those instances, 
 where the impunity of the criminal would be injustice or cruelty 
 to the public. 
 
 O Thou Lover of Souls, let Thy love raise in me a compassionate 
 zeal to save the life, the eternal life of souls ; ^ and by fraternal, 
 and affectionate, and seasonable advice or exhortation, or correc- 
 tions, to reclaim the wicked, and to win them to love Thee. 
 
 O my God, O my Love, let Thy all-powerful love abound in my 
 heart, and in the hearts of all that profess Thy name, that in all 
 these, and in all other possible instances of duty, our lives may be 
 continually employed to love Thee, and for Thy sake to love our 
 neighbour, and to excite our neighbour to love Thee. 
 
 THE SEVENTH COMMANDMENT. 
 
 Sz?ts forbidden. 
 
 O my God, my Love, I renounce, and detest, and bewail, as 
 odious and offensive to Thee, as directly opposite to Thy love, and 
 to the love of my neighbour, for Thy sake, 
 
 1 2 Cor. X. I ; Gal. v. 22. ~ i John iii. 17. 3 j Cor. xiii. 4. 
 
 * Matt. V. 44 ; Rom. xii. 20. ^ Dan. xii 3 ; Jam. v. 20. 
 
164 - An Exposition of 
 
 All adultery, and violations of my neighbour's bed, in the gross 
 act, robbing him of that he loves best. 
 
 All adultery and unchastity of the eye, or the hand.^ 
 
 All the kinds or degrees of lust, fornication, pollution of our 
 own bodies, and works of darkness, which it is a shame to 
 mention.2 
 
 All things that provoke or feed lust, impure company, discourse, 
 songs, books, or pictures.-^ 
 
 All lascivious dresses,* or dances, or plays ; all idleness or 
 luxurious diet.^ 
 
 All the excesses or abuses of lawful marriage, all unreason- 
 able jealousies, and all things that lessen the mutual kindness, or 
 alienate the affections, of those that are married.*' 
 
 All the least tendencies to any of these impurities. 
 
 From all these and the like hateful violations of Thy love, and 
 the love of my neighbour, and from the vengeance they justly 
 deserve, O my God, O my Love, deliver me and all faithful 
 people. 
 
 O my God, O my Love, I earnestly pray, that Thy love, and the 
 love of our neighbour, may so prevail over our hearts, that we may 
 sadly lament and abhor all these abominations, and may never 
 more provoke Thee. 
 
 Duties coniinanded. 
 
 my God, O my Love, let Thy purest love, who art purity itself, 
 create in me a perfect abhorrence of all impurity, that I may purify 
 myself as Thou, Lord, art pure.'' 
 
 1 know, O Lord, that I can never be partaker of the Divine 
 nature, unless I escape the pollution that is in the world through 
 lust : ^ O do Thou therefore " cleanse me from all filthiness of flesh 
 and spirit, that I may perfect hoHness in Thy fear :"'^ give me 
 grace " to possess my vessel in sanctification and honour," ^^ and 
 to keep Thy temple holy, that Thy Spirit of love may always 
 there inhabit. 
 
 O my God, let my love be chaste to Thee, chaste to myself, 
 chaste to my neighbour. 
 
 my God, may Thy love set a strict guard on my senses, turn 
 away mine eyes,^^ stop mine ears, bridle my tongue, and restrain 
 my hand, from all uncleanness ! 
 
 Lord, give me grace to fly^^ 2\\ incitements, or opportunities, or 
 instruments of defiHng either my neighbour or myself, to beat 
 down my body, and to bring it into subjection.!^ 
 
 1 Matt. V. 29. - Eph. V. II, 12 ; iv. 19. 3 Eph. iv. 29. 
 
 4 Eph. V. 3, 4, 5 ; I Tim. ii. 9 ; i Pet. i. 13, &c. ^ Rom. xiii. 13, 14 ; i Pet. iv. 3. 
 
 '^ I Tim. ii. 12 ; Matt. xix. 6. 7 i John iii. 3. 
 
 8 2 Pet. i. 4. 9 2 Cor. vii. i. 1" 1 Thess. iv. 4. 
 
 11 Job xxxi. T, 7. ^'- 2 Tim. ii. 22. 1^ i Cor. ix 27. 
 
tJie Church Catechism. 165 
 
 O my Love, let me live ever watching or praying, or profitably 
 employed or busied in Thy love, that I may leave no room, if 
 possible, for any unclean spirit to enter into my soul, and tempt 
 me. 
 
 O my God, O my Love, let thy all-powerful love abound in my 
 heart, and in the hearts of all that profess Thy name, that in all 
 these, and in all other possible instances of duty, our lives may be 
 continually employed to love Thee, and for Thy sake to love our 
 neighbour, and to excite our neighbour to love Thee. 
 
 Duty of Married Persons. 
 
 O Thou God of love, who hast ordained the marriage state for 
 the cure of our passion,^ and the comfort of our hfe,^ and hast 
 made it the emblem of that divine love and union Thou art pleased 
 to bear towards Thy Church : "^ let the force of Thy mystical love 
 teach us to love each other, and both of us to love Thee. 
 
 O Thou, who hast made us one flesh, make us but one soul 
 also ; let our love be mutual, constant, and inviolate,^ full of 
 compliance, and condescensions, and sympathy, and forbearance 
 towards each other. 
 
 Fill us, O God of love, with reciprocal care, and zeal, and 
 charity, for each other's happiness, temporal and eternal, and with 
 a delight in each other, exclusive of all loves but Thine. 
 
 Lord, give us grace to keep our " marriage always honourable, 
 and our bed undeflled ; " ^ let the affectionate authority of the one, 
 and the submissive sweetness of the other, produce an entire 
 friendship and harmony of dispositions, and fervent intercessions 
 for each other : give us, O Lord, an unafflicting foresight of our 
 parting here, and a passionate longing to be beatified near each 
 other, in neighbouring mansions above, that from henceforth our 
 love to each other, and to Thee, may be co-eternal with Thine. 
 
 THE EIGHTH COMMANDMENT. 
 
 Sins forbidden. 
 
 O my God, O my Love, I renounce, and detest, and bewail, as 
 odious and offensive to Thee, as directly opposite to Thy love, and 
 to the love of my neighbour, for Thy sake. 
 
 All kinds of stealing, by open robbery, violence, or invasion.*^ 
 
 All oppression, or extortion, or rapine,'^ vexatious law-suits, or 
 griping usury. 
 
 AH fraud in trade and contracts, false weights, and measures, 
 and coin.8 
 
 1 I Cor. vii. 2. - Gen. ii. 20. 3 Eph. v. 22, 23, 24, &c. 
 
 4 Col. iii. 18, 19 ; i Pet. iii. i, 17 ; i Cor. vii. 3, 4, 5. 5 Heb. xiii. 4. 
 
 6 Eph. iv. 28 ; I Pet. iv. 15. ^ i Cor. vi. 9, 10. '^ i Thess. iv. 6 ; Amos viii. 5. 
 
1 66 All Exposition of 
 
 All concealing the defects of our own goods, or depreciating 
 those of our neighbour.^ 
 
 All making haste to be rich, or taking advantage of the ignorance 
 or necessity of the persons we deal with. 
 
 All withholding our neighbours' dues, or detaining the " hire of 
 the labourer." ^ 
 
 All borrowing and not paying, injurious keeping the goods of 
 others,^ and refusing to make restitution."^ 
 
 All breach of trust, or removing of land-marks,^ wasteful pro- 
 digality, avaricious gaming, or idle begging. 
 
 All outrages to the fatherless, the widow, and the stranger.^ 
 
 All the least tendencies to any of these acts of injustice. 
 
 From all these, and the like hateful violations of Thy love, and 
 of the love of my neighbour, and from the vengeance they justly 
 deserve, O my God, O my Love, deliver rne, and all faithful 
 people. 
 
 O my God, O my Love, I earnestly pray, that Thy love, and the 
 love of our neighbour, may so prevail over our hearts, that we may 
 sadly lament and abhor all these abominations, and may never 
 more provoke Thee. 
 
 Duties cofnmanded, 
 
 O my God, O my Love, let the love of Thy eternal and amiable 
 justice teach me a steady justice in giving all men their due, since 
 I cannot love my neighbour, if I am unjust to him. 
 
 Lord, give me grace to use my neighbour as my friend, as my- 
 self, to buy and sell by just weights and measures, and to be 
 content with moderate gain.'' 
 
 To pay debts and wages, and conscientiously to make restitu- 
 tion for injuries or wrongs, or for goods unlawfully gotten.^ 
 
 Teach me, O my God, to use this world so as not to abuse it ;^ 
 to receive and manage all Thy temporal blessings with thankful- 
 ness to Thee, sobriety to myself, and charity to all besides. ^"^ 
 
 Make me ever, O my God, upright and faithful in trusts, and 
 trade, and agreements, diligent and honest in my station and 
 calling,!^ and according to my ability, willing to lend and remit 
 to my poor neighbours.^^ 
 
 Whenever, O my God, I am forced to go to law, O let me ever 
 contend more for right than victory, and in all prosecutions pre- 
 serve a charitable and an equitable disposition.^^ 
 
 my God, O my Love, let Thy all-powerful love abound in my 
 
 1 Prov. XX. 74. - James v. 4. 3 Ps. xxxvii. 21. 
 4 Luke xix. 8. ^ Prov. xxii. 22, 23, 28. •'" Jer. vii. 6. 
 
 7 Prov. xi. I ; xx. 10, 17, 21. § Matt. v. 23. 'J i Cor. vii. 31. 
 
 10 Luke xi. 41. 11 2 Thess. iii. 10, 12. i- Ps. xxxvii. 26. 
 
 13 Luke xvii. 5, 4. 
 
the CJmrch Catechism. 167 
 
 heart, and in the hearts of all that profess Thy name, that in all 
 these, and all other possible instances of duty, our lives may be 
 continually employed to love Thee, and for Thy sake to love our 
 neighbour, and to excite our neighbour to love Thee. 
 
 THE NINTH COMMANDMENT. 
 
 Sins forbiddeft, 
 
 O my God, O my Love, I renounce, and detest, and bewail, as 
 odious and offensive to Thee, as directly opposite to Thy love, and 
 to the love of my neighbour for Thy sake, 
 
 All manner of "bearing false witness against my neighbour," all 
 false accusations, or glosses, or pleadings, or testimonies, or sen- 
 tences in courts of judicature,^ by concealing, or over-speaking, or 
 perverting right and truth. 
 
 All things prejudicial or destructive to my neighbour's good 
 name. 
 
 All censoriousness^ and slander, detraction and calumny, forced 
 consequences, or invidious reflections. 
 
 All scoffing, or exposing the infirmities of others. 
 _ All whispering^ and tale-bearing, or raising of evil reports, sus- 
 picions or jealousies, and all evil-speaking. 
 
 All equivocations, and dissembling, flattery and lying.* 
 
 All the least tendencies to any of these injurious falsehoods. 
 
 From all these, and the like hateful violations of Thy love, 
 and of the love of my neighbour, and from the vengeance they 
 justly deserve, O my God, O my Love, deliver me, and all faith- 
 ful people. 
 
 O my God, O my Love, I earnestly pray, that Thy love, and the 
 love of our neighbour, may so prevail over our hearts, that we may 
 sadly lament and abhor all these abominations, and may never 
 more provoke Thee. 
 
 Duties commanded. 
 
 O my God, O my Love, who dost love truth, and dost hate a lie 
 as perfectly diaboHcal, instil into my soul an unalterable love of 
 truth, that nothing may tempt me to deviate from an entire 
 veracity,^ in my whole conversation, or become a liar, which Thy 
 soul abhors. 
 
 O Lord, give me grace ever to speak the truth, and let my heart 
 and my tongue always go together. 
 
 O my God, give me grace to be tender of my neighbour's good 
 
 1 Ps. Ixxxii. 2 ; Matt. xxvi. 60 ; Tit. ii. 3 ; Micah iii. 9. 
 
 - Matt. yii. i ; Prov.xxvi. 18, &c. ; James iii. 6; 2 Pet.ii. 12, 18. 
 
 •J Rom. i. 29 ; i Tim. v. 13 ; Exod. xxiii. i. 
 
 •* Eph. iv. 15, 21. 5 Prov. xxiii. 23 ; Ps. cxix. 163 ; John viii. 44. 
 
1 68 A^i Exposition of 
 
 know to be most dear to him. 
 
 Grant, O my God, for the sake of Thy own love, that I may be 
 always ready to vindicate my neighbour's good name on all occa- 
 sions, that I may judge the best,- and speak well of him, and con- 
 ceal or excuse his infirmities ; that I may be impatient to hear, 
 slow to believe, and unwilling to propagate evil reports ; that I 
 may put candid interpretations on his actions, since the more he 
 is defamed, the less able he is to serve Thee, the less credit he has 
 to persuade others to love Thee. 
 
 O my God, O my Love, let Thy all-powerful love abound in my 
 heart, and in the hearts of all that profess Thy name, that in all 
 these, and in all other possible instances of duty, our lives may be 
 continually employed to love Thee, and for Thy sake to love our 
 neighbour, and to excite our neighbour to love Thee. 
 
 THE TENTH COMMANDMENT. 
 
 Sins forbiddeti. 
 
 O my God, O my Love, I renounce, and detest, and bewail, as 
 
 odious and offensive to Thee, as directly opposite to Thy love, and 
 
 to the love of my neighbour, for Thy sake, 
 All the inordinate desire of what is my neighbour's, all coveting 
 
 his house, or wife,^ or servant, or maid, or ox, or ass, or anything 
 
 that is his. 
 
 All discontentedness with my worldly condition, and worldly 
 
 soHcitude.^ 
 All covetousness, or repining at the happiness of others.^ 
 All taking pleasure in sin, or complaisance in past impurities.^ 
 All the first motions, all the least tendencies to concupiscence/ 
 From all these and the like hateful violations of Thy love, and 
 
 of the love of my neighbour, and from the vengeance they justly 
 
 deserve, O my God, O my Love, deliver me, and all faithful 
 
 people. 
 
 my God, O my Love, I earnestly pray, that Thy love, and the 
 love of our neighbour, may so prevail over our hearts, that we may 
 sadly lament and abhor all these abominations, and may never 
 more provoke Thee. 
 
 Duties counnanded. 
 
 O my God, O my Love, Thou art the great Searcher of hearts, 
 and dost not only require outward acts of duty, but the inward 
 disposition of the heart ; the heart is the chief sacrifice ^ Thou re- 
 
 1 Prov. xxii. i ; Eccles. vii. i. - i Cor. xiii. 5, 7. 
 
 3 Matt. V. 28. ^ Matt. vi. 24, 25, &c. ; xiii. 22. 
 
 5 I Kings xxi. 4, 5. ^ Rom. i. 32; James v. 5 ; 2 Pet. ii. 13. 
 
 "^ Matt. XV. 19. ^ Prov. xxiii. 26 ; iv. 23 ; Matt. xv. 19. 
 
the Church Catechism. 169 
 
 quirest, the heart is the proper seat of Thy love, and my heart I 
 wholly devote to Thee. 
 
 O my God, "create in me a clean heart," ^ that the fountain of 
 action being clean, the streams may run clean also. 
 
 Give me a heart, O Thou who only canst change the heart, 
 entirely turned to Thee ; that may suppress and resist all the first 
 springings of lust, before they shoot up into consent,^ approbation, 
 and desire ; before lust conceiving brings forth sin. 
 
 Lord, make me contented,^ and thankful, and well pleased with 
 that portion Thy providential love has allotted me, and to acquiesce 
 in Thy choice as best for me. 
 
 O great Lord of hearts, lodge my neighbour in my heart next to 
 myself; let all my desires be for his good, and let it be the subject 
 of my joy,* and praise, and love, to see Thy love liberal to him, to 
 see him abounding in Thy blessings. 
 
 O my God, my Love, what can a soul enamoured of Thee ever 
 desire but Thee ? O let the world never more have place in my 
 heart : all my affections I withdraw from that to fix on Thee. 
 
 Forgive me, O my God, if I am unmeasurably ambitious, it is 
 only of Thy favour ; forgive me, if I am insatiably covetous, it is 
 only of Thy fruition ; forgive me, if I am perpetually discontented, 
 it is only because I cannot love Thee more. 
 
 O inconceivable happiness of heaven ! where my ambition shall 
 rest on a throne, where my covetousness shall be filled with the 
 beatific vision, and where I shall be eternally satisfied with love ! 
 
 O my God, O my Love, let Thy all-powerful love abound in my 
 heart, and in the hearts of all that profess Thy name, that in all 
 these, and in all other possible instances of duty, our lives may be 
 continually employed to love Thee, and for Thy sake to love our 
 neighbour, and to excite our neighbour to love Thee. 
 
 Q. "My good child, know this, that thou art not able to do 
 these things of thyself, nor to walk in the commandments of God, 
 and to serve Him, without His especial grace, which thou must 
 learn at all times to call for by diligent prayer. Let me hear 
 therefore, if thou canst say the Lord's Prayer. 
 
 A. " Our Father, which art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name. 
 Thy Kingdom come. Thy will be done in 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. 
 
 Q. " What desirest thou of God in this prayer ? 
 
 A. " I desire my Lord God, our heavenly Father, who is the 
 Giver of all goodness, to send His grace unto me, and to all people, 
 that we may worship Him, serve Him, and obey Him as we ought 
 
 \ Ps. li. 10. 2 James i. 14, 15. 
 
 3 Heb. xiii. 5 ; Phil. iv. 12; i Tim. vi. 6. i Rom. xii. 15. 
 
I70 An Exposition of 
 
 to do. And I pray unto God, that He will send us all things that 
 be needful both for our souls and bodies ; and that He will be 
 merciful unto us, and forgive us our sins ; and that it will please 
 Him to save and defend us in all dangers, ghostly and bodily ; 
 and that He will keep us from all sin and wickedness, and from 
 our ghostly enemy, and from everlasting death. And this I trust 
 He will do of His mercy and goodness, through our Lord Jesus 
 Christ. And therefore I say. Amen. So be it." 
 
 Previous Consideratioits. 
 
 O infinite Love, it is my duty and my happiness to love Thee ; 
 but, alas ! my own sad experience teaches me how little able I 
 am to love. 
 
 Oiw Impotence to Good. 
 
 Ah, Lord I there is a dark cloud of ignorance spread over my 
 soul, that intercepts Thy beams : I cannot clearly see, I cannot 
 fully know, how lovely Thou art. 
 
 Ah, Lord ! whenever any gleams of Thy loveliness break in 
 upon my spirit, and attract my will, a crowd of strange loves im- 
 portune and tempt me to wander after them. 
 
 God is our Refuse. 
 
 Since, O my God, I can of myself neither know nor love Thee, 
 since I cannot by my own strength do " those things Thou 
 requirest, nor walk in Thy commandments, nor serve Thee," nor 
 think so much as one good thought ; ^ whither can I fly, but only 
 to Thy free and unbounded love 1 Thou art my hope, my help, 
 and my salvation ; ^ Thou only canst teach and enable me to know 
 and to love Thy own goodness. 
 
 Our AssistMice from God. 
 
 By Thy special grace, O my God, by Thy particular assistance, 
 by the strength of Thy love, " I can do all things : " ^ O let Thy 
 grace ever enlighten and inflame me ; let it ever prevent, and 
 accompany and follow me ; let it ever excite, and increase, and 
 support Thy love in my heart : O let it ever work in me both " to 
 will and to do of Thy good pleasure." * 
 
 1 2 Cor. iii. 5. "^ Psalm Ixii 7 ; John xv. 4, 5. 
 
 3 Eph. iii. 16 ; Phil. iv. 13. ^ Phil. ii. 13. 
 
the Church Catechism. 171 
 
 Gained by Prayer. 
 
 I know, Lord, that Thy grace, and all other blessings, " I must 
 learn at all times to call for by diligent prayer ; " and I adore and 
 love Thy infinite benignity to sinners, in indulging us the privilege, 
 the honour, the happiness, to pray to Thee,i to pour out our souls, 
 to breathe out our desires, to present our wants, and to unbosom 
 our griefs, at Thy throne of love. 
 
 Encouragements to Pray. 
 
 I praise and I love Thee, O sovereign Love, for not only per- 
 mitting us miserable wretches to pray to Thee, but also for giving 
 us all imaginable encouragement to so important and divine a 
 duty. 
 
 I adore and love Thee, O munificent Goodness, for inviting,^ for 
 commanding us to pray.^ I adore and love Thee for pouring out 
 Thy holy " Spirit of grace and supplication " ^ on us, to help our 
 infirmities, to assist us in praying, to make " intercessions for us, 
 with sighs and groans that cannot be uttered,"^ with the utmost 
 ardours of a penitential and indigent love. I adore and love Thee 
 for giving us so many glorious promises ^' of hearing our prayers, 
 so many firm assurances of a gracious acceptance. 
 
 A Pattcrfi of Prayer. 
 
 O Thou great Prophet of Divine Love, as if Thy invitation, and 
 command, and assistance, and promise, were not enough to move 
 us to pray, Thou hast condescended to teach us this duty Thyself, 
 and to give us a perfect pattern of prayer ; for which I adore and 
 love Thee. 
 
 A Form most Condescending. 
 
 Glory be to Thee, O blessed Master of Devotion, who in dictat- 
 ing a form of prayer, and enjoining us to use it,'' hast comphed with 
 our weakness, and warned us not to rely on rash and unpre- 
 meditated effusions ; who, in dictating a short form, hast taught 
 us to avoid " vain repetitions," or " thinking we shall be heard 
 for much speaking," and to measure our prayers rather by their 
 fervency than length. 
 
 1 Rom. 13. 2 Psalm 1. 15. 3 PhU. iv. 6. 
 
 4Zech. xii. 10. ^ Rom. viii. 26. 6 Matt. vii. 7. 
 
 7 Matt. vi. 7, 8,9; Lukexi.2 
 
172 A 71 Exposition of 
 
 Most Divine. 
 
 That prayer, which was composed by Thy own self, O God, that 
 hearest prayer, we are sure is most divine and excellent, and 
 perfect like its Author, and most agreeable and acceptable to 
 Thee ; for which I adore and love Thee. 
 
 Most Acceptable. 
 
 O blessed Jesus, the only beloved of God, Thou best under- 
 standest the language of love, and in that language Thou hast 
 taught us to pray ; and whenever we pray in that language, we 
 have an humble confidence Thy heavenly Father will hear us, 
 who with the words of His own beloved Son will ever be well 
 pleased ; and therefore I adore and love Thee. 
 
 Necessity of Prayer. 
 
 Thou, O heavenly Guide of our devotion and our love, by 
 teaching us to pray, hast showed us, that prayer is our treasury 
 where all blessings are kept, our armoury where all our strength 
 and weapons are stored, the only great preservative, and the very 
 vital heat of divine love. Give me grace therefore to call on Thee 
 at all times by diligent prayer. 
 
 Misc7y oftJwse who do not Pray. 
 
 O the unspeakable misery of those, who either totally neglect 
 the duty of prayer,^ or else profane it by drawing near to God with 
 their lips, when their hearts are far removed from Him, whose 
 prayers, being void of all devotion and concern, are turned into 
 fresh sins I^ How deservedly shall he have God for his enemy, 
 who would not beg pardon of a most reconcileable Father ? How 
 deservedly shall he suffer eternal wrath, who thought heaven not 
 worth the asking ? 
 
 p7'ayer ought to be Daily. 
 
 O my God, let me daily offer up to Thee my morning and even- 
 ing sacrifice ^ in private, and in public too, if my circumstances 
 permit ; and, as near as I can, let me omit no opportunities of 
 praying, or of praising Thee. 
 
 1 Ps. X. 4. 2 Ps, cix. 7. 3 Ps. V. 3; cxli. 2. 
 
tJie CJnircJi Catechism. 173 
 
 Incessatit. 
 
 O my God, may I ever " keep myself in Thy love, by praying in 
 the Holy Ghost," 1 and by "praying without ceasing," 2 since I 
 incessantly want the succours of Thy love. 
 
 Ah, Lord ! I know my devotion has daily many unavoidable 
 and necessary interruptions, and I cannot always be actually pray- 
 ing ; all I can do, is, to beg of Thy love to keep my heart always 
 in an habitual disposition to devotion, and in mindfulness of Thy 
 divine presence, that I may perpetuate my prayer by frequent 
 ejaculations. 
 
 O my God, as Thy infinite love is ever streaming in blessings on 
 me, O let my soul be ever breathing love to Thee. 
 
 Joined with Reading and Meditation, 
 
 my God, to prayer, whereby I address to Thee, give me grace 
 to add the daily reading and meditation of Thy word ,2 whereby 
 Thou art pleased to converse with me. 
 
 It is of Thy abundant love to us, O Lord, that Thou indulgest 
 us Thy word in our own mother tongue, that from those dear 
 volumes of Thy love, every devout lover may daily, and on all 
 occasions, supply proper fuel to his love ; for which, all love, all 
 glory, be to Thee. 
 
 The Method of Prayer. 
 
 1 adore and love Thee, O heavenly Oracle of Love, for contriv- 
 ing this prayer in that admirable method ; that Thou hast withal 
 taught us all the requisites of an acceptable prayer ; Thou, in the 
 preface, hast taught us " how to pray : " in the petitions, for what 
 to pray : and in the conclusion, what ought to be the end of our 
 prayers : for which, I adore and love Thee. 
 
 FATHER. 
 
 The Preface teacheth how to pray. To who7n. To God only. 
 
 Glory be to Thee, O Jesu, who hast taught us to whom to direct 
 our prayers, to God only,* since He only is omniscient to know, 
 and all-sufficient to succour us in, all our necessities. 
 
 1 Jude 20, 21. ^ r Thess. v. 17. 
 
 3 Psalm i. 2. ^ Ps- Ixv. 2 
 
74 A 71 Exposition of 
 
 For Jesus' Sake. 
 
 Glory be to Thee, who hast taught us, for whose sake only we 
 can hope to be heard, even for Thy own, O blessed Jesus ; for it 
 is through Thy alone mediation ^ that we sinners can call God 
 Father, or have access to His throne. 
 
 Wi^/i the affections of a Child. 
 
 Glory be to Thee, O beloved Jesu, who, in teaching us to call 
 God Father, hast taught us to pray with the affections of a child, 
 with reverential love, and reliance on the paternal care, and be- 
 nignity and love of our Heavenly Father.^ 
 
 OUR FATHER. 
 
 Of a Brother. 
 
 Glory be to Thee, O Lord, who in teaching me to call God our 
 Father, hast taught me not to confine my charity to myself, but to 
 pray also with the affections of a brother, and to enlarge it,^ to all 
 mankind, who are children by creation, to all Christians, who are 
 children by adoption, of the same Heavenly Father. O give me 
 that brotherly kindness to them all, that I may beg the same 
 blessings for them as for myself, and earnestly pray, that they 
 may all share with me in Thy fatherly love. 
 
 WHICH ART IN HEAVEN. 
 
 With the Huinility of a Suppliant. 
 
 Glory be to Thee, O Thou beloved of the Father, who, in teach- 
 ing us to pray to " our Father in Heaven," hast taught me the 
 infinite distance between God and us, and to pray with the humility 
 of a supphant,'* with that awe that becomes a frail creature, a 
 miserable sinner, before his Creator and his Judge. 
 
 O Father Almighty, though Thou fillest all places, yet Thy 
 glory is most manifested in Heaven, and there Thy Majesty does 
 most illustriously dwell, and to Thy throne there ^ are we to lift 
 up our hearts when we pray : O let my soul fly up to Thee, when 
 I pray, in heavenly thoughts, and desires, and love : O let me 
 savour nothing of the earth, whenever I treat with Thee in 
 heaven ! 
 
 1 John xvi. 23; Ephes. i. 6; ii. 18. 2 j^a. Ixiii, 15, 16; Luke xi. 13; Mai. i. 6. 
 
 3 Ephes. iv. 6 ; i Pet. iii. 8. ** Eccles. v. i ; Heb. xii. 28, 29. 
 
 o Ps. xi. 4 ; Isa. Ivii. 15. 
 
the CJmrch CatecJiisni. 175 
 
 Petitions in general teach us for what to pray. 
 
 For things lawful. 
 
 Glory be to Thee, O gracious Lord, who, in the petitions of Thy 
 most divine prayer, hast taught us for what we are to pray ; for all 
 blessings, temporal and eternal ; for all things lawful, " and ac- 
 cording to Thy will." ^ 
 
 And in what order. 
 
 Glory be to Thee, O Jesu, who, in ranking the petitions for 
 spiritual blessings first, has taught us to seek heaven in the first 
 place.2 Grant, Lord, that I may always beg Thy blessings in 
 their due order, that I may pray for blessings spiritual with holy 
 violence,^ with importunity, and resolution not to be denied, as 
 being the proper ingredients of Thy love, and absolutely necessary 
 to my eternal welfare,'^ and for temporal, with indifference and 
 resignation to Thy will, since I may love Thee, and be eternally 
 happy without them. 
 
 HALLOWED BE THY NAME. 
 In particular for blessings spijntual relating to God. 
 
 O Lord God, may " Thy name," ° Thy own glorious and amiable 
 self, have a love and honour separate, and incommunicable. May 
 Thy infinite goodness and greatness be for ever, by all men, and 
 all angels, confessed, and admired, and adored, and magnified,^ 
 both in private and public, in our hearts, our mouths, and our 
 lives. 
 
 All creatures share in Thy goodness," O God : O let all creatures 
 help us to glorify Thy name. 
 
 " O may everything that hath breath, praise the Lord ! " 
 
 THY KINGDOM COME. 
 
 O Thou King of kings, may " Thy kingdom of grace," ^ the 
 Church militant, the catholic seminary of divine love, come to its 
 utmost evangelical perfection in this life. 
 
 O may Thy Gospel, Lord, be daily propagated, unbelieving 
 nations converted,^ and the number of Thy saints augmented. 
 
 Grant, O Lord God, that Thy true religion, Thy Word, Thy 
 
 1 I John V. 14, 15. 2 Matt. vi. 33. 3 Matt. xi. 13. 
 
 4 Gen. xxxii. 26. ^ Ps. viii. i, 9 ; cxi. 5. 6 P5, cxlviii. 
 
 7 Ps. cxlv. 9, 10. 8 Luke i. 32; Matt. iii. 2 ; Col. i. 13. 
 
 9 Isa. ii. 2, 3. 
 
1/6 All Exposition of 
 
 conveyances of grace, all the holy institutions, laws and governors, 
 fixed by Thee in Thy spiritual kingdom,^ may be loved, and hon- 
 oured, and obeyed ; and that Thy faithful subjects may be protected 
 against all the malice of wicked men, or the powers of darkness.^ 
 
 O my God, let it be Thy good pleasure to put a period to sin 
 and misery, to infirmity and death ; to complete the number of 
 Thine elect, and to hasten Thy kingdom of glory ; ^ that I, and all 
 that wait for Thy salvation, may, in the Church triumphant, eternally 
 love and glorify Thee. 
 
 THY WILL BE DONE IN EARTH, AS IT IS IN HEAVEN. 
 
 O my God, Thy will, and Thy commands, " are most holy, just 
 and good," ^ and condescending to our weakness, and by no means 
 grievous : -^ O give me grace conscientiously to observe them. 
 
 Thy blessed angels, O Lord, "always behold Thy face in 
 heaven ; " ^ they have the beatific vision of Thy incomparable 
 amiableness ; they cannot but unalterably choose Thee ; they 
 must needs, to the utmost of their capacity, praise and love Thee ; 
 they cannot possibly offend Thee ; "^ they ever perfectly obey Thee, 
 and are always upon the wing at Thy command. 
 
 Lord, give me grace, in imitation of the blessed spirits above, 
 to set Thee always before me ; O fix my serious contemplation 
 on Thee. Ravish my soul with a lively sense of Thy infinite 
 amiableness ; O vouchsafe me one short glimpse of Thy goodness. 
 O may I once "taste and see how gracious Thou art,"^ that all 
 things besides Thee may be tasteless to me ; that my desires may 
 always fly up towards Thee ; that I may render Thee love, and 
 praise, and obedience, pure and cheerful, constant and zealous, 
 universal and uniform, like that the holy angels render Thee in 
 heaven. 
 
 GIVE us THIS DAY OUR DAILY BREAD. 
 
 Petitions relating to ourselves. 
 
 Glory be to Thee, O heavenly Benefactor, "who openest Thy 
 hand, and fillest all things living with plenteousness." ° 
 
 O let it be Thy good pleasure to give me, and all that wait on 
 Thy beneficent love, our food in due season; "give us bread," 
 and all that is comprehended by it, health, food, raiment, and all 
 the necessaries of life. 
 
 Give us, O heavenly Father, " daily bread," nothing to gratify 
 
 1 John xviii. 36. - i Pet. iii. 13 ; Matt xii. 28, 29. 3 o Pet. i. 11. 
 
 4 Rom. vii. 12. 5 j John v. 3. 6 Matt, xviii. 10. 
 
 7 Psalm ciii. 20. ^ Ps. xxxiv. 8. ^ Ps. cxlv. 16. 
 
the Church Catechism. 177 
 
 our luxury, but such a competence ^ as Thy Divine wisdom sees 
 fittest for us. 
 
 Give us, O bountiful Creator, " daily bread this day ; " teach us 
 to live without covetous anxiety for to-morrow, with a fiducial 
 dependence on Thy fatherly goodness, and to be content and 
 thankful for the present portion ^ Thy love has indulged us. 
 
 O merciful Lord, give us " our bread," that which is our own 
 bread, by honest labour,^ or a lawful title ; and grant, that we may 
 never eat the bread of idleness, or of deceit. 
 
 Do Thou, Lord, give us our bread ; for unless Thou givest it, 
 we cannot have it ; and together with our bread give us Thy 
 blessing,* otherwise our very bread will not nourish us. 
 
 Above all, O Lord God, give us the bread of Hfe, the bread that 
 came down from heaven, the body and blood of Thy most blessed 
 Son, to feed our souls to life eternal. 
 
 Blessed Jesus, O that it might be " my meat," as it was Thine, 
 " to do the will of Thy heavenly Father." ^ 
 
 AND FORGIVE US OUR TRESPASSES, AS WE FORGIVE THEM THAT 
 TRESPASS AGAINST US. 
 
 For Thine own intinite mercies' sake, and for the merits of the 
 Son of Thy Love, " forgive me," and all penitent sinners, " our 
 trespasses," our sins, known or secret, of omission or commission, 
 which are the vast debts ^ we owe to Thy vindictive justice. 
 
 " Forgive us," O Lord, " as we forgive all them," even our 
 greatest enemies, that " trespass against us," their trespasses, 
 which are infinitely inconsiderable in comparison of our trespasses 
 against Thee. 
 
 Glory be to Thee, O Lord, who, to teach us charity, hast made 
 our forgiveness of others the condition of obtaining Thine. 
 
 O easy, O gracious condition of pardon ! Who would not for- 
 give his brother a few pe7ice in this life, to have " ten thousand 
 talents"'' forgiven in the next ! 
 
 O let my love. Lord, learn from Thine, not only to forgive my 
 enemies, but to be zealous also to do them good. 
 
 AND LEAD US NOT INTO TEMPTATION. 
 
 O Lord God, Thou seest how our ghostly enemies, the world, 
 the flesh, and the devil, are every moment soliciting, enticing, 
 alluring, or tempting us to evil : O be merciful to us, save, and 
 help, and deliver us. 
 
 1 Prov. XXX. 8, 9. - 1 Tim. iv. 4 ; vi. 6 ; i Pet. v. 7. 
 
 S Gen. iii. 19; Deut. xxi. 17. ^ Eccles. v. 19; Mic. vi. 14. 5 John iv. 34. 
 
 ^ Matt. vi. 12; Luke xi. 4. '' Matt, xviii. 22, 24, 28. 
 
178 A 71 Exposition of 
 
 Thou seest, O my God, how infirm I am, and how ready my 
 own deceitful heart is ^ to surrender itself to the tempter ; and I 
 know, that Satan cannot tempt me without Thy permission -.^ O 
 lead me not, if it be Thy good pleasure, suffer me not to fall into 
 violent or lasting temptations, that may endanger my perseverance. 
 
 I know, O heavenly Father, that to be tempted is no sin, for 
 Thy own beloved Son, God Incarnate, was tempted^ to the most 
 horrid of all sins, to fall and worship the very devil ; I know. 
 Lord, the sin lies in yielding to the temptation. 
 
 my God, if Thou, for trial of my love, lead me into any great 
 temptation, and let me continue under it, Thy will, Lord, be done, 
 not mine:'* O let Thy paternal tenderness limit and control the 
 tempter : O let Thy all-sufficient grace restrain my consent, and 
 keep me always on my guard, watching and praying, and let me 
 at last be more than conqueror. 
 
