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THE

CLERGY1\IAN'S INSTRUCTOR,

OR

A COLLECTION OF TRACTS

ON

THE MINISTERIAL DUTIES.

41: ,41: , " ,..
.,,.. ,.. ,

,
-1J yap tlP6)(1'VV1J Tfl\ftTaL 1J.tV t1FL T1J
yr}ç, Ta
LV of"

7rovpav{wv lxtl. 7rpayp.áT6)V.

Chrysostom. de Sacerdotio Dial. I I ( .

SIXTH EDITIO
.
J .."'5'

OX FORI I:

AT THE UN"IVERSITY PRESS.

)[. nccc .1. v.

ADVER'fI SEIVIENT

TO THE

FIRST EDITION.

THE Tracts contained in the following volullle have
been collected and published, in confornlity with the
plan for SOlne time adopted by The Delegates of the Cla-
trendo'll ptress, of assisting the Parochial Clergy, either by
reprinting some of the Inore scarce or eminent treatises of
our English divines, or by editing in a more convenient
-form such documents as, though necessary to be referred
to by those in holy orders, \vere before accessible only in
\vorks of great magnitude and expense. And as what
has hitherto been done ,vith this vie\v has received no
inconsiderable approbation, not only from ecclesiastical
persons, but from serious and learned men of all orders, it
is hoped that the present republication of tracts calculated
e
pecially both to teach and to enforce the ptractical duties
of 'Jninisters, will not be thought less useful than those
\vhich have preceded it, or a less serviceable endeavour
to contribute to the advancement of true religion, and a
due honouring of THE CHURCH as by Ia\v established in
this realm.

OXFORD, July 6, 1807.

i\ D V E R '1' 1 S E 1\1 E N 'f

TO THE

SIXTII EDITION.

..
COPIES of the Fifth Edition of this !Ianual ha,'ìng
becolne scarce, the Delegates of the University Press
have thought fit to lueet the continued demand for the
"r ork by sending forth a new Impression.
''The Editor, \"ho, at their request, undertook to correct
the Press, ,vas entrusted \"ith some discretionary po\ver
a
to the contents of the V olunle and its better accommo-
dation to the class of Readers, for ,vhonl it is prinlarily
intended. Accordingly, t\VO brief Tracts, introductory to
" the Country Parson," have been on1itted, as not essen-
tially connecteù \vith the design, nor directly conducive
to the end, of the Compilation. The longer of the t\VO
purports to be Biographical; but, being bJ' no means

trictly or exclusively so, has been superseded by the
anlpler and far JTIore attractive Life of George J-Jerbert,
,vhich Isaac 'Val ton founded upon it. This on1ission has
afforded room, \vithou t incon venient increase of the bulk
of the V ohnne, for portions of the Remains of T\vo Pre-
lates, but recently renloved by death and therefore still
frc
h in the recollection of the great hoùy of the clergy
aucl la)'-luelubers of the United Church-Archbishop
IJo\vJey and Bishop f(aye. It is contidcntly hoped that
the passages, borro\ved fro))) the ,,'ritiug's of these great

\"

uHl good Inen, will be found entitled to the place here
assigned to them, by reason of their intrinsic excellence,
a
,,,ell as by their striking adaptation to the avowed aim
of the original projectors of "the ClergYlnan's Instructor."
Each of tIle separate Tracts, of which the \V ork con-
sists, is no\v, for the first time, accoInpanied by a short
Biographical Notice of its "r riter.
Besides the challges, thus noticed, no alteration, deserv-
ing of mention, has been made.
The Eight Tracts, ,vhich have forlned the suLstance of
the "r ork in its later Editions, are retained in the saIne
order as before; the only care of the Editor having been
to secure accuracy of Text in every instance, by guarding
against the repetition of a few typographical errors. Nor
are these Tracts believed to be less "calculated" than
they ever \vere "both to teach and to enforce the prac-
" tical duties of l\Iinisters."* 'Vith one exception, the
Authors ''''ere of the Episcopal order; and, therefore, ad-
dressed the Clergy on the topies, \vbich they handled, as
Spiritual Fathers and Guides. It is obvious that 'V riter
,
all of whonl belonged to a space of tiIne, intervening
bet\\"peen tbe opening of the 17th and the middle of the
18th century, rnust frequently, both in lllatter and in
style, indicate their reInoteness fronl our O\Vll day. It is
equally obvious to everyone, even slightly acquainted \vith
the Annals of our Church and Country
in \vhich these
ornalnents of both are conlmeInorated, that among thenl-
seh'es there existed nUlnerous and considerable differences
of talents and learning, of telnper and tastes, of position
and of external circumstances. .L\.ccording to such diver-
ç;itie8 their exhortations and counsels, their cautions and

* .Advertisement to the Fir
t gdition.

,'J

,varnings are, of course, Illodified and varied. But the
òistinctive characteristics of the several "r riters rather
enhance than diminish the value of the collected Treatises;
since the very pecuJiarities of each Inay furnish special
occasions for fixed attention, careful comparison and ju-
dicious discrÎ1nination, on the part of the Student, ,vho

hall be engaged in examining the details of one and the
same great subject and in separating \vhatever is local,
ten1porary and personal fronl abundant Inaterials, \vhich
are of universal application and \vill be for ever profitable.

OXFORD, June
3, 1855.

'r
\BLE OF CONTENTS.

I. A PRIEST to the Temple, or the Country Parson, his Character and
Rule of Iloly Life, by 1fr. George Herbert, A.1\1. Fellow of
Trinity College, Cambridge, and sometime Public Orator of that
University. .................. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . P. 1-62.

II. Rules and Advices to the Clergy of the Diocese of Down and Connor,
by Jeremy Taylor, D. D. Lord Bishop of that Diocese. . . . 63-82.

III. A Discourse of the Pastoral Care, by Gilbert Burnet, Lord Bishop
of Sarurn . . _ .............. . . . . . . . . . . . . . R3-21 O.

IV. A Discourse by Thomas Sprat, D. D. Lord Bishop of Rochester, to
the Clergy of his Dioce
c, IßP5 .. .. .. . . ........211-246.
"
. Jt o.r..... t11 '- ð r
V. ,A. Companion for the Candidates of I-Ioly Orders in two parts; the
first being a Visitation Sermon, concerning the great difficulty and
danger of the Priestly Office; and the second, a Charge to the
Clergy of the Diocese of St. David's, on the principal parts and
branches of the Pastoral Office, with rules and directions for the
due performance of each of them, by George Bull, D. D. I...ord
Bishop of St. David's. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 247-282.

..

viii

CONTENTS.

VI. Directions given to the Clergy of the Diocese of London in the
year 1724, by Edmund Gibson, D. D. Lord Bishop of London.
To which is added his Charge to the Clergy in his last V
sitation,
begun in the year 1741 and finished in the year 1742. . .
. 283-330.

,rII. Instructions to the Clergy of the Diocese of Tuam, by Josiah
Hort, D. D. Lord Archbishop of Tuam, at his Primary Visitation,
1742.. ...... .... .. ........ .. .. .. .......... .. .331-356.

VIII. Parochialia: or, Instructions to the Clergy, in the Discharge of
their Parochial duty. By the Right Rev. Thomas Wilson, D. D.
Lord Bishop of Sodor and Man. .. ............... 357-430.

IX. A Letter addressed to the Clergy and Laity of his Province, by
William Howley, Lord Archbishop of Canterbury. . . . .43] -440.

x. A Charge, delivered in 1831, and portions of a Charge, delivered
in 1846, to the Clergy of the Diocese of Lincoln, by John Kaye,
D. D. Lord Bishop of Lincoln. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 441-474.

A

.
PRIEST TO TIlE TEMPLE;

OR

THE COUNTRY PARSO

HIS CHARACTER, AND RULE OF HOLY LIFE.

BY

MR. GEORGE HERBERT.

B

GEORGE HERBERT
of good family and noble connec-
tions, ,vas born at the Castle of his ancestors, near
1 ontgo-
mery, in 1593. He ,vas educated at W estIni
ster School, and
from thence elected to Trinity College, Cambridge, in 1608.
A few years after he had taken the degree of
1. A. he ,vas
chosen Orator for the University, and aspired, as former
holders of his office had done, to some public employment in
the State; his circumstances of birth and the favour of the
Court coinciding \vith his o\vn turn of mind at the time to
recommend such a plan of life. He ,vas, how-ever, diverted
from all purposes of the kind by the death of those, on ,,'hom
his hopes of promotion had rested, and especially of King
James I, who had shewn much regard for him. In a tem-
porary retreat from the ,,"orld, he then formed a firm resolu-
tion to devote himself to the Sacred Profession. Accordingly, he
was ordained Deacon in 1626, Priest in 1629. In the interval
between these t\VO important events, he had been presented to
the Reëtory of Bemerton near Salisbury; and there he died
in 1632, at the comparatively early age of 39.

His Life by Isaac "yo alton has been often published; and,
recently, at the Oxford University Press, in an octavo volume,
'which contains the other Biographical ,vorks of the same
author. It is also included in the Ecclesiastical Biography of
the late Dr. 'V ords,,' orth.

B2

..

THE AUTHOR TO THE READER.

BEING desirous, through the mercy of God, to please him, for
whom I am and live, and who giveth me my desires and per-
formances; and considering with myself that the way to please
him is to feed my flock diligently and faithfully, since our Saviour hath
made that the argument of a pastor's love; I have resolved to set down
the form and character of a true pastor, that I may have a mark to aim
at ; 'Whi ch als o I will set as high as I can, since he shoots higher that }:;
threatens the moon, than he that aims at a tree. Not that I think, if
- ----------_.
a ma.n-- do OOt all which is here expressed, he presently sins, and
displeases God; but that it is a good strife to go a8 far as we can in
pleasing of him, who hath done so much for us. The Lord prosper the
intention to myself and others, who may not despise my poor labours,
but add to those points, which I have observed, until the book grow to
a complete pastoral.

1632.

GEORGE HERBERT.

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A

PRIEST TO THE TE
IPLE;

OR

THE COUNTRY PARSON,

HIS CHARACTER AND RULE OF HOL Y LIFE.

CHAP. 1.

Of a pastor.
A PASTOR is the deputy of Christ for the reducing of nlan ì
to the obedience of God. This definition IS
dè nt
and
contains the direct steps of pastoral duty and authority. For
fir
t, man fell ii"om God by disobedience. Secondly, Christ is
the glorious instrument of God for the revoking of man. Thirdly, I J
Christ being not to continue on earth, but, a er he had fulfilled
the work of reconciliation, to be received up into heaven, he
constituted deputies in his place, and these are priests. And
therefore St. Paul, in the beginning of his Epistles, professeth
this; and, in t.he first to the Colossians, plainly avoucheth that he
fills up that u'hich is behind of the ajJlictions of Christ in his flesh,
for kis hod!l's sake, which is tne en-urea: wherein is contained
the complete definition of a minister. Out of this charter of the
priesthood may be plainly gathered both t.he dignity thereof
and the dutJ; the dignity, in that a priest may do that which
Christ did, and by his authority, and as his vicegerent. The
duty, in that a priest is to do that which Christ did, and after
his manner, both for doctrine and life.

8

The Count}7J Parson.

eRA P. II.

Tlleir diversities.
O:F pastors, (intending llline own nation only, and also therein
setting aside the right reverend prelates of the church, to
wholn this discourse nriseth not,) SOlne live in the universities,
SOBle in noble houses, SOllIe in parishes residing on their cures.
Of those that live in the universities, some live there in office,
\vhose rule is that of the apostle, !{om. xii. 6. Having gifts dif-
ferinp, according to the grace that is piven to us, u"hether prophecy,
let ZlS p1'ophesy according to the proportion of faith; or 'J}zinistry,
let us wait on ou'J
ministering: or he that teacl
eth, on teaclu'ng,
(.
c.; he tl
at rltletl
, let lâJì
do it with diligence,
c. Some in a
preparatory \vay, whose ainl and labour lllUst be not only to get
knowledge, but to subdue and mortify all lusts and affections;
and not to think that, when they have read the fathers or
schoolmen, a minister is nlade, and the thing done. The great-
est and hardest preparation is within: for, unto the ungodly
saitlt God, JVhy dost thol" preaclt n?JY laws, and takest 9fty cove-
nant in thy rnouth? Psalm 1. 16. Those that live in noble
houses are called chaplains, whose duty and obligation being
the 8ame to the houses they live in, as a parson's to his parish,
in describing the one, (which is indeed the bent of IllY discourse,)
the other will be nlanifest. Let not chaplains think thenlselves
80 free as many of theu1 do, and, because they have different
names, think their office different. Doubtless they are parsons
of the falllilies they live in, and are entertained to that end,
either by an open or inlplicit covenant.. Before they are in
orders, they may be received for conlpanions, or discoursers;
but after a nlan is once n1Înister, he cannot agree to come into
any house, where he shall not exercise what he is, unless he
forsake his plough, and look back. "Therefore they are not to
be over-subnlissive, and base, but to keep up with the lord and
lady of the house, and to preserve a boldness with theIll and all,
even so far as reproof to their very face, when occasion calls, but
seasonaLly and discreetly. They ,vho do not thus, while they
relnember their earthly lord, do much forget their heavenly:
they wrong the priesthood, neglect their duty, and shall be so
far frolll that which they seek with their over-snbnli
siveness
and cringing, that they shall ever be despised. They who fOl

The Country Pa'tson.

9

the hope of promotion neglect any necessary admonition or
reproof, sell, with Judas, their Lord and Master.

CHAP. III.
The pa1'son"'s life.
THE country parson is exceeding exact in his life, being holy,
just, prudent, temperate, bold, grave in all his ,vays. And
because the two highest points of life, wherein a Christian is
ll10st seen, are patience and Inortification; patience in regard
of afflictions, mortification in regard of lusts and affections, and
the stupifJing and deading of all the clamorous powers of the
soul; therefore he hath throughly studied these, that he may
be an absolute Inaster and commander of himself, for all the
purposes which God hath ordained him. Yet in these points
he labours Inost in those things \vhich are most apt to scan-
dalize his parish. And first, because country people live hardly,
and therefore, as feeling their own sweat, and consequently
knowing the price of n10ney, are offended much with any, ,,-ho
by hard usage increase their travail, the country parson is very
circun1spect in a voiding all covetousness, neither being greedy
to get, nor niggardly to keep, nor troubled to lose any worldly
wealth; but in all his words and actions slighting and dises-
teen1ing it, even to a \vondering that the world should so much
value ,vealth, which in the day of wrath hath not one dram of
comfort for us. Secondly, because luxury is a very visible sin,
the parson is very careful to avoid all the kinds thereof, but
especially that of drinking, because it is the most popular vice;
into which if he come, he prostitutes himself both to shame
and sin, and by having fellowship with the unfruitful worh
s of
darkness, he disableth himself of authority to reprove them: for
sins make all equal, whom they find together: and then they
are worst, who ought to be best. Neither is it for the servant
of Christ to haunt inns, or taverns, or alehouses, to the disho-
nour of his person and office. The parson doth not so, but
order
his life in snch a fashion, that when death takes him, as
the Jews and Judas did Christ, he may say as he did, I sat daily
'witlt you teaching in tlte temple. Thirdly, because country peo-
ple (as indeed all honest men) do much esteenl their \vord, it
being the life of buying, and seUing, and dealing in the ,vorld ;
therefore the parson is very strict in keepiI1g his word, though

10

The Country Parson.

it be to his own hinderance, as kno\ving, that if he be not so, he
will quickly be discovered and disregarded; neither will they
believe him in the pulpit, whom they cannot trust in his conver-
sation. As for oaths and apparel, the disorders thereof are also
very manifest. The parson'ls yea is yea, and nay nay; and his
apparel plain, but reverend and clean, \vithout spot
, or dust, or
smell; the purity of his mind breaking out, and dilating itself
even to bis body, clothes and habitation.

CHAP. IV.

The parson'ls knowledge.
-
THE country parson is full of all knowledge. They say, it is
an in nlason that refuseth any stone: and there is no kno,v-
ledge, but, in a skilful hand, serves either, positively Jas it is,' or
else to illustrate some other knowledge. He condescends even
to the knowledge of tillage and pasturage, and makes great use
of them in teaching, because people by wbat they understand
are best led to what they understand not. But t.he chief and
top of his knowledge consists in the book of books, the store-
house and magazine of life and comfort, the holy scriptures.
There he sucks and lives. In the scriptures he finds four
things; precepts for life, doctrines for knowledge, examples for
illustration, and promises for comfort: these he hath digested
severally. But for the understanding of these; the means he
useth are, first, a holy life, remeInbering ,,,hat his 1\:Iaster saith,
that if any do God's will, he shaUl-now of the doctrine, John vii,
and assuring himself that wicked nlen, how-ever learned, do not
kno,v the scriptures, because they feel them not, and because
they are not understood but with the same Spirit that writ them.
The second means is prayer, which it" it be necessary even in
temporal things, ho\v much more in things of another world,
,vhere the ,veIl is deep, and ,ve have nothing of ourselves to
draw \vith! 'Yherefore he ever begins the reading of the scrip-
ture with sonle short inward ejaculation, as, LOfrd, open 'Jnine
eyes, that 1 Juay see the 'wondrous tldngs of tllY la
f). &c. The
third Il1eanS is a diligent coUation of scripture with scripture.
· For all truth being consonant to it

lf, and all being penned by

one and the self-saIne Spirit, it cannot be, but that an industri-
ous and judicious comparing of place with place must be a
singular help for the right understanding of the scriptures. To

The CO'ltnfr!l Parson.

11

this may be added the consideration of any text with the cohe-
rence thereof, touching what goes before, and what follows
after, as also the scope of the Holy Ghost. \\"'hen the apostles
would have called down fire from heaven, they were reproved,
as ignorant of what spirit they were. For the law required
one thing, and the gospel another: yet as diverse, not as repug-
nant: therefore the spirit of both is to be considered and
weighed. The fourth means are commenters and fathers, who
have handled the places controverted, which the parson by no
means refuseth. As he doth not so study others as to neglect
the grace of God in himself, and what the Holy Spirit teacheth
him; so doth he assure himself, that God in all ages hath had
his servants, to \vhom he hath revealed his truth, as well as to
him; and that as one country doth not bear all things, that
there may be a conlmerce; so neither hath God opened, or will
open, all to one, that there may be a traffick in knowledge be-
tween the servants of God, for the planting both of love and
hunlility. Wherefore he hath one comment at least upon every
book of scripture, and ploughing \vith this, and his own lnedita-
tions., he enters into the secrets of God treasured in the holy
scripture.

CHAP. v.
The pa'J"son"'s accessary lcnowledges.
THE country parson hath read the fathers also, and the
schoolnlen, and the later writers, or a good proportion of
aU, out of all which he hath cOlnpiled a book, and body of di-
vinity, which is the storehouse of his sermons, and ,vhich he
preachÐth all his life; but diversely clothed, illustrated, and
enlarged. For though the world is full of such composures, yet
every nlan"'s own is fittest, readiest, and most savoury to him.
Besides, this being to be done in his younger and preparatory
times,
t is an honest joy ever after to look upon his well-spent
hours. This body he made by way of expounding the Church
Catechislu, to which all divinity may easily be reduced. For it
being indifferent in itself to choose any n1ethod, that is best to
be chosen of which there is likeliest to be most use. Now
catechising being a work of singular and adnlirable benefit to the
church of God, and a thing required under canonical obedience,
the expounding of our Catechisnl Inust neecls be the most useful

1

The Country Parson.

form. Yet hath the parson, besides this laborious ,york, a
slighter form of catechising, fitter for country people: according
as his audience is, so he useth one or other; or sometimes both,
if his audience be intermixed. He greatly esteems also of
cases of conscience, wherein he is n1uch versed. And indeed,
herein is the greatest ability of a parson, to lead his people ex-
actly in the ways of truth, so that they neither decline to the
right hand, nor to the left. Neither let any think this a slight
thing. For everyone hath not digested, when it is a sin to take
something for money lent, or ,,,hen not; when it is a fault to
discover another's fault., or ,vhen not; when the affections of
the soul, in desiring and procurin,g increase of lneans or honour,
be a sin of covetousness or ambition, and when not; when the
appetites of the body in eating, drinking, sleep, and the pleasure
that comes ,vith sleep, be sins of gluttony, drunkenness, sloth,
lust, and when not; and so in many circumstances of actions.
]\; o\V if a shepherd kno,v not which grass will bane, and ,vhich
not, how is he fit to be a shepherd? "Therefore the parson hath
throughly canvassed all the particulars of human actions, at
least all those ,vhich he observeth are most incident to his
l)arish.

CHAP. VI.

The parson praying.
THE coun try parson, when he is to read divine services,
composeth himself to all possible reverence; lifting up his
heart and hands and eyes, and using all other gestures ,vhich
may express a hearty and unfeigned devotion. This he doth,
first, as being truly touched and amazed with the majesty of God,
before whom he then presents himself; yet not as himself alone"
bat as presenting with himself the whole congregation, whose
sins he then bears, and brings ,vitn his own to the heavenly
altar, to be bathed and washed in the sacred laver of Christ"s
blood. Secondly, as this is the true reason of his inward fear,
so he is content to express this outwardly to the utn10st of his
power; that being first affected himself, he may affect also his
people, knowing that no sern10n (for a sennon they n1ay forget
again, when they come to pray) moves them so n1uch to reverence
as a devout behaviour in the very act of praying. .L\ccordingly his
voice is humble, his words treatable and slo\\'; yet not so slow
neither, as to let the ff'rvency of the supplicant hang and die

tr1
,
'r (

..

t'It

The Country Parson.
..,
a · ( -. I - b
. d
between speaking, but with a grave lIve IneSS I etween leal' an
zeal, pausing yet pressing, he perforn1s his duty. Besides, his
ex:unple l he having often instructed his people how to carry
thelnselves in divine service, exacts of them all possible rever-
ence, by no means enduring either talking, or sleeping, or
gazing, or leaning, or half-kneeling, or any undutiful behaviour
in them: but causing theIn, when they sit, or stand, or kneel,
to do all in a straight and steady posture, as attending to what
is done in the church; and everyone, 111an and child, answer-
ing aloud both AlDen, and all other answers, which are on the
clerk"s and people'ls part to answer: which answers also are to
be done, not in a huddling or slubbering fashion, gaping or
scratching the head, or spitting even in the midst of their an-
swer, but gently and pausably, thinking what they say; so that f I
while they answer, As it was in the beginning, &c. they meditate
as they speak, that God hath ever had his people, that have
glorified hin1 as well as now, and that he shall have so for ever.
And the like in other answers. This is that ,vhich the apostle
calls a reasonable service, Rom. xii, ,vhen we speak not as par-
rots, without reason, or offer up such sacrifices as they did of old,
which ,vas of beasts devoid of reason; but when we use our
reason, and apply our powers to the service of him that gives
them. If there be any of the gentry or nobility of the
parish, who sometimes make it a piece of state not to come at
the beginning of service with their poor neighbours, but at mid-
prayers, both to their own loss, and to their"s also who gaze upon
then1 when they come in, and neglect the present service of
God, he by no means suffers it, but after divers gentle admoni-
tions, if they persevere, he causes them to be presented: or if the
poor churchwardens be affrighted with their greatness, notwith-
standing his instruction that they ought not to be so, but even
t.o let the world sink, so they do their duty; he presents them
himself, only protesting to them, that not any ill-will draws him
to it, but the debt and obligation of his calling, being to obey
God rather than nlen.

19

CHAP. VII.

The pærson preaclting.
THE country parson preacheth constantlJ, the pulpit is his
joy and his throne: if he at any time internlit, it is either

14

Th(
CO'ltntry Pa'l'son.

for want of health, or against SOlne festival, that he may the
better celebrate it, or for the variety of the hearers, that he nlay
be heard at his return nlore attentively. When he interIl1its,
he is ever very well supplied by SOlne able man, \vho treads in
his steps, and \viII not thro\v down what he hath built; whom
also he entreats to press sonle point, that he himself hath often
urged with no great success, that so in the Inouth of t\VO or
three witnesses the truth nlay be more established. When he
preacheth, he procures attention by all possible art, both by
earnestness of speech, it being natural to men to think that,
,vhere is llluch earnestness, there is sonlewhat worth hearing;
and by a diligent and busy cast of his eye on his auditors, \vith
letting them know that he obser
'es who marks, and who not;
and with particularizing of his speech now to the younger sort,
then to the elder, now to the poor, and no\v to the rich: This is
for you, and this is for you; for particulars ever touch, and
awake more than generals. IIerein also he serves hilnself of
the judgments of God, as of those of ancient tiIlles, so especially
of the late ones; and those most, which are nearest to his
parish; for people are very attentive at such discourses, and
think it behoves them to be so, when God is so near theIu, and
even over their heads. SOJnetilues he tells thenI stories, and
sayings of others, according as his text invites him; for thelll
also luen heed, and reilleinber better t.han exhortationA; which,
though earnest, yet often die \vith the sermon, especially with
country people, \"hich are thick and heavy and bard to raise
to a point of zeal and fervency, and need a 1l10untain of fire to
kindle them; but stories and sayings they will well remelnber.
He often tells thenl, that sennons are dangerous things, that
none goes out of church as he canle in, but either better or
worse; that none is careless before his Judge, and that the
\,"ord of God shall judge us. By t
lese and other means the
parson procures attention; but the character of his serlnon is
holiness; he is not witty, or learned, or eloquent, but holy: a
character that Hermoge nes never dreallied of, and therefore he
could give no precep fSth ereof. But it is gained, first, by
choosing texts of devotion, not controversy, moving and ravish-
ing texts, whereof the scriptures are full. Secondly, by dipping
anrl seasoning all our words and sentences in our hearts, before
they come into our mouths, truly affecting and cordially ex-
pressing all that \ve say; so that the auditors luay plainly

The Country Pa'J"sort,.

15

perceive that every word is heart-deep. Thirdly, by turning
often, and making many apostrophes to God; as, 0 Lord, bless
Iny people, and teach thelll this point; or, 0 my .l\Iaster, on
\vhose errand I come, let me hold my peace, and do thou speak
thyself; for thou art love, and when thou teachest, all are
scholars. Some such irradiations scatteringly in the SerlYlOn carry
great holiness in them. The prophets are admirable in this.
So Isaiah lxiv. Ok that thou wOltldest rend the heavens, that thou
wouldest come down, &c. And.J eremiah, chap. x, after he had
complained of the desolation of Israel, turns to God suddenly,
o Lord, I know tltat tlw
()a!/ of man is not in himself, &c.
Fourthly, by frequent wishes of the people's good, and joying
therein, though he hilnself were, with St. Paul, even sacrificed
upon the service of their faith. For there is no greater sign of
holiness, than the procuring and rejoicing in another's good.
And herein S1. Paul excelled in all his Epistles. H O\V did he
put the Romans in all his prayers! Rom. i. 9. and ceased not to
give thanks for the Ephesians, Eph. i. 16. and for the Corinth-
ians, chap. i. 4. and for the Philippians lnade request with joy,
chap. i. 4. and is in contention for them \vhether to live or die;
be \vith them or Christ, ver. 23; which, setting aside his care
of his flock, \vere a madness to doubt of. 'Vhat an admirable
epistle is the second to the Corinthians! how full of affections !
He joys, and he is sorry; he grieves, and he glories: never
was there such care of a flock expressed, save in the great
Shepherd of the fold, who first shed tears over Jerusalem, and
afterwards blood. Therefore this care may be learned there,
and then woven into sermons, which \viII make them appear ex-
ceeding reverend and holy. Lastly, by an often urging of the
presence and lnajestyof God, by these or such like speeches:
Oh let us take heed what \ve do: God sees us; he sees whether
I speak as I ought, or you hear as you ought; he sees hearts, as
we see faces: he is among us; for if we be here, he must be
here, since we are here by hiln, and. without him could not be
here. Then turning the discourse to his Inajesty; And he is a
great God, and terrible; as great in mercy, so great in judg-
ment : there are but two devouring elements, fire and water; he
hath both in hiln; his 'Voice is as the sound of 'ina'1"l!/ 'waters,
Revelations i. And he himself is a consumz.ng fire, Heb. xii.
Such discourses shew very holy. The parson's met.hod in hand-
ling of a text consists of two parts; first, a plain and evident

16

The Country Pa'J'son.

declaration of the meaning of the text; and secondly, some
choice observations drawn out of the \vhole text, as it lies entire
and unbroken in the scripture itself. This he thinks natural
and sweet and grave. \Vhereas the other way of crumbling a
text into small parts, as
the person speaking, or spoken to, the
subject, and object, and the like, hath neither in it sweetness,
nor gravity, nor variety, since the words apart are not scripture,
but a dictionary, and Inay be considered alike in all the scripture.
The parson exceeds not an hour in preaching, because all ages
have thought that a competency, and he that profits not in that
time \viII less afterwards; the sanle affection ",.hich nlade him
not profit before, making him then ,yeary, and so he gro\vs from
not relishing, to loathing.

CHAP. VIII.

Tho par,,;on on Sundays.
THE country parson, as soon as he awakes on Sunday
morning, presently falls to work, and seeins to himself so
as a Dlarket-man is, when tho market-day conIes, or a shop-
keeper, when customers use to come in. His thoughts are full
of making the best of the day, and contriving it to his best gains.
To this end, besides his ordinary prayers, he makes a peculiar
one for a blessing on the exercises of the day, that nothing
befall him unworthy of that l\iajesty before ,vhich he is to pre-
sent himself, but that all may be done with reference to his
glory, and \vith edification to his flock, humbly beseeching his
::\Iaster, that how or whenever he punish him, it be not in his
ministry. Then he turns to request for his people, that the
Lord would be pleased to sanctify theln all, that they may come
with holy hearts and awful nlillds into the congregation, and
that the good God would pardon an those ,vho come with less
prepared hearts than they ought. This done, he sets himself to
the consideration of the duties of the day; and if there be any
extraordinary addition to the customary exercises, either from
the time of the year, or froln the State, or fronl God by a child
born, or dead, or any other accident, he contrives ho\v and in
what manner to induce it to the best advant:tge. Afterwards
when the hour calls, with his fan1Ïly attending him, he goes to
church, at his first entrance hlunbly adoring and worshipping
the invisible majest)' and presence of Alnlighty God, and blessing

The OQuntry Parson.

17

the people either openly, or to hÎ1nseIf. Then having read divine
service twice fully, and preached in the mornnig, and cate-
chised in the afternoon, he thinks he hath in SOIDe measure,
according to poor and frail man, discharged the public duties of
the congregation. The rest of the day he spends either in
reconciling neighbours that are at variance, or in visiting the
sick, or in exhortations to SOllle of his flock by themselves,
whom his sermons cannot or do not reach. And everyone is
more a,vaked, when we conle and say, Thou art the rnan. This
way he finds exceeding useful and winning; and these exhorta-
tions he calls his privy purse, even as princes have their's be-
sides their public disbursements. At night he thinks it a very
fit time, both suitable to the joy of the day, and without hinder-
ance to public duties, either to entertain some of his neighbour3,
or to b
entertained of thenI, where he takes occasion to dis-
course of such things as are both profitable and pleasant, and
to raise up their minds to apprehend God's good blessing to our
Church and State; that order is kept in the one, and peace in
the other, without disturbance or interruption of public divine
offices. As he open
d the day with prayer, so he closeth it,
hUlllbly beseeching the Ahnighty to pardon and accept our poor
services, and to in1prove thel11, that we Inay grow therein, and
that our feet may be like hinds' feet, ever climbing up higher
and higher unto him.

CHAP. IX.

The parson's state of life.
THE country parson, considering that virginit.y is an higher
state than l11atrilllony and that the lllinistry requires the
best and highest things, is rather unnlarried than married.
But yet, as the telnper of his body lnay be, or as the tenlper of
his parish lllay be, where he lllay have occasion to converse with
WOlllen, and that alnongst suspicious lnen, and other like
circulnstances considered, he is rather 111arried than unularried.
Let hiln cOllllnunicate the thing often by prayer unto God, and
as his grace shall direct hitn, so let hitn proceed. If he be un-
Inarried, and keep house, he hath not a 'VOlnan in his house,
but finds opportunities of having his nleat dressed and other
services done by lnen servants at home, and his linen washed
abroad. If he be unlllarried, and sojourn, he never talks with
c

vh

]8

The Country Parson.

?
"

any WOluan. alone, but in the audience of others, and that
seldom, and then also in a serious manner, never jestingly or
sportfully. lIe is very circunlspect, in all cOlllpanies, both of
his behaviour, speech "and very looks, knowing hiluself to be
both suspected and envied. If he stand steadfast in his heart,
having no necessity, but hath power over his own will, and hath
so decreed in his heart, that he will keep hinlself a virgin, he
spends his days in fasting and prayer, and blesseth God for the
gift of continency, knowing that it can no \vay be preserved, but
only by those means by which at first it was obtained. He
therefore thinks it not enough for hiln to observe the fasting days
of the church, and the daily prayers enjoined him by authority,
\vhich he observeth out of hlunble conforlnity and obedience;
but adds to thein, out of choice and devotion, some other days
for fasting, and hours for prayers; and by these he keeps his
body tanIe, serviceable, and healthful; and his soul fervent,
active, young, and lusty as an eagle. He often readeth the
\ lives of the priluitive 11lonks, hermits, and virgins, an d wond ereth
,not so luuch at their patient suffering, and cheerful dying under
: persecuting enlperors, though t.hat indeed be very adlnirable, as
at their daily tenIperance, abstinence, watchings and constant
prayers and 11lortifications in the tinIes of peace and prosperity.
To put on the profound hUluility and the exact temperance of
our Lord J eSllS, ,vith other exeluplary virtues of that sort, and
to keep them on in the sunshine and noon of prosperity, he
findeth to be as necessary, and as difficult at least, as to be
clothed \vith perfect patience and Christian fortitude in the cold
lllÏdnight storms of persecution and adversity. He keepeth his
,vatch and ,yard, night and day, against the proper and peculiar
tenlptations of his state of life, which are principally these two,
spiritual pride and ilupurity of he[1 rt: against these ghostly
eneluies he girdeth up his loins, heeps the inlagination froln
roving, puts on the whole arnlour of God, and by the virtue of
the shield of faith he is not afraid of the pestilence that wallceth in
darl.:ness, (carna] ilupurit.y,) nor of tlte sicl.:ness tltat destroyetlt at
noon-day, (ghostly pride and self-conceit.) Other temptations
he hath, which, like Inortal eneulies, luay sonIetilnes disquiet
hinl likewise; for the human soul being bounded and kept in,
in her sensitive faculty, will run out n10re or less in her
intellectual. Original concupiscence is such an active thinE5, by
reason of continual inward or outward tell1ptations, that it is ever

The Country Parson.

19

attenlpting or doing one mischief or other. An1bition or un-
timely desire of promotion to a higher state or place, unrler
colour of accomlnodation, or necessary provision, is a comn10n
ternptation to men of any eIninency, especially being single men.
Curiosity in prying into high speculative and unprofitable
questions, is another great stumblingblock to the holiness or
scholars. These and many other spiritual wickednesses in high
places doth the parson fear, or experilllent, or Loth; and that
much Inore being single, than if he were married; for then
commonly the stream of ten1ptations is turned another ,vay, into
covetousness, love of pleasure, or ease, or the like. If the parson
be unmarried, and lneans to continue so, he doth at least as much
as hath been said. If he be nlarried, the choice of his ,,'ife ,vas
made rather by his ear, than by his eye; his judgn1ent, not his
affection, found out a fit wife for him, whose humble and liberal
disposition he preferred before beauty, riches, or honour. I-Ie
knew that the good instrument of God to bring women to
heaven, a wise and loving husband, could out of hun1Ìlity produce
any special grace of faith, patience, lueekness, love, obedience,
&c. and out of liberality nlake her fruitful in all good works.
As he is just in all things, so is he to his wife also, counting
nothing so much his own, as that he may be unjust unto it.
Therefore he gives her respect both before her servants and
others, and half at least of the government of the house,
reserving so much of the affairs as serve for a diversion for him;
yet neyer so giving over the reins, but that he son1etilnes looks
how things go, delnanding an account, but not by the way of an
account. And this must be done the oftener, or the seldoll1er,
according as he is satisfied of his wife's discretioll.

CHAP.X.

Tho parson in Ids house.
THE parson is very exact in the governing of his house,
n1aking it a copy and model for his parish. lIe knows the
tenlper and pulse of every person in his house, and accordingly
either meets with their vices, or advanceth their virtues. His
wife is either religious, or night and day he is winning her to it.
Instead of the qualities of the world, he requires only three of
her; first a training up of her children and maids in the fear of
God, with prayers and catechising, and an religious duties.
c

]8

Tlw Oountry Parson.

\.

any WOlnan, alone, but in the audience of others, and that
bcldoll1, and then also in a serious manner, never jestingly or
sportfully. lIe is very circumspect, in all cOlupanies, both of
his behaviour, bpeech "and very looks, knowing hill1self to be
both suspected and envied. If he stand steadfast in his heart,
having no necessity, but hath power over his o\vn will, and hath
so decreed in his heart, that he will keep himself a virgin, he
spends his days in fasting and prayer, and Llesseth God for the
gift of continency, knowing that it can no way be preserved, but
only by those means by which at first it was obtained. lIe
therefore thinks it not enough for hill1 to observe the fasting days
of the church, and the daily pravers enjoined him by authority,
,vhich he observeth out of hUlllble conformity and obedience;
but adds to then1, out of choice and devotion, SOlne other days
for fasting, and hours for prayers; and by the
e he keeps his
body tan1e, serviceable, and healthful; and his soul fervent,
active, young, and lusty as an eagle. He often readeth the
'lives of the prilnitive monks, hermits, and virgins, an d woñ dereth
not so luuch at their patient suffering, and cheerful dying under
: persecuting elnperors, though t.hat indeed be very adluirable, as
at their daily ten1perance, abstinence, \vatchings and constant
prayers and mortifications in the tillles of peace and prosperity.
To put on the profound hun1Ïlity and the exact tenlperance of
our Lord Jesus, \vith other exemplary virtues of that sort, and
to keep thelll on in the sunshine and noon of prosperity, he
findeth to be as necessary, and as difficult at least, as to be
clothed \vith perfect patience and Christian fortitude in the cold
n1idnight stOrIns of persecution and adversity. He keepeth his
watch and ward, night and day, against the proper and peculiar
temptations of his state of life, which are principally these two,
spiritual pride and iUlpurity of he:. rt: against these ghostly
enenlies he girdeth up his loins, keeps the in1agination froln
roving, puts on the whole armour of God, and by the virtue of
the shield of faith he is not afraid of tke pestilence that wallceth in
darl.:ness, (carnal iUlpurity,) nor of tlte sickness that destroyetlì at
noon-day, (ghostly pride and self-conceit.) Other temptations
he hath, which, lilie n10rtal enemies, lnay sometilnes disquiet
hilu likewise; for the hUI11an soul being bounded and kept in,
in her sensitive faculty, will run out 1110re or less in her
intellectual. Original concupiscence is such an active thing, by
reason of continual inward or outward temptations, that it is ever

The Country Parson.

19

attenlpting or doing one mischief or other. Ambition or un-
timely desire of promotion to a higher state or place, unner
colour of accomillodation, or necessary provision, is a common
temptation to men of any elninency, especially being single nlen.
Curiosity in prying into high speculative and unprofitable
questions, is another great stumblingblocl{ to the holiness or
scholars. These and man}
other spiritual wickednesses in high
places doth the parson fear, or experilllent, or both; and that
much nlore being single, than if he were nlarried; for then
commonly the stream of tenlptations is turned another \vay, into
covetousness, love of pleasure, or ease, or the like. If the parson
be unn1arried, and means to continue so, he doth at least as much
as hath been said. If he be n1arried, the choice of his ",
ife \vas
made rather by his ear, than by his eye; his judgment, not his
affection, found out a fit wife for him, whose humble and liberal
disposition he preferred before beauty, riches, or honour. I-Ie
knew that the good instrument of God to bring \vornen to
heaven, a wise and loving husband, could out of hun1ility produce
any special grace of faith, patience, l11eekness, love, obedience,
&c. and out of liberality Dlake her fruitful in all good works.
As he is just in all things, so is he to his wife also, counting
nothing so much his own, as that he may be unjust unto it.
Therefore he gives her respect both before her servants and
others, and half at least of the government of the house,
reserving so much of the affairs as serve for a diversion for hiIn;
yet neyer so giving over the reins, but that he sOlnetillles looks
how things go, del11anding an account, but not by the way of an
account. And this lnust be done the oftener, or the seldoll1er,
according as he is satisfied of his wife's discretion.

CHAP.X.

Tho parson in his house.
THE parson is ver}
exact in the governing of his house,
nlaking it a copy and model for his parish. 1-1 e knows the
tenlper and pulse of every person in his house, and accordingly
either meets with their vices, or advanceth their virtues. His
\vife is either religious, or night and day he is winning her to it.
Instead of the qualities of the world, he requires only three of
her; first a training up of her children and maids in the fear of
God, with pra:yers and catechising, and all religious duties.
c

QO

The Oountry Parson.

Secondly, a curing and healing of all wounds and sores with her
o,vn hands; which skill either she brought with her, or he takes
care she shall learn it of some religious neighbour. Thirdly, a
providing for her fan1ily in such sort, as that neither they want
a competent sustentation, nor her husband be brought in debt.
His children he fir
t nlakes Christians, and then conllnon,veaIth's
Dlen; the one he owes to his heavenly country, the other to his
earthly, having no title to either, except he do good to both.
Therefore having seasoned thenl with all piety, not only of ,vords
in praying and reading, but in actions, in visiting other sick
children, and tending their ,vounds, and sending his charity by
then1 to the poor, and sonletiln
giving then1 a little nloney to
do it of theluselves, that they get a delight in it, and enter into
favour ,vith God, ,vho weighs even children's actions, 1 Kings
xiv. 12, 13, he afterwards turns his care to fit all their dispo-
sitions with sonle calling, not sparing the eldest, but giving him
the prerogative of his father's profession, ,vhich haply for his
other children he is not able to do. Yet in binding them
apprentices, (in case he think fit to do so,) he takes care not to
put theln into vain trades, anrl unbefitting the reverence of their
father's calling, such as taverns for men, and lace-making for
'von1en; because those trades, for the n10st part, serve but the
vices and vanities of the world, which he is to deny, and not
augment. IIowever, he resolvelS with hilnself never to olnit any
present good deed of charity, in consideration of providing a
stock for his children; but assures hin1self, that money thus lent
to God is placed surer for his children's advantage, than if it
were given to !!:e chalnber o
Londo n. Good deeds, and good
breeding, are his two great stocks for his children; if God givo
any thing above those, and not spent in them, he blesseth God.,
and lays it out as he sees cause. Hi$ servants are all religious;
and were it not his duty to have thenl so, it were his profit, for
none are so ,veIl served as by religious servants, both because
they do best, and because what they do is blessed, and prospers.
After religion, he teaches theIn, that three things nlake a com-
plete servant, truth, diligence, and neatness or cleanliness.
Those that can read (1 re allowed tin1es for it, and those that can-
cot are taught; for all in his house are either teachers or learn-
cr
, or both; 80 that his f:,ullily is a school of religion. and
they all account, that to teach the ignorant is the greatest ahus.
Even the walls are not idle, but sOlJ1ething is written or painted

f

...

The Country Parson.

21

there, which may excite the reader to a thought of piety;
especially the 1018t Psalm, which is expressed in a fair table, as
being the rule of a fan1ily. And when they go abroad, his wife
anlong her neighbours is the beginner of good discourses, his
children alnong children, his servants among other seryant.s; so
that as in the house of those that are skilled in nlusic all are
nlusicians; so in the house of a preacher all are preachers. He
suffers not. a lie or equivocation by any nleans in his house, but
counts it the art and secret of governing, to preserve a directness
and open plainness in all things; so that all his house knows
that there is no help for a fault done, but confession. He him-
self or his wife tak es account of sermons, and how everyone
profits, conlparing this year with the last: and, besides the COlTI-
DIon prayers of the falnily, he straitly requires of all to pray by
themselves before they sleep at night and stir out. in the morn-
ing, and knows what prayers they say, and, till they have learned
them, Blakes thenI kneel by hiln; esteenling that this private
praying is a more voluntary act in them, than when they are
called to others' prayers, and that which when they leave the
family they carry with thenl. He keeps his servants between
love and fear, according as he finds theln; but generally he
distributes it thus; to his children he shews nIore love than
terror, to his servants nlore terror than love: but an old good
r servant boards a child. The furniture of his house is very plain,
but clean, whole, and sweet, as sweet aA his garden can make;
for he hath no Inoney for such things, charity being his only
perfume, which deserves cost when he can spare it. His fare is
plain and conlnlon, but wholesome; what he hath is little, but
very good; it consisteth most of lllutton, beef, and veal; if he
adòs any thing for a great day, or a stranger, his garden or
orchard supplies it, or his barn and bacl{side: he goes no further
for any entertainment, lest he go into the world, esteelning it
absurd that he should exceed, who teacheth others teIl1perance.
But those which his honle produceth he refuseth not, as conling
cheap and easy, and arising fronl the inlprovenlent of things,
which otherwise would be lost. 'Yherein he admires and imi-
tates the wonderful proyidence and thrift of the great House-
holder of the world: for there being two things, which as they
are, are unuseful to man, the one for smal1ness, as crumbs and
scattered corn, and the like; the other for the foulness, as
wash and dirt, and things thereinto fallen; God hath provided

QQ

The Oo'untl'!l Parson.

creatures for both; for the first, popItry; for the second, swine.
These save man the labour, and doing that which either he could
not do, or wa.s not fit for him to do, by taking both sorts of food
into theIn, do as it were dress and prepare both for man and
then1selves, by growing themselves fit for his table. The parson
in his house observes fasting days; and particularly as Sunday
is his day of joy, so Friday his day of humiliation, which he
celebrates not only with abstinence of diet, but also of company,
recreation, and an outward contentInents, and besides with con-
fession of sins, and all act.s of nlortification. N ow fasting days
contain a treble obligation: first, of eating less that day than
on other days: secondly, of eatin o no pleasing or over-nourishing
things, as the Israelites did eat sour herbs: thirdly, of eating no
flesh, which is but the detennination of the second rule by
authority to this particular. The two former obligations are
l1luch nlore essential to a true fast than the t.hird and last; and
fasting days were fully performed by keeping of the two former,
had not authority interposed: so that to eat little, and that
unpleasant, is the natural rule of fasting.. although it be flesh.
For since fasting in scripture language is an afflicting of our
80uls, if a. piece of dry flesh at. lny table be more unpleasant to
nle than SOlne fish there, certainly to eat the flesh, and not the
fish, is to keep the fasting day naturally. And it is observable,
that the prohibiting of flesh C[Llne froln hot countries, where both
flesh alone, and n1uch n10re with wine, is apt to nourish more
than in cold regions, and where flesh may be lnuch better sparpd,
and with lllore safety, than elsewhere
where both the people
and the drink being cold and phleglnatic, the eating of flesh is
an antidote to both. For it is certain, that a weak stoluach
being preposses
ed ,vith flesh, shall lnuch better brook and bear
a draught of beer, than if it had taken before either fish or
roots, or such things; which will discover itself by spitting, and
rheum, or phlegnl. To conclude, the parson, if he be in full health,
keeps the three obligations, eating fish or roots, and that for
quantity little, for quality unpleasant. If his body be weak
and obstructed, as 1110St students are, he cannot keep the last
obligation, nor suffer others in his house that are 80 to keep it;
but only the two fonner, which also in diseases of exinanition
(as con
unlptions) HUlst be b.'oken: for Bleat was Blade for IHan,
not luan for lneat. To all this nlay be added, not for en1bolden-
jug the unruly, but for the comfort of the weak, that not on]y

The Count'!'y Parson.

3

sickness breaks these obligations of fasting, but sickliness also.
For it is as unnatural to do any thing that leads nle to a sickness,
to which I am inclined, as not to get out of that sickness, when
I am in it, by any diet. One thing is evident, that an English
body, and a student's body, are two great obstructed vessels,
and there is nothing that is food, and not physic, \vhich doth
less obstruct than flesh moderately taken; as being imll10derately
taken, it is exceeding obstructive. And obstructions are the
cause of lllost diseases.

CHAP. XI.

The parson's courtesy.
THE country parson owing a debt of charity to the poor,
and of courtesy to his other parishioners, he so distinguisheth,
that he keeps his money for the poor, and his table for those
that are above alnls. Not but that the poor are welcome also to
his table, WhOlll he son1etimes purposely takes houle ,vith hin1,
setting them close by him, and carving for them, both for his
own humility and their comfort, who are nutCh cheered with
such friendliness. But since both is to be done, the better sort
invited, and Ineaner relieved, he chooseth rather to give the
poor money, which they can better en1ploy to their own advan-
tage, and suitably to their needs, than so much given in IDeat at
dinner. Having then invited some of his parish, he taketh his
times to do the like to the rest; so that in the compass of the
year, he hath them aU with him, because country people are
very observant of such things, and will not be persuaded but
being not invited they are hated. "Thich persuasion the par-
son by an means avoids, knowing that where there are such
conceits, there is no rooln for his doctrine to enter. Yet doth
he oftenest invite those whom he sees take best courses, that so
both they may be encouraged to pprsevere, and others spurred
to do ,veIl, that they may enjoy the like courtesy. For though
he desire that all should live well and virtuously, not for any
reward of his, but for virtue's sake; Jet that will not be so: and
therefore, as God, although we should love hÌ1n only for his o'wn
sake, yet out of his infinite pity hath set forth heaven for a
reward to draw men to piety, and is content if, at least so,
they will become good; so the country parson, who is a dili-
gent observer and tracker of God's ways. sets up as n1any

44

The ('oluztry Parson.

encouragelnents to goodness as he can, both in honour, and
profit, and fame; that he may, if not the best \vay, yet any \Va),
nlake his pDrish good.

CHAP. XII.

The parson"s charity.
THE country parson is full of charity; it is his predoluinant
elenlent. For many and \\'onderful things are spoken of thee,
thou great virtue. To charity is given the covering of sins,
1 Peter iv. 8. and the forgiveness of sins, 1\latthew vi. 14.
Luke vii. 47. the fulfilling of the law, Ron1ans xiii. 10. the life
of faith, .J alues ii.
6. the blessings of this life, Proverbs xxii. 9.
Psahn xli.
. and the reward of the next,
Iatthew xxv. 35. In
brief, it is the body of religion, John xiii. 35. and the top of
Christian virtues, 1 Cor. xiii. 'Vherefore aU his works relish
of charity. "Then he riseth in the nlorning, he bethinketh
himself what good deeds he can do that day, and presently cloth
them: counting that day lost wherein he hath not exercised his
charity. lIe first considers his own parish, and takes care that.
there be not a beggar or idl
person in his parish, but that all
be in a C0l11petent way of getting their living. This he effects
eithf1r by bounty or persuasion, or by authority, making use of
that excellent statute which binds all parishes to luaintain their
own. If his parish be rich, he exacts this of them; if poor, and
he able, he easeth then} therein. But he gives no set pension to
any; for this in time will lose the nalue and effect of charity
with the poor people, though not \vith God: for then they will
reckon upon it as on a debt; and if it be taken a\vay, though
justly, they will ll1UrIUUr, and repine, as Hluch as he that is dis-
seized of his own inheritance. But the parson having a double
aitn, and Inaking a hook of his charity, causeth theln still to
depend on hin1; and so by continual and fresh bounties, unex-
pected to theIn, but resolved to hilllself, he wins them to praise
God nlore, to live nlore religiously, and to take n10re pains in
their vocation, as not knowing when they shall be relieved;
which otherwise they \votdd reckon upon, and turn to idleness.
Besides this general provision, he hath other times of opening
his hand; as at great festivals and cOlllnlunioHs; not suffering
any, that day that he receives, to want a good meal suiting to
the joy of the occasion. nut specially, at hard tilDes, and

The Goltntry Pal'son.

5

dearths, he even parts his living and life among t.hem, giving
sonle corn outright, and selling other at under rates; and, when
his own stock serves not, working those that are able to the
same charity, still pressing it in the pul) it and out of the pulpit,
and never leaving thenl till he obtain his desire. Yet in all his
charity he distinguisheth, giving theIn most who live best, and
take most pains, and are most charged; so is his charity in effect
a sermon. After the consideration of his own parish, he enlargeth
hinlself, if he be able, to the neighbourhood; for that also is some
kind of obligation; so doth he also to those at his door, whom
God puts in his way and makes his neighbours. But these he
helps not without SOlne testimony, except the evidence of the mi-
sery bring testitnony with it. For though these testinlonies also
11lay be falsified, Jet considering that the law allows these in case
they be true, but allows by no nleans to give without testimony,
as he obeys authority in the one, so being once satisfied, he
allows his charity SOllIe blindness in the other; especially, since,
of the two C0111nlands, we are more enjoined to be charitable
than wise. But evident nliseries have a natural privilege, and
exenlption fron1 alJ law. \Vhenever he gives any thing, and
sees them labour in thanking of hin1, he exacts of thenl to let
hiln alone, and say rather, God be praised, God be glorified;
that so the thanks Inay go the right way, and thither only
where they are only due. So doth he also before giving make
theIn say their prayers first, or the Creed, and Ten Com-
lnandments, and as he finds thelli perfect, rewards them the
lllore. For other givillgS are lay and secular, but this is to give
like a priest.

CHAP. XIII.

The parsou,'s enurclt.
THE country parson hath a special care of his church, that all
things there be decent, and befitting His nalue by which it
is called. Therefore, first, he takes order that all things be in
good repair; as walls plastered, windows gJazed, floor paved,
seats whole, firm and unifonn; especially that the pulpit and
desk and conlmunion table and font, be as the)' ought, for those
great duties that are performed in them. Secondl)., that the
church be swept and kept clean, without dust or cobwebs, and
at great festivals strewed and stuck with boughs, and perfumed

6

FIle GO
IJntr!l Parson.

with incense. Thirdly, that there be fit and proper texts of
scripture every where painted, and that all the painting be
grave and reverend, not ,vith light colours or foolish antics.
Fourthly, that all the books appointed by authority be there,
and those not torn or fouled, but whole and clean, and well
bound: and that there be a fitting and sightly conuuunion cloth
" of fine linen, with an hanòsonle and seeIuly carpet of good
" and costly stuff or cloth, and all kept sweet and clean, in a
" strong and decent chest, with a chalice and cover, and a stoop
" or flagon; and a bason for alms and offerings; besides which,
" he hath a poor luan'ls box con\TenientIy seated to receive the
" charity of ,vell-n1Ïnded people, and to lay up treasure for the
" sick and needy." And all this he doth, not as out of necessity,
or as putting a holiness in the things, but as desiring to keep
the n1Ïddle way between superstition and slovenliness, and as
following the apostle'ls two great and admirable rules in things
of this nature: the first whereof is, Let all things be done decently,
and in order: the second, Let all th,ings be done to edification,
] Cor. xiv. For these two rules cOlnprise and include the
double object of our duty, God and our neighbour; the first
being for the honour of God, the second for the benefit of our
neighbour. So that they excellently score out the ,yay, and
fully and exactly contain, even in external and indifferent
things, what course is to be taken; and put then1 to great
shalue who deny the scripture to be perfect.

CHAP. XIV.

The parson in circllJit.
'fHE country parson upon the afternoons in the week-days
tfikes occa
ion sOluetin1es to visit in person, now one quarter
of his parish, now another. }-'or there he shall find his flock
lnost naturally as they are, \vallowing in the nlidst of their
affairs: whereas on Sunday it is easy for then} to compose them-
selves to order, which they put on as their holiday clothes, and
come to chur
h in franle, but cOlnmonly the next day put off
both. 'Vhen he comes to any house, first he blesseth it, and
thPll as he finds the persons of the' house cmplo)'ed, so he forms
his discourse. Those that he finds religiously eInployed, he
both cOInnlends thenl much, and furthers then1, when he is gone,
in their en1plo)'nlen t; as, if he finds them reading, he furnisheth

The Count'J"!! Parson.

Q7

then1 with good books; if curing poor people, he supplies thenl
with receipts, and instructs thenl further in that skill, shewing
theln how acceptable such \vorks are to God, and wishing them
ever to do the cures with their own hands, and not to put them
o\?er to servants. Those that he finds busy in the works of
their caning, he cOlnmendeth thmn also; for it is a good and
just thing for everyone to do their own business. But then he
admonisheth then1 of two things; first, that they dive not too
deep into worldly affairs, plunging themselves over head and
ears into carking and caring; but that they so labour, as neither
to labour anxiously, nor distrustfully, nor profanely. Then
they labour anxiously, when they overdo it, to the loss of their
quiet and health: then distrustfully, when they doubt God's
providence, thinking that thf'ir own labour is the cause of their
thriving, as if it were in their o\vn hands to thrive, or not to
thrive. Then they labour profanely, when they set thenl-
selves to work like brute beasts, never raising their thoughts
to God, nor sanctifying their labour with daily prayer; 'when
on the Lord'ls day they do unnecessary servile work, or in
tinle of divine service on other holidays, except in the cases
of extrenle poverty, and in the seasons of seed-titue and
harvest. Secondly, he adviseth then1 so to labour for wealth
and 11laintenance, as that they lnake not that the end of their
labour, but tllat they nlay have wherewithal to serve God the
better, and do good deeds. After these discourses, if they be
poor and needy Wh0111 he thus finds labouring, he gives them
somewhat; and opens not only his 1110Uth but his purse to their
relief, that so they go on Illore cheerfully in their vocation, and
hÏ1nself be ever the more welcolne to them. Those that the
parson finds idle, or ill enlployed, he chides not at first, for that
were neither civil nor profitable; but always in the close before
he departs fron1 theln: yet in this he distinguisheth; for if he
be a plain countryman, he reproves him plainly; for they are
not sensible of fineness: if they be of higher quality, they COln-
lllonly are quick, and sensible, and very tender of reproof; and
therefore he lays his discourse so, that he conles to the point
very leisurely, and oftentilnes as Kathan did, in the person of
another, nlaking thenl to reprove themselves. However, one
way or other, he ever repro yes them, that he may keep himself
pure, and not be entangled in others' sins. N either in this
doth he forbear, though there be company by: for as when the

fl8

Th.e Country Parsul/;.

offence is particular, and against me, I anI to follow our Saviour"s
rule, and to take my brother aside, and reprove him; so when
t.he offence is public, and against God, I am then to follow the
apostle's rule, 1 Tin10thy v. 20,
tnd to rebuke openly that
which is done openly. Besides these occasional discourses, the
parson questions what order is kept in the house, as about
prayers Inorning and evening on their knees, reading of scrip-
ture, catechising, singing of psahlls at their ,vork, and on holi-
days; ,vho can read, who not: and sOlnetimes he hears the
children read hinlself, and blesseth them, encouraging also the
servants to learn to read, and offering to have them taught on
holidays by his servants. If the parson were ashalned of parti-
cularizing in these things, he were not fit to be a parson: but
he holds the rule, that nothing is little in God's service: if it
once have the honour of that name, it grows great instantly.
\Vherefore neither disdaineth he to enter into the poorest cot-
tage, though he even creep into it, and though it smell never 80
loathsomely. For both God is there also, and those for whom
God died: and so much the rather doth he so, as his access to
the poor is more cOInfortable than to the rich; and in regard of
hilllself it is nlore hunlÌliation. These are the parson's general
ainIs in his circuit; but with these he mingles other discourses
for conversation sake, and to 111ake his higher purposes slip the
more easily.

CHAP. xv.

Tlte parson couifortÙlg.
THE country parson, ,vhen any of his cure is sick, or afflicted
with loss of friend or estate, or any ways distressed, fails not
to afford his best cOIllforts, and rather goes to theln than sends
for the afflicted, though they can, and otherwise ought to con Ie
to hiru. To this end he hath throughly digested all the points
of consolation, as having continual use of them; auch as are
froIH God's general providence extended even to lilies; frolu
his particular, to his church; frolll his proluises, frolll the ex-
aInples of all saints that ever 'v ere ; from Christ hiu1self, per-
fecting our redemption no other way than by sorrow; from the
benefit of affiiction, which soft.ens and works the stubborn heart
of Ulan; froln the certainty Loth of deliverance and reward, if
we faint not; fronl the miserable conlparison of the moment of

The Oountr!/ Parson.

Q9

griefs here, with the weight of joys hereafter. Besides this,
in his visiting the sick, or otherwise afflicted, he followeth the
church's counsel, namely, in persuading them to particular
confession, labouring to Inake theIn understand the great good
use of this ancient and pious ordinance, and how necessary it
is in some cases: he also urgeth them to do some pious cha-
ritable works, as a necessary evidence and fruit of their faith;
at that time especially, to the participation of the holy sacra-
ment, she,ving then} how cOlnfortable and sovereign a n1edicine
it is to all sin-sick souls; what strength, and joy, and peace it
adlninisters against all temptations, even in death itself. He
plainly and generally intimateth all this to the disaffected, or
sick person, that so the hunger and thirst after it may come
rather from themselves, than from his persuasion.

CHAP. XVI.

The parson a father.
THE country parson is not only a father to his flock, but also
professeth hiu1self throughly of the opinion, carrying it
about with him as fully, as if he had begot his whole parish.
And of this he n1akes great use. For by this means, when any
sins, he hateth hi In not as an officer, but pities him as a father:
and even in those wrongs which, either in tithing or otherwise,
are done to his own person, he considers t.he offender as a child,
and forgives, so he nlay have any sign of amendrnent; so also,
when, after many adn10nitions, any continues to be refractory,
yet he gives him not over, but is long before he proceed to dis-
inheriting, or perhaps never goes so far; knowing, that some
are called at the eleventh hour, and therefore he still expects
and waits, lest he should detern1Ìne God's hour of coming;
,vhich as he cannot touching the last day, so neither touching
the intermediate days of conversion.

CHAP. X,TII.

The parson in journey.
THE country parson, when a just occasion calleth him out of
his parish, (which he diligently and strictly weigheth, his
parish being all his joy and thought,) leaveth not his n1inistry
behind hin1; but is himself wherever he is. Therefore those

30

The Country Parson.

he nIeets on the way he blesseth audibly, and with those he
overtakes, or that overtalie hinI, he begins good discourses, such
as lllay edify, interposing sOllletinles some short and honest re-
freshlllents, which Illay nlake his other discourses more welcolne,
and less tedious. And when he comes to his inn, he refuseth not
to join, that he may enlarge the glory of God to the company he
is in, by a due blessing of God for their safe arrival, and saying
grace at Ineat, and at going to bed by giving the host notice,
that he will have prayers in the hall, wishing hill1 to inform bis
guests thereof, that if any be willing to partake, they nlay resort
thither. The like he doth in the lllorning, using pleasantly the
outlandish proverb, that "prayer
and provender never hinder
"journey." 'Vhen he COllles to any other house, ,vhere his kin-
dred or other relations give binl any authority over the family,
if he be to stay for ú tilHe, he considers diligently the state
thereof to G-od-ward, and that in two points: first, what disor-
ders there are either in apparel, or diet, or too open a buttery, or
reading vain books, or swearing, or breeding up children to n l )
calling, but in idleness, or the like. Secondly, what means of
piety, whether daily prayers be used, grace, reading of scriptures
and other good boo
s, ho\v Sundays, holidays, and fasting days
are kept. And accordingly, as he finds any defect in these, he
first considers with hin1self, \vhat kind of relnedy fits the telnper
of the house best, and then he faithfully and boldly applieth it;
yet seasonably and discreetly, by taking aside the lord or lady,
or master and nlistress of the house, and shewing them clearly
that they respect theln 1110st who "ish then1 best, and that not a
desire to meddle with others'! affairs, but the earnestness to do
all the good he can, nloves hinl to say thus and thus.

CHAP. XVIII.

The parson is sentinel.
THE country parson, wherever he is, keeps God's watch; that
is, there is nothing spoken or done in the cOlnpany \\"here
he is, but C0I11eS under his test and censure; if it be well spoken
or done, he takes occasion to commend and enlarge it; if ill, he
l)resently lays hold of it, lest the poison steal into some young
and un wary spirits, and possess thenl even before they theln-
selves heed it. But this he doth discreetly, with luolli(ying and
suppling words; This was not so well said, as it luight have

The Oountry Parson.

51

been forborne; 'Ve cannot allow this; or else, if the thing will
achnit interpretation ; Your Il1eaning is not thus, but thus; or,
So far indeed what you say is true, and well said; but this will
not stand. This is called keeping God's watch, when the baits
which the enemy lays in company are discovered and avoided;
this is to be on God's side, and be true to his party. Besides,
if he perceive in company any dis('ourse tending to ill either by
the wickedness or quarrelsonleness thereof, he either prevents it
judiciously, or breaks it off seasonably by some diversion.
'Vherein a pleasantness of disposition is of great use, men
being willing to sell the interest and engagenlent of their dis-
courses for no price, sooner than that of mirth; whither the
nature of nlan, loving refreshnlent, gladly betakes itself, even to
the loss of honour.

CHAP. XIX.

Tlte parson -in reference.
THE country parson is sincere and upright in all his relations.
And first, he is just to his country; as when he is set at an
armour, or horse, he borrows them not to serve the turn, nor
provides slight and unuseful, but such as are every '.yay fitting
to do his country true and laudable service, when occasion re-
quires. To do otherwise is deceit; 3nd therefore not for
hinl who is hearty and true in all his ways, as being the servant
of hirn in whom there was no guile. Likewise in any other
country-duty, he considers what is the enù of any cOlnnland, and
then he suits things faithfully according to that end. Secondly,
he carries himself very respectively, as to all the fathers of the
church, so especially to his diocesan, honouring him both in
,vord and behaviour, and resorting unto him in any difficulty,
either in his studies or in his parish. He observes visitations,
and, being there, Inakes due use of then1, as of clergy councils,
for the benefit of the diocese. And therefore before he conIes,
having observed sOlne defects in the nlinistry, he then either in
sermon, if he preach, or at some other tilne of the day, pro-
pounds among his brethren what \vere fitting to be done.
Thirdly, he keeps good correspondence with all the neigh-
bouring pastors round about hiIn, perforIuing- for them any
ministerial office which is not to the prejudice of his own
parish. Likewise he ,velcomes to his house any Ininister, how

3

Thp Country Pa
"son.

poor or mean soever, with as joyful a countenance as if he \vere
to entertain some great lord. Fourthly, he fulfils the duty and
debt of neighbourhood to all the pari
hes which are near him.
}1'or the apostle's rule, Philipp. iv. being admirable and large,
that t[-e : hould do whatsoever tllings are honest, or fnst, or lYltre,
or lovely, or of good repol't, if there be any virtue or auy pra'ise ;
and neighbourhood being ever reputed, even among the heathen,
as an obligation to do good, rather than to those that are further,
where things are otherwise equal, therefore he satisfies this duty
also. Especiany, if God have sent any calamity either by fire or
famine to any neighbouring parish, then he expects no brief;
but taking his parish together t
e next Sunday, or holida.y, and
exposing to them the uncertainty of human affairs, none know-
ing whose turn 111ay be next, and then when he hath affrighted
thenl with this, exposing the obligation of charity and neigh-
bourhood, he first gives liberally hinlself, and then incites thelll
to give; 111aking together a sunl either to be sent, or, \vhich
were Inore comfortable, all t.ogether choosing some fit day to
carry it thenIse]ves, and cheer the afflicted. So, if any neigh-
bouring village be overburdened with poor, and his own less
charged, he finds some way of relieving it, and reducing the
manna and bread of charity to some equality, representing to
his people, that the blessing of God to them ought to make thenI
the more charitable, and not the less, lest he cast their neigh-
bour's poverty on them also.

CHAP. XX.

The parson in Goá's stead.
THE country parson is in God's stead to his parish, and
dischargeth God what he can of his r rOluises. 'Vherefore there
is nothing done either \vell or ill, whereof he is not the
rewarder or punisher. If he chance to find any reading in
another's Bible, he provides hin1 one of his o\vn. If he finds
another giving a poor man a penny, he gives him a tester for it,
if the giver be fit to receive it; or if he be of a condition above
such gifts, he sends hin1 a good book, or easeth him in his tithes,
t
lling hinl when he hath forgotten it, This I do, because at such
and such a time you were charitable. This is in SOlne sort a
discharging of God; as concerning this life who hath pron1Ïsed
that godliness shaH be gainful: but in the other God is his own

The Oolt/dry Parson.

ss

immediate payn1aster, rewarding all good deeds to their full
proportion. The parson"s punishing of sin and vice is rather
by withdrawing his bounty and courtesy from the parties
offending, or by private or public reproof, as the case requires,
than by causing thelu to be presented, or otherwise c0I11plained
of. And yet as the malice of the person or heinousness of
the criule l11ay be. he is careful to see condign punishment
inflicted, and with truly godly zeal, without hatred to the
person, hungereth and thirsteth after righteous punishnlent of
unrighteousness. Thus, both in rewarding virtue and in
punishing vice, the parson endeavoureth to be in God's stead,
knowing that coun try people are drawn or led by sense l110re
than by faith, by present rewards or punishnlents more than
by future.

