our corruptions; and more than conquerors, through thee who haft loved us. But, 'O our bountiful Lord God! if it be fuch joy to meet thofe whom we love, now in thy prefence; what will it be to meet ten ⚫ thousand glorified spirits, each of which we fhall love infinitely more in thy kingdom of glory, than we can do any creature here! Glory be to thee, O Lord of glory and of love, who haft given us fuch prefent pleafure in thy fervice, and fuch comfortable hopes of those eternal good things which thou haft prepared for them that love thee.' Amen.

His esteem

for the Liturgy of the Church.

He had the jufteft value, and higheft veneration for that great repofitory of true devotion, the Liturgy of our Church; for which, his regard was not in the least abated, by the great fervour of his private prayers. For though his devotion was very intense, and full of life and warmth: yet it was calm and governable, and confined within the ftrictest bounds of fobriety and reafon. And fuch awful apprehenfions had he, of the prefence of God; fo cautious was he of uttering any thing rafh with his mouth, before his adorable Majefty; that even his private prayers were a well digefted form from which he fometimes varied, according to the particular wants and defires of his foul; though even these variations he usually put in writing; and to that purpose, had his prayers

prayers reduced to heads, in feveral columns, with blanks for his additions and variations; frequently reviewing and correcting the whole. But for all public occafions, for congregations gathered in churches; he efteemed forms of prayer not only expedient, but neceffary. And fuch right notions had he of the usefulness of them, and of that popular, but mistaken phrafe, of praying by the spirit;' that I fhall here give the reader his thoughts of both, in his own words.

Perhaps fome of us have been too zeal. ous in crying down this phrase, of praying by the fpirit: it is certain that all good men have the spirit of Chrift infpiring them ⚫ with the temper of chriftianity. This temper breeds in them good defires; and nature furnishes these defires with fit and fuit

able expreffions. It is the infpiring us with these holy defires, flowing from the temper of chriftianity, which is the peculiar ⚫ work of the fpirit of God. Thus the spirit ' of God speaks in us, and makes interceffion for us, with these holy defires, with which it infpires us; and therefore the expreffion may be very well allowed, that holy men fo inspired do pray by the spirit. But as upon an extraordinary occafion, I fhould not refufe to join with a holy man • in fuch an extemporary prayer; (God forbid I fhould) fo for ordinary occafions, fince the spirit comes and goes, and the most holy man has not always fuch immediate

fluences

influences from it; I fhould think, that prayers compofed by holy men, fet apart for that work, and defiring the affiftance of God's fpirit to it, fhould have a greater portion of his fpirit in them, than any other conftant extemporary prayer. And for a • man's private ufe, the occafions of his foul do feldom fo much vary, but that by de6 grees, and the conftant exercise of this duty, he must come up to a kind of form, or way of expreffing his needs, in the most perfect manner for himfelf; from which there need be very little variation for ex'traordinary emergencies. And when all the parts of it are thus fettled and adjusted, his duty obliges him not to omit any of thefe parts; and this is the constant exercife of private devotion, in which a man. with a good conscience cannot allow himfelf to fail.'

Thefe were his fentiments of the usefulness of forms of prayer, confirmed by his conftantly attending our church's fervice, and by his practice in private; though at the fame time, he could not allow himself to be fevere in his cenfures of thofe who made choice of another way of worfhip, when he believed confcience was their motive. Railing accufations never came out of his mouth against any: They were too contrary to the example of his Great Mafter, and that humility and meeknefs which fhined in his life, and appeared in his words, and all his actions. He honoured

honoured true piety wherever he faw it; and loved thofe, who he believed, ferved God fincerely; though their way of worship differed from his own. None confidered more the power of cuftom and education; and the difficulty of relifhing modes of worship we are ftrangers to, till practice remove our prejudices, and obfervation and experience reconcile us to them. To this purpofe, he expreffes himself in the following meditation.

Lord, we blefs thee for the free liberty of worshipping thee in the way in which we have been brought up; in the way, in 'which we have partaken of thy grace, and received thy fpirit. It is not in our power to reconcile ourfelves to any way of worfhip (though we thought it lawful) at our pleafures. The grace of devotion is eafily checked and ftopped; and little informalities have a great influence and effect upon the fpiritual part of our minds, by which • devotion is exercifed: Yet if the liberty of worfhipping God in the way I am used to, be taken from me, and another afforded me, which I am not ufed to, and judge lawful, I will endeavour as faft as I can, to acquaint my mind with that way; and in time, I doubt not, but God will enable me to receive benefit by it. It is unreasonable for us to expect, that those who make a confcience of ferving God with devotion, but are ftrangers to our methods, fhould immediately change their way of worship, and • heartily

6

heartily close with ours, though better in itfelf, and they were fatisfied that there were nothing unlawful in it. Time and pains. muft work that happy change.'

In his devotions, both public and private, he avoided every thing that had the leaft appearance of affectation, or might any way minifter to vanity; all violent motions of the body, and unnatural modulations of the voice. His behaviour was grave and fimple, natural and very plain. And though never man was lefs apt to entertain hard thoughts of others, yet he could not but fufpect thofe who were very noify in their prayers, who affected ftrange gestures of body, and a forced tone of voice. And I believe the reader will excufe me for delivering his judgment of the true and falfe figns of devotion in his own words: he will find it fo rational and clear, as muft needs be very fatisfactory to him.

The true and

devotion.

We mistake ourselves oftfalfe figns of times in figns of devotion; outward actions of the body may be figns of devotion; but we are to judge ' aright of them, and give them their due weight. Devotion is to the foul, what 'blood is to the body, which is the life of it: Now the best ftate of the body is, when the blood moves regularly and evenly in it: fo as for us to be the leaft fenfible, that we • have fuch a thing as moving blood within which is, when it is in its natural condition, and we are in firm health. We do

us;

not