 1 am content. Lord, to be tried and assaulted, so I be not 
 wicked, though it be grievous for those that love Thee, to be 
 tempted to offend Thee. 
 
 BUT DELIVER US FROM EVIL. 
 
 O Father of mercy, if Thou thinkest fit to "lead me into temp- 
 tation, deliver me from the evil " to which I am tempted : deliver 
 me from the evil of sin, and the evil of punishment, from the evil 
 one,° from the evil world,^ and from my own evil heart,'^ and from 
 all suggestions to evil ; for all that is evil is most hateful to Thee, 
 who art infinite goodness, and most destructive of Thy love. And 
 therefore, from all that is evil, O Almighty Lord, defend me. 
 
 FOR THINE IS THE KINGDOM, AND THE POWER, AND THE 
 GLORY, FOR EVER AND EVER. 
 
 The conclusion teaches to pray for a right end, God's glory. 
 
 I adore and love Thee, O Jesu, who, by concluding this prayer 
 with a doxology, hast taught us, that the right end of our prayers 
 should be the glory of God, that we should be ever careful to mix 
 praise with our prayers, and to be as zealous to give thanks for 
 what we receive,^ as to pray for what we want. 
 
 To Thee, O Lord God, do we pray, on Thee only we rely and 
 depend for acceptance, to Thee only we offer up our praises ; for 
 " Thine is the kingdom " ^ and sovereign right to dispose of all 
 
 1 Jer. xvii. 9. - Matt. viii. 31. 3 Matt. iv. i, 9. 
 
 J I Cor. X. 13 ; I Peter v. 8; 2 Cor. xii. 7, 9 ; James iv. 7. 
 
 5 I John ii. 14. * Gal. i. 4. " Heb. iii. 12. 
 
 8 Phil. iv. 6 ; Neh. ix. 5, 6. P Psalm xlvii. 2, 7. 
 
the Chnxh Catechism. I79 
 
 things ; " Thine is the power " ^ Almighty, to reheve and bless us ; 
 " Thine is the glory." ^ All the communications of Thy goodness, 
 as they flow from Thee, return to Thee again in sacrifices of love, 
 of praise and adoration. 
 
 AMEN. 
 
 For the sake, O heavenly Father, of Thy Beloved,^ in whom all 
 " Thy promises are Amen," and who is Himself " the Amen, the 
 faithful and the true witness" of Thy love to us : hear me, and 
 pardon my wanderings and coldness, and help me to sum up and 
 enforce my whole prayer ; all my own wants, and all the wants of 
 those I pray for, in a hearty, and fervent and comprehensive Amen. 
 
 The Pledges of Love. The Sacrame7its. 
 
 Q. " How many sacraments hath Christ ordained in His Church ? 
 A. "Two only, as generally necessary to salvation, that is to 
 say, Baptism, and the Supper of the Lord." 
 
 Their Ntnnber. 
 
 Glory be to Thee, O crucified Love ; out of Thy wounded side 
 flowed water and blood,* the two sacraments which Thou hast 
 ordained in Thy Church, baptism, and the supper of the Lord, the 
 one to initiate, the other to confirm us, in our Christianity. 
 
 Glory be to Thee, O Lord, who having ordained two sacraments 
 only and made them " generally necessary to salvation," ^ art yet 
 pleased to " have mercy rather than sacrifice : " m cases where 
 they cannot be had, and where a surprise of death may prevent 
 their administration. Thou dost supply the want of them by Thy 
 merciful acceptation of those persons, who earnestly desire, and 
 who are disposed to receive them. 
 
 O blessed Jesu, the greater Thy compassion is to those sincere 
 persons who want Thy sacraments, by reason of their infelicity, 
 not their choice, the greater will be Thy indignation against those 
 who wilfully neglect or contemn <5 what Thy adorable love has 
 ordained to be throughout Thy whole Church used and revered ; 
 from which neglect and contempt of Thy love, good Lord, deliver 
 
 me. 
 
 \ It:^. [ToTr^v. hi. m. J John «x. 34. ^ John-iirr.' 'vi'sS- 
 
 6 Luke XIV. 24. 
 
i8o An Exposition of 
 
 Nature. 
 
 Q. " What meanest thou by this word sacrament ? 
 
 A. "I mean an outward visible sign of an inward and spiritual 
 grace, given unto us, ordained by Christ Himself, as a means 
 whereby we receive the same, and a pledge to assure us thereof. 
 
 Q. " How many parts are there in a sacrament ? 
 
 A. " Two : The outward visible sign, and the inward spiritual 
 grace." 
 
 Glory be to Thee, O tenderest Love, who, to stoop to our weak 
 and gross apprehension, hast in the two sacraments made " an 
 outward and visible," and familiar thing, to be the " sign," and 
 memorial, and representation, "of an inward and invisible" 
 mysterious and spiritual " grace." 
 
 Glory be to Thee, O bountiful Love, for ordaining and giving 
 us the holy sacraments : ^ Thou Thyself only art the Author and 
 Fountain of grace, and Thou only hast the right of instituting the 
 conveyances of Thy own grace : all love, all glory, be to Thee. 
 
 Glory be to Thee, O mighty Love, who hast elevated these 
 obvious and outward signs, to an efficacy far above their natures, 
 not only to signify, but to be, happy means and instruments to 
 convey Thy grace to us, to be seals and pledges to confirm and 
 assure to us the communications of Thy love, that our sight may 
 assist our faith, that if with due preparation we receive them, both 
 parts of the sacrament will go together; as certainly as we receive 
 the " outward and visible sign," so certainly shall we receive the 
 " inward and invisible grace ; " for which, all love, all glory, be to 
 Thee. 
 
 Baptism, 
 
 Q. " What is the outward visible sign, or form, in baptism ? 
 
 A. " Water ; wherein the person is baptized, in the name of 
 the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. 
 
 Q. " What is the inward and spiritual grace ? 
 
 A. "A death unto sin, and a new birth unto righteousness : for 
 being by nature born in sin, and the children of wrath, we are 
 hereby made the children of grace. 
 
 Q. "What is required of persons to be baptized? 
 
 A. "Repentance, whereby they forsake sin; and faith, whereby 
 they steadfastly believe the promises of God, made to them in that 
 sacrament. 
 
 Q. "Why then are infants baptized, when by reason of their 
 tender age they cannot perform them ? 
 
 A. " Because they promise them both by their sureties : which 
 promise, when they come to age, themselves are bound to 
 perform." 
 
 1 Matt. xxvi. 26, 27, 28. 
 
the ChnrcJi CatecJiism. i8i 
 
 The outward Sign. 
 
 Glory be to Thee, O Lover of souls ; it was by Thy preventing 
 love, that I was baptized with the " outward sign, water, in the 
 name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost ; " ^ 
 that I should believe in the most Holy Trinity; that I should 
 entirely live devoted to the three most adorable Persons, that I 
 should wholly depend on their gracious assistances, and that it 
 should be my chief care to love and glorify that triune Love, the 
 Author of my salvation. 
 
 The Invisible Grace. 
 
 Glory be to Thee, O Jesu, who by water, that washes away the 
 filth of the body, dost represent to my faith Thy " invisible grace 
 in baptism," 2 which spiritually washes and cleanses the soul. 
 
 Glory be to Thee, O blessed Lord, who in baptism savest us, 
 not by the outward washing, but by the inward purifying grace 
 accompanied with a sincere vow, and " stipulation of a good con- 
 science towards God ; '' ^ by which Thy propitious love brought 
 me into Thy Church, the spiritual ark, to save me from perishing 
 in the deluge of sin, which overwhelms the generality of the 
 world ; and therefore all love, all glory, be to Thee. 
 
 Glory be to Thee, O all-powerful Love, by whose " invisible 
 grace " we in baptism die to sin,* to all carnal affections, renounc- 
 ing and detesting them all, and resolving to take no more pleasure 
 in them, than dead persons do in the comforts of life. O may I 
 ever thus die to sin ! 
 
 Glory be to Thee, O Jesu, who, from our " death to sin " in our 
 baptism, dost raise us to a new life, and dost breathe into us the 
 breath of love ; " it is in this laver of regeneration," ^ we are " born 
 again by water, *^ and the Spirit," by a '' new birth unto righteous- 
 ness : " that as the natural birth propagated sin, our spiritual 
 birth should propagate grace ; for which all love, all glory, be to 
 Thee. 
 
 Glory be to Thee, O most indulgent Love, who in our baptism 
 dost give us the holy Spirit of love, to be the principle of new life, 
 and of love in us, to infuse into our souls a supernatural, habitual 
 grace, and ability to obey and love Thee; for which all love, all 
 glory, be to Thee. 
 
 Glory be to Thee, O compassionate Love, who, when we were 
 conceived and " born in sin," '' of sinful parents, when we sprang 
 from a root wholly corrupt, and were " all children of wrath," ^ hast 
 in our baptism " made us children " of Thy own heavenly Father 
 
 1 Matt, xxviii. 19. 2 Ezek. xxxvi. 25. 3 i Pet. ili. 21. 
 
 •^ Rom. vi. 3, 4. 5 Tit. iii. 5. 6 John iii. 5. 
 
 7 Psalm li. 5. 8 Eph. ii. i. 
 
1 82 A?i Exposition of 
 
 by adoption and " grace : " ^ when we w^ere heirs of hell, hast made 
 us heirs of heaven, even joint heirs with Thy own Self, of Thy own 
 glory ; for which, with all the powers of my soul, I adore and love 
 Thee. 
 
 Conditions required. i. Repentance. 
 
 I know, O dearest Lord, that I am Thine no longer than I love 
 Thee ; I can no longer feel the saving efficacy of my baptism, than 
 I am faithful to my vow I there made ; no longer than I am a 
 penitent, no longer am I a Christian : if I " name the name of 
 Christ, I am to depart from iniquity." ^ O do Thou give me the 
 grace of true repentance for all my sins, for my original impurity, 
 and for all my actual transgressions, that I may abhor and forsake 
 them all ; wound my soul with a most affectionate sorrow, for all 
 the injuries, and affronts, and dishonours, I have offered to infinite 
 love. 
 
 2. Faith. 
 
 Glory be to Thee, O most liberal Jesu, for all those exceeding 
 great and precious " promises '*' ^ of pardon, and grace, and glory, 
 which Thou hast made to us Christians in the sacrament of 
 baptism : O may I ever steadfastly believe, O may I ever passion- 
 ately love, may I ever firmly rely on Thy superabundant love in 
 all these promises ; for which I will ever adore and love Thee ! 
 
 Glory be to Thee, O sweetest Love, who in my infancy didst 
 admit me to holy baptism, who by Thy preventing grace, when T 
 was a little child, didst receive me into the evangelical covenant, 
 didst take me up into the arms of Thy mercy, and bless me.^ 
 Glory be to Thee, who didst early dedicate me to Thyself, to 
 prepossess me by Thy love, before the world should seize and 
 defile me. 
 
 Ah, gracious Lord ! how long, how often have I polluted myself 
 by my sins ! but I repent, and deplore all those pollutions, and I 
 consecrate myself to Thee again : O Thou most reconcileable Love, 
 pardon and accept me, and restore me to Thy love: O let the 
 intenseness of my future love, not only love for the time to come, 
 but retrieve all the love I have lost. 
 
 Sureties. 
 
 Glory be to Thee, O tenderest Jesu, who, when by reason of my 
 infancy I could not promise to repent and believe for myself, didst 
 mercifully accept of the promise of my sureties, who promised both 
 
 1 RoiD, viii. 15. 2 2 Tim. ii. 19. '^ 2 Pet. i. 4. 
 
 •1 Mark x. 16. 
 
the Church Catechism. 183 
 
 for me, as Thou didst accept for good to the paralytic/ the char- 
 itable intentions of those that brought him to Thee, and of the 
 faith of the woman of " Canaan," ^ for the cure of her daughter ; 
 for which merciful acceptance all love, all glory, be to Thee. 
 
 O my God, my Lord, the promise which was made by my 
 sureties for me, I acknowledge, that as soon as I came to a 
 competent age, I was bound myself to perform, and I own and 
 renew my obligation : I promise, O my Lord, with all the force of 
 my soul to love Thee ; O do Thou ever keep me true to my 
 own promise, since Thou art ever unalterably true to Thine ; for 
 which I will ever adore and love Thee. 
 
 The Supper of the Lord. 
 
 Q. " Why was the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper ordained ? 
 
 A. " For the continual remembrance of the sacrifice of the death 
 of Christ, and of the benefits which we receive thereby. 
 
 Q. " What is the outward part, or sign of the Lord's Supper ? 
 
 A. " Bread and wine, which the Lord hath commanded to be 
 received. 
 
 Q. " What is the inward part, or thing signified ? 
 
 A. " The body and blood of Christ, which are verily and indeed 
 taken and received by the faithful in the Lord's Supper. 
 
 Q. "■ What are the benefits whereof we are partakers thereby? 
 
 A, " The strengthening and refreshing of our souls by the body 
 and blood of Christ, as our bodies are by the bread and wine. 
 
 Q. " What is required of them who come to the Lord's Supper ? 
 
 A. "To examine themselves, whether they repent them truly of 
 their former sins, steadfastly purposing to lead a new fife ; have a 
 lively faith in God's mercy through Christ, with a thankful re- 
 membrance of His death, and be in charity with all men." 
 
 Institution. 
 
 Glory be to Thee, O crucified Love, who at Thy last supper 
 didst ordain the holy Eucharist, the sacrament and feast of love. 
 
 It was " for the continual remembrance of the sacrifice of Thy 
 death," O blessed Jesu, " and of the benefits we receive thereby," 
 that Thou wast pleased to ordain this sacred and awful rite : all 
 love, all glory, be to Thee. 
 
 Ah, dearest Lord ! how httle sensible is he of Thy love in dying 
 for us, who can ever forget Thee ! 
 
 Ah, woe is me, that ever a sinner should forget his Saviour ! and 
 yet, alas ! how prone are we to do it ! 
 
 Glory be to Thee, O gracious Jesu, who, to help our memories 
 
 1 Mark ii. 5. "^ Matt. xv. 22. 
 
184 An Exposition of 
 
 and to impress Thy love deep on our souls, hast instituted the 
 blessed sacrament, and commanded us, " Do this in remembrance 
 of Me." 
 
 O Jesu, let the propitiatory sacrifice of Thy death, which Thou 
 didst offer upon the cross for the sins of the whole world, and 
 particularly for my sins, be ever fresh in my remembrance. 
 
 O blessed Saviour, let that mighty salvation Thy love has 
 wrought for us, never slip out of my mind ; but especially, let my 
 remembrance of Thee in the holy sacrament be always most 
 lively and affecting. 
 
 Jesu, if I love Thee truly, I shall be sure to frequent Thy 
 altar, that I may often remember all the wonderful loves of my 
 crucified Redeemer. 
 
 1 know, O my Lord and my God, that a bare remembrance of 
 Thee is not enough ; O do Thou therefore fix in me such a re- 
 membrance of Thee, as is suitable to the infinite love I am to 
 remember : work in me all those holy and heavenly affections, 
 which become the remembrance of a crucified Saviour. 
 
 Parts outward. 
 
 Glory be to Thee, O adorable Jesus, who under the outward 
 and visible part, the " bread and wine,"' things obvious and easily 
 prepared, both which " Thou hast commanded to be " received, 
 dost communicate to our souls the mystery of divine love, the 
 " inward and invisible grace," Thy own most blessed " body and 
 blood, which are verily and indeed taken and received by the 
 faithful in Thy supper ;'' for which all love, all glory, be to Thee. 
 
 Invisible. 
 
 O God incarnate,^ how the bread and the wine, unchanged in 
 their substance, become Thy body and Thy blood ; after what ex- 
 traordinary manner Thou, who art in heaven, art present through- 
 out the whole sacramental action, to every devout receiver ; " how 
 Thou canst give us Thy flesh to eat, and Thy blood to drink ; how 
 Thy flesh is meat indeed, and Thy blood is drink indeed ; how he 
 that eateth Thy flesh, and drinketh Thy blood, dwelleth in Thee, 
 and Thou in him ; how he shall live by Thee, and be raised up by 
 
 1 O God incarnate, how Thou canst give us Thy flesh to eat, and Thy blood to drink ; 
 how Thy flesh is meat indeed, and Thy blood is drink indeed ; how he that eateth Thy 
 flesh and drinketh Thy blood, dwelleth in Thee, and Thou in him ; how he shall live 
 by Thee and be raised up by Thee to life eternal ; how Thou who art in heaven art 
 present on the altar, I can by no means explain ; but I firmly believe it all, because 
 Thou hast said it, and I firmly rely on Thy love, and on Thy omnipotence to make gccc 
 Thy word, though the manner of doing it, I cannot comprehend. Ed. I'lia. 
 
the Church Catechism. 185 
 
 Thee to life eternal ; " ^ I can by no means comprehend ; but I 
 firmly believe all Thou hast said, and I firmly rely on Thy omni- 
 potent love, to make good Thy word ; for which all love, all glory, 
 be to Thee. 
 
 Real Presence. 
 
 I believe, O crucified Lord, that " the bread which we break " 
 in the celebration of the holy mysteries, is the communication of 
 Thy body,^ and the " cup of blessing which we bless," is the com- 
 munication of Thy blood ; and that Thou dost as effectually and 
 really convey Thy body and blood to our souls by the bread and 
 wine, as Thou didst Thy Holy Spirit,^ by Thy breath to Thy 
 disciples ; for which all love, all glory, be to Thee. 
 
 Lord, what need I labour in vain, to search out the manner of 
 Thy mysterious presence in the sacrament, when my love assures 
 me Thou art there ? All the faithful who approach Thee with 
 prepared hearts, they well know Thou art there ; they feel the 
 virtue of divine love going out of Thee, to heal their infirmities, 
 and to inflame their affections ; for which all love, all glory, be to 
 Thee. 
 
 holy Jesu, when at Thy altar I see the bread broken, and the 
 wine poured out, " O teach me to discern Thy body there : '"^ O 
 let those sacred and significant actions create in me a most lively 
 remembrance of Thy sufferings, how Thy most blessed body was 
 scourged, and wounded, and bruised, and tormented ; how Thy 
 most precious blood was shed for my sins ; and set all my powers 
 on work, to love Thee, and to celebrate Thy love in thus dying 
 for me. 
 
 Both kinds. 
 
 Glory be to Thee, O Jesu, who didst institute the holy Eucharist 
 in both kinds, and hast " commanded " both " to be received," ^ 
 both the bread and the wine, both Thy body broken, and Thy 
 blood shed : Thy love, O Lord, has given me both, and both are 
 equally significative and productive of Thy love : I do as much 
 thirst after the one, as I hunger after the other ; I equally want 
 both ; and it would be grievous to my love to be deprived of 
 either. 
 
 Ah, Lord ! who is there that truly loves Thee, when Thou givest 
 him two distinct pledges of Thy love, can be content with one 
 only .? What lover can endure to have one half of Thy love with- 
 held from him ? and therefore all love, all glory, be to Thee, for 
 giving both. 
 
 1 John vi. 54. - I Cor. x. i6. _ 3 John xx. 2?. 
 ^ I Cor. xi. 29. 5 JVIatt. xxvi. 26, 27 ; John vi. 53. 
 
lS6 An Expositio7i of 
 
 Benefits. 
 
 O my Lord, and my God, do Thou so dispose my heart, to be 
 Thy guest at Thy holy table, that I may feel all the sweet in- 
 fluences of love crucified, " the strengthening and refreshing of my 
 soul, as our bodies are by the bread and wine ; " for which I will 
 ever adore and love Thee. 
 
 O merciful Jesu, let that immortal food, which in the holy 
 Eucharist Thou vouchsafest me, instil into my weak and languish- 
 ing soul new supplies of grace, new life, new love, new vigour, and 
 new resolution, that I may never more faint, or droop, or tire, in 
 my duty. 
 
 O crucified Love, raise in me fresh ardours of love and con- 
 solation, that it may be henceforth the greatest torment I can 
 endure, ever to offend Thee, that it may be my greatest delight to 
 please Thee. 
 
 O amiable Jesu, when I devoutly receive the outward elements, 
 as sure as I receive them, I receive Thee, I receive the pledges of 
 Thy love, to quicken mine : O indulge me, though but for a 
 moment, one beatific foretaste of the dehciousness of Thy love, 
 that in the strength of that dehciousness I may perseveringly love 
 Thee. 
 
 Preparation. 
 
 ■ Glory be to Thee, my Lord, and my God, who hast now given 
 me an invitation to Thy heavenly feast : ^ all love, all glory, be to 
 Thee. 
 
 Lord, give me grace, that I may approach Thy awful mystery, 
 with penitential preparation, and with a heart fully disposed to love 
 Thee. 
 
 Examination. 
 
 O my God, my Judge, give me grace, I most humbly beseech 
 Thee, to " examine " ^ my whole life past, by the rule of Thy com- 
 mandments, before I presume to eat of that bread, and drink of 
 that cup ; give me grace sadly to reflect on, and deplore all my 
 provocations, lest, coming to the holy Eucharist impenitent and 
 unprepared, I receive " unworthily, and eat and drink my own 
 damnation." 
 
 O Thou great Searcher of hearts. Thou knowest all that load of 
 impiety and guilt under which I lie : O help me so impartially to 
 judge and condemn myself, so humbly to repent and beg pardon, 
 that I may not be condemned at Thy tribunal, when I shall appear 
 
 I Matt. xi. 23 : Luke xiv. 17. - i Cor. xi. 28. 
 
tJie Church Catechism. 1 8/ 
 
 there at the last day, that I may be set at Thy right hand amongst 
 Thy lovers. 
 
 Lord, give me grace to search every secret of my heart, to leave 
 no sin, if possible, unrepented of ; fill my eyes full of tears of love, 
 that with those tears I may lament all the indignities I have offered 
 Thy love. 
 
 But, alas, alas ! after the most strict examination we can 
 make, who can number his impieties, " who can tell how oft he 
 offendeth } " ^ Lord, therefore, cleanse me from my secret faults, 
 which in general I renounce and bewail. 
 
 Repentance. 
 
 O my God, Thou who alone changest the heart, O be Thou 
 pleased to change mine, change my aversion to Thee, into an 
 entire love of Thee. O give me a filial repentance, that with a 
 broken and contrite heart I may grieve, and mourn, and repent, 
 for all my former sins, and may for ever forsake them, and return 
 to my obedience. 
 
 Amendmetit. 
 
 Let Thy love, O my God, so perfectly exhaust my soul, that I 
 may for the future " steadfastly purpose to lead a new life," that I 
 may renew my baptismal vow, that I may hereafter live as a sworn 
 votary to Thy love. 
 
 Faith. 
 
 O heavenly Father, settle in my soul a "lively faith in Thy 
 mercy through Christ," a steady belief of all Thy love to sinners, 
 and an affectionate reliance on the merits and mediation of Thy 
 crucified Son, of my being " accepted in the beloved," ^ for whom 
 I will ever adore and love Thee. 
 
 Thanksgiving. 
 
 O my crucified God, Thou sovereign inflammative of love, let 
 the " remembrance of Thy death " set all the powers of my soul 
 on work, that I may desire and pant after Thee,"^ that I may 
 admire and adore Thee ; that I may take heavenly delight in Thy 
 gracious presence ; that with praise and thanksgiving, with jubila- 
 tion and triumph, I may receive Thee into my heart ; there I will 
 have love, only love, always love, to entertain Thee. 
 
 1 Ps. xix. 12. - Eph. i. 6. -^ Psalm xlii. i, 2 ; Ixiii, 1. 
 
1 88 An Exposition of 
 
 Charity. 
 
 Lord, when I present myself, and my love, as all the gift I have 
 to offer at Thy altar, next to my love to Thee, and for the sake of 
 Thy infinite love to me, which I there remember, give me grace 
 to love my neighbour, " and to be in charity with all men, and 
 to walk in love,^ as Thou hast loved us, and hast given Thyself 
 for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God, for a sweet-smelling 
 savour ;" for which all love, all glory be to Thee. 
 
 I 71 forgiving. 
 
 O most reconcileable Jesu, in this memorial of Thy sufferings I 
 see how Thou didst forgive me, and didst love me when I was Thy 
 enemy : O for Thy dearest love to me, give me love to forgive all 
 my enemies,^ and to be at peace with the world, as I desire to be 
 loved and forgiven, and to be at peace with Thee. 
 
 All that have any way injured me, O my God, I freely forgive, 
 for Thy sake ; O do Thou also forgive them : incline them to 
 brotherly charity, and let them at last feel the comfort of that 
 reconciliation Thou didst make upon the cross ; for which I will 
 ever adore and love Thee. 
 
 Restoritig. 
 
 O my God, if I have wronged or injured my neighbour, O give 
 me grace to beg his pardon, and, as I have opportunity, to make 
 him satisfaction and restitution, according to my power. 
 
 Giving. 
 
 O crucified Love, whenever 1 see Thee in any of Thy poor 
 members, hungry, or naked, or in distress,^ O let the remembrance 
 of Thy love, in dying for me, engage me to contribute all 1 can to 
 Thy relief ; O may I ever be liberal in my alms to Thee, who 
 wert so liberal of Thy inestimable blood for me ! 
 
 It is very adviseable^ that persons^ befoi^e they communicate^ should 
 read over the whole Conuniiiiion Office, or at least the exhorta- 
 tions there, which they will fijid to contain very proper, and 
 plain, and excellent instructions. 
 
 It were much to be wished, that people would make more use of 
 their Common Prayer books thati they do, and apply the prayers 
 they nieet with there to their own particular conditions j for the 
 book is always at hand, and the prayers are most sccfe, and 
 
 Eph. V. 2. - Matt. vi. 14, 15. 3 Matt. xxv. 35. 
 
tJie Church Catechism 189 
 
 familiar^ and devout ; and tJie more they affect us in our ctoset, 
 the more they will affect us in the congregation ; andivell-mean- 
 tng souls will reap great spiritual advantage from this practice. 
 For example; an humble poor Christian, who^ it may be, has ?to 
 other book but /lis Common Prayer book, and wlio intends to 
 come to the Holy Co7nmunion, may learn to turn the Com7nun- 
 lon Office to his oivn private use, after this manner. 
 
 Prayer for the Holy Spirit. 
 
 Almighty God, unto whom all hearts be open, all desires known, 
 and from whom no secrets are hid, cleanse the thoughts of my 
 heart by the inspiration of Thy Holy Spirit, that I may perfectly 
 love Thee, and worthily magnify Thy holy Name, through Christ 
 our Lord. Amen. 
 
 T hanks givitig for our Redemption. 
 
 I give most humble and hearty thanks to Thee, O God the 
 Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, for the redemption of the 
 world by the death and passion of our Saviour Christ, both God 
 and Man, who did humble Himself even to the death upon the 
 cross for us miserable sinners, who lay in darkness and the 
 shadow of death, that He might make us the children of God, and 
 exalt us to everlasting life. 
 
 Glory be to Thee, O Jesus, our Master and only Saviour, who 
 to the end that we should always remember Thy exceeding great 
 love in thus dying for us, and the innumerable benefits which by 
 Thy precious blood-shedding Thou hast obtained to us, hast in- 
 stituted and ordained holy mysteries as pledges of Thy love, and 
 for a continual remembrance of Thy death to our great endless 
 comfort. 
 
 To Thee, therefore, O blessed Saviour, with the Father, and the 
 Holy Ghost, I will give (as I am most bounden) continual thanks : 
 I submit myself wholly to Thy holy will and pleasure, and will 
 study to serve Thee in true holiness, and righteousness, all the 
 days of my life. 
 
 Confession. 
 
 Almighty God, Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, Maker of all 
 things, Judge of all men, I acknowledge and bewail my manifold 
 sins, &c. 
 
 Praise. 
 
 I Hft up my heart unto Thee, O Lord ; I give thanks unto Thee, 
 O Lord our God ; it is meet and right so to do ; it is very meet, 
 
190 An Exposition of 
 
 right, and my bounden duty, that I should at all times, and in all 
 places, give thanks unto Thee, O Lord, holy Father, Almighty, 
 everlasting God. 
 
 But chiefly am I bound to praise Thee for giving Thy only Son 
 Jesus to die for my sins, and to rise again for my justification. 
 
 Therefore, with angels and archangels, and with all the company 
 of heaven, I laud and magnify, &c. 
 
 Prayers for our counmmicating worthily. 
 
 I do not presume to come to Thy table, O merciful Lord, 
 trusting in my own righteousness, &c. 
 
 Praise. 
 
 Glory be to God on high, and on earth peace, good-will towards 
 men : I praise Thee, &c. 
 
 To these., as you see occasion, you may add ina?iy very good prayers, 
 short and plain, and pertinent to your purpose, wJiich you may 
 collect out of the Commoji Prayer, ajid which will much further 
 your devotion, such as these. 
 
 For Fear and Love. 
 
 O Lord, who never failest to help and govern them whom Thou 
 dost bring up in Thy steadfast fear and love ; keep me, I beseech 
 Thee, under the protection of Thy good providence, and make me 
 to have a perpetual fear and love of Thy holy Name, through 
 Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. 
 
 For Love. 
 
 O God, who hast prepared for them that love Thee such good 
 things as pass man's understanding, pour into my heart such love 
 toward Thee, that I, loving Thee above all things, may obtain Thy 
 promises, which exceed all that I can desire, through Jesus Christ 
 our Lord. Amen. 
 
 Lord of all power and might, who art the Author and Giver of 
 all good things, graft in my heart the love of Thy name^ increase 
 in me true religion, nourish me with all goodness, and of Thy 
 great mercy keep me in the same, through Jesus Christ our Lord. 
 Amen. 
 
the Church Catechism, 19X 
 
 For Charity. 
 
 O Lord, who hast taught me, that all my doings without charity 
 are nothing worth, send Thy Holy Ghost, and pour into my heart 
 that most excellent gift of charity, the very bond of peace, and of 
 all virtues, without which, whosoever liveth, is counted dead before 
 Thee. Grant this for Thy only Son Jesus Christ's sake. Amen. 
 
 For hnitation of Christ. 
 
 Almighty God, who hast given Thy only Son to be unto us both 
 a sacrifice for sin, and also an example of godly life ; give me 
 grace, that I may always most thankfully receive that His in- 
 estimable benefit, and also daily endeavour myself to follow the 
 blessed steps of His most holy life, through the same Jesus Christ 
 our Lord. Amen. 
 
 They that are ignorant^ or that cannot read, should go to their 
 parish priest, or to some other discreet and learned minister of 
 God's word, and desire hijn to teach them their duty in private ; 
 and they that thus sincerely seek the law at the priest^s month, 
 shall find that the priest's lips do preserve knozu ledge, and shall 
 not go away without a blessing. 
 
 To God the Father, who first loved us, and made us accepted in 
 the beloved ; to God the Son, who loved us, and washed us from 
 our sins in His own blood ; to God the Holy Ghost, who sheds the 
 love of God abroad in our hearts, be all love, and all glory, for 
 time, and for eternity. Amen. 
 
DIRECTIONS FOR PRAYER, 
 
 FOR THE 
 
 DIOCESE OF BATH AND WELLS. 
 
 To the poor inhabit mits within the Diocese of Bath and Wells, 
 Thomas, their unworthy Bishop, ivisheth the knowledge and 
 the love of God. 
 
 Dearly Beloved in our Lord. 
 
 The Catechism truly teaches all Christians, that they are " not 
 able of themselves to do those things " they have vowed in their 
 baptism to do, namely, " To walk in the Commandments of God, 
 and to serve Him" without His special grace, or favourable 
 assistance ; and this " they are to learn at all times to call upon 
 God for, by dihgent prayer." 
 
 How good and sensible this advice is, you will all see, if you 
 consider what helpless and needy creatures the very best of men 
 are. Alas ! our weakness is very great, our wants are very many, 
 our dependence on God for all things, all our lives long, is entire, 
 and absolute, and necessary, and there is no way in the world to 
 gain help and supplies from God, but by prayer ; so that it is as 
 easy and as possible to preserve a natural life without daily bread, 
 as a Christian life without daily prayer. 
 
 It was for this reason that our Saviour Himself took a particular 
 care to teach " His disciples to pray ; " ^ and it is for the same 
 
 1 Luke xi. i. 
 
Directions for Prayer. 193 
 
 reason, and in imitation of our heavenly Master, that I have 
 joined these directions for prayer to the catechism. 
 
 Sure I am, the zeal I ought to have for your salvation, can 
 suggest to me nothing more conducing to the good of your souls, 
 than to exhort and beseech you all, of either sex, to learn how to 
 pray. 
 
 This is the first general request I shall make to you ; and I am 
 the more earnest in it, because my own sad experience has taught 
 me, how strangely ignorant common people usually are of this 
 duty ; insomuch that some never pray at all, pretending they were 
 never taught, or that their memories are bad, or that they are not 
 book-learned, or that they want money to buy a book ; and by this 
 means, they live and die rather like beasts than men ; nay, their 
 condition is much worse than that of beasts, for the misery of a 
 beast doth end at death, but the misery of a wicked man, does then 
 begin, and will endure to all eternity. 
 
 To prevent, then, as much as lies in me, the damnation of those 
 souls which God has committed to my care, and to cure ihat 
 lamentable ignorance and forgetfulness of God, which is the cause 
 of the damnation of so very many, I do not only incessantly pray 
 for you myself, but I beg of you all to pray for yourselves, and I 
 beseech you to read the following instructions ; or if you cannot 
 read yourselves, to get some honest charitable neighbours to read 
 them often to you, that you may remember them ; and God of 
 His great mercy reward the charity of such neighbours. 
 
 If any of you, either by your own negligence, or by the negli- 
 gence of your parents, or for want of catechizing in your parish, 
 are wholly ignorant of your duty, — though it be a most shameful 
 and dangerous thing for one who calls himself a Christian, to know 
 nothing of Christ or Christianity, — yet, if you are willing to learn, 
 and beg pardon of God for your wilful ignorance hitherto, and will 
 sincerely do your endeavour to get saving knowledge, and heartily 
 pray to God to assist you, you shall find, that the very entrance 
 of God's word giveth light, " that it giveth understanding unto the 
 simple." ^ 
 
 I must warn you beforehand, that corrupt nature will be very 
 busy in hindering the learning of your duty, and thoughts will 
 arise in your mind, that the task will be too hard and too tedious 
 for you to undertake ; but I faithfully promise you, to impose no 
 hard or tedious task on you, but such as you yourselves shall con- 
 fess to be very complying with your infirmities ; for our most 
 compassionate Saviour teaches me to say no more to you, than 
 " you can bear." - 
 
 All I shall exhort you to, is to learn your catechism, which you 
 may do by degrees : if you learn but a line or two in a day, you 
 will, by God's blessing, in a very short time learn it all over ; and 
 
 Ps, cxix. 130. - John xvi. 12. 
 
 G 
 
1 94 Directions for Prayer, 
 
 you will rejoice, and thank God, for the sudden and happy progress 
 you have made. 
 
 God forbid you should ever think yourselves too old to learn to 
 serve God, and to be saved, both which are taught in the cate- 
 chism, and therefore the catechism is of necessity to be learned ; 
 for how can you go to heaven, if you never learned the way thither ? 
 How can you be saved, if you do not know your Saviour ? 
 
 It is a great error to think, that the catechism was made for 
 children only ; for all Christians are equally concerned in those 
 saving truths which are there taught ; and the doctrine delivered 
 in the catechism is as proper for the study, and as necessary for 
 the salvation, of a great doctor, as of a weak Christian, or a young 
 child. 
 
 But you will be the more encouraged to learn your catechism, 
 when you see how excellent a help it will be to prayer ; for it will 
 at the same time further your knowledge, and your devotion, both 
 together ; and the prayers I intend to commend to you, are chiefly 
 the very answers in the catechism, which being daily repeated, 
 will be the better fixed in your memory ; and you cannot imagine 
 any advice for prayer can be more easy and familiar, than that 
 which directs you to turn your very catechism into prayers. 
 
 You are by this time, I hope, satisfied, that the duty to which I 
 exhort you, is no hard task ; and yet I will endeavour, by God's 
 assistance, to make it more easy, by putting you into an easy 
 method to attain it. 
 
 If you are wholly ignorant of your catechism, let it be your first 
 care to learn such ejaculations, such short prayers, as these, and 
 say them often and heartily. 
 
 " Lord, have mercy upon me. 
 " Christ, have mercy upon me. 
 " Lord, have mercy upon me. 
 
 " Lord, pardon all my wilful ignorance, and gross carelessness 
 of my duty, for the sake of Jesus my Saviour. Amen." 
 
