CHAP. IX.

Of the Confession and Absolution, as used in the Church of England; and of Kneeling and Standing in Divine Service.

Come we now to the several parts of the Liturgy; where the first thing is, the general Confession to be said of the whole congregation, after the minister, all kneeling. There are some, who except against the shortness of this Confession; which, if it be any fault, is equally chargeable on the Confession in Calvin's Liturgy, used by all the French Church, which, for the sake of those who never heard it, I think it not improper here to transcribe out of Calvin's works. "O Lord God, Eternal and Almighty Father, we acknowledge and confess before thy Sacred Majesty, that we are miserable sinners, conceived and born in sin and iniquity; prone to evil, and indisposed to every good work; and that being vicious, we make no end of transgressing thy holy commandments. Hereby we call destruction upon ourselves from thy just judgment. But yet, O Lord, we are heartily sorry for having offended thee, and we condemn ourselves and sins by true repentance, desiring thy grace may relieve our misery. Therefore, O God, Merciful Father, vouchsafe us thy mercy, in the name of thy Son Jesus Christ our Lord. Blot out our sins, and purge away all our filth, and daily increase in us the gifts of thy Holy Spirit: that we acknowledging our iniquity from the bottom of our hearts, may more and more displease ourselves, and be excited to true repentance; which mortifying us and all our sins, may produce in us the fruits of righteousness and innocence, acceptable unto Thee: through the same Jesus Christ our Lord." Calvin. Formul. Prec. tom. viii. p. 29.

It is true, the whole congregation is not obliged to say this Confession after the minister, as we do, but only to go

along with him in their minds: but the difference in this circumstance is so very inconsiderable, that they must have a very great inclination to dispute, that can raise any controversy about it.

As to the posture of kneeling, that is precisely enjoined in the French Church to all people, without respect of quality or persons. "That great irreverence," says their Book of Discipline, cap. x. art. 1. " which is found in divers persons, who at public and private prayers do neither uncover their heads, nor bow their knees, shall be reformed, which is a matter repugnant unto piety, and giveth suspicion of pride, and scandalizes them that fear God. Wherefore all pastors shall be advised, as also elders and heads of families, carefully to oversee, that in time of prayer, all persons, without exception or acceptation, do evidence by those exterior signs, the inward humility of their hearts and homage which they yield to God; unless any one be hindered from so doing by sickness or otherwise."

Now compare this with our Rubrick and 18th Canon, which says, “No man shall cover his head in the church or chapel in the time of divine service, except he have some infirmity. And all manner of persons, then present, shall reverently kneel upon their knees, when the general Confession, Litany, and other prayers are read." If any one censures our Church for these rules of decency, he may see himself more severely condemned by the discipline of the French Church.

Next for the Absolution. I own Calvin's Liturgy has no such form in it but he himself says, it was an omission in him at first, and a defect in his Liturgy; which he afterwards would have rectified and amended, but could not. He makes this ingenuous confession in one of his epistles: "There is none of us," says he, "but must acknowledge it to be very useful, that after the general Confession some remarkable promise of Scripture should follow, whereby sinners might be raised to the hopes of pardon and reconeiliation. And I would have introduced this custom from the beginning, but some fearing that the novelty of it would give offence, I was over easy in yielding to them; so the

thing was omitted. And now it would not be seasonable to make any change; because the greatest part of our people begin to rise up before we come to the end of the Confession." Therefore he advises those he writes to, whilst they had it in their power, to accustom their people to an Absolution, as well as a Confession: "Quo magis optamus, dum vobis integrum est, populum vestrum ad utrumque assuefieri." Epist. de quibusd. Eccles. Ritib. p. 206, 529.

Nay, I must do that justice to Calvin here, by the way, to say, that he was no enemy to private absolution neither, as used in the Church of England. For in one of his-answers to Westphalus, he thus expresses his mind about it: "I have no intent to deny the usefulness of private absolution; but as I commend it in several places of my writings, provided the use be left to men's liberty, and free from superstition; so to bind men's consciences by a law to it, is neither lawful nor expedient." Defens. 2. ad Westphal. tom. viii. p. 678.