CHAP. XXI.

The parson catechising.
THE country parson values catechising highly: for, there
being three points of his duty; the one, to infuse a con1-
petent knowledge of salvation into everyone of his flock; the
other, to multiply and build up this knowledge to a spiritual
temple; the third, to inflanle this knowledge, to press and drive
it to practice, turning it to reformation of life, by pithy and lively
exhortations; catechising is the first pòint, and but by cate-
chising the other cannot be attained. Besides, whereas in
sermons there is a kind of state, in catechising there is an hun1-
bleness very suitable to Christian regeneration, which exceed-
ingly delights him as by ,yay of exercise upon hÎInself, and by
,yay of preaching to 11Îlnself, for the advancing of his own
mortification. For in preaching to others, he forgets not hÎ1u-
self, but is first a sern10n to hilnEelf, and then to others, growing
with the growth of his parish. He useth and preferreth the
ordinary Church Catechislu, partly for obedience to authority,
partly for unifonnity sake, that the same common truths may be
every where professed, especially since n1any remove from
parish to parish, ,vho like Christian soldiers are to give the ,vord
and to satisfy the congregation by their catholic answers. He
exacts of all the doctrine of the Catechisn1; of the younger sort,
the very words; of the elder, the substance. Those he cate-
chiseth publicly, the
e privately, giving age honour, according
D

36

Tlte Oountry Pars 011,.

not only the feast but the ,vay to it. At baptislll, being hilnself
in ,vhite, ho requires the presence of a]], and baptizeth not will-
ingly but on Sundays or great days. lIe adnlits no vain or
idle naines, but snch as are usual and accustoined. He says that
prayer with great devotion, ,vhere God is thanked for calling us
to the knowledge of his grace, bapti
n1 being a blessing, that the
",-orId hath not the like. He ,villingly and cheerfully crosseth
the child, and thinketh the cerenlony not only innocent, but re-
verend. He instructeth the godfathers and godmothers, that it
is no cOlllpIinlental or light thing to sustain that place, but a
great honour, and no less burden, as being done both in the pre-
sence of God and his saints, and by ,vay of undertaking for a
Christian soul. He ad viseth all to call to mind their baptism
often; for if wise men have thought it the best ,yay of preserv-
ing a state, to reduce it to its principles by \vhich it grew great;
certainly it is the safest course for Christians also to meditate on
their baptisnl often, (being the first step into their great and glo-
}'ious calling) and upon ,vhat terms, and with ,vhat vows they
,"ere baptized. At the tiIHes of the holy communion, he first
takes order with the churchwardens, that the elements be of the
best, not cheap, or coarse, much less ill-tasted, or ullwholesoll1e.
Secondly, he considers and looks into the ignorance or careless-
ness of his flock, and accordingly applies hilllself ,vith cate-
chising and lively exhortations, not on the Sunday of the
conununion only, (for then it is too late) but the Sunday or
Sundays before the cOlnmunion, or on the eves of all those days.
If there be any, who, having not yet received, are to enter into
this great work, he takes the nlore pains with them, that he luay
lay the foundation of future blessings. The time of every one's
first receiving is not so nluch by Jears, as by understanding:

articularly, the rule ll1aJ be this: 'Vhen anyone can distin-
guish the sacramental frOlll common bread, knowing the institu-
tion, and the difference, he ought to receive, of \vhat age soever.
Children and )"outh are usually deferred too long, under pre-
tence of devotion to the sacr:unellt; but it is for want of
instruction; their understandings being ripe enough for ill
thiugs, and why not then for better
But parents and nlasters
should make haste in this, as to a great purchase for their
children and servants; which while they defer, both sides
suffer; the one, in wanting Inany excitings of grace; the other,
in bcing worse served and obeyed. The saying of the Catechis111

The Oountry Pa1'1son.

87

is necessary, but not enough; because to answer in form may
still adnlit ignorance: but the questions must be propounded
loosely and widely, and then the answerer will discover what he
is. ThircUy, for the manner of receiving, as the parson useth all
reverence hilTIself, so he adnlinisters to none but to the reverent.
The feast indeed requires sitting, because it is a feast; but ll1an'ls
unpreparedness asks kneeling. He that comes to the sacrament
hath the confidence of a guest; and he that kneels confesseth
hinlself an unworthy one, and therefore differs from other feast-
ers : but he that sits, or lies, puts up to an apostle: contentious-
ness in a feast of charity is Inore scandal than any posture.
Fourthly, touching the frequency of the conlmunion, the parson
celebrates it, if not duly once a month, yet at least five or six
times in the year; as, at Easter, Christmas, 'Vhitsuntide, afore
and after harvest, and the beginning of Lent. And this he doth,
not only for the benefit of the work, but also for the discharge of
the churchwardens; ,vho being to present all that receive not
thrice a year, if there be but three conlffiunions, neither can all
the people so order their affairs as to receive just at those times,
nor the churchwardens so well take notice who receive thrice
and ,vho not.

CHA P. XXIII.

The parson's completeness.
THE country parson desires to be all to his parish, and not
only a pastor, but a lawyer a1so, and a physician. There-
fore he endures not that any of his flock should go to law; but
in any controversy, that they should resort to him as their judge.
'1'0 this end, he hath gotten to hinlself some insight in things
ordinarily incident and controverted, by experience, and by
reading some initiatory treatises in the law, with Dalton's Jus-
tice of Peace, and the Abridgments of the Statutes, as also by
discourse with men of that profession" whom he hath ever some
cases to ask when he meets ,vith theln; holding that rule, that
to put men to discourse of that wherein they are most eminent,
is the most gainful way of conversation. Yet whenever any
controversy is brought to him, he never decides it alone, but
sends for three or four of the a blest of the parish to hear the
cause with him, whom he nlakes to deliver their opinion first;
out of which he gathers, in case he be ignorant himself, what to
hold; and so the thing passeth with 1110re authority, and less

38

TI"e Count'}'!! Parson.

envy. In judging, he follows that ,vhich is altogether right;
80 that if the poorest man in the parish detain but a pin un-
justly fron1 the richest, he absolutely restores it as a judge; but
,,,hen he hath 80 done, then he assumes the parson, and exhorts
to charity. NeverthelesB, there ll1ay happen sOlnetiIlles SOIlle
cases, ,vherein he chooseth to permit his parishioners rather to
Inake use of the la,v, than hÎ1nself: as in çases of an obscure
and dark nature, not easily deternlinable by lawyers theIllselves:
or in cases of high consequence, as establishing of inheritances;
or lastly, when the persons in difference are of a contentious
disposition, and cannot be gained, but that they still fall from all
con1pro111ises that have been made. But then he shews then1
.
ho,v to go to la,v, even as brethren, and not as enelnies, neither
avoiding therefore one another's company, much less defan1ing
one another. No,v as the parson is in law, so is he in sickness
also: if there be any of his flock sick, he is their physician, or
at least his ,vife, of 'VhOl11, instead of the qualities of the world,
he asks no other, but to have the skill of healing a wound, or
helping the sick. But if neither hhnself nor his wife h3Þve the
skill, and his 1neans serve, he keeps SOl11e young practitioner in
his house for the benefit of his parish, whon1 yet he ever exhorts
not to exceed his bounds, but in ticklish cases to call in help.
If all fail, then he keeps good correspondence with some neigh-
bour physician, and entertains him for the cure of his parish. Yet
it is easy for any scholar to attain to such a measure of physic, as
luay be of n1uch use to hin1 both for himself and others. This is
dono by seeing one anat0111Y, reading one book of physic, having
one horba] by hinl. And let Fernelius be the physic author, for
he writes briefly, neatly, and judiciously; especially let his method
of physic be diligently perused, as being the practical part, and
of lTIOSt use. N ow both the reading of hiln and the knowing of
herbs rnay be done at such times, as they may be a help and
a recreation to more divine studies, nature serving grace both in
comfort of diversion and the benefit of application, when need
requires; as also by ,yay of illustration, even as our Saviour
Blade plants and seeds to teach the people: for he ,,'as the true
householder, ,vho bringeth out of his treasure things ne,v and
old; the old things of philosophy and the ne\v of grace; and
nlaketh the one serve the other. And I conceive our Saviour
did this for three reasons: first, that by falniliar things he might
make his doctrine slip the more easily into the hearts even of the

The Ooz/;ntry Parson.

39

Ineanest. Secondly, that labouring people (whom he chiefly
considered) might have every ,vhere monuments of his doctrine,
remmnbering in gardens his 1l1ustard-seed and lilies; in the field,
his seed-corn and tares; and so not be drowned altogether in
the works of their vocation, but sometimes lift up their 11linds to
better things, even in the nIidst of their pains. Thirdly, that he
1l1ight set a copy for parsons. In the knowledge of silnples,
wherein the manifold wisdoIn of God is wonderfuUy to be seen,
one thing "ould be carefully observed; which is, to know what
herbs may be used instead of drugs of the sallIe nature, and to
make the garden the shop: for homebred medicines are both
more easy for the parson's purse, and nlore fall1iIiar for allll1en's
bodies. So, "There the apothecary useth either for loosing, rhu-
barb; or for binding, bole Armeniac; the parson useth dalnask or
,vhite roses for the one, and plaintain, shepherd'ls purse, kllot-
grass, for the other, and that with better success. As for spices,
he doth not only prefer homebred things before theIn, but con-
demns them for vanities, and so shuts them out of his falnily,
esteeming that there is no spice comparable, for herbs, to rose-
mary, thyme, savory mints; and for seeds, to fennel, and
caraway seeds. Accordingly, for salves, his wife seeks not the
city, but prefers her garden and fields before all outlandish
gunls. And surely hyssop, valerian, 11lercury, adder's tongue,
yerrow, meliot, and St. John's \vort, lliade into a salve; and el-
der, chamomile, mallows, comfrey, and small age IlIade into a poul-
tice, have done great and rare cures. In curing of any, the parson
and his family use to prenlise prayers, for this is to cure like a
parson, and this raiseth the action from the shop to the church.
But though the parson sets forward all charitable deeds, yet he
looks not in this point of curing beyond his own parish, except
the person be so poor that he is not able to reward the phy-
sician: for as he is charitable, so he is just also. N 0\" it is a
justice and debt to the c0111monwealth he lives in, not to en-
croach on ot.hers' professions, but to live on his own. And justice
is the ground of charity.

CHAP. XXIV.
The parson arguing.
THE country parson, if there be any of his parish that hold
strange doctrines, useth all possible diligence to reduce them to
the comnlon faith. The first means he useth is prayer, be-

40

The GountT!! Parsún.

seeching the Father of lights to open their eyes, and to give hiIn
power so to fit his discourse to them that it nlay effectually
pierce their hearts and convert thelll. The second lueans is a
very loving and sweet usage of them l both in going to and
sending for thenl often, and in finding out courtesies to place
on thel11; as in their tithes, or otherwise. The third Dleans is
the observation what is the main foundation and pillar of their
cause ",hereon they rely; as, if he be a papist, the church is
the hinge he turns on; if a schisnlatic, scandal. 'Vherefore the
parson hath diligentlyexalnined these two \vith himself; as, \vhat
the church is ; how it began; how it proceeded; whether it be a
rule to itself; whether it hath a rule; \vhether, having a rule, it
ought not to be guided by it; \vhether any rule in the ,yorld be
obscure; and ho,v then should t.he best be so, at least in funda-
lliental things; the obscurity in SOl110 points being the exercise of
the church; the light in the foundations being the guide: the
church needing both an evidence and an exercise. So for scandal:
\",hat scandal is, when given or taken; whether, there being t,vo
precepts, one of obeying authority, t.he other of not giving scan-
dal, that ought not to be preferred, especially since in disobeying
there is scandal also; ,vhether things once indifferent, being
nlado by the precept of authority nlore than indifferent, it be in
our power to omit or refuse them. These and the like points
he hath accurately digested, having ever besides two great helps
and powerful persuaders on his side; the one, a strict religious
]ife; the other, an hUlllble and ingenuous search of truth, being
unilloved in arguing, and void of all contentiousness: which are
two great lights able to dazzle the eyes of the nlisled, \vhile they
consider that God cannot be wanting to them in doctrine, to
whonl he is so gracious in life.

CHAP. XxV.

The parson punishing.
'VI-IENSOE,TER the country parson proceeds so far as to
call in authority, and to do such things of legal opposition,
either in the presenting or punishing of any, as the vulgar e\?er
construes for signs of ill-will; he forbears not in any ,vise to
use the delinquent as before, in his behaviour and carriage
towards him, not avoiding his cOlllpany, or doing any thing of
averseness, save in the very act of punishment: neither doth he

The Oountry Parson.

41

esteem hÏ1n for an enenlY, but as a brother 8till
except some
sll1all and temporary estranging may corroborate the punislunent
to a better subduing and htllllbling of the delinquent; which if
it happily take effect, he then COlnes on the faster, and Inakes so
much the ll10re of hiul, as before he alienated hiIDself; doubling
his regards, and she,ving by all ll1eans that the delinquent's
return is to his advantage.

CHAP. XXVI.

The parson"'s eye.
THE country parson at spare times from action, standing on
a hill, and considering his flock, discovers two sorts of vices,
and two sorts of vicious persons. There are SOlne vices whose
natures are always clear and evident, as adultery, murder,
hatred, lying, &c. There are other vices, \vhose natures, at
least in the beginning, are dark and obscure; as covetousness
and gluttony. So likewise there are sonle persons who abstain
not even from known sins; there are others, who ,,,hen they
know a sin evidently, they comnlit it Dot. It is true indeed,
they are long a knowing it, being partial to themselves, and
,vitty to others who shall r
prove thenI for it. A man nlay be
both covetous and intemperate, and yet hear SerI110nS against
both, and himself condemn both in good earnest: and the
reason hereof is, because the natures of these vices being not
evidently discussed, or known comnlonly, the beginnings of
them are not easily observable: and the beginnings of them are
not observed, because of the sudden passing froD1 that which
was just now lawful to that ,vhich is presently unlawful, even
in one continued action. So a Ulan dining eats at first lawfully;
but proceeding on, comes to do unlawfully, even before he is
aware, not knowing the bounds of the action, nor when his
eating bpgins to be unlawful. So a nlan storing up money for
his necessary provisions, both in present for his family, and in
future for his children, hardly perceives when his storing be-
comes unlawful; yet is there a period for his storing, and a
point or centre when his storing, which was even now good,
passeth froll1 good to bad. "Therefore the parson, being true
tÇ> his business, hath exactly sifted the definitions of all virtues,
and vices; especially canvassing those, whose natures are 1110St
stealing, and beginnings uncertain. Particularly concerning

4

The OOltntry P at'son.

these two vices, not because they are all that are of this dark
and creeping disposition, but for example sake, and because
they are nlost common, he thus thinks: First, for covetousness,
he lays this ground: 'Vhosoever, when a just occasion calls,
either spends not at all, or not in some proportion to God's
blessing upon him, is covetous. The reason of the ground is
manifest, because wealth is given to that end to supply our
occasions. N O\V, if I do not give every thing its end
I abuse
the creature; I aill false to my reason, which should guide llle;
I offend the supreme Judge, in perverting that order which he
hath set both to things and to reason. The application of the
ground \vould be infinite; but in brief, a poor man is an
occasion, my country is an occasion, my friend is an occasion,
IllY table is an occasion, my apparel is an occasion: if in all
these, and those more \vhich concern nle, I either do nothing,
or pinch, and scrape, and squeeze blood, undecently to the
station wherein God hath placed me, I al11 covetous. 1\lore par-
ticularly, and to give one instance for all, if God hath given me
servants, and I either provide too little for them, or that which
is unwholesollle, being sometinles baned meat, sonletimes too
salt, and so not eonlpetent nourishment, I am covetous. I bring
this example, because lllen usually think, that servants for their
money are as other things that they buy, even as a piece of
\vood, which they may cut, or hack, or thro\v into the fire, and
so they pay theln their wages, all is \vell. Nay, to descend yet
more particularly, if a nlan hath wherewithal to buy a spade

and yet he chooseth rather to use his neighbour's, and ,veal' out
that, he is covetous. Nevertheless, few bring covetousness thus
lo\v, or consider it so narrowly, which yet ought to be done,
since there is a justice in the least things, and for the least there
shall be a judglnent. Country pee pIe are full of these petty
injustices, being cunning to nlake use of another, and spare
thmllselves; and scholars ought to be diligent in the observation
of these, and driving of their general school-rules ever to the
smallest actions of life: which, while they d\vell in their books,
they will never find; but being seated in the country, and
doing their duty faithfully, they \vill soon discover: especially
if they carry their eyes ever open, and fix thenl on their charge,
and not on their prefennent. Secondly, for gluttony, the par-
son lays this ground: He that either for quantity eats more than
his health or employment ,viII bear, or for quality is lickerous

Tho Countr!l Parson.

43

after dainties, is a glutton; as he that eats Inore than his estate
will bear is a prodigal; and he that eats offensively to the com-
pany, either in his order or length of eating, is scandalous and
uncharitable. These three rules generally cOlnprehend the
faults of eating, and the truth of t.helll needs no proof: so that
men n1ust eat neither to the disturbance of their health, nor of
their afk1-irs, (which being overburdened, or studying dainties
too n1uch, they cannot well despatch) nor of their estate, nor of
their brethren. One act in these things is bad, but it is the
custom and habit that names a glutton. l\Iany think they are
at more liberty than they are, as if they were masters of their
health, and so they will stand to the pain, all is well. But to
eat to one"s hurt, comprehends, besides the hurt, an act against
reason, because it is unnatural to hurt oneself; and this they
are not masters of. Y et of hurtful things, I am lllore bound to
abstain from those which by n1ine own experience I have found
hurtful, than from those which by a common tradition and vul-
gar knowledge are reputed to be 80. That ,vhich is said of
hurtful meats extends to hurtful drinks also. As for the quan-
tity, touching our elnployments, none must eat so as to disable
themselves from a fit discharging either of divine duties, or
duties of their calling. So that if after dinner they are not fit
(or unwieldy) either to pray or work, they are gluttons. Not
that all ll1Ust presently work after dinner; for they rather n1ust
not work, especially students, and those that are \veakly; but
that they must rise so, as that it is not meat or drink that hin-
ders them from ,vorking. To guide them in this, there are
three rules: first, the custOID and knowledge of their own body,
and what it can well digest: the second, the feeling of then1-
selves in time of eating; which because it is deceitful, (for one
thinks in eating that he can eat n10re than afterwards he finds
true) the third is the observation with what appetite they sit
do\vn. This last rule joined with the first never fails. For
knowing what one usuaHy cnn well digest, and feeling \vhen I
go to Ineat in what disposition I aln, either hungry or not, ac-
cording as I feel myself, either I take my wonted proportion, or
din1inish of it.. 1
et physicians bid those that \vould live in
health not keep an uniform diet, but to feed variously, no\v
more, now less: and Gerson, a spiritual n1an, wishet.h nIl to
incline rather to too much, than to too litde; his reason is,
because diseases of exinanition are more dangerous than diseases

44

The Country Parson.

of repletion. But the parson distinguisheth according to his
double ailn, either of abst.inence a moral virtue, or 11l0rtification
a divine. 'Vhen he deals with any that is heavy and carnal, he
gives hin1 those freer rules; but when he meets with a refined
and heavenly disposition, he carries them higher, even son1e-
tin1es to a forgetting of themselves
knowing that there is one,
who, ,vhen they forget, remelnbers for thel11; as when the
people hungered and thirsted after our Saviour's doctrine, and
tarried so long at it, that they \yould have fainted, had they
returned empty, he suffered it not; but rather nlade food n1ira-
culously than suffered so good desires to miscarry.

CHAP. XXVII.

Tlte parson in mirtlt.
THE country parson is generally sad, because he knows
nothing but the cross of Christ, his nlind being defixed on
it with those nails \vherewith his l\Iaster was: or if he have any
leisure to look off froln thence, he n1eets continually with two
most sad spectacles, sin and misery; God dishonoured every
day, and man afflicted. Nevertheless, he sometin1es refresheth
himself, as knowing that nature \viII not bear everlasting droop-
ings, and that pleasantness of disposition is a great key to do
good; not only because all lnen shun the con1pany of perpetual
severity, but also for that ,vhen they are in company, instruc-
tions seasoned with pleasantness both enter sooner, and root
deeper. 'Vherefore he condescends to human frailties both in
hinlself and others; and internlingles some n1Ïrth in his dis-
courses occasionally, according to the pulse of the hearer.

CHAP. XXVIII.

The parson in contempt.
THE country parson kno,vs well that, both for the general
ignominy which is ca"t upon the profession, and much 1110re
for those rules which out of his choicest judglnent he hath
resolved to observe
and \vhich are described in this book, he
must be despised; because this hath been the portion of God
his l\laster, and of God's saints his brethren, and this is foretold
that it shall be so still, until tÏ1ne be no more.
evertheless,
according to the apostle's rule, he endeavours that none shall
despise hin
; especially in his o\vn parish he suffers it not to

The Oountry ParsoJl.

45

his UtIll0st po,ver; for thnt., where contempt is, there is no room
for instruction. This he procures, first, by his holy and
unblameable life; which carries a reverence ,vith it, even above
conteInpt. Secondly, by a courteous carriage and winning beha-
viour : he that will be respected nlust respect; doing kindnesses,
but receiving none, at least of those who are apt to despise; for
this argues a height and eluinency of Illind, which is not easily
despised, except it degenerate to pride. Thirdly, by a bold and
inlpartial reproof, even of the best in the parish, ,,'hen occasion
requires: for this may produce hatred in those that are reproved,
but never contempt either in them or others. Lastly, if the
contenlpt shall proceed so fnr as to do any thing punishable by
law, as contenlpt is apt to do, if it be not thwarted, the parson,
having a due respect both to the person and to the cause,
referreth the ,,-hole matter to the exnmination and punishnlent
of those which are in authority; that so the sentence lighting
upon one, the exalllple may reach to all. But if the contempt
be not punishable by law, or being so, the parson think it in his
discretion either unfit or bootless to contend, then when any
despises him, he takes it either in an hunlble way, saying
nothing at all; or else in a slighting way, shewing that reproaches
touch hin1 no nlore thnn a stone thrown against heaven, where
he is and lives; or in a snd way, grieved at his own and others'
sins, which continually break God's laws, and dish OIl our hinl
,vith those mouths which he continually fills and feeds; or else
in a doctrinal way, sa) ing to the cOlltenlner, Alas, why do you
thus
You hurt yourself, not l11e; he that throws a stone at
another hits himself: and so, between gentle reasoning and
pitying, he overCOllles the evil: or lastly, in a triumphant ,vay,
being glad and joyful that he is made confonnable to his
Iaster ;
and being in the world as he was, hath this undoubted pledge of
his salvation. These are the five shields wherewith the godly
receive the darts of the ,,,icked; leaving anger and retorting
and revenge to the children of the world, whonl another's ill
mastereth and leadeth capt.ive, without any resistance, even in
resistance, to the same destruction. For ,,,hile they resist the
person that reviles, they resist not the evil which takes hold of
then1, and is far the worse enemy.

Lt6

T"e Oountry Pa1"son.

CHAP. XXIX.

The parson with his clturchwa}"{lens.
THE country parson doth often, both publicly and privately,
instruct his church,vardens \"hat a great charge lies upon them,
and that indeed the whole order and discipline of the parish is
put into their hands. If himself reform any thing, it is out of
the overflowing of his conscience; whereas they are to do it by
conlnland and by oath. Neither hath the place its dignity from
the ecclesiastical laws only, since even by the common statute-
Ia\v they are taken for a kind of corporation, as being persons
enabled by that name to take m
veable goods or chattels, and to
sue and to be sued at the la\y concerning such goods for the use
and profit of their parish: and by the sal11e la\v they are to levy
penalties for negligence in resorting to church, or for disorderly
carriage in time of divine service. \Vherefore the parson
suffers not the place to be vilified or debased, by being cast on
the lower rank of people; but invites and urges the best unto it,
she\ving that they do not lose, or go less, but gain by it; it
being the greatest honour of this world to do God and his
chosen service; or as David says, to be even a doorkeeper in the
house of God. No,v the Canons being the churchwardens'
rule, the parson adviseth them to read, or hear then1 read often,
as also the Visitation Articles, \vhich are grounded upon the
Canons, that so they may kno\v their duty, and keep their oath
the better; in which regard, considering the great consequence
of their place, and lnore of their oath, he wisheth thenl by no
means to spare any, though never so great; but, if after gentle
and neighbourly adulonitions they still persist in ill, to present
them; yea though they be tenants, or otherwise engaged t.o
the delinquent: for their obligation to God and their own soul
is above any temporal tie. Do ,veIl and right, and let the world
sink.

CIIAP. XXX.

The parson's cons.ideration of Providence.
THE country parson, considering the great aptness country
people have to think that all things COlne by a kind of natural
course; and that if they so,v and soil their grounds, they I11USt
have corn; if they l{eep and fodder well their cattle, they must

The Country Parso'n.

47

have nlilk and calves; labours to reduce them to see God's
hand in all things, and to believe that things are not set in such
an inevitable order, but that God often changeth it according as
he sees fit, either for reward or punishulent. To this end he
represents to his flock, that God hath and exerciseth a threefold
power in every thing which concerns ll1an. The first is a sus-
taining power; the second, a governing power; the third, a
spiritual power. By his sustaining power he preserves and
actuates every thing in its being; so that corn doth not grow
by any other virtue than by that which he continually supplies,
as the corn needs it; without which supply the corn would
instantly dry up, as a river ,vould if the fountain were stopped.
And it is observable, that if any thing could presume of an
inevitable course and constancy in its operations, certainly it
should be either the sun in heaven, or the fire on earth, by rea-
son of their fierce, strong and violent natures: yet when God
pleased, the sun stood still, the fire burned not. By God's
governing power he preserves and orders the rf\ferences of things
one to the other, so that though the corn do grow, and be pre-
served in that act by his sustaining power, yet if he suit not
other things to the growth, as seasons, and weather, and other
accidents by his governing power, the fairest harvest comes to
nothing. And it is observable, that God delights to have nlen
feel and acknowledge and reverence his power, and therefore
he often overturns things, when they are thought past danger;
that is his tinle of interposing: as ,,,hen :1 111erchant hath a ship
come hOI11e after many a storm, which it hath escaped, he
destroys it son1etinles in the very haven; or if the goods be
housed, a fire hath broken forth and suddenly consumed theln.
Now this he doth, that men should perpetuate, and not break
off their acts of dependence, how fair soever the opportunities
present themselves. So that if a farmer should depend upon
God all the year, and being ready to put hand to sickle, shall
then secure himself, and think all cocksure; then God sends
such weather as lays the corn and destroys it: or if he depend
on God further, even till he imbarn his corn, and then think all
sure; God sends a fire and consumes all that he hath: for that
he ought not to break off, but to continue his dependence on
God, not only before the corn is inned, but after also; and
indeed to depend and fear continually. The third power is
spiritual, by which God turns all outward blessings to inward

48

The Oountry Pcnson.

advantages. So that if a farnIer hat.h both a fair harvest, and
that also well inned and inlbarned, and continuing safe there;
yet if God give hiln not the grace to use and utter this 'v ell, all
his advantages are to his loss. Better ,vere his corn burnt than
not spiritually ilnproved. And it is observable in this, ho\v
God's goodness strives with Inan's refractoriness: man \vould sit
down at this \vorId; God bids hinl sell it, and purchase a better:
just as a father, ,,,ho hath in his hand an apple, and a piece of
gold under it.; the child conIes, and with pulling gets the apple
out of his father"s hand: his father bids hilll throw it away, and
he will give hilll the gold for it, which the child utterly refusing
eats it, and is troubled with wornlS: so is the carnal and wilful
Ulan with the 'YOrnl cf the gravè in this ,vorld, and the \YOr111 of
conscience in the next.

CHAP. XXXI.
The parson in liberty.
THE country parson, observing the nlanifold ,viles of Satan,
(who pb.ys his part, sometilnes in drawing God's servants froln
hiln, sonletinles in perplexing theln in the service of God) stands
fast in the liberty wherewith Christ hath l1lade us free. This
liberty he compasseth by one distinction, and that. is, of what is
necessary and ,,,hat is additionary. As for eX:lI11ple: It is
necessary, that all Christians should pray twice a day every day
of the ,veek, and four tinles on a Sunday, if th:y be ,yell. This
is so necessary and essential to a Christian, tha: he cannot with-
out this Inaintain hilllself in a Christian state. Besides this, the
godly have ever added sonle hours of prayer, as at nine, or at
three, or at n1Ídnight, or as they think fit and see cause, or
rather as God's Spirit leads them. But these prayers are not
necessary, but additionary. N O'Y it
o happens that the godly
petitioner upon some enlergent interruption in the day, or by
oversleeping himself at night, OIl1ÏtS his additionary prayer.
Upon this his nlind begins to be perplexed and troubled; and
Satan, who knows the exigent, blows the fire, endeavouring to
disorder the Christian, and put hÍIn out of his station, and to
enlarge the perplexity, until it spread and taint his other duties
of piety, which none can perform so ,yell in trouble as in calnl-
ness. IIere the parson interposeth 'with his distinction, and
shews the perplexed Christian, that this prayer being addition-
ary, not necessary; taken in, not C0l1l111anded; the oIllission

The Countl'!! j.Jaï'son.

49

thereof upon just occasion ought by no 111eans to trouble him.
God knows the occasion as well as he, and he is as a gracious
father, who l1l0re accepts a COTIlmOn course of devotion than
dislikes an occasional interruption. And of this he ie so to
assure himself, as to admit no scntple, but to go on as cheerfully
as if he had not been interrupted. By this it is evident that
the distinction is of singular use and comfort, especially to pious
minds, which are ever tender and delicate. But here there are
two cautions to be added. First, that this interruption proceed
not out of slackness, or coldness, which will appear if the pious
soul foresee and prevent such interruptions, what he lnay,
before they COlne, and when, for all that they do comp, he be a
little affected therewith, but not afflicted or troubled; if he
resent it to a mislike, but not a grief. Secondly, that this
interruption proceed not out of shame. As for exanlple; a
godly Juan, not out of superstition, but of reverence to God's
house, resolves, whenever he enters into a church, to kneel
down and pray, either blessing God, that he will be pleased to
dwell among men; or beseeching hitn that, whenever he repairs
to his house, he nlay behave hÏInself so as befits so great a pre-
sence; and this briefly. But it happens that, near the place
\vhere he is to pray, he spies some scoffing ruffian, who is likely
to deride hinl for his pains: if he now
hall, either for fear or
shanle, break his custom, he shall do passing ill; so nluch the
rather ought he to proceed, as that by this he may take into his
prayer hun1iliation also. On the other side, if I am to visit the
sick in haste, and my nearest way lie through the church, I ,viII
not doubt to go ,vithout staying to pray there; but only, as I
pass, in my heart; because this kind of prayer is additionary,
not necessary, and the other duty overweighs it; so that if any
scruple arise, I will throw it away, and be most confident that
God is not displeased. rrhis distinction may run through aU
Christian duties, and it is a great stay and settling to religious
sou Is.

CHAP. XXXII.

The parson's sllPveys.
THE country parson hath not only taken a particular survey
of the faults of his own parish: but a general also of the diseases
of the tinIe, that so, when his occasions carry hinl abroad, or
F.

50

The OO
lntf'Y Pa1
son.

bring strangers to hilu, he Inay be the better arlned to encounter
theIne The great and national sin of this land he cstee1US to be
idleness; great in itself, and great in consequence; for when
Iuen have nothing to do, then they fall to drink, to steal, to
,vhore, to scoff; to revile, to all sorts of gamings. 00n1e, say
they, ,ve have nothing to do, let us go to the tavern, or to the
ste\vs, or what not. 'Vherefore the parson strongly opposeth
this sin wheresoever he goes. And because idleness is twofold"
the one in having no calling, the other in \valking carelessly in
our calling, he first represents to every body the necessity of a
vocation. The reason of this assertion is taken from the nature
of man, wherein God hath place
two great instrun1ents, reason
in the soul, and a hand in the body, as engagements of ,vorking :
so that even in Paradise man had a calling; and ho\v much
more out of Paradise, ,vhen the evils which he is now subject
unto Inay be prevented or diverted by reasonable ell1ployn1ent.
Besides, every gift or ability is a talent to be accounted for, and
to be iU1proved to our
Iaster's advantage. Yet it is also a debt
to our country to have a calling, and it concerns the COJl1mOn-
,vealth that none should be idle, but all busied. Lastly, riches
are the blessing of God, and the great instrun1ent of doing ad-
n1irable good: therefore all are to procure them honestly and
seasonably, when they are not better employed. Now this rea-
son crosseth not our Saviour's precept of selling ,vhat ,ve have,
because, when ,ve have sold all and given it to the poor, we
must not be idle, but labour to get n1ore, that we Inay give more,
according to St. Paul"s rule, Ephes. iv"
8, 1 Thess. iv, 11, I
.
So that our Saviour's selling is so far from crossing St. Paul's
working, that it rather stablisheth it, since they that have
nothing are fittest to ,vork. No,v because the only opposer to
this doctrine is the gallant, ,vho is ' vitty enough to abuse both
others and himself, and ,vho is ready to ask if he shall mend
shoes, or what he shall do
therefore the parson unmoved shew-
cth that ingenious and fit elnployment is never ,vanting to those
that seek it. But if it should be, the assertion stands thus: all
are either to have a calling, or prepare for it: he that hath or
can have yet no clnploYlnent, if he. truly and seriously pr epare for
it, he is safe and within bounds. Wherefore all are either pre-
sently to enter into a calling, if they be fit for it, and it for thelll ;
or else to exan1ine "ith care and advice what they are fittest for,

The Count1"y Parson.

51

and to prepare for that with all diligence. But it will not ùe
anliss in this exceeding useful point to descend to particulars :
for exactness lies in particulars. 1\1en are either single or nlar-
ried: the married and housekeeper hath his hands full. if he
do what he ought to do. For there are two branches of his af-
fairs: first, the improvement of his fanlily, by bringing them up
in the fear and nurture of the Lord: and secondly, the improve-
nlent of his grounds, by drowning or draining, or stocking or
fencing, or ordering his land to the best advantage both of hinl-
self and his neighbours. The Italian says, "N one fouls his
" hands in his o,vn business :" and it is an honest and just care, so
it exceed not bounds, for everyone to employ hiulself to the ad-
vancement of his affairs, that he 111ay have wherewithal to do
good. But his family is his best care, to labour Christian souls,
and raise them to their height, even to heaven; to dress and
prune them, and take as much joy in a straight growing child,
or servant, as a gardener doth in a choice tree. Could men find
out this delight, they would seldonl be froln home: whereas
now, of any place they are least there. But if, after all this care
,veIl despatched, the housekeeper's family be so snlall, and his
dexterity so great, that he have leisure to look out, the village
or parish, which either he lives in, or is near unto it, is his enl-
ployment. He considers everyone there, and either helps theln
in particular, or hath general propositions to the whole town or
h:11nlet, of advancing the public stock, and Il1anaging COlllmons
or ,voods, according as the place suggests. But if he may be of
the conlmission of peace, there is nothing to that: no COl1nnon-
wealth in the world hath a better institution than that of justices
of the peace: for it is both a security to the king, ,vho hath so
11lany dispersed officers at his beck throughout the kingdom, ac-
countable for the public good: and also an honourable employ-
ment of a gentle or noble man in the country he lives in,
enabling hinl with power to do good, and to restrain all those
who else might both trouble him and the ","hole state. \Vhere-
fore it behoves all, who are come to the gravity and ripeness of
judgnlent for so excellent a place, not to refuse, but rather to
procure it. And whereas there are usuaUy three objections
11lade against the place; the one, the abuse of it, by tn king
petty country bribes; the other, the casting of it on Inean per-
sons, especially in some shires; and lastly, the trouble of it:
these are so far from deterring any good men fronl the place,
E2

5

The Oountry jJ a1 . s0 'll.

that. they kindle thenl rather to redeeul the dignity either froni
true faults or unjust aspersions. Now, for single men, they
are either heirs, or younger brothers: the heirs are to prepare
in all the forenlentioned points against the tÎ1ne of their prac-
tice. Therefore they are to mark their father's discretion in
ordering his house and affairs; and also else\vhere, when they
see any remarkable point of education or good husbandry, to
transplant it in tin1e to his own hOlne, \vith the satne care as
others, \vhen they Ineet with good fruit, get a graft of the tree,
enriching their orchard, and neglecting their house. Besides,
they are to read books of law and justice; especially the Statutes
at Large. .As for better books of divinity, they are not in this
consideration, because we are ab
ut a caUing, and a preparation
thereunto. But chieflYJ and above all things, they are to fre-
quent sessions and assizes: for it is Loth an honour \vhich they
owe to the reverend judges and Inagistrates, to attend theu1, at
least in their shire; anrl it is a great advantage to kno\v the
practice of the land; for our la\v is practice. Sometilnes the
heir nlay go to court, as the enlinent place both of good and ill.
At other tinIes he is to travel over the king's dOlninions, cutting out
the kingdolll into portions, \vhich every year he surveys piece-
meal. 'Vhen there is a parlianlent, he is to endeavour by all
Ineans to be a knight or burgess there; for there is no school to
a parlialnent: and when he is there, he nlust not only be a
Illorning 111an, but at cOlnnlittees also; for there the particulars
are exactly discHssed, which are brought from thence t.o tho
house but in general. 'Vhen none of these occasions call hinl
abroad, every morning that he is at home, he must either ride the
great horse, or exercise so]ne of his military postures. For all
gentlelnen, that are no\v wf'akened and disarll1ed with sedent.ary
lh es, are to know the use of their arms: and as the husbandnIan
labours for hinl, so nlust they fight for and defend hiln, \vhen
occasion caBs. r.rhis i8 the duty of each to other, \vhich they
ought to fulfil: and the par
on is a lover of and exciter to just-
ice in all things, even as John the Baptist squared out to every
one, even to soldiers, what. to do. As for younger brothers,
those ,vhonl the parson fil1ds loose, and not engaged into SOllle
profession by their parents, whose neglect in this point is intole-
rable, and a shan1eful wrong, both to the conul1onwealth and their
own house: to theIn, after he hath shewed the unlawfulness of
spending the day in dressing, cOl1lplhnenting, visiting, and sport-

The Count1:! Parson.

53

ing, he first conlnlends the study of the civil law, as a Lrave and
wise knowledge, the professors whereof ""ere much employed
by queen Elizabeth, because it is the key of conlnlerce, and dis-
covers the rules of foreign nations. Secondly, he conlnlends the
DlathenuLtics, as the only wonder-worJiing knowledge, and there-
fore requiring the best spirits. After the several knowledge of
these, he adviseth to insist and dwell chiefly on the two noble
branches thereof, of fortification and navigation; the one being
useful to all countries, and the other especially to islands. But
if the young gallant think these courses dull and phlegnlatic,
where can he busy hilnself better than in those new plantations
and discoveries, which are not only a noble, but also, as they
lllay be handled, a religious enlploY111ent? Or let hiln travel
into Gernlany and France, and observing the artifices and l11anu-
factures there, transplant thell1 hither, as divers haye done
lately, to our country's advantage.

CHAP. XXXIII.

The parson's li'braI'Y.
THE country parson's library is a holy life: for (be
ides the
blessing that that brings upon it, there being a pron1Ìse, that if
the kingdonl of Gorl be first sought. all other things shall be
added) even itself is a serHlon. For the telnptations with which
a good nlan is beset, and the ways which he used to overconle
thein, being told to another, whether in private conference or in
the church, are a sermon. He that hath considered how to carry
hin1self at table about his appetite, if he tell this to another,
preacheth; and luuch nlore feelingly and judiciously than he
,vrites his rules of teillperance out of books. So that the parson
having studied and luastered all his lusts and affections within,
and the ,vhole arll1Y of tenlptations without, hath ever so 111finy
sernlons ready penned, as he hath victories. And it fares in this
as it doth in physic: he that hath been sick of a consumption,
and knows what recovered him, is a physician, so far as he Ineets
with the sanle disease and tenlper; and can nluch better and
particularly do it than he that is generally learned, and was
never sick. And if the same person had be
n sick of all diseases,
and were recovered of all by things that he knew, there ,vere
no such physician as he, both for skin and tenderness. J lIst so
it is in divinity, and that not without nlanifest reason: for

54

The Country Parson.

though the-t.elnptations nlay be diverse in divers Christians, yet
the victory is alike in all, being by the selfsanle Spirit. Neither
is this true only in the nlilitary state of a Christian life, but even
in the peaceable also; \vhen the servant of God, freed for a
while from temptation, in a quiet sweetness seeks how to please
his God. Thus the parson, considering that repentance is the
great virtue of the gospel, and one of the first steps of pleasing
God, having for his own use examined the nature of it, is able
to explain it after to others. And particularly, having doubted
sonletinles, \vhether his repentance \vere true, or at least in that
degree it ought to be, since he found hiulself sonletimes to ,veep
1110re for the loss of some temporal things than for offending
God, he callIe at length to this resolution, that repentance is an
act of the nlind, not of the body, even as the original signifies;
and that the chief thing which God in scriptures requires is the
heart and t.he spirit, and to worship hinl in truth and spirit.
'Vherefore in case a Christian endeavour to weep and cannot,
since we are not lll:lsters of our bodies, this sufficeth. And con-
sequently he found, that the essence of repentance (that it Inay
be alike in all God's children, which, as concerning \veeping, it
cannot be
some being of a more Inelting telnper than others)
consisteth in a true detestation of the soul, abhorring and renounc-
ing sin, and turning unto God in truth of heart and ne\vness of
life: which acts of repentance are and 11lUst be found in all God's
servants: not that weeping is not useful, \vhere it can be, that so
the body Inay join in the grief, as it did in the sin; but that, so
the other acts bel that is not necessary: so that he as truly repents
who perfOrll1S the other acts of repentance, when he cannot 1110re,
as he that weeps a flood of tears. This instruction and conlfort
the parson getting for hiulsclf, when he tells it to others, bccolncs
a sernlon. The like he doth in ot'ler Christian virtues, as of
faith and love, and the cases of conscience belonging thereto,
\vherein (as St. Paul implies that he ought, Rom. ii.) he first
preacheth to hiulself, and then to others.

CHAP. XXXIV.

Tlte jJa1'"son's deæteritg in cfj}jJl!ling w" reJìwdies.
TIlE country parson knows that there is a double state of a
Vhristian even in this life, the one military, the other peaceable.
The luilita..y is, when we are assaulted with telnptations either

The Country Parson.

55

fronl within or fronl without. The peaceable is, \vhen the devil
for a tinle leaves us, as he did our Saviour, and the angels
minister to us their own food, eyen joy and peace and comfort
in the Holy Ghost. These two states ,vere in our Saviour, not
only in the beginning of his preaching, but afterwards also; (as
l\Iatth. xxii, 35, he ,vas tempted; and Luke x, 21, he rejoiced
in spirit:) and they Inust be likewise in all that are his. Now
the parson having a spiritual judgment, according as he discovers
any of his flock to be in one or the other state, so he applies
hillìself to them. Those that he finds in the peaceable state, he
ad viseth to be very vigilant, and not to let go the reins as soon
as the horse goes easy. Particularly, he counselleth thenl to
two things: first, to take heed lest their quiet betray thenl, as
it is apt to do, to a coldness and carelessness in their devotions,
but to labour still to be as fervent in Christian duties, as they
remelnber themselves were, when affliction did blow the coals.
Secondly, not to take the full conlpass and liberty of their peace:
not to eat all those dishes at table which even their present
health other\"ise adn1its; nor to store their house with all those
furnitures which even their present plenty of wealth otherwise
admits; nor \vhen they are among then1 that are merry, to
extend then1selves to all that Inirth, which the present occasion
of wit and cOlnpany otherwise adn1Ïts; but to put bounds and
hoops to their joys: so will they last the longer, and when they
depart, return the sooner. If we would judge ourselves, \ve
should not be judged; and if we would bound ourselves, ,ve
should not be bounded. But if they shall fear that at such or
such a tilne their peace and mirth have carried thenl further
than this n10deration, then to take Job's admirable course, who
sacrificed lest his children should have transgressed in their
mirth: so let them go, and find some poor afflicted soul, and
there be bountiful and liberal; for with such sacrifices God is
,veIl pleased. Those that the parson finds in the n1ilítary state,
he fortifies and strengthens with his utmost skill. N ow in those
that are tenlpted, whatsoever is unruly falls upon two heads j
either they think that there is none that can or will look after
things, but all goes by chance or wit: or else, though there be a
great Governor of all things, yet to thenl he is lost, as if they
said, God doth forsake and persecute them, and there is none to
deliver thenl. If the parson suspect the first and find sparks of
such thoughts now and then to break forth, then
without opposing

56

The Cvulttr!I Parson.

directly, (for disputation is no cure for atheisln) he scatt.ers in
his discourse three sorts of argulllents: the first taken from
nature, the second from the la\v, the third froln grace. For
nature, he sees not how a house could be either built without a
builder, or kept in repair without a housekeeper. He conceives
not possibly, how the \vinds should blow so 111uch a
they can,
and the sea rage so nluch as it cn,n, and all things do what t.hey
can, and all, not only without dissolution of the whole, but also
of any part, by taking a\Vay so ll1uch as the usual seasons of Slun-
Iller and winter, earing and harvest. Let the weather be what
it ,viII, still ,ve have bread, though son1etin1es 1110re, sOlnetimes
less; wherewith also a careful Joseph luight Ineet. He con-
ceives not possibly how he that' would believe a Divinity if he
had been at the creation of all things, should less believe it,
seeing the preservation of all things; for preservation is a crea-
tion; and nlore, it is a continued creation, and a creation every
n10luont. Secondly, for the law, there Inay be so evident though
unused a proof of Divinity taken froln thence, that the atheist or
Epicurean can have nothing to contradict. The Jews yet live,
and are known: they have their law and language, bearing wit-
ness to thell1, and they to it: they are circull1cised to this day,
and expect the proInises of the scripture: their country also is
known, the places and rivers travelled unto and frequented by
others, but to the111 an unpenetrable rock, an unaccessible det5crt.
\Vherefore, if the Jews live, all the great ,vonders of old live in
then1; and then who can deny the streched out arn1 of a nlighty
God? especially since it luay be a just doubt, whether, consider-
ing the stubbornness of the nation, their living then in their
country under so lnany ll1iraclos were a stranger thing than
their present <?xile and disability to live in their country. .A.nd
it is observaLle, that this very thing \Vas intended by God, that
the Jews should be his proof and \' itnesses, as he calls theIn,
Isaiah xliii, 12; and their very dispersion in all lands \vas intended
not only for a punisluuent to then1, but for an exciting of others
by their sight to the acknowledging of God and his power,
l:}sahlllix, 11; and therefore this kind of punislul1ent was chosen
rather than any other. Thirdly, for grace. Besides the conti-
nual succession, since the gospel, of holy 111eD, who have borne
\titness to the truth, (there being no reason why any should dis-
trust St. Luke, or Tertullian, or Chrysostolll, l110re than Tully,
'Tirgil, or Livy,) there are t\\ 0 prophecies in the gospel, which

The Country Parson.

57

evidently argue Christ's divinity by their success: the one
concerning the WOßlan that spent the ointment on our Saviour,
for which he told that it should never be forgotten, but with
the gospel itself be preached to all ages,
Iatthew xxvi, 13:
the other concerning the destruction of Jerusalem; of which
our Saviour said, that that generation should not pass till all
were fulfilled, Luke xxi, g
; which Josephus's story confirmeth,
and the continuance of which verdict is Jet evident. To these
nlÎght be added the preaching of the gospel in aU nations,

Iatthew xxiv, 14, which we see even miraculously effected in
these new discoveries, God turning men's covetousness and am-
bitions to the effecting of his word. Now a prophecy is a won-
der sent to posterity, lest they complain of want of wonders. It
is a letter sealed and sent, which to the bearer is but paper, but
to the receiver and opener is full of power. He that sa\v
Christ open a blind man's eyes sa\v not more divinity, than he
that reads the w0111an's ointInent in the Gospel} or sees J erllsalenl
destroyed. With some of these heads enlarged, and woven into
his discourse, at several tioles and occasions, the parson settleth
wavering lllinds. IJut if he sees them nearer desperation than
atheisnl; not so n1llCh doubting a God as that he is their's; then
he dives into the boundless ocean of God's love, and the un-
speakable riches of his loving-kindness. He hath one argun1ent
unansweraLle. If God hate theIn, either he doth it as the)' are
creatures, dust and ashes; or as they are sinful. As creatures
he must needs love thenl; for no perfect artist ever yet hated
his own work. As sinful, he lnust much more love thenl;
because notwithstanding his infinite hate of sin, his love over-
caIne that hate, and that with an exceeding great victory, which
in the creation needed not, gave them love for love, even the
Son of his love, out of his bosonl of love. So that lllan, which
way soeyer he turns, hath two pledges of God's love, (that in
the mouth of two or three witnesses every word n1ay be
established) the one in his being, the other in his sinful being:
and this as the more faulty in him, so the more glorious in God.
And alllnay certainly conclude, that God lo\'es thell1 till either
they despise that love, or despair of his 111ercy: not any sin
else, but is within his love; but the despising of love lnust
needs be without it. The thrusting away of his arm only makes
us not eIubraced.

58

The Oountt'Y Pa
'son.

CHA,P. XXXV.

The parson's condescending.
THE country parson is a lover of old customs, if they be good
and harnlless; and the rather, because country people are much
addicted to then1, so that to favour them therein is to win their
hearts, and to oppose them therein is to deject theln. If there
be any ill in the custom, which may be severed from the good,
he pares the apple and ghTes theln the clean to feed on. Par-
ticularly, he loves procession and l1}aintains it, because there
are contained therein four 111anifest advantages. First a bless-
ing of God for the fruits of the, field: Secondly, justice in the
preservation of bounds: Thirdly, charity in loving, ,valking,
and neighbourly accolnpanying one another, with reconciling of
differences at any tillIe, if there be any: Fourthly, mercy in
relieving the poor by a liberal distribution and largess, which at
that thne is or ought to be used. Wherefore he exacts of all to
be present at the peranIbulation: and those that withdra\v, and
sever themselves froln it he mislikes, and reproves as un-
charitable and unneighbourly; and if they will not refonn,
presents theln. Nay, he is so far fronl condenlning such assen1-
Llies, that he rather procures them to be often, as knowing that
absence breeds strangeness, but presence love. N O\V love is his
business and ainl; wherefore he likes well that his parish at
good tinles invite one another to their houses, and he urgeth
them to it: and sometilnes, where he knows there hath been or
is a little difference, he takes one of the parties and goes with
hiln to the other, and all dine or sup together. There is much
preaching in this friendlines
. Another old custon1 there is of
saying, when light is brought in, "God send us the light of
heaven;" and the parson likes this very well; neither is he
afraid of praising or praying to God at all tinle
, but is rather
glad of catching opportunities to do theln. Light is a great
hlessing, and as great as food, for which we give thanks: and
those that think this superstitious, neither kno,v superstition
nor thelnselves. 1\8 for those that are ashalned to use this fornl,
as being old and obsolete, and not the fashion, he reforms and
teaches then} that at baptisln they professed not to be ashalned
of Christ's cross, or for any shalue to leave that which is good.
He that is a
hailled in slnall things will extend his pusillaniinity

The Oountry Parson.

59

to greater. Rather should a Christian soldier take such oc-
casions to harden hiulself, and to further his exerCIses of
lllortification.

CHAP. XXXVI.
The parson blessing.
THE country parson wonders that blessing the people is in so
little use with his brethren: whereas he thinks it not only a
grave and reverend thing, but a beneficial also. Those ,vho use
it not, do so either out of niceness, because they like the salu-
tations, and compliments, and fonlls of worldly language better:
which confornlity and fashionableness is so exceeding unbe-
fitting a Ininister, that it deserves reproof, not refutation: or
else, because they think it elnpty and superfluous. But that
which the apostles used so diligently in their writings, nay,
,vhich our Saviour hirl1self nsed,
Iark x, 16, cannot be vain and
superfluous. But this was not proper to Christ, or the apostles
only, no more than to be a spiritual father was appropriated to
then1. And if temporal fathers bless their children, how nluch
more nlay and ought spiritual fathers
llesides, the priests of
the Old Testanlent were commanded to bless the people, and the
fornl thereof is prescribed, Numb. vi. Now as the apostle
argues in another case, if the ministration of condeIllnation did
bless, how shall not the lllinistration of the Spirit exceed in
blessing
The fruit of this blessing good Hannah found, and
received with great joy, 1 Sam. i, 18, though it came fronl a
tuan disallowed by God: for it was not the person, but priest-
hood, that blessed; so that eyen ill priests lnay bless. N eit.her
have the ministers power of blessing onl)T, but also of cursing,
So in the Old Testaillent Elisha cursed the children, Q Kings
ii, 24; which though our Saviour reproved as unfitting for his
particular, who was to shew all humility before his passion, yet
he allo\\s it in his apostles. And therefore St. Peter used that
fearful imprecation to Simon !\Iagus, Acts viii, Thy moncJI pen.sh
witl" thee: and the event confinned it. So did St. Paul, 2 Tinl.
iv, 14, and 1 Tinl. i, 20. Speaking of Alexander the coppersmith,
who had withstood his preaching, The Lord, saith he, reward hirtz
according to Ids works. And again, of HJnleneus and Alexander
he saith, he had delivered tlten
to Satan, that the!l1night learn not
to blasplzen
e. The fornls both of blessing and cursing are ex-

60

The Country Parsoll.

pounded in the C0l11nl0n Prayer Book, the one in The grace of
our Lord Jesus Ghrist, &c., and The peace of God, &c.; the other
in general in the COllunination.
Now blessing differs from prayer in assurance, because it is
not performed by ,vay of request, but of confidence and power,
effectually applying God"s favour to the blessed, by the interest-
ing of that dignity wherewith God hath invested the priest, and
enga.ging of God's own power and institution for a blessing.
'fhe neglect of this duty in nlinisters themsehcs hath lllade the
people also neglect it; so that they are so far fronl craving this
benefit froin their ghostly father, t.hat they oftentÌ111es go out of
church before he hath blessed thenl. In the til11e of popery
the priest's benedicite and his" holy water were over-highly
valued: and now we are fallen to the clean contrary, even frOlll
superstition to coldness and atheisln. But the parson first values
the gift in hilnself, and then teacheth his parish to value it.
And it is observable, that if a nlinister talk with a great nlan in
the ordinary course of cOlnpliulenting language, he shall bo
esteelued as an ordinary conlplilnenter; but if he often interpose
Hi blessing, when the other giycs hil11 just opportunity, by spe:1k-
ing any good, this unusual fOrIn begets a reverence, and Inakes
hiIll esteclned according to his profession. The saIne is to be
observed in writing letters also. To conclude, if all lllen are to
bless upon occasion, as appears ROIH. xii, 14, how lllllCh IHore
those who are spiritual fathers?

CI-IAP. XXX'
II.

Goncernin.'l detraction.
TI-IE country parson, percciving that lliost, when they are at
leisure, Inake others" faults their entf\rtainluent and discourse,
and that even S0111e good nl011 think, so they speak truth, they
may disclose another"s f
tult, finds it sOlnewhat difficult how to
proceed in this point. For if he absolutely shut up Inen"s
Illouths and forbid all disclosing of faults, Inl1ny an evilluay not
only be, but also spread in his parish, without any rCluedy,
(which cannot be applied without notice) to the dishonour of
God and the infection of his flock, and the disconlfort, discredit
and hindrance of the pastor. On the other side, if it be un-
lawful to open faults, no bcnefit or advantage can Blake it lawful:
for 'we
/lust '/LOt do evil, that good
nay cOlne of it. N ow the

The Countr!! Parson.

61

parson taking this point to task, \vhich is so exceeding usefuJ,
and hath taken so deep root, that it seems the very life and
substance of conyersation, hath proceeded thus far in the dis-
cu
sing of it. Faults are either notorious or private. Again,
notorious faults are either such as are lnade known by common
fame, (and of these those that kno\v them may talk, so they do
it not with sport, but cOlnTniseration) or else such as have
passed judglnent and been corrected, either by whipping, or
ilnprisoning, or the like. Of these also men DUty talk, and more,
they Inay discover theln to those that kno\v thenl not; because
infanlY is a part of the sentence against malefactors, which the
law intends, as is evident by those which are branded for rogues,
that they may be known; or put into the stocks, that they may
be looked upon. But sonle nlay say, though the la\v allow this,
the gospel doth not, which hath so much advanced charity, and
ranked backbiters an10ng the generation of the wicked, Rom. i,
so. But this is easily answered: as the executioner is not
uncharitable that takes away the life of the condemned, except,
besides his office, he add a tincture of private 11lalice in the joy
and haste of acting his part; so neither is he that defalnes him
whon1 the la,v would have defamed, except he also do it out of
rancour. For in infanlY all are executioners, and the law gives
a nlalefactor to all to be defalued. And as 111alefactors n1ay lose
and forfeit their goods or life, so 111ay they their good name, and
the possession thereof, which before their offence and judgment
they had in all nlen's breasts: for all are honest, till the contrary
be proved. Besides, it concerns the cOlnmonwealth, that rogues
should be known, and charity to the public hath the precedence
of private charity. So that it is so far fronl being a fault to
discover such offenders, that it is a duty rather, which may do
nluch good, and save nluch harm. Nevertheless, if the punished
delinquent shall be much troubled for his sins, and turn quite
another nlan, doubtless then also nlen's affections and words
l11Ust turn, and forbear to speak of that, which even God himself
hath forgotten.

RULES AXD AD'ICES

TO

THE C L ERG ,-

OF THE

DIOCESE OF DO" X ...\XD CO XX OR.

BY

JERE)[í T
\ YLOR

BISHOP OF TH_-\T DIOCESE.

J ERE
iY TAYLOR is stated, on \vhat appears to be good
authority, to have been lineally descended from Dr. Ro\yland
Taylor, Rector of Hadleigh in Suffolk, and a celebrated suf-
ferer in the cause of the Reformation, under Queen
lary.
When he ,vas born at Cambridge, in 1613, the humble sta-
tion of his father shews that the family had not recovered
from the effects of the confiscation of estate, \yhich follo\ved
the death of his martyred ancestor. At the age of 13, he ,vas
admitted into Caius College, as a Sizar; took the degree of
B. A.; and, ,vhether he gained a Fello,vship of his college
or not (for the point remains doubtful) proceeded, in due
course, to the degree of M. A. He ,vas ordained, before he
had reached the Canonical age; and ,-ras soon employed as
Deputy Lecturer at St. Paul's Cathedral. A repoTt of his
eloquence ,vas conveyed to archbishop Laud, \vho summoned
him to preach at Lambeth; and, from that time, befriended
him. The archbishop suggested his removal from Cambridge
to Oxford. He first entered at University College; but, not
long afterwards, became Fello\v of All Souls}, through the
influence perseveringly exerted in his favour by his patron,
the Visitor of that College. 'rhus it fortunately happens that
each of the Universities of England is entitled to lay claim to
one and the same distinguished ornament. He ceased to
reside at Oxford, on his acceptance of the Rectory of U pping-
ham, in Rutlandshire. \'Vhen he was compelled by the
troubles of the times to retire from" his benefice, he sought
refuge in Wales and, for a ,,,hi Ie, kept a School there; but
his unshaken loyalty and firm adherence to the Church sub-
jected him to frequent persecutions and occasional imprison-
ment. His character and his misfortunes combined to procure
for him zealous and liberal supporters, under the difficulties,
\\"ith ,vhich he had to contend. One of these (Lord Conway)
F

66

at length induced him to accept a Lectureship and some other
advantages in Ireland and to settle permanently in a retreat
provided for him near Lisburn. A journey to London, in
the beginning of 1660, afforded him an opportunity of signing
the Loyalist Declaration of April of that year. Among the
early results of the Restoration \vas his nomination, in August
of the same year, to the bishopric of Down and Connor. In
the next year, "on account of his virtue, wisdom, and indus-
try," (such are the words of the ,vrit under the Privy Seal) he
,vas further entrusted \yith the diocese of Dromore. He 'vas,
Inoreover, appointed Vice-Chancellor of the University of
Dublin. Arduous and incessant duties, both Episcopa] and
Academical, occupied him during the few remaining years of
his life, ,vhich ended in 1667.

His Works (most of \vhich ,vere published before the Resto-
ration) are universally allo\ved to justify the eulogy, pro-
nounced on their Author by Bishop Rust, his successor in the
see of Dromore :
"This great Prelate had the good humour of a Gentleman,
" the eloquence of an Orator, the fancy of a Poet, the acute-
" ness of a Schoolman, the profoundness of a Philosopher, the
" \"isdom of a Counsellor, the sagacity of a Prophet, the reason
" of an Angel and the piety of a Saint."

A Life of Bp. Taylor, ,vith a critical exan1Ínation of his
"Titings, from a Prelate of kindred spirit and genius, the late
Bp. Heber, accompanies the complete Edition of his Works,
recently published under the direction of the Rev. C. P. Eden,
formerly Fello,v of Oriel College, Oxford.
There is also a Biography by the Rev. R. A. 'Vilmott,
12mo, entitled: " Bp. Jeremy Taylor, his Predecessors, Con-
" temporaries and Successors."

RULES AND ADVICES

TO THE CLERG Y.

I. Personal duly.
I. REME
IBER that it is your great duty, and tied on you
by lllany obligations, that you be exemplar in your lives, and
be patterns and precedents to your flocks; lest it be said unto you,
Why talcest thou my law into t1
y l}/lO'lttlì, seeing tlwu lìatest to be
reformed thereby? He that lives an idle life lllay preach \vith
tru th and reason, or as did the Pharisees: but not as Christ, or
as one having authority.
II. Every nlinister in taking accounts of his life Inust judge
of his duty by more strict and severer measures, than he does of
his people; and he that ties heavy burdens upon others, ought
himself to carry the heaviest end: and many things lllay be
lawful in theIn, \vhich he lllust not suffer in hiulself.
III. Let every lllinister endeavour to be learned in all spirit-
ual wisdom, and skilful in the things of God; for he will ill
teach others the ,yay of godliness perfectly, that is hinlself a
babe and uninstructed. An ignorant minister is an head without
an eye; and an evil minister is salt that hath no savour.
IV. Every minister, above all things, must be careful that he
be not a servant of passion, whether of anger or desire. For he
that is not a master of his passions will always be useless, and
quickly will become contenlptible and cheap in the eyes of his
parish.
V. Let no minister be litigious in any thing; not greedy or
F

68

Bishop Taylor's Advice to his Olergy.

covetous; not insisting upon little things, or quarrelling for or
exacting of every minute portion of his dues; but bountiful and
easy; remitting of his right, \vhen to do so may be useful to his
people, or \vhen the contrary nlay do mischief, and cause
reproach. Be not over righteous, (saith Solomon) that is, not
severe in demanding, or forcing every thing, though it be indeed
his due.
VI. Let not the name of the church be made a pretence for
personal covetousness; by saying, you are willing to remit many
things, but you must not wrong the church: for though it be
true, that JOU are not to do prejudice to succession, yet Inany
things may be forgiven upon just occasions, from which the
church shall receive no incolnníodity ; but be sure that there are
but fe,v things which thou art bound to do in thy personal
capacity, but the same also and more thou art obliged to per-
fonn, as thou art a public person.
VII. Never exact the offerings or customary wages and such
as are allo,ved by la\v, in the nlinistration of the sacranïents,
nor condition for them, nor secure them beforehand; but first
do your office, and nlinister the sacraments purely, readily and
for Christ's sake; and when that is done, receive what is your
due.
VIII. Avoid all pride, as you \vould flee fronl the most
frightful apparition, or the most cruel enemy; and renlember
that :you can never truly teach humility, or tell what it is, unless
you practise it yourselves.
IX. Take no measures of humility, but such as are material
and tangible; such which consist not in humble ,vords, and
lowly gestures; but what is first truly radicated in your souls,
in low opinion of yourselves, and in real preferring others before
yourselves; and in such significations, which can neither deceive
yourselves nor others.
X. Let every curate of souls strive to understand himself
I I best; and then to understand others. Let hinl spare himself
least; but severely judge, censure and condemn himself. If he
be learned, let hilu shew it by wise teaching and humble 111an-
\ I h
ners. If he be not learned, let hirn be sure to get so lUUC
kno\vledge as to kno\v that, and so 11luch hUlllility as not to
' grow insolent and puffed up by his enlptiness. For Inany ,viII
pardon a good l11an that is less learned; but if he be proud, no
I . Ulan ,viII forgive hiln.

Bishop Taylor's Advice to his Olergy.

69

XI. Let every nlinister be careful to live a life as abstracted
from the affairs of the world, as his necessity will permit hinl;
but at no hand to be immerged and principally employed in the
affairs of the world: what cannot be avoided, and what is of
good report, and what he is obliged to by any personal or
collateral duty, that he may do, but no more: ever remembering
the saying of our blessed Lord; In the 'l()orld ye shallltave trou-
hle; hut in me ye shall have peace,. and consider this also, which
is a great truth; that every degree of love to the world is so
much taken from the love of God.
XII. Be no otherwise solicitous of your fame and reputation, I
but by doing your duty well and wisely; in other things refer
yourself to God; but if you meet with evil tongues, be careful
that you bear reproaches sweetly and temperately.
XIII. Remenlber that no minister can govern his people welI,
and prosperously, unless himself hath learned humbly and
cheerfulIy to obey his superior. For every minister should be
like the good centurion in the gospel; himself is under authorit.y,
and he hath people under him.
XIV. Be sure in all your words and actions to preserve
Christian simplicity and ingenuit)T; to do to others as you
\vould be done unto yourself) and never to speak what you do
not think. Trust to truth, rather than to your menlory; for
this may fail you, that will never.
XV. Pray much and very fervently for all your parishioners I
and all men that belong to you and all that belong to God; but
especially for the conversion of souls; and be very zealous for
nothing but for God's glory and the salvation of the world,
and particularly of your charges: ever remembering that you
are by God appointed, as the Dlinistera of prayer and the
ministers of good things, to pray for all the ,,'orld and to heal
all the world, as far as you are able.
X VI. Every minister nlust learn and practise patience, that
by bearing all adversity meekly and humbly and cheerfully,
and by doing all his duty with unwearied industry and with
great courage, constancy and Christian nlagnanilnity, he lnay
the better assist his people, in the bearing of their crosses and
overcoming of their difficulties.
XVII. He that is holy, let him be holy stiIl) and still more
holy, a.nd never think he hath done his work, till all be finished
by perseverance, and the measures of perfection in a holy life,

70

Bishop Taylor's Advice to ltis Olergy.

II.

and a holy death; but at no hand must he magnify himself by
vain separations frOin others, or despising them that are not so
holy.
II. 01 prudence 'l'eq'ltlred in 'fninisters.
XVIII. Remember that discretion is the Inistress of all
graces; and humility is the greatest of all n1iracles: and with-
out this, all graces perish to a man's self; and without that, all
graces are useless un to others.
XIX. Let no minister be governed by the opinion of his
people, and destroy his duty, by unreasonable compliance with
their humours, lest, as the bishop of Granata told the governors
of Leria and Patti, like silly animals they take burdens upon
their backs at the pleasure of the multitude, \vhich they neither
can retain \vith prudence nor shake off with safety.
XX. Let not t.he reverence of any man cause you to sin
against God; but in the matter of souls, being well advised, be
bold and confident; but abate nothing of the honour of God, or
the just Ineasures of your duty, to satisfy the hnportunity of any
man whatsoever, and God will bear you out.
XXI. 'Vhen you teach your people any part of" their duty, as
in paying their debts, their tithes and offerings, in giving due
reverence and religious regards, din1inish nothing of admonition
in these particulars, and the like, though they object, That you
speak for yourselves, and in your o'wn cases. For counsel i3
not the \vorse, but the better, if it be profitable both to him that
gives and to hin1 that takes it. Only do it in silnplicity, and
principally intend the good of their souls.
XXII. In taking accounts of the good lives of yourselves or
others, take your measures by the express words of scripture;
and next to then1 estin1ate them by their proportion and compli-
ance \vith the public measures, with the laws of the nation, ec-
clesiastical and civil, and by the rules of fame, of public honesty
and good report; and last of all by their observation of the ordi-
nances and exterior parts of religion.
XXIII. Be not satisfied when you have done a good ,york,
unles s you have also done it
ll i and when you have, then be
careful that vainglory, partiality, self-conceit, or any other folly
.. or indiscretion, snatch it not out of your hand, and cheat you of
the re\yard.
XXIV. Be careful so to order yourself, that you fall not into
temptation and foIly in the presence of any of your charges; and

Bisnop Taylor's A dvice to his Ole,"9Y. 71
especially that you fall not into chi dings and intemperate talk-
ings, anò sudden and violent expressions: never be a party in
clamours and scoldings, lest your calling become useless, and your
person conteInptible: ever remen1bering that if you cheaply and
lightly be engaged in such lo,v usages with any person, that per-
son is likely to be lost fronI all possibility of receiving l11uch
good from your ministry.
III. The rules and measures of govel"nnwnt to he used hy
9ninisters in tlteir respective cures.
XXV. Use no violence to any man, to bring him to your t
opinion; but by the word of your proper lninistry, by den10n- I,
.
strations of the Spirit, by rational discourses, by excellent exam-
ples, constrain then1 to come in; and for other things they are I
to be permitted to their own liberty, to the measures of the laws, (
and the conduct of their governors.
XXVI. Suffer no quarrel in your parish, and speedily sup-
press it, ,,-hen it is begun; and though nIl wise men \"ill
abstain from interposing in other men's affairs, and especially in
matters of interest, which lllen 10,Te too well; yet it is your
duty here to interpose, by persuading thelll to friendships, re-
concilen1ents, moderate prosecutions of their pretences; and by
all means }you prudently can, to bring them to peace and
brotherly kindness.
XX'TII. Suffer no houses of debauchery, of drunkenness or
lust in your parishes; but implore the assistance of authority
for the suppressing of all such meeting-places and nurseries of
impiety; and as for places of public entertainment, take care
that they observe the rules of Christian piety and the allo"Ted
measures of the la\v.
XXVIII. If there be any papists or sectaries in your parishes,
neglect not frequently to confer with them in the spirit of
meekness, and by the importunity of wise discourses seeking to
gain them. But stir up no violences against them; but leave)':;
them (if they be incurable) to the wise and n1erciful disposition '.
of the Ia WB.
XX IX. Receive not the people to doubtful disputations: and I
let no names of sects or differing religions be kept up amongst
you, to the disturbance of the public peace and private charity;
and teach not the people to estimate their piety by their distance
from any opinion, but by their faith in Christ, their obedience

72

Bishop Taylor"s Advice to his Clergy.