 " O my God, assist me in the learning of my duty. 
 " Lord, help me to know, and to love Thee. 
 " Lord, pity me ; Lord, save me ; Father, forgive me. 
 " Glory be to Thee, O Lord, who hast hitherto spared me. 
 " O that I might at kist learn to glorify, and love, and serve 
 Thee ! " 
 
 Such short prayers as these, you may easily get by heart ; and 
 the method in which I advise you to proceed, is that in which 
 children are commonly taught, in regard I am now to look on you 
 as a child ; for there are two sorts of children ; there are children 
 
taken out of the Church CatecJiisin. 195 
 
 in age, and children in understanding ; ^ and in this latter respect 
 you are children, and the same method for the most part is proper 
 for you, which is proper for those that are children in age. 
 
 I must therefore feed you with milk, before you can be capable 
 of strong meat ; ^ and I must look on you as lambs of my flock, 
 which I am to use tenderly : and these following directions, which 
 I give to parents, for the training up their children in piety, I do 
 equally design for the training up of you. God, of His infinite 
 goodness, bless them to you both ! 
 
 I exhort all you who are parents, to instil good things into your 
 children as soon as ever they begin to speak ; let the first words 
 they utter, if it be possible, be these, " Glory be to God : " accustom 
 them to repeat these words on their knees, as soon as they rise, 
 and when they go to bed, and ofttimes in the day ; and let them 
 not eat or drink, without saying, " Glory be to God." 
 
 As their speech grows more plain and easy to them, teach them, 
 who made, and redeemed, and sanctified them, and for what end, 
 namely, to glorify and to love God ; and withal, teach them some 
 of the shortest ejaculations you can, such as these : 
 
 " Lord, help me ; Lord, save me. 
 
 " Lord, have mercy upon me. 
 
 " All love, all glory, be to God, who first loved me. 
 
 " Lord, keep me in Thy love." 
 
 Within a little time you may teach them the Lord's prayer, and 
 hear them say it every day, morning and evening, on their knees, 
 with some one or more of the foregoing ejaculations ; and by 
 degrees, as they grow up, they will learn the creed, and the whole 
 catechism. 
 
 Be sure to teach your children with all the sweetness and gentle- 
 ness you can, lest if you should be severe, or should over-task them, 
 religion should seem to them rather a burden than a blessing. 
 
 As their knowledge increases, so let their prayers increase also, 
 and teach them, as they go, to turn their catechism into prayers, 
 after the manner which 1 shall shew you ; and to confirm and im- 
 prove their knowledge, bring them duly to the Church to be 
 catechized by the parish priest, that by his familiar and devout 
 explications of the catechism, they may learn to understand it, and 
 may be capable of reading the exposition on it, and other books 
 of piety. 
 
 Take conscientious care to season your children, as early as you 
 can, with the love of God, which is " the first and great command," ^ 
 and with "the fear of God, which is the beginning of wisdom;"^ 
 
 1 I Cor. xiv. JO. - Heb. v. 13. -^ iMalt. xxii. 38. 
 
 •1 Ps. cxi. 10. 
 
1 96 Directions for Prayer, 
 
 for the awful love, and the filial fear of God, must always go 
 together. 
 
 The same method you observe in teaching your children, the 
 same you may observe in teaching your servants, according as 
 you see they want teaching ; and you yourselves will reap the 
 benefit of it, as well as your servants ; for the more devout ser- 
 vants they are of God, the more faithful servants will they be to 
 you. 
 
 Remember, you must teach both your children and servants by 
 your example as well as by your instruction; for they learn best by 
 example : and if they see you give an example of fraud or lying, 
 of revenge or calumny, of uncleanness or drunkenness, of cursing 
 and swearing, and irreligion ; instead of teaching them to obey 
 God, you teach them to provoke Him ; instead of teaching them 
 to honour God, you teach them to blaspheme Him ; instead of 
 leading them the way to heaven, you lead them the way to hell ; 
 and you will increase your own damnation, by furthering theirs, 
 which God forbid you should ever do ! 
 
 Now, that you may the better give a good example to your 
 family, I will (by God's help) give you a method of daily devotion, 
 taken for the most part out of the catechism, which will be suitable 
 to all Christians, be they never so well instructed, and which you 
 may by little and little teach your children ; and which those who 
 have been bred up in ignorance, and are children in understanding, 
 and yet willing to be taught, may learn to say also, as the capacities 
 of either do increase : for a Christian must never stand at a stay, 
 but must be always " growing in grace, and in the knowledge of 
 our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ" ^ 
 
 A METHOD OF DAILY PRAYER. 
 
 As soon as ever y 021 awake, offer 2ip your first thoughts and words 
 to Godj sayi7ig, 
 
 " Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost, 
 three persons and one God, blessed for evermore : all love, all 
 praise, be to Thee." 
 
 As you are rising, say, 
 
 " I laid me down and slept, and rose up again, for the Lord sus- 
 tained me : all love, all glory, be to God." ^ 
 
 As soon as you are dressed, kneel doiun, as our Saviour Himself 
 kneeled 3 at His prayers, and remember you are i?i God^s presence, 
 aftd say your prayers with reverence and devotion. 
 
 1 2 Ptt. iii 18. - Ps. iii. 5. -^ Luke xxii. 41. 
 
taken out of the Chirch Catechism. 197 
 
 MORNING PRAYER. 
 
 " Glory be to Thee, O Lord God, for my preservation and re- 
 freshment, and for all the blessings of the night past ; for which 
 all love, all praise, be to Thee. 
 
 " Father, forgive me all the evil of the night past, for the merits 
 of Jesus Christ my Saviour. Amen. 
 
 " O merciful God, keep and protect, and bless me this day, and 
 prosper me in my calling, and preserve me from sin and danger, 
 for the merits of Jesus my Saviour. Amen, 
 
 " I believe in God the Father Almighty, &c. 
 
 "All love, all glory, be to Thee, O God the Father, who hast 
 made me and all the world. 
 
 "All love, all glory, be to Thee, O God the Son, who hast 
 redeemed me and all mankind. 
 
 "All love, all glory, be to Thee, O God the Holy Ghost, who 
 dost sanctify me, and all the elect people of God. 
 
 "All love, all glory, be to Thee, O Father of mercy, who in my 
 baptism didst make me a member of Christ, Thy own child, and 
 an inheritor of the kingdom of heaven. 
 
 " O my God, I do this day dedicate myself to Thy service, and 
 do renew the promise and vow of my baptism. 
 
 " I do from my heart renounce the devil and all his works, the 
 pomps and vanity of this wicked world, and all the sinful lusts of 
 the flesh ; from all which, good Lord, deliver me. 
 
 " I believe all the articles of the Christian faith, and I will keep 
 Thy holy will and commandments, and walk in the same all the 
 days of my life. 
 
 "All this, O Lord, I am bound to believe and do, and by Thy 
 help so I will ; and I heartily thank thee, O heavenly Father, who 
 hast called me to this state of salvation, through Jesus Christ my 
 Saviour : and I pray unto Thee to give me Thy grace, that I may 
 continue in the same unto my hfe's end. 
 
 " Lord, hear me, help me, pardon my failings, supply all my 
 wants, and the wants of all faithful people, which I sum up in the 
 words of Thy own beloved Son ; 
 
 "Our Father, which art in heaven," &c. 
 
 After the like manner you may pray at night. 
 
 EVENING PRAYER. 
 
 " Glory be to Thee, O Lord, for my preservation, and for all 
 the blessings of the day past ; for which all love, all praise, be to 
 Thee. 
 
1 98 Directions for Prayer, 
 
 " Father, forgive me all the sins I have this day committed, 
 either in thought, or word, or deed, either against Thee, or against 
 my neighbour, for the sake of Jesus my Saviour. Amen, Amen. 
 
 '' It grieves me, O merciful God, that I should daily offend 
 Thee : but I repent. O pity and pardon me, for the sake of Jesus 
 Thy beloved. Amen, Amen. 
 
 " O my God, keep and protect, and bless me this night, and 
 preserve me from sin and danger, for the sake of Jesus. Amen, 
 Amen. 
 
 " Lord, refresh me this night with seasonable sleep, that I may 
 rise the next morning more fit and able to serve Thee in my 
 calhng, for the sake of Jesus Thy beloved. Amen, Amen. 
 
 " I believe in God the Father, &c. 
 
 " AH love, all glory be to Thee, O God the Father, who," &c. 
 as in the viorjiing. 
 
 " I desire Thee, O Lord God, O heavenly Father, who art the 
 Giver of all goodness, to send Thy grace unto me, and to my wife 
 and children, to my husband and children, father and mother, 
 brethren and sisters, kindred and friends, master and mistress 
 [you must name these relations, according as you stand related], 
 and to all people, that we may worship Thee, serve Thee, and obey 
 Thee, as we ought to do : and I pray unto Thee, that Thou wouldst 
 send us all things that be needful, both for our souls and bodies ; 
 and that Thou wilt be merciful unto us, and forgive us our sins ; 
 and that it will please Thee to save and defend us in all dangers, 
 ghostly and bodily ; and that Thou wilt keep us from all sin and 
 wickedness, and from our ghostly enemy, and from everlasting 
 death : and this I trust Thou wilt do of Thy mercy and goodness, 
 through our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen, Lord, so be it. 
 
 " Lord, hear me, help me, pardon my failings, supply all my 
 wants, and the wants of all for whom I pray, which I sum up in 
 the words of Thy own beloved Son : 
 
 " Our Father, which art in heaven," &c. 
 
 As y oil are going to bed, say, 
 
 *' I will lay me down in peace, and take my rest ; for it is Thou, 
 Lord, only, that makest me dwell in safety." ^ 
 
 As you began the day, so end it with glorifying God ; and when 
 yon are in bed, say, 
 
 " Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy 
 Ghost, three persons and one God, blessed for evermore : all 
 praise, all love, be to Thee." 
 
 1 Psalm iv. q. 
 
taken out of the CJiurcJi Catechism. 199 
 
 I earnestly beg of God, to make you sensible yourselves, and 
 to give you grace to make your children and servants sensible 
 also, how necessary and happy, and heavenly a duty prayer is, and 
 how many "exceeding great and precious promises" God has made 
 to them that devoutly pray to Him ; and if you are thus sensible, 
 you will not content yourselves with morning and evening prayer 
 only, but you will be desirous, if you have opportunity, to retire 
 about mid-day, for a few minutes, that you may imitate the 
 devotion of holy David, and of Daniel, and pray "three times 
 a day ; " ^ and that you may not want a help for noontide prayer, 
 the catechism shall supply you. 
 
 Prayer at Noon, 
 
 " At evening, and at morning, and at noon-day will I pray, and 
 that instantly : Lord, hear my voice.- 
 
 " Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy 
 Ghost : as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world 
 without end. Amen. 
 
 " All love, all glory, be to Thee, O God the Father, who hast 
 first loved us, and hast given Thy beloved Son to die for our sins, 
 and to rise again for our justification. 
 
 " Have mercy upon me, O God, after Thy great goodness ; 
 according to the multitude of Thy mercies do away mine offences. 
 
 " Wash me thoroughly from my wickedness, and cleanse me 
 from my sin. 
 
 ' Make me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within 
 me, for the sake of Jesus Thy beloved* Amen. 
 
 " O Lord God, who seest I am not able of myself to walk in 
 Thy commandments, and to serve Thee ; be pleased to help and 
 strengthen me by Thy special grace, that I may daily and sincerely 
 perform my duty towards Thee, and my duty towards my neigh- 
 bour, for the sake of Jesus my Saviour. Amen. 
 
 *' O my God, give me grace to believe in Thee, and to love Thee 
 with all my heart, with all my mind, with all my soul, and with 
 all my strength ; to worship Thee, to give Thee thanks, to put my 
 whole trust in Thee, to call upon Thee, to honour Thy holy name, 
 and Thy word, and to serve Thee truly all the days of my life, for 
 the sake of Jesus Thy beloved. Amen. 
 
 " O my God, give me grace to love my neighbour as myself, to 
 do to all men as I would they should do to me ; to love, honour, 
 and succour my father and mother, [this clause must be left 
 out, if your father and mother be dead] to honour and obey the 
 king, and all that are put in authority under him ; to submit my- 
 self to all my governors, teachers, spiritual pastors and masters ; 
 
 1 Dan. vi. lo. 2 Ps. ly. i8. 
 
200 Directions for Prayer^ 
 
 to order m)self lowly and reverently to all my betters ; to hurt 
 nobody by word or deed ; to be true and just in all my dealing ; 
 to bear no malice nor hatred in my heart ; to keep my hands from 
 picking and stealing, and my tongue from evil speaking, lying and 
 slandering ; to keep my body in temperance, soberness, and 
 chastity, not to covet or desire other men's goods, but to learn 
 and labour truly to get mine own living, and to do my duty in 
 that state of life unto which it has pleased Thee to call me, for the 
 sake of Jesus Thy beloved. Amen. 
 
 " Lord, hear me, help me, pardon my failings, supply all my 
 wants, which I sum up in the words of Thy beloved Son : 
 
 " Our Father, which art in heaven," &c. 
 
 Instead of these two last prayers, you may sometimes say the 
 Ten Commandments, which you may turn into a very good prayer, 
 by saying after every one, 
 
 " Lord, have mercy upon me, and incline my heart to keep this 
 law." 
 
 Where you not only beg pardon for the sins you have committed 
 against each commandment, but you also beg grace to keep it. 
 
 At the end of them you may say, 
 
 " Lord, have mercy upon me, and write all these Thy laws in 
 my heart, I beseech Thee." 
 
 And so conclude with the Lord's prayer. 
 
 Do not think that this practice of prayer will be too hard, or 
 too long, for young persons, or for labouring people ; for if you 
 cannot say them all, say as much as you can ; or if you are at day- 
 labour, or have not time or convenience to say them, offer up to 
 God two or three hearty ejaculations in their place ; but if you can 
 get time and convenience, say them all ; and I dare assure you, 
 that all the three forms of prayer, which I commend to you, will 
 not in all take up a quarter of an hour: and certainly, that person 
 has very Httle sense of his duty, very little concern for his immortal 
 soul, very little honour for God, or value for heaven, who will not 
 spend one quarter of an hour in the space of four and twenty 
 hours, in the service of God, and the salvation of His own soul. 
 
 I do by all means exhort you to give your servants a few 
 minutes' leisure at noon, to pray after your example, and to use 
 your children to do the same ; for they will soon be able to say 
 the Lord's prayer, and two or three ejaculations ; and teach them 
 to say these at noon, as well as at morning and at night ; and it is 
 incredible to think how much good this practice will do them, and 
 
taken out of the Church Catechism. 201 
 
 what great comfort you yourselves will reap from the early devo- 
 tion of your children. 
 
 To further this devotion in your children, instead of idle tales 
 and songs, which pollute their souls, and when they come to be 
 serious, will take them great pains to unlearn, you must teach them 
 short psalms by heart, which will exercise their memories and piety 
 both together. As you teach the psalms to your children, I exhort 
 you to learn them yourselves. 
 
 You cannot imagine the great benefit of learning psalms by 
 heart ; for when you are under any temptation, or are in any 
 affliction, or when you lie waking in the night, or when sick, these 
 psalms will come into your mind ; and the devout repeating them, 
 will yield you most seasonable consolations. 
 
 The very common people, in the first and purest ages of the 
 Church, were so sensible of the spiritual advantages of learning 
 psalms, that they learned the whole psalter by heart, and sung or 
 said the psalms in their shops, and at the plough, insomuch that 
 St James makes it the proper expression of Christian mirth, " If 
 any man be merry, let him sing psalms." ^ 
 
 This is the way to store your own and your children's minds 
 with ejaculations, or short prayers for all occasions, which I advise 
 both old and young to accustom themselves to, because it is the 
 true way of praying without ceasing, and it is a kind of prayer 
 more easy, and may be used at any time of the day, or in any 
 place, and is one of the most efficacious means in the world, to 
 keep us in God's favour, which is of all things most desirable. 
 
 EJACULATIONS. 
 
 At going out, or coming i7i. 
 
 " Lord, bless my going out and coming in, from this time forth 
 for evermore." ^ 
 
 At Meals. 
 
 " Lord, grant, that whether I eat or drink, or whatever I do, I 
 may do all to Thy glory." ^ 
 
 At Work. 
 
 " Prosper Thou the works of my hands, O Lord ; O prosper 
 Thou my handy-work." ^ 
 
 Jamei v. i-;. - Ps. cxxi. 8. '^ \ Cor. x. 31. 
 
 ^ Ps. xc. 17. 
 
202 Directions for Prayer^ 
 
 In the Shop or Market. 
 
 " Lord, give me grace to use this world so as not to abuse it." ^ 
 " Lord, grant tliat I may never go beyond, or defraud my brother 
 in any matter ; for Thou art the avenger of all such." ^ 
 
 1)1 Temptation or Da?iger. 
 
 " O God, make speed to save me : O Lord, make haste to help 
 me." 
 
 At any Time of the Day. 
 
 " Wherever I am, whatever I do, Thou, Lord, seest me : O 
 keep me in Thy fear all the day long." ^ 
 
 " Lord, give me grace to keep always a conscience void of 
 offence towards Thee, and towards men.""* 
 
 " Lord, teach me so to number my days, that I may apply my 
 heart to wisdom."^ 
 
 " O let my mouth be filled with Thy praise, that I may sing of 
 Thy glory and honour all the day long."*^ 
 
 " All love, all glory, be to Thee, O God, who didst first love me. 
 
 " Unto Him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in His 
 own blood, be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen." '' 
 
 " O blessed Spirit, shed abroad the love of God in my heart. 
 
 "Praise the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, praise 
 His holy name."^ 
 
 " Praise the Lord, O my soul ; while I live, will I praise the 
 Lord ; yea, as long as I have any being, I will sing praises unto 
 my God."^ 
 
 You that have families, I do further exhort, that besides your 
 private prayers, you would offer up to God a morning and evening 
 sacrifice in your families, and that every one of you would take up 
 the holy resolution of Joshua, "As for me, and my house, we will 
 serve the Lord : " ^^ and the prayers I advise you to use, are taken 
 out of the Common Prayer, as being most familiar, and of greatest 
 authority withal. 
 
 If any of your family are gone abroad to their work before the 
 rest can be ready, call that httle congregation about you that is at 
 home ; and you that are present, pray for those that are absent ; 
 
 1 I Cor. vii. 31. - I Thess. iv. 6. 3 Prov. xxiii. 17. 
 
 4 Acts xxiv. 16. 5 Ps. xc. 12. 6 Ps. Ixxi. 7. 
 
 7 Rev. i. 5- ^ Ps. ciii. i. ^ Ps. cxivi. i. 
 
 1^* Josh. xxiv. 15. 
 
take7i out of the Church Catechism. 203 
 
 and by this means, those that are absent upon necessary employ- 
 ments, will share in the blessings for which you pray. 
 
 Mo7'ning Prayer' for a Fatnily. 
 
 " Let the words of our mouths, and the meditations of our 
 hearts, be always acceptable in Thy sight, O Lord, our strength 
 and our Redeemer. 
 
 " O God, the Father of heaven, have mercy upon us miserable 
 sinners. 
 
 " O God the Son, Redeemer of the world, have mercy upon us 
 miserable sinners. 
 
 " O God the Holy Ghost, proceeding from the Father and the 
 Son, have mercy upon us miserable sinners. 
 
 " O holy, blessed and glorious Trinity, three persons and one 
 God, have mercy upon us miserable sinners. 
 
 " O Lord, we beseech Thee, mercifully hear our prayers, and 
 spare all those who confess their sins unto Thee ; that they, 
 whose consciences by sin are accused, by Thy merciful pardon 
 may be absolved, through Christ our Lord. Amen. 
 
 " Almighty God, who seest that we have no power of ourselves 
 to help ourselves, we give Thee humble thanks for Thy preserva- 
 tion of us this day past, [or this night past,] and for all the bless- 
 ings Thou daily vouchsafest us ; and we beseech Thee to keep us 
 both outwardly in our bodies, and inwardly in our souls, that we 
 may be defended from all adversities which may happen to the 
 body, and from all evil thoughts which may assault and hurt the 
 soul, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. 
 
 "Almighty God, whose kingdom is everlasting, and power 
 infinite, have mercy upon the whole Church, and so rule the 
 heart of Thy servant James, our king and governor, that he 
 (knowing whose minister he is) may above all things seek Thy 
 honour and glory ; and that we, and all his subjects, (duly con- 
 sidering whose authority he hath), may faithfully serve, honour, 
 and humbly obey him, in Thee, and for Thee, according to Thy 
 blessed word and ordinance, through Jesus Christ our Lord, who 
 ' liveth and reigneth ever one God, world without end. Amen. 
 
 " Unto Thy gracious mercy and protection, O Lord, do we 
 commit ourselves this day, [or this night] and all our relations 
 and friends : Lord, prosper us in our callings : Lord, bless us and 
 keep us : Lord, make Thy face to shine upon us, and be gracious 
 unto us : Lord, lift up Thy countenance upon us, and give us 
 peace, both now and evermore, for the sake of Jesus Thy Be- 
 loved, in whose own blessed wordSj we sum up all our wants : 
 
 " Our Father, which art in heaven," &c. 
 
204 Directions for Prayer, 
 
 The same form, changing but one word, is proper for the night 
 as well as the morning, to make family prayer the more easy 
 to you. 
 
 That prayer which I have set down, wherein you pray for the 
 king, and pray for yourselves also, that you may be good subjects, 
 I exhort you never to omit, because you know, that the country 
 wherein you live, was the only seat of the late rebellion, and the 
 tares of sedition have been industriously sown among you ; and 
 you have the greater reason to pray, that you may continue firm 
 in your allegiance ; besides, St Paul teaches you, that " to pray 
 for kings, is good and acceptable in the sight of God our 
 Saviour." ^ 
 
 To your Family Prayers yoii may add, as you see occasion, one 
 of these following : 
 
 " Almighty and everlasting God, give unto us the increase of 
 faith, hope, and charity ; and that we may obtain that which Thou 
 dost promise, make us to love that which Thou dost command, 
 through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. 
 
 " Lord, we beseech Thee, grant Thy people grace to withstand 
 the temptations of the world, the flesh, and the devil ; and with 
 pure hearts and minds, to follow Thee, the only God, through 
 Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. 
 
 " Prevent us, O Lord, in all our doings, with Thy most gracious 
 favour, and further us with Thy continual help, that in all our 
 works, begun, continued, and ended in Thee, we may glorify Thy 
 holy name ; and finally, by Thy mercy obtain everlasting life, 
 through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen." 
 
 These, and the like short prayers, may be said alone in the 
 closet, as well as in the family, by changing only ;the number, atid 
 for (we) saying all along (I), and for (us) saying (me). As] for 
 example, when you read any part of the Holy Scripture, either 
 alone, by yourselves, or with your families, both which you should 
 do daily if you have leisure ; but if you have not, see that you do, 
 both on the Lord's days, and on holy days ; and before reading, 
 say this prayer : 
 
 " Blessed Lord, who hast caused all Holy Scriptures to be written 
 for our learning, grant, that we [I] may in such wise hear them, 
 read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest them ; that by patience and 
 
 1 1 Tim. ii. 2, 3. 
 
taken out of the Chnreh Catechism. 205 
 
 comfort of Thy holy Word, we [I] may embrace, and ever hold fast, 
 the blessed hope of everlasting life, which Thou hast given us in 
 our Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen." 
 
 God of His infinite mercy bless these instructions to His glory, 
 and to the furtherance of your devotion, through Jesus the Beloved. 
 Amen. Amen. 
 
A MANUAL OF PRAYERS 
 
 USE OF THE SCHOLARS OF WINCHESTER 
 COLLEGE, 
 
 AND ALL OTHER DEVOUT CHRISTIANS. 
 
 TO WHICH ARE ADDED, 
 
 THREE HYMNS 
 
 FOR MORNING, EVENING, AND MIDNIGHT. 
 
A MANUAL OF PRAYERS 
 
 FOR THE 
 
 USE OF THE SCHOLARS OF WINCHESTER 
 COLLEGE. 
 
 AN EXHORTATION TO YOUNG PHILOTHEUS. 
 
 IF you have any regard, good Philotheus, to your own eternal 
 happiness, it ought to be your chiefest care to serve and 
 glorify God. It is for this end God both made and redeemed 
 you ; and two excellent rules He hath given you in Holy Scrip- 
 ture, by the conscientious observation of which you will be able, 
 through His grace, to dedicate your tender years to His glory. 
 
 The one teaches you what you are to do, " Remember now thy 
 Creator in the days of thy youth," ^ 
 
 The other teaches you what you are to avoid, " Flee youthful 
 lusts ; " that is, all those sins which are usually incident to young 
 persons.^ 
 
 You cannot imagine the unspeakable advantages a pious youth 
 gains by the practice of these two rules ; and how many ghostly 
 dangers that soul escapes, which is seasoned betimes with the fear 
 of God, before he is suUied with ill company, before he hath con- 
 tracted vicious habits, which will cost him infinite pains to unlearn, 
 before his affections are too far engaged in the world, to be easily 
 recalled, and before the devil hath got too strong a hold in him, 
 to be suddenly dispossessed. 
 
 O Philotheus, do but ask any one old penitent, what fruit, what 
 satisfaction he hath purchased to himself, by all those pleasures 
 
 1 Eccl. xii. I. 
 
 - 2 Tim. ii. 
 
210 A Mamial of Prayers 
 
 of sin which flattered him in his youth, and of which he is now 
 ashamed. Will he not sadly tell you, he has found them all to be 
 but vanity and vexation of spirit? How will he befool himself, 
 for the many good opportunities he hath lost, and wish a thousand 
 times that he were to live over his misspent days again ? And 
 how bitterly will he, with David, bewail the sins of his youth.^ 
 
 Learn then, good Philotheus, by the dear-bought experience of 
 others, to accustom yourself to bear Christ's yoke from your youth, 
 and His yoke will sit easy on your neck ; for your duty will grow 
 natural to you by beginning betimes. 
 
 Do but consider, how welcome a young convert is to God ; it 
 was to young Samuel that God revealed Himself, and that at such 
 a time, too, when the Word of God was precious and very rare, to 
 shew how much God honoured a young prophet ; -^ and you know 
 that St John, the youngest of all the disciples, is the only person 
 of all the Twelve, who was permitted to lean on our Saviour's 
 bosom, at the last supper, as dearest to Him in affection, and who 
 is emphatically called the disciple whom Jesus loved ;3 and this 
 is suitable to that gracious promise which God hath made to en- 
 courage all young persons to serve Him ; " I love them that love 
 Me, and they that seek Me early shall find Me." * 
 
 O Philotheus, let this heavenly promise excite in you a great 
 zeal to seek God, and seek Him early ; for if you do seek, you are 
 sure to find Him ; you are sure, when you have found Him, He 
 will love you ; and you shall reap all the happy effects of God's 
 infinite love, and of an early piety. 
 
 An early piety ! than which, nothing will make you a greater 
 comfort to all your friends, or a greater blessing to the yery college 
 where you are bred ; nothing will make you more universally 
 esteemed, and beloved by all men, or more successful in your 
 studies : and besides that peace of conscience, and the pleasure of 
 well-doing you will at present feel ; think, if you can, how uncon- 
 ceivable a joy it will be to you when, in your elder years, you can 
 reflect on your well-spent time, and the innocence of your youth ; 
 how great a consolation it will be to you on your death-bed, how 
 easy it will render your accompts at the great day of judgment, 
 and how much a whole life spent in God's service, will increase 
 your glory in heaven. 
 
 God of His great mercy, Philotheus, make these and the like 
 considerations effectual to create holy resolutions in you, and give 
 you grace to make good use of these following directions, which 
 are designed to teach you to fear the Lord from your youth, and 
 are suited to your particular age and condition, in hopes they may 
 the more affect you. God grant they may.^ Amen. 
 
 1 Ps. XXV. 6. 2 I Sam. iii. i. ^ John xiii. 23. 
 
 ^ Prov. viii. 17. -5 i Kings xviii. 12. 
 
for Winchester Scholars. 2 1 1 
 
 DIRECTIONS IN GENERAL. 
 
 As soon as ever you awake in the morning, good Philotheus, 
 strive as much as you can, to keep all worldly thoughts out of your 
 mind, till you have presented the first fruits of the day to God, 
 which will be an excellent preparative to make you spend the rest 
 of it the better; and therefore be sure to sing the morning and 
 evening hymn in your chamber devoutly, remembering that the 
 psalmist, upon happy experience assures you, that it is a good 
 thing to tell of the lovingkindness of the Lord early in the morning, 
 and of His truth in the night season.^ 
 
 When you are ready, look on your soul as still undrest, till you 
 have said your prayers. 
 
 Remember that God under the law ordained a lamb to be 
 offered up to Him every morning and evening. A lamb ! which 
 is a fit emblem of youth and innocence ; think then that you are 
 to resemble this lamb, and be sure every day to offer up yourself 
 a morning and evening sacrifice to God.- 
 
 If you are a commoner, you may say your prayers in your own 
 chamber ; but if you are a child, or a chorister, then, to avoid 
 the interruptions of the common chambers, go into the chapel, 
 between first and second peal, in the morning, to say your 
 morning prayers, and to say your evening prayers when you go 
 Circum. 
 
 Now that every one may have this duty proportioned to his 
 capacity, the best way is to distinguish two degrees of young 
 Christians in this college, namely, those that are of an age 
 capable of receiving the holy sacrament, and those that are not ; 
 and in one of these two degrees you are to rank yourself. 
 
 DIRECTIONS FOR THE YOUNGEST. 
 
 If you are very young, good Philotheus, that God's commands 
 may not seem grievous to you at your first setting out, I shall 
 advise you to no more than your infant devotion will bear; and 
 that is, to take great care to learn your catechism without book, 
 and to learn to understand it ; for it is impossible you can ever 
 perform your duty, unless you first know what it is ; it is im- 
 possible you can ever go to heaven, unless you learn the way 
 thither : and that you may beg God's daily blessing, and His 
 grace to assist you, learn these two short prayers by heart, and 
 say them every day. 
 
 1 Ps. xcii. I. - Exod. xxix. -^,8. 
 
212 A Manual of Prayers 
 
 xMORNING PRAYER. 
 
 Glory be to Thee, O Lord God, for all the blessings I daily 
 receive from Thee, and for Thy particular preservation, and 
 refreshment of me, this night past. 
 
 O Lord, have mercy upon me, and forgive whatsoever Thou 
 hast seen amiss in me this night ; and for the time to come give 
 me grace to fly all youthful lusts, and to remember Thee, my 
 Creator, in the days of my youth. 
 
 Shower down Thy graces, and blessings on me, and on my 
 relations [on my father and mother, on my brethren and sisters] 
 on all my friends, on all my governors in this place, and on all 
 -my fellow-scholars, and give Thy angels charge over us, to protect 
 us all from sin and danger. 
 
 Lord, bless me in my learning this day, that I may every day 
 grow more fit for Thy service : O pardon my failings, and do 
 more for me than I can ask, or think, for the merits of Jesus my 
 Saviour, in whose holy words I sum up all my wants. Our Father, 
 which art in heaven, &;c. 
 
 EVENING PRAYER. 
 
 Glory be Thee, O Lord God, for all the blessings I daily 
 receive from Thee, and for Thy particular preservation of me 
 this day. 
 
 O Lord, have mercy upon me, and forgive whatsoever Thou hast 
 seen amiss in me this day past; and for the time to come give me 
 grace to fly all youthful lusts, and to remember Thee my Creator 
 in the days of my youth. 
 
 Lord, receive me and all my relations, and all that belong to 
 this college, into Thy gracious protection this night, and send me 
 such seasonable rest, that I may rise the next morning, more fit 
 for Thy service. 
 
 Lord, hear my prayers, and pardon my failings, for the merits 
 of my blessed Saviour, in whose holy words I sum up all my 
 wants. Our Father, which art in heaven, &c. 
 
 This, good Philotheus, is the lowest degree of duty, and it 
 should be your daily endeavour to improve in your devotion, as 
 well as in your learning, and the more effectually to move you to 
 so happy an improvement, I advise you on Sundays and holy days 
 attentively to read over the following meditation, and to propose 
 to yourself, the Holy Child Jesus, for your example. 
 
for Winchester Scholars, 2 1 3 
 
 A MEDITATION ON THE HOLY CHILD JESUS. 
 
 Glory be to Thee, O Lord Jesus, glory be to Thee, who when 
 Thou wert twelve years old, didst go up to Jerusalem with Thy 
 parents, after the custom of the feast, to eat the passover, and to 
 worship Thy heavenly Father.^ 
 
 O blessed Saviour, give me grace, like Thee, to make religion 
 my first and chiefest care, and devoutly to observe all solemn 
 times, and all holy rites, which relate to Thy worship. 
 
 Glory be to Thee, O Lord Jesus, glory be to Thee, who when 
 Thy parents returned home, didst stay behind in Jerusalem, and 
 after three days, wast found of them in the temple, sitting in 
 the midst of the doctors, both hearing them, and asking them 
 questions. j ,., 
 
 O blessed Saviour, who in Thy very childhood didst triumph 
 over all the vain delights of youth, and wouldst choose no place 
 but the temple to reside in, mortify in me all inordinate love of 
 sensual pleasure, which may pervert me from my duty ; raise in 
 me an awful reverence of Thy house, an early devotion in my 
 prayers, and a delight in Thy praises. 
 
 O blessed Jesu, who didst choose, before all others, the company 
 of the doctors, and didst both hear them, and ask them questions ; 
 give me grace to abhor all lewd company, and all filthy communi- 
 cation ; give me grace to love wise, and sober, and profitable, and 
 religious conversation, and to be diligent and inquisitive after 
 learning, and whatsoever is good. 
 
 Glory be to Thee, O Lord Jesus, glory be to Thee, who when 
 Thy father and mother had sought Thee sorrowing, didst reply to 
 them, " How is it that ye sought me ? Wist ye not that I must be 
 about my Father's business." . 
 
 O blessed Jesu, who from Thine infancy didst make it Ihy 
 whole employment, to do Thy Father's will/.kindle in me a forward 
 zeal for Thy glory, that I may consecrate my youth to Thy service, 
 and make it the great business of my life, to know and fear, to 
 love and obey my heavenly Father. ^ ,. , 
 
 Glory be to Thee, O Lord Jesus, glory be to Thee, who didst at 
 last return home with Thy parents, and wert subject to them. 
 
 O blessed Jesu, give me grace to honour my parents and 
 governors, and readily to obey all their lawful commands ! 
 
 Glory be to Thee, O Lord Jesus, glory be to Thee, who in those 
 tender years wert blessed with such heavenly wisdom, that all 
 that heard Thee were astonished at Thy understanding and 
 answers, who didst daily increase in this heavenly wisdom, and in 
 favour with God and man ! . . , j , 1 .u . 
 
 O Lord Jesu, bless me with all abihties of mind and body, that 
 
 1 Luke ii. 41. 
 
214 A Manual of Prayers 
 
 may make me daily increase in my learning ; but above all, bless 
 me with wisdom from above, and give me Thy Holy Spirit to 
 assist and enlighten me, that as I grow in age, I may daily grow 
 in grace, and in the knowledge of Thee, and in favour with God 
 and man, and every day more and more conformable to Thy un- 
 sinning and divine example. Amen, Lord Jesus, Amen. 
 
 DIRECTIONS FOR THOSE THAT ARE MORE GROWN IN YEARS. 
 
 When you have attained to more knowledge and proficiency in 
 grace, and are of an age capable of receiving the Holy Sacrament, 
 God then expects more from you ; and it is high time for you, 
 good Philotheus, to lengthen your prayers, and to begin to add 
 some ejaculations over and above, such as these are, which follow. 
 
 EJACULATIONS AT WAKING OR RISING. 
 
 Awake, O my soul, and sing praises to God. 
 
 Glory be to Thee, O God, for watching over me this night. 
 
 Lord, raise me up at the last day, to life everlasting. 
 
 MORNING PRAYER. 
 
 Early in the morning will I cry unto Thee ; Lord, hear my 
 prayer. 
 
 Glory be to Thee, Lord God Almighty ; glory be to Thee, for 
 renewing Thy mercies to me every morning ; glory be to Thee, 
 for refreshing me this night with sleep, and for preserving me from 
 the perils of darkness. 
 
 O do away, as the night, so my transgressions ; scatter my sins 
 as the morning cloud ! 
 
 Lord, forgive whatever Thou hast seen amiss in me this night, 
 [my — Here if yon are conscious to yoio'self of any sin commiited in 
 the nighty cojifess it.] O Father of mercies, wash me throughly 
 from my wickedness, and cleanse me from my sin. 
 
 And let Thy Holy Spirit so prevent, and accompany, and follow 
 me this day, that I may believe in Thee, and love Thee, and keep 
 Thy commandments, and continue in Thy fear all the day long. 
 
 Lord, make me chaste and temperate, humble and advisable, 
 dihgent in my studies, obedient to my superiors, and charitable to 
 all men. 
 
 Lord, deUver me from sloth and idleness, from youthful lusts 
 
for Winchester Scholars. 215 
 
 and ill company, from all dangers bodily and ghostly, and give 
 me grace to remember Thee, my Creator, in the days of my youth. 
 