Here we have Calvin's judgment, fully and entirely, for the usefulness both of public and private absolution. He owns it to be a defect in his Liturgy, that it wants a public absolution. But the French Church took care to supply this defect in some measure; and, as far as they could without hazarding the peace of their congregations. For the second Synod of Paris, 1565, cap. ix. art. 17, made this Canon: "That such Churches as were accustomed upon Sacrament days, or other Sabbaths, after the Confession of Sins, to pronounce a general Absolution, may, if they please, continue in it: but where this custom is not introduced, the Synod adviseth the Churches not to admit it, because of the dangerous consequences which may

ensue."

They approve the thing, and encourage it where it was in use already, but thought it dangerous to offer at any alteration where it was not; for fear the novelty might give offence, or occasion some disturbance. Whence it appears, that it was not choice, but necessity, that made both Calvin and the French Church omit the inserting a public Absolution into their Liturgy: they did not dislike the thing, but

had no favorable opportunity, as the Church of England had, to introduce it.

As for the custom of the ministers standing up at the absolution, and some other prayers, as the Rubrick appoints; I observe the same practice to be enjoined in some cases in the French Church. For in the form of ordination appointed by the Synod of St. Maixant, it is expressly ordered, "that the minister, who ordains, shall rise up when he comes to the consecration prayer, and repeat that standing." And probably those churches, which use the Absolution, do it in the same posture, as also the Creed, &c.: but I can say nothing positively of these, for I find no express Canon or Rubrick about what posture they are to be said in.

CHAP. X.

That the French Church esteems the Lord's Prayer a Form of Prayer, and as such frequently uses it in Divine Service.

Two things are commonly said against the use of the Lord's Prayer in our Church. 1. That we use it as a form. 2. That we repeat it too often in Divine service. To the first objection Chamier answers copiously, that our Saviour gave it to his disciples as a form; that they used it as a form in their daily prayers, as did also the whole primitive Church; which he proves from the testimonies of Tertullian, Cyprian, and Austin. And hence he takes occasion to prove against his popish adversary, Gerhard, that the Virgin Mary was not free from sin, because she used the Lord's Prayer with the Apostles. "It is reasonable to believe," says he, "that the Holy Virgin prayed to God in the most exquisite manner: but there is no better manner of praying to God, than that which Christ delivered." As Cyprian says, "What prayer can be more spiritual than that which was given us by Christ, who also gives us the Holy Spirit?

What can be more true prayer before God, than that which was uttered from the mouth of his Son, who is truth itself?' Secondly, it is plain from St. Luke, that Mary prayed with the rest of the disciples, Acts i. 14. "These all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication, with the women, and Mary, the mother of Jesus." "Now," says he, " Si orabánt unà, ergo communis erat omnibus formula; if they prayed together, they had all one common form." Thirdly, St. Austin says, "That it is necessary not only for the faithful in general, but for every one in particular, to use the prayer which our Lord gave to his disciples." These are Chamier's arguments, to prove that the Virgin Mary, as well as all other persons, were obliged to use the Lord's Prayer. Tom. 3. de Pec. Orig. lib. v. c. xii. n. 10.

Against this his popish adversary urged, 1. That it could not be proved out of Scripture, or any ancient writer, that ever the Virgin Mary used the Lord's Prayer. 2. The Lord's Prayer was made for the sake of the rude and ignorant; that knew not how to pray: But the Virgin Mary was taught of God from her infancy to pray, and had forms of prayer of her own. To which he answers, "1. That it was false, that it could not be proved out of Scripture that the Virgin Mary did use the Lord's Prayer: For she prayed with the disciples, and the disciples prayed, saying, 'Our Father;' therefore she also prayed, saying, 'Our Father."" To the second he answers, "that the Lord's Prayer was made for the simple and ignorant indeed, but in the same manner as David says the whole word of God was written, 'to give light and understanding to the simple,' Psal. 19. that is, so to instruct the simple, as that it should be not only useful, but necessary, to the greatest proficients also." Chamier, ibid. n. 12, 13.

So far was this learned Frenchman from having that contemptible notion of the Lord's Prayer as a form, which some have, that with St. Austin and the rest of the primitive Church, he thought it necessary to be used as a form, both in Church assemblies, and by every private Christian.

Rivet was of the same mind: for among other arguments to prove the lawfulness and expediency of set forms, he