I to God and the laws, and their love to all Christian people, even
though they be deceived.
XXX. Think no man considerable upon the point or pre-
tence of a tender conscience, unless he live a good life, and in
all things endeavour to approve himself void of offence both to-
,vards God and man: but if he be an hUlnble person, modest
and inquiring, apt to learn and desirous of information; if he
seeks for it in all ,vays reasonable and pious, and is obedient to
laws, then take care of him, use hinI tenderly, persuade him
meekly, reprove hilll gently, and deal mercifully with him, till
· God shall reveal also that to him, in \vhich his unavoidable
trouble and his temptation lies.
XXXI. Mark them that cause divisions among you, and
avoid them; for such persons are by the scripture called scan-
dals a in the abstract; they are offenders and offences too. But
if any man have an opinion, let him have it to himself, till he
can be cured of his disease by tillle a':ld counsel and gentle
usages. But if he separates from the church, or gathers a con-
gregation, he is proud, and is fallen from the communion of
saints and the unity of the catholic church.
XXXII. He that observes any of his people to be zealous
let hilll be careful to conduct that zeal into such channels where
there is least danger of inconveniency; let hilll employ it in
something that is good; let it be pressed to fight against sin.
For zeal is like a cancer in the breast; feed it with good flesh,
or it will devour the heart.
t XXXIII. Strive to get the love of the congregation; but
let it not degenerate into popularity. Cause thenI to love
i you and revere you; to Ioye \vith religion, not for your conl-
: pliance; for the good you do them, not for that you please
them. Get their love by doing your duty, but not by omitting
or spoiling any part of it: ever remJrnbering the severe ,vords
I of our blessed Saviour, Wo be to you 'when all '1nen speak well
of you.
XXXI,r. Suffer not the common people to prattle about re-
ligion and questions; but to speak little, to be s\vift to hear, and
slow to speak; that they learn to do good ,yorks for necessary
uses, that they work with their hands, that they may have ,vhere-
withal to give to them that need; that they study to be quiet,
and learn to do their own business.
a 1:Kávða
a 7Tupà TTW
LlJax;w. Vide Rom. xvi. 17, 01
LxouTaToíjvTE
.

Bishop Taylor's .Adv'ice to his Clergy_

73

x XX V_Let every minister take care that he call on his
charge, that they order themselves so that they leave no void
spaces of their time, but that every part of it be filled with use-
ful or innocent employment. For \vhere there is a space without'
business, that space is the proper time for danger and tempta-
tion; and no man is more miserable than he that knows not ho\v
to spend his time.
XXXVI. Fear no man's person in the doing of your duty
wisely and according to the laws: remembering always, that a
servant of God can no more be hurt by all the powers of \vick-
edness, than by the noise of a fl)"s wing, or the chirping of a
sparrow. Brethren, do ,yell for yourselves; do ,veIl for your-
selves as long as you have time; you kno,v not how soon death
,vill come.
XXXVII. Entertain no persons into your assemblies from
other parishes, unless upon great occasion, or in the destitution
of a minister, or by contingency and seldom visits, or with leave;
lest the labour of thy brother be discouraged, and thyself be
thought to preach Christ out of envy, and not of good-\vill .
XXXVIII. Never appeal to the judgment of the people in
matters of controversy; teach them obedience, not arrogancy ;
teach them to be humble, not crafty. For without the aid of
false guides you ,viII find some of them of themselves apt enough
to be troublesome; and a question put into their heads and a
power of judging into their handH, is a putting it to their choice
whether you shall be troubled by them this week or the next;
for much longer you cannot escape.
XXXIX. Let no n1inister of a parish introduce any ceremony,
rites, or gestures, though with SOITIe seeming piety and devotion,
but what are commanded by the church, and established by la,v ;
and let these also be wisely and usefully explicated to the people,
that they may understand the reasons of obedience; but let
there be no ll10re introducerl, lest the people be burdened un-
necessarily, and tempted or divided.
IV. Rules and advices concerning preaching.
XL. Let every Ininister be diligent in preaching the ,vord of
God, according to t.he ability that God gives him: ever remem-
bering that to 111inister God's word unto the people is the one
half of his great office and en1ployment..
XLI. Let every minister be careful that what he delivers be

74

Bishop Taylor's Advice to his Olergy.

indeed the word of God; that his sermon may be answerable to
his text; for this is God's word, the other ought to be according
to it; that, although in itself it be but the ,vord of Ulan, yet by
the purpose, truth and signification of it, it may, in a secondary
sense, be the word of God.
J XLII. Do not spend your sermons in general and indefinite
things, as in exhortations to the people to get Christ, to be united
to Christ, and things of the like unlimited signification; but tell
them in every duty, what are the measures, what circunIstances,
what instrun1ents, and what is the particular nIinute meaning of
every general advice. For generals not explicated do but fill
the people's heads with empty notions, and their mouths with
perpetual unintelligible talk; but their hearts remain enIpty,
and then1selves are not edified.
XLIII. Let not the hunlours and inclinations of the people
be the measures of your doctrines, but let your doctrines be the
measure of their persuasions. Let thenl know froln you what
they ought to do; but if you learn from thelu what you ought
to teach, you will give but a very ill account at the day of judg-
ment of the souls committed to you. He that receives fronl the
people ,vhat he shall teach thenI, is like a nurse that asks of her
child what physic she shall give him.
XLIV. Every minister, in reproofs of sin and sinners, ought
to concern hin1self in the faults of then1 that are present, but
not of the absent; 1101' in reproof of the times; for this can serve
no end but of faction and sedition, public murmur and private
discontent; besides this, it does nothing but anIuse the people
in the faults of others, teaching thenl to revile their betters and
neglect the dangers of their own souls.
XLV. As it looks like flattery and design to preach nothing
before nIagistrates but the duty of their people and their own
eminency; so it is the beginning of mutiny to preach to the
people the duty of their superiors and supreme; it can neither
COlTIe from a good principle nor tend to a good end. Every
minister ought to preach to his parish, and urge their duty: St.
John the Baptist told the soldiers ,vhat the soldiers should do,
but troubled not their heads ,vith what ,vas the duty of the
Scribes and Pharisees.
XL VI. In the reproof of sins, be as particular as you please,
and spare no man's sin, but meddle with no Iuan's person;
neither name any nlan nor signify hinl, neither reproach hinI,

Bishop Taylor's Advice to ltis Clergy_

75

or make hin1 to be suspected; he that doth otherwise lllakes his
sennon to be a libel, and the ministry of repentance an instru-
ment of revenge; and so doing he shall exasperate the man, but
never alnend the sinner.
XLVII. Let the business of your sermons be to preach holy
life, obedience, peace, love among neighbours, hearty love, to
live as the old Christians did, and the new should; to do hurt
to no luan, to do good to every man: for in these things the
honour of God consists, and the kingdom of the Lord Jesus.
XL VIII. Press those graces most that do most good, and
make the least noise; such as giving privately and forgiving
publicly; and prescribe the grace of charity by all the mea-
sures of it which are given by the apostle, 1 Cor. xiii. For this
grace is not finished by good ,vords, nor yet by good works, but
it is a great building, and many nlaterials go to the structure of
it. It is worth your study, for it is the fulfilling of the Com-
"
mandnlents.
XLIX. Because it is impossible that charity should live, un-
less the lust of the tongue be mortified, let every minister in his
charge be frequent and severe against slanderers, detractors, and
backbiters; for the crin1e of backbiting is the poison of charity,
and yet so comlnon, that it is passed into a proverb, After a good
dinner, let us sit down and backbite our neighbou'rs.
L. Let every minister be careful to observe, and vehement in
reproving those faults of his parishioners, of which the laws can-
not or do not take cognizance; such as are many degrees of
intemperate drinkings, gluttony, riotous living, expenses above
their ability, pride, bragging, lying in ordinary conversation,
covetousness, peevishne
s, and hasty anger, and such like. For
the word of God searches deeper than the laws of Inen; and
lllany things will be hard to be proved by the l11easures of
courts, which are easy enough to be observed by the \vatchful
and diligent eye and ear of the guide of souls.
LI. In Jour sermons to the people, often speak of the four
last things, of death and judgn1ent, heaven and hell; of the life
and death of Jesus Christ; of God's mercy to repenting sinners,
and his severity against the impenitent; of the formidable exam-
ples of God's anger poured forth upon rebels, sacrilegious, op-
pressors of widows and orphans, and all persons guilty of crying
sins: these are useful, safe, and profitable: but never run into
extravagances and curiosities, nor trouble yourselves or then1

76

Bis!top Taylor's A dvice to Ids Olergy.

with mysterious secrets; for there is more laid before you than
you can understand; and the \vhole duty of man is, To lea')" God
and keep !tis com1nandments. Speak but very little of the secret
and high things of God, but as much as you can of the lowness
and humility of Christ.
LI!. Be not hasty in pronouncing damnation against any man
I or party in a matter of disputation. It is enough that you re-
bl> prove an error; but ,vhat shall be the sentence against it at the
day of judgment, thou kno,vest not, and therefore pray for the
\,.A.
i'b-Ù-". erring person and reprove hin1, but leave the sentence to his
Judge.
LIlI. Let your serillons teach the duty of all states of men to
whom you speak; and particularly take care of servants and
hirelings, merchants and tradesmen, that they be not unskilful,
nor unadn10nished in their respective duties; and in all things
speak usefully and affectionately; for by this means you ,viII
provide for all lnen's needs, both for them that sin by reason of
their little understanding, and them that sin because they h
ve
evil, dull or depraved affections.
, LIV. In your serlnons and discourses of religion, use primi-
tive, known and accustomed words, and affect not ne\v fantasti-
calor schismatical terms; let the Sunday festival be called the
I Lord's day; and pretend no fears fronl the common use of words
amongst Christians. For they that make a busiE ess
the words
of COllUllon use, and reforlll religion by introducing a new word,
intend to make a change, but no alllendment; they spend them-
sëlves in t.rifles, like the barren turf that sends forth no medici-
nable herbs, but store of Illushrooms; and they give a demon-
stration that they are either inlpertinent people, or else of a
querulous nature; and that they are ready to disturb the
church, if they could find occasion.
L'T. Let every minister in his charge, as n1uch as he can, en-
deavour to destroy all popular errors and evil principles taken
up by his people, or others \vith \vhom they converse; espe-
cially those that directly oppose the indispensable necessity of a
holy life; let hin1 endeavour to understand in \vhat true and
useful sense Christ's active obedience is inlputed to us; let him
make his people fear the deferring of their repentance, and put-
ting it off to their death-bed; let him explicate the nature of
faith, so that it be an active and quickening principle of charity;
Jet him, as much as he may, take frOln them all confidences that

O<J<ol -. .

Bishop Taylor's Advice to lâs Clm:QY.

77

slacken their obedience and diligence; let him teach then} to
Ï1npute all their sins to their own follies and evil choice, and so
build theJu up in a most holy faith to a holy life: ever remem-
bering that in all ages it hath been the greatest artifice of Satan
to hinder the increase of Christ"s kingdom by destroying those
things in which it does consist, viz. peace and righteousness,
holiness and mortification.
L'TI. Every minister ought to be careful that he never ex- /

pound scriptures in public contrary to the known sense of the I:
catholic church, and part.icularly of the churches of England and J .
Ireland, nor introduce any doctrine against any of the four first 1 !II
general councils; for these, as they are nleasures of truth, so also: '
of necessity; that is, as they are safe, so they are sufficient; and,

beside what is taught by these, 110 matter of belief is necessary;
to salvation.
L VII. Let no preacher bring before the people, in his SerIllOnS
or discourses, the argument of great and dangerous heresies,
though with a purpose to confute thelll; for they will nluch easier
retain the objection than understand the answer.
L '
III. Let not the preacher make an article of faith to be a
matter of dispute; but teach it with plainness and sinlplicity,
and confirlu it with easyargurnents and plain ,vords of scripture,
but without objection; let. thenl be taught to believe, but not to
argue, lest if the arguments meet \vith a scrupulous person, it
rather shake the foundation by curious inquiry, than establish it
by arguluents too hard.
LIX. Let the preacher be careful that in his sermons he use
no light, imulodest or ridiculous expressions, but what is wise,
grave, useful and for edification; that, when the preacher brings
truth and gravity, the people may attend with fear and reverence.
LX. Let no preacher envy any luan that hath a greater au-
dience, or more fame in preaching than himself; let him not
detract front him or lessen his reputation directly or indirectly;
for he that cannot be even with his brother but by pulling him
down, is but a d \Yarf still; and no nlan is the better for making
his brother worse. In all things desire that Christ's kingdonl
may be advanced; and rejoice that he i8 served, whoever be the
minister; that if you cannot have the fame of a great preacher,
JTet you may have the reward of being a good man; but it is
hard to nliss both.
LXI. Let every preacher in his parish take care to explicate

78

Bz.shop Taylor's Advice to his Olergy.

to the people the Inysteries of the great festivals, as of Christ-
mas, Easter, Ascension-day, 'Vhit-Sunday, Trinity-Sunday, the
Annunciation of the blessed Virgin l\Iary; because these feasts,
containing in them the great fundamentals of our faith, will
with most advantage convey the mysteries to the people, and fix
them in their Inemories, by the solemnity and circumstances of
the day.
LXII. In all your sermons and discourses speak nothing of
God but \vhat is honourable and glorious; and impute not to
him such things, the consequences of which a wise and good nlan
,vill not own: never suppose him to be author of sin, or the
procurer of our damnation. For God cannot be telnpted, neither
temptetk lte anY'lnan. God is tr e, and eroer!I man a liar.
LXIII. Let no preacher conlpare one ordinance ,vit h another;
as prayer with preaching, to the disparagement of either; but use
both in their proper seasons, and according to appointed order.
LXIV. Let no nlan preach for the praise of Inen; but if you
meet it, instantly \vatch and stand upon your guard, and pray
against your own vanity; and by an express act of acknowledg-
ment and adoration, return the praise to God. Remember that
Herod was, for the oll1ission of this, smitten by an angel; and do
thou tremble, fearing lest the judgment of God be otherwise than
the sentence of the people.

V. Rules and adroices concerning OateckisJÎ(;. L L
O(.
fIJ'w
LXV. Every minister is bound, ,upon every Lord's day before
evening prayer, to instruct all young people in the Creed, the
Lord's Prayer, the Ten Comlnandments, and the doctrine of the
sacraments, as they are set down and explicated in the Church
Catechism.
LXVI. Let a bell be tolled when the catechising is to begin,
that all \vho desire it may be present; but let all the nlore
ignorant and uninstructed part of the people, whether they be old
or young, be required to be present; that no person in your
parishes be ignorant in the foundations of religion: ever remem-
bering that, if in these things they be unskilful, ,vhatever is
taught besides is like a house built upon the sand.
LXVII. Let every minister teach his people the use, practice,
methods and benefits of nleditation, or mental prayer. Let them
draw out for them helps and rules for their assistance in it, and
furnish thenl with materials, concerning the life and death of the

Bishop Taylor's Advice to his Olergy.

79

ever blessed J esns, the greatness of God, our own meanness, the
dreadful sound of the last trumpet, the infinite event of the two
last sentences at doomsday: let them be taught to consider what
they have been, what they are, and what they shall be; and,
above all things, what are the issues of eternity; glories never to
cease, pains never to be ended.
LXVIII. Let every minister exhort his people to a frequent I I ,,'
confession of their sins, and a declaration of the state of their '
souls; to a conversation ,vith their minister in spiritual things,
to an inquiry concerning all the parts of their duty; for by
preaching and catechising and private intercourse, all the needs of
souls can best be served; but by preaching alone they cannot.
LXIX. Let the people be exhorted to keep fasting-days, and
the feasts of the church, according to their respective capacities;
80 it be done wit.hout burden to then1, and without becoming a
snare; that is, that, upon the account of religion and holy desires
to please God, they spend son1e time in religion, besides the
Lord's day; but be very careful that the Lord's day be kept
religiously, according to the severest measures of the church
and the con1n1ands of authority: ever ren1enlbering, that as they
give but little testin10ny of repentance and mortification, ,,,ho
never fast; so they give but sn1all evidence of their joy in God
and religion, who are unwilling solemnly to partake of the public
and religious joys of the Christian church.
LXX. Let every n1inister be diligent in exhorting all parents
and Inasters to send their children and servants to the bishop at
the visitation, or other solen1n times of his coming to then1, that
they lllay be confirnled: and let him also take care that all young
persons may, by understanding the principles of religion, their
Vo\V of baptism, the excellency of the Christian religion, the
necessity and advantages of it and of living according to it, be
fitted and disposed, and accordingly by them presented, to the
bishop, that he lllay pray over thenl and invocate the Holy Spirit
and luinister the holy rite of confirmation.

V 1. Rules and advices concerning tlte visitation of the sick.
LXXI. Every lliinister ought to be careful in visiting all the
sick and afflicted persons of his parish: ever remembering, that
as the priest's lips are to preserve knowledge, so it is his duty to
minister a word of con1fort in the tilne of need.

80

Bishop Taylor's Advice to his Olergy.

LXXII. A minister Inust not stay till he be sent for; but of
his own accord and care go to them, to examine them, to exhort
them to perfect their repentance, to strengthen their faith, to
encourage their patience, to persuade them to resignation, to the
renewing of their holy vows, to the love of God, to be reconciled
to their neighbours, to Inake restitution and anlends, to confess
their sins, to settle their estate, to provide for their charges, to
do acts of piety and charity, and above all things, that they take
care they do not sin towards the end of their lives. For if
repentance on our death-bed seem so very late for the sins of our
life; what time shall be left to repent us of the sins ,ve commit
on our death-bed?
LXXIII. \Vhen you comfort the afflicted, endeavour to bring
them to the true love of God; for he that serves God for
God's sake, it is almost impossible he should be oppressed with
sorrow.
LXXIV. In answering the cases of conscience of the sick or
affiicted people, consider not ,vho asks, but what he asks; and
consult in your nns,vers more ,vith the estate of his soul, than the
conveniency of his estate; for no flattery is so fatal as that of the
physician or divine.
LXX V. If the sick person inquires concerning the final estate
of his soul, he is to be reproved rather than ans,vered; only he
is to be called upon to finish his duty, to do all the good he can
in that season, to pray for pardon and acceptance: but you have
nothing to do to nleddle ,vith passing final sentences; neither
cast him down in despair, nor raise him up to vain and unrea-
sonable confidences. B ut take care that he be not carelessly
. JI
ismissed.
LXXVI. In order to these and many other good purposes,
every 111inister ought frequently to converse with his parishioners;
to go to their houses, but always publicly, with witness, and
with prudence, lest what is chJ.ritably intended be scandalously
reported; and in all yonI' conversation be sure to give good
example, and upon all occasions to give good counsel.

VII. Of ministering the sacraments, puhlic prayers, and other
duties of 'JninisteJ's.
LXXVII. Every n1Ïnister is obliged publicly or privately to

Bishop Taylor"s Advice to ltis Clergy.

81

read the COllunon prayer every day in the week, at lllorning and
evening; and in great towns and populous places conveniently
inhabited, it nlust be read in churches, that the daily sacrifice of
prayer and thanksgiving may never cease.
LXX VIII. The minister is to instruct the people that the
baptisnl of their children ought not to be ordinarily deferred
longer than till the next Sunday after the birth of the child; lest
importune and unnecessary delay occasion that the child die,
before it is dedicated to the service of God and the religion
of the Lord Jesus; before it be born again, admitted to t.he
prolnises of the Gospel and reckoned in the account of the
second Adam.
LXXIX. Let every minister exhort and press the people to
a devout and periodical cOlnnlunion at the least three tinles in
the year, at the great festivals; but the devouter sort and they
who have leisure, are to be invited to a frequent cOlnmunion;
and let it be given and received with great reverence.
LXXX. Every nlinister ought to be well skilled and studied
in saying his office, in the rubrics, the canons, the articles and
the hon1ilies of the church, that he Inay do his duty readily,
discreetly, gravely and by the public measures of the laws. To
which also it is very useful that it be added that every lllinister
study the ancient canons of the church, especially the p eniten - · .
tials of the ea stern an d weste rn ch urches: - let -hi
ead good
book
such as are approved by public authority; such which
are useful, wise and holy; not the scribblings of unlearned
parties, but of men learned, pious, obedient and disinterested;
and aUlongst these, such especially which describe duty and
good life, which minister to faith and charity, to piety and devo-
tion; cases of conscience, and solid expositions of scripture:
concerning ,vhich, learned and wise persons are to be consulted.
LXXXI. Let not a curate of souls trouble hinlself with any
studies but such which concern his own or his people's duty;
such as may enable him to speak v"ell and to do well; but to
meddle not with controversies, but such by \vhich he 111ay be
enabled to convince the gainsayers, in things that concern public
peace and a good life.
LXXXII. Be careful in all the public adnlinistrations of your
parish that the poor be provided for. Think it no shalne to beg
for Christ's poor members; stir up the people to liberal alnls by
your \vords and your example. Let a collection be made every
G

8

B'ishop Ta!llor's Advice to ltis Clergy_

Lord's day, and upon all solelnn meetings, and at every COll1-
Inunion; and let the collection be wisely and piously admin-
istered: ever remembering that, at the day of judgment,
nothing shall publicly be proclaimed but the reward of alms
and mercy.
LXXXIII. Let every minister be sure to lay up a treasure
of comforts and ad vices, to bring forth for every man's need in
the day of his trouble; let him study and heap together instru-
luents and advices for the promoting of every virtue, and reme-
dies and arguments against every vice; let him teach his people
to Iuake acts of virtue not only by external exercise, but also in
the \vay of prayer and internal meditation.
In these and all things else that concern the nlinister's duty.
if there be difficulty, you are to repair to your bishop, for further
advice, aBsistanc
and information.

"" :, ;,

, f ('
{)'
/.( "'"
(

...() t_ ,
f
(' çI
I
t... , . ( {'

A DISCOURSE

OF THE

P ASrrORAL CARE,

WRITTEN BY THE

RIGHT REVEREND FATHER IN GOD,

G I IJ B E R 'f,
LORD BISHOP OF SARUM.

G

GILBERT BURNET, born at Edinburgh in 1643, was of
an ancient and influential family in Aberdeenshire. His
father, an Episcopalian and Royalist, was thrice obliged
to quit Scotland for refusing the Solemn League and Covenant.
At last, relinquishing the practice of the La,v, he ,vas per-
mitted to reside on his own estate; from ,vhence he ,vas re-
called into active life, at the Restoration, and made a Lord of
Session. The early education of his son Gilbert was wholly
under his care; and so managed by him that his pupil, at
the age of 10, was sent to the College of Aberdeen and, at the
age of 14, took the Degree of M. A. The youthful Graduate
applied himself, for more than a year, to the study of the La\y;
but soon deliberately chose the Sacred Profession, for which
his father had destined him. He zealously pursued the requi-
site studies under able guides, lrhom he has gratefully com-
memorated and among whom ,vas included the learned and
pious Robert Leighton, then Bishop of Dumblane, afterwards
Archbishop of Glasgow. He "Tas ordained Priest in 1665,
,,"as elected Professor of Divinity in the UnÍ\.ersity of Glasgow
in 1670, and continued to fill the Chair of chief Teacher of
Theology there, until 1674. Circumstances then led him to
settle in London, where he became Preacher at the Rolls' Chapel
and Lecturer at St. Clement's. His conduct during the trial and
at the execution of William, Lord Russell (\vho ,vas a valued
friend of his) involved him in difficulties with the Court; and
he ,,-as ultimately, through Royal interference, both dismissed
from his Lectureship and deprived of the Rolls' Chaplaincy.
Upon the accession of James II, he left England and, having
married a Dutch lady of Scotch descent, ,,,"as naturalized as a
subject of the States of Holland. He ,vas thus placed out of
the reach of his enemies at home and conveniently situated for
acting the prominent part, ,vhich History ascribes to him, to-
wards and in the Revolution of J 688. He ,vas nominated to the

86

Bishoprick of Salisbury, soon after "\Villiam and
Iary had as-
cended the Throne; survived Queen Anne, to ,,,hose son,
the Duke of Gloucester, he had been Preceptor; and died in
1715. His share in the public transactions of his times and
his numerous ,,-r ritings ,,-ill preserve his name and memory;
and ,,-ill afford occasion, in future, for such diverse and even
opposite estimates of his merits as have been already often
formed. The follo\ying testimony comes from one, who \,-as
no adlnirer of the Bishop's Politics, but too sincere a lover of
truth to do injustice to any man:
" Burnet, as it must be ackno,,-ledged even by his enemies,
"was an active and meritorious Bishop and, to the extent
" of his opportunities, a re,,-arder of merit in others. He
" \yas orthodox in points of faith, possessed superior talents,
" as ,,-ell as very considerable learning; was an instructive and
" entertaining "Triter, in a style negligent indeed and in-
'c elegant, but perspicuous; a generous, open-hearted and, in
"his actions, good natured man; and, although busy and
" intrusive, at least as honest as most partisans."

The Life of Bishop Burnet, lrritten by his son, is added to
the IIistory of his Own Time, in the Oxford Edition of that
"1ork by the late revered Preaident of
lagdalen College, Dr.
Routh, from \v hose Preface the passage above cited has been
taken.

OF THE

PASTORAL C.LtRE.

CH AP. I.

Of the dignity of sacred employments, and the names and designa-
tions gi'Cen to the'J1
in scripture.
Ho,v low soever the esteenl of the clergy Inay be sunk in
a profane and corrupt age, and how nluch soever the errors
and disorders of clergymen Inay have contributed to bring this
not only upon themselves, but upon others who deserve better,
but are unhappy in being mixed with so nluch ill company; yet
certainly if we either consider the nature of things in themselves,
or the value that is set on that profession in the scriptures, it
will appear that it ought to be considered at another rate than
it is. As much as the soul is better than the body, and as much
as the purifying and perfecting the soul is preferable to all those
nlechanical emplo)"lnents which relate to the body, and as nU1Ch
as eternity is more valuable than this short and transitory Jife ;
80 l1ulCh does this enlploJnlent excel aU others.
A clergynlan, by his character and design of life, ought to be
a man separated from the cares and concerns of this world and
dedicated to the study and Ineditation of divine matters: whose
conversation ought to be a pattern for others; a - constant
preaching to his people: who ought to offer up the prayers of
the people in their name, and as their mouth to God: ,,,ho ought
to be praying and interceding for them in secret, as well as
officiating an10ng them in public: who ought to be distributing

88

Of the Pastoj'al Caire.

among them the bread of life, the word of God; and to be dis-
pensing among them the sacred rites, which are the badges, the
union and the supports of Christians. He ought to adlnonish,
to reprove and to comfort thein, not only by his general
doctrine in his sermons
but from house to house; that 80 he
may do these things more home and effectually than can be
done from the pulpit. He is to watch over their souls, to keep
them froln error and to alarm theln out of their sins, by giving
thenl \varning of the judgments of God; to visit the sick, and to
prepare theln for the judgn1ent and life to come.
This is the function of a clergyman; \vho, that he may
perform aU these duties \vith lnore advantage and better effect,
ought to behave himself so ,veIl that his own conversation n1ay .
not only be without offence, but be so exemplary, that his people
may have reason to conclude that he himself does firlnly believe
all those things, which he proposes to them; that he thinks
himself bound to follo\v all those rules that he sets them; and
that they may see such a serious spirit of devotion in him, that
from thence they may be induced to believe that his chief
design among them is to do them good and to save their souls;
which may prepare them so to esteem aud love him, that they
may not be prejudiced against any thing that he does and says
in public, by any thing that they observe in himself in secret.
He Inust also be elnploying himself so ,veIl in his private
studies, that from thence he may be furnished with such a
variety of lively thoughts, divine meditations and proper and
noble expressions, as n1ay enable hin1 to discharge every part of
his duty in such a n1anner, as may raise not so much his own
reputation, as the credit of his function, and of the great rnessalle
of reconciliation that is committed to his charge: above all
studies, he ought to apply hÍInself to understand the holy
scriptures aright; to have his memory well furnished that
way, that so upon all occa
ions he D1ay be able to enforce what
he says out of theIn, and so be an able '1ninister of t1te new
testament.
This is in short the character of a true clerg-YInan, \vhich is to
be more fully opened and enlarged on in the foIlowing parts of
this book. All this looks so great and so noble that it does not
appear necessary to raise it, or to insist on it more funy. Indeed
it speaks its own dignitJ so sensibly, that none will dispute it
but stich as arc open enelnies to all religion in general, or to the

Of the Pasto
'al Care.

89

Christian religion in particular; and yet even few of these are
so entirely corrupted, as not to wish that external order and
policy were kept up among men, for restraining the injustice
and violence of unruly appetites and passions; which fe,v, even
of the tribe of the libertines, seem to desire to be let loose;
since the peace and safety of mankind require that the world be
kept in nlethod and under some yoke.
It will be more suitable to my design, to shew ho,v well this
character agrees with that which is laid down in the scriptures
concerning these offices. I shall begin first with the names, and
then go on to the descriptions, and lastly proceed to the rules
that we find in them.
The name of deacon, that is now appropriated to the lowest
office in the church, was, in the time that the New Testanlent
,vas writ, used 1110re promiscuously: for the apostles, the
evangelists and those, whonl the apostles sent to visit the
churches, are all called by this nalIle. Generally in all those
places 'v here the word minister is in our translation, it is deacon
- in the Greek, ,vhich signifies properly a servant, or one who
labours for another. Such persons are dedicated to the imme-
diate service of God; and are appropriated to the offices and
duties of the church; so this term both expresses the dignity
and the labour of the employment.
The next order carries no\v the name of presbyter, or elder;
\vhich though at first it ,va.s applied not only to bishops, but to
the apostles thenlselves; Jet in the succeeding ages, it came to
be appropriated to the second rank of the officers in the church.
It either signifies a seniority of age, or of Christianity, in oppo-
sition to a neophyte or novice, one newly converted to the faith;
but by conlnlon practice, as senate or senator, being at first
given to counsellors by reason of their age, came afterwards to
be a title appropriate to thenl ; so the title presbyter, (altered in
pronunciation to be in English, priest) or elder, being a charac-
ter of respect, denotes the dignity of those, to WhOID it belongs:
but since St. Paul divides this title either into two different
ranks, or into two different perfonnances of the duties of the
same rank, those that rule
Dell, and those that labour in 'lcord and
doctrinea
. this is a title that speaks both the dignity, and Jike-
wise the duty belonging to this function.

a 1 Tim. Y, 17.

90

Of the Pastoral Gare.

The title ,vhich is no\v by the custoln of many ages given to
the highest function in the church, of bishop, or inspector and
overseer, as it in1ports a dignity in him, as the chief of thoso
\vho labour; so it does like\vise express his obligation to care
and diligence, both in observing and overseeing the \vhole flock;
and more specially in inspecting the deportment and labours of
his fello\v-worknlen, who are subordinate to him in the constitu-
tion of the church, yet ought to be esteemed by him, in imitation
of the apostles, his brethren, his fellow-labourers and fello,v-
servants. N ext to the names of the sacred functions, I shall
consider the other designations and figures, made use of to
express then1.
The most common is that of pastor or shepherd. I t is to be
ren1eIl1bered, that in the first simplicity of mankind, for Inany
ages, men looked after. their o,vn cattle, or employed their
children in it; and when they trusted that care to any other, it
was no sinall sign of their confidence, according to what Jacob
said to Laban. The care of a good shepherd 'vas a figure then
so ,veIl understood, that the prophet expresses God's care of his
people by this, of his feedin.q them as a sheplterd, carr!Jing his
la'ln
s in ltis boso'l}
, and gentl!J leading the1n that were with !Joung b.
Christ also calls himself the .qood Sltepherd, that lcne'w his sheep,
anel diel not as a hirelin.q, fly away
chen the 'wolf can
e, but laid
dozl)n h.is life for his slleep c. This then, being so often Inade use
of in both Testan1ents, is an expression of the great trust com-
Initted to the clergy, \vhich likewise supposes a great, a constant
and a tender care in looking to, in feeding or instructing, in
\vatching over and guarding the flock against errors and sins,
and their being ready to offer themselves to the first fury of
persecution.
The title of stewards, or dispensers, which is the most honour-
able in a household, is also given to them. These assign to
everyone his due share, both of labour and of provision; these
\vatch over theln and have the care and order of the other ser-
vants assigned to theine So in this great fan1Ïly, of ,vhich Christ
is the head d, the stewards are not only in a post of great dignity,
but also of nluch labour: they ought to be observing the rest of
this household, that they Inay be faithful in the distribution, and
so encourage, admonish, reprove, or censure, as there is occasion
for it.

b Isa. x1, 11.

C John x, I I, 12.

d 1 Cor. iv, I, 2.

Oftne Pastoral Care.

91

They are also called ambassadors, and this upon the noblest
and most desirable lnessage; for their business is to treat of
peace between God and man; to them is given the word or doc-
trine of reconciliation; they are sent by Christ and do speak in
God's nanIe; as if God did beseech men by theJn; so do they in
Ohrtsf's stead, who is the J\lediator, press men to be reconciled to
God e ; words of a very high sound, of great trust and dignity,
but which import likewise great obligations. An ambassador is
very solicitous to maintain the dignity of his character, and his
master's honour; and chiefly to carryon that ,vhich is the main
business that he is sent upon, which he is always contriving ho\v
to promote: so if the honour of this title affects us, as it ought to
do, with a just value for it, ,ve ought at the same time to consi-
der the obligations
tIillt accompany it, of living suitable to it,
answering in some sort the dignity and majesty of the King of
kings, that has committed it to us: and of labouring with all
possible diligence, to effectuate the great design on which ,ve
are sent; the reconciling sinners to God: the ,york having in
itself a proportion to the dignity of him that employs us in it.
Another, and yet a more glorious title, is that of angels f ,
\vho, as they are of a pure and sublime nature and are called
a flaming fire, so do alu-ays behold tl
e face of 01.ll' lteavenly
Father, and ever do his will
and are also ministen.ng spirits, sent
fortI! to 'ininister to thenl. that are appointed to ðe the heirs of
salvation. This title is given to bishops and pastors; and as if
that ,vere not enough, they are in one place caUed not only the
'Jnessengers or angels of tke chz/;rckes, but also (he glory of
Christ g. The natural Ì1nport of this is that men, to whom
this title is applied, ought to imitate those heavenly powers, in
the elevation of their souls, to contemplate the works and glory
of God, and in their constant doing his \vilI, more particularly
in ministering to the souls of those, for whom t.he great Angel
of the covenant made himself a sacrifice.
I do not anlong these titles reck3n those of rulers or govern-
ors h, that are also given to bishops, because they seem to be
but another nanle for bishops, whose inspection ,vas a rule and
government, and so carried, in its signification, both authority
and labour. To these designations, that carry in them characters
of honour, but of honour joined to labour; and for the sake of

c 2 Cor. v, 19,20.

f Rev. ii, iii.

g 2 Cor, viii, 23.

h Heb. xiii, 7, 17.

92

Of the Pastoral Care.

which the honour \vas due, according to that, esteem them very
highly for their
()orJI:'s sake,. I shall add some other designa-
tions, that in their significations carry only labour without
honour, being borro\ved from labours that. are hard, but no way
honourable.
They are often called watchmen i, who used to stand on high
to,vers and \vere to give the alarn1, as they sa\v occasion for it:
these men were obliged to a constant attendance, to \vatch in
the night, as well as in the day: so all this, being applied to
the clergy, imports that they ought to be upon their ,vatch-
to\ver, observing \vhat dangers their people are exposed to,
either by their sins, \vhich provoke the judgn1ents of God; or
by the designs of their enenlies: they ought not, by a false re-
spect, to suffer them to sleep and perish jn their sins; but must
denounce the judgments of God to them, and rather incur their
displeasure by their freedon1, than suffer them to perish in their
security.
St. Paul does also call churchmen by the name of builders,
and gives to the apostles the title of master-builders k. This
iU1ports both hard and painful labour, and like\vise great care
and exactness in it} for ,vant of which the building ,viII be not
only exposed to the injuries of weather, but will quickly tumble
down; and it gives us to understand that those \vho carry this
title ought to study well the great rule, by which they must
carryon the interest of religion, that so they may build up their
people in their 'lnost holy faith, so as to be a building fitly framed
together.
They are also called labourers in God's husbandry, labourers
in his vineyard, and harvest, who are to sow, plant, and ,vater,
and to cultivate the soil of the church 1. This iTJlports a conti.
nual return of daily and hard labour, which requires both pain
and diligence. They are also callpd soldiers m, men that did
war and fight against the powers of darkness. The fatigue,
the dangers and difficulties of that state of life are so well
understood, that no application is necessary to n1ake them more
sensible.
And thus by a particular enumeration of either the more
special nanles of these offices, such as deacon, priest and bishop,
ruler and governor, or of the designations given to them of

i Ezek. iii, 17.

k I Cor. üi, 10. 1 I Cor. iii, 6, 9. Matth. ix, 37, 38, xx, I.
m Philipp. ii, 2.').

Of the Pastoral Oare

93

shepherds or pastors, stewards, ambassadors and angels, it
appears that there is a great dignity belonging to them, but a
dignity which must carry ]abour with it, as that for which the
honour is due: the other titles of watchn1en, builders, labourers
and soldiers, inlport also that they are to decline no part of their
dut.y, for the labour that is in it, the dangers that may follow, or
the seeming meanness that may be in it, since ,ve have for this
so great a rule and pattern set us by our Saviour, who has given
us this character of himself, and in that a rule to all that pretend
to come after him, The Son of rnan cænw not to be rninistered
unto, but to minister D. This was said upon the proud conten-
tions that had been among his disciples, who should be the
greatest; two of them presun1Íng upon t.heir near relation to
him, and pretending to the first dignity in his kingdom; upon
that, he gave them to understand that the dignities of his king-
dom ,vere not to be of the Bame nature with those that were in
the world. It ,vas not rule or en1pire to; which they ,vere to
pretend; The disciple was not to be aòove his lord: and he that
humbled himself to be the last and lowest in his service was, by
so doing, really the first.
He himself descended to the washing his disciples' feet o ,
\vhich he proposeth to their imitation; and that caIne, in latter
ages, to be taken up by princes and acted by them in pageantry:
but the plain account of that action is that it ,vas a prophetical
emblem; of which sort we find several instances, both in
Isaiah, Jeremiah and Ezekiel: the prophet doing somewhat
that had a mystical signification in it, relating to the subject of
his prophecy: so that our Saviour's \vashing the feet of his
disciples imported the hun1ility and the descending to the mean-
est offices of charity, which he recomlnended to his followers,
particularly to those, \vhom he appointed to preach his gospel to
the ,vorld.

CHAP. II.
Of the rztles set down in script
tre for those tltat minister in hol!!
things, and of the corruptions that are set forth ,in then/;.
I INTEND to ,vrite with all possible simplicity, without the
affectation of a strictness of Inethod: and therefore I will give
one full view of this ,vhole matter, \vithout any other order

n Matth. xx, 28.

o John xiii, 5.

94

Of the Pastoral Oare.

than as it lies in the scriptures: nnd ,villlay both the rules and
the reproofs that are in thenI together, as things that give light
to one another. In the la'v of
Ioses P we find nIany very par-
ticular rules given for the \vashing and consecration of t.he
priests and Levites, chief! y of the High priest. The whole tribe
of Levi was sanctified and separated frolll the conlmon labours,
either of ,var or tillage: and though they were but one in
twelve, :ret a tenth of aU "
as appointed for them: they were
also to have a large share of another tBnth; that so they luight
be not only delivered from all cares, by that large provision that
\vas Inade for them, but nlight be able to relieve the necessities
of the widows and fatherless, the poor and the strangers that
sojourned alllong them; and by their bounty and charity be
possessed both of the love and esteem of the people. They
,vere holy to tlte Lo'rd; they were said to be sanctified or dedi...
cated to God; and the head of their order carried on his nIitre
this inscription, Holiness to the Lord. The nlany ,vashings that
they \vere often to use, chiefly in doing their functions, carried
this signification in thenl, that they were appropriated to God,
and that they were under very strict obligations to a high degree
of purity; they might not so luuch as mourn for their dead
relationsq, to shew how far they ought to rise above all the con-
cerns of flesh and blood, and even the Inost excusable passions
of hunlan nature. But above all things, these rules taught thenl
with what exactness, decency and purity they ought to perforlll
those offices that belonged to their function r; and therefore
\vhen Aaron's two sons, Nadab and Abihu, transgressed the
law that God had given,fire cånle out from tke Lord, and devoU'J'ed
tke1n S ; and the reason given for it carries in it a perpetual
rule; I w,ill be sanctified in all them tltat draw near to nw, and
hefore all tile people 1 will be glorijied t : which imports that
such as minister in holy things ought to behave thenlselves so
that God's nalue may be glorified by their Ineans; otherwise,
that God will glorify hilnself by his severe judgnlents on then1.
A signal instance of which we do also find in Eli's two sons u,
,vhose ilupieties and defilenlents, as they n1ade the people to
abhor the offering of the Lo'rd, so they also drew down, not only
heavy judgments on theu1selves, but on the whole house of Eli;
and indeed on the whole nation.

P Levit. viii.

q Levit. xxi, I.
t Levit. x, 3.

r Levit. xxii, 3, 4.
U J Sam. ii.. and iii.

s.Levit. x, I. 2.

OJ. tlte Pastoral OaJ
e.

95

But besides the attendance which the priests anù Levites
were bound to give at the tenlple, and on the public service there,
they were likewise obliged to study the law, to give the people
,yarning out of it, to instruct them in it, and to conduct them
and watch over them: and for this reason they had cities assign-
ed thelll in all the corners of the land; that so they might both
more easily observe the nlanners of the people and that the
people might more easily have recourse to thenl. N O\V ,,,,hen
that nation bec:llne corrupted both by idolatry and imnlorality,
God raised up prophets to be extraordinary lllonitors to thenl ;
to declare to thenl their sins, and to denounce those judgulents
which were coming upon thein, because of them: we find the
silence, the ignorance and the corruption of their pastors, their
shepherds and their watchnlen, is a lllain article of their charge;
so Isaiah tells thein, that their watclunen
()ere blind, ignorant,
dun
b dogs, that could not bark; sleeping, lying dozen, and loving
to SlU1Jlber: yet these careless watchulen were covetous and in-
satiable, They weré greedy dogs, which could never Itave enough;
shepherds tltey were, t!tat could not
tnderstandx; but how remiss
soever they nlight be in God's work, they were careful enough
of their own: The!! all looked to their own way, ever!! one to Ids
ou:n gain frorn ltis quarter. They were, no doubt, exact in levy-
ing their tithes and first-fruits, ho,v little soever they might do
for them, bating their bare attendance at the temple, to officiate
there; so guilty they were of that reigning abuse, of thinking
they had done their duty, if they either by themselves, or by
proxy, had performed their functions, without nlinding what ,vas
incunlbent on them, as watchmen, or shepherds. In opposition
to such careless and corrupt guides, God promises to his people
to set ?l"{dchrnen over tlwJn that should never hold their peace day
nor nigltt.
As the captivity drew nearer, we may easily conclude that
the corruptions both of priest and people increased, which
ripened thenl for the judgments of God, that were kept back
by the refornlations which Hezekiah and Josiah had made; but
at last all ,vas so depraved, that though God sent two prophets,
Jeremiah and Ezekiel, to prepare thenl for that terrible ca-
lamity, yet this was only to save son Ie fe\v among them: for the
sins of the nation ,vere grown to that height, that though 1\10se8
and Sanluel, Noah, Job, and Daniel Y, had been then alive to
x Isaiáh lvi, 10, I I. Y Jer. X", I. Ezek. xÏ\r, 14.

96

Of the Pastoral Care.

intercede for them, yet God declared that he would not hear
tltem; nor spare the nat-ion for tlwir sakes: so that even such
nlighty intercessors could only save their own souls. In this
deplorable state we shaH find that their priests and pastors had
their large share. Tlw priests said not, TVltere is the Lord?
They that handled the law knew f}ne not; the pastors also trans-
gressed against me z; and their corruption went so far, that they
had not only false prophets to support them, but the people, who,
how bad soever they may be thelnselves, do generally hate evil
priests, grew to be pleased with it. The prophets proplwsy
falsel!!, and the priests bear rule by their means; and m.y people
love to have it so: Frmn the prophet even to tlte priest, eve'}"y one
dealt falsel!!3. And upon that, a woe is denounced against tIle
pastors tltat destroyed and scattered tlte slleep of God's pasture b.
They by their office ought to have fed the people; but, instead
of that, they ltad scatte1"ed tlte flock, and driven the}}
a1.ca!l, and
had not visited them: both propllet and priest were profane; their
wickedness was found even in the hmtse of God c . In opposition
to all which, God prolnises by the prophet, that he would set
shejJherds over then
, that should feed tltenz; so tltat tlw people
should have no more reason to be afraid of their pastors d , or of
being misled by them; and he prolnised upon their return frolll
the captivity, to g'ive thelì
pastors according to Ids own lteart,
who sho
tld feed them with knowledge and understanding e.
In Ezekiel, \ve find the solen1n and severe charge given to
watchmen twice repeated; that they ought to warn tlte wic/ced
frou7J '
is wickedness; otherwise though he should indeed die in kis
sin, God would require his blood at the watchnzan's hand; but if
he gave warning, ltß had by so doing delivered his own soul f .
In that prophecy we have the guilt of the priests set forth very
heinously. Her priests have violated my law, and profaned rny
hol!! things; they have put no difference hetween the lwly and
profane, the clean and the
tnclealZ, and have kid their eyes fr01n '1ny
sabbaths; the effect of which ,vas, that God was profaned anwng
the'lng. This is more fully prosecuted in the 34th chapter,
which is all addressed to the shepherds of Israel; JVue he to the
shepherds of Israel, that do feed thelnselves! should not the shep-
herds feed the flock? Ye eat tlte fat, and ye clothe you witl" the

z Jer. ii, 8. a Jer. v, 3 1 , and vi, 13. b Jer. xxiii, I. c Jer. xxiii, 2, 1 I.
dJer. xxiii, 4. eJer. iii, 15, f E
ek. iii, 17, 18, 19, and xxxiii, 7, 8,9.
g Ezek. xxii, 26. .

Of llw Pa:;loral Ca1.e.

97

tvool, ye lill litera that a
'e fed: hut ye feed not the ßock h . Then
follows an enun1eration of the several sorts of troubles that the
people were in, under the figure of a flock, to shew how they
had neglected their duty in aU the parts and instances of it;
and had trusted to their authority, which they had abused to
tyranny and violence. Tlte diseased have ye not strengtllened,
neitlter have ye healed that 1.['!dch u;as siclc, neither have ye hound
'llp that wIdell, 'U.as hroJæn, neitltcr have !Ie hl'ought again that u,.h ich
'leas driven away, neither ha?;e ye sougltt that which u)as lost; hut
witl/; force and 1. 'itk cruelty hare !I'e ruled t!W1}
i: upon which
follows a terrible expostulation, and denunciation of judgn1ents
against them: I ant against tlte sh(Jpherds, sa-ith the Lo/'d; I will
require my flock at their hands, and cause them to cease fro1J
feed-
ing the flock; neither shall the shepher'ds feed thelllSelves any 9n01"e k .
And in the 44th chapter of that prophecy one rule is given,
which was set up in the prin1Ïtive church as an unalterable
luaxiln: that such priests as had been guilty of idolatry should
not do the office of a priest any more, nor come near to any of
the holy things, or enter within the sanct.uary, but were still to
bear their Shall1e; they lllight n1Ìnister in SOlne inferior services,
such as keeping the gates. or slaying the sacrifice; but they were
still to hea1' their iniquity.
I have passed over aU that occurs in these prophets, which
relates to the false prophets, because I win bring nothing into
this discourse that relates to sins of another order and nature.
In Daniel, we have a noble expression of the value of such as
tztrn 'lnen to righteousness, that they shall sltine as the stars for eve
'
and e
'erl. In Hosea, we find among the sins and calamities of
that time. this reckoned as a main cause of t.hat horrid corrup-
tion, under which they had fallen, there being no truth, no mercy,
9wr knowledge of God in the land; wldch u.as defiled by swearing,
ly'ing, killing, stealin.q and c01nmitting adultery. lJIy people are
destro!/ed for lack of knowledge: to which is added, Because thou
hast rejected lcnowledge, (or the instructing the people) I will
also reject thee, that tltau shalt he no priest to 9ne; seeing thou hast
forgot the law o/thy God, I'lL.ill also forget thy cltildren m . That
corrupt race of priests attended still upon the telnple, and offered
up the sin-offering and feasted upon their portion; which is
\vrong rendered, They eat 'lip the sin of my people; for sin stands

h Ezek. xxxiy, 2, 3. i Ezek. xxxiv, 4. k Ezek. xxxiv, 10.
i Dan. xii, 3. m Hosea i,
, I, 2, 6.
II

98

OJ" the Pa:3toral Care.

there, as in the law of l\loses, for sin-offering: because of t.he
advantage this brought theIn, they were glad at the abounding
of sin; which is expressed by their setting tlteir !teart, or lifting
up their soul, to tlteir iniquity: the conclusion of whiC'h is, that
they should be given up for a vpry heavy curse of, Like priests like
people. In Joel, we find the duty of the priests and n1inisters of
the Lord set forth in tin1es of great and approaching ca]aulities
tIUIS. They ought to be intercessors for the people, and to weep
betu"een the porclt and tlte altar and say, Spare thy peo]Jle and
give not tltine Iwrita[/e to reproaclt, that tlte Iteatlten (strangers and
idolaters) should rule over thenz; 'it"llerefore should tlMY say among
the jJeople, JJThere is their God n ? There is, in
licßh, a vf>ry black
character of a depraved priegthood; Their pr'iests teacl
for lâre
and tlwir prophets divine fO}' 'Iîzoneyo.
These were the forerunners of the destruction of that nation:
but though it Iuight be expected that the captivity should have
purged thein from their dross, as it did indeed free theln from
all inclinations to idolatry; yet other corruptions had a deeper
root. 'Ve find, in Zechariah, a curse against the idol shepherd,
,vho resenlbled the true shepherd, as an idol does the original:
but he was without sense and life. JJToe be to tlte idol shepherd
that leavet! the flock; the curse is figuratively expressed, The
sword sltall be upon ltis ann, and his rigltt eye
. (the things that he
valued most) his ar}}
sltall bf3 clean dried 'lip and ltis 'rigId eye
sltall be utterl!! darkenedp. ]3ut this is more copiously set out by

lalachi, in an address nlade to the priests; And now, 0 ye
priests, tltis commandnwnt is for you; If YOlt wal not Iwar, and if
YO'lt will not lay 'l't to heart, to pive glo'J'!I'lluto 1ny narne, I 'lcill even
send a curse upon you, and I u
ill curse you}'" blcssinarJs
. yea, I have
cu,rsed the;n already, because ye do not lay it to heart.- Then tho
first covenant with the tribe of Levi is set forth; ]JIy covenant
'leas 'lL,ith hÙn of life and peace; tll la'lv of truth was Ù" his 9JlOutl"
and iniquity '1{'as not found in 'tis lips; Iw '1callæd u,ith rne in
peaee and equity and did tUl'n many front tlteil' iniquity,. for the
priest's Ups should pr'esf!pve knolrle(((]e, and they should seelc tlte
law at Ids 'Illouth; for he is tlte 1nessenger of tlte Lord of hosts. All
this sets forth the state of a pure and holy priesthood: but then
follow terrible words: But ye are depar-ted out of the '1L'a!/
ye
have caused 'Jnanz! to stumble at tlte law: ye hare corrupted the co-
'tenant of Levi, saitl/; the Lord of llOSfs. Tlìerifore ha
'e I al,
o
n Joel ii, 17" 0
licah iii, I I. P Zech. xi, 17.

Of the Pastoral Ca}
e.

9H

1nade YOlt contemptible and base before all the people; according ns
!Ie harce not kept my u"a!/s, but have been parMal ù
the lau; q.
Their ill exanlple 1l1ade 111any loathe both their law and theil'
religion: they had corrupted their institution and studied, by a
gross partiality, to bring the people to be exact in those parts of
the la.w, in which their wealth or their authority was COIl-
cerned; while they neglected the lllore essential and indispens-
able duties.
rrhus far ha ve I gone over the most important places that
have occurred to me in the Old Testaluent relating to this mat-
ter; upon aU which I "ill only add one renlark, that though
SOUle exception lllight be Inade to those expressions that inlport
the dignity and sanctification of those who were then conse-
crated to the holy functions, as parts of that instituted religion
which had its period by the coming of Christ; ye,t such passages
as relate to Inoral duties, and to the obligations that arise out
of natural religion, have certainly a lllore binding force, and
ought to be understood and eXplained in a more elevated and
sublinle sense, under the new dispensation, which is internal
and spiritual; compared to which, the Old is called the letter
and the flesh; therefore the obligations of the priests, under the
Christian religion, to a holy strictness of life and conversation,
to a diligent attendance on their flock, and for instructing and
,vatching over theIn, n1ust all be as llluch higher, and nlore
binding, as this new covenant excels the old one.

CH.A.P. III.

Passages out oj
the New TestaJnent relating to tlte same
'matter.
THIS general consideration receives a vast iUlprovenlent fronl
the great example that the Author of our religion, the great
Bishop and Shepherd 0.( our souls, has set us; who went about
ever doing good, to whon1 ,it
cas as Itis :meat and drink to do
the u'ill oj' Ids Ji'ather t!tat sent IÛ1Jl. He was tlte pood Shepfttrd,
tltat knew his sheep and laid down his life fop tlwln. I\nd since
he set such a value on the souls of that flock) which he hath re-
deelned and purchased with his own blood; certainly those, to
whom he has conullitted that work of reconciliation which stood
himself so dear, ought to consider thenlsclves under very strict

q
Ial. ii, 1, &c.
nQ
.

100

Of the Pastoral Oa1"e.

obligations, by that charge of which they nlust give a severe
account at the great day, in which the blood of all those who
have perished through their neglect and default shall be re-
quired at their hands. Yet because I will not aggravate this
argulnent unreasonably, I will nlake no use of those passages
,vhich relate inl111ediately to the apostles: for their function
being extraordinary, as were also the assistances that \vere given
theln for the discharge of it, 1 will urge nothing that belongs
properly to their Inission and duty.
In the character that the gospel gives of the priests and
Pharisees of that tilne, \ve nlay see a just and true idea of the
corruptions in to which a bad clcrgy is apt to fall. They studied
to engross the knowledge of the law to themselves, and to keep
the people in ignorance, and in a blind dependence upon them:
they \"ere zealous in Jesser matters, bu t neglected the great
things of the law: they put on an outward appearance of strict-
ness, but under that there ,vas much rottenness: they studied to
make proselytes to their religion, but they had so deprayed it
that they becan1e thereby worse Inen than before: they 111ade
great shows of devotion, of praying, and fasting nluch, and
giving ahus; but all this was to be seen of 111en, and by it they
devoured the estates of poor and silllple people: they ,vere very
strict in observing the traditions and custonlS of their fathers,
and every thing that contributed to their own authority or ad-
vantage; but by so doing they nlade void the Ia\v of God: in a
,vord, they had no true ,vorth in theillsel ves, and hated such as
had it: they were proud and spiteful, false and cruel, and nlade
use of the credit they were in with the people, by their comply-
ing ,vith thelll in their vices, and flattering then1 with false
hopes, to set thelll on to destroy all those who cliscoycred their
corruptions, and ,vhose real and shining worth nlade their coun-
terfeit show of it the 1110re conspicuous and odious. In this
short view of those enormous disorders, \vhich then reigned
aUlongst then1, we have a full picture of the corrupt state of bad
priests in all ages and religions, with this only difference, that
the priests in our Saviour's tiule ,vere 1110re careful and exact in
the external and visible parts of their conversation, than they
have been in other titnes: in which they have thro\vn off the
yery decencies of a grave anrl sober deportInent.
l1ut now to go on with the characters and rules that ,,-e find
in the New Testaluent. Our Saviour as he cOlllpared the work

.

Of the Pa:sfoJ'al CaJ'e.

101

of the gospel in luany parables to a field and harrest
so he calls
those whon1 his Father was to send, the labourers in that
harvest; and he left a direction to aU his followers, to pray to
Itis Father that /le
vo'ltld send laboZlrel's into his harvest r . Out
of which, both the vocation and divine mission of the clergy
and the prayers of the church to God for it, that are among us
fixed to the ember weeks, have been gathered by many pious
writers. In the ,varnings that our Saviour gives to prepare for
his second cOllling, we find the characters of good and bad
c1ergYlnen stated in opposition to one another, under the figure
of stewards: the good are both wise and faithful, they wait for
bis con1Ïng, and in the 11lean while are dividing to e1:ery one of
their ftJllow-sep'cants his portion to eat in dzte seasonS, that is,
their proportion both of the doctrine and mysteries of the gospel,
according to their several capacities and necessities. But the
bad stewards are those who put the evil day far from theI11 and
say in their heart, The Lord delayet/t his c01ning; upon which
they eat, drink and are drunken: they indulge their sensual
appetites even to a scandalous excess; and as for their feHow-
servants, instead of feeding, of in
tructing, or watching over
theIn, they beat then1, they exercise a violent and tyrannical
authority over theln. Their state in the next world is repre-
sented as different as their behaviour in this was; the one shall
be exalted fronl being a steward to be a 'ruler over the hO'ltse/wld,
to be a king and a priest [O}'> e.ver unto God; whereas the other-
s/tall be cut aSltnder, and shall/tave Ids portion 'lcith unbelievers.
The 1 Gth of St. John is the place, which both fathers and
more modern writers have Inade chiefly use of, to shew the
difference between good and bad pastors. The good shepherds
enter by the door, and Christ is this door, by wholn they lnust
enter; that is, from whon1 they U1ust have their vocation and
luission: but the thief and robber, who cOlues to kill, steal and
destroy, cliulbeth up some other way: whatever he n1ay do in
the ritual way, for fornI's sake, he 1 1 "1s in his heart no regard to
Jesus Christ, to the honour of his person, the edification of his
church, or the salvation of souls; he intends only to raise and
enrich hill1self; and so he cOlnpasses that, he cares not ho\v
many souls perish by his Ineans, or through his neglect. The
good s/tfpnerd 'Æ'íW1CS his sheep so
l'ell, that he can tell them by.

r
Iatth. ix" 3 8 .

s Luke xii, 4 2 .

10

Of tlte ]:Jasto'ì'al Care.

rnClìJle, and lead theJJ
Oltt, and they I"ear his vuice; Óltt the hi,'eling
careth not for the sheep, he is a stranger to theIll, they kno,v
not his voice, and ,viII not follow hinl. rrhis is urged by all
,vho have pressed the obligation of residence, and of the per-
sonallabours of the clergy, as a plain divine and indispensable
precept: and eyen in the council of Trent, though, by the
!)ractices of the court of Iton1c, it was diverted fronl declaring
residence to be of divine right, the decree that ,vas made to
enforce it urges this place to she\v the obligation to it. The
good shepherd feods the flock and looks for pasture for theIn,
and is ready to give his life for the sheep; but the bad shepherd
is represented as a hireling tllat caretl/; not for tlte flock, that
sees tl1(3 1.VOif cOining, and 'ltpO that leavetlt the sheep and jlieth.
This is, it is true, a figure, and therefore I know it is thought
an in way of reasoning to build too 111UCÌ1 upon figurative
discourses: )'et on the other hand, anI' Savionr having de-
livered so great a part of his doctrine in parables, we ought at
least to consider the Inain scope of a pa.raLle; anrl Inay well
build upon that, though eyer). particular CirCUIl1stance in it
cannot bear an argulllcnt.
I shaH add but one passage lliore fron1 the Gospc1s, which is
lunch made use of by all that have "Tit of this tuattcr. 'Vhell
our Saviour confirmed St. Peter in his apostle
hip, 1'1'0111 which
he had fallen by his denying of hinl
as in the charge which he
thrice repeated of fieding his laniós and !tis slwep, he pursues still
the figure of a shepherd; so the question that he asked prepara-
tory to it was, Simon, lo
.est thOlt 'lIte 'inore than thcse t ? Froln
which they just1y gather, that the love of God, a zeal for his
honour, and a preferring of that. to aU other things whatsoever,
is a necessary and indi
pensable qualification for that. holy ell1-
ploJluent; which distinguishes the true shepherd froIl1 the_ hire-
ling; and by which only he can be both aninu1ted and Íortified
to go through with the labours and difficulties, as well as the
dangers and sufferings, which ll1ay accon1pany it.
'Vhen St. Paul was leaving his last charge with the bishops
that luet hin1 at l\Iiletus, he still Inakcs use of the san1e Ineta-
phor of a shepherd, in those often cited words_ Tahoe heed to
.%urselves, and to all the fiock o
'er 'l1,IÛcl" the IlfJly Ghost Itatlt made
!IOU bishops or ov(rSI!{1'S, to .(ced t!te cllurch n.f God, ll"hiclt Iic hatl"

t.Tohn xxi, 15.

Of the Pastoral Care.

103

pltl'chased
cith l,is ov'n hlood u . The words are solenl11 and the
consideration enforcing then1 is a mighty one; they ilnport the
obligations of the clergy both to an exactness in their own de-
portInent and to earnest and constant labours, in ill1itation of
the apostle, who, during the three years of his stay among thel11.1
had been serv'ing God witlt all hunÛlity of nlind, 'lDith 'ìnany tears
and te7nptations; and l
ad not ceased to u;arn eve'r!! one, hotllJ
night and day, 'lcitlt tears; and ltad taught them, publicl!!, and
froJJ
IWllse to lwuse x . Upon which he leaves them, calling
thf'n1 aU to witness that he 'ii"aS pure fl'Oln the blood of all men Y.
;1'here has been great disputing concerning the persons to whonl
these words were addressed: but if all parties had studied more
to follow the exanlple here proposed and the charge that is
here given, \vhich are plain and easy to be understood, than to
be contending about things that are 1110re doubtful, the good
lives and the faithful labours of apostolical bishops would have
contributed lnore both to the edifying and healing of the church
than all their arguments or reasonings will ever be able to do.
St. Paul, reckoning up to the ROlnans the several obligations
of Christi
ns of all ranks to assiduity and diligence in their
callings and labours, aI110ng others he nUDlbers these ; ]Jini
ters,
let IllS
oait on ou,}' rninistering; or he fltat teaeltes, on teaching;
he that ruldll, with diligence z . In his Epistle to the Corinthians,
as he states the dignity of the clergy in this, that they ought to
be accounted of as tlte 9ninisters of Christ, and ste'lcards of tIle
'Jnysteries of God; he adds, that it is
"e1ltired in stezeards that a
'Jna'll be found faithful a . In that Epistle he sets down that per-
petuallaw, which is the foundation of all the provision that has
been n1ade for the clergy, Tltat the Lord hath ordained that they
'whieh preaclÌi the gospel should lice of the gospel b . But if upon
that the laity have looked on thelnselves as bound to appoint so
plentiful a supply that the clergy 111ight have whpreoD to live at
their ease and in aLundance; then certainly this was intended,
that they, being freed fi'Olll the troubles and cares of this world,
Inight. attend cont.inually on the 7ninistry of the 'lcord of God and
on prayer c . Those who do that work negligently provoke the
laity to repent of their bounty and to defraud then1 of it. For
certainly there are no such eneu1ies to the patrilJlOny and rights
of the church as those who eat the fat, but do not preach the
u Acts XX
28. x Acts xx, 19, 20. y Acts xx, 26. z Rom. xii, 7, 8.
a I Cor. Ï\r, I, 2. b I Cor. ix, 14. c Acts 'Ti
4.

101

Of the Pa..,tural Care.

gospel nor feell the flock. Happy, on the other hand, are they 1
to WhOlll that character \vhich the apostle aSSU1l1CS to himself
anò to Tinlothy does belong; 1'herefore, seeinp u.e llave received
tllis rninistry, as we llave received rnerc!J, UJe faint not; !Jut have
renoltnced tlte lâdden things of dislwnesty, not u'alking in craftÏ-
ness, nor handlinp the won] of God deceitfully,. bout b..y u'lanijèsta-
tion of tlte trutll, cúm17wnding ourselres to ecery rnan's conscience
in tlte sigl;t 0.( Godd. In the Epistle to the Ephesians, we have
the ends of the institution of all the ranks of clergyrnen set forth
in these words; He gave some, apostles; and smne, prophets; and
S01ne, ercangelists; and Borne, pastors and teaclwrs: for tlte perfect-ing
of the saints
for tlle 'work of the 'lniuist1:y, fo'}. tlte edify'ing 0.( the
body of Olu"ist: till 'we all come in the
tnit!l oj' the faitlt and of the
knolcledpe of tlte Son of God, unto {(J jJelfect rnau, 'ludo tlte rneasure
of the statlt1"'e of the fulness of Chr-isle. In these words ,ve see
sOlllething that is so vast and noble, so far above those slight and
poor performanceR, in which the far greater part do too easily
satisfy thernselves; that in charity to thenl we ought to suppose
that they have not. reflected sufficiently on the illlportance of
them. Otherwise they would have in SOlne sort proportioned
their labours to those great designs for which they are ordained;
and would ren1ember the charge given to the Colossians to say
to Archippus, ,vho, it seenlS, ,vas remiss in the discharge of his
duty, Take heed to the 'lninistry u'lticllt tlWlt ltast received in tlte
Lo'rd, that tno'lt fltljil itf.
The Epistles to Tilllothy and Titus are the foundation of all
the canons of the church. In these we have the characters of
bishops and deacons, as ,veIl as the duties belonging to those
functions, so particularly set forth, that fron) thpnce alone every
one who will weigh thelll \vell luay find sufficient instruction,
how he ought to behave hinlself in the house of God. In these
we see what patterns those of the clergy ought to be Ù

()ord, (or
doctrine) in conversation, in charit!l, in spirit, in faith. and in
pUr'.ity j tlu!y oUfJlll to give attendance to reading, to exlwrtation, and
to doctrine; that is Loth to thp instructing and exhorting of their
people. 'l'ltey oU:[1ltt not to neglect tlte gift tltat was 9'iven to tlwln by
the laying on of hands j thè
y ought to meditate on t1
('.
e tlân.qs, to
gi ve tlu''/nselces wlwl(y to tlwJn, tltat so their p'J'ojit il/.f! may appear
unto all; and to take heed to tlwlìlselces aud tlwiì" doctJ"-ine, and to
('ontiltzle in tltent ; for in su doing the!} sltall holk sace tltenlselres aad
d2 Cor. iv, 1,2. eEphes. i,', II, 12, 13. fCol. iv', 17

Of tlte Pastopal Ga1'e.