 Bless, and defend, and save the king, and all the royal family, 
 and all orders of men amongst us, ecclesiastical or civil ; Lord, 
 give them all grace, in their several stations, to be instrumental to 
 Thy glory, and the public good. 
 
 Together with them, I commend to Thy Divine Providence 
 \My father and mothc?'^ my brethren aitd sisters] all my friends and 
 relations, all my superiors in this place, and all my fellow-scholars : 
 O Lord, vouchsafe us all those graces and blessings which Thou 
 knowest to be most suitable for us. 
 
 Unto Thee, O my God, do I dedicate this day, and my whole 
 life ; O do Thou so bless and prosper me in my studies, that I 
 may every day grow more fit for Thy service. 
 
 Hear me, O Lord, and pardon my failings, for the merits of Thy 
 Son Jesus, in whose holy words I sum up all my wants. Our 
 Father which art in heaven, &c. 
 
 DIRECTIONS FOR READING HOLY SCRIPTURE. 
 
 When you have said your morning prayer, good Philotheus, you 
 may then go cheerfully to your study, and rely upon the divine 
 goodness for a blessing. 
 
 But first, if you have time, I advise you to read before second 
 peal, some short psalm, or piece of a chapter out of the gospel, or 
 historical books, because they are the most easy to be understood ; 
 remembering the example of young Timothy, who was bred up to 
 know the Scripture from a child.^ 
 
 But if you want time on ordinary days to read the Scripture, be 
 sure to read somewhat of it on Sundays and holidays, and consider, 
 that you have it daily read to you in the hall before dinner and 
 supper, and at night when you are just going to bed, that you may 
 close the day with holy thoughts ; and if you hearken diligently to 
 it when it is read, you do in effect read it yourself. 
 
 Now to make your reading the more profitable to you, begin 
 with one or more of these ejaculations. 
 
 EJACULATIONS BEFORE READING HOLY SCRIPTURE. 
 
 Wherewithal, Lord, shall a young man cleanse his way ? even 
 by ruling himself after Thy words.^ 
 
 Lord, open my eyes, that I may see the wonderful things of 
 Thy law. 
 
 1 2 Tim. iii. 15. Psalm cxix. 9, iS. 
 
2i6 A Manital of Prayers 
 
 O heavenly Father ! I humbly beg Thy Holy Spirit so to help 
 me at this time to read, and understand, and to remember, and 
 practise Thy word, that it may make me wise to salvation. 
 
 When you are thus prepared, good Philotheus, then begin to 
 read, and consider, that it is God's most holy word you read ; and 
 that all the while you are reading, God is speaking to you, and 
 therefore read with attention and humility, and endeavour, as 
 much as you can to suit your affections to the subject you read-. 
 
 For instance, if you read any of God's commands, they should 
 excite in you a zeal to keep them. 
 
 If you read any of God's threatenings against sinners, or His 
 judgments on them, they should excite in you a fear to provoke 
 Him. 
 
 When you read any of His gracious promises, they should 
 encourage and quicken your obedience. 
 
 When you read any of God's mercies, they should excite you to 
 thanksgiving. 
 
 When you read any great mystery recorded in holy writ, you 
 are to prostrate your reason to divine revelation. 
 
 And to this purpose, in the midst of your reading, say, 
 
 Lord, give me grace to obey this command ; or. 
 Lord, deliver me from this sin : or, this judgment : or, 
 Lord, I rely on this good promise : or. 
 Glory be to Thee, O Lord, for this mercy : or, 
 Lord, I believe and adore this mystery. 
 
 Say any of these, according as best agrees with the subject you 
 read, and when you have read as much as conveniently you can, 
 conclude with one of these ejaculations. 
 
 EJACULATIONS AFTER READING. 
 
 " Blessed be Thou, O Lord, O teach me Thy statutes ! ^ 
 " Lord, make Thy word a lantern unto my feet, and a light unto 
 my paths. 
 
 " Lord, make Thy word my delight and my counsellor." 
 
 DIRECTIONS FOR THE DAY-TIME. 
 
 O Philotheus, you cannot enough thank God for the order of 
 the place you live in, where there is so much care taken to make 
 you a good Christian, as well as a good scholar, where you go so 
 
 1 Psalm cxix. 
 
for Winchester Scholars. 2 1 7 
 
 frequently to prayers, every day in the chapel, and in the school ; 
 and sing hymns and psalms to God so frequently in your chamber, 
 and in the chapel, and in the hall, so that you are in a manner 
 brought up in a perpetuity of prayer. 
 
 Be sure, Philotheus, that you are accountable to God for all 
 these opportunities He gives you of serving Him ; and think how 
 many blessings for yourself, and for the college you might obtam, 
 if you prayed to and praised God rather out of a devout affection, 
 than merely to comply with the custom of the place. 
 
 Prayer, good Philotheus, is the very life of a Christian, and 
 therefore we are so frequently commanded to pray without ceasmg : 
 not that we can be always on our knees, but that we would ac- 
 custom ourselves to frequent thoughts of God, that wheresoever 
 we are. He sees us ; and when we think on God, we should have 
 always an ejaculation ready to offer up to Him, and by this means 
 we may pray, not only seven times a day with David, but all the 
 day long.i 
 
 In your reading Holy Scripture, especially in the Psalms, you 
 may easily gather those short sentences which most affect you, for 
 they are most proper for this use ; and when you have learned 
 them without book, say one of them now and then, as they occur 
 to your mind, or occasion requires, or as your devotion prompts 
 
 But be not troubled, if being otherwise lawfully employed, or if 
 being indisposed, you pass a whole day without saying any, for to 
 omit them is no sin ; nor be you scrupulous in what posture you 
 say them ; for they being short breathings of the soul to God, 
 require not that solemnity, as set prayers do. 
 
 Now, to give you some instances of ejaculatory prayer, take these 
 following : 
 
 At going out. 
 
 " Lord, bless my going out, and my coming in, from this time 
 forth for evermore." ^ 
 
 AffeJ'^a sin conunitted. 
 
 " Lord, be merciful to me, a miserable sinner, and for the merits 
 of my Saviour, lay not this sin to my charge." 
 
 After any Blessing or Deliverance. 
 " Glory be to Thee, O Lord, for this blessing, or, for this deliver- 
 ance ! 
 
 1 Psalm cxix. - P^alm cxxi. S- 
 
2 1 8 A Manual of Prayers 
 
 ," Praise the Lord, O rny soul, and all that is within me, praise 
 His holy name."^ 
 
 At givhtg Alms. 
 
 " O Lord, who didst not despise the widow's mite, accept of this 
 little I now give, to relieve one of Thy poor members '."^ 
 
 After having done any good. 
 
 " Not unto me, O Lord, not unto me, but unto Thy name be the 
 praise." ^ 
 
 In Te7nptatio7i. 
 
 " Lord, succour me with Thy grace, that I may overcome this 
 temptation." 
 
 DIRECTIONS FOR THE EVENING. 
 
 Consider, good Philotheus, how many that have gone to bed 
 well over night have been found dead the next morning : and 
 therefore it highly concerns you to take care to make your peace 
 with God before you go to sleep. 
 
 I advise you therefore towards night, or when you go circum, 
 t6 call yourself to an account how you have spent the day. 
 
 Examine your thoughts and discourses and actions, and re- 
 creations and devotions, and see what has been amiss in any of 
 them. 
 
 Consider what idleness or unchastity, what lying and stubborn- 
 ness you have been guilty of ; or whether you have had a quarrel 
 with any of your fellows ; and if you have, be sure to be friends 
 with him before you say your prayers. 
 
 Again, consider what particular blessing, or deliverance God 
 has vouchsafed you the day past, that you may give thanks for it, 
 and then say as follows. 
 
 EVENING PRAYER. 
 
 " Let my prayer, O Lord, be set forth in Thy sight as incense, 
 and the lifting up of my hands be as an evening sacrifice."^ 
 
 Holy, holy, holy. Lord God, I miserable sinner humbly acknow- 
 ledge that I have offended Thee this day, in thought, word, and 
 
 1 Psalm ciii. i. ' Mark xii. 42. 2 Psalm cxv. i. 
 
 4 Ps. qxli. 2. 
 
for Winchester Scholars. 219 
 
 deed [particularly by — here mention any sin you have been guilty 
 o/.'] But I fly into the arms of Thy Fatherly compassion ; Lord, 
 for Thy mercies' sake forgive me, cleanse me from my wickedness 
 and strengthen my weakness, that I may overcome all the tempta- 
 tions which daily surround me, and continue constant in my 
 obedience. 
 
 Accept of my humblest praise and thanksgiving, O Lord, for all 
 the goodness Thou hast this day shewed me ; for all the helps of 
 preventing or restraining grace, Thou hast vouchsafed me ; for 
 whatever I have done this day, which is in any measure acceptable 
 to Thee, for whatever progress I have made in my study, for Thy 
 preservation of me, from all the miseries and dangers which frail 
 mortahty is every moment exposed to (particularly, here name any 
 particular blessing or deliverance God has sejit you.) 
 
 Praise the Lord, O my soul, who saveth thy life from destruction, 
 and crowneth thee with mercy and lovingkindness. 
 
 O heavenly Father, to Thy almighty protection I recommend 
 myself and all my relations, and all that belong to this college ; 
 O Thou that never slumberest nor sleepest, watch over us, to 
 preserve us from sin and danger. 
 
 Lord, let it be Thy good pleasure to refresh me this night with 
 such seasonable rest, that I may rise the next morning more fit 
 for Thy service ; O pardon my failings, and hear my prayers, for 
 the sake of my blessed Saviour, in whose holy words, I sum up 
 all my wants, Our Father, &:c. 
 
 EJACULATIONS AT GOING TO BED. 
 
 Lord, as I now go to my bed, I must one day go to my grave. 
 O make me wise to consider my latter end. 
 
 I will lay me down in peace, and take my rest, for it is Thou, 
 Lord, only makest me dwell in safety." ^ 
 
 DIRECTIONS FOR MIDNIGHT. 
 
 If you chance to wake in the night, or cannot sleep, beware, 
 Philotheus, of idle and unclean thoughts, which will then be apt 
 to crowd into your mind, and therefore to arm yourself against 
 them, I advise you to learn the 130th and the 139th Psalms by 
 heart, or treasure up some ejaculations in your mind, which will 
 be excellent matter for your thoughts to feed on. For instance : 
 
 I Ps. iv. 9. 
 
220 A Manual of Prayers 
 
 EJACULATIONS FOR THE NIGHT. 
 
 Thou, Lord, hast granted Thy lovingkindness in the day-time, 
 and in the night season will I sing of Thee, and make my prayer 
 to the God of my life.^ 
 
 O Lord, the holy angels are now before Thy throne in heaven, 
 they never rest day or night from Thy praises, and with them do 
 I now sing hallelujah, salvation, and honour, and glory, and 
 power, be unto our God, for ever and ever. Amen, Amen.^ 
 
 Lord, I know Thou wilt one day call me to give an account of 
 my stewardship, but when Thou wilt come I know not, whether at 
 even, or at midnight, or at cock-crowing, or in morning.^ 
 
 O do Thou give me grace to watch, and to pray always, that at 
 Thy coming Thou mayest say to me, "Well done, good and faith- 
 ful servant, enter into the joy of thy Master." Amen, blessed 
 Lord, Amen. 
 
 But have a care, Philotheus, you fix not your mind too much, 
 neither strive to repeat too many devout expressions, for fear of 
 hindering your sleep, and of indisposing yourself for the duties of 
 the day following. 
 
 DIRECTIONS FOR THE LORD'S DAY. 
 
 A good Christian, Philotheus, that takes care to spend every 
 day well, will take more than ordinary care to sanctify the Lord's 
 day, it being the proper employment of that day to attend God's 
 worship, and to provide for our souls, and therefore it is fit you 
 should add some petitions to your morning and evening prayer, 
 relating to the solemn duties of the day ; such as these are which 
 follow. 
 
 BEFORE CHURCH TIME. 
 
 O my God, I humbly beseech Thee to prepare my soul to 
 worship Thee this day acceptably, with reverence and godly fear ; 
 fill me with that faith which works by love ; purify my heart from 
 all vain, or worldly, or sinful thoughts ; fix my affections on things 
 above all the day long, and, O Lord, give me grace to receive Thy 
 word, which I shall hear this day, into an honest and good heart, 
 and to bring forth fruit with patience.* Hear me, O God, for the 
 sake of Jesus my Saviour, Amen, Amen. 
 
 When you come into the church or chapel, not only on the 
 Lord's day, but on any other day, use this short preparatory 
 prayer at your first kneeling down. 
 
 1 Ps. xlii. lo. 2 Rev. vii. 15. '^ I\Iark xiii. 35. 
 
 •1 Luke viii. 15. 
 
for WincJ tester Scholars. 221 
 
 IN THE CHURCH. 
 
 O Lord, I humbly beg Thy Holy Spirit to help my infirmities at 
 this time : and to dispose my heart to devotion, that my prayers 
 and praises may be acceptable in Thy sight, through Jesus Christ 
 my Saviour. Amen. 
 
 AFTER CHURCH TIME. 
 
 Glory be to Thee, O Lord God Almighty, glory be to Thee, 
 who hast permitted me to appear before Thee this day, and to 
 tread Thy courts ! 
 
 Lord, pardon all my failings in Thy service this day past, the 
 wanderings and coldness, and indevotion of my prayers. For the 
 sake of my blessed Saviour, have mercy upon me. 
 
 Lord, make me a doer of Thy word, and not a hearer only, lest 
 I deceive my own soul.^ 
 
 When you are called to repetition at night, remember, Philo- 
 theus, to make some amends for your negligent hearing at the 
 church, and treasure up in your memory some little portion of 
 those instructions you have heard, to direct your practice. 
 
 DIRECTIONS FOR RECEIVING THE HOLY EUCHARIST. 
 
 The receiving of the blessed sacrament, good Philotheus, is the 
 most divine and solemn act of all our religion, and it ought to be 
 the zealous endeavour of every true Christian, by God's assistance, 
 to prepare his soul with the most serious, and most devout disposi- 
 tions he possibly can to approach the holy altar : you are there- 
 fore to consider what you are to do before receiving, what in the 
 time of receiving, and what after receiving. 
 
 Before Receivmg. 
 
 The duties you are to perform before receiving, are all compre- 
 hended in that one rule which St Paul gives us,^ " Let a man 
 examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread and drink of that 
 cup," which are in a manner commented on by the Church, in the 
 exhortation before the sacrament, which I advise you to read over 
 in your common-prayer book. 
 
 To put this rule in practice, it is your best way, Philotheus, at 
 some convenient time to withdraw yourself into your chamber, or 
 
 1 Jam. i. 22. - I Cor. xi. 28. 
 
222 A Manual of Prayers 
 
 into the chapel, and there to begin to commune with your own 
 heart, and to call your sins to remembrance ; but first pray 
 heartily to God for His grace to assist you. 
 
 Prayer before Examination. 
 
 Hear the voice of my humble petition, O Lord, now I cry unto 
 Thee, and lift up my hands toward Thy mercy seat. 
 
 Behold, Lord, now I am about to search into my own heart ; 
 but alas, alas ! my heart is deceitful, and desperately wicked, how 
 can I know itP^ Thou therefore that searchest the heart, and 
 triest the reins, discover to me all the evil and deceits of my own 
 heart, that I may confess, and bewail, and forsake them, and 
 obtain mercy. Lord, hear me. Lord, help me, for the merits of 
 Jesus my Saviour. Amen, Amen. 
 
 Rules to be observed in Examination. 
 
 Having prayed for God's assistance, doubt not, Philotheus, but 
 He will vouchsafe it you ; and to guide you in your examination 
 the better, observe these following directions. 
 
 When you examine yourself, either by the following catalogue, 
 or by that in the Whole Duty of Man, or by any other, pause a 
 while on every particular ; and if you find yourself not guilty, then 
 say, glory be to Thee, O Lord, for preserving me from this sin ; 
 and so go on. 
 
 When your conscience answers guilty, then it will be your best 
 way, having said. Lord, have mercy upon me, and forgive me this 
 sin, to write down that sin in a paper, that you may have it ready 
 to confess to God, when your examination is done. 
 
 You are to consider, Philotheus, that there are several degrees 
 of young penitents, and some are more, some less sinful. For 
 instance. 
 
 Some there are, who either through want of conscientious 
 parents, or through often stifling good motions, or through incon- 
 stancy, or heedlessness, or unadvisedness, or vicious company, or 
 ill-nature, or youthful lusts, and the like, have been from their 
 infancy very negligent of learning, or at least, of practising their 
 duty. 
 
 Again, some there are amongst these, whose sins are more 
 heinous than ordinary, in regard they are accompanied with several 
 aggravations : for any sin is much aggravated, if it be committed 
 knowingly, or dehberately, or frequently : and more than that if it 
 be committed obstinately, or presumptuously, or on slight, or no 
 temptations, or against checks of conscience, or against reproofs, 
 
for Winchester Scholars. 223 
 
 or admonitions, or chastisements, or vows to the contrary ; but 
 most of all, if it be committed so long, and so often, till it becomes 
 habitual, till the sinner does take dehght in it, or boast of it, or 
 makes a mock at it, or tempts others also to commit it. All these 
 and the like circumstances do very much heighten the guilt of any 
 sin. 
 
 You may easily from hence guess what progress you have made 
 in wickedness, and if you find yourself in the number of any of 
 these, by all means, good Philotheus, resolve to repent immediately, 
 and to confess your sins with all their aggravations ; for be sure 
 of this, that every other step you run farther from heaven, every 
 other hour you continue longer in a sinful course, makes your sins 
 the more hard to be mastered, and your repentance the more 
 difficult. 
 
 On the other side, some there are, though I fear but few, who 
 having been brought up in the nurture and admonition of the 
 Lord, have been by the goodness of God, secured from violent 
 temptations, and enormous sins, who have, like Josiah, while they 
 were yet young, sought the Lord, and have in a great measure 
 kept their baptismal vow, and preserved a sense of their duty.^ 
 
 Such as these have fewer sins to confess, and those sins less 
 aggravated, and therefore have greater obligations to magnify 
 God's mercy than others : but if you are in this number, have a 
 care of growing careless in your examination, or of presuming on 
 your own innocence : for if we say, or think we have no sin, we 
 miserably deceive ourselves. ^ 
 
 O Philotheus, the best of men, God knows, have very much evil 
 in them to detest and bewail, and have infinite need of a Saviour, 
 and therefore let him that standeth, take heed lest he fall.^ 
 
 Whatever you do then, be sure to keep your heart with all 
 dihgence, and pray for constant supplies of God's grace, for 
 perhaps the devil defers his tempting you till you are grown up, 
 and become your own master, and have not that tenderness of 
 offending, or that awe of parents, or superiors, which you now 
 have. 
 
 Be not over-scrupulous, Philotheus, either to make yourself 
 guilty of more sins than really you are, or to reckon up all your 
 infirmities, or daily failings, or sins of omission, which would 
 render your examination endless and impossible ; but examine 
 yourself chiefly about your wilful sins, or sins of commission ; and 
 know, there be many sins, even of commission, that you may doubt 
 whether you have committed or no ; many that you have quite 
 forgot ; but be not disheartened at it, for holy David hath taught 
 you, that a general confession for such sins is enough, when he 
 prays to God to cleanse him from his secret faults.^ 
 
 1 2 Chron. xxxjv. ^. - i John i. 8. 2 i Cor. x. 12. 
 
224 ^ Manual of Prayeri^ 
 
 That you may gain a true sense of your sins by your examina- 
 tion, labour to imprint in your mind awful apprehensions of the 
 day of judgment, and of God the great Judge, in whose presence 
 you now are ; and to raise such apprehensions, dwell a while in 
 such meditations as these. 
 
 MOTIVES TO EXAMINATION. 
 
 O my soul, thou art now in the presence of the great Judge 
 of heaven and earth, before whose dreadful tribunal thou must 
 certainly appear at the day of judgment, to give a strict account 
 of all thy actions, and every idle word, of every evil thought, and 
 thy own conscience will then be thy accuser. 
 
 Think, O my soul, think, if thou canst, what unimaginable 
 horrors will seize an impenitent sinner, when the last trump calls 
 him out of the grave, and the devils begin to drag him to God's 
 judgment-seat ! What would such a wretch give to purchase one 
 such opportunity of repentance, as God now in great mercy gives 
 thee? If ever thou hopest to escape those horrors, O my soul, 
 make thy peace with God, judge thyself here, lest thou be con- 
 demned hereafter. 
 
 THE EXAMINATION ITSELF. 
 
 I adjure thee, O my soul, in the presence of the great Judge, 
 who knows all the secrets of thy heart, I adjure thee, as thou 
 wilt answer before God's judgment-seat at the last day, to tell me ; 
 
 Does not thy daily experience teach thee, that thy whole nature 
 is corrupt, prone to all that is evil, averse to all that is good .? 
 
 How hast thou spent thy time, from thy childhood to this very 
 moment ? 
 
 How hast thou kept the solemn vow of thy baptism t 
 
 What good duties hast thou omitted? 
 
 What sins hast thou committed ? 
 
 In particular, what sin art thou guilty of, more immediately 
 against God ? 
 
 Art thou guilty of any infidelity or atheism, any distrust in, or 
 presumption on, or despair of God's mercy ? 
 
 Art thou guilty of any wilful ignorance of God, or of any idolatry, 
 in worshipping any creature? Hast thou loved any thing more 
 than God, or feared any one above Him ? 
 
 Hast thou been guilty of hypocrisy in God's service, or of for- 
 saking God, and of resorting to the devil, to witches or wizards ? 
 
 Art thou guilty of repining or murmuring at God's providence, or 
 of being impatient under His afflictions, or of being unthankful for 
 
for Winchester Scholars. 225 
 
 His mercies, or of being disobedient to His commands, or of being 
 incorrigible under His judgments ? 
 
 When, and in what manner hast thou been guilty of dishonouring 
 God? 
 
 By blasphemous or irreligious thoughts or discourses ; or by 
 tamely hearing others blaspheme ? 
 
 By taking God's most holy name in vain, or by customary or 
 false swearing, or by the breach of any lawful oath or solemn 
 vows ? 
 
 By any sacrilege or irreverent behaviour in God's house, or mis- 
 spending the Lord's Day, or any neglect of, or inattention to God^s 
 word read or preached ; or unprofitableness under the means of 
 grace ? 
 
 Have I dishonoured God, by coldness, and wanderings, and 
 indevotion, or carelessness in my prayers, or by any weariness 
 in His service, or by any total neglect of it, or by unworthy 
 communicating ? 
 
 By impenitence, or putting off the evil day, or superficial and 
 partial repentances, or frequent relapses, or resisting the good 
 motions of God's Spirit ? 
 
 By abetting any schism, or heresy, or profaneness ? 
 
 O my soul, what sins art thou guilty of, more immediately against 
 thyself? 
 
 Art thou guilty of pride, either of thy clothes, or of thy estate, or 
 of thy credit, or of thy parts, or of thy own holiness, or of boasting 
 of thy own good deeds, or of commending thyself, or of being 
 greedy of praise, or of performing good duties to gain applause, or 
 of committing sin to avoid reproach of men ? 
 
 Hast thou been immoderately greedy of riches, or of sensual 
 pleasures, or guilty of peevishness, or of too violent, or too lasting 
 fits of anger, or of inconstancy, or of inconsideration, or of discon- 
 tentedness with any condition ? 
 
 Hast thou been guilty of misspending thy time, or of negligence 
 in resisting temptations, or of not improving those opportunities of 
 learning and piety, which God gives thee in this place, or of abusing 
 thy natural parts to sin ? 
 
 Hast thou been guilty of any intemperance in eating, or in 
 drinking, or in sleeping, or in recreations, spending too much 
 time on them, or being too greedy after them ? 
 
 Hast thou been guilty of idleness, or of downright drunkenness, 
 or of laughing at it in others ? 
 
 Hast thou been guilty of any uncleanness in the eye, or of the 
 hand, or of the fancy, of any lasciviousness, or lust, or fornication, 
 or adultery ; or hast thou taken delight in lewd company, or in 
 vicious or unchaste songs, or stories, or expressions ? 
 
 O my soul, what sins art thou guilty of, more immediately 
 against thy neighbour? 
 
 H 
 
226 A Manual of Pi^ayers 
 
 How, when, where, against whom hast thou been guilty of any 
 injury, or injustice, or oppression, or breach of trust or promise, 
 or of any fraud, or theft, or flattery, or dissimulation, or treachery, 
 or lying, or of giving any just scandal ? 
 
 How, when, where, against whom hast thou been guilty of any 
 ill language, or detraction, or slander, or tale-bearing, or rash 
 censuring, or back-biting, or of contemning, or scoffing at thy 
 neighbour, either for his infirmities, or for his being religious ? 
 
 How, when, where, against whom hast thou been guilty of any 
 contentiousness, or spite, or revenge, or of delighting causelessly 
 to grieve thy neighbour, or of railing, or of actually hurting him, 
 or of murdering him in thy mind, by ill wishes, or curses ? Hast 
 thou been guilty of bitter imprecations, or bearing false witness, or 
 covetousness of any thing he possesses ? 
 
 Hast thou been guilty of unthankfulness to those that have done 
 thee good, or have reproved thee, or of uncharitableness to the 
 poor, or to any Christian in distress, or of any unnaturalness to 
 any of thy relations, or of any evil-speaking, or disrespect, or 
 stubbornness against any of thy governors, either civil or ecclesi- 
 astical ; or in particular against thy parents or superiors in this 
 place, or of any wilful disobedience to the lawful commands of all, 
 or either of them ? 
 
 Hast thou tempted any other to sin, by connivance, or encourage- 
 ment, or command, or persuasion, and mightily increased thy own 
 guilt, by furthering the damnation of thy brother ? 
 
 In case, Philotheus, you do find this examination too difficult 
 for you, or are afraid you shall not rightly perform it, or meet with 
 any scruples or troubles of conscience in the practice of it, I then 
 advise you, as the Church does, to go to one of your superiors in 
 this place, to be your spiritual guide, and be not ashamed to un- 
 burthen your soul freely to him, that besides his ghostly counsel, 
 you may receive the benefit of absolution : for though confession 
 of our sins to God is only matter of duty, and absolutely necessary, 
 yet confession to our spiritual guide also, is by many devout souls 
 found to be very advantageous to true repentance. 
 
 If upon your examination, Philotheus, you find you have any 
 way wronged your neighbour, resolve upon the first opportunity 
 to make him some suitable satisfaction, and to ask his forgive- 
 ness ; for you are first to be reconciled to your brother, before you 
 come to the altar to offer your gift.^ 
 
 If you are guilty of tempting any other to sin, ask God's pardon 
 for him, as well as for yourself, and, if you have any opportunity 
 to do it, exhort him to repentance. 
 
 But if any have wronged you, forgive the injury presently; for 
 you beg forgiveness of God on this very condition, that you your- 
 self forgive your brother. 
 
 1 Matt. V. 23, 24. 
 
for Winchester Scholars. 227 
 
 This examination of yourself, Philotheus, I suppose will be task 
 enough for you at one time ; and therefore that you may not tire 
 yourself, you may conclude with this short prayer. 
 
 A PRAYER AFTER EXAMINATION. 
 
 O Lord God, I have now, by Thy assistance, considered my own 
 evil ways ; O Thou who only knowest the heart, and who only 
 canst change it, create in me such a broken and contrite heart 
 which Thou hast promised not to despise, and so deep a sense of 
 my own sin and misery, that my repentance may bear some pro- 
 portion to .my guilt. O my God, pardon all my faihngs, and 
 perfect that good work Thou hast begun in me, for the merits 
 of Jesus my Saviour, in whose holy words I sum up all my wants. 
 Our Father, &c. 
 
 At the very next opportunity of retiring you can get, resolve, 
 good Philotheus, with the prodigal, to return to your heavenly 
 Father, and humbly to beg forgiveness ; and having brought your 
 catalogue of sins with you, kneel down, and with the lowest pros- 
 tration of soul and body, make your confession to God of your 
 sins, and of their aggravations. 
 
 A FORM OF CONFESSION. 
 
 O Thou great Judge of heaven and earth, before whose glorious 
 Majesty even the good angels, who never sinned, fall prostrate 
 and tremble. 
 
 With what debasement and dread ought I to appear before Thy 
 awful presence, who am but dust and ashes, and which is infinitely 
 worse, a miserable wretched sinner ! 
 
 Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, Thou art of purer eyes 
 than to behold evil, with the least approbation ; the way of 
 the wicked, and the sacrifice of the wicked, is an abomination 
 to Thee ! 1 
 
 Woe is me then, O Lord, woe is me, for I have inclined unto 
 wickedness with my heart, but for the sake of Thy well-beloved 
 Son, cast not out my prayer nor turn Thy mercy from me.^ 
 
 Miserable wretch that I am, I have gone astray from the very 
 womb ; I was shapen in wickedness, and in sin did my mother 
 conceive me ! Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean ? 
 What is man then, O God, that he should be clean ; or he that is 
 born of a woman, that he should be righteous t 
 
 1 Prov. XV. 8. '^ Psalm Ixvi. 20. 
 
228 A Mamial of Prayers 
 
 Thou, Lord, piittest no trust in Thy saints, and the heavens 
 are not clean in Thy sight, and the very angels Thou chargest 
 with folly !i 
 
 How much more abominable then^ and filthy am I, who daily 
 drink iniquity like water ! 
 
 Lord, pity and cleanse, and forgive and save me, for Thy mercies' 
 sake. 
 
 I know, O God, that in my flesh dwelleth no good thing ; for 
 when I would do good, evil is present with me, and I see a law in 
 my members warring against the law of my mind, and bringing 
 me into captivity to the law of sin.^ 
 
 Lord, have mercy upon me, and deliver me from this body 
 of death, from this tyranny of sin. 
 
 Alas, alas, my whole nature is corrupt, infinitely prone to all 
 evil, and averse to all that is good ; my understanding is full 
 of ignorance and error ; my will is perverse, my memory tenacious 
 of all things that may pollute me, and forgetful of my duty ; my 
 passions are inordinate, my senses the inlets of all impurity, and 
 I have abused all my faculties ; I am unclean, unclean ! 
 
 Lord, pity and cleanse, and forgive and save me, for Thy mercies' 
 sake. 
 
 Lord God, how have I through my whole life violated the 
 solemn vow I made to Thee in my baptism, by eagerly pursuing 
 the vanities of this wicked world, by easily yielding to the tempta- 
 tions of the devil, by greedily indulging my own carnal desires 
 and lusts, by a fruitless and dead faith, and by disobedience 
 to Thy holy will and commands. 
 
 Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in Thy sight, and am 
 no more worthy to be called Thy son. 
 
 1 have sinned, O Lord God, I have sinned against Thee by — 
 
 Here confess out of your paper ^ the sins which you have committed 
 inore immediately against God, with their aggravations that 
 accom-pany them. For ijistance : 
 
 Lord, I have committed this sin, or these sins frequently, against 
 checks of conscience, &c. and then add, 
 
 Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in Thy sight, and am 
 no more worthy to be called Thy son. O pity, and cleanse, and 
 forgive, and save me for Thy mercies' sake. 
 
 I have sinned, O Lord God, I have sinned against Thee, and 
 against my own self, by — 
 
 Nere confess the sins you have cot7imitted more ivwiediately against 
 yourself, with their aggravatio?is, &^c. and say as before : 
 
 1 Job iv. 18. 2 Rom. vii. 23. 
 
for Winchester Scholars. 229 
 
 Father, I have sinned against heaven^ &c. 
 I have sinned, O Lord God, I have sinned against Thee, and 
 against my neighbour, by — 
 
 Here confess the sins y on have committed more immediately against 
 your neighbour^ with their aggravations^ and add as before : 
 
 Father, I have sinned against heaven, &c. 
 
 O Lord God, my wickedness is great and my iniquities are 
 infinite ; they are more in number than the hairs of my head, and 
 my heart would fail me, but that I well know Thy mercies are 
 more numberless than my sins.^ 
 
 Have mercy upon me therefore, O Lord, according to Thy 
 great goodness, according to the multitude of Thy mercies do 
 away my offences.^ 
 
 Who, alas, can tell how oft he ofifendeth ! O cleanse Thou me 
 from my secret faults, from all my sins of ignorance, or infirmity, 
 or omission, or which I have not observed, or which I have forgot, 
 Lord, lay none of them to my charge : Father, forgive me ; Lord 
 Jesus, have mercy upon me. 
 
 O remember not the sins and offences of my youth, but receive 
 me, O heavenly Father, into the arms of Thy Fatherly compassion, 
 as Thou didst the returning prodigal, and forgive me all my 
 transgressions, for the merits of Jesus, Thy only well beloved Son, 
 and my Saviour. Amen, Amen. 
 
 When you have thus confessed your sins, good Philotheus, 
 endeavour to be still more sensible of them, and to bewail them 
 with a true penitential hatred, and shame, and sorrow for them ; 
 then make steady resolutions of forsaking them, and cry earnestly 
 to God for pardon and grace ; for you must as well put on the new 
 man, as put off the old.^ Of all which acts of repentance, I give 
 you the following instances, and advise you to say them over as 
 devoutly as possibly you can. 
 
 Acts of Shame. 
 
 O Lord God, I am ashamed, and blush to lift up my face to Thee, 
 for my iniquities are increased over my head, and my trespasses 
 are grown up unto the heavens.* 
 
 O my soul, what fruit have I reaped from all the pleasures of 
 sin which flattered me, which are but vanity, and vexation of 
 spirit ! 
 
 Lord, I am ashamed of my own folly and madness, and disin- 
 genuity, when I call to mind how greedily I have sucked in my 
 
 1 Ps. xl. 12. 2 Ps. 11. I. - Eph. iv. 21. 
 
 •i Ezra ix. 6. 
 
230 A Manual of Prayers 
 
 own pollution ; how treacherously I have betrayed my own soul 
 to temptations, and combined with the very devils, to hasten and 
 increase my own damnation ; how obstinately I have fled from 
 Thee, when Thy mercy pursued me with promises of pardon ; 
 how unworthily I have abused Thy goodness and forbearance, 
 and long suffering, which should have led me to repentance. 
 
 Surely after I was turned I repented ; and since I have con- 
 sidered my ways, I am ashamed ; yea, even confounded, because 
 I bear the reproach of my youth.^ 
 
 Acts of Abhorrence. 
 
 I hate all evil ways, O Lord, but Thy law will I love.^ 
 
 O Lord God, nothing is more abominable in Thy sight, or more 
 diabolical ; nothing more defaces Thy divine image, or makes me 
 more odious in Thy purest eyes, than sin ; and therefore I hate 
 and abhor it ! 
 
 O Lord God, I confess I have nothing good in me, nothing 
 that can any way move Thee to compassionate so loathsome 
 a sinner, but Thy own free, and undeserved, and infinite mercy, 
 and the merits of my Saviour ! 
 
 O Lord God, I cannot but admire the riches of Thy goodness, 
 who hast spared me so long, and hast given me this opportunity 
 of repentance. O do Thou yet magnify Thy mercy more in my 
 forgiveness. O cleanse me from all that filth my soul hath con- 
 tracted, which now renders me odious to my own self, as well as 
 to Thee. 
 
 Acts of Contrition. 
 
 Miserable wretch that I am, that I should begin so early to 
 offend my Creator, and sin so much in so short time ! 
 
 Lord, I fear I never yet throughly considered how evil and 
 how bitter a thing it is to depart from Thee, O make me every day 
 more and more sensible of the error of my ways, and of my own 
 infinite vileness ! 
 
 Miserable wretch that I am, that ever I should commit those 
 sins, which expose me to all the vials of Thy wrath, to all the 
 curses of Thy law, to all Thy judgments temporal or spiritual, in 
 this life, and to all the horrors and despair, and torments of the 
 damned in the life to come ! 
 
 Miserable wretch that I am, that ever I should transgress that 
 law of Thine, O God, which is so just and holy, and good, and 
 perfect, and so condescending to my infirmities ; and in keeping 
 of which there are so great, so unconceivable rewards ! 
 
 1 Jer. xxxi. 19. - Ps. cxix. 13. 
 
for Winchester Scholars, 231 
 
 O that with Mary Magdalen I could weep much and love much, 
 havmg so much to be forgiven.^ 
 
 O gracious Lord, look on me, as Thou didst on Peter, and let 
 Thy compassionate look so pierce my heart, that I may weep 
 bitterly for my sins ! 2 
 
 O Lord God, break this hard heart, for Thou only canst do it, 
 and melt it into tears of contrition ! Miserable wretch that I am, 
 that I should sin so much, and yet grieve so little ! 
 
 Woe is me, miserable wretch, woe is me, that ever I should 
 offend so indulgent, so liberal, so tender a Father ! 
 