105

{hose that hf'ar tlte'Jng. Those that govern the church arc ll10re
particularly charged before God, the Lord Jeslls, and tlte !toly
angels, that theyoóserve these things wit/tOut prefirrlnp olle before
another, doing nothing by partiality, bJ d0J11estic regards, the
consider:1tions of friendship, intercession, or ilnportunity; and
above all, that they lay hands suddenly on no man; to which are
added words of great terror, neitheÎ be tlwu partaker of otllfr men's
sins: keep thyself purt h . 'Vhich ought to n1ake great ilnpl'essioll
on all those with wholll the power of ordination is lodged, since
they do plDinly ilnport that such as do ordain any rashly with-
out due inquiry and a strict examination, entitle thelnselves to
all the scandal they give
tnd become partners of their guilt;
which, if well considered, must needs make all such as are not
past feeling, use great care and caution in this sacred trust.
Bishops are the depositaries of the faith, which they are to l{eep
pure, and to hand down faithfully, according to these words;
And tlw things 1,'-h ick t!tou !tast heard of rne among 'JJtany witnesses,
tlte saJne conlnât tllOl ' to faitliflll l1len, u.:ho 1nay be able to teach
others also. Upon this he prepares the bishops for difficulties,
to endure hardness as a good soldier of Jesus Ghrist. And accord-
ing to that figure, since those that go to war do not carry
unnecessary burdens with thein, which 11lay encu111bcr or retard
their lnarch, he adds, J.."?"o 12lan that warreth entanglet/t lâruself'lcitli
tlle affairs of this life, thal Ile may please hirn
()lLO katìt cllOscn lti'llll
f01" a soldier i. Upon this it is that all those canons, which have
been luade in so 11lany ages of the church against churclunen's
Ineddling with secular affairs., have been founded; than which
we find nothing 1110re frequently provided against, both in the
Apostolical canons, in'" those of ..I.\ntioch, in those Inade by the
general council of Chalcedon, and in divers of the councils of
Carthage: but this abuse had too deep :1 root in the nature of
111an to be easily cured. St. Paul does also in this place carry
on the 111etaphor, to express the earnestness and indefatigable-
ness of clergyn1en's zeal; that as officers in an army were satis-
fied with nothing under victory, \vhich brought thelll the
honours of a trilHnph, so we ought to fight, not only so as to
earn our pay, but for mastery, to Rpoil and overCOlue the powers
of darkness; yet even this 111Ust be done Iawfull) k, not by
deceiving the people with pious frauds, hoping t.hat our good

g I Tim, j,., 12-16.

h I Tim . v, 2 I, 22.
k 2 Tim. ii, 5.

i 2 Tim. ii, 2. 3, 4.

106

Of the Pastoral Oare.

intentions will atone for our taking bad Inethods. '\Tar has its
la\vs as well as peace, and those who lnanagc this 8piritu:tl war-
fare ought to keep thenlselves within the instructions and com-
nlands that are given thenl. Then the apostle, changing the
figure from the soldier to the worlnnan and steward, says, i..'{tztdy
to snew thyself approved unto God (not to seek the vain applause
of nlen, but to prefer to all other t.hings the witness of a good
conscience, and that in sinlplicity anrl godly sincerity he lllay
,valk and labour as in the sight of God) a 'l,(jorkman that needeth
not to be asltamed, 'J'igldl..1J dividing tlte 'll'ord of truth 1: this is,
according to the figure of a steward, giving ev
ry one his due
portion; and a little after COlnes a noble adrnonition, relating to
the lueel{ness of the clergy towards those that divide fronl them:
The servant of the Lord 'Jnust
tot strive; bitt be gentle to all nwn,
apt to teaclb, patient, in 'l1zeekness instructing those tltat oppose tltenz-
selres, if'peradventure God 'will give tlteJn 'repentance, to the acknoVJ-
le(((ling the i'J"Ut!ì m. This is the passage that was chiefly urged
Ly our reforIner.s against the persecuting that the l
onia,n clergy
did every where set on against thenl: the extent of it ought to
be well considered, that so it l11ay not be said that we are only
against persecution when it lies on ourseh-es; for if it is a good
defence to S0111e, it is as good to others; unless we own that we
do not govcrn ourselves by that rule of doing to oinc}':; tltat wkich
'l()e v;o'ltld IUlve ot/tel'S do to 'lts. In the next chapter we find the
right education of this bishop, and that which furnishes a clergy-
n13.n to perfornl all the dutiés incunlbent on him; li'rmn a cltild
tholt llast lowwn lIte lw(V scriptures 'icltick are able to 'JnaÀ:e thee u'ise
'unto salvation, tlt1"ouglt faitlb in Christ Jesus ll : that is, tbe Old
Testaluent well studied, by one that believed J e8US to be the

Iessias, and that was led into it by that faith, did discover to
luan the great economy of God in tho progress of the light,
which he Inade to shine upon t.he world by degrees, unto the
perfect day of the appearing of the Sun of righteousness; and
to this he ad(ls a noLle character of the inspired writings: All
scripture 1.S .qicen by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doc-
trine, for 'pejJpooj; for correction, fvr instruction in r(fJlttcousncss,
that the '/nan of God 'na!/ be perfect, tltro'ltgltly fltJ'illshed 'Unto all
.'food worÁ'sO. The apostle goes on, and gives Tin10thy the 1l10st
sO]C111n charg(\ that ca.n be set out in words; which, if undorstood
1 2 Tim. ii, T 5. m 2 Tim. ii, 24, 25. n 2 Tim. iii, 15.
o 2 TiIn. iii, 16, 17.

OJ'' the Pastoral Care.

107

as ùcIonging to all bishops, as the whole church of God has ever
done, nlust be read by them with trClnLling: I charpe thee
therefore b(iOJ"e God, and tlte Lord Jesus Gltrist, 'U,'ho shaTl Judge tlte
quicl.,; and dead at Ids appeal'iJl!l, and his kin9do}}
; l
r'eaclt tlte
'loord; be instant in season, out of season; 'rerr'01:e, reóuke, exltOrt
'loitlt all lOll.Qsuffcrinp and doctrinep; (that is, with great gentle-
ness in the l1U1nner, and clearness and strength in the 11latter of
their instructions;) and a little after, JVateh thOlt in all tlÛngs J
endltre alfiict ion, do tlte 'lcork of an evangelist; 'inake full proof of
( or fulfil) thy rninistryq: and as a consideration to enforce this
the Jnore, he tells what a noble and agreeable prospect he had
in the view of his approaching dissolution: the time of Ibis
departing drew ni[ilt, he
oas ready to be offered upr j as a sacrifice
for that faith which he had so zealously and so successfully
preached: and here we have his two great preparatives for
lnartyrdom; the one was looking on his past life and labours;
I ha1'e fougltt a gocdfigld, I have finished my eOltrSe, I hare kept tlte
faitlt 8 . The other ,vas looking forward to the reward, tltat
crOlcn o.f'righteousness u'hiclt UXlS laid 'ill) for ltiJJl, 'lc/delt the Lord,
the I}'igldeo'lts jlulg p , 'woltld give kiln at that day; and not onl!! to
hinz, but also to all those that forced his appearing t, and certainly
III ore especially to those \\"ho not only loved it theolscl\'es, but
who laboured so as to dispose others also to love it. To all these
considerations, though nothing needed to have been added, to
one upon whom they nlade so strong an impression as they did
upon Tilnothy, yet one COJnes after all, which ought to teach us
to work out OUi" sabjat ion
üit!t fear and tremóling, since St. J>aul
tells Tinlothy, that DeInas, one of the companions of his labours,
had .forsaken ltiril, and that which prevailed over hin1 was tlte
love of this present world u .
These are the rules and charges given by St. Paul to TiITIothy,
and in binl to all the bishops and pastors that were to COlue after
hinl in the church. SOlne of these are again repeated in his
Epistle to 'I'itus, where we have the characters Fet out, L-r which
he was to prepare and examine those elders or bishop
, who
were to rule the house of God: that those being well chosen,
they nlight be able b.1I sound doctrine boilt to exhort and con
'ince the
painsayCJ's x,. and, that he Inight do his duty with the Blore
u'<h'antagf', he charges hinl to shell' bimse?l ill flll things a patt('rn

I' 2 Tim. i,', I, 2, q 2 Tim, i,', ;}. r 2 Tim. Î", 6, s 2 Tim. i,', 7.
t 2 Tim. i\" 8. u 2 Tim. i,', 10. x Tit. i, 9.

108

Of the Pastoral Care.

of good UJOl'Á'S : in doctrine skewing uncorruptness) gravity, sincerity,
and using s'ltCh sound speech as could not be conde}nned: tltat so those
'lL
ko '[cere of the contrar!! part (the J udaizers \vho were studying
to corrupt the Christian religion by lnaking a n1edley of it and
Judaism) nÛgltt l
ave no evil thing to say of hirnY: and after a
glorious but short abstract of the design of their holy religion, he
concludes that part of the Epistle in these words, These things
speak and exltort, and rebuke witl
all autlwrit!! : to which he adds
a charge, that n1ay seem nlore proper to be addressed to others
than to hÎlnself; Let no man desjJ'ise tlwe z: the saIne is likewise
in his Epistle to TiIl1othy, with this addition; Let no rnan despise
thy youtlt R : but these words do illlport that it is in a bishop's
own power to procure due esteen1 to hiu1self; at least to prevent
contell1pt; since a holy and exelnplary deportnlent and faithful
and constant labours never fail to do that. In the conclusion of
the Epistle to the Hebrews, we find both the characters of those
who had laboured among them and had ruled theIn, but who
\vere then dead; and also of such as were yet ali ve. Rem,e}}
bel"
tltem" wllo had tIle rule over you; who lla1;e spoken to ym/; tlw word
of God, 1. ch ose faitlt.fòllou" cons.idering the end of theil'" conversation b.
They had both lived and died, as well as laboured, in such a
manner, that the ren1enlbering of what had appeared in thelll
,vas an effectual n1eans of persuading the IIebrews to be steady
in the Christ.ian religion: for certainly) though while a Ulan lives,
let hin1 be e,.er so en1Ìnent, there is still roonl for ill nature and
joalousy to nlisrepresent things, and to suspect that sOlnething
lies hid under the fairest appearances, which nlay shew itself in
due time; all that goes off, when one has finished his course, so
that all appears to be of a piece and that he has died as he had
lived. Then the argul11ent from his conversation appears in its
fun strength, without any dilninution. But the charge given
with relation to those who then had the rule over them is no less
relnarkable; Obey thern that have tlw rule over YOll: and subnÛt
!Jourselves, fú'ì" they 1-Datclt for your souls, as they that IItUst give
account; that they uzay do it witlt Joy, and not with grief; for that
'l.s 'ltnprojitable for !JOUC. IIere obedience and submission is en-
joined) upon the account of their rulers watching oyer then1, and
for thell1; and t.herefore those, \vho do not \vatch like men that
l{now that they nlu
t give account of that trust, have no reason

Y Tit. ii, 7, 8.

z; Tit. ii, 15. a 1 Tim. iv, 12.
c Heb. xiii, 17.

b Heb. xiii, 7.

Of the Pastoral Care.

109

to expect these fron1 their people. Of a piece with this is St.
Paul's charge to the Thes,
alon'ans; TVe beseech !IOU to know (or
to acknowledge) thent which labolu' a1tLOng YOll, and are o'Cer !JOlt
in the Lord, and adlìlOnisll YOll, and to estee1n tltem 'Cer!l ldgldy 1.n
lo
'e fO'l" their 1cork's sake. Here both the subn1Ïssion and esteenl,
as well as the acknowledglnent that is due to the clergy, is sfiid
to be for their work's sake: and. therefore such as do not the
work, and that do not labour and adn10nish their people, have
no just clailn to then1. There is another expression in the Se-
cond Epistle to the Thessalonians, that is much urged by those
\"ho have writ on this head
Tltat if any 'lL'ill not 'work, he should
not eat
' which, if it is a rule binding alllllen, seems to lie much
heavier on the clergy,
I shall conclude all that I intend to bring out of the scripture
upon this arguluent, with St. Peter's charge to the elders of the
churches to which he writ; which is indeed so full, that though
in the course of the New Testall1ent it had not lain last, it
deser\'ed by the rules of luethod to be kept last, for the closing
and enforcing all that has gone before and for giving it its full
weight. St. Peter descends, 1 Epist. chap. Y, Yer. ], &c. to a
level with theIn, calling himself no better than a fellow-elder and
a 'witness of the sufferinps of Christ; and also a partaker of the
glory 'itltieh 'lcas to be revealed. Feed the flock of God, says he,
1vlÛ.ch is among you, (these words will bear another renrlering,
as nl7tch as lietl
in !JOll) takin.a the orersipht thereo.(, not b..lf con-
straint. (as forced to it by rules. canons, or laws) bzd u'illingly ;
not for filthy lucre, (for though God has ordained that such as
preaelt the gospel should li'Ce of the gospel; yet those wlJO propose
that to theinseives as the chief Inotive in entering into holy
orders are hereby severely conden1ned) but of a ready 'lIÛnd,
'Jtelther as being lords orer Go(fs heritape, (or" not 'using a despotic
autlwrit!! over tlwir several lots or divisions) but being examples
to t'he jloclc, not tyrannizing it over their people; but acquiring
their authority chiefly by their own exemplary conversation.
The conclusion of the charge is suitable to the solenlnity of it,
in these words: And
vlten the chief i
h(!pherd shall appear, ye shall
lilæwise 1'eceive a crown of glory that fadeth not away.
"Tith this I n1ake an en(l of citations froin
cripture: I think
it is as plain as words can luake any thing, that such as are
dedicated to the service of God and of his church ouO'ht to
o
labour constantly and faithfully, and that in their own persons.

110

OJ'tlte J}ústural Care.

For it is not possible to express a personal obligation in ternl.

that are both 1110re strict and lnore solenln than these are, which
have been cited: and all the returns of obedience and sublnis-
sion:- of esteCl11 and support, being declared to be due to thenl
on the account of their watching over and feeding the flock of
God, thof:e who pretend to these, without considering theulselves
as under the other obligations, are guilty of the worst sort of
sacrilege, in devouring the things that are sacred, without doing
those duties for which these are due; and what right soe\'er the
}a,w of the land nlay give then1 to theu].. yet certainly, according
to the divine law, those who do not wait at tlte altar, ought not
to he partakers 1.citlt the altar: t,
ose
vho do not '/niuister aùout
lw7!1 tllings, o71.fJ1d not to live f the thiups of tIle tcnlple: no]'
ougld iÌtose, 'lvlto do 'íwt jJreaclt the 90slJel, to lice of the gospeld. If
I had a Inind to Inake a great show of reading, or to triunlph in
IUY al'guJnent \\ ith the pOlnp of quotations, it were very easy to
bring a cloud of witnesses to confirm the application that I have
lllade of these passages of scripture: indeed all those who have
either writ commentaries on the scriptures, ancient and Inodern,
or ha ,-e left hOlllilies on these subjects, have pressed this l1latter
so HIuch, that e,Tery onf1 that has nIade any progress in ecclesia!õ;-
tical learning lnust kno,v that one luight Boon stuff a great
luany pages with abundance of quotations out of the authors,
both of the best and of the worst ages of the church: not only
the fathers, hut even the schoohnen; and, \vhich is more, the
canonists have carried this matter very high, and have even
delivered it as a luaxinl, that all dispensations that are procured
upon undue pretences, the chief of which they reckon the giving
a InaJ1 an easy and large subsistence, are null and void of thenl-
selves: and conclude, that ho\v st.rong soever they Dlay be in
law, yet they are nothing in conscience; and that they do not
free a nlan fronl his obligations to resiùence and labour: and
they do generally conclude, that he, who upon a dispensation,
\vhich has been obtained upon carnal accounts, such as birth,
rank, or great abilities (and qualifications that are not Jet so good
as these) docs not reside, is bound in conscience to restore the
fruits of a benefice, which he has thus enjoyed with a Lad consci-
ence, without perfonning the duty belonging to it in his own
person. But though it were yery easy to bring out a great deal
to this purpose, I will go no further at present upon this head;
d I Cor. ix, 13, I.....

OJ the Pastoral Care.

111

the words of God seen I to be so express and positive, that such
fiS do not Jield to so undisputable an authority will be little
n10ved by all that can be brought out of authors of a lower fornl,
against whonl it will be easy to Illuster up 111any exceptions,
if they will not be deterIllined by so nutnJ" of the oracles of
the 1iving God.

OI-IA.P. IV.
Qftlw sense 01 the lyriuÛtive church Ùz this '}}
atteï".
I "TILL not enter here into any historical account of the
discipline of the church during the first and best ages of Christ-
ianity. It is the glory of the church, that in her disputes on
both hands, as well with those of the church of ROine as with
those that separate froll1 her, she has both the doctrine and the
constitution of the prÏInitive church on her side. But this plea
would be Inore entire and less disputable, if our constitution
were not only in its luain and lnost essential parts fOrIned upon
that glorious Inoùel; but were also in its rules and adlninistra-
tions n1ade more exactly conforIuable to those best and purest
tinles. I can never forget an advice that was given me above
thirty Jears ago, by one of the worthiest clcrgynlen now alive :
while I was studying the controversy relating to the goverIllnent
of the church from the prin1itive tillies, he desired nle to join
,vith the l110re speculative discoveries, that I should 111ake, the
sense that they had of the obligations of the clergy, both with
relation to their li,-es and to their labours; and said, that. the
argulnent in favour of the church, ho,v clearly soever made out,
would never hase its full effect upon the world, till abuses were
so far corrected that we could show a prin1Ítive spirit in our
adn1inistration, as well as a prinÚti,'e pattern for our constitution.
This l11ade, even then, deep ilnpressions on tHe, and I thank
God the sense of it has never left n1e in the whole course of n1Y
studies.
I will not at present enter upon so long and so invidious a
work, :J s the descending into all the particulars into which this
matter n1Ïght be branched out; either frolH the writings of the
fathers, the decrees of councils, the R0111an law and capitulars,
or even fro111 the dreg of all, the canon law itself; which, though
a collection Inade in one of the worst ages, yet carries nlany
rules in it that would E:eClli excessively seyere, eyen to us, after
our reforIl1ation of doctrine and worship. Thi.s has been already
done with so llluch exactness, that it will not be necessary to set

l1Q

OJ" tlte Pastoral GaTe.

about it after the harvest, which was gathered by t.he learned
bishop of Spalato in the last Look of his great work e: which the
pride and inconstancy of the author brought under a disesteeul
that it no way deserves; for whatever he nlight be. that work
,vas certainly one of the best productions of that agf'. But this
design has he en prosecuted of late with nluch I110re exactne
s
and learning, and with great honesty and fidelity, where the
interest of hi
church did not force hinl to use a little art, by
F. Tholna8in, who has conlpared the nlodern and the ancient
discipline, and has shewed very copiously by what steps the
change was nlaùe, and ho\v abuses crept into the church. It is
a ,york of gre
t use to such as desire to understand that luatt(lr
truly. I will refer the curious to thesf', and many other lesser
treatises, writ by the J ansenists in France, in which abuses are
very honestly cOlllplained of, and proper renledies are proposed;
,,,hich in 111:lUY places being entertained by bishops, that had a
right sense of the prin1itive rules, have given the rise to a great
reformation of the French clergy.
Instead then of any historical deduction of these matters, I
shall content lnyself with giving the sense of two of the fathers
of the Greek church, and one of the Latin, upon this whole
business, of the obligations of the clergy. The first is Gregory
of N azianzuln, whose father ordained hiu1 a presbyter, notwith-
standing all his hUlnble intercessions to the contrary, according
to the custoln of the Lest men of that age, ,vho, instead of
pressing into orders, or aspiring to them, fled frolH thenl,
excused thelnselves, and, judging thenlse]ves unworthy of so holy
a character and so high a trust, were not without difficulty pre-
vailed on to subnlit to that, which in degenerate ages men run to
as to a sub;Ûstence, or the 11leanS of procuring it, and Seell1 to
have no other sense of that sacred institution, than Inechanics
have of obtaining their freedom in that trade or cOIllpany, in
,vhich they have passed their apprenticeship. It were indeed
happy for the church, if those who offer theu1selves to orders had
but such a sense of thelll as tradeSlnen have of their freedonl :
,vho do not pretend to it till they have finished the tinle pre-
scribed; and are in SOlne sort qualified to set up in it: where-
as, alas! llle11, who neither know the scriptures nor the
body of divinity, ,vho have Dlade no progress in their studies,
e De Republica Ecclesiastica, in 3 vols. folio, by
Iarco Antonio de Domi-
nis, Archbishop of Spalato, in Dalmatia; published by him during his stay in
England, in the reign of James I.

Of tlte Paslo/'al Care.

113

and can give no tolerable account of that holy doctrine, in which
they desire to be teachers, do yet, with equal degrees of con-
fidence and inlportunit.y, pretend to this character and find the
way to it too easy and the access to it too free. But this holy
father had a very different sense of this nlatter. . He had indeed
subnlitted to hiR father's authority, he being his bishop, as well
as his father. But inunediately after he was ordained, he gives
this account of himself in his Apologetical Oration: "That he
judging he had not that sublin1Îty of virtue, nor that familiar
acquaintance \vith divine lllatters, ,vhich became pastors and
teachers; he therefore intending to purify his own soul to
higher degrees of virtue, to an exaltation above sensible ob-
jects, above his body and above the world, that so he Inight
bring his luind to a recollected and divine state and fit his
soul that, as a polished mirror, it might carryon it the iUl-
pressions of divine id,eas, unnlixed with the allay of earthly
objects, and lnight be still casting a brightness upon all his
thoughts, did, in order to the raising hÎ1nself to that, retire
to the wilderness. He had observed that nlany pressed to
handle the holy nlJsteries with unwashed hands and defiled
souls; and before they were nleet to be initiated to the divine
vocation, were crowding about the altar; not to set patterns
to others, but designing only a subsistence to theillseives: reck-
oning that the holy dignity ,vas not a trust, for which an ac-
count was to be given, but a state of authority and exemption.
They had neither piety nor parts to recomlnelld theIn, but
were the reproaches of the Christian religion, and were the
pests of the church: which infected it faster than any plague
could do the air; since lllen did easily run to iluitate bad
exalnples, but were drawn off very hardly by the perfectest
patterns to the practice of virtue. Upon which he fOrIlled
ð, high idea of the eminent worth and virtues, which becalne
those who governed the church) and of the great progress th
t
they ought to be daily luaking; not contented with lo\v mea-
sures of it, as if they were to weigh it critically in nice balances,
and not to rise up tv the highest degrees possible in it. \... et

ven this was not all; for to govern lllankind, which was
so various and so uncertain a sort of creature, seen1ed to hin1
the highest pitch of knowledge and wisdolll, as far above that
skill and labour, that is necessary to the curing of bodily dis-
eases, as the soul is superior to the body; and )'Pt
ince 80
I

114

Of the Pastoral Care.

much study and observation ,vas necessary t.o make :1 man a
sliiIfuI physician, he concluded that much lllore was necessary
for the spiritual nledicine: the design of \vhich was to give
,vings to the soul, to raise it above the ,vorld and to consecrate
it to God." Here he runs out into a, noble rapture upon the
excellence and sublimity of the Christian religion and upon the
art of governing souls; of the different methods to be taken,
according to the diversity of men's capacities and telnpers; and
of dividing the ,yore! of God aright aluong theIne The diffi-
culties of \vhich he prosecutes in a great variety of sublime
expressions :1nd figures; but concludes, lalnenting that" there
\vas so little order then observed that Inen had scarce passed
their childhood, whpn, before they understood the scriptures,
not to say before they had washed off the spots and defilements
of their souls, if they had learned but t,vo or three pious words,
which they had got by heart, or had read some of the Psalms
of David, and put on an out,vard garb that carried an ap-
pearance of piety in it, these men were presently pushed on
by the vanity of their nlinds, to aspire to the government of
the church." To such persons he addresses himself very
rhetorically, and asks them, ",,,hat they thought of t.he COlll-
Inonest en1ployulents, such as the playing on instruments, or
of dancing, in comparison with divine wisdolU. For acquiring
the one, they knew great pains and lnuch practice ,vas neces-
sary: could they then imagine that the other should be so
easily attained?" But he adds, "that one lnay as ,veIl sow
upon rocks, and talk to the deaf, as hope to work upon per-
sons, who have not yet got to that degree of wisdonl, of being
sensible oÎ their own ignorance. This evil he had often with
nlany tears Janlented; but the pride of such Inen was so great,
that nothing under the authority of a St. Peter or a St. Paul
could work upon them." Upon this nlention of St. Paul, he
breaks out into a rapture upon his labours and sufferings, and
the care of an the churches that lay on hill1; his becoming all
things to all n1en; his gentleness, where that was nece.ssary, and
his authority, upon other occasions; his zeal, hig patience, his
constancy and his prudence, in fulfilling all the parts of his
Ininistry. Then he cites several of the psssages of the pro-
phets, particularly those of J erelniah and Ezekiel, Zechariah
and l\falachi, which relate to the corruptions of the priests and
shepherds of Israel; and shews how applicable they were to the

Of the Pastoral Care.

115

clergy at that tinIe, and that all the woes denounced against
the Scribes and Pharisees belonged to them, with heavy ag-
gravations. "These thoughts possel"ised hiIll day and night;
they did eat out his yery strength and substance; they did
so afRict and deject him, and gave him so terrible a prospect
of the judgnlents of God, which they were drawing down upon
the church, that he, instead of daring to undertake any part
of the government of it, was only thinking how he should
cleanse his own soul and fl. y froIll the wrath, which was to
come; and could not think that he was yet, while so young,
meet to handle the holy things." 'Vhere he runs out into a
new rapture in nlagnifYing the dignity of holy functions and,
upon that, 8a)'s, " That though he had been dedicated to God
froIll l1Ïs mother's wonlb and had renounced the world and all
that ,vas channing in it, even eloquence it
elf, and had delighted
long in the study of the scriptures and had subdued many of
his appetites and passions; yet after all this, in which perhaps
he had becon1e a fool in glorying, he had so high a notion of
the care and governlnent of souls, that he thought it above his
strength; especially in such bad tilnes, in which all things were
out of order; factions were forilled, and charity was lost; so
that the very nalue of a priest was a reproach, as if God had
poured out conteInpt upon thel11; and thereby ilnpious men
daily blaspheIned his naIne." And indeed, all the show of re-
ligion that relnained, was in their nlutual heats and anilllosities,
concerning some matters of religion; "they condemned a'1d
censured one another; they cherished and made use of the
worst nlen, so they were true to their party; they concealed
their crinles, nay, they flattered and defended some, that should
not have been suffered to enter into the sanctuary; they gave
the holy things to dogs, while they inquired very narrowly into
the failings of those that differed from them, not that they
nlight lalnent then}, but that they 111ight reproach thmn for
then1. The sanle faults which they excused in SOIne, were de-
claÏ1ned against in others: so that the very nan1e of a good or
a bad nlan was not now considered, as the character of their
lives, but of their being of or against a side. And these abuses
were 80 uniyersal, that they were like people, like priest. If
those heats had. arisen upon the great heads of reli
ion, he
should have comnlended the zeal of those who had contended
for the truth, and should have studied to have followed it. But
I

116

Of the Pastoral Oare.

their disputes were about small matters, and things of no con-
sequence; and yet even these \vere fought for, under the glo-
rious title of the faith, though the root of all \vas men's private
anill1osities. These things had exposed the Christian relif!:ion
to the hatred of the heathen, and had given even the Christians
theIllselves very hard thoughts of the clergy: this was gro\vn
to that height, that they \vere then acted and represented
upon the stage, and lllade the subject of the people's scorn:
so that by their means the nal11e of God ,vas blasphen1ed.
This was that which gave hilll much sadder apprehensions than
all that could be feared from that wild beast, that ,vas then
beginning to vex and persecute the church, (by which probably
Julian is meant) the comfortable prospect of dying for the
11al11e of Christ 111ade that a persecution was not so dreadful
a thing, in his account, as the sins, the divisions and dis-
tractions of Christians." This then ,vas the reason that had
made him fly to the wilderness; for the state of the church
01
had Inade hiln despond, and lose all his courage: he had also
gone thither, that he might quite break hilllself to all his appe-
tites and passions, and to all the pleasures and concerns of this
life, that did darken the shinings of the divine in1age upon his
soul and the enlanations of the heavenly light. \Vhen he con-
sidered the judgments of God upon bad priests, and Inany other
strict rules in the old dispensation, and the great obligations
that lay upon those who were the priests of the living God,
and that ought, before they presumed to offer up other sacri-
fices, to begin \vith the oblation of thernselves to God; he was,
upon all these reasons
moved to prepare hiu1self by so long
a retreat.
I have given this long abstract of his Apologetical Oration,
not only to set before Iny reader the sense that he had of the
sacred functions, but likewise to shew what 'v ere the corruptions
of that age, and with how 111uch freedoIn this holy father laid
then1 open. If there is any occasion for applying any part of
t.his to the present age, or to any persons in it, I chose rather to
offer it in t.he words of this great Juan, than in any of my own.
I wish few \vere concerned in then1; and that such as are would
Blake a due application of thel11 to thelnselves, and save others
the trouble of doing it 1110re severely.
I go next to another father of the Greek church, St. Chrysos-
tOlU, whose books of the priesthood have been ever reckoned

Of the Pastora1 Care.

117

among the best pieces of antiquity. The occasion of writing
them was this: he had lived many years in great friendship
with Basil; at last, they having both dedicated thenlselves to
sacred studies, the clergy of Antioch had resolved to lay hold
on them and to use that holy violence which was in those times
often done to the best luen, and to force them to enter into
orders. "Thich when Basil told Chn'sostom, he concealed his
0/
own intentions, but pressed Basil to submit to it; who, from
that, believing that his friend was of the same rHind, did not go
out of the way, and so he ,vas laid hold on; but Chrysostonl
had hid himself. Basil, seeing he could not be found, did all
that was possible to excuse himself: but, that not being accepted
of, he was ordained. Next tinle that he lllet his friend, he ex-
postulated severely with him for having forsaken him upon that
occasion: t.his gave the occasion to those books, ,,'hich are
purE:ued in the way of a dialogue.
The first book contains only the preparatory discourses, ac-
cording to the nlethod of such "Titings. In the second he
runs out to shew from our Saviour's words to St. Peter, Simon,
lO'1:est thou 1ne? "what tender and fervent love both to Chrigt
and to his church a priest ought to feel in hilnself, before he
enters upon the feeding those sheep, \vhich Christ has pur-
chased ,,,"ith his own blood. To lose the souls of the flock first,
and then one"s own soul, t.hrough remissness, was no light
nlatter. To have both the powers of darkne8s and the works
of the flesh to fight against, required no ordinary measure
both of strength and courage. He pursues the allegories of a
shepherd and a physician, to shew, by the parallel of these
laid together, the labours and difficulties of the priesthood,
especially when this authority was to be lllaintained only by
the strength of persuasion; and Jet sometimes severe luethods
must be taken, like incisions to prevent gangrenes, or to cut
off a part already corrupted. In the I1lanaging this, great
art and prudence was necessary; a bishop ought to have a
great and generous, a patient and undaunted mind: therefore
Chrysostom says that he found, though he truly loved his
Saviour, yet he was so afraid to offend him that he durst
not undertake a charge, that he did not yet judge hirnself quali-
fied for. It was not enough that a Illan was tolerably well
esteemed by others; he ought to exanline himself: for that
of a bishop's being '1cell reported of is but one of many cha-

118

Of the Pastoral Oare.

racters, declared necessary by St. Paul. He complains much
that those \vho raised Inen t.o orders had n10re regard to rank
and \vealth and to Inuch tinle spent in a vain search into pro-
fane learning (though Christ chose fisherIllen and tentrnakers)
than to true \vorth and an earnest zeal for the real good of
the church. In the third book, he runs out with a great
compass on the praises of the priestly function; he looked
upon it as a dignity, raised far above all the honours of this
,vorld and approaching to the angelical glory. A priest ought
to aspire to a purity above that of other mortals, answering
that of angels. '.Vhpn a priest perforrns the holy functions,
is sanctifying th
holy eucharist, and is offering a crucified
Christ to the people, his thuughts should carry hin1 heaven-
wards, and as it were translate him into those upper regions.
If the l\Iosaical priest was to be holy, that offered up sacri-
fices of a lower order, how much holier ought the priests
of this religion to be, to ,,,horn Christ has given the power
both of retaining and forgiving of sins! But if St. Paul, after
all his visions and labours, after all his raptures and suffer-
ings, yet was inwardly burnt up with the concerns of the church,
and laboured with Inuch fear and trelnbling, how much greater
apprehensions ought other persons to have of such a trust!
If it were enough to be called to this function, and to go
through with the duties incumbent on it in SOlne tolerable
manner, the danger were not great: but when the duty, as
,veIl as dignity, together with the danger belonging to it, are
all laid together, a man is forced to have other thoughts of
the matter. No man that knows he is not capable of con-
ducting a ship will undertake it, let hiln be pressed to it
never so luuch. A mbitious men, that loved to set themselves
forward, ',ere of all others the most exposed to temptations:
they ,vere apt to be inflamed by the s111allest provocations,
to be glad at the faults of others, and troubled if they sa,v
any do well; they court.ed applause, and aspired to honour:
they fawned on great persons, and trod on those that were
below them; they made base submissions, undecent addresses,
and often brought presents to those in authority; they durst
not in any sort reprove them for their faults, though they
reproached the poor out of measure for their failings. These
,vere not the natural consequences of the dignity of the priest-
hood; but unworthy anrl defiled per
ons, who, without true

Of the Pastoral Care.

119

merit, had been advanced to it, had brought it under reproach.
There had been no due care used in the choice of bishops,
and by the Ineans of bad choices the church was almost ruined,
through the gross ignorance and unworthiness of many in
that post. Certainly a worthy priest has no ambitious aspir-
ings; those who fly to this dignity from that base principle
will give a full vent to it when they have attained it. If
subnlissions, flatteries and money itself are necessary, all will
be employed; therefore it ,vas an indispen
ab]e preparation
to it, that one should be duly sensible of the greatness of
the trust, and of his own unfitness for it, that so he lnight
neither vehemently desire it, nor be uneasy if he should happen
to be turned out of it. A man may desire the office of a hishop.
when he considers it is a work of toil and labour; but nothing
is more pestiferous than to desire it because of the power and
authority that accompanies it. Such persons can never have
the courage that ought to shew itself in the discharge of t.heir
duty, in the reproving of sin, and venturing on the indignation
of great men. He confesses he had not yet been able to free
his mind fronl that di
ease and, till he had subdued it, he
judged himself bound to fly from all the steps to prefernlent:
for the nearer he should come to it, he reckoned the appetite
to it would rage the higher within hin1; whereas the way to
break it quite, was to keep hilllself at the greatest distance
fronl it. Nor had he that vi,?acity or lively activity of temper,
\vhich became this function; nor that softness and gentleness
of mind, that was necessary to prepare him to bear injuries,
to endure contempt, or to treat people with the mildness that
Christ has enjoined his followers, which he thought more
necessary to a bishop than all fastings or bodily nlortifications
whatsoever. And he runs out into a long digression upon
the great nlischiefs that a fretful and spiteful temper did to
him that was under the power of it, and to the church, when
a bishop was soured with it. It will often break out, it will
be luuûh observed and will give great scandal: for as a
little snloke will darken and hide the clearest object; so, if
all the rest of a bishop's life were brighter than the beanls
of the sun, a little blemish, a passion or indiscretion ,,,,ill darken
all, and make all the rest be forgotten. Allowances are not
lllade to thenl as to other lllen; the world expects great
things from them, as if they had not flesh and blood in them,

l
O

Of the Pastol'al Care.

not a IUllnan, but an angelical nature; therefore a bishop
ought, by a constant ,vatchfulness, and a perpetual strictness,
to be armed with armour of proof on an sides, that no wound
1uay hurt hinl. Stories will be easily believed to his disad-
vantage, and his clergy about him ,vill be ready to find them
out and to spread thenl abroad. He lays this do\vn for a
certain nlaxiIn, That every man knows hilnself best; and there-
fore whatsoever others might think of him, he who knew well
that he had not in hinlself those qualifications t.hat ,vere
necessary for this function ought not to suffer himself to be
detern1Ïned by that. After this, he lays open the great dis-
orders, factions, partialities and calumnies, ,vith which the
popular elections were at that. tiIne nlanaged, and the general
corruption that had overrun the \vhole church; so that the
strictness and authority, the gentleness and prudence, the
courage and patience, that ,vere necessary to a bishop, were
very hard to be found altogether. He instances, to rnake
out the difficulty of discharging the duty of a bishop, in that
single point, of managing the widows; who ,vere so nleddling,
so innnoral, so factious, and so c]au1orous, that this alone
,vas enough to CIl1ploy a bishop's prudence anrl exercise his
patience. Fr0111 that, and another article relating to it con-
cerning the virgins, he goes to consider the trouble, the diffi-
culties, and censures, that bishops were subject to, by the
hearing of causes that were referred to theul; nlany, pretending
they were wronged by their judgments, n1ade shipwreck of
the faith in revenge; and they pressed so hard upon the
bishop's tin1e, that it was not possible for him to content them
and discharge the other parts of his duty. Then he reckons
up the lllany visits that \vere expected from bishops, the
several civilities they ,vere obliged to; which it ,vas hard to
nlanaO'e so as not to be either too Hiuch or too little in them:
o
1natter of censure would be found in both extrelnes. Then
he reflects on the great tenlper that ought to be observed in
the final sentence of excomlnunication; between a gentleness
to vice on the one hand, and the driving lnen to despair and
apostasy on the other. And he concludes that book with re-
flections on the vast burden that follows the care of souls. In
his fourth book he runs through a variety of arts and profes-
sions, and shews how nutch skill and labour ,vas necessary for
everyone of theJl1: from ,vhence he concludes strongly, that

Of the Pastoral Gare.

]21

nIuch lTIOre was necessary for that which was the most important
of all others; so that no consideration whatsoever should make
a lTIan undertake it, if he did not find hilnself in sonle sort
qualified for it: nIore particularly he ought to be ready to give
an account of his faith, and to stop the 11l0uths of all gainsayers,
Jews, Gentiles, and heretics j in which the ignorance of many
bishops, carrying things fronl one extreme to another, had given
great occasion to errors. A bishop must understand the style
and phrasp of the scriptures well. From this he runs out
into a very noble panegyric upon St. Paul, in whoIu a pattern
was set to all bishops. His fifth book sets out the labour
of preaching, the temptations to vanity in it, the censures that
were apt to be made, if there was either too much or too little
art or eloquence in sernIons. To this he adds the great exact-
ness that a bishop should use in preserving his reputation, yet
without vanity, observing a due telnper between despising the
censures of the multitude, and the servile courting of applauses.
In his sermons he ought above all things to study to pdify,
but not to flatter his hearers, or to use vain arts to raise
esteem or adIuiration fronl them: since a bishop, whose Inind
was not purged from this disease, must go through many toss-
ings and be nluch disquieted: and upon that. he runs out so
fully upon the teInptations to desire applause for eloquence and
a readiness in speaking, that it plainly appears that he felt
that to be his own weak side. The sixth book is chiefly em-
ployed to shew how luuch a harder thing it ,vas to govern the
church, than to live in a desert under the severest mortifica-
tions."
I will go no further in this abstract; I hope I have drawn out
enough to give a curiosity to such as have not yet read those
e
cellent books, to do it over and over again: for to any that
has a true relish, thev can never be too often read: eyerv read-

.
ing win afford a fresh pleasure and new Inatter of instruction
and meditation. But I go, in the last place, to offer St. J eron1e"s
sense in this matter. I shall not bring together what lies scat-
tered through his works upon this argunlent, nor shall I quote
,vhat he writ in his youth upon it; ,vhen the natural flame of
his temper, joined with the heat of youth, Jnight make him
carry his thoughts further than what human nature could bear:
but I shall only give an abstract of that which he writ to Nepo-
tian on this head, in his old age, as he says himself, a good part

l

Of tlte Pastoral Care.

of that epistle being a reflection upon the different sense that
old age giyes of these things, froln that \vhich he felt during the
ardour of youth.
He begins \vith the title clerk, ,vhich signifying a lot or
portion, "illlports either that the clergy are God's portion, or
that God is their's, and that therefore they ought to possess
God and be possessed of him. lIe that has this portion must
be satisfied with it.: and pretend to nothing; but having food
and railuent, be therewith content, and as l11en carried their
crosses naked, so be ready to carry his. He must not seek
the advantages of this world in Christ's warfare. Some clerks
grew richer under Christ, \vho made hilnself poor, than ever
they could have been, if they had continued in the service of the
. '
god of tIns world; so that the church groaned under the wealth
of those ,vho were beggars before they forsook the ,vodd. Let
the strangers and the poor be fed at your tables, says he, and
in these you entertain Christ hinlself. \Vhen you see a traffick-
ing clerk, who frOln being poor grows rich, and from being
mean becolnes great, fly frolD hilll as from a plague. The con-
versation of such men corrupted good minds; they sought after
wealth and loved cOlllpany, the public places of conversation,
fairs and market-places; whereas a true clerk loves silence
and retireluent. Then he gives hilll a strong caution against
conversing \vith \VOlnen, and in particular against all those
mean conlpliances, which SOlne of those clerks used towards rich
WOlllen, by which they got not only presents during their lives,
but legacies by their wills. That abuse had grown to such an
intolerable excess that a la\v was made, excluding priests from
having any benefit by testaments. They were the only persons
that were put under that incapacity. Heathen priests ,vere
not included in the la\v, yet he does not cornplain of the law,
but of those, \vho had given just occasion for nlaking it. The
laws of Christ h
d been contemned, so it was necessary to
restrain them by human laws. It was the glory of a bishop
to provide for the poor, but it \vas the reproach of a priest
to study the enriching of himself. He reckons up many in-
stances of the base and abject flattery of SOlne clerks, to gain
upon rich and dying persons, and to get their estates. Next
he exhorts hiln to the constant and diligent study of the scrip-
tures; but to be sure to do nothing that should contradict his
discourses, or give occasion to his hearers to answer him thus,

Oj
the Pastoral Care.

IfZ3

\Vhy do not you do as you say
Then he speaks of the
union that ought to be between the bishop and his clergy:
the affection on the one side, and the obedience on the other.
In preaching, he must not study to draw applauses, but groans,
fronl his hearers. Their tears was the best sort of commenda-
tion of a sennon, in which great care was to be taken to avoid
the methods of the stage, or of common declamations. Great
use was to be nlarte of the scriptures. The mysteries of our
faith and the sacralnents of our religion ought to be well ex-
plained: grimaces and solemn looks are often nlade use of to
give weight and authority to that which has none in itself. He
charges hiln to use a plain sinIplicity in his habit., neither shew-
ing too 1111.1ch nicety, on t.he one hand, that savours of luxury,
nor such a neglect, on the other, as nlight savour of affec-
tation. He recommends particularJy the care of the poor to
hinl. Then he speaks of c1ergYluen 's nlutually preferring one
another; considering that there are different members in one
body, and that everyone has his own function and peculiar
talent: and that therefore no man ought to overvalue his own,
or undervalue his neighbour's. A plain clerk ought not to value
himself upon his sinlplicity and ignorance, nor ought a learned
and eloquent man to measure his holiness by his rhetoric; for
indeed, of the two, a holy simplicity is much more valuable
than unsanctified eloquence. He speaks against the affectation
of Inagnificence and riches in the worship of God, as things
more beconling the ponlp of the Jewish religion, than the
hUInility of the spiritual doctrine of Christ. He falls next
upon the high and sumptuous way of living of some priests.
\vhich they pretended was necessary to procure them the re-
spect that \vas due to thenl, and to give them interest and
credit: but the world, at least the better part of it, would
always value a priest 1110re for his holiness than for his wealth.
He charges hiln strictly to avoid all the excesses of ,vine, and,
in opposition to that, to fast much, but without superstit.ion, or
a nicety in the choice of such things as he was to live on in the
time of fasting. Some shewed a trifling superstition in those
nlatters, as well as vanity and affectation that was indeed scan-
dalous. Plain and siIuple fasting ,vas despised, as not singular
nor ponlpou8 enough for their pride. For it, seenlS by what
follows, that the clergy was then corrupted with the saIne dis-
orders, with which our Saviour had reproached the Pharisees,

1
4

Of tlte Pastural Care.

\vhile they did not study inward purity, so luuch as outward
appearances; nor the pleasing of God, so much as the praise
of men. But here he stops short, for it seeIns he went too
near the describing some enlÏnent man in that age. FroDl that
he turns to the government of a prie..t's tongue: he ought
neither to dfltract fronl anyone hiulself, nor to encourage such
as did: the very hearkening to slander was very unbecoming.
They ought to visit their people, Lut not to report in one place
what they observed in another; in that they ought to be both
discreet and secret. Hippocrates adjured those that canle to
study from him, to be secret, grave, and prudent in their whole
behaviour; but how llluch more did this beconle those, to whoIn
the care of souls was trusted! be advises him to visit his people
rather in their afflictions than in their prosperity; not to go
too often to their feasts, \vhich must needs lessen hilll that
does it too lunch. He, in the last place, speaks very severely
of those, who applied the wealth of the church to their own
private uses. I t was theft to defraud a fi'iend, but it \'I,yas
sacrilege to rob the church. I t was a crilne that exceeded
the cruelty of highwaynlen, to receive that which belonged
indeed to the poor, and to withdraw any part of it to one's
private occasions, He concludes with this excuse, That he
had nanled no person; he had not \vrit to reproach others,
but to give thelll warning. And therefore, since he had treated
of the vices of the clergy in general ternlS, if any ,vas offended
,,,ith hinl for it, he thereby plainly confessed that he himself
was guilty."

CHAP. V.

An account of S01J
e canons in dirers ages of the church, relating to
the duties and lahours of tlte clerp!J.
I "TILL go no further in gathering quotations, to shew the
sense that the fathers had in these nlatters; these are both so
full and so express, that I can find none Inore plain and more
forcible. I shall to these add some of the canons that have been
made, both in the best and in the worst ages of the church,
obliging bishops and other clerks to residence and to be con-
tented with one cure. In that at Sardica that met in the year
3-1.7, consisting of above three hundred and fifty bishops, two
canons were Blade (the 11th and lQth) against "bishops who,

OJ the Pa..
toral Care.

1
5

without any urgent necessity or pressing business, should be
absent fronl their church above three weeks, and thereby grieve
the flock that was conunitted to their care :" and even this
provision was Inade, because bishops had estates lying out
of their dioceses; therefore they were allowed to go and look
after them, for three weeks; "in which tinle they were to per-
fornl the divine function in the churches to which those estates
belonged."
l\Iany provisions were al:so made against such as went to
court, unless they were called by the eIllperOrs, or went by a
deputation froin the church upon a public account. There is not
anyone thing Blore frequently provided against, than that any
of the clergy should leave their church, and go to any other
church, or live any where else without the bishop's leave and
consent: nor is there any thing clearer fronl all the canons of
the first ages, than that they considered the clergy of every
church as a body of Inen dedicated to its service; that lived
upon the oblations of the faithful, and that was to labour in the
several parts of the ecc]esiastical nlinistry, as they should be
ordered by the bishop.
In the fourth general council at Chalcedon, pluralities do first
appear: for they are nlentioned and condenlned in the 10th
canon, which runs thus: "N 0 clerk shall, at the sanle tiIne,
belong to two churches; to wit, to that in which he was first
ordained, and that to which, as being the greater, he has gone,
out of a desire of vainglory
for such as do so ought to be sent
back to that church, in which they were at first ordained, and
to serve there only: but if any has been translated froin one
church to another, he shall receive nothing out of his fornler
church, nor out of any chapel or alnlshouse belonging to it:
and such as shall transgress this definition of this general
council, are condemned by it to be degraded." I go next to a
worse scene of the church, to see what provision
,vere Inade in
this Inatter about the eighth centur T, both in the east and in the
west: the worse that those ages and councils were, it makes the
argunlent the
tronger; since even bad IHen in bad times could
not justify or suffer such an abuse.
In the year 787, the second council of Nice was held, that
settled the worship of Î1nages. The 15th canon of it runs thus:
" No clerk shall fronl henceforth be reckoned in two churches,"
(for every church had a catalogue of its clergy, by which the

1
6

Of the Pastoral Oare.

dividends were nlade) "for this is the character of trafficking
and covetousness, and wholly estranged frolu the ecclesiastical
custom. 'Ve have heard from our Saviour's own words, that
no man can serve t leO 'IItJasters; for 1M3 will either hate tIle one,
and love tIle other; or cleave to the one, and desJ}ise the other.-
Let ever!! one therefore, according to the apostle's \vords, con-
tinue in the vocation, 'l.n which he is called, and serve in one
church: for those things which filthy lucre has brought into
church-matters are contrnry to God. There is a variety of
emploYlnents, for acquiring the necessary supplies of this life:
let everyone that pleases nlake use of these, for furnishing
himself: for the apostle says, Tllese Ilands mini
tered to my
necessiNes, and to those that u' re witll 1ne. This shall be the
rule in this town, which is guarded by God; but in relllote
villages an indulgence may be granted, by reason of the want
of men." It is upon this that the canonists do found the first
of the two reasons, for which only they allow that a dispensation
for holding t\\?O benefices may be lawful: one is, the want of fit
and sufficient BIen for the service of the ch urch. The founda-
tion of the other will be found in the canon, which I shall next
set down.
It is the 49th canon of the sixth council at Paris, under Lewis
the Good, in the year 829. This council canle after a great
many that had been held by Charles the Great and his son, for
purging out abuses and for restoring the prilnitive discipline.
These councils sat at Frankfort,
Ientz, Aken, Rheinls, Chalons,
Tours, Arles; and this of l>aris was the last that was held upon
that design. In these, all the primitive canons relating to the
lives and labours and the gOVf'rnlnent of the clergy \
ere renewed.
Among others is that of Chalcedon formerly mentioned; but it
seenlS there was no occasion given to nlake a special one against
pluralities, before this held at Paris, which consisted of four
provinces of France; Rheillls, Sens, Tours, and Rouen. The
canon runs thus: Ie As it becomes every city to have its proper
bishop;
o it is also beconling and necessary that every church,
dedicated to God, should have its proper priest. Yet covet-
ousness, \vhich is idolatry, (of which we are nluch ashanled)
has so got hold of some priests and caught them captives in
its fetters that they, blinded with it, know neithpr whither
they go, nor what they ought to be or do; so that they, being
kindled with the firo of covetousness and forgetful of the

Of the Pastoral Care. 1
7
priestly dignity, neglecting the care of those churches to which
they were pro1110ted, do, by SOllle present given or promised,
procure other churches not only frOlTI clerks, but froIl1 layn1en,
in which they do against law undertake to perfortn the 111inistry
of Christ. It is not known whether t.heir bishops are con-
sulted in this IHatter or not; if they are, without doubt their
bishops becolne partakers of their sin: but if they presunle
to do it without consulting them, yet it is to be imputed to
the bishop's negligence. There is scarce a priest to be found
who warreth worthily and diligently in that church, in which
he is dedicated to the divine service: but how Dluch less will
he be able to do that worthily in two, three, or 1110re churches!
This practice brings a reproach on the Christian religion,
and a confusion on the priestly order. The covetousness
of the clergy is censured by their people; the worship of God
is not performed in places consecrated to hill1; and, as was
observed in the fornler chapters, the souls of the people are
thereby much endangered. 'Vherefore we do all unanilllously
appoint, that no bishop suffer this to be done in his parish
(or diocese, these words being used pron1Ïscuously) any more;
and we decree, that every church that has a congregation
belonging to it, and has nleans by which it lllay subsist, shall
have its proper priest; for, if it has a congregation, but has
not 111eans by which it lllay subsist, that 111atter is left to the
bishop, to consider whether it can or ought to be supported
or not. But it is specially reco1l1111ended to their care, to
see that, under this pretence, no priest may, out of covetousness,
hold two or three churches, in which he cannot serve nor
perfornl the worship of God." The last provisions in this
canon are the grounds upon which the canonists found the
second just cause of dispensing with pluralities, which is, when
a church is so poor that the profits \vhich arise out of it
cannot afford a competent nlaintenance to a clerk; bu t then the
question arises, what is a competent maintenance
This they
do all bring very low, to that which can just 111aintain hinl: and
they have so clogged it, that no pretence should be given, by so
general a word, to covetousness, voluptuousness or an1bition.
And indeed while we have so 111any poor churches :1rl1ong us,
instead of restraining such pluralities, it were rather to be wished
that it were made easier than by law it is at present, either to
unite thenl together, or to make one Inan capable of serving two

lQ8

OJ the Pastoral Care.

churches, when both benefices lnake but a tolerable subsistence,
rather than to be forced to have a greater number of clerks than
can be decently n1aintained; since it is certain that it is more
for the interest of religion and for the good of souls, to have one
worthy n1an serving two churches, and dividing hilllself between
them, than to have clerks for lllany benpfices, whose scandalous
provisions Blake too many scandalous incuIl1bents, which is one
of the greatest diseases aud llliseries of t.his church.
But a due care in this lllatter has no relation to the accuillula-
tion of livings at great distances (everyone of which can well
support an inculubent) upon the saine person, }Herely for the
making of a fan1ily, for the supporting of luxury or vanity, or
for other base and covetous .iIesigns. But I go next to two of
the worst councils that ever carripd the nan1e of General ones,
the third and the fourth of the Lateran, that we Inay see what
was the sense of the twelfth and thirteent.h centuries in this
lliatter, notwithstanding the corruption of those ages. The
thirt.eenth canon of the third Lateran council runs thus: "For-
asmuch as sonle, whose covetousness has no bounds, endeavour
to procure to theillselves divers ecclesiastical dignities and
several parish churches, against the provisions of the holy
canons; by which llleans, though they are scarce able to
perform the office of one, they do clailn the provisions due to
111any: we do severely require, that this n1ay not be done for
the future; and therefore, when any church or ecclesiastical
ministry is t.o be given, let such a one be sought out for it as
shall reside upon the place, and shall be able to discharge the
care in his own person: if otherwise, he who receives any
such benefice contrary to the canons, shall lose it, and he who
gave it shall likewise lose his right of patronage." 1'his canon
not being found effectual to cure so great an abuse, the twenty-
ninth canon of the fourth council in the Lateran was penned in
these words: " It was with great care forbidden in the council
of the Lateran, that anyone should have divers ecclesiastical
dignities and 1110re parish churches than one, which is con-
trary to the holy canons. Otherwise he that took theIll should
lose thein, and he that gave thmn should lose the right of
giving thenl. But by reason of some 111en'l
presumption and
covetousness, that decree has had little or no effect hitherto;
we therefore, desiring to n1ake a 1110re evident and express
provision against these abuses, do appoint: That whosoever

Of tlte l
asto'ral COI'e.

129

shall receive any benefice, to which a care of souls is annexed,
shall thereupon, by law. be deprived of any other such benefice
that he fornlcrly had; and if he endeavours still to hold it, he
shall lose the other likewise; and he, to whom the right of the
patronage of his first benefice did belong, is enlpowered to
bestow it, upon his accepting another: and if he delays the
bestowing it above three months, not only shall his right de-
volve to another, according to the decree of the council in
the Lateran, but he shall be obliged to restore to the church, to
which the benefice belongs, all that which he hinlself received
during the yacancy. This 'we do likewise decree as to parson-
ages and do further appoint, That no luan shall preslline to hold
Dlore dignities or parsonages than one in the san1e church, even
though they have no cure of souls annexed to them. Provided
always, that dispensations 11lay be granted by the apostolical see,
to persons of high birth, or eminently learned (sublirnes et litera-
tas personas) or dignified in universities, (for so t.he \yord literati
was understood) who upon occasion may be honoured with greater
benefices." I t ,vas by this last proviso, that this, as well
as all other canons made against these abuses, becaine quite
ineffectual; for this had no other effect, but the obliging people
to go to Rome for dispensations; so that this canon, instead
of reforming the abuse, did really establish it; for the quali-
fications here D1entioned were so far stretched that any person,
that had obtained a degree in any university, caDle within the
character of lettered or learned; and all those
that were in any
dependance upon great men, caIne likewise within the other qua-
lification of high rank and birth.
This was the practice al1l0ng us during the reign of Henry
VIII; and he, when he was beginning to threaten the see of
Ronle in the matter of his divorce, got that act to be passed,
which has been the occasion of so much scandal and disorder in
this church. It seems to one that considers it well, that the
clauses which qualify pluralities were grafted upon another bill
against spiritual persons taking estates to farIn, with which that
act begins; and that in the carrying that on, such a telllper
shewed itself, that the other was added to it. It contained
indeed a linlitation of the papal authority; but so nlany provi-
sions are nlade, that the nobility, clergy, and the n10re eminent
of the gentry, knights in particular, were so taken care of, that
it could Dleet with no great opposition in the parlialuent
but

K

130

Qfthe Pastoral Care.

from the state of that tinIe, and froIH several clauses in the act
itself, it appears it ,vas only intended to be a provisional act,
though it is conceived in the style of a perpetual la\v. By it
then, and by it only, (for I have not been able to find that any
such act ever passed in any kingdoln or state in Christendom,
lllany having been Blade plainly to the contrary in }1-'rance,
declaring the obligation to residence to be of divine right) ,vere
the abuses, that had risen out of the canon of one of the worst
councils that ever "as, authorized and settled among us, as far
as a la\\' of the land can settle theill. But, after all, it is to be
considered that a law does indeed change the legal and political
nature of things; it gives a title to a freehold and property; but
no hunlan law can change he In oral or divine laws and cancel
their authority. If a false religion is settled by la,v, it becolues
indeed the legal religion, but is not a whit the truer for that:
and therefore if t.he laws of the gospel oblige clerks to personal
labour, as was fOrIllerly nlade out, an act of parliament may
indeed qualify a man in law to enjoy the benefice, ,vhether he
labours in it or llOt; but it can never dissolve his obligation to
residence and personal labour.
But to bring this chapter to an end, I shall only add thrée
decrees that ,vere nlade by the council of Trent in this matter,
that so it nlay appear what provisions they made against abuses,
,yhich are still supported by laws :llnong us. A part of the first
chapter of reforIuation, that passed in the sixth session, runs
thus: "This synod adnlonishes all that are set over any cathedral
churches, by what title soever, that they, taking heed to theln-
selves, and to all the flock, over ,,,hich the Holy Ghost has set
them to gOY ern the church of God, which he has purchased with
his o\vn blood, do watch and labour and fulfil their ministry, as
the apostle has cOllunanded: and they nlust know that they
cannot do this, if, as hirelings, eley forsake the flock commit-
ted to thelll and do not watch over those sheep, whose blood
will be required at their hands in the last day: since it is
certain that no excuse will be received, if the ,volf devours
the sheep, ,vhen the shepherd does not look after thenl. Yet
since, to our great grief, it is found that SOine at this tiIHe
neglect the salvation of their soul
and, preferring earthly
things to heavenly, are still about courts; and forsaking the
fold, and the care of the sheep trusted to theIn, do give
t.hmuselves wholly to earthly and telnporal cares: therefore

Of tltel:J as t(}/'al (;(ire.

131

n the ancient canons, which by the iniquity of tinles and
the corruption
of men, were fallen into desuetude, were renewed
against nOll-residents." To which several compulsory clauses
are added, which are indeed slight ones, because the execution
of thenl was entirely put into the pope's power, and the pun-
ishnlent did only lie, if the bishop ,vas absent six 11lonths in
a year.
This decree did not satisfy those who moved for a reformation;
so a fuller one was 111ade in the 23d session, 1st chap. in these
,vords: "'Yhereas, by the law of God, all those
to whom the
care of souls is COIllll1itted, are commanded to know their sheep,
to offer sacrifice for then1, to feed them by the preaching of
the word of God, the adlninistration of the sacraments, and
by the exan1ple of a good life, to have a tender care of the
poor
and all other miserable persons, and to lay themselves
out upon all the other functions of the pastoral care: which
cannot be perforlned by those, who do not watch oyer nor
are present with their flock; therefore t.his synod does adn10nish
and exhort thelu that they, ren1elubering the divine precepts,
and being lnade an exall1ple to their flock, may feed and govern
them in righteousness and truth. Upon this they declare, that
all bishops, even cardinals thelusehes, are obliged to personal
residence in their church and diocese, and there to discharge
their duty, unless upon SOllle special occasions." By which
indeed a door is opened to as many corruptions as the court
of ROlne thinks fit to dispense with. Yet without this none
nwy be absent above two, or at lnost three months in the whole
Jear; and even that l11ust be upon a just reason, and with-
out any prejudice to the flock; "And they leave this upon
the consciences of such as withdraw for so long a time, who
they hope will be religious and tender in this matter, since all
hearts are known to God, and it is no sluall sin to do his work
negligently." They declare the breaking this decree to be a
l110rtal sin
and that such as are guilty of it cannot with a good
conscience enjoy the Inean profits during such their absence,
but are bound to lay thelu out 011 the fabric, or give then1 to the
poor: and all these provisions and punishll1ents they do also
Inake against the inferior clergy, that enjoyed any benefice to
which the care of souls was annexed; and the execution of that
is put in the bishop's hands, who is required not to dispense
KQ

13Q

Of tlte Pastoral ()a're.

,vith their residence, unless upon a very ,veighty occasion,
::tbove two lllonths; and in this they give the bishop so full an
authority that no appeal or prohibition was to lie against his
sentence upon non-residents, even in the court of Ronle. By
these decrees, though t.he papal party hindered a forlnal decla-
ration of the obligation to residence by divine right, that so room
nlight be still left for the dispensing power; yet they went very
near it; they applied passages of scripture to it, and laid the
charge of mortal sin upon it.
In the last place, I shall set down the decree that ,vas made
in the 24th session, chap, 17, against pluralities, in these words:
"vVhereas the ecclesiastical order is perverted, when one clerk
has the offices of 111any conunitted to hinl, it ,vas therefore
,veIl provided by the holy canons, that no nlan should be put
into two churches. But In any, led by their depraved covet-
ousness, deceiving themselves, but not God, are not ashalued
to elude those good constitutions by several artifices, and
obtain luore benefices than one at the same time: therefore
the synod, being desirous to rèstore a proper discipline for
the government of churches, does, by this decree, by ,vhich
all persons, of what rank soever, even cardinals themselves,
shall be bound, appoint, that, for the future, one 111an shall
be capable of receiving only one ecclesiastical benefice. But
if that is not sufficient for the decent luaintenance of hinl
that has it, then it shall be lawful to give hiln another simple
benefice, provided that both benefices do not require personal
residence. This rule nlust be applied not only to cathedrals,
but to all other benefices, ,vhether secular, regular, or such
as are held by conlmendalll, or of ,,,hat sort or order soever
they lllay be. And as for such as do at present possess
either lllore parish churches than one, or one cathedral and
another parish church, they shaLl be forced, notwithstanding
any dispensations or unions that lllay have been granted thenl
for term of life, to resign within the 8pace of six 1110nth8
.all they do now hold, except one cathedral, or one parochial
church; otherwise all their benefices, ,vhether parochial or
others 8hall be by law esteemed void, and as such tI1E
y shall
be disposed of to others. Nor may those who formerly en-
joyed thelll receive the lllean profits after the terln of six
l110nths with a good conscience. But the synod wishes that

Oj'tlte Pastoral Cal'e.

lSS

some due provIsIon nlight be made, such as the pope shall
think fit, for the necessities of those who are hereby obliged
to resign."
These were the decrees that were made by that pretended
general council: and wheresoever that council is received, they
are so seldom dispensed with that the scandal of non-residence
or plurality does no nlore cry in that church. In France, though
that council is not received, yet such regard is had to primitive
rules that it is not heard of aillong them. Such exanlples are
to us reproaches indeed, and that of the worst sort, when the
argument, from the neglect of the pastoral care, which gave so
great an advantage at first to the reformers, and turned the
hearts of the world so much frolll their careless pastors to those
who shewed nlore zeal and concern for theIn, is now against us
and lies the other way. If the nature of man is so nlade that it
is not possible but that ojJènces '{nust conle, yet 'Woe he to kiln hy
whom they come.
CHAP. VI.
Of the declared sense and rules of the church of England in this
'Jnattel' .
'VHATSOE,TER may be the practice of any anlong us, and
whatsoever may be the force of some laws that were lll:1de in bad
t.inIes, and perhaps upon bad ends, yet we are sure the sense of
our church is very different: she intended to raise the obligation
of the pastoral care higher than it ,vas before; and has laid out
this matter more fully and more strictly than any church ever
did in any age, as far at least as my inquiries call carry me.
The truest indication of the sense of a church is to be taken
from her language in her public Offices: this is that, which she
speaks the nlost frequently and the most publicly; even the
articles of doctrine are not so nluch read and so often heard, as
her liturgies are. And as this way of reasoning has been of late
nlade use of with great advantage against the church of Rorne,
to make her accountable for all her public Offices in their plain
and literal meaning; so will I Inake use of it on this occasion:
it is the stronger in our case, whose Offices being in a tongue
understood by the people, the argulnent fron1 thenl does more
evidently conclude here.
In general then this is to be observed, that no church, before
ours at the Reforn1ation, took a formal sponsion at the altar
froln such as were ordained deacons and priests: that ,vas indeed

134

Of the Pastoral Care.

always dell1anded of bishops, but neither in the Ron1an nor
Greek Pontifical do ,ve find any such solemn vows and prolnises
denlanded or made by priests or deacons, nor does any print
of this appear in the Constitutions, the pretended Areopagite,
or the ancient canons of the church. Bishops ,vere asked n1any
questions, as appears by the first canon of the fourth council of
Oarthage. They were required to profess their faith and to
promise to obey the canons, which is still observed in the Greek
church. The questions are lllore express in the ROlnan Ponti-
fical; and the firost of these delnands a pronlÏse, That they will
instruct their people in the Christian doctrine, according to the
holy scriptures: ,vhich was the foundation upon ,vhich our
bishops justified the Reformàtion ; since the first and chief of all
their vows binding then1 to this, it was to take place of all
others; and if any other parts of those sponsions contradicted
this, such as their obedience and adherence to the see of Rome,
they said that these "'ere to be limited by this.
All the account I can give of this general practice of the
church, in demanding prolnises only of bishops, and not of the
other orders, is this; that they considered the governn1ent of the
priests and deacons as a thing that was so entirely in the bishop,
as it ,vas indeed by the first constitution, that it was not t.hought
necessary to bind them to their duty by any public vows or pro-
nlises, (though it is very probable that the bishops n1ight take
pri,'ate engagements of then1 befol'e they ordained them) it being
in the bishop't s power to restrain and censure thenl in a very ab-
solute and sumlnary ,vay. But the case ,vas quite different in
bishops, \vho ,vere an equal by their rank and order; none having
any authority over thelli by any divine law or the rules of the
gospel; the power of prilnatps and n1etropolitans having arisen
out of ecclesiastical and civil la\vA, and not being equaIly great
in all countries and provinces; and therefore it was nlore neces-
sary to proceed with greater caution, and to denland a further
security froln then}.
But the ne\v face of the constitution of the church, by which
priests were not under so absolute a subjection to their bishops
as they had been ut first, which was occasioned partly by the
tyranny of SOllIe bishops, to "hich bounds were set by laws and
canons, partly by their having a special property and benefice of
their own, and so not being nlaintained by a dividend out of the
common stock of the church as at first, had 80 altered the state

Of the Pastoral Oal"e. 13:J
of things, that indeed no part of the episcopacy was left entirely
in the bishop "s hands, but the power of ordination. This is still
free and unrestrained; no writs nor prohibitions frOlTI civil
courts and no appeals have clogged or fettered this, as they
have done all the other parts of their authority. Therefore our
Refornlers, observing all this, took great care in reforming the
Office of ordination; and they made both the charge that is
given, and the promises that are to be taken, to be very express
and solelnn, that so both the ordainers and the ordained Inight
be rightly instructed in their duty, and struck with the awe and
dread that they ought to be under in so holy and so important
a performance. And though all ll1ankind does easily enough
agree in this, that proll1ises ought to be religiously observed
which men Inake to one another, how apt soever they may be to
break them; yet, to make the sense of these promises go deeper,
they are ordered to be n1ade at the altar, and in the nature of
a stipulation or covenant; the church conferring orders, or in-
deed rather Christ, by the Ininistry of the offices that he has
constituted, conferring theIn upon those promises that are first
ll1ade. The forms of ordination in the Greek church, which we
have reason to believe are less changed and more conforl1l to
the primit.ive patterns than those used by the Latins, do plainly
import that the church only declared the divine vocation. "The
grace of God, that perfects the feeble and heals the weak, pro-
motes this man to be a deacon, a priest or a bishop:" where
nothing is expressed as conferred, but only as declared; so our
church, by making our Saviour's words the forln of ordination,
must be construed to intend by that, that it is Christ only that
sends, and that the bishops are only his 111inisters to pronounce
his mission: otherwise it is not so easy to justify the use of this
form, " Receive the I-IoIy Ghost;" which as it was not used in
the primitiye church, nor by the ROl11an, till within these five
hundred years, so in that church it is not. the form of ordina-
tion, but a, benediction given by the bishop singly, after the
orders are given by the bishop and the other priests joining
with hin1: for this is done by hinl alone as the final consununa-
tion of the action. But our using this as the form of ordination
shews, that we consider ourselves only as the instruments that
speak in Christ's name and words; insinuating thereby that he
only ordains. Pursuant to this, in the ordaining of priests, the
questions are put in the name of God and of his church; which

laG

Of tlte j:Jastol'al Cat'e.

makes the ans\vers to theln to be of the nature of VO\VS and
oaths; so that. if luen do luake conscience of any thing, and if it
is possible to strike terror into theul, the fol'lus of our ordinations
are the Inost effectually contrived for that end that could have
been fran1ed.
The first question that is put in the Office of deacons is, " Do
JOu t.rust that you are inwardly Inoved by the l-Ioly Ghost to
take upon you this office, to serve God for the proilloting of his
glory, and the edifying of his people r" To which he is to answer,
" I trust so." This is put only in this Office, and not repeated
after\Vard
, it being justly supposed that where one has had this
nlotion, all the other orrlers Inay be in time conferred pursuant
to it: but this is the first step by which a man dedicates him-
self to the service of God, and therefore it ought not to be
n1ade by any that has not this divine vocation. Certainly, the
answer t.hat is Inade to this ought to be well considered; for
if any says, " I trust so," that yet knows nothing of any such
motion, and can give no account of it, he lies to the Holy Ghost,
and nlakes his first approach to the altar with a lie in his mouth,
and that not to men, but to God: and ho\v can one expect to be
received by God, or be sent and sealed by him, that dares do a
thing of so crying a nature, as to pretend that he trusts he has
this motioll, \vho knows that he has it not, who has made no
reflections on it, and, when asked what he means by it, can say
nothing concerning it, and yet he dares venture to conle and say
it before God and his church
If a n1an pretends a cOlnn1ission
fron1 a prince, or indeed from any person, and acts in his nan10
upon it, the la\v will fall on hÎIn and punish him: and shall the
great God of heaven and earth be thus vouched and his motion
be pretended to by those, \VhOnl he has neither called or sent?
And shall not he reckon with those ,yho dare to run without
his mission, pretending that they trust they have it, when per-
haps they understand not the inlportance of it; nay, and perhaps
sonle laugh at it, as an enthusiastical question, who yet will go
through with the office? They C0111e to Christ for the loaves;
they hope to live by the altar and the gospel, how little soever
they serve at the one, or preach the other; therefore they will
say any thing that is necessary for qualifying then1 to this,
"hether true or false. It cannot be denied but that this ques-
tion carries a sound in it that scenlS a little too high, and. that
l)}ay rather ra.ise scruples, as ilnporting sOluewhat that is not

OJ'tlw Pastoral Care.