 Woe is me, that ever I should repay the infinite love, and the 
 intolerable sufferings of my Saviour for me, with nothing but those 
 sins which occasioned those very sufferings. 
 
 Woe is me, that ever I should grieve the Holy Spirit, by reject- 
 ing of many of His good motions, from whom only I derive grace 
 and consolation ? 
 
 O Lord God, every slight worldly trouble is apt to draw back 
 plenty of tears from mine eyes, but when I would weep for my 
 sms, which are the greatest calamities that can possibly befall me, 
 either my eyes are dry, or my tears too few, to bewail so many 
 provocations ! 
 
 O blessed Spirit, instil true penitent sorrow into my soul, make 
 my head waters, and my eyes fountains of tears, or do Thou supply 
 the want of them with sighs and groans unutterable.^ 
 
 But alas, I know all the tears I can possibly shed, can never 
 wash away the least of my sins ; it is Thy blood only, Lord, that 
 can do it ! 
 
 O blessed Saviour, how can I ever sufficiently lament the guilt 
 of my sins, which was so great, that nothing but Thy own inestim- 
 able blood could expiate ! 
 
 O heavenly Father, in the defect of my own tears, I offer Thee 
 the blood of Thy own well-beloved Son, for His sake have mercy 
 upon me. " " 
 
 Resolutio7t, 
 
 Lord God, with shame I confess that other lords besides Thee 
 have hitherto had dominion over me.* 
 
 1 have been in the snare of the devil, and have been led captive 
 by him, and sin hath reigned in my mortal body, and I have 
 obeyed it in the lusts thereof ; but henceforth I resolve to serve 
 none but Thee, and from this very moment I utterly forsake all 
 my sins, and turn to Thee.^ 
 
 O my God, I do from my heart renew my baptismal vow, which, 
 
 1 Luke vli. 38. 2 Luke xxii. 6i. 3 Romans viii. 26. 
 
 Isaiah XXVI. 13. 5 2 Tim. ii. 26 ; Rom. vi. 2. 
 
232 A Manual of Prayers 
 
 alas, I have hitherto so often violated ; I do for ever renounce the 
 devil and all his works, and all his temptations ; I do for ever 
 renounce all the vanities of this wicked world, which may prevent 
 me from Thy service, and all the sinful lusts of the flesh. 
 
 O my God, I do steadfastly believe all the articles of the 
 Christian faith, and I will keep Thy holy will and commandments, 
 and walk in the same all the days of my life. 
 
 All this I am bound to do and believe, and by Thy help so I 
 will \ and I heartily thank Thee, O heavenly Father, who hast 
 called me to this state of salvation, through Jesus Christ my 
 Saviour : and I humbly pray Thee for His sake to give me grace, 
 that I may continue in the same to my life's end. 
 
 Oblation. 
 
 Blessed be Thy name, O Lord God, who hast set before me life 
 and death, and hast bid me choose Hfe. 
 
 Behold, Lord, I do with all my heart choose life, I choose Thee, 
 
 my God, for Thou art my Hfe. 
 
 Save, Lord, and hear me, O King of heaven, and accept my 
 sacrifice, even the sacrifice of my whole heart which I now give 
 Thee. 
 
 O my God, I offer Thee my senses and passions, and all my 
 faculties ; I offer Thee all my desires, all my designs, all my 
 studies, all my endeavours, all the remainder of my life ; all that 
 
 1 have, or am, I offer up all entirely to Thy service . 
 
 Lord, sanctify me wholly, that my whole spirit, soul and body, 
 may become Thy temple. O do Thou dwell in me, and be Thou 
 my God, and I will be Thy servant.^ Amen, Amen. 
 
 Acts of Charity. 
 
 Lord God, I do from henceforth resolve to love my neighbour 
 as myself, and to love him not in word only, but in deed and in 
 truth.2 
 
 1 do from my heart forgive all men their trespasses, do Thou, 
 Lord, forgive them also. 
 
 Lord, bless them that hate me, and do good to them that have 
 any way despitefuUy used me, O repay them good for evil. 
 
 O my God, bless all those that I have any way wronged ; have 
 mercy on all those to whose sins I have been any way accessory, 
 and give them all grace to forgive me, Amen, Amen. 
 
 1 1 Cor. vi. 19 a I John iii. 18. 
 
for Winchester Scholars. 233 
 
 Petition for Pardon. 
 
 O Thou Father of mercies, and God of all consolation, be 
 merciful to me a miserable sinner. 
 
 Lord, remember all Thy gracious calls of sinners to repentance, 
 all Thy protestations, that Thou delightest not in the death of him 
 that dies, and that Thou wouldst have all to be saved.^ 
 
 Lord, remember all the exceeding great and precious promises, 
 which Thou hast made to penitent sinners. 
 
 Lord, remember that Thy mercy is over all Thy works, that in 
 mercy Thou delightest, and that all the holy angels seeing Thee 
 well pleased in the exercise of that mercy, rejoice at the conversion 
 of a sinner, that the greater my sins are, the more will that mercy 
 be magnified in my forgiveness.^ 
 
 Lord, remember that Thou didst so love the world, as to give 
 Thy only beloved Son a ransom for it.^ 
 
 O heavenly Father, Thou that sparedst not Thy only Son, but 
 deliveredst Him for us, wilt Thou not with Him also freely give us 
 all things, and if all things, wilt Thou not also give us the pardon 
 of our sins ? 
 
 O my God, I firmly believe Thou wilt ; on that ransom my 
 Saviour hath paid for me, and on all Thy gracious promises of 
 pardon, which for His sake Thou hast made to me, I wholly rely ; 
 here only is the sure and steadfast anchor of my soul, to which my 
 faith and hope shall for ever adhere. 
 
 All this. Lord, do I plead, to implore Thy forgiveness. 
 
 Behold, Lord, though my failings are many, yet to the utmost of 
 my power, I have confessed, and bewailed, and forsaken my trans- 
 gressions. Behold, Lord, I come at Thy call, and I come weary 
 and heavy laden with the burthen of my sins, be it unto me 
 according to Thy word. O Thou that art faithful and just, forgive 
 me my sins, and cleanse me from all unrighteousness. Lord, do 
 Thou in no wise cast me from Thee, but heal my backsHdings, and 
 love me freely, ease me of my burden, that I may find rest in 
 Thee, and say unto my soul, be of good cheer, thy sins are for- 
 given thee.* 
 
 heavenly Father, for Thine own infinite mercies' sake, for 
 Thy truth and promise sake, for all the merits, and sufferings of 
 the Son of Thy love, in whom Thou art always well pleased, 
 pardon all my sins and failings, and receive me into Thy favour. 
 Amen, O Lord God, Amen, Amen. 
 
 1 Eze. xviii. 32 ; i Tim. ii. 4. 2 Luke xv 10. 3 John iii. 16; Rom. viii. 32. 
 
 4 Matt. xi. 29 ; i John i. 9 ; John vi. 37 ; Hos. xiv. 4. 
 
234 ^ Manual of Prayers 
 
 A PETITION FOR GRACE IN GENERAL. 
 
 O Lord God, I have sworn, and I will perform it, that I will 
 keep Thy righteous judgments.^ 
 
 But alas ! I am able of myself to do nothing that is good, not 
 so much as to think one good thought : and I no sooner shall rise 
 from my knees, but 1 fear I shall be tempted to those very sins I 
 have now so solemnly renounced, and those temptations will 
 certainly overcome me, unless thou. Lord, dost seasonably inter- 
 pose Thy grace to withhold me. 
 
 But I can do all things through Thee strengthening me : do 
 Thou then, O blessed Saviour, perfect Thy strength in my weak- 
 ness, for in Thee only is my trust.^ 
 
 O my God, Thou hast promised to give Thy Holy Spirit to those 
 that ask it.^ Behold, Lord, I do humbly, I do earnestly ask Thy 
 Holy Spirit now of Thee, O fulfil Thy gracious promise to me, O 
 vouchsafe me that Holy Spirit I pray for, to purify my corrupt 
 nature, to strengthen my weakness, to comfort me in troubles, to 
 support me in discouragements, to succour me in temptations, and 
 to assist me in all parts of my duty, that I may ever hereafter live 
 in Thy fear, and in constant, sincere, and universal obedience to 
 all Thy righteous laws. 
 
 Thou, O Searcher of hearts, knowest the sin (or sins) I am most 
 inclined to \here name it, or the?n\ and herein will lie my greatest 
 danger of backsliding : but, O my God, I beg a double portion of 
 Thy invisible aid against it {or them). Hold Thou up my goings 
 in Thy paths, that my footsteps slip not ; O work in me that 
 victorious faith, by which I may overcome the world, the devil, 
 and my own corrupt nature.* 
 
 True it is, O Lord God, that there are many sins which upon 
 examination, I find, through Thy grace, I have not yet committed, 
 and therefore not unto me. Lord, but to Thy name be the glory ; 
 but alas ! there is in my corrupt nature so great a proneness to 
 evil, so great a curiosity to try what sin is, that without Thy re- 
 straining grace, every temptation when I shall have more age and 
 hberty, and opportunity to enforce it, will be apt to draw me from 
 my obedience, and to overthrow all my present resolutions. 
 
 But my help standeth in Thee, O great Creator, who hast made 
 heaven and earth, and I commit my soul to Thy keeping; O Thou 
 that art faithful as well as Almighty, keep that safe which is com- 
 mitted to Thy trust, watch over me that I may not be beguiled by 
 the deceitfulness of sin, or betrayed by my own treacherous heart, 
 or surprised by my ghostly enemies ; and give me grace to watch 
 
 1 Ps. cxix. io6. - Phil. ix. 13. 3 Luke xi. 13. 
 
 •* I John V. 4. 
 
for Winchester Scholars. 235 
 
 and to pray incessantly myself, lest I enter into temptation. 
 Hear, Lord, from heaven, and succour me for the alone merits of 
 Jesus my Saviour.^ Amen, Amen. 
 
 PETITIONS FOR PARTICULAR GRACES. 
 
 O that my ways, Lord, were made so direct, that I might keep 
 Thy statutes, for then shall I not be confounded, when I have 
 respect unto all Thy commandments .2 
 
 Vouchsafe me Thy Holy Spirit, therefore, O Lord God, to work 
 in me whatever is well-pleasing in Thy sight, that for the time to 
 come, I may bring forth fruits meet for repentance. 
 
 O let it be Thy good pleasure to create in me a saving know- 
 ledge of Thee, and of my duty, justifying faith, true sanctifying 
 grace, and a purifying hope, an ardent love, and a filial fear of 
 Thee, a constant desire of pleasing thee, and a great tenderness of 
 offending Thee ! 
 
 Lord, create in me a penitent heart, a resigned will, and morti- 
 fied affections, an habitual mindfulness of Thy presence, and a 
 steady devotion in my prayers, sincere intentions, and zeal for 
 Thy glory, perseverance in all holy purposes, and constancy in all 
 trials and temptations. 
 
 Lord, create in me a reverential awe of Thy name, a delight in 
 Thy service, a secret regard to this day and house of prayer, and 
 a great attention to Thy Word ; a daily care of my time, and 
 diligence in my studies. 
 
 Lord, make me chaste and temperate, humble and adviseable, 
 and patient of reproof; and create in me a cheerful and meek, a 
 contented and considerate, a quiet and peaceful spirit. 
 
 Lord, bless me with health, and competency of living, with a 
 good understanding, a retentive memory, and a ready apprehen- 
 sion ; and with such a measure of temporal good things, as Thou 
 seest fit for me, and give me grace to make a right use of all those 
 blessings I have already received. 
 
 Lord, purify my thoughts, bridle my tongue, guide all my actions, 
 guard all my senses, stop my ears, and turn away my eyes from 
 sin and vanity. 
 
 Lord, give me grace to be just in all my dealings, to do to all 
 men as I would they should do to me, to be subject to my parents, 
 and to all my superiors, to the King as supreme, and to all civil 
 magistrates, to the pastors of Thy Church, and to all my governors 
 in this place ; O grant that I may tender due honour and obedience 
 to them all in their several stations. 
 
 i I Pet. iv. 19. - Ps. c.vix. 
 
236 A Mmiual of Prayers 
 
 Lord, make me willing to forgive injuries, and unwilling to offer 
 any ; make me grateful to my benefactors, friendly to my equals, 
 condescending to my inferiors, compassionate to the afflicted, 
 charitable to the poor according to my ability, a lover of good 
 men, and kind to my enemies, and give me grace to keep always 
 a conscience void of offence towards Thee, and towards men, and 
 to continue in the communion of the Church without wavering. 
 
 O merciful God, keep Thy servant from all wdlful, deliberate, or 
 presumptuous sins, and let no wickedness have dominion over 
 me. 
 
 From stubbornness and pride, idleness and sloth, intemper- 
 ance and youthful lusts, inconstancy and lying, good Lord deliver 
 me. 
 
 From irreligious principles and false teachers, unruly passions 
 and violent temptations, from contracting vicious, habits, or taking 
 pleasure in sin, from profaneness and ill company, envy and 
 malice, detraction and uncharitableness, good Lord deliver me. 
 
 From the errors and vices of the age, and all remanent affec- 
 tions to sin, from the sin (or sins) my corrupt nature is most 
 inclined to {here name it or the??i\ ; From whatsoever is offen- 
 sive to Thee, or destructive to my own soul, good Lord deliver 
 me. 
 
 Hear me, O heavenly Father, and conform my whole life to the 
 example of my blessed Saviour, and that for His sake, in whose 
 holy words I sum up all my wants. Our Father which art in 
 heaven, &c. 
 
 You have now, good Philotheus, by God's help, gone over the 
 hardest part of your preparation for the Holy Sacrament; the next 
 thing you are to do, is to examine yourself, whether you do suffi- 
 ciently understand what the sacrament is, then to ask yourself with 
 what intentions you do approach it, and to pray for God's grace to 
 dispose you for worthily receiving, and all these particulars, to- 
 gether with all that you are to know and believe concerning the 
 blessed sacrament, are contained in these following meditations, 
 which I advise you to read over devoutly several times, till you 
 are in some measure affected with them. 
 
 MEDITATIONS ON THE HOLY EUCHARIST. 
 
 On the outward Elements. 
 
 I adore Thee, O blessed Jesus, my Lord, and my God, when I 
 consider what that sacrament is, to which Thou now invitest me, 
 and of what parts it consists ; of an outward and visible sign, and 
 of an inward and spiritual grace ! For Thou, Lord, who knowest 
 our infirmities, and how little able we are to conceive things 
 
for Winchester Scholars, ' 237 
 
 heavenly and spiritual, in pity to our dark and feeble apprehensions 
 hast ordained outward, and obvious, and visible signs to represent 
 to our minds Thy grace which is inward and invisible ; Thou hast 
 ordained bread and wine, which is our corporeal food, to picture 
 out to our faith the food of our souls. 
 
 On the Inward Part or Thing signified. 
 
 I know, O my God, that I must look through the outward ele- 
 ments and fix my faith on that which they signify, and which is 
 the inward and invisible grace, even Thy own blessed body and 
 blood, which is verily and indeed taken and received by the faith- 
 ful in the Lord's supper. 
 
 But tell me, O Thou whom my soul loveth, how canst Thou give 
 us Thy flesh to eat ,? 
 
 Lord, Thou hast told me that Thy words they are spirit and they 
 are life, and are therefore not carnally to be understood ; Lord, I 
 believe, help Thou my unbelief^ 
 
 I believe Thy body and blood to be as really present in the Holy 
 Sacrament as Thy divine power can make it, though the manner 
 of Thy mysterious presence I cannot comprehend. 
 
 Lord, I believe that the bread that we break, and the cup that 
 we drink, are not bare signs only, but the real communication of 
 Thy body and Thy blood, and pledges to assure me of it ; and I 
 verily believe that if with due preparation I come to the altar, as 
 certainly as I receive the outward signs, so certainly shall I receive 
 the thing signified, even Thy most blessed body and blood ; to 
 receive which inestimable blessings, O merciful Lord, do Thou fit 
 and prepare me : ^ Amen, Amen. 
 
 Who instituted it ? 
 
 I adore Thee, O blessed Jesus, my Lord, my God, when I con- 
 sider that this Holy Sacrament was Thy own institution ; for it 
 was Thou, Lord, who in the night Thou wast betrayed, didst take 
 bread, and after that the cup, and didst bless them, and give them 
 to Thy disciples. O blessed Saviour, let Thy divinity thus stamped 
 on it strike into my soul an holy awe and reverence in approaching 
 it : O create in me heavenly dispositions to celebrate so heavenly 
 an institution ! Amen, Amen. 
 
 For what end? 
 
 I adore Thee, O blessed Jesus, my Lord, and my God, when I 
 consider for what end Thou didst institute Thy Holy Sacrament, 
 implied in Thy own command, Do this in remembrance of Me. 
 
 I John vi. 63. - I Cor. x. 16. 
 
238 A Mammal of Prayers 
 
 But what need this command, O gracious Lord ; is it possible 
 for me ever to forget Thee my Saviour, who hast done so great 
 things for me ? 
 
 Alas ! alas! my own sad experience tells me it is. Woe is me, 
 ever)^ temptation, every vanity, is apt to make me forget Thee, 
 though Thy own dying words bid me remember Thee ! 
 
 But, O blessed Lord, for Thy infinite mercies' sake pardon all 
 my stupid forgetfulness and ingratitude hitherto, and do Thou 
 now create in me such a thankful and lively remembrance of 
 Thy dying for me, that may excite me to give up myself entirely 
 to Thee, as Thou didst give up Thyself on the cross for me. 
 Amen, Amen, 
 
 A Thanksgiving for ChrisVs Suffer i7ig. 
 
 Thou my crucified Saviour, glory be to Thee, for causing Thy 
 sufferings to be registered in the Gospel ; there I have read and 
 remember the works and triumphs of Almighty love, for which I 
 will always adore and praise Thee. 
 
 1 remember, O gracious Lord, how Thou, who thoughtest it no 
 robbery to be equal with God, wast made in the fashion of frail 
 man,i of the vilest and most contemptible of men : for Thou tookest 
 on Thee the form of a very servant : I remember how many re- 
 proaches and contradictions, and blasphemies and persecutions. 
 Thou didst endure from a wicked and perverse generation, and 
 all this to save us sinful men. 
 
 " O Lord Jesus, was ever sorrow like unto Thy sorrow ? Worthy 
 art Thou, O La7nb that was slain, to receive power, and 
 riches, and wisdom, and strength, aitd honour, and glory, and 
 blessing. " ^ 
 
 I remember, O gracious Lord, how Thou didst endure a most 
 bitter agony, and didst sweat great drops of blood, falling to the 
 ground ; how Thou who art God above all, blessed for ever, wast 
 treacherously betrayed, and apprehended, and bound as a male- 
 factor ; how Thou wast set at nought by Herod, and his men of 
 war, and forsaken of all Thy disciples, and denied by Peter, and 
 all this to save us sinful men.^ 
 
 O Lord Jesus, was ever, ^c. 
 
 I remember, how Thou, O God of truth, wast accused by false 
 witnesses, how Thou whom all the angels adore wast blindfolded 
 and buffeted, and mocked, and spit upon, and stripped naked, and 
 scourged ; and all this that we might be healed by Thy stripes, 
 and to save us sinful men. 
 
 1 Phil. ii. 7. - Rev. v. 12. 3 Rom. i.\. 5. 
 
for Winchester Scholars. 239 
 
 Lord Jesus., was <?7'<?r, &^c. 
 
 I remember, Lord, how Thou that art the great Judge of heaven 
 and earth, wast Thyself dragged to the judgment-seat, and con- 
 demned ; how Thou, O King of heaven, wast crowned with thorns, 
 and oppressed with the weight of Thy own cross, and all this to 
 save us sinful men. 
 
 O Lord Jesus., was ever., &^c. 
 
 I remember, O blessed Saviour, how Thou, who art the Lord of 
 Glory, and the sole Author of life, wast put to a most ignominious 
 death, how Thy hands and Thy feet were nailed to a cross, how 
 Thou wast crucified between two thieves, and numbered with the 
 transgressors ; how Thou hadst a potion given Thee to imbitter 
 Thy very last gasp, and all this to save us sinful men ! 
 
 O Lord Jesus, was ever, &^c. 
 
 I remember, O gracious Lord, how when Thou wert hanging 
 on the very cross, Thou wast scoffed at and reviled ; how infinitely 
 then Thou wert afflicted and bruised for our transgressions, when 
 the iniquities of us all were laid on Thy shoulders ; how Thou 
 didst then express an anguish greater than all the tortures of Thy 
 crucifixion, when Thou didst cry out, My God, My God, why hast 
 Thou forsaken Me ? And how Thou didst at the last give up the 
 ghost, and die Thyself, that we might live. 
 
 O Lord Jesus, was ever, &^c. 
 
 I unfeignedly believe, O gracious Lord, that Thou didst suffer 
 all this for sinful men, and in particular for me, when we were all 
 Thy utter enemies, and had nothing in us to move Thee to pity 
 us, but our extreme misery, nothing to move Thee to save us, but 
 our great unworthiness, and Thy greater mercy. 
 
 O the depth of the riches of Thy love, blessed Lord, how 
 unutterable is Thy mercy, and Thy love past finding out. 
 
 O all ye holy angels, behold and wonder, wretched man hath 
 sinned against God, and God Himself has suffered the sinner's 
 
 punishment. t j j ^ j 
 
 " Was there ever sorrow like that which my Lord and my God 
 
 endured for me ? " t , j ^ j 
 
 " Was there ever love like to that love my Lord and my God 
 
 hath showed me ? " . 
 
 O ye blessed host of heaven, who rejoice at the conversion 
 
 of one single sinner, adore and praise my crucified Saviour, who 
 
240 A Manual of Prayers 
 
 died for the sins of the world ; adore and praise that unknown 
 sorrow, that wonderful love, which you yourselves must needs 
 admire ! 
 
 O my gracious Lord, my heart is now full of the sense of Thy 
 love, and what have I to return to Thee, but love again ? 'Tis 
 all I have to offer Thee : accept it, O merciful Lord, imperfect as 
 it is, and do Thou daily heighten my sense of Thy love to me, that 
 I may daily heighten my love to Thee ! 
 
 O Thou infinite Lover of souls, with all my heart I love, I praise, 
 I adore Thy love to me, but alas, I can never do it enough ! 
 
 do Thou at last, gracious Lord, translate me to Thy kingdom 
 of glory, that there I may love Thee, to the uttermost capacity 
 of a creature, and praise Thee to all eternity. Amen, Lord Jesus. 
 Amen, Amen. 
 
 What benefits we receive by it. 
 
 1 adore Thee, O blessed Jesu, my Lord, and my God, when I 
 consider the benefits which through Thy mercy we receive by Thy 
 holy sacrament ! 
 
 Glory be to Thee, O Lord, who there makest Thy own body 
 and blood to become our spiritual food, to strengthen and refresh 
 our souls ! 
 
 Glory be to Thee, O Lord, who by this heavenly food dost 
 mystically unite us to Thyself ; for nothing becomes one with our 
 bodies more than the bodily food we eat, which turns into our very 
 substance, and nothing makes us become one with Thee more, 
 than when Thou vouchsafest to become the very food of our 
 souls ! 
 
 Glory be to Thee, O Lord, who by this immortal food dost 
 nourish our souls to live the life of grace here, and dost raise us up 
 to life everlasting hereafter ! Lord, do Thou evermore give me 
 this bread ! Amen, Amen.^ 
 
 Motives of receiving. 
 
 O blessed Saviour ! What more powerful motives can I have 
 to persuade me to communicate, than Thy command, and the 
 admirable effects of the holy sacrament ! 
 
 But alas ! my corrupt nature is apt to suggest to me low and 
 base inducements to this duty, such as are, fear of my superiors' 
 displeasure, if I abstain, or shame of not appearing as devout as 
 my equals, or the mere custom of the place, or of the season ! 
 
 But Lord, I do from my heart renounce all these and the like 
 carnal considerations, and I come to Thy altar to renew my 
 
 1 John vi. 51. 
 
for Winchester Scholars. 241 
 
 baptismal covenant with Thee, of which Thy sacrament is a 
 seal. 
 
 I come to testify my sense of Thy love, O heavenly Father, in 
 so loving the world, as to give up Thy only Son to die for me. 
 
 I come to testify my faith in Thee, and my love towards Thee, 
 O blessed Saviour, and thankfully to commemorate Thy wonderful 
 love in dying for me. 
 
 I come, Lord, to testify my steadfastness in the communion of 
 Thy Church, and my charity to all the world. 
 
 I come to Thy table, O Lord, out of the sense I have of the 
 want of that spiritual food, to which Thou there invitest me. 
 
 Alas, alas ! I am soon apt to grow weary of well-doing. A few 
 prayers, very little duty, is apt to tire me, every slight temptation 
 is apt to overcome me, and I know there is no food can strengthen 
 my soul but Thy body, no cordial can revive my drooping 
 obedience, but Thy blood, and 'tis Thy most blessed body and 
 blood I hunger and thirst after, O gracious Lord : grant that I, 
 and all that communicate with me, may feel its saving efficacy. 
 O feed, O refresh, O nourish our souls with it to life everlasting, 
 and that for Thy own infinite mercy sake, which moved Thee to 
 offer up Thy body and blood for us ! Amen, Amen. 
 
 Prayer for Preparation. 
 
 Blessed Lord Jesus ! I even tremble when I consider that he 
 that eateth and drinketh unworthily is guilty of Thy body and 
 blood, and eateth and drinketh damnation to his own soul ; and 
 this severe sentence on unworthy communicants makes me afraid 
 to come to Thy altar.^ 
 
 But when I consider that Thy sentence is as severe against 
 those, who being invited refuse to come, for Thou hast said. They 
 shall not taste of Thy supper ; and unless we eat Thy flesh, and 
 drink Thy blood, we have no life in us : I am then afraid to keep 
 away.2 
 
 But blessed be Thy mercy, O Lord, for in this strait my soul is 
 in. Thou art my Guide ; Thou by giving me this opportunity of 
 receiving, invitest me to Thy table ; Thou callest me to seek Thy 
 face, and my heart rephes, Thy face, Lord, will I seek ! 
 
 If Thou, Lord, shouldest Joe extreme to mark what is done 
 amiss. Alas ! alas ! I am then unfit, not only to communicate, but 
 to say even my daily prayers. 
 
 I know, Lord, that if I should stay till I am worthy to come, I 
 should then never come ; and therefore though I am unworthy of 
 so unspeakable a mercy, yet I come to beg Thy grace to make me 
 worthy, or at least such as Thou wilt accept ! 
 
 O blessed Jesus, do Thou so open my eye of faith to discern 
 
 1 T Cor. xi. 29. - John vi. 53. 
 
242 A Manual of Prayers 
 
 Thy body and blood in the holy sacrament, do Thou so dispose 
 my soul at this time to communicate, that I may feel all the happy 
 effects of Thy own divine institution, that my soul may receive 
 such lasting impressions of Thy goodness, and be so ravished with 
 the love of Thee, and with the incomparable delights of Thy 
 service, and with such an early foretaste of heaven, that all the 
 pleasures of sin, which in my growing years may tempt me, may 
 appear to me tasteless and unwelcome. 
 
 O heavenly Father, clothe me with the wedding-garment, even 
 the graces of my blessed Saviour, for then am I sure to be a 
 welcome guest to Thy table, when I shall come thither in the 
 likeness of Thy only well-beloved Son in whom Thou art always 
 well pleased. 
 
 O heavenly Father, fill me with a lively faith, profound humility, 
 filial obedience, inflamed affections, and universal charity ; O 
 raise in my soul all those heavenly transports of zeal and devotion, 
 of love and desire, of joy and delight, of praise and thanksgiving, 
 which become the remembrance of a crucified Saviour, which be- 
 come one redeemed by the blood of God, and that for His sake 
 only that redeemed me, in whose holy words I sum up all the 
 graces and blessings I stand in need of. Our Father which art 
 in heaven, &c. 
 
 This prayer, Philotheus, is proper for you to add to your 
 morning prayer, the day on which you are to receive. 
 
 DIRECTIONS IN TIME RECEIVING. 
 
 In time of receiving, good Philotheus, labour all you can to 
 keep your heart affected with the public prayers, and to fill up all 
 the vacant minutes with holy ejaculations, such as these which 
 follow. 
 
 At going to the Altar. 
 
 In the multitude of Thy mercies, O Lord God, do I now approach 
 Thy altar. O pardon my sins, and receive me graciously. Amen, 
 Amen. 
 
 At the Offertory. 
 
 Blessed be Thou, O Lord God ; for all things come of Thee, 
 and of Thy own do I now give Thee ! ^ 
 
 O let this alms be an odour of a sweet smell, a sacrifice accept- 
 able, and well-pleasing to Thee ! '^ 
 
 1 I Chron. xxix. 14. "- Phil. iv. 18. 
 
for Winchester Scholars. 243 
 
 At Consecraii7ig. 
 
 O blessed Jesu, in the bread broken, I call to mind Thy body 
 torn with whips, and thorns, and nails ; and in the wine poured 
 out, I call to mind Thy precious blood, shed for my sins ! 
 
 Glory be to Thee, O Lamb of God, that didst offer Thyself a 
 sacrifice, to take away the sins of the whole world : Lord, have 
 mercy on me, and take away mine also. 
 
 Whilst others are co?n?nimicating. 
 
 O my God, whom have I in heaven but Thee, and there is none 
 on earth I desire, in comparison of Thee ! ^ 
 
 As the hart panteth after the water-brooks, so panteth my soul 
 after Thee, O God ! ^ 
 
 My soul is athirst for Thee, O God, my God ! 
 
 Blessed Saviour, I am Thine, I am wholly Thine, for Thou 
 hast bought me with a price, with the inestimable price of Thy 
 own blood ! ^ 
 
 Lord, suffer not the price of Thy own blood to perish, and I 
 will always glorify Thee in my body, and in my spirit which are 
 Thine. 
 
 If there be many communicants, and thou hast much vacant 
 time, Philotheus, and dost want devout matter to employ thy 
 thoughts, till all have communicated, thou mayest then repeat the 
 thanksgiving for Christ's sufferings (p. 238), either in whole, or in 
 part, as thou seest it needful. 
 
 When the priest coineth towards you. 
 
 O Lord God, I now desire to renew my covenant with Thee, 
 and to seal it in this sacrament ! 
 
 Lord, put Thy laws into my mind, and write them in my heart, 
 and for the passion of Thy Son, which I now commemorate, be 
 merciful to my unrighteousness, my sin and my iniquities remember 
 no more, and be Thou my God, and I will be Thy servant. 
 Amen, Amen.^ 
 
 O my soul, taste now, and see how gracious the Lord is ! ^ 
 
 After receiving the Bread. 
 
 Glory be to Thee, O Lord, who feedest me with the bread of 
 life.6 
 
 1 Ps. Ixxiii. 25. 
 
 2 Ps. xlii.i. 
 
 3 X Cor. vi. 20. 
 
 ■* Heb. viii. lo. 
 
 5 Ps. xxxiv. 
 
 6 Heb. X. 10. 
 
244 ^ Manual of Prayers 
 
 O Lord God, who didst sanctify us by the offering of the body of 
 Jesus once for all, sanctify me, even me, O heavenly Father. 
 
 After receivmg the Cup. 
 
 Glory be to Thee, O Lord Jesus, who permittest me to drink of 
 the fountain of life freely ! 
 
 My beloved is mine, and I am His ! 
 
 Blessed Saviour, Thou hast loved us, and washed us from our 
 sins in Thy own blood, and therefore to Thee be glory and 
 dominion, for ever and ever. Amen, Amen.^ 
 
 Glory be to Thee, O Jesus my Lord, and my God, for thus 
 feeding my soul with Thy most blessed body and blood ; O let 
 Thy heavenly food transfuse new life and new vigour into my 
 soul, and into the souls of all that communicate with me, that our 
 faith may daily increase, that we may all grow more humble, and 
 contrite for our sins, that we may all love Thee, and serve Thee, 
 and delight in Thee, and praise Thee more fervently, more in- 
 cessantly than ever we have done heretofore ! Amen, Amen. 
 
 After the congregation is dismissed, Philotheus, if you cannot 
 get privacy in your own chamber, I advise you at the first oppor- 
 tunity to go into the chapel, and there to give God thanks for that 
 great blessing, of which He has now made you a partaker. 
 
 A Thanksgiving after Receiving. 
 
 O how plentiful is Thy goodness, my Lord, and my God, which 
 Thou hast laid up for those that fear Thee, which Thou hast laid 
 up for those that put their trust in Thy mercy ! ^ 
 
 Was it not love infinite enough, dearest Lord, to give Thyself 
 for me on the cross ? Was not that sacrifice of Thyself sufficient 
 to expiate the sins of the whole world ? What, Lord, couldst Thou 
 then do more for me ? 
 
 All the mighty host of heaven stood amazed to see the blood of 
 God shed, to see their King of glory, to whom from the first moment 
 of their being they had sung their hallelujahs, nailed to a cross : 
 and all this to save sinners ! ^ 
 
 Sure, Lord, none of all those blessed spirits, with all the glori- 
 ous illuminations they had, could ever have imagined how Thou 
 couldest give Thyself more to us than Thou hast done. 
 
 And yet for all this. Thou hast wrought new miracles of love for 
 us, and as if it had not been love enough to have given Thyself for 
 us on the cross. Thou hast found out a way to give Thyself to us 
 
 1 Rev. i. 6. - P.salm xxxi. 19. 3 Acts xx. 28. 
 
for Winchester Scholars. 245 
 
 in the Holy Sacrament, to unite Thyself to us with the most inti- 
 mate union that it is possible to conceive, to become the very food, 
 the life, the strength, the support of my soul, to become one with 
 me, to become the very soul of my soul ! 
 
 O Lord God, this is so unconceivable a blessing, this is so 
 divine an union, that the very angels, who so much desire to look 
 into the great mystery of our redemption, who learn Thy manifold 
 wisdom from Thy Church, and frequent the places of Thy public 
 worship, do crowd about our altar, and with awful admiration, con- 
 template the Holy Sacrament ! ^ 
 
 What thanks then, gracious Lord, can I return to Thee for those 
 wonders of love Thou hast showed to me, wretched sinner ; which 
 the very angels, who never sinned, so much admire ! 
 
 O dearest Lord, raise Thou my devotion to the highest pitch it 
 can possibly reach, to praise Thee ; enlarge my soul to its utmost 
 extent to love Thee. 
 
 How can I evermore offend such riches of mercy, as are in Thee, 
 O crucified Saviour ! and yet whilst I carry this body of sin about 
 me, I fear I shall ! but. Lord, I do from my heart renounce and 
 abhor all things that displease Thee, I resolve to the utmost of my 
 power to resist all temptations, and to become as totally Thine, as 
 my frail nature will permit me. 
 
 gracious Lord, who hast so infinitely loved us, and given 
 us everlasting consolation, and good hope through grace, com- 
 fort my heart, and for ever establish it in every good word and 
 work ! 
 
 Blessing, and honour, and glory, and power, be unto Him that 
 sitteth on the throne, and unto the Lamb for ever ! 
 
 Rejoice in the Lord Jesus, O my soul, for of Hirn cometh my 
 salvation. 
 
 1 will love Thee, O Lord my King, and I will praise Thy name 
 for ever and ever ! 
 
 Glory be to Thee, O Lord God, for giving me this blessed oppor- 
 tunity of coming to Thy altar ! O grant I may never more pollute 
 my soul, which Thou hast now made Thy temple to reside in, who 
 art the God of purity ! 
 
 Praise the Lord, my soul: while I hve, will I praise the Lord: 
 as long as I have any being, I will sing praises unto Thee, O 
 blessed Saviour, my King and my God. 
 
 O gracious Lord, pardon all my failings, accept all my prayers 
 and praises, and supply all my wants, which I sum up in Thy own 
 blessed words. Our Father, &c. 
 
 Remember, good Philotheus, that when you have received the 
 Holy Sacrament, your greatest work is then but beginning, which 
 is, to observe all the promises you have made to God, of future 
 
 1 I Pet. i. 12 ; Eph. iii. lo ; i Cor. xi. lo. 
 
246 A Manual of Prayers 
 
 obedience, and therefore it is good for you to read over now and 
 then, and to renew your resolutions, and to examine yourself 
 how you have kept them, that you may preserve in your soul 
 a serious sense of your duty, and a conscientious care to perform 
 it. 
 
 A FORM OF GENERAL THANKSGIVING. 
 
 " Worthy art Thou, O Lord of heaven and earth, to receive 
 glory, and honour, and power, for Thou hast created all things, and 
 for Thy pleasure they are and were created." ^ 
 
 Thou hast made heaven, the heaven of heavens with all their 
 host, the earth and all things that are therein, Thou preservest 
 them all, and the host of heaven praiseth Thee.^ 
 
 Glory be to Thee, O Lord God Almighty, for creating man after 
 Thine own image, and making so great variety of creatures, to 
 minister to his use ! 
 
 Glory be to Thee, who givest us life, and breath, and all things, 
 who givest us fruitful seasons, and fillest our hearts with food and 
 gladness ! ^ 
 
 Glory be to Thee, O Lord God, for all Thy many blessings and 
 deliverances, for all Thy forbearance and long suffering to this 
 sinful nation ; glory be to Thee, O Lord, who hast made me also 
 share in those pubUc mercies, and for that light of the gospel 
 Thou vouchsafest us, of which the greatest part of the world is 
 totally ignorant. 
 
 Glory be to Thee, O heavenly Father, for my being and pre- 
 servation, strength and health, understanding and memory, friends 
 and benefactors, and for all my abilities of mind and body. 
 
 Glory be to Thee, O heavenly Father, for my competent liveli- 
 hood, for my education in this college, for all my known or 
 unknown deliverances, and for the guard Thy holy angels keep 
 over me. 
 
 But above all, glory be to Thee, for giving Thy only Son to die 
 for my sins, and for all the spiritual blessings He has purchased 
 for me, for my baptism, and all the opportunities Thou givest me 
 of serving Thee, or of receiving the Holy Eucharist ; for whatever 
 sin I have escaped, for whatever good I have done, or thought, 
 for all my helps of grace, and hopes of heaven, glory be to Thee ! 
 
 Praise the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, praise 
 His holy name. 
 
 Glory be to Thee, O Lord Jesus, for Thy inexpressible love to 
 lost man ! Glory be to Thee, O Lord, for condescending to take 
 our frail nature on Thee : glory be to Thee, for all Thy heavenly 
 
 1 Rev. iv. II. - Nehem. ix. 6. '^' Acts xiv. 17. 
 
for Winchester Scholars, 247 
 
 doctrine to instruct us, Thy great miracles to convince us, and Thy 
 unblameable example to guide us. 
 
 Glory be to Thee, O blessed Jesus, for Thy agony and bloody 
 sweat, for all the torments and anguish of Thy bitter passion. 
 
 Glory be to Thee, O blessed Jesus, for Thy glorious resurrec- 
 tion, and ascension into heaven, and intercession for us at the 
 right hand of Thy Father ! 
 
 O gracious Lord, Thou that hast done so much for me, how can 
 I ever sufficiently praise and love Thee ! 
 
 Praise the Lord Jesus, O my soul, and all that is within me, 
 praise His holy name ! 
 
 Glory be to Thee, O blessed Spirit, glory be to Thee for all the 
 miraculous gifts and graces Thou didst bestow on the Apostles, to 
 fit them to convert the world, and for inspiring the sacred penmen 
 of Holy Scripture ! 
 
 Glory be to Thee for instilling holy thoughts into my soul, for all 
 the ghostly strength, and support, and comfort, and illumination 
 we receive from Thee ; for all Thy preventing, and restraining, 
 and sanctifying grace, glory be to Thee ! 
 
 Blessed Spirit ! let me never more by my sins grieve Thee who 
 art the Author of life and joy to me ! 
 
 Praise the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, praise 
 His holy name. 
 
 Here^ Philotheus^ if you recite this thanksgiving^ on any great 
 festival or sainfs day, you 7nay add, 
 
 Particularly, O Lord, I am bound to praise Thee, for the great 
 blessing we this day commemorate, \_Here fnention it, for instance, 
 the Nativity of our blessed Saviour^ or the like.'] 
 
 Or for the saint, whose memory we this day celebrate, {^Here you 
 may name hi7r{\ and add, 
 
 Praise the Lord, therefore, O my soul, and all that is within me. 
 
 Blessing, and honour, and thanksgiving, and praise, more than 
 I can utter, more than I can conceive, be unto Thee, O most ador- 
 able Trinity, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, by all angels, all men, 
 all creatures, for ever and ever. Amen, Amen. 
 
 A FORM OF GENERAL INTERCESSION. 
 
 Holy, holy, holy Lord God Almighty, I, miserable sinner, 
 humbly acknowledge that I am altogether unworthy to pray for 
 myself ; but since Thou hast commanded us to make prayers, and 
 intercessions for all men ; in obedience to Thy command, and in 
 confidence of Thy unlimited goodness, I commend to Thy mercy 
 and divine providence, the wants and necessities of all mankind. 
 
248 A Manual of Prayers 
 
 Lord, let it be Thy good pleasure to restore to Thy Church 
 catholic, primitive peace and purity, and to preserve it against the 
 gates of hell. 
 
 Particularly, O Lord God, I implore Thy mercy for this sinful 
 nation, for the iniquity of the land is exceeding great. 
 
 Alas, alas ! we are unthankful for Thy blessings, incorrigible 
 under Thy judgments, and unprofitable under all the means of 
 grace, and what can we expect from Thee, but to drink deep of 
 the cup of Thy wrath ? 
 
 And, wTetch that I am, my sins have increased the heap of the 
 public impieties, and made their cry the louder to heaven for 
 vengeance ? 
 
 But, O Lord God, in the midst of judgments remember mercy ; 
 turn Thou us, Lord, and so shall we be turned: O be favourable 
 to Thy people, and give us all grace to turn to Thee, in fasting, 
 weeping, and mourning, to put a period to our provocations, and 
 do Thou put a period to our punishments. 
 
 O Lord God, out of the multitude of Thy mercies, give us grace 
 to fear Thee, and to keep Thy commandments always, that it may 
 be well with us, and Thou mayest rejoice over us to do us good. 
 Amen, Amen. 
 
 O let it be Thy good pleasure to bless us all, from the highest to 
 the lowest in bur several stations. 
 
 To defend the Church of England from all the assaults of schism, 
 or heresy, or sacrilege ; and to bless all bishops, priests, and 
 deacons, with apostolical graces, exemplary lives, and sound 
 doctrine. 
 
 O let it be Thy great pleasure, to save and defend our sovereign 
 lord the King, from all his enemies ; grant him a long and happy 
 reign over us ; and endue him with all those gifts and graces, 
 which may make him a terror to evil works, and a great promoter 
 of Thy glory. 
 
 Bless him in all his royal relations, with a great measure of all 
 temporal good things, and with eternal glory in the world to 
 come. 
 
 Lord, let it be Thy good pleasure to grant, 
 To the privy council, wisdom from above. 
 To all magistrates, integrity and zeal for rehgion. 
 To the gentry and commonalty, pious and just, peaceable and 
 
 loyal hearts. 
 To our armies and navy, protection and victory. 
 To the whole nation, healthful, and fruitful, and peaceful 
 times. 
 Lord, let it be Thy good pleasure to grant. 
 
 To all Jews, Turks, Infidels, Atheists, and Heretics, con- 
 version. 
 To all malefactors, and wicked men, timely repentance. 
 
for Winchester Scholars. 249 
 
 To all holy persons, increase of grace and perseverance. 
 To all that I have tempted any way to sin, or with whom I 
 have been a companion in evil, contrition and pardon. 
 
 Lord, let it be Thy good pleasure, to bless all those I have any 
 way wronged, and to forgive those that have wronged me, to 
 comfort the disconsolate, to give health to the sick, ease to those 
 that are in pain, patience to the afflicted, food to the hungry, 
 clothes to the naked, liberty to the captive, and a safe delivery to 
 women with child. 
 
 Lord, be Thou guide to the traveller, safety to those that are at 
 sea, a refuge to the oppressed, be Thou a Father to the fatherless, 
 take care of widows, pity and relieve all poor prisoners for debt, 
 and have mercy on all idiots and mad persons. 
 
 Lord, let it be Thy good pleasure to bless my parents, my 
 brothers and sisters, and all my relations, all my friends, all my 
 governors in this college, all my fellow-scholars, all who have com- 
 mended themselves to my prayers, [particularly, here you ?nay 
 name thein^ if you see occasion'] Lord, Thou best knowest all our 
 conditions, all our desires, all our wants. O do Thou therefore 
 suit Thy graces and blessings to our several necessities of body 
 or soul ! 
 
 Hear, O merciful Father, my supplications, and that for the sake 
 of Thy Son Jesus, who died for us all, in whose holy words I sum 
 up all my own, and the wants of all I pray for : Our Father 
 which, &c. 
 
 If you are a child of the college, good Philotheus, I advise you 
 now and then to say that usual collect, wherein you give thanks 
 for the founder, and pray for the college ; both which you have 
 great reason to do, in private, as well as in public, when you con- 
 sider that God has made the founder an instrument of doing you 
 much good, in advantaging your education ; and the blessings you 
 pray for on the college, you have yourself a part in. 
 
 A THANKSGIVING FOR THE FOUNDER. 
 
 I give Thee humble and hearty thanks, O most merciful Father, 
 for our founder, William of Wykeham, and all other our bene- 
 factors, by whose benefits we are in this college brought up to 
 godliness and good learning, and I beseech Thee to give us grace, 
 so to use these Thy blessings, to the glory of Thy name, that we 
 may become profitable members in the Church and common 
 wealth, and may be at last partakers of the immortal glory of the 
 resurrection, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen, Amen. 
 
250 A Manual of Prayers 
 
 DIRECTIONS TO USE THE FOREGOING PRAYERS. 
 
 Have a great care, good Philotheus, that you make not any of 
 the rules here given you, a pretence to neglect the orders and 
 duties of the place you live in, or of the school ; for that were idle- 
 ness rather than devotion. 
 
 When you fix on a day to examine your soul, or to confess your 
 sins in, believe me, Philotheus, nothing will more enforce your 
 prayers and repentance, than if they are accompanied with fasting 
 and alms, as you may see in the example of Cornelius, whose 
 prayers, and fasting, and alms, all joined together, were so accept- 
 able to God, as made Him send, first an angel from heaven, and 
 after the angel, an Apostle, and after the Apostle, the Holy Ghost, 
 to confirm and enlighten him.^ 
 
 But take notice, Philotheus, that all the fasting I advise you to, 
 is only to some fasting-day, on some one Friday, or Saturday, 
 when your commons are less than on other days, to content your- 
 self with your bare allowance, and withal to lay aside some small 
 matter, according to your stock, for the poor. 
 
 But beware you do not your duty only to be seen, or approved 
 of by others, for this were hypocrisy ; and take heed your per- 
 formance do not puff you up with a vain conceit of your holiness, 
 and that you are better than your fellows, for this were abominable 
 pride ; and alas ! when you have done the best you can, you fall 
 infinitely short of your duty, and it is God's mere mercy, not any 
 the least worth in you, makes your service any way acceptable to 
 Him. 
 
 When you have once throughly examined yourself, good Philo- 
 theus, and made a particular confession of the sins of your whole 
 life, and begged pardon, there is not the same absolute necessity 
 of such laborious examination at your next communicating, espe- 
 cially if you examine yourself carefully every night, and daily 
 repent of the evil of the day past, and are not conscious to yourself 
 of any great and notorious sins since your last confession, for if you 
 are not, the examination and confession only of what passed since 
 your last communicating, together with a general confession of your 
 former sins, and a solemn renewing of your former acts of repent- 
 ance, may serve the turn. 
 
 But if your conscience accuses you of any culpable neglect in 
 your last examination, or of any great relapses, or of any wilful 
 violations of your last vows and resolutions, in those, and the like 
 cases, it is the surest way to begin all your repentance again. 
 
 Remember, Philotheus, that though it is God that works in you 
 to will and to do of His good pleasure, yet God also commands you 
 to work out your own salvation yourself, and therefore you are to 
 
 1 Acts X. 
 
for Wiftchester Scholars. 251 
 
 labour for those blessings, and to practise those graces you pray 
 for, so that you are to read your duty in your prayers. 
 
 If you find any particular sin you are guilty of, or any particular 
 grace which you want, or any particular blessing which you are to 
 give thanks for, which is not here mentioned, it is easier for you to 
 add it to your prayers as occasion requires ; in like manner, if you 
 meet with any passage, in any prayer, which does not either so 
 directly, or so fully express the sense of your soul, as you could 
 wish, leave it out. 
 
 If opportunity, leisure, and devotion altogether, do at any time 
 when you go home, or at times of liberty, incline you to make 
 some present addition to your daily prayers, or like Daniel and 
 holy David,^ not only at morning and at evening, but at noon-day, 
 to pray to God, thou mayest then use the prayer for particular 
 graces,'-^ or those acts of resolution and oblation,^ or on Sunday 
 and holy days the form of general thanksgiving, or on fasting days, 
 the form of general intercession, as may best suit with the season, 
 and with your own affections. 
 
 DIRECTIONS CONCERNING INFIRMITIES. 
 
 If after all the care and pains you can take, and your petitions 
 also for God's grace, you find in the performance of any duty, in 
 your daily prayers, examinations, receiving the Holy Eucharist, 
 or the like, great coldness, and wanderings, and incomposedness, 
 and weariness of spirit, and that your heart is little affected with 
 it, and that you fall very much short of rules here laid down, and 
 therefore ready to conclude, that all you have done is in vain, 
 and displeasing to God : 
 
 Be not disheartened at this, Philotheus. It is a good sign to be 
 so much grieved for your failings in your duty ; it is an argument 
 of a filial tenderness, and desire to serve God better, that your 
 spirit is willing though your flesh is weak, and if you still continue 
 your endeavours and prayers, patiently relying on God's infinite 
 goodness, and on His gracious promise of hearing you, He will 
 assuredly hear you in His good time. 
 
 Know, good Philotheus, that this is the case of thousands, 
 as well as of yourself: the very best of Christians sigh under the 
 perverseness and impotence of their corrupt nature, and even the 
 just man falls seven times a day, through sins of ignorance, or 
 infirmity, or sudden surreptition, or inadvertency, or the like ; 
 though it is true, he riseth again by an habitual repentance : and 
 therefore be not discouraged, but daily beg pardon for your daily 
 failings. 
 
 1 Dan. vi. lo ; Ps. Iv. 17. - Page 235. 3 Page 234. 
 
252 A Manual of Prayers 
 
 To ease you in such indispositions, or when you are also 
 straitened in time, or diverted by any unavoidable avocations, I 
 advise you to shorten your prayers, and for the longer morning 
 and evening prayer, say the shorter ; and as for the other parts of 
 devotion, throughout this whole manual, they are cut into so many 
 breaks and divisions, on purpose, that you may lengthen or shorten 
 your prayers, as may best comply with your occasions and in- 
 firmities ; only let me warn you seriously, that under colour of 
 indulging your infirmities, you do not indulge your sloth. 
 
 Be not then afflicted, good Philotheus, if you cannot come up 
 exactly to the rules here given you. Believe me, it was never 
 imagined you would ; it was only hoped you would endeavour it : 
 and know that it is a great error of many devout souls to think all 
 they do signifies nothing, because they fall short of the rules laid 
 down in their books of devotion ; ^little considering that it is 
 sincerity God requires of us, and not perfection, for if there be a 
 willing mind in us, it is accepted according to that which a man 
 hath, and not according to that a man hath not ; ^ so that your 
 infirmities ought to humble, but not discourage you. 
 
 For instance, suppose you should not be able after all your 
 endeavours and prayers, to shed any, or but few tears for your sins, 
 be not too much cast down at it ; for to be troubled for want of 
 tears, is one sign of godly sorrow : and it is certain, though tears 
 are very desirable, yet they are not always signs of true repentance, 
 for hypocrites may shed them, and there may be true godly sorrow 
 without them ; and perhaps God will at last give them to you, 
 when His wisdom sees your heart in a fit temper for them. 
 
 Whensoever then you are troubled with an afflicting sense 
 of your infirmities, and of your many failings, I advise you to say 
 this prayer following, and to rest satisfied that He that died for 
 you, will both hear, and accept, and succour you. 
 
 A Prayer agaifist Failings. 
 
 O Thou compassionate Saviour of sinful men, look down from 
 heaven, and have mercy upon me, wretched sinner : O save me, 
 O help me, for without Thee I can do nothing as I ought ! 
 
 Miserable man that I am, my very prayers and repentance are 
 accompanied with so many failings, that I am sometimes afraid 
 that Thou, Lord, wilt not hear such prayers, nor regard such 
 repentance ! 
 
 But, O blessed Saviour, my Lord, and my God, it is Thy 
 promise, not to discourage the least measure of grace. Thou wilt 
 not quench the smoking flax, or break the bruised reed.^ 
 
 1 2 Cor. viii. 12. " Matt. xii. 20. 
 
for Winchester Scholars. 253 
 
 It is Thy practice, Lord, to comply with the weakness of Thy 
 servants. Thou art the good shepherd who earnest the tender 
 lambs in Thy very bosom, and gently leadest those that be with 
 young ! ^ 
 
 Nay, Lord, it is Thy very nature so to do, for Thou Thyself 
 hast felt human infirmities, and canst not but commiserate those 
 that sigh under them ! ^ 
 
 Why art thou then so heavy, O my soul, and why art thou so 
 disquieted within me ! O put thy trust in thy Saviour, who is the 
 help of my countenance and my God ! ^ 
 
 O gracious Lord, do Thou pity me and accept my weak and 
 imperfect performances, and supply, by Thy boundless mercy, all 
 the defects in my duty ; and if it be Thy pleasure I should serve 
 Thee better, O Lord God, increase Thy succours of grace, and I 
 shall then increase my obedience ! 
 
 O Thou Lover of souls, for the sake of that infinite compassion 
 of Thine, which moved Thee to die for me, hear me, and help 
 me. Amen, Lord Jesus ; Amen, Amen. 
 
 Directions in time of Sickness. 
 
 Far be it from you, good Philotheus, to counterfeit yourself 
 sick at any time, to avoid the school, or the like, lest God send 
 you sickness indeed to punish your idleness and dissimulation. 
 
 But if it please God to visit you with a real disease, let it be 
 your first care to make your peace with heaven ; for God, by 
 taking you off from your usual studies, does give you a call to 
 repentance, and the examination of yourself in the beginning of 
 your sickness is as seasonable and necessary as before your com- 
 municating ; besides, if your sickness proves dangerous, you will 
 then, I doubt not, desire to communicate, so that to fit you both 
 for the Holy Sacrament, and for heaven, examination and repent- 
 ance ought to be first in your thoughts. 
 
 Beware, Philotheus, of deferring this duty, because you are 
 young, and think you may have time enough to repent hereafter ; 
 for you see, that persons younger than yourself die, and you are 
 not sure to outlive this distemper ; and if you should put it off till 
 your sickness grows more on you, it may perhaps take away your 
 senses ; or if it does not, be sure it will much more indispose you 
 to prayer and recollection. 
 
 In the beginning then of your sickness begin your repent- 
 ance, and say over this following prayer, and not only say, but 
 practise it. 
 
 ilsa. xl. II. 2 Heb. ii. 18 ; iv. 1=^. 3 Psalm. xlii. 5. 
 
254 A Ma7iual of Prayers 
 
 Prayer in the beginning of Sickness. 
 
 Heavenly Father, who in Thy wisdom knowest what is best 
 for me, glory be to Thee. 
 
 Lord, if it seem good in Thy sight, divert this distemper from 
 me, which I now feel seizing on me, that. I may employ my health 
 to Thy glory, and praise Thy name ! 
 
 But if Thou art pleased it should grow on me, I willingly 
 submit to Thy afflicting hand, for Thou art w^ont to chastise those 
 whom Thou dost love, and I am sure, Thou wilt lay no more on 
 me, than Thou wilt enable me to bear.^ 
 
 1 know, O my God, Thou sendest this sickness on me for my 
 good, even to humble and reform me ; O grant it may work that 
 saving effect in me. 
 
 Lord, create in me a true penitent sorrow for all my sins past, a 
 steadfast faith in Thee, and sincere resolutions of amendment for 
 the time to come. 
 
 Deliver me from all frowardness and impatience, and give me 
 an entire resignation to Thy divine will : O suffer not the disease 
 to take away my senses, and do Thou continually supply my 
 thoughts with holy ejaculations ; Lord, bless all means that are 
 used for my recovery, and restore me to my health in Thy good 
 time ; but if otherwise Thou hast appointed for me. Thy blessed 
 will be done. O wean my affections from all things below, and 
 fill me with ardent desires after heaven : Lord, fit me for Thyself, 
 and then call me to those joys unspeakable and full of glory, 
 when Thou pleasest, and that for the sake of Thy only Son Jesus, 
 my Saviour, in whose holy words I sum up all my wants : Our 
 Father, &c. 
 
 Ejaculations in time of Sickness. 
 
 Father, if it be possible, remove this cup from me ; neverthe- 
 less not my will but Thine be done."^ 
 
 Trouble and heaviness have taken hold on me, but my sure 
 trust is in Thee, O Lord, 
 
 Forsake me not, O my God, when my strength faileth me ; 
 haste Thee to help me, O Lord God of my salvation ! ^ 
 
 Lord, teach me so to number my days, that I may apply my 
 heart to wisdom.^ 
 
 Deal Thou with me, O Lord, according to Thy name, for sweet 
 is Thy mercy. 
 
 Lord, what is my hope ! truly my hope is even in Thee. 
 
 O my soul, tarry thou the Lord's leisure, be strong and He shall 
 comfort thy heart, and put thou thy trust in the Lord ! ^ 
 
 1 I Cor. X. 13. - Matt. xxvi. 39. 3 Pg. xxxvii. 21, ii. 
 
 ^ Ps. xc. 12. 5 Psalm xxvii. 16. 
 
for Winchester Scholars. 255 
 
 Into Thy hands I commend my spirit, for Thou hast redeemed 
 me, O Lord, Thou God of truth. 
 
 In my Father's house are many mansions, and Thou, Lord 
 Jesus, art gone before to prepare the place for us, that where Thou 
 art we may be also ! ^ 
 
 Lord, be merciful to me a miserable sinner. 
 
 Lord God, we must all at the last day appear before Thy 
 judgment-seat ; O cleanse me from my sins, that I may be found 
 blameless at the coming of the Lord Jesus ! 
 
 As the day goeth away, and the shadows of the evening are 
 stretched out, so passeth away my life, even like a vapour, that 
 appeareth for a little time, and vanisheth away ! ^ 
 
 Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man con- 
 ceived, the good things which God hath laid up for those that 
 love Him. Lord, do Thou therefore inflame my soul with Thy 
 love ! 3 
 
 1 know. Lord, that Thy judgments are right, and Thou of very 
 faithfulness hast caused me to be troubled.* 
 
 heavenly Father, my hope is wholly in Thy mercy, and in 
 the merits and sufferings of my Saviour, O for His sake forgive 
 and save me ! 
 
 To these and the ' like ejaculations, Philotheus, which thou 
 mayest gather thyself, thou mayest now and then either read a 
 Psalm yourself, or have one read to you, as particularly the 23rd 
 or 25th, or 27th or sist, or any other that does best suit with thy 
 condition. 
 
 1 need give you no farther directions for the time of sickness, 
 because I presume, Philotheus, that when you feel your sickness 
 prevailing on you, you will then send for a spiritual guide, who 
 will give you more particular advice, and minister to all the 
 necessities of your soul, and therefore I shall only add this form of 
 thanksgiving. 
 
 A THANKSGIVING FOR RECOVERY. 
 
 Glory be to Thee, O heavenly Father, for the sickness Thou 
 hast in mercy sent me ! 
 
 Lord, the stripes Thou didst lay on me, were the stripes of love, 
 glory be to Thee ! 
 
 Before I was troubled, I went wrong, but now will I keep Thy 
 word.^ 
 
 It is good for me that I have been in trouble, that I might learn 
 Thy statutes. 
 
 1 John xiv. 2. 2 Jer. vii. ; Jam. iv. 14. 3 i Cor. ii 9. 
 
 •1 Psalm cxix. 75. 5 Psalm cxix. 67. 
 
256 A Manual of Prayers for WincJiester Scholars. 
 
 Glory be to Thee, O Lord, glory be to Thee, for delivering me 
 from the terrors of death, and restoring me to my health again, 
 glory be to Thee ! 
 
 I called upon the Lord in my trouble, and the Lord heard me 
 at large ! ^ 
 
 I shall not die but live, and declare the works of the Lord ! 
 
 Praise the Lord therefore, O my soul, as long as I have my life, 
 which at first God gave me, and which He has now restored to 
 me, I will sing praise unto my God ! 
 
 O Lord God, who hast in Thy tender mercy prolonged my days 
 in this world, give me grace to spend that life Thou hast now 
 lengthened, in Thy service. O give me grace to perform all my 
 resolutions of new obedience, and so to live in the filial fear of 
 Thee, all the remainder of my time, that I may at last die at peace 
 with myself, at peace with the whole world, and at peace with 
 Thee ; and that for the sake of Thy well beloved Son, and my 
 Saviour, in whose holy words I sum up all my wants : Our 
 Father, &c. 
 
 To this you may add, if you think fit, the 103rd Psalm. 
 
 To conclude, good Philotheus, if you have reaped any good from 
 these prayers and instructions, be sure to give God hearty thanks 
 for it, and let this encourage you to make the more frequent use of 
 them, and God of His infinite mercy bless them every day more 
 iand more to your growth in grace, and to His own glory. Amen. 
 
 1 Pfalm cxviii. 5. 
 
THREE H YM NS 
 
 BY 
 
 THE AUTHOR OF THE MANUAL OF PRAYERS. 
 
 FOR THE USE OF THE SCHOLARS OF WINCHESTER COLLEGE 
 
 A MORNING HYMN. 
 
 AWAKE, my soul, and with the sun, 
 Thy daily stage of duty run ; 
 Shake off dull sloth, and joyful rise, 
 To pay thy morning sacrifice. 
 
 Thy precious time misspent, redeem, 
 Each present day thy last esteem ; 
 Improve thy talent with due care, 
 For thQ. great day thyself prepare. 
 
 In conversation be sincere, 
 Keep conscience as the noon-tide clear. 
 Think how all-seeing God thy ways. 
 And all thy secret thoughts, surveys. 
 
 1 Advertisement. — "Whereas at the end of a book lately published, called 'A Con- 
 ference between the Soul and Bodj^ there are some Hymns said to be written by Bishop 
 Ken,' who absolutely disowns them, as being very false and uncorrect ; but the genuine 
 ones are to be had only of Charles Brome, bookseller, whose just property the original 
 copy is." 
 
 I 
 
258 A Morning Hymn, 
 
 By influence of the light divine, 
 Let thy own light to others shine, 
 Reflect all heaven's propitious rays, 
 In ardent love and cheerful praise. 
 
 'Wake, and lift up thyself, my heart, 
 And with the angels bear thy part, 
 Who all night long unwearied sing 
 High praise to the eternal King. 
 
 I wake, I wake, ye heavenly choir. 
 May your devotion me inspire. 
 That I like you my age may spend, 
 Like you may on my God attend. 
 
 May I like you on God delight. 
 Have all day long my God in sight, 
 Perform like you my Maker's will, 
 O may I never more do ill. 
 
 Had I your wings to heaven I'd fly, 
 But God shall that defect supply ; 
 And my soul wing'd with warm desire, 
 Shall all day long to heaven aspire. 
 
 All praise to Thee, who safe hast kept, 
 And hast refresh'd me whilst I slept : 
 Grant, Lord, when I from death shall wake, 
 I may of endless light partake. 
 
 I would not wake, or rise again, 
 Even heaven itself I would disdain, 
 Wert not Thou there to be enjoy'd, 
 And I in hymns to be employed. 
 
 Heav'n is, dear Lord, 
 O never then from me depart : 
 For to my soul, 'tis hell to be 
 But for one moment void of Thee. 
 
An Evening Hymn. 259 
 
 Lord, I my vows to Thee renew ; 
 Disperse my sins as morning dew : 
 Guard my first springs of thought and will, 
 And with Thyself my spirit fill. 
 
 Direct, control, suggest, this day. 
 All I design, or do, or say ; 
 That all my powers with all their might, 
 In Thy sole glory may unite. 
 
 Praise God from whom all blessings flow, 
 Praise Him, all creatures here below, 
 Praise Him above, ye heavenly host, 
 Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. 
 
 AN EVENING HYMN. 
 
 All praise to Thee, my God, this night, 
 For all the blessings of the light. 
 Keep me, O keep me, King of kings, 
 Beneath Thy own Almighty wings. 
 
 Forgive me, Lord, for Thy dear Son, 
 The ill that I this day have done ; 
 That with the world, 'myself, and Thee, 
 I ere I sleep at peace may be. 
 
 Teach me to live, that I may dread 
 The grave as little as my bed ; 
 To die, that this vile body may 
 Rise glorious at the awful day. 
 
 O may my soul on Thee repose, 
 And may sweet sleep mine eyelids close 
 Sleep that may me more vig'rous make. 
 To serve my God when I awake. 
 
26o An Evening Hymn. 
 
 When in the night I sleepless lie, 
 My soul with heavenly thoughts supply 
 Let no ill dreams disturb my rest, 
 No power of darkness me molest. 
 
 Dull sleep, of sense me to deprive, 
 I am but half my time alive ; 
 Thy faithful lovers, Lord, are griev'd 
 To lie so long of Thee bereav'd. 
 
 But tho' sleep o'er my frailty reigns, 
 Let it not hold me long in chains ; 
 And now and then let loose my heart, 
 Till it an hallelujah dart. 
 
 The faster sleep the senses binds, 
 The more unfetter'd are our minds 
 O may my soul, from matter free, 
 Thy loveliness unclouded see ! 
 
 O when shall I in endless day, 
 For ever chase dark sleep away, 
 And hymns with the supernal choir, 
 Incessant sing and never tire ! 
 
 O may my Guardian while I sleep, 
 Close to my bed his vigils keep, 
 His love angelical instil, 
 vStop all the avenues of ill. 
 
 May he celestial joy rehearse, 
 And thought to thought with me converse 
 Or in my stead, all the night long. 
 Sing to my God a grateful song. 
 
 Praise God from whom all blessings flow, 
 Praise Him, all creatures here below. 
 Praise Him above, ye heavenly host, 
 Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. 
 
A Midnight Hymn. 261 
 
 A MIDNIGHT HYMN. 
 
 My God, now I from sleep awake, 
 
 The sole possession of me take ; 
 
 From midnight terrors me secure, 
 
 And guard my heart from thoughts impure. 
 
 Bless'd angels ! while we silent He, 
 You hallelujahs sing on high ; 
 You joyful hymn the ever bless'd, 
 Before the throne, and never rest. 
 
 I with your choir celestial join, 
 In offering up a hymn divine, 
 With you in heaven I hope to dwell, 
 And bid the night and v/orld farewell. 
 
 My soul, when I shake off this dust, 
 Lord, in Thy arms I will intrust ; 
 O make me Thy peculiar care, 
 Some mansion for my soul prepare. 
 
 Give me a place at Thy saints' feet. 
 Or some fall'n angel's vacant seat ; 
 I'll strive to sing as loud as they, 
 Who sit above in brighter day. 
 
 O may I always ready stand. 
 With my lamp burning in my hand ; 
 May I in sight of heav'n rejoice, 
 Whene'er I hear the Bridegroom's voice. 
 
 All praise to Thee in light array'd. 
 Who light Thy dwelling-place hast made : 
 A boundless ocean of bright beams, 
 From Thy all-glorious Godhead streams. 
 
262 A Midnight Hymn. 
 
 The sun in its meridian height 
 
 Is very darkness in Thy sight I 
 
 My soul, O hghten and inflame, 
 
 With thought and love of Thy great name. 
 
 Blessed Jesu, Thou on heaven intent, 
 Whole nights hast in devotion spent ; 
 But I, frail creature, soon am tir'd, 
 And all my zeal is soon expir'd. 
 
 My soul, how canst thou weary grow, 
 Of antedating bliss below ; 
 In sacred hymns, and heavenly love, 
 Which will eternal be above. 
 
 Shine on me, Lord, nev\^ life impart, 
 Fresh ardours kindle in my heart ; 
 One ray of Thy all-quick'ning light, 
 Dispels the sloth and clouds of night. 
 
 Lord, lest the tempter me surprise, 
 Watch over Thine own sacrifice ; 
 All loose, all idle thoughts cast out. 
 And make my very dreams devout. 
 
 Praise God, from whom all blessings flow. 
 Praise Him, all creatures here below ; 
 Praise Him above, ye heavenly host, 
 Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. 
 
PRAYERS, 
 
 FOR 
 
 THE USE OF ALL PERSONS, WHO COME TO 
 ^ THE BATHS FOR CURE. 
 
PRAYERS, &c. 
 
 ALL GLORY BE TO GOD. 
 
 Thomas unworthy Bishop of Bath and IVc/ts, to all Persons who 
 come to the Baths for Cure, wisheth from God the Blessings of 
 this Life^ and of the Next. 
 
 Good Christl\n Brother or Sister, 
 
 Whatsoever the calamity be, whether sickness, or lameness, or 
 want of children, which brings you to this place, I am sensible 
 how tender a regard I ought to have for you, since you are come 
 within my fold, in imitation of our most merciful Redeemer, who 
 in respect even of our bodily distempers, sympathised with our 
 miseries, " bore our griefs, and carried our sorrows." ^ 
 
 For this reason I could not satisfy myself, in only praying for 
 you, as I daily do, unless I did also send you these directions and 
 prayers, which are few, and short, and familiar, to comply with the 
 infirmities of your condition, and which I hope, by God's blessing, 
 may be "words spoken in season :" nor can I doubt, but that all 
 of you who want such helps will seriously peruse them, and observe 
 the advices of your spiritual physicians, as you are wont to do 
 those of your corporal. 
 
 Do not think the baths can do you any good, without God's 
 immediate blessing on them, for it is God that must first heal the 
 waters, before they can have any virtue to heal you. 
 
 The river Jordan could never have cleansed Naaman of his 
 leprosy,^ had he washed himself in it seventy times seven times, 
 had not God blessed it to his cleansing. The pool of Siloam ^ 
 
 1 Isa. liii. 4 ; Matt. viii. 17. 2 2 Kings v. 10. 
 
 3 John ix. 7. 
 
266 Prayers for the Use of all Persons 
 
 could never have restored sight to one born bhnd, had not our 
 Lord sent him to it. And the pool of Bethesda/ could never have 
 made sick persons whole, but that an angel was sent by God " to 
 trouble the waters." 
 
 I cannot then do better, than to send you to that angel, who, 
 according to St John, flies in the midst of heaven, having the ever- 
 lasting Gospel to preach to them that dwell on the earth, saying 
 with a loud voice, " Fear God, and give glory to Him, and 
 worship Him, that made heaven and earth, and the sea, and the 
 fountains of waters." ^ 
 
 This was the angel's sermon, and I beseech you to become his 
 auditors, and to observe how after the heaven, and the earth, and 
 the sea, he particularly mentions the springs or fountains of waters, 
 as a very wonderful part of the creation : for out of the dark 
 places of the earth, through passages, and from causes unknown 
 to the search of the wisest of men, God makes sweet and fresh 
 springs to rise, to water the earth, to give drink to every beast of 
 the field, and to supply all the necessities of human life, and 
 springs of different kinds, some to allay our thirst, some to cure 
 our diseases. 
 
 Look therefore on the bath, as a very admirable and propitious 
 work of Divine Providence, designed for the good of a great num- 
 ber of infirm persons, as well as for yourself. Praise and adore 
 God, who has signally manifested His power, and His mercy, in 
 creating so universal a good ; and the first thing you do when 
 you are come to this place, " worship God who made the 
 fountain." 
 
 To this end you may use the following form at your first coming, 
 and all the time of your stay : and be pleased to observe that this, 
 and all the other forms which you find here, are penned in distinct 
 parts on purpose, that you may choose those which are most suit- 
 able to your condition, or recite one at a time, if your weakness 
 will not bear any longer intention of your mind. 
 
 A Thanksgiving for the Waters, and a prayer for Gods blessi?ig 
 
 on them. 
 
 With all humility of soul and body, 1 praise, and adore, and 
 worship Thee, O Lord God, all-mighty, and all-gracious, who 
 " hast made the fountain of waters : Thou sendest the springs into 
 the valleys which run among the hills : " some for our refreshment, 
 some for medicine, and in particular, Thou hast sent us this spring 
 as a general good to infirm persons. And therefore all glory be to 
 Thee. 
 
 Thee only, O Lord, do I acknowledge the author of the spring ; 
 
 1 John V. 4. 2 Rev. xiv. 7. 
 
who come to the Baths for Cure, 267 
 
 Thou only canst make it effectual to my cure. In Thee only I 
 trust ; on Thee only I depend ; to Thee only I commit myself ; 
 all my hope is only in Thee. 
 
 Behold, O merciful Lord, I am come to the bath, as Naaman to 
 Jordan : O may I feel the like happy effect, " O may I wash and 
 be healed ! " 
 
 I come, Lord, like the blind man to the pool of Siloam; I come, 
 for Thou Thyself hast sent me, as Thou didst send him. Thy pro- 
 vidence by laying on me this distemper, has bid me come hither. 
 O may the bath be as powerful to restore my health, as the pool 
 was to give the blind man his sight. 
 