137

ordinary, and that seelUS to savour of enthusiasnl; and there-
fore it was put here, ,vithout doubt, to give great caution to
such as conle to the service of the church. :\Iany may be able
to answer it truly according to the sense of the church, who
nlay Jet have great doubting in themselves concerning it; but
every fllan that has it not, must needs know that he has it not.
The true meaning of it must be resolved thus: The motives
that ought to deternline a man to dedicate himself to the minis-
tering in the church, are a zeal for pronloting the glory of God,
for raising the honour of the Christian religion, for the nlaking
it to be better understood, and more submitted to. He that
loves it, and feels the excellency of it in hilnself, that has a due
sense of God's goodness in it to Inankind, and that is entirely
possessed with that, will feel a zeal within hinlself for communi-
cating that to others; that so the only true God and Jeslls Cltrist
whom he has sent, may be more universally glorified and served
by his creatures. And when to this he has added a concern for
the souls of men, a tenderness for them, a zeal to rescue thenl
from endless nlisery, and a desire to put then} in the way to
everlasting happiness; and, fronl these Illotives, feels in hil11self
a desire to dedicate his life and labours to those ends; and, in
order to thenl, studies to understand the scriptures, and more
particularly the Ne,v Testament, that fronl thence he may fornl
a true notion of this holy religion, and so be an able nlinistel' of
it: this l11an, and only this Ulan, so Inoved and so qualified, can,
in truth and with a good conscience answer, That he trusts he
is inwardly moved by the Holy Ghost: and everyone that ven-
tures on the saying it without this, is a sacrilegious profaner of
the nalue of God and of his holy Spirit: he breaks in upon his
church, not to feed it, but to rob it; and it is certain that he
who begins with a lie, ll1ay be sent by the father of lies; but he
cannot be thought to enter in by the door, who prevaricates in
the first word that he says in order to his admittance.
But if the Office of deacons offers no other particular nlatter of
reflection, the Office of ordaining priests has a great deal; indeed
the whole of it is calculated to the best notions of the best tinIes.
In the charge that is given, the figures of watchmen, shepherds,
and stewards, are pursued, and the places of scripture relating
to these are applied to them: "They are required to have
always printed in their remelnbrance, ho,v great a treasure
was conlnlitted to their charge: the church and congregation,

138

01 the Pastoral Care.

\vhom they Jnust serve, is his spouse and body. Then the
greatness of the fault of their negligence, and the horrible
punishluent that "Till follow upon it, is set before them in case
the church or any nlenlber of it take any hurt or hinderance
by reason of it. They are charged never to cease their labour,
care and diligence, till they have done all that lieth in then1,
according to their bounden duty, towards aU such as are or
shall be comlnitted to their care, to bring thenl to a ripeness
and perfection of age in Christ. They are again urged to
consider ,vith ,vhat care and study they ought to apply them-
selves to this; to pray earnestly for God's holy Spirit, and to
be studious in reading and learning of the scriptures; and to
forsake and set aside, as much as they may, all ,,"orldly cares
and studies. I t is hoped that they have clearly deterlnined,
by God"s grace, to give themselves wholly to t.his vocation;
and, as much as lieth in theIn, to apply thenlselves wholly to
this one thing, and t.o draw aU their cares and studies this way
and to this end; and that by their daily reading and ,veighing
the scriptures, they ,,,ill study to ,vax riper and stronger in
their n1inistry." These are some of the ,vords of the prepara-
tory charge given by the bishop, when he ent.ers upon this office,
before he puts the questions that follow to those who are to be
ordained. 'Vhat greater force or energy could be put in ,vords,
than is in these? Or ,,,here could any be found that are more
,veighty and Inore express, to she,v the entire dedication of the
\vhole lnan, of his t.ilne and labours, and the separating himself
from all other cares to follow' this one thing with all possible
application and zeal? l'here is nothing in any office, ancient or
modern, that I ever sa'v, which is of this force, so serious and
so solemn; and it plainly ilnplies not only the sense of the
church upon this ,vhole matter, but likewise their design who
framed it, to oblige priests, notwithstanding any relaxation that
the la,vs of the land had stiU favoured, by the firmest and
sacredest bonds possible, to attend upon their flocks, and to do
their duties t.o them. For a bare residence, without labouring,
is but a mock residence; since the obligation to it is in order to
a further end, that they nlay watch over and feed their flock,
and not enjoy their benefices only as farnls or as livings,
according to the gross but conUllon abuse of our language, by
which the names of cures, parishes or benefices, which are the
ecclesiastical names, are now swaUo\ved up into that of living,

Of the Pastoral Care.

139

,vhich carries a carnal idea in the very sound of the ,vord, and I
doubt a nlore carnal effect on the nlinds of both clergy and laity.
'Vhatever we Inay be, our church is free of this reproach;
since this charge carries their duty as high and as home as any
thinO' that can be laid in words. And it is further to be C011-
o
sidered that this is not of the nature of a private exhortation,
in which a man of lively thoughts and a warnl fancy may be apt
to carry a point too high; it is the constant and uniform voice
of the church. Nor is it of the nature of a charge, which is only
the sense of hilu that gi'Tes it, and to \vhich the person to whom
it is given is only passive: he hears it, but cannot be bound by
another man.s thoughts or words, further than as the nature of
things hinds him. But orders are of the nature of a covenant
between Christ and the clerks, in which so many privileges and
powers are granted on the one part, and so nlany duties and
offices are promised on the other; and this charge being the
preface to it, it is stipulatory. It declares the whole covenant
of both sides; and so those who receive orders upon it are as
much bound by every part of it, and it beconles as much their
own act, as if they had pronounced or pron1ised it all in the nlost
fonnal words that could be; and indeed the answers and pro-
nlises that are afterwards made are only the application of this to
the particular persons, for giving theln a plainer and livelier
sense of their obligation, which Jet, in itself, was as entire
and strong, whether they had 111ade any promise by words of
their own or not.
But to put the matter out of doubt. let us look a little further
into the Office, to the prolllises that they make ,yith relation to
their flock, even to such as are or shall be con1mitted to their
charge. They pronlise, "That, by the help of the Lord, they
will give their faithful diligence always so to minister the doc-
trine and sacraments and the discipline of Christ, as the Lord
hath comlnanded, and as this realnl hath received the same,
according to the comnlandn1ent of God: so that they nlay
teach the people comnlitted to their care and charge with all
diligence to keep and observe the same." This does plainly
bind to personal labour ; the mention that is made of" what this
realm has received" being limited by what follows, "according
to the comluandn1ent of God," shews, that bv this is nleant the
rcfonnation of the doctrine and worship that ,vas then received
and established by Jaw; by which these general ,vords, " the

140

Of the Pastoral Care.

doctrine, and sacraments, and discipline of Christ," to which
all parties pretend, are determined to our con'Stitution; so that
though there ,vere sonle disorders anlong us, not yet provided
against by the laws of the land, this does not secure a reserve
for them. This is so slight a remark, that I should be ashall1ed
to have made it, if it had not been urged to Inyself, slight as it
is, to justify, in point of conscience, the claiming all such
privileges or qualifications as are still allo,yed by la,v. But I go
on to the other proluises: the clerk says, "He will, by the help
of God, be ready, ,vith all faithful diligence, to banish and
drive away all erroneous and strange doctrines, contrary to
God's ,vord, and to use both public and private admonitions
and exhortations, as well to the sick as to the whole within his
cure, as need shall require and as occasion shall be given."
This is as plainly personal and constant as ,vords can nlake any
thing; and in this is expressed the so much neglected, but so
necessary duty, which incumbents owe their flock, in a private
,yay, visiting, instructing and admonishing them, which is one
of the 1110st useful and inlportant parts of their duty, how
generally soever it nlay be disused or forgotten; these being the
chief instances and acts of watching over and feeding the flock,
that is cOlllmitted to their care. In the next place, they promise
,or That they will be diligent in prayers, and in reading of the
holy scriptures, and in such studies as help to the knowledge
of the san1e, laying aside the study of the ,yorId and the flesh."
This still carries on that great notion of the pastoral care, which
runs through this whole Office; that it is to be a man's entire
business, and is to possess both his thoughts and his time.
They do further promise," That they will Inaintain and set
forward, as much as lieth in theIn, quietness, peace and love
anlong all Christian people, and especially alnong them, that
are or shall be conl1nitted to their charge."
These are the vows and promises that priests 11lake, before they
can be ordained. And to complete the stipulation, the bishop
concludes it with a prayer to God, "who has given theIl1 the
,vill to do all these things, to give them also strength and
power to perform the same; that he Inay accolnp]jsh bis work,
that he hath begun in them, until the tinle that he shall comp,
at the latter day, to judge t.he quick and the dead." L"pon
the whole lnatter, either thi
is aU a piece of gross and impudent
pageantry, dressed up in grave and lofty expreF:sions, to strike

Of tlte Pastoral Oare.

141

upon the weaker part of mankind, and to furnish the rest with
Blatter to their profane and inlpious scorn; or it must be con-
fessed that prie
ts COlne under the nlost f01'1nal and express
engagements to constant and diligent labour, that can possibly
be contrived or set forth in ,vords. It is upon this that they are
ordained; so their ordination being the consunlnlation of this
conlpact., it must be acl{nowledged, that, according to the nature
of an mutual conlpacts, a total failure on the one side does also
dissolve all the obligation that lay on the other: and therefore
those who do not perf 01'111 their part, that do not reside and
labour, they do also, in the sight of God, forfeit all the authority
and privileges, that do follow their orders, as much as a Christ-
ian at large, that does not perfornl his baptisnlal vow, forfeits
the rights and benefits of his baptisnl, in the sight of God;
though, both in the one and in the other, it is necessary that, for
the preventing of disorder and confusion, a sentence declaratory
of excoffinlunication in the one: as of degradation in the other,
pass, before the visible acts and rights, pursuant to those rites,
can be denied.
To all this I will add one thing n10re, which is, that since our
book of Ordination is a part of our liturgy and likewise a part
of the law of the land; and since constant attendance and dili-
gent labour is Inade necessary by it; and since this law is
subsequent to the act of the
lst of Henry ,-rIll, that qualifies
so many for pluralities and non-residence, and is in plain terms
contrary to it; this, as subsequent, does repeal all that it contra-
dicts. It is upon all this a Inatter that to l11e seems plain, that
by this la'v the other is repealed, in so far as it is inconsistent
with it. This argument is by this consideration Inade the
stronger, that the act of king Henry does not enact that such
things shaH be, but only reserves privileges for such a
lnay be
capable of an exemption fronl the comlnon and general rules.
Now, by the principles of la\v, all privileges or exemptions of that
sort are odious things; a.nd the constructions of law lJing hard
and heavy against odious cases, it appears to me, according to the
general grounds of h,w, very probable, (I speak within bounds
when I 8ay only probable) that the act of uniforInity
which
lllakes the Offices of Ordination a part of the law of England, is
a repeal of that part of the act of king Henry, \vhich qualifies for
pluralities. To conclude, whatsoever may be the strength of this
plea in bar to that act, if our faith, given to God and his church

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Of the Pastoral Care.

in the Inost express and plainest words possible, does bind, if
pron1Îses given at the altar do oblige, and if a stipulation, in the
consideration of which orders are given is sacred and of an in-
dispensable obligation, then, I am sure, this is.
To 11lake the whole 11latter )!et the st.ronger, this Office is to
be cOlupleted with the cOllununion: so that, upon this occasion,
that is not only a piece of religious devotion accompanying it,
but it is the taking the sacrament upon the stipulation that has
been made between the priest and the church: so that those
,vho have framed this Office have certainly intended, by all the
\vays that they could think on, and by the weightiest ,vords they
could choose, to 11lake the sense of the priestly function, and of
the duties belonging to it, g
ve deep and strong itnpressions to
such as are ordained. I have compared with it all the exhorta-
tions that are in all the Offices I could find, ancient and modern,
,vhether of the Greek or the Latin church; and this must be
said of our's, without any sort of partiality to our own fornls,
that no sort of comparison can be Inade between our's and all
the others; and that as 111uch as our's is 1110re siluple than those
as to its rites and cerenlonies, which swell up other Offices, so
much is it lllore grave and weighty in the exhortations, collects
and sponsions that are luade in it. In the Roman Pontifical,
no proIuises are delnanded of priests, but only that of obedience;
bishops, in a corrupted state of the church, taking care only of
their own authority, while they neglected more important obli-
gations.
In the Office of consecrating bishops; as all the sponsions
made by thenl, ,vhen they \vere ordained priests, are to be con-
sidered as still binding, since the inferior office does still subsist
in the superior; so there are ne\v ones superadded, proportioned
to the exaltation of dignity and authority, that acconlpanies that
office. In the Ronlan Pontifical there are indeed questions put
to a bishop, before he is consecrated; but of all these the first
only is that, which has any relation to his flock, which is in these
words: ,,"Tilt thou teach the people over WhOll1 thou art to be
set, both by thy exanlple and doctrine, those things that thou
learnest out of the holy scripture r' All the rest are general,
and relate only to his conversation; but not at all to his labours
in his diocese: \vhereas, on the contrary, the engageluents in
our Office do regard not only a bishop's own conversation, but
chiefly his duty to his people; he declares, that" he is detel'-

Of tlte PastUl'al Care.

143

Inined to instruct the people, comn1Ïtted to his charge, out of the
holy scriptures:" that" he win study thein, so as to be able by
theln to teach and exhort with wholesolne doctrine; and with-
stand and convince the gainsayers:" that" he will be ready,
with all faithful diligence, to banish and drÌ\ye away aU erroneous
and strange doctrine contrary to God's \yord; and both pri..
"atdy and openly to call upon and encourage others to the
saIne:" that "he will nlaintain and set forward, as much as
lies in hiln, quietness, love and peace aUlong all Inen; and cor-
rect and punish such as be unquiet, disobedient and criulinous,
within his diocese; according to such authority as he has." In
particular, " he pron1Ïses to be faithful in ordaining, sending, or
laying hands upon others: he promises also to shew himself to
be gentle and merciful, for Christ's sake, to poor and needy
people, and to all strangers destitute of help." These are the
covenants and promises under which bishops are put, which
are again reinforced upon then1 in the charge that is given
imlnediately after their consecration, when the Bible is put in
their hands; "Give heed to reading, exhortation and doctrine:
think upon the things contained in this book; be diligent in
them, that the increase conling thereby may be nlanifest unto
all Iuell. Take heed unto thyself, and to doctrine, and be dili-
gent in doing them; for by doing this, thou shalt both save thy-
self and them that hear thee. Be thou to the flock of Christ
a shepherd, not a wolf; feed theIn, devour then1 not. Hold
up the weak, heal the sick, bind up the broken, bring again
the outcasts, seek the lost; be so merciful, that you be not too
rellliss; so 111inister discipline that you forget not mercy: that,
when the chief Shepherd shall appear, you may receive the never
fading crown of glory, through Jesus Christ our Lord." In
these words the great lines of our duty are drawn in very
expressive and comprehensive tern1S. 'Ve have the several
branches of our function, both as to preaching and governing,
very soleIuuly laid upon us: and both in this Office, as well as
in an the other Offices that I have seen, it appears, that the
constant sense of all churches in all ages has been, that preach-
ing was the Lishop's great duty, and that he ought to lay himself
out in it Inost particularly.
I shall only add one advice to all this, before I leave this
article of the sense of our church in this matter; both to those,
who intend to take orders, and to those, who have already taken

144

Of the Pastoral Care.

them. As for such as do intend to dedicate thenlselves to the
service of the church, they ought to read over these Offices fre-
quently; and to ask thenlselves solelnnly, as in the presence of
God, whether they can with a good conscience make those an-
swers, \vhich the book prescribes, or not
and not to venture
on offering thelllseives to orders, till they know that they dare
and nlay safely do it. Every person who looks that way ought
at least on every Ordination-Sunday, after he has once fornled
the resolution of dedicating himself to this \vork, to go over the
office seriously with himself, and to consider in \vhat disposition
or preparation of mind he is, suitable to what he finds laid down
in it. But I should add to this, that for a year before he COlnes
to be ordained, he should ev(U.'y first Sunday of the lnonth read
over the Office very deliberately; and frame resolutions conform
to the several parts of it, and, if he can, receive t.he sacranlent
upon it, with a special set of private devotions, relating to his
intentions. As the tilne of his ordination draws near, he ought
to return the oftener to those exercises. It \vill be no hard task
for hin1 to read these over every Sunday, during the last quarter
before his ordination; and to do that yet more solelnnly, every
day of the week in \vhich he is to be ordained; and to join a
greater earnestness of fasting and prayer with it on the fast-days
of his ember-week.
Here is no hard in1position. The perfonnance is as easy in
itself, as it will be successful in its effects. If I did not consider
rather what the age can bear, than what \yere to be wished for,
I would add a great lllany severe rules, calculated to the notions
of the prin1itive tin1es. But if this advice were put in practice,
it is to be hoped, that it would set back n1nny who COlne to be
ordained, \vithout considering duly, either what it is that they
ask, or what it is that is to be asked of them: which sonle do
\vith so supine a negligence, that wù plainly see that they have
not so much as read the Office, or at least that they have done
it in so slight a manner, that they have formed no clear notions
upon any part of it, and least of all upon those parts, to which
they themselves are to Inake answers. And as such a method
as I have proposed would probably strike SOllIe with a due awe
of divine nlatters, so as to keep theln at a distance till they were
in sonle sort prepared for t.heln; so it would oblige such as
come to it, to bring along with theln a serious teIl1per of mind
:Ind such n preparation of soul, as lllight lllake that their orders

Of the Pastoral Gare.

145

should be a blessing to them, as well as they themselves should
be a blessing to the church. It must be the greatest joy of a
bishop's life, who truly Ininds his duty in this weighty trust of
sending out labourers into God's vineyard, to ordain such per-
sons, of whon. he has just grounds to hope that they shall do
their duty faithfully in reaping that harvest. He recko'1s these
as his children indeed, who are to be his strength and support,
his fellow-labourers and helpers, his crown and his glory. But
on the other hand, how heavy a part of his office n1ust it be, to
ordain those, against whom perhaps there lies no just objection,
so that, according to the constitution and rules of the church, he
cannot deny them; and yet he sees nothing in thenl that gives
hinl courage or cheerfulness. They do not seem to have that
love to God, that zeal for Christ, that tenderness for souls, that
meekness and humility, that mortification and deadness to the
world, that becollles the character and profession which they
undertake; so that his heart fails hinl and his hands tremble,
when he goes to ordain them.

ly next advice shall be to those who are already in orders,
that they ,viII, at least four tilnes a year, on the Ordination-
Sundays, read over the Offices of the degrees of the church, in
which they are; and will particularly consider the charge that
,vas given, and the ans\vers that were made by them; and then
ask themselves, as before God, who will judge them at the great
day upon their religious perfonnance of them, whether they
have been true to thenl or not: that so they 111ay hunlble theln-
selves for their errors and omissions, and may renew their vows
for the future, and so to be going on, from quarter to quarter,
through the "hole course of their ministry, observing still what
ground they gain, and what progress they make. To such as
have a right sense of their duty, this will be no hard perfornl-
ance. It will give a vast joy to those ,vho can go through it
with sonle measure of assurance, and find that, though in the
Inidst of nlany temptations and of much weakness, they are
sincerely and seriously going on in their ,vork to the best of
their skill, and to the utnlost of their power; so that their con-
sciences say within theIn, and that without the partialities of
self-love and flattery, JJTell done, good and faitliful sel
,vant: the
hearing of this said within, upon true grounds, being the cer-
tainest evidence possible, that it shall be publicly said at the last
great day. This exercise will also offer checks to a man that

14

146

Ojfhe Pastoral Cal
e.

looks for them, and intends both to understand his errors, and to
cleanse hinlself fronl then1. I t ,viII, upon the whole 11latter,
make clergymen go on with their profession, as the business and
labour of their lives.
Having known the very good effect that this luethod has had.
on SOlne, I dare the more confidently reconlmend it to all others.
Before I conclude this chapter, I will she\v what rules our
reformers had prepared \vith relation to non-residence and plu-
ralities; which though they never passed into laws, and so have
no binding force ,vith then], yet in these ,ve see ,,,hat \vas the
sense of those, that prepared our Offices and that ,vere the chief
instruments in that blessed ,vork of our reformation. The l
th
chapter of the titled, "Conce ning those that were to be adnlitted
to ecclesiastical benefices," runs thus; "'Vhereas, ,,,hen many
benefices are conferred on one person, everyone of these nlust
be served with less order and exactness, and many learned
men, ,,,ho are not provided, are by that lueans shut out; there-
fore such as exanline t.he persons ,vho are proposed for bene-
fices, are to ask everyone of thenl, ,vhether he has at that
tinle another benefice or not; and if he confesses that he has,
then they shall not consent to his obtaining that to which he
is presented, or the first benefice shall be Dlade void, as in caso
of death, so that the patron may present any other person to
it." Chap. 13th is against dispensations, in these \vords: " No
nlan shall hereafter be capable of any privilege, by virtue of
\vhich he lllay hold more parishes than one: but such as have
already obtained any such dispensations for pluralities, shall
not be deprived of the effects of theu1 by virtue of this la,v."
Tho 14th chapter relates to residence in these words: "If any
man, by reason of age or sickness, is disabled froul discharging
his duty, or if he has any just calIse of absence for sonle tinIe,
that shall be approved of by VIe bishop, he must take care
to place a worthy person to serve during his absence. But
the bishops ought to tal{e a special care" that upon no regard
whatsoever any person luay, upon feigned or pretended reasons,
be suffered to be longer absent from his parish, than a real
necessity shall require.')')
These are SOlue of the rules ,vhich were then prepared; and

d Bishop Burnet here refers to a 'V ork, entitled: Reformatio Legum Ecclesi-
asticarum-now accessible to the student, through a new edition, printed at
Oxford, in 1850, under the care of Dr. Cardwell.

OJ. the Pastoral Cal'e.

147

happy had it been for our church, if that whole work of the re-
formation of the ecclesiastical la,v had been then settled among
us. Then we might justly have said, that our reformation was
complete, and not have lamented, as our church still does in
the Office of Commination, " That the godly discipline \vhich
was in the primitive church is not yet restored," ho,v llluch
and how long soever it has been wished for. It is more than
probable that we should neither have had any schisms, nor civil
'val'S, if that great design had not been abortive. If but the 19th
and
Oth titles of that work, ,vhich treat of the public offices and
officers in the church, had become a part of our la,v, and been
duly eÀecuted, ,ve should indeed haye had matter of glorying in
the world.
In the canons of the J"ear 157], though there ,vas not then
strength enough in the church to cure so inveterate a disease as
non-residence; yet she expressed her detestation of it in these
words: "The absence of a pastor from the Lord's flock, and that
supine negligence and abandoning of the ministry, which we
observe in many, is a thing vile in itself, odious to the people,
and pernicious to the church of God; therefore we exhort all
the pastors of churches in our Lord Jesus, that they will, as
soon as possible, come to their churches, and diligently preach
the gospel; and, according to the value of their livings, that
they will keep house, and hospitably relieve the poor." It is
true, all this is H1uch lessened by the last words of that article,
"That every year they must reside, at least, threescore days
upon their benefices." By the canons lllade at that tilue, plu-
ralities were also limited to t,venty miles distance. But this was
enlarged to thirty miles by the canons in the year 1597; yet by
these the pluralist ,vas required to spend "a good part of the
year" in both his benefices. And upon this has the n1atter
rested ever 8ince; but there is no e:xpress definition lllade how
far that general ',"ord of a "good part of the year" is to be
understood.
I will not to this add a long invidious history of all the
attempts that have been maåe for the reforming these abuses,
nor the Inethods that have been made use of to defeat thenl.
They have been but too successful, so that 'we still groan under
our abuses, and do not know when the tin1e shaH conI(=' in which
,
we shall be freed from them. The defenders of those abuses,
,,,ho get too much by them to be wining to part with them, have
LQ

]48

Of the Pastoral Care.

ßlade great use of this, that it ,vas the puritan party that, during
queen Elizabeth and king J anIes the First's reign, promoted
these bills to render the church odious: whereas it seems lliore
probable that those who set them forward, ,vhat invidious cha-
racters soever their enemies might put then1 under, were really
the friends of the church; and that they intended to preser,ye it,
by freeing it fronl so crying and so visible an abuse; which
gives un offence and scandal, that is not found out by lnuch
learning or great observation, but arises so evidently out of the
nature of things, that a SIll all measure of COlnmon sense helps
everyone to see it, and to be deeply prejudiced against it. But
since our church has fallen under the evils and luischiefs of
schism, none of those ,vho divide fronl us have made any more
attelupts this ,vay; but seem rather to be not ill pleased that
such scandals should be still among us, as hoping that this is so
great a load upon our church, that it both weakens our strength
and lessens our authority. It is certainly the interest of an
enemy, to suffer the body to which he opposes himself to lie
under a'3 nlany prejudices, and to be liable to as much censure, as
is possible; whereas every good and wise friend studies to pre-
serve that body to ,vhich he unites himself, hy freeing it fronl
every thing that may render it less acceptable and less useful.
Here I will leave this argument, having, I think, said enough
to convince all that have a true zeal to our church, and that
think themselves bound in conscience to obey its rules, and that
seelU to have a particular jealousy of the civil po\ver's breaking
in too far upon the ecclesiastical authority, that there can be
nothing nIore plain and express, than that our church intends to
bring all her priests under t.he strictest obligations possible to
constant and personal labour, and that in this she pursues the
designs and canons, not only of tile prilniti,ye and best tilnes,
but even of the ,vorst ages; since none ,vere ever so corrupt, as
not to condelun those abuses by canon, even when they maintained
them in practice. She does not only bind thenI to this, by the
charge she appoints to be given, but also by the vows and pro-
11lises that she deillands of such as are ordained. 'Vhcn all this
is laid together, and ,vhen there stands nothing on the other side
to balance it, but a law nlade in a very bad tinIe, that took away
SOine abuses, but left pretences to cover others; can any man,
that weighs these things together, in the sight of Ged, and that
believes he nlust answer to hiIn for this at the great day, think,

OJ'' the Pastoral Care.

149

that tho one, how strong soever it lTIay be in his favour at an
earthly tribunal, will be of any force in that last and dreadful
jurlglTIent? This J leave upon all nlen's consciences; hoping that
tIle!! 'ill so Judge tneJnselves, that they shall not he judged of the
Lord.

Clll1P. VII.
Oftne due preparation of such as Ina!! and O1tght to he put 1.n orders.
THE greatest good that one can hope to do in this world is
npon young persons, who have not yet taken their ply and are
not spoiled with prejudices and wrong notions. Those who have
taken an ill one at first will neither be at the pains to look over
their notions, nor turn to new methods; nor will they, by any
change of practice, seen1 to confess that they were once in the
wrong: so that, if matters that are an1Ïss can be mended or set
right, it must be by giving those that have not yet set out and
that are not yet engaged, truer views and juster ideas of things.
I will therefore here lay down the model upon which a clerk is to
be formed, and will begin with such things as ought to be previous
and preparatory to his being initiated into orders.
These are of two sorts; the one is of such preparations as are
necessary to give his heart and soul a right temper, and a true
sense of things: the other is of such studies as are necessary to
enable hin1 to go through with the several parts of his duty.
Both are necessary, but the first is the more indispensable of the
two; for a man of a good soul nlay, with a moderate proportion
of knowledge, do great service in the church, especially if he is
suited with an emploJrnent that is not above his talent: whereas
un sanctified knowledge puffs up, is insolent and unquiet; it gives
great scandal and occasions lllnch distraction in the church. In
treating of these qualifications, I will watch over my thoughts,
not to let them rise to a pitch that is above what the common
frailties of hlunan nature, or the age we live in, can bear: and
after all. if in any thing Inlay semll to exceed these Dleasures,
it is to be considered that it is natural in proposing the ideas of
things to carry them to what is wished for, which is but too often
beyond what can be expected; considering both the corruption
of mankind, and of these degenerated tilnes.
First of all then, he that intends to dedicate hinlself to the
church ought, fron1 the tin1e that he takes up any such resolu-
tion, to enter npon a greater decency of behaviour, that his 11lind

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Of tlte Pastoral Care.

nlay not be vitiated by ill habits, ,vhich may both give such bad
characters of hilu, as may stick long on him afterwards, and
Inake such ill impressions on hiulself, as may not be easily ,yorn
out or defaced. He ought, above all things, to possess hinlself
,vi th a high sense of the Christian religion, of its truth and
excellence, of the value of souls, of the dignity of the pastoral
care, of the honour of God, of the sacredness of holy functions,
and of tho great trust that is comnlÌtted to those who are set
apart froln the world, and dedicated to God and to his church.
He ,vho looks this way must break hilnself to the appetites of
pleasure or \veaIth, of anlbition or authority; he nlust consider
that the religion, in which he intends to officiate, calls all men
to great purity and virtue, to a probity and innocence of nlan-
ners, to a meekness and gentleness, to a hUIUility and self-denial,
to a contelnpt of the world, and a heavenly-mindedness, to a
patient resignation to the will of God, and a readiness to bear
the cross, in the hopes of that everlasting reward \vhich is
reserved for Christians in another state; all which was eininently
recommended by the unblemished pattern, that the Author of
this religion has set to all that pretend to be his follo,vers.
These being the obligations which a preacher of the gospel is to
lay daily upon all his hearers, he ought certainly to accustom
himself often to consider seriously of them; and to think ho\v
shanleless and iUlpudent a thing it \vill be in hin1, to perform
offices suitable to all these and that do suppose thenl; to be
instructing t.he people, and exhorting thenl to the practice of
then1; unless he is in some sort all this hiIllself, which he teaches
others to be.
Indeed, to be tied to sllch an employment, while one has not
an inward confonnity to it, and cOluplacence in it, is both the
most unbecoming, the lnost unpleasant and the lnost uncomfort-
able state of life imaginable. Sucn a person will be exposed to
all nlen's censures and reproaches, who, when they see things
amiss in his conduct, do not only reproach him, but the whole
church and body to which he belongs, and, \vhich is nlore, the
religion \vhich he seeins to recommend by his discourses;
though his life and actions, \vhich will always pass for the Dlost
real declaration of his inward sentiments, are a visible and con-
tinual opposition to it. On all these things he, whose thoughts
carry him toward the church, ought to reflect frequently:
nothing is so odious as a nlan that disagrees ,vith his character;

OJ" the Postoral Care.

151

a soldier that is a cowarù, a courtier that is brutal, an alllLassador
that is abject, are not such unseelnly things, as a bad or vicious,
a drunken or dissolute clergJluan. But though his scandals
should not rise up to 80 high a pitch, even a proud and passion-
ate, a worldly-nlinded and covetous priest gives t.he lie to his
discourses so palpably, that he cn.nnot expect they should have
much weight. X or is such a Inan's state of life less unpleasant
to himself, than it is unbecoming. He is obliged to be often
pelfornlÏng offices and pronouncing discourses, in which, if he
is not a (rood man he not only has no P lp3sure, but must. have a
b ' 01
forlned aversion to them. They Blust be the heaviest burden of
his life; he n1ust often feel secret challenges within; and
though he as often silences these, yet such un\velcome reflec-
tions are uncol11fortable things. He is forced to 111anage hinlself
with a perpetual constraint and to observe a decorunl in his de-
portlnent, lest he fall under a 1110re public censure. N ow to be
bound to act a part and live with restraint one's whole life, must
be a very nlelancholy thing, He cannot go so quite out of sight
of religion and convictions, as other bad n1en do, who live in a
perpetual hurry and a total forgetfulness of divine matters 1
They have no checks, because they are as seldonl in the way to
find theIn as is possible. But a clerk cannot keep hin1self out of
their way; he Jnust relneJllber them and speak of theIn, at least
upon SOUle occasions, whether he will or no: he has no other
way to secure himself against thenl, but by trying what he can
do to nlake hill1self absolutely disbelie\'e theine K egative
atheisnl, that is, a total neglect of all religion, is but too
easily arrived at; yet this shall not serve his turn, he lllust build
his atheism upon sonle bottom, that he may find quiet in it. If"
he is an ignorant nlan, he is not furni8hed with those sleights of
wit and shows of learning, that. must support it: but if he is
really learned, he win soon be beaten out of thenl; for a learned
atheism is so hard a thing to be conceived that, unless a nlan's
powers are first strangely vitiated, it. is not easy to see how any
one can bring hiulself to it. There is nothing that can settle the
quiet of an in priest's lnind and life, but a stupid forlnality, and
a callus that he contracts by his insensible way of handling
divine matters, by which he becoilles hardened against then).
But if this
ettle8 hinl by stupifying his powers, it does put him
also so far out of the reach of conviction, in aU the ordinary
lnethods of grace) that it is scarce possible he can ever be

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Of the Pastoral Care.

awakened, and by consequence that he can be saved; and if he
perishes, he nlust fall into the lowest degree of misery, even to
the portion of hypocrites: for his ,,,hole life has been a course of
hypocrisy in the strictest sense of the ,vord; which is the acting
of a part, and the counterfeiting another person. His sins have
in thelll all possible aggravations: they are against knowledge
and against vows, and contrary to his character; they ca,rry in
thenl a deliberate contempt of all the truths and obligations of
religion; and if he perishes, he does not perish alone, but carries
a shoal down ,vith him; either of those, who have perished in
ignorance through his neglect, or of those, who have been
hardened in their sins through his ill example. And since all
this Blust be put to his accQunt, it l11ay be justly inferred frOlll
hence, that no man can have a heavier share in the lniseries
of another state, than profane and wicked clerks. On all these
things he ought to employ his thoughts frequently, who intends
to dedicate hinlself to God, that so he 111ay firmly resolve not to
go on ,vith it, till he feels such seeds and beginnings of good
things in himself, that he has reason to hope, that, through the
grace and assistance of God, he will be an exanlple to others.
He ought l110re particularly to examine himself, ,vhether he
has that soft and gentle, that l11eek and humble, and that
charitable and conlpassionate telnper, ,vhich the gospel does so
111uch press upon all Christians; that shined so eminently
through the whole life of the blessed Author of it; and ,vhich
he has so singularly recollllnended to all his foIlowers; and that
has in it so l1lany charms and attractives, which do not only
cOlllmend tho8e who have these a,miable virtues, but, which is
much Inore to be regarded, they give theln vast advantages in
recolnmending the doctrine of our Saviour to their people.
They are the true ground of that Christian wisdom and discre-
tion, and of that grave and calnl devorbnent, by which the clergy
ought to carryon and maintain their authority: a haughty and
huffing htnnour, an impatient and insolent tenlper, a loftiness of
deportment and a peevishness of spirit., rendering the lives of
the clergy, for the Inost part, bitter to theInselves, and their
labours ho'v valuable soever otherwise they may be, unaccept-
able and useless to their people. ,A. clergyman HUlst be prepared
to bear injuries, to endure n1uch unjust censure and calumny, to
see hiJnself often neglected, and others preferred to hiIn, in
the esteenl of the people. He that takes all this ill, that resents

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it, and cOlnplains of it, does thereby give himself much disquiet;
and to be sure he will, through his peevishness, rather increase
than lessen that contempt, under which he is so uneasy; which
is both better borne anò sooner overcome by a meek and a
lowly temper. A man of this disposition affects no rsingularities,
unless the faultiness of those about him makes his doing his
duty to be a singularity: he does not study to lessen the value
that is due to others, on design to increase his own: his low
thoughts of hinlself Inake that he is neither aspiring, nor envy-
ing such as are advanced: he is prepared to stay tin God in his
providence thinks fit to raise him: he studies only to deserve
prefennent, and leaves to others the wringing posts of advantage
out of the hands of those that give them. Such a preparation of
Inind in a clergyman disposes him to be happy in whatsoever
station he may be put, and renders the church happy in hin1:
for men so moulded, even though their talents should be but
mean, are shining lights, that may perhaps be at first despised,
as men of a low size, that have not greatness of soul enough to
aspire; but when they have been seen and known so long that
all appears to be sincere, and that the principle from whence
this flows is rightly considered, then every thing that they say
or do must have its due weight: the plainest and sinlplest things
that they say have a beauty in theIn, and will be hearkened to
as oracles.
But a l11an that intends to prepare himself right for the
Dlinistry of the church, n1ust indeed, above all things, endeavour
to break hinlself to the love of the world, either of the \vealth,
the ponlp, or the pleasures of it. He lllust learn to be coutent
with plain and siu1ple diet, and often even abridge that by true
fasting. I do not can fasting a trifling distinction of meats, but
a lessening of the quantity, as well as the quality, and a con-
tracting the time spent at meals, that so he may have a greater
freedonl both in his tinle and in his thoughts; that he may be
more alone, and pray and Ineditate more, and that what he saves
out of his meals, he may give to the poor. This is, in short, the
true llleasure and right use of fasting. In cold climates, an
abstinence till night may create disorders and raise such a dis-
turbance both in the appetite and in the digestion, that this,
Inanaged upon the practices of other countries, especially in
young persons, may really distract, instead of furthering, those

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,vho do it indÎscreetïy. In short, fasting, unless joined ,vith
prayer and almsgiving, is of no value in the sight of God. It is
a vast advantage to a man to be broken to the niceties of his
palate, to be content with plain food, and even to dislike de-
licacies and studied dishes. This ,viII make him easy in narrower
circumstances, since a plain bill of fare is soon discharged. A
lover of his appetites and a slave to his taste Inakes but a n1ean
figure among men, and a very scurvy one among clergyn1en.
This deadness to the world must raise one above the affecta-
tions of pOlnp and state, of attendance and high living: which to
a philosophical mind will be heavy, when the circumstances he
is in seein to impose and force it on hilll. And therefore he
\vho has a right sense finds it is aln10st all he can do, to bear
those things which the tyranny of custom or false opinions put
upon him; so far is he from longing for them. A man that is
truly dead to the world ,vollld choose luuch rather to live in a
lowly and narrow figure, than to be obliged to enter into tho
Inethods of the greatness of this world; into ,vhich if the consti-
tutions and forms of a church and kingdoIll put hinI, yet he feels
hiIl1self in an unnatural and uncouth posture: it is contrary to
his own genius and relish of things, and therefore he does not
court nor desire such a situation, but, even while he is in it, he
shews such a neglect. of the state of it, and so luuch indifference
and humility in it, that it appears how little power those things
have over his Inind, and ho\v little they are able to subdue and
corrupt it. This lnortified Inan lnust likewise become dead to
all the designs and projects of n1aking a falnily, or of raising the
fortunes of those that are nearly related to hinI: he nlust be
bountiful and charitable; and though it is not only lawful to
him, but a necessary duty incumbent on hiIn, to make due pro-
vision for his faulily, if he has any; yet this luust be so
Illoderated, that no vain nor sordid designs, no indirect nor
un becon1Ïng arts 111:1 y n1Ïx in it; no excessive wealth, nor great
projects nlust appear; he must be contented with such a pro-
portion as Illay set his children in the way of a virtuous and
liberal education; such as may secure thenl froIn scandal and
necessity, and put thenl in a capacity to serve God and their
generation in some honest employn1ent. But he, who brings along
with hilTI a voluptuous, an alubitious, or a covetous Inind, that is
carnal and earthly luinded, COines as a hireling to feed hilnself,

Of the Pastoral Care.

155

and not the flock; he comes to steal and to destroy. Upon all
this, great reflection is to be Inade concerning the l1lotives that
deterlnine one to offer himself to this eInployment.
In the first beginnings of Christianity, no man could reason-
ably think of taking orders, unless he had in hinl the spirit of
martyrdolu. He was to look for nothing in this service but
labour and persecution: he was indeed to live of the altar, and
that was all the port.ion that he was to expect in this world. In
those days, an extraordinary measure of zeal and devotion was
necessary to engage men to so bar(1 and difficult a province,
that, how great soever its reward might be in another world,
had nothing to look for in this but a narrow provision and the
first and largest share of the cross: they,vere the best known,
the ßlost exposed, and the soonest fallen upon in the persecu-
tion. But their services and their sufferings did so nlu('h re-
commend that function in the succeeding ages, that the faithful
thought they could never do enough to express their value for
it. The church came to be richly endowed; and though super-
stition had raised this out of measure, yet the extreme went as
far to the other hand at the reformation, when the church ,vas
alnlost stripped of all it.s patrimony, and a great many churches
"ere left so poor, that there was not, in most place
, a suffi-
cient, nay, not 80 luuch as a necessary maintenance reserved
for those that were to tninister in holy t.hings. But it is to be
acknowledged that there are such remnants preserved, that
nutny benefices of the church still may, and perhaps do but
too much ,york upon men's corrupt principles, their anlbition
and their covetousness: and it is shrewdly to be apprehended,
that of those who present themselves at the altar, a great part
COllIes, as those who followed Ohrist, for the loaves; because
of the good prospect they have of l11aking their fortunes by the
church.
If this point should be carried too far, it might perhaps seenl
to be a pitch above hun1an nature; and certainly very far above
the degeneracy of the age we live in; I shall therefore lay this
matter with as large an allowance as I think it can bear. It is
certain, that since God has nlade us to be a compound of soul
and body, it is not only lawful, but suitable to the order of
nature, for us, in the choice we nlake of the state of life that we
intend to pursue, to consider our bodies in the next place after
our souls: yet we ought certainly to begin with our souls, with

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Of the jJastoral Care.

the powers and faculties that are in them, and consider ,veIl of
\vhat telnper they are, and what our measure and capacity is;
that so we may choose such a course of life for which we seem
to be fitted, and in which we nlay probably do the most good to
ourselves and others: from hence ,ve ought to take our aims
and nleasnres chiefly. ßut in the next place, we not only may,
but ought to consider our bodies, how they shall be maintained
in a way suitable to that state of life, into which we are engaged.
Therefore though no luan can, with a good conscience, begin
upon a worldly account, and resolve to dedicate himself to the
church, nlerely out of carnal regards; such as an advo,vson in
his family, a friend that will promote hitn, or any other such
like prospect, till he has firBt consulted his telnper and disposi-
tion, his talents and his capacities; yet though it is not la,vful to
n1ake the regards of this world his first consideration, and it
cannot he denied to be a perfecter state, if a nlan should offer
hinlself to the church, having whereon to support himself,
,vithout any assistance or reward out of its patrinlony; and to be
nearer to St. Paul's practice, ,vhose hands luinistered to his
necessities, and who reckoned, that in this he had whereof to
glory, that he was not burdensolne to the churches: yet it is,
without doubt, lawful for a n1an to design, that he nlay subsist
in and out of the service of the church: but then these designs
nlust be lin1ited to a subsistence, to such a moderate proportion
as may nlaintain one in that state of life; and nlust not be let
fly by a restless ambition, and an in8atiable covetousness, as a
ravenous bird of prey does at all game. There must not be a
perpetual inquiry into the value of benefices, and a constant im-
portuning of such as give then1: if la'vs ha,ye been made in sonle
states restraining all arnbitus and aspirings to civil employn1ents,
certainly it were luuch nlore reasonable to put a stop to the
scandalous iU1portunities that are every where complained of;
and no where luore visiblf1 and more offensive than at court.
This gives a prejudice to men, that are otherwise inclined
enough to search for one, that can never be ren10ved but by
putting an effectual bar in the ,vay of that 'Scranlbling for bene-
fices and prefennents; which will ever make the lay part of
n1ankind conclude, that, let us pretend \vhat ,ve will, covetous-
ness and aUlbition are our true motives and our chief vocation.
It is true, the strange practices of many patrons and the consti..
tution of n10st courts give a colour to excuse so great an in-

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157

decency. l\Ien are generally successful in those practices; and
3S long as luunan nature is so strong, as all nlen feel it to be, it
will be hard to divert thenl froln a Inethod which is so common,
that to act otherwise would look like an affectation of singularity:
and nlany apprehend, that they nlust languish in lnisery and
necessity, if they are wanting to thmnselves in so general a prac-
tice. And indeed if patrons, but chiefly if princes would effect-
ually cure this disease, '\\ hich gives theln so Inuch trouble as
well as offence, they lnust resolve to distribute those benefices
that are in their gift, ,vith so visible a regard to true goodness
and real merit, and with so finn and 430 constant an opposition
to application and importunity, that it nlay appear, that the only
way to advancement is to live well, to study hard, to stay at
home and labour diligently; and that applications by the per-
sons thelnselves, or any set on by them, shall always put those
back who Blake thell1: this ,vould Inore effectually cure so great
an evil, than all that can be said against it. One successful
suitor who carries his point will pronlote this disorder lllore
than twenty repulses of others; for, unless the rule is severely
carried on, everyone will run into it, and hope to prosper as well
as he who they see has got his end in it. If those who have the
disposition of benefices, to which the cure of souls is annexed,
did consider this as a trust lodged with them, for which they
nlust answer to God; and that they shall be in a great nlcasure
accountable for the souls that lnay be lost through the bad choice
that they nlake, knowing it to be bad; if, I say, they had this
lllore in their thoughts, than so many scores of pounds as the
lhoing aillounts to; and thought themselves really bound, as
without doubt they are, to seek out good and worthy tuen, weU
qualified and duly prepared, according to the nature of that
benefice, which they are to give; then we nlight hope to see
lnen 111áke it their chief study, to qualify themselves aright; to
order their lives, and franle their minds as they ought to do, and
to carryon their studies with all appJication and diligence. But
as long as the 8hort 111ethods of application, friendship or in-
terest, are lllore effectual than the long and hard way of labour
and study, human nature will always carry 11len to go the surest,
the easiest and the quickest way to work.
After all, I wish it were well considered by all clerks, what it
is to run without being either called or sent; and so to thrust
one's self into the vineyard, without staying till God, by his

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Of tlte Pastoi
al Care.

providence, puts a piece of his ,york in his hands: t.his ,viII give
a nlan a vast ease in his thoughts, and a great satisfaction in all
his labours, jf he knows that no practices of his own, but merely
the directions of Providence, have put him in a post. He may
well trust the effects of a thing to God, ,vhen the causes of it do
plainly flow from hinl. And though this ,viII appear to a great
many a hard saying, so that few will be able to bear it; yet I
Inust add t.his to the encouragement and cOlllfort of such as can
resolve to deliver themselves up to the conduct and directions of
Providence, that I never yet knew anyone of those fe,v (too fe\v
I confess they have been) who were possessed with this nlaxinl,
and that have followed it exactly, that have not found t.he fruit
of it even in this world. A watchful care hath hovered over
them: instruments have been raised up, and accidents have hap-
pened to them so prosperously, as if there had been a secret de-
sign of Heaven, by blessing them so signally, to encourage others
to follow their Ineasures, to depend on God, to deliver themselves
up to his care, and to wait till he opens a way for their being
employed and settled in such a portion of his husbandry as he
shall think fit to assign to them.
These are preparations of mind, ",ith which a clerk is to be
fornled and seasoned: and in order to this he must read the
scriptures llluch, he Blust get a great deal of those passages in
thenl that relate to these things by heart, and repeat them often
to hilnself; in particular, luany of the most tender and melting
Psalms, and nlany of the most comprehensive passages in the
Epistles; that by the frequent reflecting Oll these he may fill his
memory with noble notions and right ideas of things. The
Book of Proverbs, but chiefly Ecclesiastes, if he can get to
understand it, will beget in him a right view of the world, a just
value of things, and a contempt of many objects, that shine ,vith
a false lustre, but have no true worth in theln. 80111e of the
books taught at schools, if read afterwards, ,,,hen one is more
capable to observe the sense of them, nlay be of great use to
promote this temper. Tully's Offices will give the nlind a noble
set; all his philosophical discourses, but chiefly his Consolation;
,vhich though some critics ,viII not aIIo,v to be his, because they
fancy the style has not all the force and beauty in it that was
peculiar to him, yet is certainly the best piece of them all : these,
I say, give a good savour to those who read them much. The
satirical poets, Horace, J Hvenal, and Persins, may contribute

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159

wonderfully to give a Dlan a detestation of vice, and a contenlpt
of the coronIon methods of mankind; ,vhich they have set out in
such true colours, that they must give a very generous sense to
those who delight in reading them often. Persius"s second
satire may weIl pass for one of the best lectures in divinity.
Hierocles upon PJthagoras's Verses, Plutarch's Lives, and,
above all the books of heathenisln, Epictetus and
Iarcus Aure-
lius, contain such instructions, that one cannot read them too
often, nor repass then1 too frequently in his thoughts. But
when I speak of reading these books, I do not 111ean only to run
through then1, as one does through a book of history, or of
notions; they nlust be read and weighed with great care, till
one is beconle a master of all the thoughts that are in thenl:
they are to be often turned in one's mind, till he is thereby
wrought up to sonle degrees of that telnper which they propose.
.And as for Christian books, in order to the framing of one"s
nlind aright, I shall only reconlmend The Whole Duty of
lan,
Dr. Sherlock of Death and Judgment, and Dr. Scott's books;
in particular, that great distinction that runs through then1, of
the Ineans and of the ends of religion. To all which I shall add
one small book 11lore, which is to nle ever new and fresh, gives
always good thoughts and a noble temper, Tholnas a I{empis of
the Ilnitation of Christ. By the frequent reading of these books,
by the relish that one has in them, by the delight they give, and
the eftects they produce, a nlan will plainly perceive, whether his
soul is nlade for divine matters or not; what suitableness there
is between hin1 and them; and whether he is yet touched with
such a sense of religion, as to be capable of dedicating himself
to it.
I an1 far fr01ll thinking that no lnan is fit to be a priest, that
has not the telnper which I have been describing, quite up to
that height in which I have set it forth: but this I will positively
sa.y, that he who has not the seeds of it planted in him, who has
not these principles and resolutions f'Jrmed to pursue theIn, and
to improve and perfect hi1nself in then1, is in no wise worthy of
that holy character. If these things are begun in him, if they
are Jet but as a grain of mustard seed; yet if there is a life in
them, and a vital sense of the tendencies and effects they Inust
have, such a person, so moulded, with those notions and in1pres-
sions, and such only are qualified, so as to be able to say with

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Of the Pastoral Oal
e.

truth and assurance, that they trust they are inwardly moved by
the Holy Ghost to undertake that office.
So far have I despatched the first and chief part of the prepa-
ration necessary before orders. The other branch of it relates 0
their learning, and to the kno\vledge that is necessary. I confess
I look upon this as so Dluch inferior to the other, and have been
convinced by so much experience, that a great llleasure of piety,
with a very sDlall proportion of learning, will carry one a great
,yay, that I may perhaps be thought to come as far short in this,
as I nlight seem to exceed in the other. I will not here enter
into a discourse of theological learning, of the measure that is
necessary to make a cODlplete divine, and of the nlethods to
attain it: I intend only to lay down here, that which I look on
as the lo\vest degree, and as that ,vhich seems indispensably
necessary to one that is to be a priest. He must then under-
stand the N e\v Testament \vell. This is the text of our religion,
that \vhich \ve preach and explain to others; therefore a Dlan
ought to read this so often over, that he may have an idea of
the \vhole book in his head, and of all the parts of it. He cannot
have this so sure, unless he understands the Greek so \vell as
to be able to find out the meaning of every period in it, at least
of the words and phrases of it: any book of annotations or para-
phrase upon it is a great help to a beginner; Grotius, Hanlnlond,
and Lightfoot are the best. But the having a great deal of
the practical and easy parts of it, such as relate to men's lives
and their duties, such as strike and awaken, direct, comfort or
terrify, are Illuch more necessary than the more abstruse parts.
In short, the being able to state right the grounds of our hope,
and the terms of salvation, and the having a clear and ready
view' of the De\V covenant in Christ Jesus, is of such absolute
necessity, that it is a profaning of orders, and a defiling of the
sanctuary, to bring any into it, that do not rightly understand
this Inatter in its whole extent. Bishop Pearson on the Creed
is a book of great learning and profound exactness. Dr. Barro\v
has opened it ,vith more sinlplicity; and Dr. Towerson Dlore
practically: one or other of these IllUSt be well read and consi-
dered. But when I say read, I lllean read and read over again,
so oft that. one is nlaster of one of these books; he IllUSt \"Tite
notes out of thenl, and Illake abridgments of thenl, and turn them
so oft in his thoughts, that he nlust thoroughly understand and

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161

\vcll renlClnbcr then1. He n1ust read also the Psaln1s over so
carefully that he may at least have a general notion of those
divine hJtnns; to which bishop Patrick's Paraphrase will help
to carry hinl.
A system of divinity must be read with exactness: they are
almost all aìike. 'Yhen I was young, 'Vendelin and
Iaresius
'were the two shortest and fullest. Here is a vast error in the
first forn1ing of our clergy, that a contenlpt has been cast on that
sort of books; and indeed to rise no higher than to a perpetual
reading oyer different sJstems, is but a mean pitch of learning;
ahd the swallowing down whole systems by the IUlnp has helped
to possess people's minds too early" ith prejudices, and to shut
thetll up in too inlplicit a following of others. But the throwing
off aU these books Inakes that many who have read a great. deal,
yet have no entire body of divinity in their head; they have no
scheme or nlethod, and so are ignorant of some very plain things,
which could never have happened to them, if they had carefully
read and digested a system into their n1enlories. But because
thh
is indeed a very low fornl; therefore to lead a man further,
to have a freer view of divinity, to examine things equally and
clearly, and to use his own reason, by balancing the various
views, that two great divisions of protestants have, not only in
the points which they controvert, but in a great nlany others,
in which though they agree in the same conclusions, yet they
arrive at then1 by very different prenlises; I would advise hin1
that studies divinity, to read two larger bodies, writ by sonle
etninellt men of both sides; and, because the latest are con1-
monly the best, Turretin for the whole Calvinist hypothesis, and
LÍ1nborch for the Anninian, win lllake a tuan fully the nlaster of
all the notions of both sides. Or if one would see how far middle
ways may be taken, the 1'heses of SaUTIIUr, or Le Blanc's Theses,
will conlplete him in that. These books well read, digested into
abstracts, and frequently reviewed or talked over by two COlll-
panions in
tudy, will give a nlan an entire view of the whole body
of diyinity.
But, by reason of that pest of atheism, that spreads so much
among us, the foundations of religion HUlst be well laid : bishop
'Vïlkins's book of Natural l{eligion win lead one in the first steps
through the principles that he has laid together in a plain and
natural 11lethod. Grotins's book of the Truth of the Christian
lleligion, with his notes upon it, ought to be read and ahuost
J[

16Q

01 the Pasto}
al Care.

got by heart. The ,vhole controversy Loth of atheislll and deisll1,
the argunlents both for the Old and New Testalnent, are fully
opened, ,vith a great variety both of learning and reasoning, in
bishop Stillingfleet's Origines Sacræ.
There remains only to direct a student how to fornl right
notions of practical rnatters; and particularly of preaching. Dr.
Halllillond'>s Practical Catechisln is a book of great use; but not
to be begun with, as too nlany do: it does require a good deal
of previous study, before the force of his reasonings is appre-
hended; but when one is ready for it, it is a rare book, and
statps the grounds of nlorality and of our duty, upon true prin-
ciples. To form one to understand the right lllethod of preach-
ing, the extent of it, and the proper ways of application, bishop
Sanderson, 1\11'. Faringdon, and Dr. Barrow, are the best and the
fullest nlodels. 'There is a vast variety of other senllons, ,vhich
may be read ,vith an equalilleasure of advantage and pleasure.
And if from the tinle that one resolves to direct his studies to-
,yards the church, he ,vould every Lord's day read two sern10ns
of any good preacher, and turn thenI a little over in his thoughts,
this would insensibly, in two or three years tilne, carry hin1 very
far, and give him a large view of the different ,vays of preaching,
and furnish hinl with materials for handling a great 111any texts
of scripture when he COlnes to it.
And thus I have carried my student through those studies,
that seem to nle so necessary for qualifying hirr! to be an able
Ininister of the New Testau1ent, that I cannot see how any
article of this can be well abated. It may seelll strange, that in
this \vhole direction I have said nothing concerning the study of
the fathers or church-history. But I said at first that a great
distinction was to be luade between what ,vas necessary to pre-
pare a man to be a priest, and what was necessary to luake him
a conJplete and learned divine.
The knowledge of these things is necessary to the latter,
though they do not seeIn so necessary for the former: there are
lnany things to be left to the prosecution of a divine's study,
that therefore are not nlentioned here, not with any design to
disparage that sort of learning; for I [un now only upon that
lueasure of knowledge, under which I heartily wish that no nUln
,vere put in priest's orders; and therefore I haye passed over
many other things, such as the nlore accurate understanding of
the controversi
8 between us and the church of ROlne, and the

O.f the IJastoral Care.

IUS

unhappy disputes Letween us and the dissenters of all sorts;
though both the one and the other have of late been opened with
that perspicuity, that fulness of argtul1ent, and that clearness as
well as softness of style, that a collection of these n1ay give a
luan the fullest instruction, that is to be found in any books I
know. Others, and perhaps the far greater number, will think
that I have clogged this Inatter too 111uch. But I desire these
DUtY consider how luuch we do justly reckon that our profession
is preferable either to law or medicine. Now, if this is true, it
is not unreasonable that, since those who pretend to these must
be at so nluch pains, before they enter upon a practice which
relates only to Iuen's fortunes or their persons, we, ,vhose
labours relate to their souls and their eternal state, should be
at least at sonle considerable pains before we enter upon them.
Let any young di\'ine go to the chall1bers of a student in the
Inns of Court, and see how nlany books he lllust read, and ho\v
great a volunle of a conlmon-pJace-book he must 111ake: he will
there see through how hard a task one Dlust go in a course of
many years, and how ready he 111Ust be in all the parts of it.
before he is called to the bar or can Inanage business. Ho\v
exact 111Ust a physician be in anatolny, in sinlples, in pharnlacy,
in the theory of diseases, and in the observations and counsels
of doctors, before he can either with honour or a safe conscience
undertake practice! lIe Dlust be ready with all this, and in
that infinite number of hard words, that belong to every part of
it, to give his directions and write his bills by the patient's bed-
side; who C3.nnot stay till he goes to his study and turns over
his books. If then so long a course of study, and so nluch
exactness and readiness in it, is necessary to these professions;
nay, if every mechanical art, even the lneanest, requires a course
of lnauy years, before one can be a Inaster in it, shull the noblest
and the lnost iUlportant of all others, that which conles fron1
heaven and leads thither again; shall that which God has
honoured so highly, and to which laws and go"ernll1ents have
added such privileges and encouragements, that is employed ill
the suLlimest exerciseb, which require a proportioned worth in
those who handle thenl, to Inaintain their value and dignity in
the esteenl of the world; shall all this, I say, be esteelued so low
a thing in our eyes, that a nluch less degree of tinle and study
is nece
sary to arrive at it, than at the lllost sordid of all trades
whatsoe\'er
And Jet, after aU, a man of a tolerable capacity,
:\J 2

164

Of th
Pastoral Care.

"Tith a good degree of application, may go through all this well
and exactly in two years time. I am very sure, by Inany an
experiment I have made, that this may be done in a luuch less
con1pass; but because all men do not go alike quick, have not
the san1e force, nor the same application, therefore I reckon two
years for it; which I do thus divide: one year before deacon's
orders, and another bet\veen them and priest's orders. And can
this be thought a hard in1position
Or do not those, who think
thus, give great occasion to the contempt of the clergy, if they
give the world cause to observe, that how much soever we may
magnify our profession, yet by our practice \ve shew that ,ve do
judge it the meanest of all others, ,vhich is to be arrived at upon
less previous study and preparation to it, than any other what-
soever
Since I have been hitherto so minute, I will yet divide
this matter a little lower into those parts of it, \vithout which
deacon's orders ought not to be given, and those to be reserved
to the second year of study. To have read the Ne\v Testament
,veIl, so as to carry a great deal of it in one's lllelllory, to have a
clear notion of the several books of it, to understand ,veIl the
nature and the conditions of the covenant of grace, and to have
read one system well, so as to be master of it, to understand the
whole catechetical matter, to have read \Vilkins and Grotius;
this, I say, is that part of this task, \vhich I propose before one
is n1ade deacon. The rest, though much the larger, ,vill go the
easier, if those foundations are once well laid in them. And
upon the article of studying the scriptures, I will add one advice
more.
There are two methods in reading thelll; the one ought to be
merely critical, to find out the meaning and coherence of the
several parts of them, in \vhich one runs easily through the
greater part, and is only obliged to stop at some harder pas-
sages, \vhich luay be marked down, and learned men are to be
consulted upon them: those that are really hard to be eXplained
are both few and they relate to matters that are not so essential
to Christianity; and therefore after one has in general seen what
is said upon these, he may put off the fuller consideration of that
to more leisure and better opportunities. I3ut the other ,yay
of reatling the scriptures is to be done Inerely with a vie\v to
practice, to raise devotion, to increase piety, and to give good
thoughts and severe rules. In this a n1an is to employ himself
lunch. This is a book always at hand
and the getting a great

Of tILe Pastoral Care. 165
deal of it always by heart is the best part of a clergYlnan's study;
it is the foundation, and lays in the lnaterials for an the rest.
This alone nlay furni
h a man with a noble stock of lively
thoughts and subliIlle expressions; and therefore it nlust be
always reckoned as that, without which all other things anlount
to nothing; and the chief and nlain subject of the study, the
Ineditation and the discourses of a clergyman.

CHAP. VIII.
Of the f
/;nctiolls and labours of clerg!Jlnen.
I HA'TE in the fornler chapter laid down the model aod
method, by which a clerk is to be fOrIned and prepared: I COlne
no,,," to consider his course of life, his public functions and his
secret labours. In this, as ,veIl as in the fornler, I will study to
consider what mankind can bear, rather than what may be
offered in a fair idea, that is far above what we can hope ever
to bring the world to. As for a priest's life and conversation,
so Inuch was said in the former chapter; in which, as a prepa-
ration to orders, it was proposed what he ought to be; that I
may now be the shorter on this article.
The clergy have one great advantage, beyond all the rest. of
the world, in this respect, besides all others" that whereas the
particular callings of other men prove to them great dish'actions,
and lay n1any temptations in their way, to divert them fronl
D1inding their high and holy calling of being Christians; it is
quite otherwise with the clergy; the more they follow their
private callings, they do the Inore certainly ad vance their gene-
ral one: the better priests they are, they become also the better
Christians: every part of their caning, when wen perfornled,
raises good thoughts, brings good ideas into their luind, and
tends both to increase their knowledge and quicken their sense
of divine natters. A priest therefore is more accountable to God
and the world for his deportment, and will be more severely
accounted with, than any other person ,vhatsoever. He is Inore
watched over and observed than all others; very good nlen ,vill
be, even to a censure, jealous of him; very bad ruen will wait
for his halting and insult upon it; and all sorts of persons will
be willing to defend thenlselves against the authority of his doc-
trine and adnlonitions by this, H He says, but does not :" and
though our Saviour charged his disciples and followers, to hea'p

166

Of the Pastoral Care.

those 'who sat in JJIoses' chair, and to ObSei'i:e and do 'lvnatsoe'ver
they bid then
obse1'"ve, but not to do after their 'lvorJ.:s, for they .said
and did note; the ,vorld \vill reverse this quite, and consider
rather how a clerk lives, than ,,,hat he says. They see the one,
and fronl it conclude what he hinlself thinks of the other; and
so will be1ieve theInselves not a little justified, if they can say
that they did no \vorse than as they sa,,,, their 111inister do before
theln.
Therefore a priest nlust not only abstain fronl gross scandals:
but keep at the furthest distance fronl them: he 111USt not only
not be drunk, but he must not sit a tippling, nor go to taverns
or alehouses, except some urgent occasion requires it, and stay
no longer in thenl, than as tJlat occasion denlands it. He nlust
not only abstain fronl acts of lewdness, but from all indecent
behaviour and unbecolning raillery. GaIning and plays, and
every thing of that sort, which is an approach to the vanities and
disorders of the ,yorld, Inust be avoided by hinl. And, unless
the straitness of his condition or his necessities force it, he ought
to shun all other cares; such as, not only the farnling of
grounds, but even the teaching of schools, since these must of
necessity take hin} off both from his labour and study. Such
diversions as his health, or the tenlper of his n1Ïnd, 11lay render
proper for hinl, ought to be Inan{y, decent, and grave; and such
as may neither possess his luind or tilne too Inuch, nor give a
bad character of hiln to his people. He lllust also avoid too
much familiarity with bad people, and the squandering away
his tinle in too lTIuch vain and idle discourse. I-lis cheerfulness
ought to be frank, but neither excessive nor licentious: his
friends and his garden ought to be his chief diversions, as his
study and his parish ought to be his chief elnploYlnents. He
nlust still carryon his study, making himself an absolute nlaster
of the few books he has, till his c
rclllnstances grow larger, that
he can purchase more. He can haye no pretence, if he were
ever so narrow in the world, to say, that he cannot get not only
the ColIects, but the Psalnls, and the
ew Testalnent by heart,
or at least a great part of then!. If there be any books belong-
ing to his church, such as J ewers 'V orks, and the Book of
Martyrs, which lie tearing in luany places, t.hese he may read
over and over again, till he is able to furnish hilllself better, I
mean \vith a greater variety: but let him furnish hilnself ever so
e
Iatt. xxiii, 2, 3.

OJ'tn Pasto;'al Oare.

167

well, the reading and understanding the scriptures, chiefly the
PsalnlS and the New Test:unent, ought to be still his chief study,
till he becomes so conversant in then1, that he can both say
nlany parts of then1, and explain thenl without book.
It is the only visible reason of the Jews adhering so firn1Iy to
their religion, that during the ten or twelve years of their
education, their youth are so nluch practised to the scriptures,
to weigh every word in then1, and get them all by heart, that it
is an adrniration to see how ready both n1en and WOInen all10ng
thern are at it: their rabbies have it to that perfection, that they
have the concordance of their whole Bible in their melnories;
,vhich gives then1 vast advantages, when they are to argue with
any that are not so ready as they are in the scriptures. Our
task is nluch shorter and easier, and it is a reproach, especially
to us protestants, who found our religion merely on the scrip-
tures, that we know the New Testament so little, which cannot
be excused.
'Vith the study of the scriptures, or rather as a part of it,
comes in the study of the fathers, as far as one can go ; in these,
their apologies and epistles are chiefly to be read, for these gÎ\.e
us the best view of those tinIes. Basirs and Chrysostonl"s ser-
mons are by much the best. To these studies, history comes in
as a noble and pleasant addition; that gives a nlan great views
of the providence of God, of the nature of man and of the con-
duct of the world. This is above no man's capacity; and though
sonle histories are better than others, Jet any histories, such as
one can get, are to he read, rather than none at all. If one can
compass it, he ought to begin with the history of the church,
and there at the head Josephus, and go on with Eusebius, So-
crates, and the other historians, that are commonly bound to-
gether; and then go to other later collectors of ancient history.
The history of our own church and country is to cOlne next; then
the ancient Greek and ROlnan history; and after that, as lnuch
l1Ístory, geography, and books of tra,vels, as can be had, will
give an easy and a useful entertainment, and will furnish one
with great variety of good thoughts, and of pleasant as well as
edifying discourse, As for all other studies, everyone Inust
follow his inclinations, his capacities, and tha.t which he can
procure to himself. The books that we learn at schools are
generally laid aside, with this prejudice, that they were the
labours as wen as the sorrows of our childhood and education;

168

Of the Pastoral Caj'e.

but they are anlong the best of books; the Greek and Ronlan
authors have n spirit in thmn, a force both of thought and ex-
pression, that later ages have not been able to imitate; Bu-
chanan only excepted, in wholu, lnore particularly in his Psalnls,
there is a beauty and life, an exactness as ,veIl as a liberty, that
cannot be imitated, and scarce enough commended. The study
and practice of physic, especially that which is safe and siInple,
puts the clergy in a capacity of doing great acts of charity, and
of rendering both their persons and labours very acceptable to
their people; it will procure their being soon sent for by them in
sickness, and it. will give them great advantages in speaking to
them of their spiritual concerns, when they are so careful of
their persons: but in this nothing that is sordid must mix.
These ought to be the chief studies of the clergy. But to
give all these their full effect, a priest that is n1uch in his study
ought to enlploya great part of his time in secret and fervent
prayer, for the direction and blessing of God in his labours, for
the constant assistance of his holy Spirit, and for a lively sense
of divine lnatters, that so he 111ay feel the impressions of theln
grow deep and strong upon his thoug-hts. This, and this only,
\vill luake hin1 go on with his ,york without ,vearying, and be
always rejoicing in it: this will make Ilis expressions of these
things to be happy and noble, when he can bring thenl out of
the good treasure of his heart, that is ever fun, and al \Va ys warnl
with thenl.
From bis study, I go next to his public functions. He nlust
bring his mind to an inward and feeling sense of those things
that are prayed for in our Offices: that ,vill make him pronounce
them with an equal measure of gravity and affection, and with a
due slowness and eluphasis. I do not love the theatrical ,yay of
the church of ROlne, in \vhich it is a great study, and a long
practice, to learn in everyone of their Offices, ho\v they ought
to compose their looks, gesture and voice: yet a light ,vander- .
ing of the eyes, and a hasty running through the prayers, are
things highly unbecoming; they do very llluch lessen the
lnajesty of our \vorship, and give our enemies advantage to call
it dead and fonnal, ,vhen they see plainly, that he who officiates
is dead and forInal in it. A deep sense of the things prayed for,
a true recollection and attention of spirit, and a holy earnestness
of soul, will give a conlposnre to the looks, and a weight to the
pronunciation, that will be ten1pered between affectation on the

Of the Pastoral Cal't. 169
one hand, and levity on the other. As for preaching, I refer
that to a chapter apart.
A minister ought to instruct his people frequently of the
nature of baptism, that they nH1Y not go about it merely as a
cerenlony, as it is too visible the greater part do; but that they
nuty consider it is the dedicating their children to God, the
offering them to Christ, and the holding them thereafter as his;
directing their chief care about then1, to the breeding them up
in the 'Jl1trtltl"e and adnwnition of the Lord. There must be care
taken to give them all a l'ight notion of the use of godfathers and
godnlothers, which is a good institution, to procure a double se-
curity for the education of children; it being to be supposed,
that the con1mon ties of nature and religion bind the parents so
strongly, that if they are not nundful of these, a special vo\v
would not put a new force in them: and therefore a collateral se-
curity is also delnanded, both to supply their defects, if they
are faulty, and to take care of the religious education of the
infant, in case the parents should happen to die before that is
done. And therefore no godfather or godmother are to be
invited to that office, but such with wholn one would trust the
care of the education of his child; nor ought any to do this
office for another, but he that is willing to charge hÌ1nself \vith
the education of the child for whon1 he answers. But when
alnbition or vanity, favour or presents-r are the considerations
upon which those sureties in baptisn1 are chosen, great advantage
is hereby given to those who reject infant-baptisn1, and the ends
of the church in this institution are quite defeated; \vhich
are both the nlaking the security that is given for the chil-
dren so nluch the stronger, and the establishing an endear-
ment and a tenderness between fan1ilies; this being in its own
nature no small tie, how little soever it n1ay be apprehended or
understood.
Great care 111Ust be taken in the instruction of the youth: the
bare saying the Catechisll1 by rote is a small matter; it is
necessary to make then1 understand the weight of every word in
it: and for this end every priest, that n1Ïnds his duty, will find
that no part of it is so useful to his people, as once every year to
go through the whole Church-Catechisln, \vord by word, and
n1ake his people understand the ilnportance of every tittle in it.
This win be no hard labour to himself; for after he has once
gathered together the places of scripture that relate to every

170

OjW the Pasto/'al Care.

article, and fonned some clear illustrations and easy sÏ1niles
to make it understood, his catechetieal discourses, during all the
rest of his life, will be only the going over that same matter
again and again. By this means his people will conle to have
all this by heart; they will kno'v what to say upon it at hOlne
to their children; and they ,vill understand all his sernlons the
better, ,,,hen they have once had a clear notion of all those ternlS
that nIust run through thenl; for those not being understood
renders thenl all unintelIigiLle. A discourse of this sort would
be generally of nIuch greater edification than an afternoon's
sernIon: it should not be too long; too nIuch must not be said
at a time, nor Inore than one point opened; a quarter of an hour
is tinIe sufficient; for it will gro,v tedious and be too little
remembered, if it is half an hour long. This would draw an
assenlbly to evening prayers, \vhich ,ve see are but too nIuch
neglected, ,,,hen there is no sort of discourse or sermon ac-
companying them. And the practising this, during the six
months of the year, in which the days are long, would be a very
effectuallneans both to instruct the people, and to bring thenI to
a more religious observation of the Lord"s day; which is one of
the powerfullest instrlunents for the carr
.ing on and advancing
of religion in the world.
'Vith catechising" a Ininist
r is to join the preparing those
,",hon1 he instructs to Le confirmed, which is not to be done
merely upon their being able to say over so lHany ,,"orda by rote.
It is their renewing their baptisnlal vow in their own persons,
,vhich the church designs by that Office; and the bearing in
their own n1inds a sense of thcir being bound ilnmediately by
that, which their sureties then undertook for thenI. No\v to do
this in such a manner, as that it nlay make inlpression, and have
a due effect upon thenl, they must stay till they therl1selves
understand what they do, and till they ha,?e sonle sense and
affection to it; and therefore till one is of an age and disposition
fit to recei\?e the holy sacran1ent of the Lord's supper, and
desires to be confirlned, as a solenln preparation and qualification
to it, he is not yet ready for it: for in the coronlon nIanagenlent
of that holy rite, it is but too visible, that of those nlultitudes
that crowd to it, the far greater part cOlne nlerelyas if they were
to receive the bishop's blessing, ,vithout any sense of the VO\v
made by thenl: and of their renewing their baptisillal engage-
ments in it.

Of the Pastoral Gæì'e. 171
As for the greatest and solen1nest of all the institutions of
Christ, the commen10rating his death, and the partaking of it in
the Lord's supper; this must be well explained to the peopJe,
to preserve them fronl the extrelues of superstit.ion and irre-
verence; to raise in then1 a great sense of the goodness of God,
that appeared in the death of Christ; of his love to us, of the
sacrifice he once offered, and of the intercession which he still
continues to n1ake for us: a share in all which, is there federally
offered to us, upon our coming under engagements, to answer
our part of the covenant, and to live according to the rules it
sets us. On these things he ought to enlarge himself, not only
in his 8ern10ns, but in his catechetical exercisE1s, and in private
discourses; that so he lllay give his people right notions of that
SOleIlln part of worship, that he may bring them to delight in it;
and Inay neither fright them from it, by raising their apprehen-
sions of it to a strictness that n1ay terrify too n1uch, nor encourage
them in the too conUllon practice of the dead and fornlal
l
ecei\'ing, at the great festivals, as a piece of decency recon1-
luended by custon1.
About the time of the sacralnent, every nlinister that knows
anyone of his parish guilty of enIÏnent sins, ought to go and
adluonish hinl to change his course of life, or not to profane the
table of the Lord.; and if pri\'ate adlnonitions have no effect,
then if his sins are public and scandalous, he ought to deny him
the sacranlent; and upon that he ought to take the method
which is still left in the church to n1ake sinners ashan1ed, to
separate them from holy things, till they have edified the church
as n1uch by their repentance, and the outward profession of it,
as they had forn1erly scandalized it by their disorders. This we
must confess, that though ,ve have great reason to lan1ent our
want of the godly discipline that was in the prÏJnithye church,
)yet we have still authority for a great deal more than we put
in practice. Scandalous persons ought, and might be more
frequently presented than the)" are, and both private and public
adn10nitions might be n10re used than they are. There is a flat-
ness in all these things among us. Some are willing to do
nothing, because they cannot do all that they ought to do;
whereas the right way for procuring an enlargement of our
authority, is to use that we have well; not as an engine to
gratify our own or other people's passions, not to vex people,
nor to look after fees, Inore than the correction of manners, or

17Q

Of the Pastoral Care.

the edification of the people. If we began much \vith private
applicat.ions, and brought none into our courts, till it was visible
that all other ,va)'s had been unsuccessful, and that no regard
was had either to persons or parties, to nlen's opinions or
interests, "e might again bring our courts into the esteem which
they ought to have, but which they have ahnost entirely lost.
"r e can never hope to bring the world to bear the yoke of
Christ, and the order that he has appointed to be kept up in his
church, of noting those that \valk disorderly, of separating our-
selves froln then1, of having no fello,vship, no, not so much as
to eat with them; as long as we give them cause to apprehend,
that ,ve intend by this to bring thelll under our yoke, to subdue
them to us, and to rule the
with a rod of iron; for the truth is,
111ankind is 80 strangely cOlnpounded, that it is very hard to
restrain ecclesiastical tyranny on the one hand, ,vithout running
to a lawless licentiousness on the other: so strangely does the
,vorld love extreules and avoid a telllper.
N o,v I have gone t.hrough the public functions of a priest;
and in speaking of the last of these, I have broke in upon the
third head of his duty, his private labours in his parish. He
understands little the nature and the obligations of the priestly
office, who thinks he has discharged it by perfonning the public
appointn1ents; in ,vhich if he is defective, the la,ys of the
church, ho,v feeble soever they lllay be as to other things, ,viII
have their course. But as the private duties of the pastoral care
are things upon ,vhich the cognizance of the law cannot fall, so
they are the nlost ÏIuportant and necessary of all others: and the
more praiseworthy, the freer they are and the less forced by the
c0111pulsion of la,v. As to the public functions, every lllan has
his rule; and in these all are aln10st alike; every man
especially
if his lungs are good, can read prayers, even in the largest con-
gregation; and if he has a right t3,ste, and can but choose good
sernlons, out of the lnany that are in print, he DIay likewise serve
them ,veIl that ,yay too. But the difference between one Ulan
and anot.her shews itself Inore sensibly in his private labours,
in his prudent deportnlent, in his nlodest and discreet ,yay of
procuring respect to hiulself, in his treating his parish, either in
reconciling such differences as n1ay happen to be :llnong them,
or in admonishing 111e11 of rank, who set an ill exan1ple to others,
\vhich ought always to be done in that way, which ,viII probably
have the best effect upon thell1; therefore it nUlst be done

OJ. tll Pastoral Oa1
e.

173

secretly, and \\ith expres:o:ions of tenderness and respect for their
persons: fit times are to be chosen for this; it may be often the
best way to do it by a letter; for there may be ways fallen
upon of reproving the '\'orst men in so soft a n1anner, that if
t.hey are not reclain1ed, yet they shaH not be irritated or Jnade
\vorse by it, which is but too often the effect of an indiscreet re-
proof. By this a minister nIay save the sinner's soul; he is at
least sure to save his own, by having discharged his duty towards
his people.
One of the chief parts of the pastoral care is, the visiting the
sick; not to be done barely when one is sent for: he is to go as
soon as he hears that any of his flock are ill; he is not to
satisfy himself with going over the Office, or giving them the
sacrament when desired: he ought to inform hinIself of their
course of life, and of the temper of their mind, tbat so he nULY
apply himself to theIn accordingly. If they are insensible, he
ought to awaken thenI with the terrors of God, the judgment
and the wrath to come. He must endeavour to make thell1
sensible of their sins; particularly of that which runs through
most men's lives, their forgetting and neglecting God and his
service, and their setting their hearts so inordinately upon the
world. He nIust set them on to examine their dealings, and
make them seriously to consider, that they can expect no nIercy
fronl God, unless they restore whatsoever they may have got
unjustly from any other, by any nIanner of ,yay, even though
their title "yere confirnled by law. He is to lay any other sins
to their charge, that he has reason to suspect them guilty of;
and must press them to all such acts of repentance as they are
then capable of. If they have been men of a bad course of life,
he must give then1 no encouragmnent to hope Jl1uch from this
death-bed repentance; yet he is to set then1 to implore the
111ercies of God in Christ Jesus, and to do all they can to obtain
his favour. But unless the sickness has been of a long continu-
ancE', and that the person's repent[tn
e, his patience, his piety,
has been very extraordinary during the course of it, he nlust be
sure to give hiJU no positive ground of hope; but lea.ye hÍ1n to
the luercies of God. For there cannot be any greater treachery
to soul
, that is 11l0re fatal and nlore pernicious, than the giving
quick and easy hopes, upon so short, so forced and so imperfect
a repentance. It not only n1akes those persons perish securely
thenIselves, but it leads all about thenI to destruction, when they

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Of the Pastoral Care.

see one, of \vhose bad life and late repentance they have been
the \vitnesses, put so soon in hopes, nay by sonle unfaithful
guides lluLde sure of salvation: this must Inake theln go on very
secure in their sins, ,vhen they see how sl11a11 a nleasure of
repentance sets all right at last. All the order and justice of a
nation ,vould be presently dissolved, should the howlings of
crin1Ïnals, and their promises of anlendment, ,vork on juries,
judges or princes: so the hopes that are given to death-bed
penitents must be a IllOSt effectual means to root out the sense
of religion of the Ininds of all that see it. And therefore though
no dying man is to be driven to despair, and left to die obstinate
in his sins; )1et if we love the souls of our people, if we set a
due value on the blood of Christ, and if ,ve are touched with any
sense of the honour or interests of religion, ,ve Inust not say any
thing that may encourage others, \vho are but too apt of thenl-
selves to put all off to the last hour. "r e can give thelll no
hopes from the nature of the gospel-covenant; yet after an, the
best thing a dying man can do is to repent.; if he recovers, that
may be the seed and beginning of a new life and a new nature
in hinI. Nor do ,ve know the l11easure of the riches of God's
grace tLnd nlercy; ho\v far he 111ay think fit to exert it beyond
the conditions and promises of the ne\v covenant, at least to the
lessening of such a person's misery in another state. 'Ye are
f;ure he is not within the new covenant; and since he has not
repented, according to the tenor of it, we dare not, unless we
betray our cOlunlission, give any hopes beyond it. But one of
the chief cares of a nlinister about the sick ought to be to exact
of them solonIn vows and pronlises of a renovation of life, in case
God shall raise them up again; and these ought to be denlanded,
not only in general ,vords, but if they have been guilty of any
scandalous disorders, or any other ill practices, there ought to
be special proillises made with relation to those. A nd upon the
recovery of such persons, their nlinistcrs ought t.o put, thenI in
mind of their engagenlents, and use all the due freedom of
admonitions and reproof, upon their breaking loose from them.
In such a case they ought to leave a terrible denunciation of t.he
judgnlents of God upon thenI; and so, at least, they acquit
themsel ves.
There is another sort of sick persons, who abound nlore in
towns than in the country; those are the troubled ill mind: of
these there are two sorts; sonle have cOlllmitt.ed enormous sins,

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175

which kindle tt stornl in their consciences; anù that ought to be
cherished, till they have conlpleted a repentance proportioned to
the nat.ure and degree of their sin. If wrong has been done to
another, reparation and restitution lllust be made to the utInost
of the party's power. If blood has been shed, a long course of
fasting and prayer; a total ttbstinence frOnl wine, if drunkenness
gave the rise to it; a making up the loss to the family, on which
it has fallen, 111USt be enjoined. But alas! the greater part of
those that think they are troubled in mind are nlelancholy
hypochondriacal people, who, what through sonle false opinions
in religion, what through a foulness of blood, occasioned by their
unacti ve course of life, in which their nlinds work too luuch,
because their bodies are too little enlployed, fall under dark and
cloudy apprehensions; of which they can give 110 clear nor good
account. This, in the greatest part, is to be removed by strong
and chalybeate nIedicines; yet such persons are to be nluch
pitied, :lnd a little humoured in their distenlper. They must be
diverted from thinkin
too much, being too IllUC
alone, or
dwelling tuo long on thoughts that are too hard for then1 to
nlaster.
The opinion that has had the chief influence in raising these
di
telllpers, has been that of praying by the Spirit; when a flanle
of thought, a melting in the brain, and the abounding in tender
expressions, have been thought the effects of the Spirit, moving
all those synlptonlS of a WarIH telllper. Now in all people, espe-
cially in persons of a Inelancholy disposition, that are much alone,
there will be a great diversity, with relation to this, at different
titues: sOlnetimes these heats will rise and flow copiously, and
at other tinIes there will be a danlp upon the brain, and a dead
drJness in the spirits. This, to nlen that are prepossessed with
the opinion now set forth, will appear as if God did sometimes
shine out, and at other tinIes hide his face; and since this last
win be the nlost frequent. in filen of that. teluper, as they will be
apt to be lifted up, when they think they have a fulness of the
Spirit in them, so they will be as lnuch cast down when that is
withdrawn; they will conclude froln it, that God is angry with
them, and so reckon that the\T must be in a very danO'erous COll-
.J ..

dition: upon this, a vast variety of troublesonle scruples will
arise, out of every thing that they either do or have done. If
then a Ininister has occasion to treat any in this condition, he
must rnake then1 apprehend that the heat or coldness of their

176

Of tlte Pastoral Care.

brain is the effect of telnper, and flows from the different state or
the aninlal spirits, ,vhich have their diseases, their hot and their
cold fits, ttS ,veIl as the blood has; and therefore no measure can
be taken froln these either to judge for or against thell1selves.
They are to consider ,,,hat are their principles and resolutions,
and what is the settled course of their life; upon these they are
to form sure judgments, ttnd not upon any thing that is so fluc-
tuating and inconstant as fits or humours.
Another part of a priest's duty is, with relation to them that
are without, I mean, that are not of our body, which are of the
side of the church of Ron1e, or an10ng the dissenters. Other
churches and bodies are noted for their zeal in l11aking prose-
lytes, for their restless endeavours, as ,veIl as their unla,vful
methods in it; they reckoning, perhaps, thttt all will be sancti-
fied by the increasing their party; ,vhich is the true name of
Inaking converts, except they become at the same time good
men, as ,veIl as votaries to a side or cause. \Ve are certainly
very rell1Íss in this of both hands; little pains is taken to gain
either upon papist or nonconformist; the law has been so n1uch
trusted to, that that nlethod only ,vas thought sure; it ,vas Inuch
valued, and others at the san1e tÌIne as nluch neglected; ttnd
,vhereas at first, without force or violence, in forty years time,
popery, from being the prevailing religion, ,vas reduced to a
handful, ,ve have now in abo,Te twice that nUlllber of years made
very little progress. The favour she,ved them fron1 our court
made us seem, as it ,vere, unwilling to disturb theln in their
religion; so that we grew at last to be kind to them, to look on
them as hannless and inoffensive neighbours, and even to cherish
and comfort them: ,ve ,vere very near the being convinced of
our mistake, by a terrible and dearbought experience. N o'v
they are again under luttches; certainly it beconles us, both in
charity to then1, and in regard tú our o,vn sttfety, to study to
gain them by the force of reason ttnd persuasion; by shewing
all kindness to thein, and thereby disposing theIn to hrarken to
the reasons that ,ve may lay before thenl. 'Ve ought not to give
over this as desperate, upon a few unsuccessful attempts; but
nlust folIo,v the}n in the meekness of Christ, that so we may at
last prove happy instrulllcnts, in delivering theln fi.Oln the
Llindness and captivity they are kept under, and the idolatry
and superstition t.hey live in: we ought to yisit thelli often in a
spirit of love and charity, and to offer thenl conferences; and

Of the Pastoral Care.

177

upon such endeavours we have reason to expect a blessing, at
least this, of having done our duty, and so delivering our own
souls.
Nor are we to think that the toleration, under which the law
has settled the dissenters, does either absolve then1 fron1 the
obligations that they lay under before, by the la,vs of God and
the gospel, to maintain the unity of the church, and not to rent
it by unjust or causeless schisn1s; or us fron1 using our endea-
vours to bring then1 to it, by the methods of persuasion and
kindness: nay, perhaps, their being now in circun1stances, that
tl:.ey can no more be forced in these things, may put son1e of
them in a greater towardness to hear reason; a free nation natu-
rally hating constraint: and certainly the less ,ve seem to grudge
or envy then1 their liberty, we ,vill be thereby the nearer gain-
ing on the generouser and better part of then1, and the rest
would soon lose heart, and look out of countenance, if these
should hearken to us. I t was the opinion many had of their
strictness, and of the looseness that was among us, that gained
then1 their credit, and made such numbers fall off from us.
They have in a great lneasure lost the good character that once
they had: if to that we should likewise lose our bad one; if ,ve
were stricter in our lives, more serious and constant in our
labours, and studied n10re effectually to refom1 those of our
communion, than to rail at theirs; if we took occasion to let
thenl see that we love them, that we wish them no harm, but
good; then ,ve might hope, by the blessing of God, to lay the
obligations to love and peace, to unity and concord before
then1, with such advantages, that son1e of them n1ight open their
eyes, and see at last upon how slight grounds they have no\v so
long kept up such a wrangling, and made such a rent in the
church, that both the power of religion in general, and the
strength of the protestant religion, have suffered extren1ely by
them.
Thus far I have carried a clerk through his parish, and all the
several branches of his duty to his people. But that all this may
be well gone about, and indeed as the foundation upon which all
the other parts of the pastoral care may be well managed, he
ought frequently to visit his whole parish from house to house;
that so he may know them, and be known of then1. This, I
know, ,viII seem a vast labour, especially in towns, where
parishes are large; but that is no excuse for those in the
N

178

Of the Pastoral (}are.

country, where they are generally sll1all; and if they are larger,
the going this round will be the longer a doing; yet an hour a
day, twice or thrice a week, is no hard duty; and this, in the
compass of a year, will go a great ,vay, even in a large parish.
In these visits much t.ime is not to be spent; a short word for
stirring them up to mind their souls, to make conscience of
t.heir ,vays, and to pray earnestly to God, nuty begin it, and
almost end it; after one has asked in what union and peace the
neighbourhood lives, and inquired into their necessities, if they
seen1 very poor, that so those to whom that care belongs may be
put in mind to see ho,v they l11ay be relieved. In this course
of visiting, a minister will soon find out, if there are any truly
good persons in his parish, after whon1 he 111USt look with a more
particular regard: since these are the excellent ones, in ,vhonl
all his delight ought to be. For let their rank be ever so mean,
if they are sincerely religious, and not hypocritical pretenders to
it, who are vainly puffed up ,vith some degrees of knowledge,
and other outward appearances, he ought to consider tnem as
the 1l10St valuable in the sight of God; and indeed, as the chief
part of his care; for a living dog is hette1
than a dead lion. I
know this ,vay of parochial visitation is so worn out that,
perhaps, neither priest. nor people will be very desirous to see it
taken up. It will put the one to labour and trouble, and bring
the other under a closer inspection, 'which bad men will no ,vays
desire, nor perhaps endure. But if this were put on the clergy
by their bishops, and if they eXplained in a sermon, before they
began it, the reasons and ends of doing it; that would remove
the prejudices which might arise against it. I confess this is an
increase of labour, but that will seeln no hard matter to such as
have a right sense of their ordination vows, of the value of souls,
and of the dignity of their function. If luen had the spirit of
their calling in thenl, and a du
measure of flarne and heat in
carrying it on, labour in it would be rather a pleasure than a
trouble. In all other professions, those \vho follow them labour
in them all the year long, and are hard at their business every
day in the week. All men that are well suited in a profession,
that is agreeable to their genius and inclination, are reaIly the
easier and the better pleased the more they are employed in it.
Indeed there is no trade nor course of life, except ours, that
does not take up the whole man: and shall ours only, that is
the noblest of all others, and that has a certain subsistence fixed

Of the Pastoral Oare.

179

upon it, and does not live by contingencies and upon hopes) as
all others do, n1ake the labouring in our business an objection
against any part of our duty
Certainly nothing can so nluch
dispose the nation to think on the relieving the necessities of
the many slnaU livings) as the seeing the clergy setting about
their business to purpose: this would, by the blessing of God, be
a nlost effectual means of stopping the progress of atheism, and
of the contempt that the clergy lies under; it ,volIld go a great
way towards the healing our schism, and would be the chief
step) that could possibly be made, towards the procuring to us
such laws as are yet wanting to the completing our reformation,
and the nlending the condition of so nlany of our poor brethren,
who are languishing in ,vant, and under great straits.
There remains only somewhat to be added concerning the
behaviour of the clergy towards one another. '-fhose of a higher
form in learning, dignity and ,vealth ought not to despise poor
vicars and curates; but on the contrary, the poorer they are,
they ought to pity and encourage them the nlore) since they are
all of the sanIe order, only the one are n10re happily placed than
the others; they ought therefore to cherish those that are in
,vorse circunlstances, and encourage them to come often to thenI;
they ought to lend theIn books and to give them other assist-
ances) in order to their progress in learning. It is a bad thing
to see a bishop behave himself superciliously towards any of his
clergy; but it is intolerable in those of the same degree. The
clergy ought to contrive ways to meet often together, to enter
into a brotherly correspondence) and into the concerns one of
another, both in order to their progress in knowledge and for
consulting together in all their affairs. This ,,,ould be a n1eans
to cement them into one body; hereby they might understand
what were amiss in the conduct of any in their division, and try
to correct it either by private advices and endeavours, or by
laying it before the bishop, by whose private labours, if his
clergy would be assisting to hin1 aJld give him free and full
inforIuatÎons of things, many disorders might be cured, without
rising to a public scandal, or forcing hinI to extreme censures.
It is a false pity in any of the clergy, who see their brethren
running into ill courses) to look on and say nothing: it is a
cruelty to the church and may prove a cruelty to the person, of
Wh01l1 they are so unseasonably tender: for things ll1ay be 1110re
easily corrected at first, before they have grown to be public, or
Nfl

180

Of the Pastoral Care.

are hardened by habit and custom. Upon these accounts it is of
great advantage, and nlay be matter of great edification to the
clergy, to enter into a strict union together, to meet often and
to be helpful to one another: but if this should be made practi-
cable, they must be extremely strict in those meetings to observe
so exact a sobriety, that there nlight be no colour given to
censure them, as if these ,vere merrymeetings, in which they
allowed themselves great liberties. I t were good, if they could
be brought to nleet to fast and pray: but if that is a strain too
high for the present age, at least they must keep so far within
bounds, that there may be no room for calumny. For a disorder
upon any such occasion \vould give a ,vound of an extraordinary
nature to the reputation of the ,vhole clergy, when everyone
would bear a share of the blame, which perhaps belonged but to
a few. Four or five such meetings in a summer would neither
be a great charge nor give much trouble: but the advantages
that might arise out of theln \vould be very sensible.
J have but one other advice to add, but it is of a thing of great
consequence, though generally managed in so loose and so indif-
ferent a manner, that I have some reason in charity to believe,
that the clergy make very little reflection on ,,'hat they do in it:
and that is, in the testinlonials that they sign in favour of those
that come to be ordained. !\lany have confessed to myself that
they had signed these upon general reports and
importunity;
though the testimonial bears personal knowledge. These are
instead of the suffrages of the clergy, \vhich in the primitive
church were given before any were ordained. A bishop must
depend upon them; for he has no other ,vay to be certainly
informed: and therefore as it is a lie, passed with the solemnity
of hand and seal, to affirm any thing that is beyond one's own
kno\vledge, so it is a lie Dlade to God and the church; since the
design of it is to procure orders. So that if a bishop, trusting
to that, and being satisfied of the knowledge of one that brings
it, ordains an unfit and un\vorthy Dlan, they that signed it are
deeply and chiefly involved in the guilt of his laying hands sud-
denly upon him: therefore every priest ought to charge his
conscience in a deep particular manner, that so he may never
testify for anyone, unless he knows his life to be 80 regular, and
believes his temper to be so good, that he does really judge hirll
a person fit to be put in holy orders. These are all the t'ules
that do occur to me at present.

Of tlu3 Pastoral Care.

181

In performing these several branches of the duty of a pastor,
the trouble will not be great., if he is truly a good man, and de-
lights in the service of God, and in doing acts of charity. The
pleasure \\ ill be unspeakable; first, that of the conscience in this
testimony that it gives, and the quiet and joy which arises from
the sense of one's having done his duty: and then it can scarce
be supposed but by all this some will be "Tought on; SOlne sin-
ners will be reclaÎ1ned; bad men will grow good, and good men
will grow better. And if a generous man feels, to a great de-
gree, the pleasure of having delivered one from misery, and of
making hin} easy and happy; how sovereign a joy must it be to
a man that believes there is another life, to see that he has been
an instrulnent to rescue some from endless nlisery, and to further
others in the way to everlasting happiness! And the more in-
stances he sees of this, the lnore do his joys grow upon him. This
luakes life happy, and death joyful to such a priest; for he is not
terrified with those words, Give an account of thy ste'lcardsltip, for
thou 'Jnayest be 'JUJ longer steward: he knows his reward shall be
full, pressed down, and running over. He is but too happy in
those spiritual children, whom he has begot in Christ; he looks
after those as the chief part of his care, and as the principal of
his flock, and is so far from aspiring, that it is not without some
uneasiness that he leaves them, if he is conlmanded to arise to
SOlne higher post in the church.
The troubles of this life, the censures of bad men, and even
the prospect of a persecution, are no dreadful things to him that
has this seal of his nlinistry; and this comfort within him, that
he has not lahoured in 'Vain, nor run and fmlgld as one tnat heats
the air; he sees tlte travail of his sOld, and is satisfied 'when he finds
that Goer's 'work prospers in Ids hand. This comforts hin1 in his
sad reflections on his own past sins, that he has been an instru-
ment of advancing God's honour, of saving souls, and of propa-
gating his gospel; since to have saved one soul is worth a nlan's
cOIning into the world, and richly ,vorth the labours of his whole
life. Here is a subject that nlight be easily prosecuted by many
warn1 and lively figures: but I now go on to the last article re-
lating to this Inatter.

18

Of the Pasto/rat Oa1'e.

CHAP. IX.

Ooncerning pl'eaching.
THE ,vor1d naturally runs to extren1es in every thing. If one
sect or body of men magnify preaching too lnnch, another carries
that to another extrenle of decrying it as much. It is certainly
a noble and a profitable exercise, if rightly gone about, of great
use both to priest and people, by obliging the one to much study
and labour, and by setting before the other full and copious
discoveries of divine matters, opening theln clearly, and pressing
them weightily upon them. It has also no,v gained so much
esteem in the world that a clergyman cannot maintain his credit
nor bring his people to a constant attendance on the ,vorship of
God, unless he is happy in these pelformances.
I ,vill not run out into the history of preaching, to she,v how
late it ,vas before it was brought into the church, and by what
steps it gre,v up to the pitch it is no\V at: ho,v long it was before
the Ron1an church used it, and in ho,v Inany different shapes it
has appeared. SOlne of the first patterns we have are the best:
for as Tully began the Roman eloquence, and likewise ended it,
no Ulan being able to hold up to the pitch to which he raised it;
so St. Basil and St. Chrysostom brought preaching fronl the dry
pursuing of allegories that had vitiated Origen, and fronl the
excessive affectation of figures and rhetoric that appears in Na-
zianzen, to a due simplicity; a native force and beauty; having
joined to the plainness of a clear but noble style, the strength of
reason and the softness of persuasion. SOlne ,vere disgusted at
this plainness, find they brought in a great deal of art into the
composition of sermons; mystical applications of scripture grew
to be better liked than clear texts; an accumulation of figures,
a cadence in the periods, a playing upon the sounds of words, a
loftiness of epithets, and often an obscurity of expression, ,vere
according to the different tastes of the several ages run into.
Preaching has passed through lnany different forms among us
since the reforluation. But \vithout flattering the present age,
or any persons now alive, too much, it must be confessed that it
is brought of late to a Hluch greater perfection than it ,vas ever
before at anlong us. It is certainly brought nearer the pattern
that St. Chrysostom has set., or perhaps carried beyond it. Our

Of the Pastoral Care.

183

language is Iuuch refined, and we have returned to the plain
notions of sinlple and genuine rhetoric.
\Ve have so vast a nUl11ber of excellent performances in print,
that if a nUlIl has but a right understanding of religion, and a
true relish of good sense, he may easily furnish himself thi
way.
The impertinent way of dividing texts is laid aside, the needless
setting out of the originals, and the vulgar version, is ,vorn out.
The trifling shows of learning in nlany quotations of passages,
that very few could understand, do no lTIOre flat the auditory.
Pert wit and luscious eloquence have lost their relish. So that
sermons are reduced to the plain opening the lueaning of the
text, in a few' short illustrations of its coherence with what goes
before and after, and of the parts of which it is cOluposed; to
that is joined the clear stating of such propositions as arise out
of it, in their nature, truth, and reasonableness, by which the
hearers may form clear notions of the se,Teral parts of religion,
such as are best suited to their capacities and apprehensions: to
all "hich applications are added, tending to the reproving, direct-
ing, encouraging, or cOlnfo1'ting the hearers, according to the
several occasions that are offered.
This is indeed all that can truly be intended in preaching, to
make some portions of scripture to be rightly understood; to
make those truths contained in thenl to be In01'e fuliyappre-
hended; and then to lay the nlatter home to the consciences of
the hearers, so directing all to sonle good and practical end. In
the choice of the text, care is to be taken not to choose te
ts
that seenl to have humour in thenl; or that l1lust be long
wrought upon before they are understood. The plainer a text
is in itself, the sooner it is cleared, and the fuller it is of matter
of instruction; and therefore such ought to be chosen to com-
n10n auditories.
Iany will renlenlber the text that rCll1ember
nothing else; therefore such a choice should be made, as may
at least put a weighty and speaking sentence of the scriptures
upon the nlenlories of the people. ..1.\ sermon should be made
for a text, and not a text found out for a sermon; for to give
our discourses weight, it should appear that ,ve are led to them
by our texts: such sernlons will probably have n1uch nlore
efficacy than a general discourse, before which a text seen1S only
to be read as a decent introduction, but to which no regard is
had in the progress of it. Great care should be also had, both
in opening the text, and of that which arises fronl it, to illus-

184

Of tlte Pastoral Care.

trate thml1 by concurrent passages of scripture. A little of this
ought to be in every sermon, and but a little; for the people are
not to be overcharged with too much of it at a time; and this
ought to be done with judgment, and not made a bare concord-
ance-exercise, of citing scriptures that have the same \vords,
though not to the same purpose and in the same sense. A text
being opened, then the point upon \vhich the sermon is to run is
to be opened; and it \vill be the better heard and understood, if
there is but one point in a sermon; so that one head, and only
one, is ,veIl stated, and fully set out. In this, great regard i
to
be had to the nature of the auditory, that so the point eXplained
may be in some measure proportioned to then}. Too close a thread
of reason, too great an abstraction of thought, too sublime and
too n1etaphysical a strain, are suitable to very few auditories, if
to any at all.
Things must be put in a clear light, and brought out in as
short periods and in as plain words as may be. The reasons of
theln Inust be made as sensible to the people as is possible; as
in virtues and vices, their tendencies and effects, their being
suitable or unsuitable to our powers, to both souls and bodies,
to the interests of this life as well as the next; and the good or
evil that they do to hun1an societies, families, and neighbour-
hood
, ought to be fully and frequently opened. In setting these
forth, such a n1easure is to be kept, that the hearers ulay per-
ceive that things are not strained, in the way of a declamation,
into forced characters; but that they are set out, as truly they
are, \vithout n1aking thenl seem better by iUlaginary perfections,
or worse by an undue aggravation. For the carrying those 111at-
ters beyond the plain observation of lnankind 111akes that the
,vhole is looked on as a piece of rhetoric; the preacher seeming
to intend rather to she,v his skill, in raising his subject too high,
or running it do,vn too lo,v, than to lay before them the native
consequences of things; and that ,vhich upon reflection they may
be all able to perceive is really true. Virtue is 80 good in itself
that it needs no false paint to Inake it look better; and vice is
so bad that it can never look so ugly as ,vhen shewed in its own
natural colours. So that an undue sublime in such descriptions
does hurt, and can do no good.
'Vhen the explanatory part of the sernlon is over, the appli-
cation comes next: and here great judgluent nlUSt. be used, to
make it fall the heaviest and lie the longest upon such parti-

Of the Pastoral Care.

185

culars as may be within the con1pass of the auditory. Directions
concerning a high devotion, to a stupid ignorant company; or of
generosity and bounty, to yery poor people; against pride and
anlbition, to such as are <lull and low-minded; are ill suited
and so must have little effect upon theln: therefore care 111ust
be taken that the application be useful and proper; that, it make
the hearers apprehend some of their sins and defects and see
how to perform their duty; that it awaken them to it and
direct them in it: and therefore the most comlnon sins, such as
men's neglecting their duty to God, in the seyeral branches of
it; their setting their hearts inordinately upon the world; their
lying in discourse, but chiefly in bargainings; their evil-
speaking and their hatred and malice, ought to be very often
brought in. Sonle one or other of these ought to be in every
application that is made, by which they may see that the whole
design of religion lies against them. Such particular sins,
swearing, drunkenness, or lewdness, as abound in any place,
n1ust likewise be frequently brought in here. The application
must be clear and short, very weighty, and free of every thing
that looks like the affectations of wit and eloquence; here the
preacher must be all heart and soul, designing the good of his
people. The whole sermon is directed to this: therefore, as it
is fit that the chief point which a sermon drives at should come
often o,yer and over, that so the hearers nlay never lose sight of
it, but keep it still in view; so in the application, the text must
be shewed to speak it; all the parts of the explanation must
come in to enforce it: the application must be opened in the
several views that it n1ay have, but those must be chiefly insisted
on that are most suitable both to the capacities and the circunl-
stances of the people. And in conclusion, all ought to be
summed up in a weighty period or two; and some other signal
pa
sage of the scriptures relating to it may be sought for, that
so the matter may be left upon the auditory in the solemnest
manner possible.
Thus I have led a preacher through the composition of his
sermon; I will next lay before hÌ1n some particulars relating to
it. The shorter sermons are, they are generally both better
heard and better remen1bered. The custom of an hour's length
forces many preachers to trifle away nluch of the time, and to
spin out their matter, so as to hold out. So great a length does
also flat the hearers and tempt them to sleep; especially when,

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Of tlte Pastoral Oarf3.

as is usual, the first part of the sernlon is languid and heavy.
In half an hour a man may lay open his matter in its full extent,
and cut off those superfluities ,vhich come in only to lengthen
the discourse: and he may hope to keep up the attention of his
people all the while. As to the style, sermons ought to be very
plain; the figures Blust be easy, not Inean, but noble, and
brought in upon design to make the matter better understood.
The ,vords in a sermon l11ust be sinlple anù in conlmon use; not
savouring of the schools, nor above the understanding of the
people. All long periods, such as carry two or three different
thoughts in them, Inust be avoided; for few hearers can follow
or apprehend these: niceties of style are lost before a common
auditory. But if an easy sinlplicity of style should run through
the ,,,hole composition, it should take place most of all in the
explanatory part; for the thing being there offered to be under-
stood, it should be stripped of all garnishing; definitions should
not be offered in the ternlS or Inethod that logic directs. In
short, a preacher is to fancy hilnself as in the rOOln of the most
unlearned 111:1n in his ,vhole parish; and therefore he lnust
put such parts of his discourse as he would have all understand
in so plain a form of ,vords that it ulay not be beyond the
meanest of theln. This he will certainly study to do, if his desire
is to edify them rather than to nlake thenl adll1ire hiulself as a
learned and high-spoken Illan.
But in the applicatory part, if he has a true taste of eloquence,
and is a master at it, he is to employ it all in giving sometimes
such tender touches as may soften and deeper gashes, such as
nlay awaken his hearers. A vain eloquence here is very ill
placed; for if that can be borne any where, it is in illustrating
the matter; but all lnust be grave, where one would persuade:
the most natural, but the most sensible expressions conle in best
here. Such an eloquence as Inakes the hearers look grave, and
as it ,vere out of countenance, is the properest. That which
Inakes them look lively, and as it were snlile upon one another,
11lay be pretty, but it only tickles the inlagination and pleases
the ear; whereas that \vhich goes to the heart and wounds it,
lllakes the hearer rather look ùown and turn his thoughts in-
,yard upon hilnself. For it is certain that a sern10n, the conclu-
sion whereof Inakes the auditory look pleased and sets thenl all
a talking one ,vith another, ,,-as either not right spoken or not
right heard; it has been fine and has probably delighted

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187

the congregation rather than edified it. But that sernIon that
makes everyone go a"ay silent and grave, and hastening to be
alone, to nleditate or pray over the Blatter of it in secret, has had
its true effect.
lIe that has a taste and genius for eloquence must improve it
by reading Quintilian, and Tully's books of Oratory, and by
observing the spirit and method of Tully's Orations: or, if he
can enter into Demosthenes, there he will see a much better
pattern, there being a silnplicity, a shortness and a swiftness
and rapidity in hinl, that could not be heard without putting his
auditors into a great commotion. All our modern books upon
those subjects are so far short of those great originals, that they
can bear no cOlnparison : yet F. Rapin's little book of Eloquence
is by much the best, only he is too short. Tully has so fully
opened all the topics of invention that a man ,vho has read him
will, if he has any invention of his o\vn and if he knows
thoroughly his matter, rather have too much than too little in
his vie\v, upon every subject that he treats. This is a noble
study, and of great use to such as have judgment to nlanage it ;
for artificial eloquence, without a flame within, is like artificial
poetry; all its productions are forced and unnatural and in a
great measure ridiculous. Art helps and guides nature; but if
one was not born with this flanIe, art will only spoil hinI, nlake
- hilll luscious and redundant. To such persons, and indeed to
all that are not masters of the body of divinity and of the scrip-
tures, I should much rather reconllnend the using other Inen's
sermons than the making any of their own. But in the choice
of these, great judgment must be used; one nIllst not take an
author that is too much above hiIllself; for by that, compared
with his ordinary conversation, it will but too evidently appear
that he cannot be the author of his own sernlons; and that will
make both him and t.hem lose too much of their weight He
ought also to put those printed sermons out of that strength and
closeness of style, which looks very well in print, but is too stiff,
especially for a conlmon auditory. He may reverse the method
a little, and shorten the explanations, that so he 111ay retain all
that is practical; and that a man Inay form hinlself to preaching,
he ought to take some of the best nlodels and try what he can
do upon a text handled by them, without reading them, and then
cOlnpare his work \vith theirs; this will nlore sensibly, and
without putting him to the blush, model him to in1Ítate, or, if he

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Of tlte Pastoral Care.

can, to excel the best patterns. And by this method, if he ,viII
restrain hilnself for some time and follo,v it close, he may come
to be able to go without such crutches, and to ,york ,vithout
patterns: till then, I should advise all to make use of other
men's serlnons, rather than to n1ake any of their own.
The nation has got into so good a taste of sermons, from the
vast number of those excellent ones that are in print, that a
mean composition will be very ill heard; and therefore it is an
unseasonable piece of vanity for any to offer their own crudities,
till they have ,veIl digested and ripened them. I wish the ma-
jesty of the pulpit were more looked to; and that no sermons
\vere offered from thence but such as should make the hearers
both the better and the wiser, the nlore knowing and the more
serIOUS.
In the delivering of sermons, a great cOlnposure of gesture
and behaviour is necessary, to give them \veight and authority:
extren1es are bad here, as in every thing else; some affect a
light and flippant behaviour; and others think that ,vry faces
and a tone in t.he voice will set off the matter. Grave and cOln-
posed looks, and a natural but distinct pronunciation, will al-
ways have the best effects. The great rule which the lnasters
of rhetoric press much can never be enough remembered; that
to make a man speak ,veIl, and pronounce with a right emphasis,
he ought thoroughly to understand all that he says, be fully
persuaded of it, and bring himself to have those affections,
,vhich he desires to infuse into others. He that is inwardly per-
suaded of the truth of what he says, and that has a concern
about it in his mind, will pronounce ,vith a natural vehenlence,
that is far more lively than all the strains that art can lead hiln
to. An orator, if \ve hearken to them, must be an honest man,
and speak always on the side of truth, and study to feel all that
he says; and then he \vill speak it so as to Inake others fe
l it
like\vise. And therefore such as read their sern10ns ought to
practise reading much in private, and read aloud, that so their
own ear and sense nlay guide thein, to kno,v,vhere to raise or
quicken, soften or s,veeten their voice, and when to give an
articulation of authority or of conviction; where to pause and
'vhere to languish. 'Ve plainly see by the stage, \vhat a force
there is in pronunciation: the best compositions are murdered,
if ill spoken; and the ,vorst are acceptable, when ,veIl said. In
tragedies rightly pronounced and acted, though we know that all

Of tlte Pastoral Care.

189

is fable and fiction, the tender parts do so melt the company
that tears cannot be stopped, even by those who laugh at thmll-
selves for it. This shews the power of apt words and a just pro-
nunciation: but because this depends, in a great measure, upon
the present ten1per of him that speaks, and the lively disposition
in which he is, therefore he ought by much previous seriousness
and by earnest prayer to God, to endeavour to raise his mind to
as warm a sense of the things he is to speak of, as possibly he
can, that so his senTIons may make deep iInpressions on his
hearers.
This leads me to consider the difference that is between the
reading and speaking of sern10ns. Reading is peculiar to this
nation, and is endured in no other. It has indeed made that our
sermons are n10re exact, and so it has produced to us many
volumes of the best that are extant; but after all, though some
few read so happily, pronounce so truly, and enter so entirely
into those affections which they recon1mend, that in them \ve see
both the correctness of reading, and the seriousness of speaking
sen11ons, yet every one is not so happy: some by hanging their
heads perpetually over their notes, by blundering as they read,
and by a cursory running over them, do so lessen the ll1atter of
their sermons, that as they are generally read \vith very little
life or affection, so they are heard with as little regard or esteem.
Those who read ought certainly to be at a little more pains, than
for the most part they are, to read true, to pronounce with an
emphasis, and to raise their heads, and to direct their eyes to
their hearers: and if they practised l110re alone the just way of
reading, they n1ight deliver their sermons with much more ad-
vantage.
fan is a low sort of creature; he does not, nay, nor
the greater part cannot, consider things in themselves, without
those little seasonings that must recommend them to their affec-
tions. That a discourse be heard with any life, it must be
spoken \vith some; and the looks and motions of the eye do
carry in them such additions to what is said, that where these do
not at all concur, it has not all the force upon them that other-
wise it might have; besides that the people, ,,,ho are too apt to
censure the clergy, are easily carried into an obvious reflection
on reading, that it is an effect of laziness.
In pronouncing sermons, there are t\VO ways; the one is
when a whole discourse is got by heart, and delivered word for
word, as it was writ down. This is so vast a labour, that it is

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Of the Pastoral Care.

scarce possible that a n1an can be able to hold up long to it : )'et
there is an advantage even in this to beginners; it fills their
men10ries ,vith good thoughts and regular meditations: and
when they have got some of the 1110st ilnportant of their sermons
by heart in so exact a manner, they are thereby furnished with
topics for discourse. And therefore there are at least t,vo dif-
feren t subjects, on which I ,vish all preachers would be at the
pains to forn1 sennons well in their memories: the one is the
grounds of the covenant of grace, of both sides, God's offers to
us in Christ, and the conditions that he has required of us, in
order to our reconciliation ,vith him. This is so important a
point, in the whole course of our lninistry, that no man ought to
be to seek in the opening or explaining it: and therefore, that
he n1ay be ripe in it, he ought to have it all rightly laid in his
melnory, not only as to the notions of it, but to have such a
lively description and illustration of it all, as to be able to speak
of it sensibly, fully and easily upon all occasions. Another sub-
ject in ,vhich every nl1nister ought also to be \vell furnished, is
concerning death and judgment; that so when he visits the sick,
and, as is conlnlon, that the neighbours come in, he lnay be able
to make a grave exhortation, in ,veighty and fit ,vords, upon
those heads. Less than this, I think, no priest ought to have in
his lnemory. But indeed, the more sermons a young beginner
gets by heart, he has still thereby the more discourse ready upon
those heads; for though the \vhole contexture of the sermon
will stick no longer than he has occasion for it, yet a great deal
\vill stay with him: the idea of the whole, with the most import-
ant parts of it, will ren1ain lnnch longer.
But now I come to propose another method of preaching, by
\vhich a priest may be prepared, after a right vie,,' of his matter,
a true understanding his text, and a digesting of his thoughts
upon it into their natural and proper order, to deliver these
both more easily to hinlself
and \vith a better effect both upon
hilnself and his hearers. To come at this, he lnust be for some
years at a great deal of pains to prepare himself to it; yet when
that is over, the labour of all the rest of his life, as to those per-
fO
lllances, ,viII become very easy and very pleasant to him.
The preparations to this must be these: first, he must read the
scriptures very exactly; he Inust have great portions of them
by heart; and he must also, in reading thein, make a short con-
cordance of them in his meD1or)"; that is, he nlust lay t02'ether

Of the Pastoral Care.

191

such passages as belong to the same matter; to consider how far
they agree or help to illustrate one another, and how the sanIe
thing is differently expressed in then1; and \vhat various ideas
or ways of recommending a thing rise out of this concordance.
Upon this a man nlust exercise himself much, dra\v notes of it,
and digest it well in his thoughts. Then he must be ready with
the whole body of divinity in his head; he must know what
parts conle in as objections to be answered, where difficulties lie,
how one part coheres \vith another and gives it light. He
Inust have this very current in his menlory, that he may have
things lie before him in one full view; and upon this, he is also
to work, by luaking tables, or using such other helps as may lay
11latters clearly before him. He is, more particularly, to lay
before him a system of morality, of all virtues and vices, and of
aU the duties that arise out of the several relations of mankind;
that he may have this matter very full in his eye, and kno\v
what are the scriptures that belong to all the parts of it: he is
also to nlake a collection of all such thoughts as he finds either
in the books of the ancient philosophers (where Seneca will be
of great use to him) or of Christian authors: he is to separate
such thoughts as are forced, and that do become rather a strained
declamation made only to please, than a solid discourse designed
to persuade. All these he must gather, or at least such a nUI11-
ber of them, as may help him to form a distinct notion of that
matter, so as to be able both to open it clearly, and to press it
with affection and vehemence.
These are the materials that must be laid together; the prac-
tice in using thel11 comes next: he then that \vouid prepare
himself to be a preacher in this Dlethod, must accustom himself
to talk freely to himself, to let his thoughts flow from hinl,
especially when he feels an edge and heat upon his mind; for
then happy expressions will COine in his mouth, things will
ventilate and open thenlselves to hiIn, as he talks them thus in
a soliloquy to himself. He must als-o be \vriting many essays
upon all sorts of subjects; for by \vriting he will bring hinlself
to a correctness both in thinking and in speaking: and thus, by
a hard practice for two or three years, a man may render hinl-
self such a nlastcr in this matter, that he can never be surprised,
nor will new thoughts ever dry up upon him. He must talk
over to himself the whole body of divinity, and accustom him-
self to explain, and prove, to clear objections, and to apply every

19Q

Of {he Pasto'pal Care.

part of it to SOlne practical use. He must go through hun1an
life, in all the ranks and degrees of it, and talk over an the
duties of these; consider t.he advantages or disadvantages in
everyone of them, their relation to one another, the morality of
actions, the COlnmon virtues and vices of lnankind; more parti-
cularly the duties of Christians, their obligations to meekness
and humility, to forgive injuries, to relieve the poor, to bear
the cross, to be patient and contented in every state of life, to
pray lnuch and fervently, to rejoice ever in God, and to be
always praising him, and most particularly to be applying
seriously to God through Jesus Christ for mercy and pardon,
and for his grace and Spirit; to be ,vorshipping him devoutly
in public, and to be delighting frequently to commemorate the
death of Christ and to partake of the benefits of it. All these,
I say, he must talk over and over again to binlself; he must
study to give his thoughts all the heat and flight about them
that he can: and if, in these his meditations, happy thoughts
and noble and tender expressions do at any time offer them-
selves, he must not lose them, but write them down; and, in
his pronouncing over such discourses to himself, he must
observe ,vhat \vords sound harsh, and agree ill together; for
there is a music in speaking as well as in singing; which a man,
though not otherwise critical in sounds, ,viII soon discover. By
a very fe\v years' practice of two or three of such soliloquies a
day, chiefly in the morning, \vhen the head is clearest and the
spirits are liveliest, a man will contract a great easiness both in
thinking and speaking.
But the rule I have reserved last is the most necessary of all,
and without it all the rest will never do the business: it is this;
that a man must have in himself a deep sense of the truth and
power of religion; he must have a life and flame in his thoughts,
with relation to those subjects: he n1ust have felt in himself
those things, ,vhich he intends to explain and recommend to
others. He must observe narrowly the motions of his own
mind, the good and bad effects that the several sorts of objects
he has before him and affections he feels within hinl, have upon
him; that so he may have a lively heat in himself when he
speaks of them, and that he may speak in so sensible a manner
that it may be almost felt that he speaks from his heart. There
is an authority in the simplest things that can be said, "'hen
they carry visible characters of genuineness in them. Now if a

Of the Pastoral Care.

1!J

tuan can carry on this method, and by much nleditation and
prayer dra'v down divine influences, ,vhich are always to be
expected, when a man puts himself in the way of them and
prepares himself for them; he ,viII often feel that, while he is
musing, a fire is kindled \vithin him, and then he will speak
with authority and without constraint; his thoughts will be true,
and his expressions free and easy: sometinles this fire will carry
him, as it ,vere, out of himself; and yet without any thing that
is frantic or enthusiastical. Discourses brought forth with a
lively spirit and heat, where a composed gesture and the proper
motions of the eye and countenance and the due modulations of
the voice concur, will have all the effect that can be expected
from any thing that is belo,v immediate inspiration: and as this
will be of use to the hearers, so it ,viII be of vast. use to the
preacher himself, to oblige hinl to keep his heart always in good
tune and temper; not to suffer irregular or forbidden appetites,
passions or projects to possess his mind: these will both di-
vert him from going on in the course of nleditation, in which
a man must continue many years, till all his thoughts are put in
order, polished and fixed; they ,viII make him likewise speak
much against the grain, with an aversion that will be very sen-
sible to himself, if not to his hearers, if he has guilt upon hiln,
if his conscience is reproaching him, and if any ill practices
are putting a damp upon that good sense of things, that lllakes
his thoughts sparkle upon other occasions and gives him an
air and authority, a tone of assurance and a freedom of ex-
pressIon.
Such a method as I have been opening has had great success
with all those that I have known to have tried it. And though
everyone has not that swiftness of imagination nor that clear-
ness of expression, that others may have, so that in this men
may differ as nluch as they do in their \vritten compositions;
yet every man by this method nlay rise far above that which he
could ever have attained to any othpr way: it will nlake even
exact compositions easier to hinl, and hiln much readier and freer
at them. But great care must be used by him, before he suffers
himself to speak with the liberty here aÏtned at in public; he
must try himself at snlaller excursions from his fixed thoughts,
especially in the applicatory pn.rt, where flame and life are nlore
necessary, and \vhere a ll1istaken word or an unfinished period
are less observed and sooner forgiven, than in the explanatory
o

194

Of tk(j Pastoral OaJ
e.

part, \vhere l11en ought to speak Inore severely. And as one 8UC-
ceeds in some short excursions, he may give himself a further
scope, and so, by a long practice, he ,viII at last arrive at so great
an easiness both in thinking and speaking, that a very little
llleditation \vill serve to lay open a text to him, ,vith all the
matter that belongs to it, togethor with the order in which it
ought to be both explained and appJied. And ,vhen a man has at-
tained to a tolerable degree in this, he is then the master of his
business; he is master also of much tilne, and of many noble
thoughts and schenIes that will arise out of thenI.
This I shall prosecute no further; for if this opening of it
does not excite the reader to fûllo\v it a little, no enlargements
I can offer upon it ,viII work upon him. But to return to
preaching, and so conclude this chapter. He that intends truly
to preach the gospel, and not hinlself; he that is more concerned
to do good to others, than to raise his o,vn fame, or to procure a
following to himself, and that makes this the Dleasure of all his
meditations and serlnons, that he may put things in the best
light, and recolnmend them ,vith the 1l10st advantage to his peo-
pie; that reads the scriptures much, and meditates often upon
the In ; that prays earnestly to God for direction in his labours,
and for a blessing upon them; that directs his chief endeavours
to the most important, and most indispensable, as well as the
l110st undeniable duties of religion; and chiefly to the inward
reformation of his hearers' hearts, which "ill certainly dra\v all
other lesser matters after it; and that does not spend his time
nor his zeal upon lesser or disputable points; this nlan, so nlade
and so nloulded, cannot luiscarry in his work: he ,vill certainly
succeed to sonle degree; the word spoken by hin
shall not 'J
et111

again: he shall have his cro,vn and his reward froDI his labours:
and, to say all that can be said in one word with St. Paul, lte
shall hoth save ltÙnselj and them tl at hear ltim.

THE OONOL US I ON.

I HA VE no\v gone over all that seemed to be most Í111-
portant upon this head, of the pastoral care, ,vith as much
shortness and clearness as I could; so now I anI to conclude.
The discourse may justly seelll imperfect, since I say nothing
concerning the duties incumbent on bishops. But I will upon
this occasion say very little on that head. The post I am in

Of the Pastoral Car'e.

195

gives me a right to teach priests and deacons their duty; there-
fore I thought that ,vithout any great presumption I might
venture on it: but I have been too few years in the higher
order, to take upon me to teach them, from whom I shall ever
be ready to learn. This is certain, that since, as was formerly
said, the inferior orders subsist in the superior, bishops lllust
still be under all the obligations of priests: they are then, take
the matter at lowest, bound to live, to labour and to preach as
,veIl as they. But why are they raised to a higher rank of
dignity and order, an increase of authority and an extent of
cure? and why have Christian princes and states given them
great revenues and an accession of secular honours
All this
must certainly import their obligation to labour more eminently
and to lay thenlselves out more entirely in the work of the
gospel; in which, if the greatest encouragements and assist-
allces, the highest dignities and privileges belong to them,
then, according to our Sa\Tiour's example and decision, who
ca'l1w not to be :;ninisterred unto but to m'l.nister, and who declared
that he 'leltO is .first shall be last, and he wllo is tlte greatest fJìzust
be the servant of all; then, I say, the higher that any are rßised
in this ministry, they ought to lay themselves out the more
entirely in it and labour the lTIore abundantly. And as our
obligations to Christ and his church tie us to a greater zeal and
diligence, and to a more constant application of our care and
thoughts; so the secular supports of our honours and revenues
were given us, to enable us to go through with that extent of
care and jurisdiction that lies upon us. \Ve are not only watch-
men to ,vatch over the flock, but likewise over the watchnlen
thetnselves. "r e keep the door of the sanctuary, and will have
much to answer for, if through our remissness or feeble easiness,
if by trusting the examination of those we ordain to others, and
Jielding to intercession and importunity, we bring any into the
service of the church, \vho are not duly qualified for it. In
this we must harden ourselves and become inexorable, if \Ye
will not partake in ot.her men's sins and in the n1ischiefs that
these may bring upon the church. It is a false pity and a cruel
cOlupassion, if ,ve suffer any considerations to prevail upon us in
this luatter but those which thê gospel directs. The longer
that we know thenl before we ordain theIn, the n
ore that ,ve
sift them, and the greater variety of trials through which ,ve
may nlake them pass, we do thereby both secure the quiet of
o 2

196

Of the Pastoral Care.

our own consciences the more, as well as the dignity of holy
things and the true interest of religion and the church: for
these two interests must never be separated; they are but one
and the same in themselves; and what God has joined together,
we must never set asunder.
'Ve must be setting 1J0nstantly before our clergy their obliga-
tions to the several parts of their duty; ,ve must lay these upon
them, ,vhen we institute or collate them to churches, in the
solemnest manner and ,vith the weightiest words we can find.
'Ve must then lay the importance of the care of souls before
them and adjure thenI, as they will answer to God in the great
day, in which ,ve nIust appear to ,vitness against theIn, that they
,yill seriously consider and observe their ordination-vows, and
that they will apply themselves wholly to that one thing. vVe
must keep an eye upon them continually and be applying re-
proofs, exhortations and encouragelnents, as occasion offers: we
must enter into all their concerns and espouse every interest of
that part of the church that is assigned to their care: we must
see them as oft as ,ve can, and encourage them to conle fre-
quently to us; and must live in all things with them, as a father
,vith his children. And that every thing we say to stir them up
to their duty may have its due weight, ,ve must take care so to
order ourselves that they may evidently see that ,ve are careful
to do our own. We must enter into all the parts of the worship
of God with theIn; not thinking ourselves too good for any piece
of service that may be done; visiting the sick, admitting poor
and indigent persons, or such as are troubled in nlind, to come
to us; preaching oft, catechising and confirn1Îng frequently; and
living in all thing
like lllen that study to fulfil their'lnin-istr!l and
to do the work of evangelists.
There has been an opinion of late, llluch favoured by SOllIe
great men in our church, that th
bishop is the sole pastor of his
whole diocese; that the care of all the souls is singly in him, and
that all the incumbents in churches are only his curates in the
different parts of his parish, ,vhich was the ancient designation
of his diocese. I know there are a great many passages brought
from antiquity to favour this; I will not enter into the question,
no not so far as to give my own opinion of it. This is certain,
that such as are persuaded of it ought thereby to consider them-
selves as under very great and strict obligations to constant
labour and diligence; otherwise it will be thought that they

Of the Pastoral Care.

197

only favour this opinion, because it increases their authority,
without considering that necessary consequence that follows
upon it.
But I will go no further on this subject at this time, having
said so luuch only that I may not seem to fall under that heavy
censure of our Saviour's \vith relation to the scribes and Phari-
sees, that they d'id bind Iwavy bll'rdens, and griev01ltS to be borne
upon others; and laid tReJn upon men's shoulders,
chen tltey
then
seZ.ves would not IJfWVe then
with one of their fingers. I Blust
leave the whole matter with nlY readers. I have now laid toge-
ther with great simplicity what has been the chief subject of
my thoughts for above thirty years. I was formed to thenl by a
bishop that had t.he greatest elevation of soul, the largest COl1lpaSS
of knowledge, the most mortified and most heavenly disposition,
that I ever yet saw in mortal; that had the greatest parts as ,veIl
as virtues, with the perfectest humility, that I ever saw in man;
and had a sublime strain in preaching, with so grave a gesture
and such a Dlajesty both of thought, of language and of pronun-
ciation, that I never once sa\v a wandering eye where he
preached; and have seen ,vhole asselublies often melt in tears
before him; and of whom I can say, with great truth, that in a
free and frequent conversation with hÍ1n, for above two and
twenty years, I never knew him sayan idle "Tord that had not
a direct tendency to edification; and I never once saw hÏ1n in any
other temper, but that which I ,vished to be in, in the last minutes
of my life. For that patteI'D ,vhich I saw in hinl and for that
conversation which I had with him, I know how much I have to
answer to God: and though my reflecting on that which I knew
in him gives me just cause of being' deeply humbled in myself
and before God; yet I feel no more sensible pleasure in any
thing, than in going over in nlY thoughts all that I saw and
observed in him.
I have also another reason, that has detern1Ïned DIe at this
time to prepare this discourse and to offer it to the public; fronl
the present posture of our affairs. We are no\v brought very
near the greatest crisis that ever church or nation had: and as
on the one hand, if God should so far punish us for our sins, for
our contempt of his gospel and neglect of our duties, as to deli-
ver us over to the rage of our enemies, ,ve have nothing to look
for but a persecution 1110re dreadful than any is in hist
ry: so if
God hears our prayers and gives us a happy issue out of all

198

Oltko Pastoral Care.

those dangers, ,vith ,vhich the lnalice of our enenlies threatens
us; \Ve have in vie,v the greatest prospect of a blessed and
lasting settlement, that even our ,vishes can propose to us. No\v
nothing can so certainly avert the one or prepare us to glorify
God in it, if he in his justice and \visdom should call us to a fiery
trial of our faith and patience; as the serious lllinding of our
functions, of our duties and obligations, the confessing of our sins
and the correcting of our errors. 'Ve shall be very unfit to suffer
for our religion, much less to die for it, and very litt.Ie able to
endure the hardships of persecution, if our consciences are
reproaching us all the ,vhile that ,vo have procured these things
to ourselves; and that, by the ill use of our prosperity and other
advantages, \ve have kindled a fire to consume us. But as ,ve
have good reason frolll the present state of affairs, as ,veIl as fronl
the lllany enlinent deliverances and happy providences, which
have of late, in so signal a manner, watched over and protected
us, to hope that God, according to the riches of his lllcrcy and
for the glory of his great name, \vill hear the prayers that many
good souls offer up, rather than the cry of those aboll1inations that
are stiU aUlong us: so nothing can so certainly hasten on the
fixing of our tranquillity, and the conlpleting our happiness, as
our lying often bet\veen the porch and the altar, and interceding
with God for our people; and our giving ourselves wholly to the
ministry of the ,vord of God and to prayer. These being then
the surest means, both to procure and to establish to us all those
great and glorious things that we pray and hope for; this seemed
to me a very proper time to publish a discourse of this nature.
But that ,vhich nlade it an act of obedience, as well as zeal,
,vas the authority ofn1Y most reverend llletropolitan; who, I have
reason to believe, employs his titne and thoughts chiefly to con-
sider what may yet be wanting to give our church a greater
beaut.y and perfection; and what are the nloAt proper lneans both
of purifying and uniting us. To which I thought not.hing could
so ,veIl prepare the way, as the offering to the public a plain and
full discourse of the Pastoral Care and of every thing relating to
it. His grace approved of this, and desired nle to set about
it: upon these motives I writ it, with all the sinlplicity and
freedom that I thought the subject required, and sent it to him:
by 'v hose particular approbation I publish it, as I writ it at his
direction.
There is indeed one of nlY Inotives that I have not yet lllen-

Oftke Paslo'rat Oære.

199

tioned, and on ,vhich I cannot enlarge so fully as I ,veIl nlight.
But while we have such an invaluable and unexan1pled blessing
in the persons of those princes whom God hath set over us; if
all the considerations which arise out of the deliverances that
God has given us by their means, of the protection ,ve enjoy
under theln and of the great hopes we have of them; if, I say,
all this does not oblige us to set about the refornling of every
thing that may be amiss or defective among us, to study nluch
and to labour hard; to lead strict and exemplary lives, and so
to stop the mouths and overcome the prejudices of all that
divide from us; this will 111ake us look like a nation cast off
and forsa/æn of God, which is nigh unto cursing, and whose
end is bU'l'ning. "r e have reason to conclude that our present
blessings are the last essays of God's goodness to us; and that,
if ,ve bring forth no fruit under these, the next sentence shall
be, Out it douJn, 'why cumberetll it the ground? These things lie
heavy on my thoughts continually, and have all concurred to
draw this treatise from me; ,vhich I have writ with all the sin.:.
cerity of heart and purity of intention that I should have had,
if I had known that I had been to die at the conclusion of it
and to answer for it to God.
To him I humbly offer it up, together with my most earnest
prayers, that the design, here so imperfectly offered at, may
become truly effectual and have its full progress and accomplish-
ment; which ,vhensoever I shall see, I shall then with joy say,
Nunc dimittis, &c.