 I come, Lord, to the bath, like the infirm man to the pool of 
 Bethesda ; O send Thy angel to move the waters as I step into 
 them, to move them, not only for me, but for all other infirm 
 persons also, whom Thou hast sent hither, " that we may be made 
 whole, of whatsoever diseases we have," if it seem good in Thy 
 sight. 
 
 Lord, be Thou pleased to guide and counsel my physician, that 
 he may thoroughly discover the cause of my distemper, and pre- 
 scribe proper means for my recovery, and do Thou so bless 
 those means, that in Thy good time, they may become suc- 
 cessful. 
 
 O my God, hear me, and help me, for the merits of Jesus Thy 
 beloved. Amen. 
 
 You have great reason to begin with God, not only because He 
 is the author of the bath, and can only bless it to your health ; but 
 also because He is the author of that very distemper that brings 
 you hither. "For affliction cometh not forth of the dust, 
 neither does trouble spring out of the ground : " ^ it is not a thing 
 that happens to us by chance : it does not proceed only from 
 natural causes, which are secondary and instrumental : we must 
 look beyond all these, to the permission and appointment of Divine 
 Providence, from which it first took its rise, and by which it is 
 wholly conducted. 
 
 Since then it is certain that your affliction comes from God, and 
 it is as certain that " God does not afflict willingly, nor grieve the 
 children of men,"^ ^^t that He has always a most righteous motive 
 to incHne Him to afflict them. It very highly concerns you to ex- 
 amine yourself with all the care you can, that you may discover 
 what there is in you, what you have done, to move the God of 
 mercy to grieve you. 
 
 There is no calamity, whether it be sickness, ot pain, or lame- 
 ness, or the like, that can befal us, but it is the natural consequence 
 of our depraved, frail, mortal condition, and is incident to good 
 
 1 Job V. 6. J 2 Lam. iii. 3. 
 
268 Prayers for the Use of all Persons 
 
 men, as well as to bad ; to the former it is a punishment, to the 
 latter it is a trial. 
 
 Holy Scriptures teach us, that God has threatened very many, 
 and very sore bodily diseases to disobedience :i and that they who 
 are sick are " stricken by God." The Corinthians, who profaned 
 the blessed Sacrament, were for that cause, many of them, "weak 
 and sickly." 2 And our Saviour, in His advice He gives to the man 
 whom He cured of an infirmity of thirty-eight years' continuance, 
 intimates that sin was the cause of that inveterate disease.^ 
 
 But when God is pleased to afflict righteous persons with sick- 
 ness, as He did King David and Hezekiah,"^ their sickness is not 
 an effect of God's anger, but of His paternal disciphne towards 
 them. 
 
 The like may be said of lameness, which happens, by the Divine 
 direction, to good men as well as to the wicked : " King Asa who 
 did that which was good and right in the eyes of the Lord his God, 
 in the time of his old age was diseased in his feet."^ Mephibosheth 
 "was lame from five years old."^ And the poor man whom 
 St Peter and St John miraculously healed, "was lame from his 
 mother's womb." '' 
 
 Since then both sickness and lameness are strokes given us by 
 God, to Him we must chiefly, and in the first place, betake our- 
 selves for cure; and the Holy Ghost has set a mark of spiritual 
 disgrace on Asa, who was otherwise a good king, "that in his disease 
 he sought not to the Lord, but to the physicians." ^ 
 
 Not that the Scripture does in the least condemn or discour- 
 age our going to the physicians when we are sick, or our use 
 of all due means for our recovery. Our Saviour Himself, when 
 He says, "They that are whole need not a physician, but they that 
 are sick," ^ sufficiently intimates, that they that are sick do need 
 one. 
 
 The son of Sirach gives excellent advice to both the sick and the 
 physician : ^^ " Honour a physician with the honour due unto him, 
 for the uses which you may have of him, for the Lord hath created 
 him ; the Lord hath created medicines out of the earth, and he 
 that is wise will not abhor them ; and with such doth He heal 
 men and taketh away their pains." But then he adds, " My son, 
 in thy sickness be not neghgent, but pray unto the Lord, and He 
 will make thee whole ; leave off from sin, and order thy hands 
 aright, and cleanse thy heart from all wickedness ; give a sweet 
 savour, and a memorial of fine flour ; then give place to the 
 physician. There is a time when in their hands there is good 
 
 1 Deut. xxviii. 58, 59, 60 ; xxix. 22 ; 2 Sam. xii. 15 ; 2 Chron. xxi. 18. 
 
 2 I Cor. xi. 30. \ John v. 14. 
 
 4 Psalm xxxviii. 7 ; Isa. xxxviii. i. ° i Kings xv. 23. 
 
 6 2 Sam. iv. 4. / Acts ui. 2. 
 
 8 2 Chron. xvi. 12. 9 Matt. ix. 12. W Eccles. xxxvui, i, &c. 
 
who come to tJie Baths for Ciire, 269 
 
 success ; for they also shall pray unto the Lord, that He would 
 prosper that which they give for ease and remedy to prolong life." 
 
 I earnestly recommend to you this counsel of the son of Sirach ; 
 and therefore to you that are sick, or infirm, or lame, I recommend 
 repentance, and prayer, and sacrifice, the sacrifice of alms, by 
 which you will offer to God " a sweet savour.'' To your physician 
 I also recommend devout prayer to the Author of health and sick- 
 ness, that his physic may prosper ; and then his physic is like to 
 procure a blessing, when both the patient and the physician join in 
 their prayers for it. 
 
 I exhort you to begin with repentance, and to read devotional 
 books on that subject, of which, blessed be God, there are good 
 store ; for it is repentance that must dispose you for prayer. 
 
 The prophet complains of the obdurateness of those, who, "when 
 God had stricken them, did not grieve." ^ God forbid you should 
 be thus obdurate ! God forbid but, since He has stricken you, 
 you should grieve, and grieve with that "godly sorrow which 
 worketh repentance to salvation, not to be repented of!" 
 
 I beseech you then to examine yourselves very seriously whether 
 you have ever repented of your sins, so as to " bring forth fruits 
 meet for repentance ; " for if you are guilty either of total impeni- 
 tence, or of an universal relapse into your old sins, or if you lie 
 under the dominion of any one wilful sin, look no further for the 
 original cause of your distemper : God has in justice sent it you 
 for your punishment. 
 
 But the most merciful God, " who delights not in the death of a 
 sinner," in His very punishments designs rather to awaken than to 
 destroy us ; and if this punishment, by which God calls you to re- 
 pentance, does awaken you out of your former security, it turns to 
 a blessing, to a happy occasion of your eternal bliss : be of good 
 cheer then, and repent. 
 
 Your very bodily distemper will present you with a hvely idea of 
 your sins, and Holy Scripture makes use of the former, to picture 
 ou^ to us the latter. Think then of the weakness, and the pain, 
 and the indisposedness, and the restlessness, and the danger that 
 afflict the sick man, and compare them with that impotence to 
 good, that anguish of a wounded spirit, that universal indisposed- 
 ness to duty, that restlessness of conscience, those horrors of 
 eternal torments, which attend the sinner, and which without re- 
 pentance are for ever incurable, and make this reflection with 
 yourself, that if we are so very solicitous for the cure of our 
 bodies, much more ought we to be solicitous for the cure of our 
 souls. 
 
 But if your heart does not condemn you, if you are conscious to 
 yourself you have truly repented, and have never "returned to your 
 vomit again," and indulge no one wilful sin, and have nothing to 
 
 1 Jer. Y. 3. 
 
270 Prayers for the Use of all Persons 
 
 accuse yourself of, but your daily failings ; which are the unavoid- 
 able infelicities of lapsed nature, and for which you daily beg 
 pardon, then is your distemper a fatherly chastisement only, and 
 you ought to rejoice in it rather than in the least to regret it. 
 However it is your best way to renew your repentance on this 
 occasion, and to be sure to "hear God's rod," and to learn that 
 lesson from it, in which you are sensible you were deficient before, 
 and which God has sent this affliction on purpose to teach you. 
 
 True repentance will rightly dispose you for prayer, and you 
 will come with boldness, with an humble, but firm confidence 
 " to the throne of grace," when you can look on God as reconciled 
 to you in Jesus, and shall be sure " to obtain help in time of need." 
 To obtain either the cure of your distemper, or if God see the con- 
 tinuance of it to be more for your spiritual advantage, such grace 
 which is sufficient for you, such consolation which in your own 
 soul, and satisfaction in God's good pleasure, as shall abundantly 
 overbalance your calamity. 
 
 Prayer is a duty always obliging, and to be practised by all, 
 because all stand alike in need of the Divine mercy and bene- 
 diction ; but it is more especially the duty proper for the time of 
 affliction, because our needs are then more pressing, and therefore 
 says St James, " Is any afflicted, let him pray." ^ 
 
 Nor is it enough for you to pray for yourselves, but according to 
 the same apostle's advice, and as soon as you come to this place, 
 whether you are poor or rich, " send for," or, if you are able, go 
 yourself to " the elders of the church," to pray over you, as God's 
 ministers, and to give you ghostly counsel, as they are guides of 
 souls ; desire them that you may have the daily prayers of the 
 whole congregation for you, that the waters may be blessed to you, 
 and be sure you daily frequent the public prayers yourself, or as 
 often as your infirmity permits. 
 
 In all your prayers for deliverance from your present affliction, 
 you must always remember to pray with resignation of your own 
 will, to the Divine Will, as our Lord hath taught us, " Father, if 
 Thou be willing, remove this cup from me, nevertheless not my 
 will but Thine be done." ^ This short effectual heavenly prayer I 
 beseech you to have always in your heart, and in your mouth ; and 
 the oftener you repeat it, endeavour to repeat it with more and 
 more fervency, committing your condition, all your sorrows, and 
 the answer of all your prayers, wholly to God, " Committing your 
 soul " entirely to Him in " well-doing, as into the hands of a 
 faithful Creator." 3 
 
 Of the two prayers which follow, you may use daily one, or both, 
 in whole, or in part, as they best suit with the temper of your soul, 
 and with your particular condition. 
 
 1 James v. 13. - Luke xxii. 42. 8 j Pet. iv. 19. 
 
ivho come to the Baths for Cure. 2/1 
 
 A Prayer for Repentance when God is provoked to punish us. 
 
 O Holy Lord God, I, wretched sinner, humbly acknowledge, 
 that Thou, in Thy justice hast laid this calamity on me for my 
 sins ; glory be to Thee, O Lord, that Thou hast not given me over 
 as incorrigible, that Thou hast sent this punishment to awaken, 
 and to humble me. O may it have that blessed effect on me that, 
 from my very misery, I may date my salvation ! 
 
 Thou, Lord, hast stricken me [with sickness], [with lameness], 
 and it is just I should " bear Thy indignation, because I have 
 sinned against Thee." 
 
 Blessed be Thy infinite goodness, that my punishment is not 
 greater, that " Thou hast not suffered Thy whole displeasure to 
 arise." 
 
 O Lord God, " in the midst of judgment remember mercy, that 
 mercy which is over all Thy works, that mercy in which Thou 
 Thyself delightest ; " behold a great, a miserable sinner, a fit 
 object of that mercy here prostrate before Thee : " Lord have 
 mercy on me." 
 
 Ah Lord, my spiritual distemper is infinitely more mortal than 
 my corporeal : O that it might be Thy good pleasure to forgive 
 the one, and to remove the other ! 
 
 Thou that art " rich in mercy," give the grace of true repent- 
 ance to all that come to the waters ; and give it to me, the great- 
 est sinner of them all. 
 
 Lord, give me grace to examine all my misspent life ; in the 
 bitterness of my soul to confess my sins, with a broken and con- 
 trite heart to bewail them : with utmost abhorrence to forsake 
 them : and do Thou so " order my steps in Thy word," that for 
 the time to come, "no wickedness may have dominion over me," 
 that I may " bring forth fruits meet for repentance." 
 
 1 confess. Lord, that I have " abused my members, and made 
 them instruments of unrighteousness to sin," ^ and Thou hast most 
 justly punished them for it ; O restore them to me again, and I will 
 endeavour all my life, " to make them instruments of righteous- 
 ness " to Thy glory. 
 
 Ah Lord, it is the cure of my soul, for which I pray more 
 earnestly, than for the cure of my body. I go to the bath for my 
 bodily health ; and bless it, if it be Thy will, to my perfect recovery, 
 and to the recovery of all those that come thither with me : but 
 for the health of my soul I fly to the blood of Jesus, " to the 
 fountain set open for sin and for uncleanness :" I consult my 
 bodily physician for my distemper, but with much greater concern, 
 I fly to Thee, O Lord, who art the sovereign Physician of souls. 
 
 " Heal my soul, O God, for I have sinned," grievously sinned 
 
 1 Rom. vi. 13. 
 
2/2 Prayers for the Use of all Persons 
 
 " against Thee," and by my sins have provoked Thee, who art the 
 God of mercy, to anger. " O heal my backsHdings, and love me 
 freely, and take away mine iniquity, and receive me graciously, 
 and turn Thine anger from me." 
 
 I humbly pray to Thee, O Lord, for my bodily cure ; but because 
 I know I may be eternally happy hereafter without health of body 
 here, I pray for it with a resolution to acquiesce in Thy good 
 pleasure, shouldest Thou think fit to deny it. But, O my God, 
 when I pray for the cure of my soul, I resolve I will not be denied ; 
 I will never give over importuning Thee, till Thou givest me that 
 " godly sorrow, which worketh repentance to salvation, not to be 
 repented of," till Thou hast begun to kindle Thy love in my heart. 
 
 " Turn Thou me, O Lord, and I shall be turned." I will give 
 Thee no rest, till Thou hast turned me to Thyself. Turn me 
 then, O my God, O turn me, O pardon me, O succour me, O heal 
 me, O save me, for Thy own infinite mercies' sake, and for the 
 merits of Jesus Thy beloved, in whom Thou hast made sinners 
 accepted. Amen, Amen. 
 
 A Prayer for Amendment when God is pleased to try us, 
 
 " I know, Lord, that Thy judgments are right, and that Thou of 
 very faithfulness hast caused me to be troubled," for " before I was 
 afflicted I went astray, but now have I learned to keep Thy word," 
 blessed be Thy goodness for afflicting me. 
 
 True it is, O my God, that Thou hast most seasonably sent me 
 this affliction [this sickness and lameness], because Thou in Thy 
 propitious wisdom didst see that I wanted it. O may it have its 
 most gracious and full influence on my soul, that I may be bettered 
 by it. 
 
 I humbly beg of Thee, O merciful Father, that this affliction may 
 strengthen my faith, which Thou sawest was growing weak : fix 
 my hope which was staggering, quicken my devotion which was 
 languishing, unite me to my first love which I was forsaking, re- 
 kindle my charity which was cooling, revive my zeal which was 
 dying, confirm my obedience which was wavering, recover my 
 patience w^hich was faintmg, mortify my pride which was presum- 
 ing, and perfect my repentance which was daily decaying : for all 
 these and the like infirmities, to which my soul is exposed, O make 
 Thy affliction my cure. 
 
 Grant, O my God, that this affliction Thou hast in mercy laid on 
 me, may wean all my affections from the world, which I was apt 
 to grow too fond of ; rescue me from those occasions of evil, of 
 which I was in danger ; secure me from those temptations which 
 were ready to assault me ; restrain me from those sins, to which 
 my nature most strongly inclined ; preserve me from all those 
 
wJio come to the Baths for Cure. 273 
 
 abuses of health 1 am apt to incur ; and purify my soul from all 
 that dross, and from all those vicious propensions, which either 
 my repentance had left behind, or which I have since contracted. 
 
 O my God, let Thy affliction produce my amendment, and all 
 the happy effects in me which it is wont to do in Thy children, 
 and which Thou in mercy doest design it should ; and then con- 
 tinue Thy affliction if it seem good in Thy sight : behold, Lord, 
 " Happy is the man whom Thou thus correctest." ^ 
 
 What is best for me, O my God, I know not ; my flesh desires a 
 deliverance from this distemper, and if it be Thy pleasure, O Lord, 
 deliver me : my spirit desires that Thou only wouldest choose for me. 
 Do Thou then, O heavenly Father, choose for me because Thou 
 art my Father, and out of Thy fatherly tenderness wilt be sure to 
 choose what is best for me. I resign up my own will entirely to 
 Thine. " Father, if Thou be willing, remove this cup from me ; 
 nevertheless not my will but Thine be done." 
 
 O my Father, if it be Thy blessed will the waters should not be 
 effectual to me, make them effectual to all other infirm persons 
 besides : I will rejoice in Thy goodness for removing their afflic- 
 tion, I will acquiesce in Thy goodness for continuing mine. 
 
 Hear, Lord, and have compassion on me, for the merits and 
 sufferings of Jesus, whose perfect resignation may I always 
 imitate. Amen, amen. 
 
 Next to the great duties of repentance, and prayer, I am to ex- 
 hort you to sacrifice, the sacrifice of alms-giving, which is a duty 
 appropriate to the rich, or to those who have a competence of the 
 things of this world, so that as hitherto I have united the rich and 
 poor together, because both are alike obliged to repent and to pray, 
 I must now separate them, and give distinct exhortations to them 
 both. 
 
 An Exhortation to the Rich. 
 
 If you are rich, or have wherewithal to relieve others, then be 
 sure too " to be rich in good works, and according to your ability 
 give alms," 2 and give them in this place to those poor Christians, 
 who come to the baths for the cure of the like distempers as the 
 rich do, but have nothing to sustain them, or to defray the charges 
 of their cure. 
 
 From what you feel yourself, learn to compassionate the like 
 miseries in others ; that relief you would desire others should shew 
 to you, were you in want, do you shew to the poor ; those bless- 
 ings, that ease, that health, and that patience, you beg of God for 
 yourself, beg of God for all others which you see are in the like 
 
 1 Job V. 7. 2 Luke xi. 41. 
 
2/4 Prayers for the Use of all Persons 
 
 distress, and beg it as you would for yourself, and with a like 
 concern. 
 
 Such charity as this will be an unspeakable comfort to you, 
 whatever your distemper is ; there is a present temporal blessing 
 promised to it, and promised to charitable persons in that very 
 time, when they most of all want it, namely in the time of their 
 trouble, and on their sick beds : " for blessed is he that consider- 
 eth the poor and needy, the Lord shall deliver him in the time of 
 trouble, the Lord will strengthen him upon the bed of languishing, 
 Thou wilt make all his bed in his sickness." ^ 
 
 Learn then of our most compassionate Saviour to shew mercy 
 to the sick, and the lame, and to contribute all you can to their 
 healing ; lay aside money for that very use, and pray to God to direct 
 your charity to those who most want it, and who are most worthy 
 to be relieved : by this means you will be able conscientiously to 
 say with Job, " I was eyes to the blind, and feet was I to the 
 lame." 2 
 
 A Prayer for the Rich. 
 
 All glory be to Thee, O Lord God, for that portion of the good 
 things of this life, Thou hast been pleased to vouchsafe me ; Thou, 
 Lord, hast made me Thy steward of them, and at the great day, 
 " I must give an account to Thee of my stewardship : " O make 
 me a " faithful steward " of them, that " I may give an account to 
 Thee with joy, and not with grief." 
 
 Thou, Lord, hast made it an argument of my love to Thee, " to 
 open my bowels to my brother in need." Behold, Lord, I see 
 many of my brethren and sisters here in need, and destitute of 
 those conveniencies for using the waters, which Thou in great good- 
 ness hast vouchsafed me, and out of a grateful sense of Thy infinite 
 love to me, I desire to shew love to them, and to my power to contri- 
 bute to their comfort, support, and cure : glory be to Thee who 
 hast enabled me to do it. 
 
 O blessed Saviour, I see Thee, in every one of Thy poor 
 members, here lying at the pool, and Thou hast " none to help 
 Thee in." O give me grace to undertake that merciful office ; to 
 open my bowels, and my purse wide to help Thee ; and do Thou 
 vouchsafe help to me in my time of need. 
 
 O my God, do Thou direct me, in the distribution of my alms, 
 to those who most want, and who best deserve relief; that 
 I may dispose of them most agreeably to Thy will, and to those 
 who shall most glorify Thee for them. 
 
 O make me "ever merciful, as Thou, O Father in heaven, art 
 merciful ; " indulge me a share in that mercy, with which Thou 
 
 1 Psalm xli. i, 3. - Job xxix. 15. 
 
ivho co7ne to tJie Baths for Ctire. 275 
 
 hast promised " to bless the merciful," and send me dehverance 
 in the time of trouble. 
 
 Hear, Lord, forgive, and save me, for Thy own infinite mercies' 
 sake, for Thy truth, and promise' sake, and for the merits of Jesus 
 Thy beloved. Amen, Amen. 
 
 Ejaculation at the givi7tg of Alms. 
 
 " Blessed be Thou, O Lord God, for ever and ever ; for all things 
 come of Thee, and of Thy own do I now give Thee." ^ 
 
 Lord, let these alms be " an odour of a sweet smell, a sacrifice 
 acceptable, well pleasing to Thee, through Jesus the Son of Thy 
 love." 2 
 
 If your own charitable disposition incline you, and your spiritual 
 guide do also advise you, to devote a particular sum to pious 
 uses, you may express your vow, in this or the like manner. 
 
 O my God, if Thou wilt be with me in this place, and keep me 
 in Thy way, and deliver me from my [sickness, lameness,] and 
 bless the waters to me, then shalt Thou, O Lord, be my God, and 
 of that Thou hast given me, I will surely give \_here juune the sum'\ 
 to Thee, and to the poor, that they may be relieved by it, and 
 glorify Thee for it. 
 
 A Exhortation to the Poor. 
 
 You that are poor, though you cannot exercise your charity in 
 giving to others, yet you may, and ought to do it, in praying for 
 them, especially for your benefactors. 
 
 The greater your temporal wants are, the more they should 
 teach you to depend on God, and the fewer are your temptations ; 
 and your very poverty, if you make a sanctified use of it, will teach 
 you poverty of spirit, humility, heavenly-mindedness, a lively faith, 
 and a firm confidence in God, who is your only refuge, and help 
 in your greatest need. 
 
 A Prayer for the Poor. 
 
 O Lord God, the refuge of all mankind, but especially of the 
 miserable ; look down with Thine eyes of tenderest pity, on my low 
 and destitute condition. 
 
 Thou, Lord, hast been pleased to deny me the good^'things, the 
 conveniencies of this life, blessed be Thy name for it ; Thou sawest 
 I should abuse them, and therefore hast in mercy withheld from 
 me those occasions of sin. But since Thou art pleased beyond 
 
 1 I Chron. xxix. 14. 2 Phil.iy, 18. 
 
2^6 Prayers for the Use of all Persojis 
 
 my poverty to lay this further calamity [this sickness, lameness,] 
 on me, which has brought me hither, O be Thou also pleased 
 to succour, and to support me under it. 
 
 Ah, Lord, I come to my remedy, but have not wherewithal to 
 apply it ; I come to the waters, but have none to assist me, none 
 to help me into the bath ; O let Thy infinite love kindle a com- 
 passionate charity in the hearts of the rich, and incline some 
 merciful persons to relieve me. 
 
 Send seasonable relief, O my God, to all other poor and needy 
 persons, who come hither calamitous like myself; O bless the 
 waters to our cure, that being restored to our health and strength, 
 we may return to our labour, and according to Thy Divine appoint- 
 ment, " in the sweat of our brows may eat our bread ; " bless the 
 waters, O Lord, to all other infirm persons, but especially bless 
 them to my benefactors. 
 
 Lord, sanctify my poverty to me, that I may be humble and 
 constant under it, and submissive to the disposals of Thy most 
 wise and gracious Providence. 
 
 O my God, though I "am poor in this world," make me "rich 
 in faith ; " 1 will gladly w^ant riches here, so I may have "treasure 
 in heaven " hereafter, " and be an heir of the kingdom, which Thou 
 hast promised to those that love Thee." Lord, pity me ; Lord, 
 hear me ; Lord, help me ; Lord, save me, according to the multi- 
 tude of Thy mercies, and the merits of my Saviour. Amen, Amen. 
 
 The Poor Man!s Prayer for those that relieve hifft. 
 
 Glory be to Thee, O Lord, for my benefactors ; glory be to 
 Thee who hast given them ability, and enlarged their hearts to 
 relieve the poor and needy ; glory be to Thee for directing them in 
 particular to relieve me. 
 
 O my God, I earnestly beg of Thee, to shew mercy^to them who 
 have shewed mercy to me : I have had the comfort of their alms, 
 blessed be Thy name : O give them a plentiful recompence for it : 
 reward them sevenfold into their bosom, through Jesus Thy be- 
 loved. Amen, Amen. 
 
 Ejaculations for the Poo?'. 
 
 " As for me I am poor and needy, but Thou, Lord, carest for me, 
 and on Thee, Lord, I cast all my cares." 
 
 Glory be to Thee, O Lord, " who deliverest the poor in his afflic- 
 tion," O let it be Thy pleasure to dehver me. 
 
 " O Lord, the poor committeth himself to Thee, for Thou art 
 the helper of the friendless ;" and to Thee, poor as I am, I wholly 
 commit myself. O be Thou my helper, O be Thou my friend. 
 
who come to the Baths for Cure. 277 
 
 " Thou, O God, hast of Thy goodness prepared for the poor, and 
 the poor and needy shall give thanks unto Thy name." 
 
 " O my soul, put thy trust in the Lord, and by doing good dwell 
 in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed." 
 
 Having thus allotted to you that are rich, and to you that are 
 poor, your distinct duties, 1 must now again join you together; and I 
 most passionately beseech you, if you have a concern for the eternal 
 welfare of your souls, any honour for that most holy religion you 
 profess, any reverence for the pure all-seeing eyes of God, to take 
 all imaginable care that you do not abuse the bath by any lascivious- 
 ness, or impurity, which may defile yourselves, or others : for this 
 is the way to turn the means of your cure into an occasion of the 
 more outrageous sin ; and to provoke God to send you away with 
 a dreadful curse instead of a blessing. 
 
 If after a due use of the baths, you find any benefit by them, and 
 that your distemper is either removed, or abated, as you desired 
 the prayers of the congregation at your first coming, for God's 
 blessing on the waters ; so it is most just you should desire the 
 congregation to give thanks for you, and to render to God a public 
 acknowledgment for the mercy He has vouchsafed you. 
 
 Be very careful, that when you are well, you do not forget you 
 were sick ; but let that advice which our Lord gives to the im- 
 potent man, be deeply impressed on your mind, say it often to 
 your own soul, " Sin no more, lest a worse thing come unto thee." 
 
 Renew all those good resolutions you made in the day of your 
 distress ; be very watchful and jealous over yourself for fear of 
 backsHding ; avoid all occasions of sin for the future ; and dedi- 
 cate that health, to which God has in tender mercy restored you, 
 to His glory. 
 
 A Thanksgiving. 
 
 All praise, all glory be to Thee, my Lord and my God, for hear- 
 ing my prayers in the time of my trouble, for blessing the waters 
 to my good \to 7Jiy ease, to my cure'\ ; O, may I never forget this 
 blessing ! O may I ever give Thee thanks for it. 
 
 Lord, I am jealous over my own treacherous heart, that now 
 Thou hast \abated\ Ifreed me from'] my calamity, I shall grow 
 cold in my devotion, and that the sense of my duty will be apt to 
 wear off with my affliction : but my sure and only trust is in the 
 assistances of Thy grace. " O, hold up my goings in Thy paths, 
 that my footsteps shp not, O keep me as the apple of Thine eye." 
 
 O, may I "sin no more, lest a worse thing come unto me." 
 
 " Praise the Lord, O my soul ; while 1 live will I praise the 
 Lord ; as long as I have my being, I will sing praises unto my 
 God." 
 
278 Prayers for the Use of all Persons 
 
 " I called upon the Lord in my trouble, and the Lord heard me 
 at large, therefore will I praise Him." 
 
 " Thou art my God, and I will thank Thee ; Thou art the Lord, 
 and I will praise Thee." 
 
 " Praised be the Lord, who hath not cast cut my prayer, nor 
 turned His mercy from me." 
 
 "O give thanks unto the Lord, for He is gracious, and His 
 mercy endureth for ever." 
 
 I will not praise Thee, O Lord, in private, but " I will tell 
 abroad what Thou hast done for my soul." 
 
 " I will give thanks unto Thee in the great congregation ; I will 
 praise Thee amongst much people." 
 
 Accept, O my God, this my sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving ; 
 and since the longer I live, the more I experience Thy most 
 adorable boundless goodness, the more devoutly may I daily 
 praise Thee, the more intensely may I daily love Thee, through 
 Jesus Thy beloved. Amen, Amen. 
 
 To this you may properly add the Hundred and third Psalm. 
 
 If after you have used the waters, you find no relief by them, be 
 not discouraged : it may be, God designs to effect your cure some 
 other ways ; it may be He sees it best for your spiritual good, that 
 your distemper should continue, and it is your duty patiently to 
 submit to His good pleasure. 
 
 If you are conscious to yourself, that you have truly repented of 
 all your sins past, and that the desire of your soul is towards God, 
 you may be then assured, that God "chasteneth" you because He 
 "loves" you, that He dealeth with you as "with a child," and that 
 His paternal bowels are ever yearning on you. 
 
 It is most true in common experience, what the apostle affirms, 
 " That no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but 
 grievous," ^ and so will your chastening seem to you ; " neverthe- 
 less afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness, unto 
 them which are exercised thereby ; " and such fruit it will in the 
 end infallibly yield to you. 
 
 Believe me then, that you will at last, to your unutterable joy, 
 experimentally find, that " all things," even the sharpest and the 
 most continued afflictions, " work together for good, to those that 
 love God." 2 
 
 Ejaculatio7is for the Afflicted. 
 
 " Deal Thou with me, O Lord, according to Thy name, for sweet 
 is Thy mercy." 
 
 " Thou hast been my succour, leave me not ; neither forsake me, 
 O God of my salvation." 
 
 1 Heb. xii. 11. 2 Rom. viii. 28. 
 
who come to the Baths for Cure. 279 
 
 " I should utterly have fainted, but that I verily believe to see 
 the goodness of the Lord, in the land of the living." 
 
 " I will wait on the Lord, from whom cometh my salvation." 
 
 " Though I am sometime afraid, yet put I my trust in Thee." 
 
 " Thou shalt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is staid on 
 Thee, because he trusteth in Thee." 
 
 " O what great troubles and adversities hast Thou shewed me, 
 and yet didst Thou turn and refresh me." 
 
 " As for me, I will patiently abide alway, and will praise Thee 
 more and more." 
 
 " In the multitude of the sorrows I had in my heart, Thy com- 
 forts have refreshed my soul." 
 
 Unto Thy entire disposal I resign my spirit, "for Thou hast 
 redeemed me, O Lord, Thou God of truth." 
 
 O, may I always do and suffer Thy will. 
 
 " My God, though Thou slayest me, yet will I put my trust in 
 Thee." 
 
 It is the Lord, it is my God, it is my Father, it is my friend, it 
 is infinite love that afflicts me : " let Him do what seemeth Him 
 good ;" He can will nothing but good for me ; He can do nothing 
 but good to me; His will be ever done, and not my own. 
 
 To these ejaculations may be added that prayer for amendment 
 when God is pleased to try us, which went before. 
 
 If want of children, good Christian, and hopes of benefit from 
 the waters bring you thither, then I beseech you, as I did those 
 who were sick or lame, to begin with God : repentance, and prayer, 
 and resignation, and charity, are all as proper for your condition, 
 as for them. 
 
 Be assured, that children are the " gift of God," and let your 
 first and chief recourse be to Him, and from Him only expect a 
 blessing. 
 
 It is true, the blessings of the womb are temporal only, yet they 
 are such which all married persons regularly ought to desire, and 
 for which they ought with humility and submission to pray. 
 
 Though the blessing of children is very often indulged to wicked 
 persons as Avell as to good, yet we see that many times God denies 
 them to both, though they never so passionately desire them. 
 
 When God denies children to wicked persons, it is in His anger, 
 and for punishment. Thus Nadab, and Abihu " for offering strange 
 fire, died before the Lord," and as an aggravation of their punish- 
 ment it is remarked, " that they had no children." ^ And the doom 
 that God pronounced against wicked Coniah was, " Thus saith the 
 Lord, Write this man childless." ^ God threatens incestuous per- 
 sons, "that they shall die childless."^ And sometimes when 
 
 1 Num. hi. 4. - Jer. xxii. 30. 3 Lev. xx. 20, 21. 
 
28o Prayers for the Use of all Persons 
 
 hopes of issue appear, he gives the wife "a miscarrying womb, 
 and dry breasts." ^ It is therefore most needful, that you should 
 ground your hopes of children, on a previous repentance. 
 
 Children are no certain marks of God's favour, and therefore the 
 good often want them. Never were there two better married 
 couples, than Abraham, " the friend of God,'^ and Sarah ; than 
 Zachary and Elisabeth " who w-ere both righteous before God, 
 walking in all the commandments of the Lord blameless," and yet 
 Sarah and Elisabeth were both " barren," and never had been 
 mothers but by miracle. 
 
 Rebekah, and Rachel, and Hannah, had all for a long time 
 " their wombs shut up," and by prayer they were all at last 
 " opened." 
 
 However, when God foresees children like to prove, either 
 temptations, or calamities, or curses to their good parents, it is a 
 great blessing then to deny them : which our Lord intimates to the 
 daughters of Jerusalem, when He told them, " the days were coming 
 in which they should say. Blessed are the barren, and the wombs 
 that never bare, and the paps that never gave suck." 2 
 
 But when God denies children to holy persons, He makes up 
 the blessing some other way, and " gives them a name better than 
 of sons and of daughters, an everlasting name that shall not be cut 
 off:"^ so that, which way soever God thinks fit to deal with you, 
 you have all the reason imaginable to assure yourself that what is 
 God's will is best for you, and cheerfully to acquiesce in His good 
 pleasure. 
 
 A Prayer for a Wife, 
 
 Lord God Almighty, who " formest us from the womb, who 
 coverest us there, and seest our substance when imperfect, and all 
 our members, and how they are curiously formed ; " * All glory be 
 to Thee. 
 
 1 know Lord " that children, and the fruit of the womb, are an 
 heritage and gift that cometh of Thee," and therefore of Thee only 
 I beg it ; O vouchsafe me that gift in Thy good time. Glory be to 
 Thee O Lord, " Who makest the barren woman to keep house, 
 and to be a joyful mother of children." O that it might please 
 Thee, to make me " a joyful mother." 
 
 DeUver me, O my God, from either "a barren, or from a mis- 
 carrying womb, and from dry breasts ; " and if it be Thy will, bless 
 the waters, that they may dispose me to be fruitful, and to conceive : 
 and do Thou, O Lord, most tenderly preserve " the fruit of my 
 womb," that I may at last happily bring forth, and may forget my 
 
 1 Hos. ix. 14. 2 Luke xxiii. 29. <> Isa. Ivi. 5. 
 
 4 Psalm cxxxix. 16. 
 
wJio come to the Baths for Citre. 281 
 
 pangs, and may praise Thy name, " for joy that a child is born into 
 the world." 
 
 To Thee, O Lord God, "do I vow this vow, that if Thou wilt 
 indeed look on the affliction of Thy handmaid, and remember me, 
 and wilt give unto Thy handmaid children, then will I give them 
 unto Thee:"^ I will early devote them to Thee in holy baptism : I 
 will do my utmost to bring them up, in Thy nurture and admoni- 
 tion, in Thy filial fear and reverential love, that they may become 
 instruments of Thy glory on earth, and may at last become saints 
 in heaven, to sing praises to Thee eternal there. 
 
 Bless me, and my husband, " O Lord God Almighty, bless us 
 with the blessings of heaven above, and with the blessings of the 
 deep that Heth under, bless us with the blessings of the breasts, 
 and of the womb," if it be Thy will. 
 
 O Lord, if Thou art pleased, for most wise and gracious pur- 
 poses, to deny us the blessings of children ; Thy most holy will be 
 done : O give us an entire contentedness without them ; and 
 though it is not Thy pleasure to make us fruitful in our bodies, 
 yet make us fruitful in our souls, fruitful in all saving graces, 
 which will in the end prove a much greater joy, and comfort, and 
 blessing to us both, than children. Hear me, O Lord, and help 
 me, and grant my petition if it be Thy will, for Thy infinite good- 
 ness sake, and the sake of Jesus the Son of Thy love. Amen, 
 Amen. 
 
 If it please God to bless the waters to your fruitfulness, then use 
 the foregoing form of thanksgiving. And if you, or any one besides, 
 who have made use of this paper, have received the least good 
 from it, to God be all the glory. Amen. 
 