CHAP. x.
Of presentations to benefices and sirnon!J.
I DO not intend to treat of this matter, as it is a part of our
law; but leaving that to the gentleInen of another robe, I shall
content IHyself with offering an historical account of the progress
of it, with the sense that the ancient church had of it, together
with such reflections as will arise out of that.
At first the whole body of the clergy, in every city, parish or
diocese, was as a fanlily under the conduct and authority of the
bishop; who assigned to everyone of his presbyters their pecu-
liar district and gave him a proper maintenance out of the stock
of the oblations of the faithful. None were ordained but by the
approbation, or rather the nomination of the people, the bishop

oo

Of the Pastoral Care.

being to exalnine into the worth and qualifications of the per-
sons so nonlinated. In the first ages, ,vhich were times of per-
secution, it is not to be supposed that anlbition or corruption
could have any great influence, ,vhile a man in holy orders was
as it were put in the front and exposed to the first fury of the
persecutors. So that ,vhat Tertullian saysf on this head will be
easily believed, " that those who presided over them were first
tried; having obtained that honour, not by paying a price for
it, but by the testimony that \yas given of thenl; for the things
of God ,vere not purchased by nloney;" he alluding probably
to the methods used by the heathens to arrive at their pontifical
dignities.
But as soon as \veaIth and dignity was, by the bounty of
Christian emperors, made an appendix to the sacred function,
then \ve find great complaints Inade of disorders in elections
and of partiality in ordinations, on \vhich we see severe reflec-
tions made by the best men both in the eastern and western
churches. They not only condenlned the purchasing elactions
and holy orders with money, but all the train of solicitations and
intercessions, \vith all flattery and obsequious courtship in order
to those things.
They indeed laid the name of simony chiefly on the purchasing
of orders by money, ,vhich was attempted by Simon of Salnaria,
conlmonly called Simon
Iagus; but they brought other prece-
dents to she\v ho\v far they carried this matter. Balaaln"s hire
of divination, Gehazi's going after Naanlan for a present, and
Jeroboam's 111aking priests of those who filled his hands'F." are pre-
cedents much insisted on by them, to carry the lnatter beyond
the case of a bargain beforehand; every thing in the way of prac-
tice to arrive at holy orders \vas all equally condemned. 'Vhen
things ,vere reduced into methodical divisions, they reckoned a
threefold sinlony; that of the hand when money was given, that
of the mouth by flatteries, and that of service, \vhen men by
donlestic attendance and other enlployments did, by a temporal
drudgery, obtain the spiritual dignity.
Chrysostom h expresses this thus: "If you do not give nloney,
but instead of money, if you flatter; if you set others at ,york,
and use other artifices, you are as guilty." Of all these he
adds, that "as St. Peter said to Simon, Thy money perish w'itk
thee, so may thy ambition perish with thee." St. J erOln i
f Apology. g 2 Chron. xiii, 9. h Horn. in Acta Ap. i In Esai.

Oltko Pastoral Care.

Ol

says, "'Ve see many reckon orders as a benefice, and do not seek
for persons ,vho may be as pillars erected in the house of God,
and may be nlost useful in the service of the church; but they
do prefer those for ,vhom they have a particular affection, or
,vhose obsequiousness has gained their favour, or for \vhom
some of the great men have interceded; not to mention the
,vorst of all, those who, by the presents they make them, pur-
chase that dignity."
A corruption began to creep into the church, in the fifth
century, of ordaining vagrant clerks, without any peculiar title;
of whonl ,ve find St. J erom oft comp1aining. This was con..
deluned by the council of Chalcedon in a most solemn manner k :
" The orders of all ,yho \vere ordained presbyters, deacons or
in the inferior degrees, without a special title either in the city,
in some village, SOlue chapel or nlonastery, are declared null and
void: and, to the reproach of those who so ordained them, they
are declared incapttble of perfonuing any function." But ho\v
sacred soever the authority of this council ,vas, it did not cure
this great evil, from which nlany more have sprung.
A practice rose, not long after this, which opened a new
scene. 1\Ien began to build churches on their own grounds, at
their own charges, and to endow these; and they ,vere naturally
the mast.ers, and, in the true signification of the Ron1an \vord,
the patrons of them. All the churches in the first matricula
were to be served by persons named to them by the bishop, and
,vere to be maintained by hinl out of the revenue of the church;
but these were put upon another foot, and belonged to the pro.
Pl'ietors of the ground, to the builders and the endowers I.
They \vere also to offer to the bishop a clerk to serve in them.
It seems they began to think that the bishop was bound to
ordain all such as ,vere nanled by thenl: but Justinian m settled
this matter by a law; for he provided that the" patriarch should
not be obliged to ordain such as ,vere nOlninated by the patron,
unless he judged them fit for it :" th
reason given is, "that the
holy things of God might not be profaned n." It seems he had
this in his eye, when by another law he condemns those who
received any thing for such a nomination; for so I understand
the patrocinium ordinationis.
The elections to lllost sees lay in nlany hands; and to Ii:eep

k Can. 6.

I Fundus, ædificatio, et dose
n Nov. 6. C. I.

m Novel. 57. c. 2.

Q02

Of the Pastoral Care.

out not only corruption but partiality, fronl having a share in
them, he by a special la\v required, "that all persons, seculars
as ,veIl as ecclesiastics, ,vho had a vote in elections, should join
an oath to their suffrage, that they 'vere neither moved to it by
any gift, promise, friendship or favour, or by any other affection,
but that they gave their vote upon their knowledge of the merits
of the person 0." It ,viII easily be imagined that no rule of this
kind could be much regarded in corrupt ages.
Gregory the Great is very copious in lanlenting these dis-
orders and puts ahvays the threefold division of sill10ny toge-
ther, 'Jltanus, oris, et ministeriip. Hincmar cites the prophet's
,vords, He that shaketk his llands j'r01J
holding of hrihesq; in
the Vulgate it is, frorn ever1 hribe; applying it to three sorts of
sinlony. And in that letter to Lewis the Third, king of France,
he protests "he kne'v no kinsman nor friend; and he only
considered the life, learning and other good qualities necessary
to the sacred ministry." Those ages were very corrupt; so
that the great advantages that the popes had, in the disputes
concerning the investitures into benefices, ,vere taken from this,
that servile obsequiousness and flatteries ,vere the nlethods used
in procuring thenl. Of ,vhich it ,vere easy to bring a great and
copious proof, but that it is needless.
I shall only name t\VO provisions made against all these
sinistrous practices: one ,vas anlong us in a council at Exeter r ,
in which this charge is given; " Let all nlen look into their
own consciences, and exaluine themselves \vith ,vhat design they
aspire to orders; if it is, that they may serve God more vir-
tuously and nlore acceptably; or if it is for the teIuporals, and
that they may extort benefices from those who ordain them;
for ,ve look on such as simoniacs." In the council of Basil s,
in ,vhich they attempted the restoring the freedon1 of elections,
as a means to raise the reputation of the sacred function,
they appointed that an oath should be taken by all electors,
" 'fhat they should not give their voice for any ,vho had, as they
were credibly informed, endeavoured to procure it to themselves,
either by pronlising or giving any tenlporaI thing for it, or by
any prayer or petition, either by thenlselves or by the interpo-
sition of any other; or by any other ,yay whatsoever, directly
or indirectly." This ,vould go as far as those who took it con-

o Nov. 137, c. 2. p Tom. 2, 195.
r Synod. Exon. 1287, cap. 8.

q Isa. xxxiii, 15.
s Sess. 12.

Of the Pastol'al Oaf'e.

QOS

sidered themselves bound by an oath, to secure elections from
corruption or practice.
I will go 110 further to prove that both fathers and councils,
in their provisions against silnony, considered the practice of
application, importunity, solicitations and flatteries, as of the
same nature with simony: and therefore, though our law considers
only simony, as it is a bargain in \vhich n10ney or the equivalent
is given or promised, yet the sense of the church went much
further on this head, even in the n10st corrupt ages. The canon
law does very often mention simony in its threefold distinction,
manus, linguæ, et obseq?tii; it being still reckoned a duty, both
in the giver and receiver, that the gift should be free and
voluntary.
In the church of Ron1e, a right of patronage is, according to
their superstition, a n1atter of great value; for in every n1ass the
patron is to be remembered by a special collect, so that it saves
them a great charge in a daily mass said for them. To us this
effect. ceases; but still it is a noble piece of property, since a
patron has the n0l11ination of him that has a care of souls com-
mitted to him. But. as it is in itself highly valuable, so a great
account is to be given for it to him, \vho made and purchased
those souls, and in whose sight they are of inestimable value, and
\vho will reckon severely with such patrons as do not 11lanage it
with a due care.
It is all one \vhat the consideration is on ,vhich it is bestowed,
if regard is not in the first place had to the worth of the person
so n0111inated; and if he is not judged fit and proper to under-
take the cure of souls: for with relation to the account that is to
be given to the great Bishop of souls, it is all one whether money,
friendship, kindred or any carnal regard \vas the chief 11lotive
to the nomination.
I know it may be said, no man but one in holy orders is ca-
pable of being possessed of a benefice, and in order to that he is
to be exan1ined by the bishop, though already ordained, before
he can be possessed of it: but the sin is not the less, because
others come in to be partakers of it. Still a patron must answer
to God for his share, if he has nominated a person without due
care, and without considering whether he thinks him a proper
person for undertaking so great a trust.
I will not carry this matter so far as to say that a patron is
bound to choose the fittest and n10st deserving persons he can

04

01 the Pastoral Care.

find out: that may put him under great scruples; and there
being a great diversity in the nature of parishes, and in the
several abilities necessary for the proper duties of the pastoral
care, it may be too great a load to lay on a luan's conscience an
obligation to distinguish who may be the fittest person. But
this is very evident, that a patron is bound to nalne no person to
so important a care as the charge of souls, of \vhom he has not at
least a probable reason to believe that he has the due qualifi-
cations anrl will discharge the trust committed to him. Some
motives nlay be baser than others: but even the consideration
of a child to be provided for, by a cure of souls, \vhen the main
requisites are ,vanting, is in the sight of God no better than
simony. For in the nature of things it is all one, if one sells a
benefice, that by the sale he may provide for a child, and if he
bestows it on a child, only out of natural affection, without con-
sidering his son's fitness to lnanage so great a trust. Perpetual
advo,vsoI1S, which are kept in fanlilies as a provision for a child,
\vho Inust be put in orders, ,vhatever his aversion to it or unfit-
ness for it may be, bring a prostitution on holy things. And
parents, ,vho present their undeserving children, have this ag-
gravation of their guilt, that they arc not so apt to be deceived
in this case, as they Inay be when they present a stranger.
Concerning these they may be Ì1nposed on by the testimony of
those whol11 they do not suspect; but they must be supposed to
be better inforIl1ed as to their own children.
It is also certain, that orders are not given by all bishops with
that anxiet.y of caution that the importance of the matter
requires. And if a person is in orders, perhaps qualified for a
lower station, yet he nlay ,vant many qualifications necessary for
a greater cure: and the grounds, on ,vhich a presentation can be
denied, are so narrow that a bishop Inay be under great difficul-
ties, who yet knows he cannot btand the suit, to which he lies
open, when he refuses to cOlnply ,,-ith the patron's nomination.
The sum of all this is that patrons ought to look on them-
selves as bound to have a sacred regard to this trust that is
vested in theIn, and to consider very carefully what the nature
of the benefice that they give is, and what are the qualifications
of the person they present to it; otherwise the souls that may
be lost by a bad nomination, ,vhatsoever nlay have been their
motive to it, will be required at their hands.
A t first the right of patronage was an appendant of the estate

Of the Pastoral Care.

05

in which it was vested; and was not to be alienated but with it,
and then there was still less danger of an ill nomination. For it
11lay be supposed that he who was nlost concerned in a parish
would be to a good degree concerned to have it \vell served.
:But a new practice has risen among us, and, for aught I have
been able to learn, it is only anlong us, and is in no other nation
or church whatsoever: how long it has been among us, I am not
versed enough in our law-books to be able to tell: and that is
the separating the advowson from the estate to which it was an-
nexed; and the selling it, or a turn in it, as an estat.e by itself.
This is so far allowed by our ]a\v that no part of such a traffick
comes within the statute against sinlony, unless when the benefice
is open. I shall say nothing more on this head, save only that
whosoever purchases a turn, or a perpetual advowson, with a
design to make the benefice go to a child, or remain in a family,
without considering the worth or qualifications of the person to
be presented to it, put thenlselves and their posterity under great
tenlptations. For here is an estate to be conveyed to a person,
if he can get but through those slight examinations upon which
orders are given, and has negative virtues, that is, if he is free
from scandalous sin, though he has no good qualities, nor any
fixed intentions of living suitably to his profession, of following
the studies proper to it and of dedicating hinlself to the work
of the nlinistry: on the contrary, he perhaps discovers a great
deal of pride, passion, covetousness and an ungoverned love of
pleasure; and is so far from any serious application of mind to
the sacred functions, that he has rooted in him an aversion to
them.
The ill effects of this are but too visible, and we have great
reason to apprehend that persons who come into the service of
the church with this disposition of mind will despise the care of
souls, as a thing to be turned over to one of a nlechanic genius,
who can never rise above some low perfornlances; they will be
incessantly aspiring higher and highet", and by fawning attend-
ances and the 111eanest compliances \vith such as can contribute
to their advancenlent, they will think no services too much out
of their road, that can help to raise them: they \vill nleddle in
all intrigues, and will cry up and cry down things in the basest
methods, as they hope to find their account in them. I wish,
with all my heart, that these things were not too notorious, and
that they did not lay stumblingblocks in men"'s way, which may

206

Of the Pastoi'al Oal'e.

give advantages to the tribe of profane libertines to harden thenI
in their prejudices against not only the sacred functions, but all
revealed religion in general. I shall end this head, leaving it on
the consciences of all patrons, and obtesting them by all that is
sacred, to reflect seriously on this great trust that the law has
put in their hands; and to consider what account they are to
give of it in the great day.
But if patrons ought to consider thelnselves under strict obli-
gations in this n1atter, ho\v much III ore ought they to lay the
sense of the duties of their function to heart, who have by
solemn vows dedicated themselves to the work of the lllinistry?
'''That notion have they of running \vithout being sent, who
tread in those steps
Do not they say, according to \vhat \vas
threatened as a curse on the posterity of Eli, Put me, I pr'a!l t!tee,
into one of the priest's offices, that I 'j}
ay eat a piece of hread t ?
Do they not feel these \vords as a character of \vhat they say
,vithin thelllselves, when they come up to the altar
Can they
not trust God, and go on, fitting thenlselves in the best manner
they can for holy functions, "Taiting for such an interposition of
Providence as shall open a clear \vay to them to some station in
the church; not doubting but that, if God by a Illotion of his
Spirit called thenl to holy orders, he will raise up instrunlents
to bring that about and put it in the heart. of sonle one or other
to giye or to procure to them a post, without their own engaging
in that sordid merchandise, or descending to any, though less
scandalous Inethods, \vhich bring \vith them such a prostitution
of lllind, that they \vho run into thelll cannot hope to raise to
themselves the estee111 due to the sacred function; which is the
foundation of all the good they can do by their labours. If
things turn cross to them, in a post to \vhich such endeavours
lnay haye brought thein, what cOlllfort can they have within
thenl
or what confidence can they have in God? \vhen their
own consciences \vill reproach theIll \"ith this, that it is no
,vonder, if \vhat was so ill acquired should prosper no better.
'Vhen they conle to die, the horror of an oath falsely taken,
which they palliated by an equivocating sense, \vill be a terrible
cOlnpanion to thenl in their last minutes; when they can no
In ore carry off the Hlatter by evasions or bold denials, but are to
appeal' before that God, to \vhose eyes all things are naked and
opened. Then all the scandal they have given, all the souls
t I Sam. ii, 3 6 .

Of the Pastv'j'al Oa'ì'e. 207
that they have lost or neglected, all the reproaches that they
have brought on their function and on the church, for which
perhaps they have pretended no ordinary 111easure of zeal; all
these, I say, will come upon them as an armed man and sur-
round them with the sense of guilt and the terrors of that
cOllsunâng fire, that is ready to devour theul.
Ien who have,
by unlawful methods and a prevaricating oath, conle into a
benefice, cannot truly repent of it, but by departing from it.
For the unlawful oath will still lie heavy on them, till that is
done. This is the indispensable restitution in this case; and
unless this is done, they live on and die in the sin unrepented
of. God is not 'in 0 eked, though men are. I will leave this here,
for I can carry it no higher.
As for those who have not prevaricated in the oath, but yet
have been guilty of practice and methods to arrive at benefices,
I do not lay this of relinquishing their benefices on then!: but
certainly, if they ever COlne to right notions of the matter, they
will find just ground to be deepl y hunlbled before God for all
their practices that way. If they do truly nlourn for them and
abstain froill the like for the future, and if they apply themselves
with so much the more zeal to the labours of their function
and redeelll the nleanness of their former practices by a stricter
course of life, by their studies and their diligence, they may by
that compensate for the too COnllll0n arts, by which they arrived
at their posts.
I kno\v these things are so COnllllonly practised that, as fe\v
are out of countenance who tread in such beaten paths, so I am
afraid they are too little conversant in just notions to feel the
evil of them. I t is no ,yonder if their labours are not blessed,
,,,ho enter on them by such low and indirect methods: whereas
men who are led by an overruling Providence into stations,
without any Illotions or procurement of their own, as they have
an uncJouded call froin God, so they have the foundation of a
true firmness in their own minds. They can appeal to God,
and so have a just claim to his protection and blessing: every
thing is easy to theIn, because they are always easy ,vi thin. If
their labours are blessed with success, they rejoice in God,
and are by that animated to continue in then1 and to increase
their diligence. If that is denied them, so that they are often
forced to cry out, !JIg lealtneSs, my leanness u , I have laboured
U Isaiah xxiv, 16.

08

Of tile Pastol"al Oal'e.

in vain; they are hunlbled under it; they examine themselves
Dlore carefully, if they can find any thing in their own conduct
that may occasion it, \vhich they will study to correct, and still
they persist in their labour; knowing that if they continue doing
their duty, whatever other effects that may have, those faithful
shepherds, ,vhen the chief Shepherd shall appear, shall receive
from him a crown of glory that fadetk not awayx.
fro all this I will only add somewhat relating to bonds of
resignation. A bond to resign at the pleasure of the patron
carries with it a base servitude, and simony in its full extent:
and yet because no nloney is given, some who give those bonds
do very ignorantly apprehend that they may, with a good
conscience, swear the oath of simony. There is but one \vay
to cure the nlischief of this great evil, which can have no
effect, if bishops will resolve to accept of no resignation made
upon such bonds; since by the comnlon la\v a clerk is so
tied to his bishop and to his cure that he cannot part \vith
it without the bishop's leave. By this all these bonds u1ay be
made ineffectual.
Other bonds are certainly more innocent, by which a clerk
only binds himself to that \vhich is otherwise his duty. And
since the forms of our courts are dilatory and expensive, and
there is not yet a full provision made against many abuses
which a good patron would secure a parish from, I see no just
exception to this practice, ,vhere the abuse is specially certified;
so that nothing is reserved in the patron's breast, by general
words, of which he, or his heirs, \vho perhaps may not inherit
his virtues as they do his fortunes, may nlake an ill use. It is
certain our constitution labours yet under some defects, which
were provided against by that noble design, brought so near per-
fection in that work entitled. Reformatio Legu1n Ecclesiasticaru11't,
\vhich it is to be hoped \vill be at some tinle or other taken up
a.gain and perfected.
The affinity of the fornler matter leads nle to give an (1ecount
of somewhat relating to Jllyself. \Vhen I \vas first put in the
post which I still hold, I found there were nlany 111arket towns
in the diocese very poorly provided. So since there are about
fifty dignities and prebends belonging to the cathedral, I consi-
dered how by the disposing of these I nlight mend the condition
of the incumbents in the nlarket towns and secure such a help
x I Pet. v, 4.

OJ'tlte Pastoral Care.

09

to their successors. And by the advice of SOlllC veryeluinent
divines and canonists, this nlethod was resolved on, that, when
I gave a prebend to any such incUlllbent, he should give a bond,
that, if he left that benefice, he should at the same tÏ1ne resign
his prebend, that it might go to his succes
or. This went on for
SOllle years with a universal approbation.
But when a hunlour began to prevail of finding fault, this
was cried out upon as :1 grievance bordering upon simony. I
upon that drew up a vindication of IllY practice, from great
authority, out of civilians and canonists. But upon second
thoughts I resolved to follow that saying of Solonlon's, Lea've off
contention, before it be meddled witl" or engaged in Y. SO to
lay the clanlour that some seemed resolved to raise, I resolved
to drop IllY design, and so delivered back all the bonds that I
had taken.
I will offer nothing either in the way of vindication or resent-
lnent, being satisfied to give a true relation of the matter, leaving
it to the reader"ls judgnlent to approve or censure, as he sees
cause. And thus I conclude this chapter, which I thought was
wanting to cOInplete my design in writing this treatise.

Y Provo xvii, 14.

p

,

A DISCOURSE

MADE BY

THE LORD BISHOP OF ROCHES1'ER

TO THE

CLERGY OF HIS DIOCESE,

AT

HIS VISITATION IN THE YEAR
IDCXCV.

p

..

THO
1AS SPRAT, a native of Devonshire, ".as educated at
"\Vadham College, Oxford; ,-çhere he was elected Scholar, in
16 5 2 , and afterwards admitted to a Fellowship. He took the
Degree of IVI. A. in 1657. .After the Restoration, he was
ordained; and, on being appointed Prebendary of 'Vestmin-
ster in 1668, began to experience that Court favour, ,vhich
was subsequently shewn, as in other instances, so in his pro-
motion to the Deanery of Westminster, in 1683, and to the
Bishopric of Rochester, in 1684. He ,vas entangled in the
Politics of the unhappy times, which immediately preceded
and folIo"yed the last named year; and, whilst History records
some of the transactions of his life that lie open to criticism
and even to animadversion, it preserves also a notice of the
personal inconvenience and danger, to which he 'was sub-
jected, in 1692, from a charge of being concerned in attempting
to bring back the exiled King. He cleared himstlf of the
accusation by confronting its authors, detecting their frauds
and exposing their villainy; and cOlnmemorated his deliver-
ance by a day of thanksgiving in each year, until he died
in I 7 13.
His literary productions, both in Prose and in Verse, ,vere
much admired by his contemporaries. But the fact that he
held a place among the Poets of his day is, at present, know'n
rather through his Biography, included in Dr. Johnson's
Lives of the Poets, than through any remaining interest in
,yorks, of which the great Critic had evidently fonned a lo\V
estimate. Nor does his Professional reputation depend so
much on his published Sermons, now seldom read, as on that
single illustration of his zeal and vigilance in the Episcopal
Office, ,,-hich has, from time to time, appeared in this Collec-
tion and is reprinted in the ensuing pages.

A

DISCOURSE

1\IADE BY

TIlE LORI> BISHOP OF ROCHESTER

TO THE

CLERGY OF HIS DIOCESE.

I CAN scarce think it worth nlY ,vhile or your's, my good
brethren, that I should now spend much time in any long
general exhortation to your diligent and conscientious performing
the duties incumbent on you, as you are "the ministers of God,
duly called according to the will of our Lord Christ, and the
order of this excellent church of England."
Did I find there were here any absolute need to use many
words towards the exciting your care in the several administra-
tions of your holy calling; yet., I am persuaded, I might myself
well spare my own labour and your patience on this subject;
since all that kind of wholesonle advice has been already so very
sufficiently and so much better given you, in argunlents deduced
out of the holy scriptures and most fitly applied to this purpose,
by the venerable compilers of our pub1ic liturgy, in the forms
appointed for the ordering of deacons and priests.
There, you kno\v, this work has been so wisely and so fully,
long ago, done to a bishop's hands; there all the parts of your
weighty office are so judiciously laid before you; the high dig-
nity and great ilnportance of it, towards the salvation of Dlankind,
is so substantially urged; the blessed fruits and everlasting re-
wards of well-attending it, and the extreme dangers of neglecting

fl16

Tlte Bishop of Rochester's

it, are so justly anlplified; the necessity of adorning your doc-
trine by an innocent, virtuous and pious life of your own,
to,vards the rendering it efficacious on the lives of others, is so
pathetically enforced; that, I aID confident, the very best charge
a bishop could give to his clergy, were to recon1mend seriously
to all their memories, as I now do most affectionately to yours,
those very same questions and answers, those very saIne promises
and vows, as you ought to esteem them, wherewith everyone of
you rlid 1l10st solemnly charge his con
cience, at the time of your
adlnission into holy orders.
I profess I cannot, nor, I believe, can the wit of man, invent
any more proper nlethod of instruction to men in your circunl-
stances, froln a Inan in 111ine, than to exhort JOu all to a continual
recollection of and meditation upon those many and great
obligations you then seemed voluntarily and cheerfully to lay on
yoursel ves.
'Vhence there could not but ensue, by God"s blessing, a firm
resolution in Jour nlinds to endeavour the perfornlance of them,
and a holy perseverance in those endeavours, and in conclusion,
the happy effects of all on yourselves and the flocks conlmitted to
you: that by thus IJJzeditat'ing on these fIlings and giving your-
selves
()Ilolly to thert
, Jjo'ltr profiting may appear to all; and that
by taking heed to yourselves and YO'ltr doctrincs and contin'lting in
then
, you may botlt save yourselves and those that hea1. you.
Wherefore seeing that, which else had been a bishop's proper
business in such Ineetings as this, I hope, is, or may be so easily
shortened for me by JOll yourselves, by your having recourse to
3J rule so ,veIl known and so obvious to you, in a book, which
ought scarce èver to be out of your hands; I shall the rather, at
this time, purposely olnit the prescribing you many admonitions,
touching the Inatter and substance of the duties of your sacred
function. Instead of them, I shall only offer you some few'
familiar considerations, which may serve as so 111any friendly and
brotherly advices, concerning chiefly the manner and way of
performing some of the principal offices of your ministry.
And I trust in God that, if these advices shall be as carefully
examined and, if you find thenl useful, as industriously observed
by you as they are honestly intended by lHe, t.hey nlay, in SOlne
sort, enable you to do lauda.bly and with cOIllmendation, the
saIne things, which, I hope, you already do, without just ex-
ception.

DisC01/}"se to his Olerpy, 1695.

17

Only, in this place, let me premise, once for all, that whatever
instructions I shall no'v give you, I intend them not only as
directions to you, but especially to myself. As indeed, in all
matters, that conle under deliberation, he ought to be esteemed
no good counsellor, who is very ready and eager in giving, but
averse from receiving the sanle counsel, as far as it l11ay be also
proper for himself.
The first advice I pre
ume to set before your vie,v shall relate
to the nlanner of doing your part, in all the ordinary officeR of
the public liturgy.
As to that, it is nIY earnest request, that you ,yotlld take very
much care and use extraordinary intention of nIind, to perfect
yourselves in a true, just, sensible, accurate, becoming way of
reading and adIninistering them, as you have occasion.
A suggestion, which some perhaps, at first hearing, may think
to be but of a slight and ordinary concernment: yet, if I am not
much deceived, it win be found of exceeding nIoment and con-
sequence in its practice: and of singular usefulness towards the
raising of devotion in any congregation piously inclined: when
Jour weekly or rather daily labours of this kind shall be thus
performed; I mean, not ,,-it h a mere formal or artificial, but
with such a grave, unaffected delivery of the ,vords, as (if the
defect be not in ourselves) will indeed naturally flo\y from a right
and serious con
idering of their sense.
I pray therefore, take my nIind aright in this particular. I do
not only mean that you should be very punctual in reading the
Coulmon Prayer Book, as the law requires; that is, not only to
do it constantly and entirely in each part, without any mainIing,
adding to or altering of it, that so supplications, prayers, inter-
cessions and giving of tnanlcs, may be made, by you, for all men;
for kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a
quiet and peaceahle life in all godliness and honesty.
If you do not so, you are liable to a legal puni
hlnent and
censure. But nIY ain1 now is, not mèrely to prevent that, or to
provide only against your breaking the la,v. 'Vhat I intend is
something higher and more excellent; something that Jon cannot
be punished for, though you do it not; but if you shall do it in
any reasonable perfection, it will redound to the unspeakable
henpfit of your congregations.
The purpose then of this nIY pl3 in motion to you is, in short,
to beseech you all to e1nploy much serious pains in practising

18

The Bishop of Rochester's

the public and private reading of all your offices, as the use of
any of them shall occur, dist.inctly, gravely, affectionately, fer-
vently; so as every where to give then1 all that vigour, life and
spirit, whereof they are capable: which certainly is as great as
in any human writings \vhat
oever; if ,ve be not wanting to them
in the repetition.
The truth is, ,vhatever some may imagine to the contrary,
such a complete and consummate faculty of reading the Common
Prayer, Quam neq1teo monstrare, et sentio tantuln, is of so great
difficulty, as ,vell as use, that I am fully convinced it very ,velJ
deserves to have some place among our constant studies; at least
in the first initiation into our ministry, if not throughout the
\vhole course of it.
I could heartily ,vish it ,vere altogether needless for me to lay
so much stress on this advice as I do. Yet, I hope, I may do it
without offence; since it is not \vith design of censuring Dny
particular men's failings or deficiencies, but only for the public
good; that \ve may all strive to attain not only to a mediocrity,
but to an excellency in this kind: ,vhich, in lny sn1all judgment,
can never be done, unless \ve shall make this duty a business by
itself, and assign it a special place among our other ecclesiastical
studies.
I t cannot be denied, but the church itself has provided for
this \vith all inlaginable circumspection; having solemnly en-
joined every clergyman, besides the time of his public ministry,
to read some very considerable parts of his Office, once a day
at least to hilnself, except he shall be excused by indispensable
business.
By \vhich wise injunction, though, no doubt, the church
intended prinuLrily to produce and increase, in the nlinds of all
its ministers, a frame of spirit perpetually serious and devout;
yet, if that be also accompanied with a proportionable regard to
the manner as \vell as to the matter of our public prayers, this
other advantage of well reading, \vhat is so often to be read, will
folIo,,' of cour
e, and by necessary consequence.
It seems indeed to me, that the very \vay of performing all
the outward acts of religion has so wonderful an influence
towards obtaining the inward effects of it on our hearts and
consciences, that I cannot but think \ve can never be too labori-
ous in preparing and exercising our thoughts and even our very
voices, in private, for a public service of so great Í1nportance.

Disco frse to his Olergy,1695.

Q19

It is true, we general1y value and esteem preaching as our
great privilege and honour. And so far we are in the right.
But we are not so, if we look on the reading of prayers only as
our task and burrlen; and, as such, shall be willing to get rid of
it altogether, or to get through it in any un decent manner, with
such heaviness or precipitation as, in any affairs of worldly
interest, we would never be content with: a preposterous custom.,
which, if due care be not taken, may be very prejudicial and
mischievous to our church, by quenching the spirit of devotion
in our o,vn people and giving occasion to our adversaries
to thro,v scorn and contempt on our otherwise incomparable
liturgy.
Consider, I pray you, how can \ve expect that others should
revere or estef'm it according to its true worth, if we ourselves
will not keep it so much in countenance as to afford it a fair
reading? if we ,viII not do it so much common justice as to con-
tribute, as much as lies in our power, that it nlay have an im-
partial hearing, equal at least to any other divine ordinance? if
we shall refuse to lay as much weight on those devotions, which
our whole church has enjoined us to pour out before the throne
of grace., for the people, as we do on those discourses, which we
n1ake, on our own heads, to the people

'Vherefore, I say again, this very cOInmendable skill of devout
and decent reading the holy Offices of the church is so far front
being a perfunctory or superficial work, a mean or vulgar
accomplishment, or a subordinate lower administration, only fit
for a curate; that it deserves to be placed among your Ininisterial
endowments of greater superiority and preeminence; as being
one of the most powerful instruments of the holy Spirit of God.,
to raise and conln1and Hlen's hearts and affections: of the holy
true Spirit of God, I say; which, though in our inward ejacu-
lations, or private supplications to,vards Heaven, it often helpetk
o'ttr infirmities, and malceth intel'cession for 'Us with groanings that
cannot be utte1
ed; yet, in the public worship, is most frequently
pleased to operate by such "ords and sounds as are expressed
with the best utterance.
So that now, with a just assurance, I may assert this to be a
very proper qualification of a parochial nlinister; tha.t he has
attained to an habitual faculty of setting forth the public prayers
to all their duf' advantage, by pronouncing them leisurabIy,
fitly, wannly, decently; with such an authorit.y in the 8peaker

220

Thf' Bishop of Rochester's

as IS, In 80111e degree, suitable to the authority of what IS
spoken.
Thus much I may safely say, t.hat the reader of the prayers, if
I he does his part, in the nlanner J have mentioned, by such a
vigorous, effectual, fervent delivery of the \vords and conceptions,
put into his mouth by the church itself, may give a new
enlivening breath, a new soul, as it were, to every prayer, every
petition in it: he l11ay quicken and aninlate those confessions,
intercessions and thanksgivings, \vhich, when read coldly and
indifferently, with irreligious carelessness or ignorant flatness,
will seem to some to be but a dead letter: he tllay make every
Hymn, every P8alm, every Lesson, Epistle and Gospel, to be-
come well nigh a new sermon; at least he may give to the old
standing text of the Bible a very good clear exposition, even by
. his very \vay of reading it to the congregation.
This, upon experience, you "Till find t.o be apparently true.
For if, as is usually observed by men of learning in printed
books, the very accurate and critical pointing of the copy is one
of the best kinds of good new comnlentaries on any old author;
how nluch more, in all the offices of devotion, would that, which
consists not only in good pointing and observing all due stops,
but in so nluch more besides, I mean a good, distinct, forcible,
yet easy and unforced reading of every prayer and portion of
the holy scriptures; ho\v much more would all this really serve
for a good new paraphrase and illustration of every sentence in
thenl!
I t is indeed alnlost incredible how quite another thing the
òaily nlorning and evening prayers will appear; what new
figures and beauties and hidden treasures of sacred eloquence
they will continually discover \vhen thus pronounced; how
much apter they \vill be to kindle in us and our auditors all
nlanner of heavenly affections, of spiritual grief and contrition,
of love and gratitude, of faith, hope and charity, and joy in the
Holy Ghost; when the harnlony of the tongue shall be tuned,
as it were, to the harrnony of the matter; when the zeal of the
reader shall I{eep company with his voice; and his voice sha]]
be adapted to and varied together with every sense and
expression; when by long use and inlitation of the best masters,
or the best we can come at, we shall kno\v falniliarly how to
give every \vord and sentence its due poise; \vhere to lay a
greater or sllluIIer w
ight on every clause, 1.ccorrling to it

Discourse to Ids Cler!!!}, 1695.

2Ql

natural or spiritual force; where to be quicker or nlore vehe-
ment, where slower and more sedate; how to observe equally all
pauses and distances; how to avoid lllonotonies on the one hand,
and imn10derate elevations and depressions on the other; yet,
where to use the same tones, where to rise or fall in the right
place: when, I say, the reader shall be throughly expert and
versed in practising these and many nlore such natural decencies
of pronouncing; though they may seem but light and petty
things, taken singly and apart, yet all together, in their full
united power, they will be found to have an adnlirable concur-
rence towards the creating, augmenting, well-tempering and
well-governing of devotion.
Had I time, it were easy to exemplify this, in every Office of
our church. Give me leave only to mention one instance
within the cOlllpass of IllY own knowledge, which perhaps may
not be unworthy your special ren1arking: though I doubt not
but many of you have Dlet with several examples of the like
nature.
It was imn1ediatelyafter the happy restoration of king Charles
the Second, when, together with the rights of th
crown and
the English liberties, the church and the liturgy were also newly
restored; that a noted ringleader of schisnI in the fornler times
was to be buried in one of the principal churches of London.
The minister of the parish, being a ,vise and regular conformist,
and he was afterwards an en1Ïnent bishop in our church, well
knew how averse the friends and relations of the deceased had
always been to the Conlmon Prayer; which, by hearing it so
often called a low rudiulent, a beggarly element and carnal
ordinance, they were brought to contemn to that degree, that
they 8hunned all occasions of being acquainted with it.
Wherefore, in order to the interment of their friend, in sOlue
sort, to their satisfaction, yet so as not to betray his own trust,
he used this honest nlethod to undeceive then1. Before the day
appointed for the funeral, he ,vas at the pains to learn the \vhole
Office of 13urial by heart. And then, the time being COlne,
there being a great concourse of luen of the saIne fanatical
principles, when the company heard all delivered by him ,vith-
out book, with a free readiness and profound gravity and
unaffected con1posure of voice, looks and gestures, and a very
powerful elnphasis in every part (as indeed his talent was
excellent that way), they ,vere strangely surpri
ed and affected;

f.222

I'kf3 Biskup of RV('/t
tfj1"'S

}Jrofessing they had never heard a IHore suitable exhortation or
a 1l10re edifying exercise, even from the very best and nlost pre-
cious men of their own persuasion.
But they were afterwards much lnore surprised and con-
founded, when the sanle person, who had officiated, assured the
principal men among them that not one period of all he had
spoken was his own; and convinced theIn by ocular demonstra-
tion how all was taken ,vord for \vord out of the very Office
ordained for that purpose, in the poor contemptible Book of
Common I>rayer.
Whence he nlost reasonably inferred ho\v much their ill.
grounded prejudice and nlistaken zeal had deluded them, that
they should adnlire the saln discourse, \vhen they thought it an
unprepared, unprenleditated rapture: \vhich they would have
abominated, had they known it to be only a set form prescribed
by authority.
And from the sante observation, we also lnay as justly infer,
that all the coldness and dulness, which too Inany such abused
and wanton spirits have complained they find in set forms, is not
really in the forms themselves; in ours it is far otherwise. If
there be any colour for the cOlilplaint, that can only proceed froIH
a cold, flat, supine, insipid manner of repeating them.
Upon the \vhole Inatter it is most certain that, in the public
worship of God, nothing can be more grave or Inoving, more
lofty or divine, either in the confessing, petitioning or praising
part, than where the thoughts and expressions are strictly
weighed and prudently reduced into standing unalterable fOnDs;
provided also, those very forms be not pronounced in a formal
\vay; but that they be assisted, inflamed, inspired, as I may say,
\vith such a present ardour and sprightly zeal in readjng them,
as \viII always make thenl seenl to be extempore: extempore, I
Inean, in the new, ready, vehelnent luanneI' of their pronuncia-
tion; but set fornls still, in the solid ripeness of the sense and
the due choice and deliberate ordering of their phrases anti
figures; \vhich are the peculiar advantages of set forllls: and
therefore, so spoken, they will in all reason produce a far more
real, unfeigned and durable devotion, than all the other luere
extempore, raw and indigested effusions ought to pretend t.o.
I should crave your pardon that I have dwelt so long on this
first head of advice. Rut it appeared to l11e so very ll1aterial
that I could not hastily pass it over: especially since what I have

1J1.SCOltrSe to lti.
OIeJ:q!J, 1695.

3

now said on this subject lllay concern in conUllon all your
public nlinistrations, and is equally applicable, not onlJ to thp
well perfornling the daily l\iorning and Evening Prayers through-
out the year, both of ordinary days and Sundays and extra-
ordinary fasts and festivals; but also to the Offices of Baptism,

latrÌ1l1on)", and the holy COIDlllunion; and indeed to every
other part of our established liturgy; in all which as the reader
officiates better or worse, so n10st usually is their benefit and
efficacy more or less on the minds of the hearers.
Nay, I will now make bold to go further, to apply the useful-
ness of this counsel, not only to the praying part, but also to
another part of your office I am next to consider, which is that
of preaching.
I am verily persuaded, that the serInons preached every Sun-
day in this one kingdom, by the church of England clergy in
this age, are more excellent cOlnpositions of that kind than have
been delivered, in the same space of time, throughout the whole
Christian world besides.
Only let me take the freedon1 to suggest that perhaps it
would add much, though not to the solid and substantial part of
such discourses, yet to their just popularity and more general
acceptance and to the greater edification of our hearers, if ,ve
would universally addict ourselves a little more to this study of
pronunciation: by which advantages alone of the freedom and
life of their elocution, we know the preachers of some other
nations do seeln to reign and triunlph in the pulpit, whilst their
sern10ns, as far as we can judge by those we have of them in
print, are not con1parable to the English.
An observa.tion, which, methinks, may rouse our preachers to
outdo then1 in this kind of perfection also; I 111ean, in a natural,
comely, nlodest, Jet undaunted force of pronunciation: not such
as is full of over-action and min1ical gesticulations; which,
though some parties nlay adn1ire for a tilne, and to serve a turn,
yet the serious teluper of our nation '\'ill never long approve or
adulit of. l
ut I intend such a steady, con1posed, severe,
decent, lively and apposite lnanaging your voices and gestures
in the pulpit, as is best accolun10dated to the gravity and so-
lidity of the English genius, and is also agreeable, as 111uch as
may be, to the sinlplicity, power and height of the luessage you
bring frotH heaven.
The next great duty then of lour priestIy office, which

2
4

T/te Bis/top úf RochestfJr' s

conIes in our way, being that of preaching, I shall begin with
one short adlllonition, which, I confess, I anI ahnost ashalned to
give; and yet it luay be very expedient that it should be given ;
not, I declare, as a correction to any of you here present for
any thing past, but only in regard to the future, and for the sake
of those ,vho as yet are less experienced preachers and young
tilllorous beginners.
The caution, in plain ternls, is this; that every person, who
undertakes this greü.t enlployment, should Inake it a nlatter of
religion and conscience, to preach nothing but what is the
product of his own study and of his own COlllposing.
I ,vould not be mistaken, as if I should hereby condenl11 the
reading of the HOlnilies; \vhich were COIllposed by the wisdolll
and piety of former tinies and have been ever since allowed,
nay recolnmended, by our church, in some places and upon
some necessities, to be used. I anl so far froln doing so that I
rather wish froni my heart we were furnished with a larger stock
of such learned, plain and orthodox discourses.
There can be no luanneI' of hurt, nay there is very great
reason that, upon sOlne urgent occasions, a preacher should have
liberty to take something out of that public treasury, which ,va

laid up for that end and has the stanlp of authority upon it to
lllake it current. My purpose is only to dissuade you from all
unjust rapine of this kind, frolli all underhand dealing with the
pri vate stores of particular persons.
As to that, I dare avouch, it is far better and nlore advisable,
even for the rawest practiser, to exhibit but very Inean things
of his own at first, than to flourish it in the best of other nlen'8
sense and oratory. For he who does never so ordinarily at first,
provided it be from himself, may and will do better and better
in till1e, by God's assistance, through fervent prayer and in-
defatigable attention to reading and hearing and practising to
preach. 'Vhereas this sordid borrowing, this shanleful, I had
almost said sacrilegious, purloining frolll other men'8 labours, is
an utter irreconcilable enemy to all lllanner of growth and
improvenlent in divine learning or eloquence.
I will not now insist on the meanness of spirit and perpetual
fear, that nlust attend the consciousness of this guilt, lest it
should be sonle time or other discovered; or on the shanle and
contell1pt that often happens to such pilferers upon the discovery.
But besides all this, in truth, when once l11el1 have indulged

Discoltrse to hi.
(}leJ:(!Y, 1695.
thcIllselves in this casy, but d(\spicable and 8huffiing COIUIl1erCC,
they seldom or never give it over; nay, at last, they can very
hardly give it over, if they woulrl.
Thence would su
ceed such a visiblf' decay of parts, such a
neglect of aU serious studies, such a de,
uetude and unaptness
for regular thinking, such enlptiness of invention and memory,
such a diffidence of their own style, understanding and judg-
nlent; that they, who at first nlarle bold \vith others' sernlons,
perhaps Inerely out of idlenes
, will at length be forced to do it
out of necessity. It will unaxoidably happen to this kind of
thieves, as n10st comnlonly it does to aU others; they steal so
long in their youth und strength of age, because they will not
work, that in their old age they are cOIllpelled to steal on.
Lecauf.:e they cannot work.
But enough or too luuch of this. I know to ",holn I speak;
to those who, for aught I could ever observe or hear
do not
only preach, but thelllseives conlpose what they preach. \
et I
thought it becallle Ine to give this intiulation, seeing, in Iny own
sInaIl experience, J have been forced to deny orders to SOlne
persons, because I found thelu peccant in this very crinle. I
was at first exceerlingly alnazed to hear thenl produce U10st
excellent sernlons, whilst I found their gifts of nature and abili-
ties of learning and knowledge were far froin being passable.
But lilY wonder was soon over, when I luanifestIy discovered
that nothing but their ignorance was their own, their SerIllOnS
belonging of right to their betters.
XO\V then, nlY brethren, that we lllay COlue into the way again,
after this unwelcome digression; in lnaking our sernlon
, great
regard ought to be had to the words and to th
nlatter; great to
both, though not equally great to both.
\..- our words and st)'le shoulrl be siutpie, expressive, weighty,
authoritativ
; and therefore, though not without SOIHe true art,
\ et not very artificial; and rather void of all ornalnent, than
oyer-adorned; but as l1U1Ch scriptural as IHay be without aftect-
ation: and as eas)", fanlÍliar and intelligible as possible. And
perspicuity is always possible. Nay it is alnlost ilHpossible that
one"ls words should not be perspicuous, whf'n his thoughts are
clear and untroubled and the thing to be spoken of is throughly
understood. "-hen the Blatter is \\ ell invf'uted. digested and
ordered in the Inind, it very rarcl
' happens but the fittest and

Q5

(l

fl2G

The Bishop of Ruchesfe'JO"'s

lllOst expressive words will occur to the fancy and tongue of tllC
speaker. Verba no,
Ùtvita sefjupntur.
N ext, since your matter must of course be either doctrinal or
practical; where it shan be luerely doctrinal, there it Inay suffice
for your COlnmon auditories, and, in good truth, for all other fronl
the lowest to the very highest, that it be plain, sound, substan-
tial, ancient, catholic; seldonl or never curiously drawn out into
the fine threads of dispute and speculation, or, as the apostlo
terms them, oppositions nf science falsely so called.
I t were indeed much to be wished that the agitating of all
ll1anner of controversies could be utterly excluded fronl the
great work of saving souls, which is your special work, Yet,
because, in tiIues so degenerate from the priluitive purity and in
this militant state of the Christian church, it cannot be expected
that you should teach aptly, or oppose schisll1 and heresy solidly

without touching sOlnetinles and entering upon some walks of
controversies; certainly the best way, in these inevitable cases,
is never to D1eddle with such obscure subtilties, out of spiritual
pride or ostentation, but Inerely out of necessity; and then only
with the most necessar)T part.s of thenI; and then also that JOu
be ever sure to keep close to the fOrJn of sound 'U."ords used in
the church, and to cont.ain yourselves within t.he known bounds
of scripture detcrnlinations, in every controverted point, to deliver
the faith to your people, as it was once delivered to the saints.
As Jittle a lover then as I :l1n of controversial divinity in the
pulpit, yet I cannot be faithful to you or to our 1110ther the
church of England, if I do not reconuuend two sorts of it to
be seriously studied by you: but I lllust still say, rather to be
studied than preached; though preached too upon reasonable
occaSIons.
The first kind is that of the controversies between us and the
church of Ronle. For we are not yet 80 exenlpt fronl fear on
that quarter that we should securely lay aside and suffer to rust
on the walls those very anns, which, to the immortal praise of
the parochial clergy, were so successfully luanaged by them,
during the last great crisis of danger from the popish interest.
I the rather l11ention these, because they are still altnost in
every nlan's hands; and perhaps a judicious sun1 and full epitome,
collected out of them all, would be as useful a body of controver-
sies on those questions, aR any i
yet extant.

Discolu'se to lli.
Vlerpy,1695.

7

\Vherefore, that you 1l1ay preserve your own and the souls
under your care frOln infection and be able to convince gain-
sayers, I exhort you all, accorùing to your several stations and
opportunities, to be still conversant and prepared in those very
sanle argull1ents against the papists: yet, let Ine say also, not
only now in those. For there is another sort of controversies
or rather blaspheulous doctrines, revived in this age, and which
seenl indeed to be the most cherished and darling tenets of the
loose and antichristian part of the age; I luean those execrable
opinions against the incarnation and eternal godhead of our
Saviour, the sat.isfaction of his 111eritorious sufferings and death,
and the very being of the ever-blessed Trinity: which being all
of t.hetl1 the peculiar and distinguishing foundations of Christi-
anity, whatever they who so directly oppose thell1 n1a)" at first
pretend, yet they cannot but reaBy tend to the destruction of the
primitive faith in Christ and the introduction of another religion,
new and therefore abolninable.
\Vherefore, to 111aintain no less than the nlain fundaTnental
points of our pUJre and
tndefilecl religion, you are now Inost zeal-
ously to apply your thoughts to the serious study of those divine
mysteries. Yet if you please to take my judgluent, after you
shall be never so well furnished with weapons, defensive or
offensive, of this nature, you should yery rarely brandish or so
nluch as shew theln in your ordinary pulpits; never but when
you cannot avoid it without betraying or deserting the orthodox
truth. ..A.nd whenever you shall produce any of theln in such
auditories, even then, it were best done in a calnl, positive and
didactical, rather than in a sharp wrangling or contentious way.
But always take along with you what I said before, to wade no
further in theIn, in your popular senuous, than as the scripture
light prill1Ïtively expounded shall plainly lead you.
This 111ay suffice, at present, touching the doctrinal and spe-
culative part of your preaching. As to the other, which is the
practical, in that I need not forewarn you t.o proceed with such
reserve or restraint. In the greatest abundance of that, if Inan-
nged with nny t.olerable prudence, there can hardly be any
nlanner of excess. l\Iost assuredly, the less controversial and
the more prnctical your pulpit di,courses are, the better they
must be and the 1110re profitable.
Now, nlY dear brethren, the subject of this part of your ser-
mons being, as you cannot but know, so comprehensive and
Q

8

Tlte Bishop of Rochester's

vast, ::ts to take in the whole compass of all our spiritual and
mor::tl duties; I s::tY of moral also; for, let none be deceived,
In oral preaching is of l11arvellous use, wherever it is subservient
to the inspired doctrine of Christianity, and does not strive to
justle that, which is its principal, quite out of the pulpit: but,
I say, the Inatter of your pr::tctical pre::tching being in itself so
large as to extend to aJI the precepts and prolnises both of the
la\v ::tnd the gospel; to all the ternpt::ttions and corruptions of the
\vorld, the flesh and the rlevil; whereof the one ought to be
the eternal ::trgunlent of your exhortations, the other of your
reproofs and adulonitions: here it is especially that I would be-
seech yon all, with a brotherly t
nderness and oblige you, with
a fatherly authority, to layout the whole stress and bent of your
souls, to draw all your studies, all your learning, hun1an or di-
vine, aU your eloquence, all your affections
all your zeal this
way; this being the gre::tt \vork you haye chosen for the busi-
ness of your whole lives, and for which we all were so peculiarly
dedicated to the service of God and his church: and let DIe add,
this being the great purpose, for which all scripture semns to
have been git'en h!J inspiration of God; that it may be pro/itahle
for doctrine, 10'1' reprooj
fur correction. There is the chief end
of all the doctrine you aro to teach. IJut what follo\vs
}'or in-
struction in 1'igltteo
tsness,. that the 'lnan of God 'lna!J he perft3ct,
thrullgldy furnished to et"m7/ goud work. There is the great
design of all the practice you are to enforce.
I have despatched what I thought proper now to say on this
hearl of preaching, unless you will suffer l11e to name one very
obvious caution; which yet. I cannot thinli to be eyer the less
necessary for being so very obvious.
'fhe caution is that, in ::tll your senllOllS, where JOu h:1ye
occa
ion to praise any virtue or dispraise any vice; in all your
comlnendatious of \vh::tt is good or discolluuendations of' what is
bad, lOU would always sep::trate tho good person fronl the good
thing and always rlistinguish the sinner fronl the sin: that is,
that you would neyer put anyone virtue, neyer ::tny one vice,
you are to deal with in the pulpit, into the habit or countenance
of ::tny one lllClnber of your congregations, so that they Illay be
known thereby: in ::t word, that you would utterly shun anrl
abhor all personal flatteries of the good and all :personal reflec-
tions on the wicked.
As to the first of these extreInc
, that ot flattery, I need only

Discourse to Ids Oler!'!/, 1695.

29

lllel1tion it here. That is seldonl thought worthy of such plain
country congregations as )'OU1'8 generally are: it were wen, if it
were as nlllCh excluded out of all other religious asselublies of
better quality.
It is indeed great pity that Duch glossing and deceitful lan-
guage should at last, in any n1easure, take sanctualY in the
church; when it had been so long, in all ages, by COlnl11on con-
sent of wise and good luen, judged fit to be banished. out of all
other well-constituted societies. Has it not been always found by
experience that a flattering tongue is so far fro In increasing the
virtues of the good and the great that it rather serves to de-
prave the real worth they nlight have before '? ::;0 that, as the
Psalmist says, the nlen wlw flatter u,ith tlteir tongue, Ilave not
only no faithfulness in their 1Jwuth, but th,eÜ- very throat is an
open sepulc/
re. But, above all, it is Bl0st unbecon1Ïng the pul-
pit; where 1nen would seenl to speak as from God and with
authority, which nothing can 1110re debase or prostitute than
flattery.
As to the other excess, that of secret reflections and malicious
insinuations against or open defanlations of per.30ns, I would
absolutely dissuade you frol11 the very shadow and suspicion of
it. I would entreat you all, in tlte bowels of OlU' Lord Cltri
t,
that you would never, on any occasion or accident, not even on
the greatest provocation, do that affront to the honour and n10-
dcsty of the pulpit as to luake it a l)lace for any rudeness or
scurrility whatsoever. Surely nothing can be nlùre disgraceful
to the reputation of your profession or nlore destructive to edi-
fication or Ulore unbeseen1ing the gravity and charity of a
church of England divine, than to nlake an ordinance so sacred
and the word of God handled in it becon1e instrunlental to Jour
own private passions, animosities or revenges.
1 tUll now arri\'ed at the next great duty of your holy office,
whieh is that of catechising; not so nuwh to reconllnend to you
the duty itself; though I Inight do that IHOSt earnestly and
vehcluently and with SOI11e kind of episcopal expostulation and
reprehension, if any where it
hould be totally neglected. But
that I woulrl not here so nllwh as suppose.
I cannot doubt but we are all of one 11linù touching the inex-
pressible adyantages of this ordinance in genf'ral ; we, especially,
who have lived in these tiU1Cg. \Ve cannot but be abundantly
convinced of it by a woful and rlearbought pxperience: since tt

230

The lJishojJ uj"llochester's

is evirlent that the far greater part of the Ulonstrous looseness of
opinions and profane enorIuity, of manners, which overwhelmed
the whole face of the last age and has too nluch descended on
this, did relnarI\:ably proceed froin the notorious defect or uni-
versal omission of orthodox catechising, during the calamities
and confusions of the great rebellion.
"Therefore, touching the imminent necessity of restoring, or,
I Inay well hope rather, alllong you, of continuing, this first
part of Christian discipline, I nULke sure account we are all
agreed.
The only thing to be debated is the manner how this holy
exercise IUa.y be so put in use that the blessed ends, which I am
assured \ve all ain) at alike lnay be attained.
Without all controversy then, the first practice of your regu-
lar catechising, in all your churches, ought to be in the very
same order and on the saIne Inaterials, \vhich the Church Cate-
chislll has traced out and the la\v has enjoined.
I would therefore desire you an to begin, or rather encourage
you to go on, plainly and literally, in that ,yay, with a strict
confinelnent of your catcchuinens, as they Inay be called, to that
very cOlllpendious introduction; to have your youth throughly
versed and instructed perfectly in all the questions and answers
there prescribed. This ought by no 11leallS to be left undone in
the slnallest or poorest of your country cures; where the high-
est capacities are not at first above, and the lo\vest can /Scarce be
below, this kind of plain information.
But in greater towns, where the youth are somewhat better
educated and so should be more capable of ilnproven1ent, there,
supposing still you never Olllit the other more simple way, you
may, by degrees
\vith a sober and discreet pace, proceed fur-
ther; I will not say by enlarging the foundations, but by raising
the building higher on the saIne cOlllpass of ground.
And this I have known done with very remarkable fruit and
benefit to the learners, in a familiar method, whereof I ,viII only
trace out to you the ilnperfect draught, \vhich by tinle and cus-
tom JOu may easily advance and complete. The nlethod is this;
that to every article and every clause of it, in the Church Cate-
chism, after they have learnt them by heart, you should annex,
at first, some such texts of scripture as nlay suffice to prove the
Inatter contained in them, and do it in the fewest words antl
clearest to the purpose. These texts you should induce your

DißcOztl'
e to !tis Clergy, 1695.

Q31

young disciples to repeat often anù perfectly without book,
together with each article, and should begin to let theln under-
stand, by a very brief exposition, how evidently each scripture
proves each article.
Then, by degrees, after they shall be made intil11ately ac-
quainted with that first set of texts, you lnay 1110re securely add
other quotations out of the J
ible, sOlnewhat larger, but still
tending to the same purpose; and when you have eXplained
them, in the like manner, but 1110re copiously, JOu 111ay cause
those also to Le learnt as exactly and repeated as readily as the
forn1er. .A.nd the same course JOu ll1ay begin and go through
with again, still adding 1110re texts, and l110re distinctly dividing
the parts and lnelubers of the several articles, as often as you
shall find it practicable or convenient.
Thus, whilst you do not oyerburden tender ulinds, but softly
instil these instructions into then1, drop after drop, the children
you have undertaken in this way, so very little out of the com-
Inon road, and l11any also of riper years, who shall be present
and. attentive, ,,,ill, beyond their own, and even your first ex-
pectation, C0111e to have treasured up, almost unawares, in their
lninds, a little body, as it were. of orthodox divinity: which can-
not but be all orthodox, all primitive, as being without 111ixture
purely collected out of the holy scriptures.
With the scriptures, by this nleans, their luemories \\,ill
un perceivably be filled; yet not 80 as only to fit theln to cant
with unseasonably in conlmon discourse, but so as to instruct or
confirnl their judgulents and teach then1 to apply properly ,vhat
they shall there read, to every part of a sober Christian's be]ief
or practical duty.
111 this great article of catechising, I would offer one honest
direction III ore. It is, that you should not so llluch ailn in it at
the length of the exercise or at the perpetual changing of your
thoughts and expressions, as at the sound botton1, on which you
build your discourse, and the solid, 11l1lnOvable ground of each
doctrine, whereon you fix your explanations; though your per-
fornlance each tin1e be the shorter, so it be not unreasonably
short, and though your words and phrases lnay happen frequently
to be the san1e and repeated nlore than once.
In tl'utlJ, I would, if I durst, offer S0111e such advice also as to
your preaching. But I know the COllllllon vogue is against D1Y

Q
32

The IJ.ishup oj'Rochester"s

real opinion in this 1l1atter. And therefore I I1Hlst ha.ndle thi

point the Inore tenderly.
I t is indeed a, very great burdpn that the hunIonr of the
people, anrl our own too, in sonle lneasnre, has laid on our pro-
fes8ion; such as, I think, no other caJling or way of life, were
e\'er willing to lay on theIllSelves; no, nor any other nation, that
I know of, has exacted in so high a degree fronl their clergy;
that you should twice, or once a week, at. least, always present
your auditories with new sern1ons; and those al
o to be conl-
posed with the care and accuracy alnlost of elaborate and com-
plete treatises.
'Vhf'reas I
un snre, in the business of catechising, and nlost
probably the saUIe will be fbllUd trup in preaching also, that a
sound, substantial, well-collected and well-woven provi
ion of
plain, instructive, godly and devout discourses, altered and
increased, according to the teacher"s growing abilities, and used
oyer and over, though in the saIne desl{s or pulpits, would be
l110re edifYing and sink deeper into the nlinds and consciences
of the hearers, than all the greatest affluence and redundance of
new words and phrases, 111ultiplied or interchanged, which the
lnost fanciful, copious catechist or preacher can devise.
I haye known son1e very learned and pious nlen and excellent
preachers and zealous lovers of our church and country, whose
\velfare and prosperity they wisely judged to be inst'para bly
joined; I say I have known these persons affectionately declare
their wishes that SOlne such order as this 1 shall subjoin were
observed by the greatest. part, if not by all our parochial
D1inisters.
That, on the very entering into their nlinistry, or at any tillle
afterwards, if they have not done it before, they would set
thelllseives to draw out the general lineaments and larger nlen1-
bel's of a whole year's, or perhaps a two years' course of cate-
chislns and ser1110ns: following therein the annual I11ethod of our
church's devotions, or any other scheme they shall approve and
form to then1seh'es ; provided it cOlnprises aU the Dlain point:s of
Christian doctrine and practice.
That on this stock they should set up; and, in the first and
second year, begin to fill up the void spaces and lay the first
colours, towards the finishing, as well as their sufficiency will
then allow; f":tiJI eollc(.ting and conveying all the streanlS of

Discourse to his Cl()rpy, 169j.

233

thcir useful reading and learning into those COllHllOn receptacles
and chanllf'ls; and so succe
::5ively preaching them on, as the
year turns round.
That eyer after, in the whole progress of their n1Înistry, they
should still be adding to or cutting off frolll, or polishing those
first iUlperfect ideas; altering the lnethod and bhapp of the
whole, if needful; enforcing or increasing the argun1ents, ilIus-
tr'ations and all1plificatiolls, if wanting; inserting new doctrines
Lefore unobserved, lnaking new practical inferences before un-
touched, as their judgulents or light or experience shall in1-
prove; but especially, still drawing, Inore and lnore, o\'er an a
new beautiful skin and the lovely features of scripture language:
and then, without scruple or disguise, should preach thenI
again and again, so corrected, auglnented and in sonle part
renewed.
And I have heard these very wise persons, some of them n10st
excellent fathers of our church, often conclude that, by this or
sonte such luethod. any preacher, t.hough of no extraordinary
bright endoWlnents at first., yet of an honest luind, clear sense,
unwearied industry and judicious learning, would, in process of
titne, in all likelihood, have by hinI in store a conlplete dOlnestic
course of sound, well-conlpacted, affecting sermons; that, by
God's blessing nlight, with the just advantages of deli\'cry, be
of far greater use to his conscientious hearers than all that
pOlllpOllS no\'elty and counterfeit variety, which 80111e others
lnay boast of.
I say counterfeit variety. For so indeed it is often, upon
trial, found to be. And now I haye faithfully told you the
opinion of those great Inen, I will presunle, under so safe a
shelter, to disclose 111Y own thoughts in this business; yet still
with all deference and calldour towards any who lnay differ
frolll me in this particular.
'Ve have lived in an age when the two gifts, as they are wont
to be caUed, of extempore praying ånd extelnpore preaching
have been Inore pret.ended to and lllagnified than, I believe, they
ever were before, or, I hope, ever will be again, in this church
and nation. ,.,.. et, for all I could ever learn or observe, t.he 1110st
f3udden readiness and most profuse exuberancy, in either of
these ways, has been only extelllpore in show and appearance,
and yery frequently but a cunningly-di
selnbled change of the

34

The Bishop of Rochester's

,ery sanle Inatter and words often repeated, though not in the
same order.
As to that of extenlpore praying, \vhich therefore too many
n1Ïstake for praying by the Spirit, it is nlanifest, that the most
exercised and most redundant faculty ill that kind is, in reality,
only praying by the fancy or the melnory, not by the Spirit.
They do but vary and renlove the scripture style anrllanguage,
or their own, into as many places and shapes and figures as
they can. And though they have acquired never so plentiful a
stock of thenl, yet still the sanle phrases and expressions do so
often COlne about again that the disguise nlay quickly be seen
through by any attentive and intelligent hearer. So that, in
I)lajn tertllS, they who think theinseives most skilful in this art
do really, all the while, only pray in set forms disorderly set,
and never ranged into a certain luethod. For which cause,
though they nlay not seem to be set forms to their deluded
auditors, yet they are so in thenlselves; and the very persons
\vho use theln Inost variously and most artificiaJIy cannot but
kno\v thenl to be so.
This, my brethren, seeins to be all the great. mystery of the
so llluch boasted power of extelnpore praying. And why nlay
not the like be affirlned, in great nleasure, of exteIl1pOre preach-
ing, which has so near an affinity with the other
Is not this
also, at the bottonl, only a lllore crafty lllanagelnent of the same
phrases and observation
, the SalTIe doctrines and applications,
\vhich they had before provided and composed and reserved in
their 1ll8mories
·
Do but hear the 1110st voluble masters in this way, once or
twice, or perhaps oftener, as tar as their changes shall reach;
and at first, no doubt, you will be inclined to wonder at the
strange agility of their ilnaginat.ions and C0111paSS of their
inventions and nimbleness of their utterance. But if you shall
attend thenl cahllly and constantly, the vizor will be quickly
pulled off, though they manage it never so dexterously: you
\vill at last find, they only \valk forwarrl and backward and
round about: one, it mav be, in a larger labyrinth than
another; but in a labyrinth still; through the same turnings
and windings again and again anrl, for the Inost part, guided
by the same clue.
The t->
planations, perhaps, of their texts, the connections and

DiscUllì"Se tv 'tis Clergy, 1695.