 I Sam, i. II, 
 
A PASTORAL LETTER, 
 
 FROM 
 
 THE BISHOP OF BATH AND WELLS, 
 TO HIS CLERGY, 
 
 CONCERNING THEIR BEHAVIOUR DURING LENT. 
 
 [printed for CHARLES BROME, 1688.] 
 
A PASTORAL LETTER, &c. 
 
 All Glory be to God." 
 
 Rev, Brother, 
 
 The time of Lent now approaching, which has been anciently 
 and very Christianly set apart, for penitential humiliation of soul 
 and body, for fasting and weeping and praying, all which you know 
 are very frequently inculcated in Holy Scripture as the most 
 effectual means we can use, to avert those judgments our sins have 
 deserved; I thought it most agreeable to that character which, 
 unworthy as I am, I sustain, to call you and all my brethren of 
 the clergy to mourning ; to mourning for your own sins, and to 
 mourning for the sins of the nation. In making such an address 
 to you as this, I follow the example of St Cyprian, that blessed 
 bishop and martyr, who from his retirement wrote an excellent 
 epistle 1 to his clergy, most worthy of your serious perusal, exhort- 
 ing them, by public prayers and tears to appease the anger of 
 God, which they then actually felt, and which we may justly fear. 
 Remember that to keep such a fast as God has chosen, it is not 
 enough for you to afflict your own soul, but you must also accord- 
 ing to your ability, " deal your bread to the hungry : " ^ and the 
 rather, because we have not only usual objects of charity to relieve, 
 but many poor Protestant strangers are now fled hither for sanctu- 
 ary, whom as brethren, as members of Christ, we should take in 
 and cherish. That you may perform the office of a public inter- 
 cessor the more assiduously, I beg of you to say daily in your 
 closet, or in your family, or rather in both, all this time of abstin- 
 ence, the 51st Psalm, and the other prayers which follow it in the 
 Commination. I could wish also that you would frequently read 
 
 Ep. iv. Edit. Oxon. 
 
 2 Isa. Iviii. 5, 7. 
 
286 A Pastoral Letter to His Clergy^ 
 
 and meditate on the Lamentations of Jeremy, which holy Gregory 
 Nazianzen was wont to do,^ and the reading of which melted him 
 into the like lamentations as affected the prophet himself when he 
 penned them. But your greatest zeal must be spent for the public 
 prayers, in the constant and devout use of which, the public safety, 
 both of Church and State, is highly concerned : be sure then to 
 offer up to God every day the Morning and Evening Prayer, offer 
 it up in your family at least, or rather as far as your circumstances 
 may possibly permit, offer it up in the Church, especially if you 
 live in a great town, and say over the Litany every morning dur- 
 ing the whole of Lent. This I might enjoin you to do, on your 
 canonical obedience, " but for love's sake I rather beseech you," 
 and I cannot recommend to you a more devout and comprehensive 
 form of penitent and public intercession than that, or more proper 
 for the season. Be not discouraged, if but few come to the 
 " solemn assemblies," but go to the " House of Prayer," where 
 " God is well known for a sure refuge ; " go, though you go alone, 
 or but with one besides yourself; and there as you are God's "re- 
 membrancer, keep not silence, and give Him no rest till He estab- 
 lish, till He make Jerusalem a praise in the earth." ^ The first sacred 
 council of Nice, for which the Christian world has always had a great 
 and just veneration, ordains a^ provincial synod to be held before 
 Lent, that all dissensions being taken away, a pure oblation might 
 be offered up to God, namely of prayers, and fasting, and alms, 
 and tears, which might produce a comfortable communion at the 
 following Easter : and that in this diocese we may in some degree 
 imitate so primitive a practice, I exhort you to endeavour all you 
 can to reconcile differences, to reduce those that go astray, to pro- 
 mote universal charity towards all that dissent from you, and *' to 
 put on as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, 
 kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, long-suffering, forbearing 
 one another and forgiving one another, even as Christ forgave 
 you.''* I passionately beseech you to read over daily your ordina- 
 tion vows, to examine yourself how you observe them ; and in the 
 prayers that are in that office, fervently to importune God for the 
 assistance of His good Spirit, that you may conscientiously per- 
 form them. '' Teach publicly, and from house to house, and warn 
 every one night and day with tears ; " " warn " them to repent, to 
 fast and to pray, and to give alms, " and to bring forth fruits meet 
 for repentance ; " " warn " them to continue steadfast in that 
 " faith once delivered to the saints ; " in which they were baptized 
 " to keep the word " of God's patience, that God may keep them 
 in the hour of temptation ; " warn " them against the sins and 
 errors of the age; "warn" them to deprecate public judgments, 
 and to mourn for public provocations. No one can read God's 
 
 1 Oral. xii. 2 isa. Ixii. 6, 7. ' Can. v. 
 
 ■1 Col. iii. 12. 
 
concerning their behavioiir during Lent. 287 
 
 holy Word, but he will see that the greatest saints have been the 
 greatest mourners : David " wept whole rivers ; " ^ Jeremy '' wept 
 sore, and his eyes ran down in secret places day and night like a 
 fountain ; '^ ^ Daniel " mourned three full weeks, and did eat no 
 pleasant bread, and sought God by prayer and suppHcations, with 
 fasting, and sackcloth and ashes ; " ^ St Paul was humbled, and 
 bewailed and wept for the sins of others ;* and our Lord Himself, 
 when He " beheld the city, wept over it." ^ Learn then of these 
 great saints, learn of our most compassionate Saviour, to weep for 
 the public, and weeping to pray that " we may know in this our 
 day, the things that belong to our peace, lest they be hid from our 
 eyes." To mourn for national guilt, in which all share, is a duty 
 incumbent on all, but especially on priests, who are particularly 
 commanded " to weep and to say. Spare Thy people, O Lord, and 
 give not Thine heritage to reproach, that God may repent of the 
 evil, and become jealous for His land, and pity His people." ^ Be 
 assured that none are more tenderly regarded by God than such 
 mourners as these ; there is "a mark"'' set by Him on " all that 
 sigh and cry for the abominations of the land," the destroying 
 angel is forbid to " hurt any of them," they are all God's peculiar 
 care, and shall all have either present deliverance, or such supports 
 and consolations, as shall abundantly endear their calamity. " Now 
 the God of all grace, who hath called you unto His eternal glory by 
 Christ Jesus, make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you" in 
 the true Catholic and Apostolic Faith, professed in the Church of 
 England, and enable you to adorn that apostolic faith with an 
 apostolic example and zeal, and give all our whole Church that 
 timely repentance, these broken and contrite hearts, that both 
 priests and people may all plentifully sow in tears, and in God's 
 good time may all plentifully reap in joy. — Your affectionate friend 
 and Brother, 
 
 Tho. Bath & Wells. 
 
 From the Palace hi Wells, 
 Feb. 17, 1687. 
 
 1 Psalm cxix. 136. 2 Jgr. ix. i ; xiii. 17. 3 Dan. ix. 3 ; x. 2. 
 
 ^ 2 Cor. xii. 21 : Phil. iii. 18. 5 Luke xix. 41. •> Joel ii. 17, 18. 
 
 7 Ezek. ix. 4. 
 
A LETTER 
 
 EXHORTING THE 
 
 CLERGY OF THE DIOCESE OF BATH AND WELLS 
 
 TO COLLECT IX BEHALF OF THE 
 
 FRENCH PROTESTANTS. 
 
A LETTER, &c, 
 
 " All glory be to God. 
 
 SIR, — His Majesty in these his letters patent, which I now send 
 you, having given a fresh and great assurance of his gracious- 
 ness to his own subjects, in shewing himself so very gracious to 
 Protestant strangers, and having required me to give a particiilar 
 reco?nme7idation a?7d command to my brethren of the clergy within 
 my diocese, to advance this so pious and charitable a work ; I 
 think it my duty, with my utmost zeal to further so godlike a 
 charity ; and I do therefore strictly enjoin you, that you most 
 affectio7iately and earnestly persuade, exhort, ajid stir up all imder 
 your care to coiitribute freely and cheerfully to the j'elief of these 
 distressed Christians, and to do it with as well-timed an expedition 
 as you can. And that His Majesty's royal goodness may have its 
 full effect, I beseech you, for the love of God, to be exemplarily 
 liberal towards them yourself, according to your ability : remem- 
 bering how blessed a thing it is to be brotherly kind to strangers, 
 to Christian strangers, especially such as those whose distress is 
 very great, and is in all respects most worthy of our tenderest 
 commiseration, and how our most adorable Redeemer does inter- 
 pret and does proportionably reward all the good we do them as 
 done to Himself. God of His infinite mercy inspire this fraternal 
 charity into your own soul, and into the souls of all your parish. 
 — Your affectionate friend and brother, 
 
 Tho. Bath & Wells. 
 Wells, April \^ih, 1686. 
 
ARTICLES OF VISITATION AND 
 ENQUIRY, 
 
 CONCERNING MATTERS ECCLESIASTICAL, 
 
 EXHIBITED TO THE 
 
 MINISTERS, CHURCHWARDENS, AND SIDESMEN OF EVERY 
 PARISH WITHIN THE DIOCESE OF BATH AND WELLS, 
 
 IN THE 
 
 VISITATION 
 
 OF THE RIGHT REVEREND FATHER IN GOD, 
 
 THOMAS, 
 
 (by DIVINE PROVIDENCE,) 
 
 LORD BISHOP OF BATH AND WELLS. 
 
THE TENOR OF THE OATH OF THE CHURCHWARDENS, AND 
 SWORN MEN. 
 
 " You shall swear, that you, and every one of you, shall faithfully 
 execute your several offices of churchwardens and sidesmen, 
 according to the King's laws, and to the best of your skill and 
 knowledge. So help you God, and the contents of His Holy 
 Gospel." 
 
i 
 
 B 
 
 ^^^ 
 
 1^^ 
 
 ^ft- 
 
 W 
 
 ^m 
 
 ^^^ % 
 
 ^ ^^S 
 
 ^^R 
 
 '■'^ 
 
 ^^o"' ' 
 
 =\^^jagi^^ ^"^"V^ 
 
 ^^^=7^;^ 
 
 =^^^'" 
 
 i^\Q5~ 
 
 "W^ 10/ -rfVe^ 
 
 articles of IDiaitation an& Enquiry? witbin 
 tbe 2)ioce0e of Batb an& Melle/ 
 
 TIT. I. 
 
 Concerning Churches^ Chapels^ with the ornarnents and furniture 
 thereunto belojtging. 
 
 1. Is your parish church, or chapel, in good and sufficient re- 
 pair, both for the roof, windows, floors and seats ? 
 
 2. Hath any part of your church, chapel, or steeple, been demol- 
 ished, or pulled down ? What part, and how long since ? — or any 
 of the lead, timber, or bells, thereunto formerly belonging, any way 
 embezzled, or sold, and by whom ? 
 
 3. Is there a decent font of stone, with a cover? Doth the 
 minister baptize publicly only in the font ? Is there a decent 
 communion-table in your chancel, with a decent carpet, and 
 another covering of white linen to be spread thereon at the time 
 of the administration of the Lord's Supper ? And have you a fair 
 chalice, or cummunion cup, with a cover, and one or more flagons ? 
 have they been profaned by common use ? 
 
 4. Have you a convenient seat or pew, wherein to read divine 
 service, a pulpit with a decent cloth, or cushion, a large bible of 
 the last translation, and a book of common prayer, lately pub- 
 lished, anno 1662, the book of homilies set forth by authority, and 
 a printed table of the degrees wherein marriages are prohibited, 
 and a book of canons, and constitutions ecclesiastical, and a 
 decent surplice ? 
 
 5. Have you a register book in parchment, of christenings, 
 
 1 Printed in the year 1683. 
 
?94 Articles of 
 
 burials, and marriages? and is the same kept in all points, ac- 
 cording to the ancient use ? 
 
 6. Have you a book of paper, to record the names and licences 
 of such strangers, as are admitted to preach in your church or 
 chapel ? and do such strangers subscribe their names ? as also a 
 book for the churchwardens' accounts, as also a chest, with locks 
 and keys, wherein to keep the said books, and the aforementioned 
 furniture ? 
 
 TIT. II. 
 
 Concerning the Church-yard^ the houses^ glebes^ and tithes belong- 
 ing to the Church. 
 
 1. Is your church-yard sufficiently fenced, and decently kept ? 
 Hath any person encroached upon the same, or made any door in 
 it, and how long since ? — 
 
 2. Is the house of your parson, vicar, or curate, and the out- 
 houses in good repair ? Have any of them been defaced, or pulled 
 down without licence ? Have there been any encroachments made 
 upon the same ? or any of the ancient marks or bounds removed 
 or changed ? and by whom ? 
 
 3. Have you a true and perfect terrier of all the glebe lands, 
 gardens, orchards, tenements, or cottages, belonging to your par- 
 sonage or vicarage, also a note of such pensions, rate-tithes, and 
 portions of tithes, or other yearly profits (either within, or without 
 your parish) as belonging thereunto ? Have any of the same been 
 withheld from your minister, and by whom as you know, or have 
 heard ? — 
 
 TIT. III. 
 Concerning Ministers. 
 
 1. Is your minister resident amongst you? How many weeks 
 hath he been absent from you, without urgent necessity? 
 
 2. Hath your minister a curate resident in your parish ? Is he 
 in holy orders, and conformable to the laws of the Church ? Is he 
 allowed by the ordinary ? 
 
 3. Doth your parson, vicar, curate, or lecturer, if you have any, 
 perform his office in all things, according to the rubrick of the 
 book of common prayer, lately established, and the act of 
 uniformity published therewith, without either diminishing, in 
 
Visitation and Enquiry. 295 
 
 re^^ard of preaching, or in any other respect,, or adding anything 
 in the matter or form ? 
 
 4. Doth your minister at the reading of divine service, or 
 administrating the sacraments, wear a surphce ? 
 
 5. Is your minister hcensed to preach ? if so, doth he constantly 
 (not having reasonable impediment) preach one sermon in your 
 church or chapel every Sunday ? or if he be not licensed, or be 
 hindered, doth he procure one to supply his office, by preaching or 
 reading one of the homilies ? 
 
 6. Doth your minister instruct the youth in your parish in the 
 church catechism, and prepare, and present them to be confirmed 
 by the bishop ? 
 
 7. Doth he neglect or delay to visit the sick, or to baptize any 
 infant that is in danger of death ? doth he baptize any without 
 godfathers and godmothers, or admit either of parents to be god- 
 father or godmother to their own children ? 
 
 8. Hath your minister married any persons without publishing 
 the banns on three Sundays or holidays unless he had a licence, 
 or dispensation so to do? or hath he married any in private 
 houses, or not between the hours of eight and twelve in the 
 morning ? 
 
 9. Is your parson, vicar, curate, or lecturer, a man of sober life 
 and conversation? or is his carriage in any kind disorderly, or 
 scandalous, and unbeseeming a minister ? 
 
 TIT. IV. 
 
 Concerning f/ie Parishioners. 
 
 T. Is there any person in your parish that Heth under a common 
 fame or suspicion of adultery, fornication, or incest ? Are there 
 any common drunkards within your parish, or common swearers, 
 or blasphemers of God's name ; or any that are noted to be railers, 
 unclean, and filthy talkers, or sowers of sedition or faction among 
 their neighbours. 
 
 2. Are there any living in your parish who have been unlawfully 
 married, contrary to the laws of God, or any that being lawfully 
 married, and not separated or divorced by course of law, do not 
 cohabit together.^ 
 
 3. Are there any that refuse to pay their duty for Easter offer- 
 ings? or refuse to contribute to the rates made for the repair 
 of your church or chapel, or anything thereunto belonging ? 
 
 4. Are there any wills or testaments of persons dead in your 
 parish that are yet unproved ? or any goods administered without 
 a due grant from the ordinary ? Did any dying in your parish, or 
 
 1 Expres::,ed in a table set forth by authority, a.d. 1563. 
 
296 Articles of 
 
 elsewhere, leave any legacy to your church or chapel, or to the 
 use of the poor, or to any other pious or charitable purposes? 
 What were those legacies, and how have they been bestowed ? 
 
 5. Is there any strife or contention among any of your parish, 
 for their seats or pews in your church ? Have any new pews been 
 erected in your chancel, or in the body of your church or chapel, 
 without leave from the ordinary? 
 
 TIT. V. 
 Concerning Parish Clerks and Sextons} 
 
 1. Have you belonging to your church or chapel, a parish clerk, 
 aged twenty-one years at the least ? Is he of honest life and con- 
 versation, and sufficient or able to perform his duty, in reading, 
 writing, and singing ? Is he chosen by your minister, and doth 
 he duly attend him in all divine services at the church ? Are his 
 wages duly paid to him, or who withholdeth the same from him ? 
 
 2. Doth he diligently do his duty in keeping the church clean 
 and decent, in tolling and ringing the bell before divine service ; 
 and when any person is passing out of this life, doth he, 
 upon notice, toll a bell, that the neighbours may be thereby 
 warned to recommend the dying person to the grace and favour 
 of God? 
 
 TIT. VI. 
 
 Concerning SchoohnasterS) Schools, Physicians, Chirurgeotis, and 
 Midwives. 
 
 1. Doth any man keep a public or private school in your parish, 
 who is not allowed thereunto, by his ordinary ? 
 
 2. Doth any in your parish practise physic, or chirurgery? or 
 any woman take upon her to exercise the office of a midwife, 
 without licence from the ordinary ? 
 
 TIT. VII. 
 
 Concerning Churchwardens and Sidesmen. 
 
 I. Are the churchwardens of your parish yearly and duly 
 chosen, by the joint consent of your minister and parishioners ? 
 
Visitation and Enquiry. 297 
 
 or one of them by your minister, and the other by the 
 parishioners ? 
 
 2. Have the former and last churchwardens given up their 
 accompts to the parish ? and dehvered up to the succeeding 
 churchwardens the monies remaining in their hands, together with 
 all other things belonging to your church or chapel ? 
 
 3. You are further to understand, that according to your office, 
 you are to provide against every communion appointed in your 
 church or chapel, a sufficient quantity of fine white bread, and of 
 good wine, according to the number of your communicants. 
 
 4. You, the churchwardens and sidesmen, are to maintain the 
 church in sufficient repair, which is to be done by a tax, made by 
 the churchwardens, and parishioners, after public notice given of 
 the time and place where they meet ; and those that refuse, are to 
 be sued in the Ecclesiastical Court only. And for the better 
 direction of persons concerned, here followeth the particular con- 
 sultation of the learned civilians about church rates. 
 
 (i.) Every inhabitant dwelling within the parish, is to be charged 
 according to his ability, whether in land or living within the same 
 parish, or for his goods there ; that is to say, for the best of them, 
 but not for both. 
 
 (2.) Every farmer dweUing out of the parish, and having lands, or 
 living in the said parish, in his own occupation, is to be charged 
 to the value of the same lands or living or else to the value of the 
 stock thereupon, even for the best, not for both. 
 
 (3.) Every farmer dwelling out of the parish, and having lands 
 or living within the parish, in the occupation of any farmer or 
 farmers, is not to be charged ; but the farmer, or farmers, thereof, 
 are to be charged, in particularity, every one according to the value 
 of the land which he occupieth, or according to the stock there- 
 upon, even for the best, but not for both. 
 
 (4.) Every inhabitant and farmer, occupying arable land within the 
 parish, and feeding his cattle out of the parish, is to be charged 
 with the arable land, within the parish, although his cattle be fed 
 out of the parish. 
 
 (5.) Every farmer of any mill within the parish is to be charged 
 for that mill, and the owner thereof, if he be an inhabitant, is to be 
 charged for his liability in the same parish. 
 
 (6.) Every owner of lands, tenements, copyhold, and other heredi- 
 taments, inhabiting within the parish, is to be taxed according to 
 his wealth, in regard of a parishioner, although he occupy none of 
 them himself ; and his farmer, or farmers, also are to be taxed for 
 occupying only. 
 
 (7.) You are also to exhibit a bill of presentments to this court of 
 the offenders in your parish, and therein to take the assistance of 
 your minister. 
 
A LETTER TO ARCHBISHOP TENISON, 
 
 FUNERAL SERMON ON QUEEN MARY. 
 
A LETTER TO ARCHBISHOP TENISON 
 
 ON HIS 
 
 FUNERAL SERMON ON QUEEN MARY. 
 
 SIR,— When I heard of the sickness of the late ilhistrious 
 Princess, whom I had never failed to recommend to God in 
 my daily prayers, and that yourself was her confessor, I could not 
 but hope that, at least on her death-bed, you would have dealt faith- 
 fully with her. But when I had read the sermon you preached at 
 her funeral, I was heartily grieved to find myself disappointed, and 
 God knows how bitterly I bewailed in secret the manner of her 
 death ; and, reflecting again and again on your conduct of her 
 soul, methought a spirit of slumber seemed to have possessed you ; 
 otherwise it was impossible for one who so well understood the 
 duty of a spiritual guide as yourself, who had such happy oppor- 
 tunities, and such signal encouragements to practise it in her case, 
 should so grossly fail in your performance, as either to overlook or 
 wilfully to omit that, which all the world said besides yourself, and 
 was expected from you, and was of great importance to her salva- 
 tion. You are a person of noted abilities, and had a full knowledge 
 of your duty, you had been many years a parish priest, and exer- 
 cised your function with good repute ; none could be better versed 
 in the office for the Visitation of the Sick than yourself, and the 
 sick person was no stranger to you, and you very well knew her 
 whole story. 
 
 As you had a full knowledge of the person and of your duty, so 
 you had happy opportunities to put that duty in practice. You 
 had free and frequent access to her, and on Monday, when the 
 
302 A Letter to ArchbisJiop Tenison 
 
 flattering disease occasioned some hopes, but especially on the 
 next day, the Festival of Christ's birth, when those hopes were 
 raised to a kind of assurance, and continued so till night, the 
 peculiar favour of Heaven seemed to have indulged you all that 
 inestimable day, on purpose that you might carefully employ it, in 
 clearing her conscience with God and man, and in perfecting her 
 preparation for eternity ; which, had she recovered, were so neces- 
 sary, to render her life holy and happy as her death. 
 
 Your joy enduring but a day, and that day being closed with 
 a dismal night, you gave her the warning of her approaching death, 
 which, you say, she received with a courage agreeable to the 
 strength of her faith. You were set a watchman over her, and if 
 you did not give her due warning of her sin also, when you had so 
 proper a time for doing it, and saw her so capable of receiving it, 
 God will require her blood at your hands. 
 
 You had this advantage also, when it is often wanting to such 
 persons, that in the visits you made her, you did not find her 
 delirious, and the orders she gave for prayers, her calling for 
 prayers a third time when she feared she had slept the time before ; 
 the many most Christian things she said ; her appointing Psalms, 
 a chapter concerning trust in God, and a sermon more than once, 
 to be read her, are signs she was not, or, at least, that she was not 
 so in the intervals wherein you officiated by her. It is true she 
 was often drowsy, but she was so sensible of her drowsiness, 
 that she called for prayers before the time, for fear that she would 
 not be long composed, and whenever you applied yourself 
 to her, she was wakeful enough. You said, indeed, that at 
 the receiving of the Holy Eucharist, she found herself in a 
 dying condition, and you add, that she presently stirred up her 
 attention, and from thenceforth to the end of the office, had a per- 
 fect command of her understanding, and was intent upon the great 
 work she was going about ; and methinks, sir, if you had been 
 jealous over her soul with a godly jealousy when you gave her the 
 Viaticum and saw that she had then a perfect command of her 
 understanding, and that she was intent, you had another fit season 
 offered you by heaven to have minded her of any but probable 
 defects in her repentance, and to have exhorted her to a short 
 supplemental confession. Nay, to her very last, she seemed not 
 wholly incapable of any pious intimations you might have given 
 her, for her understanding continued to a degree that nothing of 
 impertinence, scarce a number of disjointed words, were heard 
 from her, insomuch that she said a devout Amen to that very 
 prayer in which her pious soul was recommended to God who 
 gave it. So that your own sermon will testify against you, that 
 you had many happy opportunities of directing her conscience. 
 I must add that you had as signal encouragements also. You had 
 to deal with a person whose knowledge and wisdom you justly 
 
on his Funeral Sermon on Queen Mary. 303 
 
 commend, and who might easily have been- convinced of any one 
 instance in which she had mistaken her duty. You had to deal 
 with one whose piety, charity, and humility, you in many places 
 deservedly magnify. I only wish you had added her justice also, 
 to have made her character complete. However, those three 
 virtues were powerful inducements to have used a conscientious 
 freedom with her. You had, as appears by the character you gave 
 her, a pious, charitable, humble soul under your care ; a subject 
 most happily disposed to work, who had always been very revered 
 and attentive at sermons, who had an averseness to flattery, and 
 who would thankfully have received any pious or charitable 
 humble admonition you had given her. I now beseech you, sir, 
 to spend a few thoughtful minutes in comparing your performance 
 as yourself represent it in your own sermon, with your knowledge, 
 with the opportunities and encouragements you had, and with the 
 rubrick of the Church. You mention a very religious saying that 
 fell from her, that she had learnt from her youth, a true doctrine, 
 that repentance was not to be put off to a death-bed. But it was 
 your duty, considering the deceitfulness of all hearts, and the usual 
 infirmities and forgetfulness and indisposedness of sick persons, 
 to have supplied all her oversights and omissions, and to have 
 examined the truth of her repentance. 
 
 Whether she truly repented of her sins, and where you knew 
 anything of moment which had escaped her observation, you 
 ought to have been her remembrancer. I therefore challenge you 
 to answer before God and the world. Did you know of no weighty 
 matter which ought to have troubled the Princess' conscience, 
 though at present she seemed not to have felt it, and for which you 
 ought to have moved her to a special confession, in order to abso- 
 lution ? Were you satisfied that she was in charity with all the 
 world ? Did you know of no enmity between her and her father, 
 nor variance between her and her sister ? Did you know of no 
 person who ever offended her whom she was to forgive t Did you 
 know of no one person whom she had offended, and of whom she 
 was to ask forgiveness ? Did you know of no one injury or wrong 
 she had done to any man, to whom she was to make amends to the 
 uttermost of her power ? Was the whole Revolution managed with 
 that purity of intention, that perfect innocence, that exact justice, 
 that tender charity, that irreproachable veracity, that there was 
 nothing amiss in it? No remarkable failings, nothing that might 
 deserve one penitent reflection .'' 
 
 You cannot, you dare not say it, and if you should, out of your 
 own mouth I can condemn you, for you yourself in your serious 
 interval, have passed as severe a censure on the Revolution, as any 
 of those that are called Jacobites could do ; you have said more than 
 once, that it was all an unrighteous thing ; why did you then not 
 deal sincerely with this dying Princess, and tell her so, when you 
 
304 A Letter to Archbishop Teriison 
 
 must needs be sensible that, steering her conscience wrong, you 
 shipwrecked your owai ? If then, sir, you consider the happy 
 opportunities you have lost, the signal encouragement you have 
 neglected, and the tremendous hazard to which you have exposed 
 the precious soul of the illustrious Princess by your unfaithfulness ; 
 if you lay to heart how much you have acted against your own 
 knowledge and convictions, what ill example you have given to 
 the clergy, what scandal to all good men, what wounds to our most 
 holy religion, and what occasions to the enemy to blaspheme, what 
 have you to do, but to testify your repentance before God and the 
 world, and to mourn in sackcloth and ashes all the remainder of 
 your days ? 
 
 What was it, sir, that moved you to act thus notoriously against 
 your own conscience ? Was it the fear you had of losing the 
 favour of the Court, which made you rather venture the indigna- 
 tion of Heaven ? Even that fear was vain, for it had been no 
 offence against the Government to have persuaded a dying daugh- 
 ter to have bestowed one compassionate prayer on her afflicted 
 father, had he never been so unnatural, though the case was 
 quite contrary, for he was one of the tenderest fathers in the 
 world. 
 
 Besides, her illustrious consort, who manifested so very great and 
 worthy a passion for her, would, I dare say, have had nothing 
 omitted, which might have been thought conducible to her eternal 
 happiness ; and a conscientious and faithful confessor, especially 
 on the death-bed, is one of a thousand, who will always be desired, 
 and valued and revered. Believe me, sir, you have given the 
 world reason to conclude that your own conscience misgave you ; 
 being sensible that in reproving her you must have reproached 
 yourself 
 
 You say she was so judicious and devout a saint, the degenerate 
 Church of Rome can by no means shew us. But surely it had 
 been prudence in you to have waived that comparison ; for should 
 you chance hereafter to blame that Church for canonizing Thomas 
 a Becket, for which she really is blameworthy, it is obvious for her 
 to make this appropriate reply to you, that it is as justifiable in her 
 to saint such an object as for you to saint such a daughter. 
 
 You tell us she was one " who, I am well assured, had all the duty 
 in the world for her other relations, which, after long and laborious 
 consideration, she judged consistent with her obligations to God 
 and to her country." 
 
 The consideration, then, which she used to reconcile her judgment 
 to the Revolution, was, it seems, long and laborious, notwithstand- 
 ing the assistance of her new Casuists, it being no easy matter to 
 overcome the contrary remonstrances of nature and of her own 
 conscience, and to unlearn those evangelical maxims which were 
 carefully taught her by the guides of her youth. Others might begin 
 
oji his Ptmeral Servwn on Queen Maij. 305 
 
 to instil opposite principles in her, but the tinishing strokes were 
 reserved for you. 
 
 But what do you mean, sir, by " other relations " ? We may 
 guess you mean her royal father, mother-in-law, and brother ; but 
 you are at liberty to say you mean any other relations if you please. 
 You give us ambiguous and general words only, when you should 
 have given us most express and particular. 
 
 " All the duty in the world," is a comprehensive term ; but 
 wherein, sir, did any part of that duty appear ? Why are you not 
 so just to her and to yourself as to give us some of those com- 
 passionate and melting expressions of filial duty, which flowed 
 from her on that subject t Why do you not produce some instances 
 of her mildness and mercifulness to her enemies ? and whom you 
 know she treated as such, though their crime was their being her 
 father's friends ; these would have been much for her honour, 
 would have given great satisfaction to all good people, would have 
 convinced the world that the manner of her death had been in 
 all respects truly Christian, would have been much for your own 
 reputation and much for the credit of the Revolution, in which 
 you are as great a zealot as a gainer. If you were so well assured 
 of all that duty, what a dreadful negligence were you guilty of in 
 not putting her in mind of it on her death-bed ! 
 
 Methinks, sir, you are not just to her when you give us instances 
 of her charity to several sorts of indigent people and to strangers, 
 which all the world knew, and give us no instances of even her 
 natural affection to her own royal father, of which all the world 
 doubted ; when, had you suggested that duty to her, as you ought 
 to have done, she would have shewed herself a tender-hearted 
 daughter, and would have been extremely afflicted for having been 
 instrumental to her father's calamity. 
 
 It is far from my intention here to dispute the lawfulness of the 
 Revolution ; yet I may say that I have never yet met any so 
 bigoted to it, who would undertake to justify all the part which she 
 as a daughter had in it, and I am persuaded that it would mightily 
 puzzle you to tell us in particular what those obligations were 
 which she had to God and to her country, which were inconsistent 
 with her filial duty. You complain, " Great is our loss of a most 
 pious Queen, in an atheistical and profane age, in which the seeds 
 of impiety, which have been sowing for some years, have sprung 
 up in greater plenty than ever ; " but, sir, did not your heart smite 
 you when you uttered this complaint.? for I would fain know 
 whether anything has more contributed to render the age atheisti- 
 cal and profane, or more promoted that fatal plenty, than the 
 prevarication of yourself and your time-serving brethren ? 
 
 You take notice, more than once, of the shortening the hfe of 
 this illustrious Princess, that she was taken away in the midst of 
 her days, at thirty-three years old, in the flower of her age, but you 
 
3o6 A Letter to Archbishop Tenisoii 
 
 take no notice of that which most probably occasioned it, for the 
 fifth commandment is not to be evaded. " Honour thy father and 
 thy mother " (which is the first commandment with promise) 
 " that it may be well w^ith thee, and that thou mayest live long 
 upon the earth ;" and if any, even Princes, for the commandment 
 makes no exception, do visibly dishonour father and mother, and 
 their lives are cut short, the very command of God assigns the 
 cause of it, and I hope the surviving Princess will consider and 
 take warning and repent, lest God be provoked to cut her life as 
 short as her sister's. 
 
 You say that having like David served her own generation, by 
 the will of God she fell asleep, and if you had been a true Nathan 
 to her, the similitude had been very proper, but her virtue, having, 
 like David's, suffered an eclipse, you took no care that it should 
 break out again in as conspicuous a repentance. You mention the 
 strong hopes of her everlasting felicity, but as you managed her 
 conscience, you should rather have called them strong presump- 
 tions ; I have hopes of her everlasting felicity as well as you, 
 though not at all grounded upon your guidance, but on the infinite 
 mercy of God who makes most gracious abatement for all our 
 infirmities, and for all the degrees of excusabihty we can plead, 
 and when I consider her conjugal love and awe, the horrid misre- 
 presentations made to her of her royal father, the various and 
 studied trains to delude her, the plausible pretences of religion, of 
 scripture, and of the glory of God, which she had heard daily 
 inculcated, and the unfaithfulness of her guides, who had wholly 
 possessed her ear together with her subdued will, her soft tendences 
 and temper, her well-meant though misguided zeal, the piety of her 
 inclinations and her ardent desire that her soul might be without 
 spot presented unto God, which she manifested in ordering that 
 collect to be read twice a day, I have hope that God accepted of 
 her general repentance, and by a super-effluence of grace supplied 
 the defects of it. 
 
 What, therefore, I have said is not in the least to derogate from 
 any of her virtues, but to expostulate with you for being the occa- 
 sion that they did not shine out in their full lustre, and whether 
 such shepherds may not be said to feed themselves rather than the 
 flock. Whether your behaviour to the dying Princess does not 
 reach those expressions of the prophet, of crying Peace, peace, 
 where there is no peace, and of daubing with untempered mortar ; 
 whether it is not treating a spiritual hurt most slightly, let all my 
 reverend brethren of the clergy who are untainted with the latitud- 
 inarian leaven, whether they are possessed of their benefices or 
 deprived, be the judges. 
 
 Before I take my leave I cannot but remark that spiteful 
 reflection you bestowed on the poor sufferers, which you thus 
 express, " and domestic discontent reigning in those whose resent- 
 
on Jus Fiuieral Sermon on Qneen Mary, 307 
 
 ments are stronger than their reason." The persons whom you 
 thus characterize will tell you that it is much easier for you to 
 revile their reason than to answer them, of which you are so very 
 sensible, that no one labours more industriously than yourself to 
 debar them the liberty of the press. 
 
 As for their resentments, the greatest they have at present, are 
 . agamst yourself, not for your promotion, which. I know none of 
 them envy, but for your misguidance of that illustrious Princess 
 whose everlasting happiness they prayed for, and whose untimely 
 death they deplore. In the meantime, sir, none of that dirt, which 
 you cast at the faithful remnant, will stick, but will recoil on your- 
 self, and I have reason to believe that the great Prince, whom such 
 as you had rather flatter than imitate, does esteem them at least 
 honest men, and, indeed, in their being tender of their former 
 oaths, they have followed that illustrious example which he himself 
 set them ; for there was a time, when he being a Prince of Orange 
 had the sovereignty of seven provinces offered him, and offered him 
 by a power, which would have put him into possession, and he 
 rejected that tempting offer, with a most heroic and Christian 
 answer, to this purpose, that he had lately taken an oath to be 
 true to his country, which he could by no means violate. It was 
 wisdom, not that which is earthly, but that is from above, which 
 taught the Prince of Orange to prefer a good conscience above a 
 kingdom, a blissful and an eternal crown before one that was vexa- 
 tious and transitory ; and may the same divine wisdom in his 
 present circumstances vouchsafe to be his counsellor ! If then he 
 when a prince, was so conscientious in observing his oath to the 
 Mates, can he have an ill opinion of priests and bishops who are 
 alike conscientious m observing their oaths.? It is improbable he 
 should, unless he had such ponfessors as yourself to exasperate 
 him against them ; but from such confessors I beseech God to 
 deliver him. 
 
 God of His great mercy grant, that what I have written may 
 awaken you out of your slumber, and conduce to your repentance, 
 the only preservative against those woes which are denounced 
 agamst careless shepherds.— Your faithful friend in our common 
 Saviourj 
 
 Tho. Bath & Wells. 
 
 March 29, 1695. 
 
 ^URNBULL AND SPEARS, PRINTERS, 
 
 EDINBURGH. 
 
 -2/89. 
 
Princeto 
 
 n Theological Seminary Libr^^ 
 
 1 1012 01247 0300 
 
 Date Due 
 
 - 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 ^ 
 
 
 
 
Mi