235

transitions of the parts, and some sudden glosses and descants,
and flights of fancy Inay seen1 new t.o you. But the Inaterial
points of doctrine and the conlmon places, to which, upon any
Joss or necessity, the)' have recourse, these they frequently
repeat and apply to several subjects, with very little alterations
in the substance, oftentilnes not in the "yords. These are the
constant paths which the)' scruple not to walk over and over
again, till, if you follow thenl very close, you Inay perceive,
amidst all their exten1pore pretensions, they often tread in the
Fame grounds till they have trodden thelll bare enough.
But, God be thanked, the church of England neither requires
nor stands in need of any such raptural {if I nlay so call it) or
enthusiastical spirit of preaching. Here the n10re advised and
lliodest, the Inore deliberate and prepared the preacher is, the
better he is furnished, by God's grace, to deliver effectually our
church's solid sense, its fixed IJrecepts, its unalterable doctrines.
Our church pretends not to enter into n1en's judgnlents Inerely
by the affections; nluch less by the passions to overthrow their
judglnents. 'Ihe door, which that strives first to open, is of the
understanding and conscience: it is content, if by then1 a passage
shall be Blade into the affections.
I have detained you the longer on this argument, because I
:un perfectly convinced that although one or two preachers in
an age, or perhaps some few more, nlen of extraordinary parts,
assurance of luind and volubility of tongue, nlay, by long use.
Blake a renlarkable blaze, for a tinle, in this sudden, unstudied
way;
'et, if it should ever become the general custom of the
whole English clergy, it would produce little III ore than ignor-
ance and confidence in many of our preachers. and ten1pt many
of the laity, who presume themselves to be equally gifted, to
think the)' had an equal right to the lliinistry.
But what need I say any more of this nlatter
It is confessed
on all hands, that if an exten1pore kind of preaching had been
universally put in use anlong us, frum the beginning of our
refonnation, the whole church of Christ had been much impo-
verished thereby, had been deprived of the best treasury of
sermons that ever it was enriched with since the apostles and
their successors, and the prin1Ïtive fathers' tilnes.
There is still behind one solen}11 duty lnore belonging to all
of U8, wherein I would willingly suggest. one serious word of
counsel: and it concerns the office of visiting the sick. I would

g6

The Bis/top u.f Rocnester's

not doubt but herein JOU generalJy do your parts diligently,
piously and prudently. But t.here are SOlne things in this, as
,veIl as in the others before lnclltioned, touching the nlanner of
doing it, whereof the oòservation Inay be of a peculiar and signal
benefit to yourselyes, as well as to your spiritual patients.
If you please to consult the rubrics relating to this office, ) ou
,viII find you are lnore left to your own liberty in this than, I
think, in any of t.he rest. For this duty of friendship and cha-
rity being supposed to be nlore in private, the rule itself in the
liturgy seenlS to give ,vay to, nay to direct sonle occasional
adrnonitions and exhortations, to which I do not renleInber it
does equally eIl1pOWer you in any of the rest, out of the pulpit.
'Vherefore, to prepare y'bur thoughts and to replenish your
luinds thronghly for this work not only of nlinisterial duty, but
of compassion and brotherly love, you shall not only do 'v en to
furnish your Inemories with a plentiful store of pious, Inoving,
affectionate expressions out of the Rook of Psalrns and other
practical and devotional parts of the holy scriptures, first; and,
next to theIn, out of our own liturgy
and all these to be casu-
ally used, as shall be nlost proper: but principally I would
persuade you to have SOlne good sound body of casui5-:tical divi-
nity, of your own studying Ilnean J to be always at hand J that is,
in your hearts as ,veIl as heads.
You can scarce inlagine, unles.s you have tried it, as, I hope,
SOllle of you have, of what unspeakable use this divine science of
cases of conscience will be to JOu upon any sudden, unforeseen
elllergency in such ghostly visits.
Indeed the being a sound and well-experi
nced casuist is also
a lHOst excellent qualification towards all the other ends of your
n1Ïnisterial office; there being no kind of skill or proficiency in
all your theological studies, that more beCOll1eS a divine of the
church of England; ,vhose highest spiritual art is to speak
direct1 y frOln his own conscience to the consciences of those
under his pastoral care: and this at all tinles; but ll10st espe-
cially when they are on their sick beds: when Inen's consciences
are usually 1l10st awakened., ll10st ll1anageable, nlo
t truly t.ender
and capable of the best iInpressions.
So that I say it again, and can never say it too often, one of
the 1l10st necessary provisions and instrulnents of your sacred
arnloury, which you are alway
to carry about with you, ill your
own souls (for there it i
best lodged; thence it will be drawn

Discourse to his ClerpJ/, 1695.

g7

forth, on a]] occasions, with the quickest expedition), is such a
firl11 sense and general schenle of the pr11nitive, uncorrupt,
practical, casuistical divinity: such as, on the one f'ide, is purged
frOlll the spiritual crafts and equi\'ocations of the Jesuits, and,
on the other, is freed froln the narrowness and sourness of
enthusiasl11.
I told you even now, it highly concerned you a]] to be ,yell
stocked with plenty of good nlatter for present lIse, in the visita-
tion of the sick; and that for your own sakes as n1uch as their"s.
..A.n<1, in truth, so it is. A clergYlnan can no way better have
his own affections and passions regulated, tmupered, softened,
nloi'tified, sanctified, than by frequently perforl11ing this office in
a right godly Inanner.
]3)" thus often seeing death before our eyes, in all its ghastl)F
shapes, we cannot, if it be not the fault of our own insensibility,
but be the better accustolned and luade skilful to teach the
whole and the healthful how to prepare to 111eet that king of
terrors, By these spiritual anatomies of the dying (if I lnay
be anowed to use so bold a metaphor), we cannot but be lnade
l110re expert in discerning the inward fraBles and constitutions of
the living and to apply the properest rmnedies to the diseases of
their souls.
And, to instance now only in one duty of such a faithful spi-
ritual physician, that of relieving and refreshing the con
cience
throughly searched and purged, and of conlforting and re
toring
the true penitent, what. I beseech you, can be a more godlike
work an10ng l11en, than for us to be hlunbly serviceable in that,
which God owns to be his \\'ol'k, to be skilled in not breaking the
b'l'uised 1'eed a7td not qZlcnchin.f1 the sJ7loking flcur:? to Le iustru-
Inental in perfornling our Lord's own office, ulldpr the parable
of the good Salnaritan, in binding up tlte 'li'OltndLd spirit antl
pourÙl.fJ wille aJul oil 'into it?
'Vhat can Illore adorn your evangelical n1Ïnistr} than a soft,
Inelting, conlpassionate, fellow-feelin
, nlcrciful .habit and dis-
position of luind. and, as the scripture styles it, the Oi'JtameJd of a
meek spirit? Or, where can such a blessed tenlper be 1110re
seasonably practised or sooner learned and increased, than iu the
chanlbers of sick ancl dying persons

Now. IllY dear brethren, having aU along insisted that, for
the furni
l1Ïng and enriching your Blinds with spiritual know-
ledge towards the due perforn1ÏIlg these and. all other offices of

3B

The Bishop of Rochester'f:

your holy profession, you should 11lake the holy scriptures the
principal subject, and indeed the only final centre of all your
studies; that your doctrine should never swerve froln that Ull-
erring rule; your very ,yords, language and style, should every
,vhere taste of and overflow with those living and inexhaustible
strealllS of trut.h and godliness; it may be expected that, for
the sake only of the younger divines alnong you, I should add a
,vord or two touching the luanneI' and l1lethod of your studying
these sacred writings. It is indeed a business too large to be
drawn within the narro,v compass of the conclusion of such a
discourse. But since a true, at least a cOInpetent, understanding
of this blessed Look ought to be the beginning and end of all
our spiritual studies; and because I may speak to SOlne whose
circul1lstances in this \vorld are not so plentiful as to enable
them to purchase large libraries; yet their industry is by no
means to be discouraged, nor their zeal, in pursuing this holy
skill, abated; I will open to JOU Iny own sÍ1nple apprehensions
in this Il1atter, with subnlission still to better judgl11ents.
l\Iy opinion is, that although, without question, all l11anner of
secular or ecclesiastical learning can ne\"er be more usefully el11-
ployed than in this search and is all little enough for it, and too
little to complete it; yet, when all is done, the script.ure itself is
the best. expositor, the best COnll11entator on itself.
It is apparent, that the whole New Testanlent is so to the
whole Old Testaluent; that being the real light of the other's
figurative darkness and mysteries; tho very consulllnlation of
the other"s prophecies, and shado'ws of good tllings to COlne. But
I ,viII also aver that every part, every book, every sentence
ahnost, both of the Old and the N e'v Testaluent, ,veIl cOIllpared
and judiciously set one over against the other, in their right
vie,v and reflection, cannot but prove" by God's blessing, an in-
estilllable explanation of each other: if a due and accurate care,
I say, be taken to interpret their difficult texts, by others of their
o\vn that are easier; and to collate their words, phrases and
sense, that nlay seeiU dark or doubtful in some places, with the
sanle or the like in other places, where they are clearer and
Inore intelligible.
I canot forbear, as I go along, to declare my lueaning a littIe
fuller in this matter, by one special instance. For, consider, I
pray, how is it possible for any, the Inost learned or sagacious
student in divinity, to conceive the true and genuine sense of

Discou'rse to !tis Clerg!l, 1695.

39

the eloquent and divine Epistle to the Hebrews, except he has
been also throughly conversant in the writings of l\fosE's? Or
where can there be found a clearer, a more spiritual and nlore
illustrious C0l11nlentary on the whole ritual part of the Pentateuch,
than the Epistle to the Hebrews?
The like also nlay be proved of all other portions of t.he
holy book of God. And indeed to manifest what Il1utual bright-
ness and splendour the scripture gives to and takes froln itself,
by conlparing its several parts, I need only urge the frequent
practice of our Saviour hiulself, and the inspired penlnen of the
gospel, in thus expounding the old law by the new, and the ne\v
by the old.
So that now I may, with greater freedom, propound IUY Inll11-
bIe conceptions in this matter; that where n1uItitudes of fathers,
councils, schoolmen, histories are wanting (which are all very
beneficial helps, where they can be had, but, \\ here they cannot
be conle at), if a clergJInan shall resort inlnlediately to the
fountain itself, first and always iInploring the assistance of that
divine Spirit, by which the scriptures were written, and then,
with a sincere love of the truth and resolution to live according
to it, without which God will neither hear our prayers nor
bless our endeavours; and also with an lnuuble heart, a devout
nlind and unquenchable feryour of spirit and a right unbiassed
judgment; joined with a sufficient skin in the original languages"
and in those other introductory studies; which no nlan in holy
orders, if it be not the bishop's fau1t as well as his own, can pos-
sibly be altogether to seek in: and if withal he shall be assisted
with sonle of the ancient, and sonle few of the Illûdern sound
and orthodox conllnentaries; he will, in all hunlan probability,
by an incessant, daily and nightly nleditating upon and revolv-
ing in his Ininrl, thE' divine text itself, becoIne, in time, though
not perhaps as Apollos is said to have been, eloquent and
mighty in the scriptures, yet a 'workman that needetlt not to be
ashaJned, rightly dividing the 'lcord of trllth.
The more to encourage your sturlies in this nlethod, if you
shall be necessitated to it, give Ine leave to present you with one
example of a great divine and bishop, in the tinle of king
Charles the First, who was one of the n10st en1Ìnent confessors
then, and survived those calan1Îties, to die in peace and tranquil-
lity, several }.ears after the return of king Charles the Second.
In the comn10n persecution, which then happeneò to th(-

40

The Bishop if Rue/lester's

whole episcopal order, this reverend person \vas exposed to a
Dlore than ordinary degree of popular nlalice and rage; so that,
without ever being once brought to his trial, he was closely inl-
prisoned in the Tower for ahnost twenty years, and ,vas not only
despoiled of his annual revenue and personal e
tate in the first
fury of the civil ,val'S; but was al
o plundered of Inost of the
collections of his fonner labours, and a very considerable
library.
'Vherefore, being thus laid up in prison, without any prospect
of liberty, having al
o a numerous f:uuily to nlaintain, so that he
"Tag not able, in any sort, to repair the loss of his books and
papers, he betook himself to this course of study: well ]{nowing
that he could have no faithfuller conlpanion for his solitude, nOlO
surer consolation in his afflictions, than the holy scriptures, he
applied hinlself to theln inunediately, with little other help but
what he had within hilnseIt
and the best prints of the originals
in the learned tongues, and their translation
in the learned and
l11odern, in bot.h which he was a great nlaster.
Thus however he firnlly and vigorously proceeded so far in
the single study of the scriptures that, long before his enlarge-
n1ent, he had composed a great mass of annotations on divers
parts of the Bible. \'Vhat is beconle of thenI, I know not. If
they are either eUlbezzled or suppressed, no doubt it is to the
great danlage of the church; since the native t.houghts of a great
luan are generally, at least, as good as the Inost artificial.
Perhaps JOu will say
he lllight be able to do aU this by the
strength of his Ineillory and the variety of learning he had laid
up in it Leforehand; and ] make no doubt but those were au
exceeding great assistance to hilll.
But what ,vas very relnarkable, and for \vhich I anl bold to
produce hiln as an instance worthy your irnitation in t.his parti-
cular, I know he was often heard to profess solen1nly that, in all
his fornler studies and various reading and observations, he had
never 111et with a 1110re useful guide, or a surer interpreter, to
direct his paths in the dark places of the lively oracles, to give
inforulation to his understanding in the obscure passages, or
satisfaction to his conscience in the experinlental truths of thenl,
than when he was thus driven by necessity to the assiduous con-
tenlplation of the scripture alone, and to weigh it by itself, as it
,vere, in the balance of the
anctuary.
I-Iad I not been already so tedious, there is OIlP particular

Discoll'rse to Ids Olergy, 1695.

Q41

behind, on which I ought most justly to have expatiated, whifh
now I can only name; and it is that touching the luanner of
your conversat.ion; that it be such, as Inay render JOu vessels,
not only sanctified, but nleet for your .ßIa
ter"js use, and, as St.
Paul al
o adds, vessels of IwnOUl".
I would therefore reconnnend to l11en of your character, not
only the innocency and sincerity, but (as much as hunlan frail-
ties will allow) the comeliness and the an1iableness of every word
and action of your lives: that you especially would not only
strive to follow u'hatsoever thinps are true, or honest., or just.,
hld llioreover u"katsoever tlângs are pyre and lorel!! and oj" good
report; that you would thinle on these things, not onl!! 'if there b(J
an!! virtue, b

t if there he any praise of virtue.
}1'rolll you, n1Y brethren, it ll1ay well be expected, that your
behaviour should not only be unblamable. but, if I Inay he
pennitted so to say, s0111ething more than strictly unblalnable,
and that not only to those within, but also towards theln \vho as
yet. are without; that you should not only keep your B1inds
clean, Jour hands unpolluted, your tongues well goyerned, your
whole course of life spotless and upright, and your cor:tsciences
undefiled, but also your consciences 'Coid of offence, and that to-

()ards 'Jnen, as well as towards God: that you 111ay be not onl)"
exenlplary in your fanIilies, in your pari:
hcs, in the neighbour-
ing country, in the whole church of God, to the gentry. to the
laity, to your brethren of the clergy, to the C0l1ll110naIty of
our c0l1ll11union, for your justice, 1110desty, sobriety, prudence,
quietness and obedience to superiors; but that you \vould exer-
cise and extend all these virtues, and also Jour humility. long-
suffering, good-wiII, good wishes, condescension and affability,
even beyond the church itself, to the very enen1Ïes of it: that
towards all 111en you would sweeten the gravity of your be-
haviour and soften the strictness of your conversation, with the
gentleness and suavity of your Inanners: that you would take spe-
cial care, as never to be obstinately ih the wrong, so, when you
are sure you are in the right, even then never to be too rigidly,
austerely or 1110rosely in the right: that by all reasonable re-
spects, n1ild and winning converse, and not only by a ready
return, but by a cheerful prevention of all Christian good offices;
and eyen by 111aking your very oppositions and contentions with
those that differ frOln you, if JOU shall happen to be forced to
any, as hun1ane and friendly and easy to be entreated as pos..
R

4Q

The Bishop of Rochester"ls

sible; by all this you may do your part to put to silence the igno-
rance of foolish and unreasonable 'inen. \Vho knows but you
Dlrty convert and gain some of them
\vho knows but by your
thus following not only righteousness and faitl
, but peace and
charity; by your being not only apt to teach, hut gentle to all
men and patient, -in rneelness instructing those that oppose them-
selroes; who knows if by these means God peradventure will
give the fiercest adversaries of our church repentance to (he ac-
knowledging of the truth?
Iost certainly by these means, or by
no other, in all human probability. .
I cannot now enlarge as I would on this most necessary and
seasonable argunlent. But unquestionably by thus keeping
yourselves free from haughty censoriousness and untractable
peevishness and sullen darkness of life and manners; and by
excelling in the contrary virtues, you will, in the best way,
teach and convince all that dissent from you, how un\vorthy
such a pharisaical garb and disposition is of the true Christian
liberty or severity.
In short, by such a grave, sedate, decent, charitable course
and colour of your \vhole lives, you will do yourselves, and
especially the church of England, most right. For our church
itself, \vherever she is set in a true light., cannot but be found to
be most of this sweet, meek and truly pacific temper of any
church in the Christian \vorld.
I conclude therefore, \vhoever among her sons and nlembers,
much nlore among her teachers and fathers, as you and we are,
shall not do their utmost to attain to this gentle, obliging,
channing manner of conversation, \vhich our church prescribes
towards all men, adversaries as \vell as friends, I must repeat
what our blessed Saviour said to his disciples on the like occa-
sion, TIley know not 'what spirit th yare of.
There is one or two short requests more I anI to nlake you,
\vhich chiefly respect me, as your unworthy bishop; and then I
shall give ease to your patience.
One is to entreat that you "would be e
ceeding \vatchful, and
indeed religiously scrupulous, for whom }TOU give certificates and
testilnonials. For what sonle of you, perhaps out of good nature
or good neighbourhood, or an easiness, and not being able to
resist inlportunity, nlay at first think to be only a matter of form,
is not so to me. I havÐ scarce any other way possible of being
}'ight.Jy infornled, fron1 wit.hout, of the good lives or sufficient

Discourse to his Clergy, 1695.

43

endowments of the persons, but only by your's and the like tes-
till1onies. The law of the land appoints that method to me, and
almost confines me to it. "Thereas if you make this to be only
a business of private favour or partiality, not of public judgment
and conscience, I may chance to be led into very mischievous
and sometimes irreparable mistakes; only by that, which you
may esteelll but as a piece of bashfulness and good breeding: I
may be induced to lay hands on the ignorant and unworthy,
Inerely by the authority of your names, the subscribing of which
you Dlight think to be only an office of COJl1mOn hun1anityand
modesty.

l y next and last request to you at this time shall concern
your curates. This it may suffice only to intin1ate to you. I
know I need not spend Dlany words on it in this assembly; be-
cause there is but a very small inconsiderable number of plural-
ists in my diocese. I am persuaded they will be found upon
inquiry the fewest of any in England.
I cannot but say I could be very well content there were
more; especially if all, so qualified, would be rigorously true to
the church in their choice of substitutes, where they cannot
always reside themselves.
For as, I will frankly own, I never yet heard an invincible
objection against the prudent allowance and nloderate use of
pluralities; but only some plausible popular ones against the
abuse of them; which ,ve are as n1uch offended with as any
others can be: so, I verily believe, were this legal indulgence to
the clergy so carefully observed every where, as, among divers
other good ends of it, to furnish us with a race of painful, learn-
ed, godly curates; who, by this way of probation, n1ay make,
and shew themselves worthy to be proll1oted to a higher charge;
these pluralities would be so far froln being a scandal or preju-
dice, that they would conduce to the strength and defence, as
well as they do to the ease and ornament of the church of
England. '
The great obligation then I an1 to lay upon you (you, I n1ean,
whonl it does at present concern) is this, that you would be
very unlnovably faithful to n1e, to yourselves and to the whole
church of God, in the persons whol11, on just occasions, you
shall offer to nle to be your curates.
I do not only intend that you should never own or patronise
R2

44

TIle Bishop of Rochester's

any, as your curates, who really are not so, that, under that
colour, by false titles, they nlay slip into holy orders. But I
speak of such instances \vhere you really have need of and the
Jaw allows you to have curates. J n such cases, it is my earnest
entreaty that you ,,"ould not only keep all the legal tilues
of your own residence and hospitality; and not only afford
your curates a liberal lllaintenance in your absence; liberal, I
mean, not only for their o\vn livelihood, but for their continuing
S0111e kind of hospitality too, to the poor at least: hut that you,
you especiaJIy, who are of greater age and experience.. ,vould
\vatch over your curates as your fello\" labourers, your friends,
your probationers; for \\"hose iinproveillent in divine learning,
godly conversation and abilities of teaching, you or I nlust be
answerable to the great Shepherd of our souls.
But it is high time to disll1iss you. I beseech Almight.y God
to assist and prosper all your labours to his glory and your own
con1fort in the great day of account. Towards the obtaining
which blessed ends, you can never think of any better or indeed
of any other means, than by living up, in Jour private conver-
sation, to the religion you profess and teach others; and in your
public office, by defending and supporting the church established
by law in this kingdoill.
A religion and a church that \vell deserves all this at Jour
hands; being in its faith most prill1itive, in its orders 11l0st
apostolical; in its discipline lllOst moderate; in it.s charity Inost
diffusi,'o; in its deyotions most spiritual as to the substance,
1110st decent as to the cirC11n1stances. In few words, in its inter-
ests it is inviolably united with the laws and rights, with the
well-being, 1 had ahnost said ,vith the being, of the English
nation and governtnent: in its principles it is irreconcilable
\vith the interests of popery, anrl the only impregnable defence
against its return into this land: which, it is luuch to be lanlented,
that the dissenters will not see, and are therefore dissenters,
since it is evident, the papists thelnselves have always seen it but
too weIl.
'Vhat then renlains? but that as Christians, as Englishll1en,
a
churcillnen, ,ve should all make it our principal, our only
great concern, and pray to God, the Father of mercies, that all
others of our character throughout the nation ,,,ould nlal{e it
their'ls; to represent to tho world t.he true excellencies of such a

Discou/'s, to lds Oltl'91J, 1695.

-J.5

religion and such a church, by our doctrine and exaluple, with
industry and vigilance, with steadfastness and courage, in rneek-
rzess of wisdom, and 'with zeal according to knou,le(Zqe.
And if we shan an, in this lllanner, devote ourselves to this
work, we DUty then be assured that the sallle proluise which
our Lord Christ, in SOllle of his last words on earth lllade to his
whole church, will be enlinently lnade good to this, the purest
part of it in these latter ages of Christianity, that he hhnself w.il'
he alu'a!/s with it, even to the end of the u.o'ì
ld. Amen.

A C01\IP ANION

FOR THE

CANDIDATES OF HOLY ORDERS;

OR THE

GREAT Il\IPORTANCE AND PRINCIPAL DUTIES

OF THE

P R I EST L Y 0 F F ICE.

BY THE RIGHT REVEREND FATHER IN GOD

GEORGE BULL, D. D.

LATE LORD BISHOP OF ST. DA VID 9 S.

GEORGE BULL was born, in 1634, at Wens, in Somerset-
shire, being of an ancient family, ,,-hose estate and seat ,,,ere at
Shapwick, in that County. In early childhood, he lost his
father, an excellent man, by whom he had been dedicated to
the service of the Church even at the Font. Having learned
the rudiments of Grannnar in his native city, he "'as sent by
his Guardians to Tiverton School, whence he removed to Ox-
ford and "Tas entered at Exeter College, in 1648. Upon a
firm refusal to bind himself by the Engagement, enforced in
the next year, "to be true and faithful to the Government,
" then established, ,vithout l{ing or House of Peers, and never
" to consent to the readmitting of either of them again", he
\,",as obliged to quit the University and to complete his educa-
tion in the retirement of the country. 'V.hen he had reached
the age of 2 T, Dr. Skinner, the ejected Bishop of Oxford (\l ho
liyed to be restored and translated to the See of "T orcester)
ordained him. 'fhe first scene of his Pastoral labours ,,-as a
small Parish, near Bristol; but, in 1658, he ,,"as presented to
the Rectory of Siddington St.
lary, near Cirencester; and, in
1662, to the small contiguous Vicarage of Siddington St. Peter.
In these united parishes, not too large for one man's care, he
combined a diligent discharge of j1inistel'ial duties with a
prosecution of Sacred studies, of ,,'hich the results are seen in
his principal ,V orks, the lasting memorials of his ability and
learning, his zeal and piety. After 27 years so spent, he ,vas
promoted to the Rectory of Avening, a Inore valuable Benefice
in the same County and Dioceßc of Gloucester, wherein he had
been already long settled; his Patron being a private gentle-
man of the County, who thoroughly knew his worth. It 'was
not, however, l Jossible that a recoo'nition of merits and services

50

like his should be confined to his o\vn neighbourhood. Tokens
of public approval and gratitude ,vere not ,vanting. In 1678,
a Prebend of Gloucester ,vas conferred upon him by the earl of
Nottingham, then Lord Chancellor; in 1686, the Archdea-
conry of Llandaff by Archbishop Sancroft, ,vhose option it ,vas
on that occasion; and, in the same year, the Degree of D. D.
by the University of Oxford. In 1705, after 20 years' continu-
ance at A vening, he received, ",vith great surprise and no less
" concern", an offer of the Bishopric of St. David's. His
reluctance to accept the proposal ,yas \vith difficulty overcome
by the importunity of hi
personal friends as ,yell as of several
Governors of the Church; and, although the nomination of the
Crnwn ,vas by some disapproved on account of the advanced
age of Dr. Bull, \vho ,,,as in his 71st year, yet it ,,,as at the
time and has ever since been a subject of congratulation for the
Church of England that the name of one of the nwst distin-
guished of her sons ,vas thus enrolled in her list of Bishops.
In spite of declining strength and vigour, he faithfully admin-
istered the affairs of his Diocese until his death, ,vhich occurred
in 17 I O.

The life of Bishop Bull, by Robert Nelson, Esq., is prefixed
to his 'V orks, published at Oxford and edited by the late Regius
Professor of Divinity, Dr. Burton.

A

,r I SIT ...l T ION S E R
I 0 N

CONCER
ING THE

GREAT DIFFICULTY AND DANGER

OF THE

PRIESTL Y OFFICE

J Al\IES iii, 1.
JIy hrethre1l, be not many masters, knou'ing that lee shall 'receire
the greater co nden'inat ion .
l'HE text ma)' at first sight appear to some to stand at a very
wide distance from the present occasion. But I hope, by
that tiu1e I have spent a little pains in eXplaining it, I shall set
the text and occasion at a perfect agreement.
The words therefore are by interpreters di",ersely expounded.
Among the rest, two interpretations there are, ,,,hich stand as
the fairest candidates for our reception.
1. Son1e understand the mast.ers here in my text to be proud.
nlalicious censors and judges of other men's actions, and so
expound the text as a prohibition pf rash and uncharitable
judgn1ent, and Inake it parallel to that of our Saviour, J
tdge not,
that ye he not Jucf.qed 8 . Be not rash and hasty in censuring or
judging the actions of others, or speaking evil of them, consider-
ing that by so doing you will but procure a greater judgment of
God upon yourselves. The chief, if not the onlyargun1ent for
this interpretation, is the context of the apostle's discourse, which

·
Iatth. vii, J.

25

.A OOJJlj)(tniolt for the

in the following verses is wholly spent against the vices of the
tongue. Eu t,
2. Others there are, \vho interpret the n1aster
in the text to
be pastors or t
achers in the church of God; and accordingly
understand the words as a serious caution against the rash
undertaking of the pastoral office or function, as an office at-
tended with great difficulty and danger, a task very hard to be
discharged, and "'herein ,vhoever Iniscarries makes himself there-
by liable to a, severer judgll1ent of A In1ighty God.
This latter interpretation (with subnlission I speak it) seen1S
to n1e, aln10st beyond doubt, the genuine sense of the apostle.
The reasons are evident in the text itself. For, 1. unless \ve thus
expound the words, it will be hard to give a rational account of
this word 7rOÀÀOl. 'Jnany, ,vhy it should be inserted. For if we
understand those Inasters the apostle speaks of to be rash judges
and censurers of others, it is Inost certain then, one such would
be too nlany, and the 111ultiplicity of thml1 would not be the only
culpable thing. nut, on the other side, if we receive the latter
interpretat.ion, the account of the word 7ToÀÀoì is easily rendered
according to the paraphrase of Erasmus, thus; "Let not pastors
or teachers be too vulgar and cheap anlong you j let not every
]TIan rush into so sacred an office :1nd function b." And Drusius's
gloss on this very word is remarkable: Su'm/n
a SU1n-n
ar'lt}n
. quo
pauc'l.ores sunt 'J12agistri, eo lIieli.us agitur eu'l)
populo. .1Va'Jn ut
'lnedicoruu'& olin
Oar'iam, ,ita doctOl'îlTn et mapisll'ol'll'ìn nunc 'lnulti-
tudo perclit rempublicam. Utinam 'Canus sim. I neeù not English
the words to those ",h0111 they concern.

. If we embrace any other interpretation, ,ve must of neces-
sity depart frolll the luanifest propriety of the Greek ,vord, which
onr translators render nzaste'l"s. 'rhe word is ÕLòálTKUÀot, which
whoso understands the first elelnents of the Greek tongue knows
io he derived froln òI,òáCTK(tJ, to teach, and so literally to signi(y
teachers. Be not '1nall!/ teachers.
And so accordingly the Syriac renders it by :1 word which, the
learned Drusius tells us, is parallel to the Hebrew ü"j'
, which
undoubtedly signifies doctors or teachers.
Theso reasons are sufficient to justify our interpretation,
though I might add the authority of the ancients, who generally
follow this sense, as also the concurrent judgtnent of our nlost

b X
passlln am hiatis esse magist1-i.

Candidates of hol!! Orders.

!2!)S

learned lIlodern annotators
Erasnlus, V" atablus, Castellio, Estius,
Drusius, Grotius, with nlany others.
..A,s for the connection of the words, thus explained, with the
following discourse of the apostle, I suppose this very easy
account l11ay be given of it. The moderation and government
of the tongue (on ,vhich St. J anles in the sequel of the chapter
wholly insists) though it be a general duty (for there is no
nlan's tongue so lawless as to be exen1pted fron1 the dominion to
right reason and religion) yet it is a duty wherein the pastor or
teacher hath a peculiar concern. The nlÍnister's tongue is a
chief tool and instrument of his profession, that which ex officio
he must often Inake use of: he lies unrter a necessity of speaking
much and often, and the \Vise :\lan tells us, in the m.
dtitude of
'words there u:anteth not sin c. .i\nd certainly there is scarce any
consideration more powerful, to deter a man fron1 undertaking
the office of a teacher, than this; how extremely difficult and
aln10st ilnpossible it is, for a n1an that speaks Hluch and often, so
to govern his tongue, as to speak nothing that either is itself
unfit or in an unfit time, or after an undue nlanner; and yet
how highly every teacher is concerned so to do.
So that it is a very easy knot to fasten my text to the next
verse, thus: Let not every man alnLitiously affect the office of a
teacher in the church of God, considering that it is an office of
great difficulty and danger; for in rruyny things 'We qffend all;
if any 'Jnan offend not in 'lDQ1'd, the 8a
ne is a perfect rJ
an, &c.
As if he had said, As there are many ways, whereby the best of
us do offend, so there is no way whereby we so easily fall into
sin, as by that slippery member the tongue; and there is no
luan nlore exposed to this danger of transgressing with the
tongue than the teacher, who luakes so 111uch and so frequent
use of it. So that the teacher is TÉÀEW
av
p, a rare and per-
fectly accolnplished man indeed, that hath acquired the perfect
governluent of his tongue. He that can do that, ,vho fails not
in that pi2ce of his duty, may easily aiso bridle his whole body,
i. e. rightly manage himself in all the other parts of his pastoral
office. But this, as it is very necessary, so it is extremely diffi-
cult, and therefore be not many teaclwrs d .
To this it will not be amiss to add, what Grotius wisely
observes, that the adillonition of the apostle concerning the vices

c Pro,". x, 19,

d M
7ToÀÀoì lhðáCTlcaÀOL ylJlfCTilf.

54

A Oompanion for the

of the tongue, subjoined to the caution in D1Y text, "is chiefly
directed against brawling and contentious disputers e ;" such
teachers as abuse their liberty of speaking unto loose discourses,
and take occasion from thence to vent their o\vn spleen and
passions: luen of il1teu1perate spirits and virulent tongues,
troublers rather than teachers of the people, whose tongues are
indeed cloven tongues of fire, but '1lot such as the apostles ,vere
endo\ved with fronl above, as serving to burn, rather than to en-
lighten, to kindle the flames of faction, strife and contention,
rather than those of piety and charity in the church of God.
And, indeed, the direful and tragical effects
,vhich the
apostle in this chapter ascribes to the evil tongue, as that it is a
.fire, a world of iniquity, defiling the 'wltole hod!!, setting on fire
the course of nature, full of deadly poison f , &c. are such as are
not so easily producible by the tongue of a private nlan as of a
teacher: " 'Vhose discourse (saith Erasmus) spreads its poison
by so much the Illore generally and effectually, as the authority
of the speaker is greater and his advantage also of speaking to
many g."
Having removed this seeming rub in the context, I return
again to the text itself; wherein you nlay please to observe,
1. A serious dissuasive fronl the rash undertaking of the pastoral
office; j)Iy hretll'pen, be not many 'iJlasters or tBachers. Q. A
solid argument or reason to enforce it, dra\vn from the difficulty
and the danger thereof; kìW'lDin.q tllat we shall receive &c. /J-Eî(ov
Kp{p.a, a greater or severer J:udgnwnt; i. e. God will require
more of us that are teachers than of others; ,ve shall not
escape or be acquitted in the divine judgnlent at so easy a rate
as they. There is a place in the excellent Book of 'Visdonl h,
that is exactly parallel to nlY text and gives great light to it, A
sltarp }udgnzent shall he to then", tltat are Ï1z higll- places i. 'Vhere
the 01 1J7rfpÉxovTE
, those that tre in high places in the state,
answer to the ÒI.ÒáCTKaÀoL in IllY text; the teachers in the church:
the Kp{(n
ånóTop.os, the sharp, or, the precise and seccre judgment,
to the p.Eî{ov Kp{p.a, the greater Judgrnent in the text.
I shall not at all insist on the first branch of the division, the

e 1Iaxime directa est in rixosos disputatores.
f 4>ÀC1y í C o vua TÒV TPÓXOV T1lr Yfvfufwr.
g Cujus sermo hoc latius ac periculosius spargit suum venenum, quod
auctoritate dicentis commendetur.
b 'Visù. vi, 5.
i KpíULS' Ù1fÓTOP.OS' Èv Toîs V7TfPfXOVUL yíVfTaL.

Oandidates of holy Orders.

55

dissuasive; as remembering that I am to preach not an ordina-
tion, but a visitation sennon; and to discourse not to candidates
of holy orders, but to such as are already engaged in that sacred
profession. I come therefore to the reason or argument in the
text (as of very ll1uch concernn1ent to all that are in the
priestly office) drawn from the great difficulty and danger
thereof. To represent both which, as fully as my short allow-
ance of time and much shorter scantling of abilities wiII permit,
shall be my present business.
And first, as to the difficulty of the teacher's office, it is a very
great difficulty fully to explain it. So nlanyare the branches of
his duty, that it were a tedious labour to reckon theJn up : Lord,
what a task is it then to discharge then1! I shall content u1)'self
therefore rudi .J.1Iiner'Ca, briefly and only in general to describe
the chief est requisites that are necessary to constitute a complete
teacher in the church of God; and even by that little which I
shall say, I doubt not but it will appear how very formidable,
how tremendous an undertaking that function deserves to be
accounted. The teacher's office then requires a very large
knowledge, a great prudence, an exemplary holiness. And
surely nluch is required of him, of whom these things are
required.
1. Then, the first requisite to the office of a teacher is a very
large knowledge. The very name of his office implies this; he
is ÕI.Õá(TKaÀo
, a teacher; and he that is such must be, as the
apostle requires k, apt or fit to teaclt 1. And this he cannot be,
unless he be ,veIl learned m and instructed himself, and furnished
with a plentiful n1easure of divine knowledge. God hin1self, by
the prophet
lalachi, requires that the priest's lips 1'1p1 ,.,

,
should læep or preserve kno'lcle((Qe n . l\lethinks the expressiön
is more enlphatical than is ordinarily conceived. It seen1S to
imply that the priest should be a kind of repository or treasury
of knowledge, richly furnished with knowledge hi Ins elf, and
able also a.bundantIy to furnish and sl1pply the wants of those
that shall at any time have recourse to hilll for instnlction. And
therefore it presently follows: And they (that is, the people)
shall seek the law at his mouil
. Yea, the ,vords import that the
priest fshould be a treasury of knowledge not to be exhausted.
He nlust have knowledge not only to spend, but to keep; not
k I Tim. iii, 2. 1 t:.L
aKTLKÒr, aphIS sÏ\'e iùoneus ad docendum.
m A..
aKTòr, doctus. n l\1al. ii, 7.

56

A Cornpanion fo'l' tlte

like those that live froID hand to mouth, or whose stock of know...
ledge is quickly spent in a few senTIons, but he must have
sOluething still reserved and laid up in store. l\Iethinks our
Saviour doth excellently expound this text, though it be by a
parable, E).ery scribe that is instr'ltcted in th
lângdOlJ't of '"eaven
is like unto a 'man tltal is an householder, whicl" hringetlt fortI/; out
of his treasure things new and old o . 'Vhere the ypaflflaTéù
, or
scribe, is the sanle alllong the J e\vs with the vop.olJLôáa-KaÀo
, the
teacller or expounder of the law. And it is the usual custom of
our Saviour, as Grotins observes, " by nanIes in use among the
Jews, to express such offices, as \vere to be in the Christian
chnrchP." The ypaJJ-fLaTéù
then, or scribe, is the same with
the òLòáa-KaÀos-, or teacher, afterwards in the church of Christ.
This scribe is said by our Saviour to be instl'ztcted unto or for
tIle kin.qdonz of heattenq, i. c. ,veIl prepared, provided, furnished
for the preaching of the gospel. And, to shew that he is so, he
is compared to the householder who, for the Inaintaining of his
faluily and the entertainnIent of his guests all the year long, is
supposed to have an à7rOO
KJ], or repository for provisions (called
here his Of}a-avpò
, ltis treasure), and there to have laid in pro-
visions KaLvà Kaì naÀ.aLà, botlb ne'lV and old, i. e. [t great store and
abundance, provisions of all sorts and kinds. As the spouse in
the Canticles tells her beloved, At our' gates are all 1J'tanneì' of
fruits, hoth new and old, 'whicll- I have laid up for tllee r . This
kind of hospitality (however by the iniquity of an ungrateful
sacrilegious age he nlay be disabled from exercising the other) is
the indispensable duty of the pastor or teacher. He n1ust keep
a table ,veIl furnished with these heavenly provisions for all
con1ers.
The kno,vledge of a teacher, ,ve shall easily grant, extends
itself into a very large compass, if \ve consider ,,,hat that sci-
ence is that he is to teach; thf\ology, "the art of arts, and the
science of sciencess," as Nazianzen speaks; the queen and
mistress of all other disciplines, to \vhich they do all but ancillare,
perform the office of handlnaids, and yet in so doing they are of
use and service to her.

o l\Iatth. xiii, 52.
P Nominibus apud Judæos receptis significare munia, quæ futura erant in
ecclesia Christiana.
q MaB'1TfVBfLS' flS' T
lI {3auLAfíall 'T6J1I ovpall6JlI.
r Cant. vii, 13.
s TiXll'1 TEXlIÔJll, Kaì 17rLUT
I-''1 11T'LUT17l-'roll.

Candidates of holy Orders.

57

And upon that account, the divine, if he will be cOl1lplete,
must be 7ravE7rtUT11Jl.Wl-', lnust have compassed the ÈYKvKÀ07ratÒE{a,
in the nlodern and more noble signification of the word; i. e.
the whole circle of' arts and sciences. And he that hath so
done, zlli des n01ìlinis huJus honorell
, let him pass for a perfect
divine, he only is adequate to so ample a title. But, God be
thanked, this is only the heroic perfection, not the necessary
qualification of a teacher. A nlan may very well content himself
to sit in a much lower form, and yet sit safely; he nlay move in
a far inferior orb, and yet give much light and conlnlunicate
a benign and useful influence to the church of God. Let us
view therefore the necessary parts of theology itself, wherein the
teacher cannot be ignorant or uninstructed, but to the very
great detriment of his disciples and his own greater shame and
hazard. Ho,v ample a field have we still before us ! here is the-
ology positive, polemical, moral, casuistical; and all nlost neces-
sary for the teacher.
As for positive divinity, or the knowledge of those necessary
speculative truths that are revealed in scripture, a man can no
more be a divine, that is unacquainted with this, than he can be
a gratnnlarian, that understands not the very first elements of
granlnlar. And yet of so abstruse, so sublinle a nature are even
these truths that for a nlan rightly to apprehend them and
clearly to explain them, especially to the capacity of his duller
hearers, is no very easy nlatter.
Polemical or controversial divinity is theologia armata, or that
part of divinity which inst.ructs and furnisheth a lnan with
necessary ,veapons to defend the truth against its enenlies.
Now ihe good shepherd's office is not only to feed his sheep,
but to secure thenl fron1 the wolves; or else his care in feeding
then1 serves only to make them the fatter and richer prey. And
therefore St. Paul t requires, that the teacher should be able,
Uhoth b!/ sound doctrine to exhort his hearers, Xas also to convince
or refute painsa!/ers or opposers. Hæc non sunt TOV TVXÓVTos-,
(as Grotius ,veIl gIosseth on the text) every man cannot do this,
and yet every teacher must. The times, wherein we live, do
D1uch heighten the necessity of this study; for \\ e nlay enforce
this duty on all teachers, by the sanle lnelancholy argument
that St. Paul doth in the forementioned text. The teacher,

t Titus i, 9. Q Kaì 1rapaKuÀfîv Iv Try ðt8auKaÀía Tjj û-vtatvovun.
J( K
, , "\' !'\ . - I "
at TO\lS cwr&l\fì'OPTa
(l\fY)(fW.

Q58

A Companionfol'tlte

saith he, nlltst be able to cO'il'Cince gainsayers: why so? He gives
the reason, There a1'e nzany 'llnrul!! and
'ain ieaclle1's and
deceivers, &é. 'whose moutlts 1nust be stopped, who subvert whole
houses, teaching things 'll'll'Ích the!! ought no/Yo These unruly and
vain teachers, these deceivers, ,vere neVflr certainly in a greater
nUlnber than no\v they are. These nlen's nlouths lllUst be stop-
ped, there is a necessity for it; for otherwise they will subvert
,vhole houses, yea and pervert ,,,hole parishes. Not that ,ve
have any hopes in this age to stop the 1110Uths of our opposer
,
so as to make thenl cease speaking; (for bawl they will to etern-
ity; they are, as the apostle sOlnewhere speaks, unreasonable
'íJlen z , that understand not, admit not of any topics; no argu..
nlentation, though never- so convincing, will make thenI give
back ;) but so, at least, as that t.hey shall be able to speak little to
the purpose, so as to satisfy sober, hUIllble, docible persons, who
have not passionately espoused an error, or, to speak in the
apostle's phrase, that are not gÙ:en up to strong delusiûns, to believe
lies, that the!! 'lna!! be da
nned. In a ,vord, our fate in these days
is nluch like that of the rebuilders of Jerusalem after the cap-
tivity, that '''ere necessitated everyone 'loitlt one of his hands to
(work in tlte lJuilcling, with the oikeJ' to hold a weapon a . "Tith one
hand we HUlst build up our people in the doctrine of piety, with
the other ,ve D1ust resist heretical opposers, who otherwise will
denlolish as fast as we build.
And to quicken us to this part of our study, methinks no con-
sideration can be Inore forcible than this; to observe, where
nlinisters are defective therein, with what trÍlnnph and ostenta-
tion deceivers carry souls captive, to the disgrace not only of the
persons, but also of the function of the teachers, yea and of truth
itself, which is wounded thus through their sides and bleeds
through their ,veakness and folly.
But let us leave this thorn) field of controversial, and step 3,
little into the other nlore fruitfllJ, of Inoral or practical divinity.
Of this one speaks most truly: "The knowledge of contro-
versies is D1ade necessary by heretics, the study of piety by God
hinIself b ." Theology is doubtless a practical science, nothing in
it but "hat aims at this end. And therefore he that neglects
this practical part of it understands not the very design of his

Y Titus i, 10, II. Z"AV()pW1TOL ÚT01TOt. a Xehem. iv, 17.
b Controversiarunl scientiam necessariam fecerunt hæretici, t-itudium pietatis
Deus ipse mandayit.

Candidates of Italy OrdeJ's.

259

own profession. Without this a luan deserves no more to be
accounted a divine, than he a physician that understands little
or nothing of therapeutics. It is true, there are some (otherwise
not unlearned ll1cn) that despise this part of theology, as a vulgar,
trivial, easy, obvious thing. But sure they very n1uch disparage
their own judgment, who let the world understand that they are
of this n1ind: and the event C0l11n10nly shews ho\v much they
arc lnistaken. For bring these doctors out of their academic
cells, set thenl to preach in a country congregation, and they
soon become the objects of laughter, or rather of pity to the
wiser: to observe how they greedily snatch at every occasion of
engaging in a controversy, and that perhaps such a one as was
never before heard of by their hearers, but a controversy they
had read in some of their books, though long ago dead and
buried; thus manfully encountering ghosts and shadows: ho\v
learnedly they will discuss the barren subtleties of Aquinas or
Scotus, which the poor souls no n10re understand, than if they
had read theul a lecture out of Cornelius Agrippa's occult
philosophy: how, when they come to practicals, they are 'velut
in alium mundum translati, as if they were entered into a ne\v
unknown world; so frigid, barren and lifeless are their
discourses on those subjects. And may the same shame, or a
serious repentance, attend all the contel11ners of this useful
theology !
Lastly, there is casuistical divinity, which I distinguish froDI
moral or practical, as a more noble species thereof, and which
therefore deserves a distinct consideration. For though all
casuistical divinity be practical, yet aU practical divinity is not
casuistical; for the design of casuistical divinity is to resolve only
the dubious and difficult cases that refer to practice. How diffi-
cult this study is, every n1an that is not a very stranger therein
will readily acknowledge. And the necessity thereof is evident:
for what more necessary for a teacher, than to be able to resolve
his people what their duty is in difficult cases? Teachers, no
doubt, are purposely placed by God in these cross-ways,
as mercurial statues, not dead, but living speaking ones,
directing the perplexed traveller towards the heavenly Jeru-
salen! and saying (as it is in the prophet) This is the wag,
walle therein. And the Lord, by tbe prophet J\Ialachi, tells u

that the priest should be such a one as that the people mo!/ seek
the law at his mouth: the Jaw, i. e. the sense of the la\v, or what
s 2

260

.A C(Jlrt}Janion far the

that d.uty is, which the la\v obligeth then1 to in doubtful cases:
a very oracle to be consulted by them on all occasions. It is
true, the greatest oracle n1ay be sometimes silenced by a greater
difficulty: but an oracle altogether dun1b is certainly a very
lan1entable contradiction.
I have all this while spoken nothing of the holy scriptures,
that deep and unsearchable tnine, from whence the divine is to
fetch all his treasure. Fronl hence he is to borro,v the princi-
ples of all theology, positive, polelnical, moral, casuistical; and
therefore it is evident that, unless he be ,veIl studied in these, he
must needs be defective in all the rest. lIe nlust needs be
a \veak divine, that is not mighty in the scriptures c , as it is said
of Apollosd. And, Lord, ho\v many things are necessary to give
:1 luan a right understanding of these sacred ,vritings! I confess,
,ve are fallen into a very confident age, wherein to interpret
scripture is counted. the most obvious and easy thing; and
every Inechanic, that scarce understands common sense, will
venture on the expounding of these 111ysterious books. '" e have
so childishly departed fronl the error of the ROluish church,
in asserting an inexplicable obscurity of the scriptures, e\ en in
things necessary, that for fear of this Charybdis \ve are swallo\v-
ed up in as dangerous a Scylla, to nutke the scriptures even
despicable and conten1ptible.
'or, as Nazianzen truly saith,
" that which is thus easily understood is generally with as Bluch
ease slighted and contemned e." But we know who they are,
who "run from one bad extrelne to another f." For it is certain,
that rightly to understand the holy scriptures is a very difficult
thing, especially for us who live at so great a distance froln those
times, wherein they were ,vritten, and those persons and churches,
to wholl) they \vere directed. It is no slender measure of the
In10wledge of antiquity, histor)
, philology, that is requisite to
qualify a nlan for such an undertaking. They kno\v nothing of
the holy scriptures that know not this. And therefore those
unlearned and ignorant 111en, that venture on the exposition of
scripture, being perfect strangers to these parts of learning, n1ust
of necessity wrest them to their own and their hearers' destruc-
tIon.
I cannot on1it to tal{e notice here of that C0l11nl0n n,xionl, "A

c fJ.vvaTò
Èv Taí
'Ypacþaí
. d Acts xviii, 24..
, r
' ,. \ rI , A...'
e To pavLCJ)
^'T}7TTOV a7Tav fVKaTa't'pov'T}TOV.
{ Dum vitant vitia in contraria currunt

Candidates of /tol!! Orders.

61

good textuary is a good divineg;" and to observe, that it is
nlost true, if rightly understood. If by a textuary,ve Inean hiIn
who hath not only a concordance of scripture in his nlelnory,
but also a comnlentary on theln in his understanding; who
thinks it not enough to be ready in alleging the bare ,vords of
scripture, with the mention of chapter and verse where it is
written, unless he kno\v the sense and n1eaning of what he
recites. The forIner every illiterate sectary is able to do, who
can quote scriptures by dozens and scores, the tithe whereof he
understands not, and are little to his purpose. The latter is the
proper commendation of the divine. 'Vithout this grain of salt,
the aphorism, but now nlentioned, nlost justly falls under the
severe censure of our learned Prideaux: ",...\.. good textuary is
a good divine, say many, ,vho understand not, n1ind not., either
the text or divinit.yor goodness h." 'Ve have seen the neces-
sary parts of theology rudely delineated, and yet even by this
in1perfect draught we n1ay take an estimate, how large that
nlan's knowledge ought to be, that is obliged to understand all
these things.
I confess that here also (and I have as nluch reason to rejoice
in it as most of my brethren) a latitude is to be allowed; and it
were a cruelty ,vorse than that of Procrustes, to stretch all n1en
to the same giant-like proportion of knowledge that some attain
to. But yet doubtless it is a wise and prudent severity, as Na-
zianzen speaks, " to ll1easure every teacher and stretch hin1 out
to St. Paul's rules and canons i." And they, as we have already
heard, require that he should be òt.òaKTt.Kò
, apt and fit to teach,
i. e. in SOlne competent Ineasure able to instruct his hearers in
all these useful parts of theology.
Q. I have discoursed so largely of the first requisite of the
teacher's office that, if I gave over here, 1 had said enough to
convince any sober person of the difficulty thereof. Rut :yet this
is not all. A very great prudence also is required in the teacher,
or else his knowledge will be useless and unserviceable. 'Vlsdolll
is the soul that anin1ates and enlivens knowledge, without which
a large knowledge is but like a huge carcass, a lifeless unactive
thing. And if any Ulan thinks that science and prudence are

g Bonus textualis, bonus theologus.
b Bonus textualis, bonus theologus, clamant quamplurimi, qui nee de textu,
ne
de theologia, nee de bonitate sunt solieiti.
1 IIapfl<Tfívftv Tois- rrav
ov KÚVOUUI.

6

A Oonpanion for the

things inseparable, sad experience refutes hin1. Every learned
man is not a wise luan; and there are some who have read very
many books, but very few men; who have dwelt so much in
their studies that they understand little abroad in the ,vorld, no
not in their own Ii ttIe world, I mean their charges and parishes.
There are some that have a large nleasure of the spirit of know-
ledge, but \rant the spirit of governtnent, which yet is most
necessary for hilu \vho is to be a guide of souls. Every teacher
is concerned to be wise, both for hilnself and those cOllunitted
to his charge. For hiu1self, to take heed of nlen, that he be
neit.her betrayed by false brethren, nor becolne a prey to the
luaIice of professed eneluies; to decline both the envy and
contempt of his neighbou
s; to keep hiulself within the bounds
of his calling; to 'inind !tis own husiness k , &c. To this kind of
,visdom belongs the advice of our Saviour, \vhen sending forth
his apostles, as innocent lambs anlongst the \volves of that age,
he cautions them to be wise as serpents and innocent as doves l ;
i. e. to use all honest and sinless arts to secure thenlselves. But
this is not the prudence \vhich I principally intend; for if a
minister be defective in this, he is no nlan's foe but his o\vn; he
hurts only hiInself, and that but in temporal concerns.
I add, therefore, that he is to be \vise for those conlmitted to
his charge, lest by any indiscretion of his he obstructs that which
ought to be his great design and business, the et.ernal salvation
of their souls. And here how lnany things are there, ,vhich a
teacher is concerned to understand! He n1ust be wise so to frame
his discourses, especially in public, that he speak nothing that
may either offend the \veak, or give advantage to the Dlalicious;
that his sermons may not only be good in theluselves, but
adapted and fitted to the necessity of his hearers; that he nlake
choice of the I1I0St suitable and powerful argun1ûnts to enforce on
thenI those Christian duties, ,vhereto he exhorts them. He 11Ulst
be wise in the goverIlluent of his carriage and actions, dis-
tinguishing especially bet\veen la\vfulness and expediency, and
shunning not only that which is directly sinful, but whatsoever
is scandalous and offensive. 1-Ie 111Ust be ,vise in his COllUllon
converse with his people, that he be neither of too easy or too
1110rose and difficult an access; but especially he is to be careful
of this in his freer conversation ; that he indulge not himself any
libert.y 1110ro than ordinary, al1l0ng those who will Blake an ill
k Tà íðca npáuuELv. 1 :\Iatth. x, 16.

Oandidates of holy Orders.

263

use of that, wherein there was no ill intended. He is to be wise
in the choice of his friends, not to inscribe any luan into that
catalogue, that luay reflect any disparagement on his person or
function: for qui non conten
nitu1" a se, conte1nn,ituJ" a socio. He
must be wise, especiaJly in the government of his own fan1Ïly:
for as the apostle excellently reasons, if a rnan know no' ltOW to
rule his own house, ltOW shall he talce care of tlte clturclt of God m ?
He 111l1St be ,vise to inquire into the state of his flock, and to
discern their particular tempers and constitutions; and even to
search into their hearts and secret inclinations. He lnust be
wi,
e to adluinister private counsels and reproofs, duly observing
the circulustances of tinle, of place, of person, of dispositiun; for,
as the wisest of luen tells us, a 'lcord fitly spoken is lilce apples of
gold in pictzeres of silvern. These and many other things the
teacher is deeply concerned to be well versed in; and what a
task is this !
If it be objected, "that prudence is a thing without our power,
an arbitrary gift of God, which he besto,vs on whom he pleas-
eth, as he doth beauty or wealth, or a good natural wit, and
therefore cannot. reasonably be imposed on a l11an as his duty:'"
I answer, if this prudence were wholly out of our election, yet
this certainly ,vas left to our free choice, whether we would
undertake that office, \\?hereto so great prudence is requisite.
"T e have obliged ourselves to it, by engaging in that function
that cannot be discharged ,vithout it. But indeed this excellent
gift of God is in a great degree put within our power, in con-
junction with the divine assistance. "\Ve nlay and nlust endea-
vour for it, diligently study it, carefully observe things and
persons, faithfully record experiluents, consult ,viser friends.
But, abo,?e all things, we must take St. J alTIeS'S advice, If an!!
'1nan
l'an,t wisdmn, let 'tÏ1n ask of God, who gi'vetll, liberall!J and
'ltp bra idetlt not, and it sltall he given hiJn o . Especially, if he
desire it constantly, earnestly and above all things in the world;
if with Solomon he despise greatness
nd wealth and all other
secular advantages; and before thenl aU, desire this one thing
of God, that he 'would give hÏ1n wisclO1n and knowledge to go in and
out hefore the people com,nitted to Ids cllarge and guÙlancep.
3. I come now to the last, though not the least, of those requi-
sites that are necessary to the office of a teacher, viz. an exem-
plary holiness. For of this I may say, as the apostle cloth,
m I Tim. iii,S. n Provo xxv, I I. 0 James i, 5. p 2 Chron. i, JO.

264

t Companion for tlte

speaking of the three theological graces, And n010 abidet"h .fait"h,
hope and charity, these tltree; but the greatest of these is charity q.
So hero there rClnaineth knowledge, prudence, holiness, all
three necessary requisites to luake up a cOlllpletc teacher; but
the greatest of these is holiness. And w'hnt ho further says of'
the salue grace of charity, in the bcginning of the saine chapter,
may ,vith a little change be applied also to our present purpose.
If a l11an had 7râ<Tav YVW(TLV, all sorts of lcnowl Jdge, so as to be
able to understand all mysteries; if he ',ere prudent, beyond
the protligious n1easure of 80101non'8 wisdom; if those endo\,,-
n1el1ts \\ ere crowned in hilll with an eloquence Inore than hUlnan,
so that he were able to discourse like an angel: yet without this
holiness he ,vere as nothing, or at best but as the sounding hrass
01" tin/ding c!/rnbal. The priest that is not clothed witl" righteous-
ness, though otherwise richly adorned with all the ornalnent8 of
hunutn and divine literature, and those gilded over with the rays
of a seraphic prudpnce and sagacity, is yet but a naked, beggarly,
despicable creature, of no authority, no interest, no use or service
in the church of God. 1"he unholy teacher, let hin1 preach
never SO well, discourseth to little purpose; there will be no life
in his doctrine, because his life is so destitute of the spirit of
holincs
, ho will sooner danll1 his own soul than S:1ye any luan's
else. Ilis discourses, though arIned \vith the 1110st powerful
oratory, will serve to 1110ve no other affection in his hearers than
that of indignation against his hypocrisy and iU1pudence, to hear
hill1 excellently declaiul against a vice, of which himself is noto-
riously guilty; and they will say,
LOì
iped('n." rectus derideat, .-I.Etltiopem albus.
In a ".ord, as a wise luau ".cll observes, Hovery notorious vice
is infinitely against the spirit of go\rCrnn1ent, and depresses a
l11an to au evenness with COIlU110n persons."
-l/'acin-us quos inquinat æquat.
And when a Inan"s authority is thus lost, he becolnes a thing
,,'holly useless in the ehl1l'ch of God. lJ sele8
did I say? it. ,vere
,veIl if that were all: he is the Inost pernicious creature that
1110' es 011 God's earth; h
serves to the "orst purposes, to
luakc lucn atheists, infidels or heretics. Learned and 1\.llowing
Incn, of ill lives, have been always the greatest stlllllblingblock
q I Cor. xiii, I J.

Oandidates of holy Orders.

Q65

in the church of God: their fall is not single, but attended with
the ruin of ll1an)" others; who, Ï1nitating the barbarous civility of
those nations that use to solemnize the funerals of their great
men by sacrificing a great part of their families, ,vhen the
teachers damn themselves, are ready to die and perish with them
for con1pany. And the fallacy that ruins theln is this; because
some wise men live ,vickedly, they presently conclude that
wickedness is the greatest wisdom: as if it were impossible for
the will to choose contrary to the dict.ates of the understanding,
or for a n1an that knows his duty not to do it. 'Ve of this age
have reason to take special notice of this. For as Cicero, inquir-
ing into the causes of those bold and unheard-of attempts that
Catiline and his confederates made upon the commonwealth of
Rome, presently gives this account: nos (dieo aperte) nos consu-
les desumus: so when we are astonished at the prodigious blasphe-
mies, heresies and schisms of our times, and wonder at the cause
ofthen1, we n1ay quickly resolve ourselves after the sanle n1anner:
nos (dieo aperte) nos pastores desu1nus. For certainly all the
argun1ents that heretics and sectaries have n1ade use of to
seduce our people from obedience unto the n10st excellent
doctrine, liturgy and discipline of our church, ,vould have been
accounted ridiculous sophisms and no way served their wicked
purposes, if they had not been furnished ,vith a n10re power-
ful topic ab exenplo, from the vicious lives of sonle clergymen.
And as to this :

-Pudet hæc opprobria nobis
Et diei l)ot
tisse, et non potuisse refelli.
I might here be very large in representing the necessity of
holiness in a nlinister; but I shall only observe, that the ,vicked
teacher sins with the highest aggravation of his guilt, and the
least hope of his repentance; he is the greatest and most despe-
rate sinner.
The greatest sinner; for either he is a person of n10re than
ordinary knowledge or he is not: if not, he sinned greatly in un-
dertaking that office, to which so great a knowledge is requisite:
if he be, his knowledge doubtless increaseth his guilt: For he, that
lcnows his 91zaster's 'will and dotllJ it not, shall be beaten 'witllJ
7nany stripes. Besides, he n1ust needs sin with a very strange
assurance, by living in that wickedness which he daily reproves

66

A Compa/tÍon fOl' tlte

and preaches against, and so becoming aVToKaTáKpLTO
, a con-
demned man, from his o\vn mouth.
But that \vhich I chiefly urge is this: the wicked teacher is,
of all men living, in the n10st hopeless and desperate condition.
I t is usually observed of seamen, that dwell in the great deep,
that if they are not very pious, for the most part they are despe-
rately wicked, because they daily behold the ,vonders of the
Lord, and besides live in a continual and a very near danger,
bordering on the ver)" confines of death, and being,
Qltatuor aut septem digitis a nlorte rernoti,
hztt a fe
Ð fingers" hreadth divided from their fluid graves. And if
these considerations do not persuade them to fear the Lord exceed-
ingly, as it is said of the mariners in Jonah, i, 16, it argues that
they are exceedingly hardened. The observation is truer of the
minister; if he be Dot a good man, he must needs be extrelnely
bad; for he daily converseth in the great deep of the holy scrip-
tures and there sees and reads such things that, if they do not
effectually persuade hinl to piety, it is certain he is a man of an
obdurate heart.
'Vhat remedy is likely to work this 111an's cure and repentanco

Win the dreadful menaces and threats of God's ".ord affright
hhn
No; these are daily thundered out of his own mouth,
and yet to him they are but hruta fulmina. 'ViII the gracious
promises of God allure him
No; he daily charnls his hear-
ers \vith these, but remains himself as the deaf adder. 'ViII
those excellent books of learned and pious n1en, that he reads
in his study, work any good on hinl
No; he that slights God's
,vord will little regard the ,vords of men. 'ViII the public
prayers make him serious
No; he daily reads thenl, and his
daily practice is contr3ry to his daily prayers. Will a medicine
compounded of the flesh and bloed of the Son of God (I Inean
the holy eucharist) do the Dliserable man any good? No; he
hath frequently received those dear pledges of his
aviour"s love,
and yet is still as bad as ever, and so hath trodden under
foot tile hlood of the everlasting covenant, ,vherewi th he should
have been sanctified. The Lord look upon t.his D1an; for there
is no hope of him, ,vithout a miracle of divine mercy. Nay in-
deed, all these excellent 111eans, by being Dlade familiar to him,
have lost their efficacy upon him. Our Saviour, nlethinks, cloth
excellently represent the hopeless condition of a vicious minister,

Candidates of hol!! Order-so

67

by a parable, where speaking to the apostles (considered, I sup-
pose, as ministers of the word) he tells thein, Ye are the salt of
the earth: but, if the salt have lost its savour, wherewithal shalt it
he salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing but to be cast O
tt
and trodden under foot of rnenq. Salt, if it be good, is of excel-
lent use to season many things; but if it becolne itself unsavoury,
it is not only the n10st useless thing, good for notlting but to
be cast out, &c. but irrecoverably lost; there is not.hing will fetch
putrid salt again; for if the salt hatk lost Ids saV02lr, 'wherewitltal
shall it be salted? Thus necessary is holiness in a minister,
both for himself and others.
I have no\v done with the difficlùty, and consequently with
the danger, of the pastoral office, represented froln the three
grand requisites thereunto; a very large knowledge, a great
prudence, an exemplary holiness. I shall add but one consider-
ation more, of itself abundantly sufficient to evince the whole;
viz. That every teacher is accountable for the souls committed to
his charge. This is the plain doctrine of the author of the
Epistle to the Hebrews: Obey theíJ
that have the 'l''lde over !JO
fJ
and submit yourselves ,. for the!! 'lvateh for !J01lr souls, as they
that 'J1Htst give aCC01tnt r , &c. A dreadful consideration this!
And St Chrysostoln tells us that, ,vhen he read that text, "it
did KaTao-EíELv T
V tvx
v, cause a kind of earthquake within
hÏ1n and produce a holy fear and trembling in his souL" And
in his commentary on the text he thus exclaims: "Lord, how
difficult, ho,v hazardous an undertaking is this! 'Vhat shall
a man say to those wretched nlen, that rashly thrust thelnselves
into such an abyss of judgments? All the souls that. are commit-
ted to thy conduct, men, ,vomen and children, thou art to
give an account of s ." He presently subjoins, "It is a wonder if
any ruler in the church be sayed t." ...1 passionate hyperbole,
expressing his deep sense of the extreme danger of the pastoral
office.
It is true, indeed, the excellent bishop speaks there of those
of his own most sacred order, whose place and dignity in the

q l\latt. v, 13. r Heb. xiii, 17.
8 B ß " r'
" " ./ "' ex ' ,., r ,
a at 1rouo
0 ICLVOVVO
. TL av n
fL1rot. 1f'pO
TOV
a LOV
TOV
f1f't.fPL11TOJITa

;avTov
ToUaVTfJ Tt.fLCJJPLOOV àßvuucp; 1f'áVTCJJV
v élPx..fL
, '}'VVatlCooV, lCai av
poov, lCai
1f'aíaCJJv, uv Xóyov
í.
CJJ
.
t eavfLáCCð fl nvá (UTI. TOOV åpx.óvrCl>v UWe
VaL.

268

...4 CoulJ}anion for tIle

church of God, as it is eminently higher, their charge greater,
their inspection more extensive; so will their account be ac-
cordingly. But yet the same is true, in its proportion, of every
clergYluan, of what order soever he be. So St. Austin express-
ly; "If you Inark it, Inost dear brethren, you shall find that
all the Lord's priests, not only bishops, but also presbyters
and ministers of churches, stand in a very hazardous condition u."
And he gives a shre\vd reason for what he says a little after;
" If at the day of judglnent it will be a hard task for every man
to give an account of his own soul, \vhat \viII become of
priests, of ,vhom God ,viII require an account of the souls of
so Inany others committed to their charge x
" He concludes,
" magnun
opus, sed gravis sarcina; the care of souls is indeed a
great ,york, a noble undertaking, but yet a very grievous bur-
den.'') He nlust be a man of very firm shoulders that is not
crushed under it.,
I have ofttimes, not ,vithout wonder and indignation, ob-
served the strange confidence of empirics in physic, that dare
venture on the practice of that noble art, \vhich they do not at
all understand; considering ho,v for a little paltry gain they
shrewdly hazard, or rather certainly destroy, the health and lives
of men; and have judged them \vorthy of as capital and ignonli-
nious a punishnlent, as those that kill nlen on the highways.
But I have soon exchanged this meditaiion into another of more
concernment to lllyself; and my indignation hath _quickly re-
turned into IllY own bosonl, ,vhen I consider ho\v much bolder and
more hazardous an attelnpt it is for a man to venture on the
priestly office, to minister to the eternal health and salvation of
souls: ho\v nluch skill is requisite to qualify a Dlan for such an
undertaking; ho\v great care in the discharge of it; what a sad
thing it ,vould be, if, through D1Y unskilfulness or negligence, any
one soul should Iniscarry under IllY hands, or die and perish
eternally !
'Ve luinister to souls. Souls! luethinks in that one ,vord
there is a sermon. Inlnlortal souls! precious souls! one where-

11 Si diligenter attenditis, fratres charissimi, ornnes sacerdotes Domini, non
solum episcopos, sed etiam presbyteros et ministros ecclesiarum, in grandi
periculo esse cognoscetis.
x Si enim pro se unusquisque vix poterit in die judicii rationem reddere,
quid de sacerdotibus futurum est, a quibus sunt omnium animæ requirendæ ?

Oalldidates of holy Orders.

=269

of is more worth than all the world besides, the price of the
blood of the Son of God. I close up this with the excellent
words, appointed by the church to be read at the ordination of
every priest: "Have always therefore in your remembrance,
how great a treasure is COJll111itted to your charge. For they
are the sheep of Christ, which he bought with hia death, and
for whom he shed his blood. The church and congregation

whom ye serve, is his spouse and body. And if it shall hap-
pen, the same church, or any nlembers thereof, to take any
hurt or hinderance, by reason of your negligence, you kno,v
the greatness of the fault, and also t.he horrible punishment
that will ensue.'')
And no\\" methinks I may use the apostle's words in another
case; Ye see you/I' calling, brethren y. You see how extrelnely
difficult and hazardous an office it is we have undertaken; who is
sufficient for these th'ing,') z? whose loins do not tremble at this
fearful burden on his shoulders
who would not be almost
tempted to repent hilnself of his undertaking and to wish him-
self any the meanest mechanic, rather than a nlinister
But, alas!
this were vain, yea sinful. Weare engaged in this sacred office,
and there is no retreating; we must now run the hazard, ho,v
great soever it be; in we are, and on we must. "Vhat shall we
then sa)
? what shall we do? Surely this is our best, yea our
only course. Let us first prost.rate ourselves at the feet of the
Almighty God, humbly confessing and heartily bewailing our
great and manifold miscarriages in this weighty undertaking; let
us weep tears of blood (if it ,vere possible) for the blood of souls,
,vhich we have reason to fear may stick upon our garments.
The blood of souls, I say: for ,vhen I consider ho,v many less
discerned ways there be, whereby a man may involve himself in
that guilt, as not only by an openly vicious example, but even
by a less severe, prudent and wary conversation; not only by
actions directly criminal, but by lawful actions, when offensive;
(for by these the apostle assures us, (4-' 9nan 'fila!! destro!/ the soul
of his u)eak b'rother, for wh01ì'l Ohrist died a ;) not only by a gross
negligence and supine carelessness, but by evel'Y lesser renlÌs-
sion of those degrees of zeal and diligence, which are requisite

Y I Cor. i, 26. BÀÉ7TfTf T
V KÀijULlI VP.WlI, à
f'Acþf)i.
r.. Kal 'lI'pÒ
TaiJTu Tí
iKulIór; a Romans xiv, 15...

270

A C01ìtpanion fo}"' the

in so in1portant an affair: in a word, by not doing all that a man
can and that lies \vithin his power, to save the souls comn1itted to
his charge :-1 say, \vhen I consider this, for mine own part I
cannot, 1 dare not justify nl)'self, or plead Not Guilty before the
great Judge of heaven and earth; but do, upon the bended
knees of my sou], bewail my sin and implore his pardoning grace
and nlercy, crying mightily unto him; Deliver me from this
hlood-guiltiness, 0 'Iny God, thou God of rny salvat-ion; and IJny
ton.que shall sing aloud of thy righteousness.
Having laid ourselves at God's feet, let us not lie idly there,
but arise, and for the future do the work of God with all faith.
fulness and industry; Jea, let us nlake amends for our past
negligence, by doubling our future diligence. And for our
encourageulent here, let us renlember, that though many things
are required of a n1inister, yet the chief and most indispensable
requisites are these t\VO; a passionate desire to save souls, and
an unwearied diligence in the pursuit of that noble design. The
Ininister that \vants these two qualifications \vill hardly pass the
test, or gain t.he approbation of God, the great Judge and Trier;
but where these are found, they \vill cover a multitude of other
failings and defects. Let us therefore, reverend brethren (and
may I here conjure both JOu and myself, by the endeared love
we bear to our own souls, and the precious souls, con1mitted to
our charge, yea by the blood of the Son of God, the price of
both) let us, I beseech you, from henceforth return to our
several charges, zealously and industriously plying the great
work and business that is before us. Let us think no pains too
great, to escape that p.Eî(ov Kp{p.a, that greater judgnwnt, that
otherwise attends us. Let us study hard and read much and
pray often and preacl/; in season and out of season and catechise
the youth and take wise opportunities of instructing those, who
being of riper years nlay yet be as unripe in knowledge; and
visit the sick and according to our abilities relieve the poor,
shewing to all our flock the example of a watchful, holy, hUlllble
conversation. And may a great blessing of God crown our
labours! Let us go on, and the Lord prosper us !
I have done ad clerum, and have but a \yord more ad pop'ltlum,
to the people.
1\Iy brethren, you Inay possibly think yourselves altogether
unconcerned in this whole discourse. But if you do, you are

Oandidates of holy Orclm's.

71

mistaken; all this nearly concerns even you. I shall only point
to you wherein.
1. If the past.oral office be so tremendous an undertaking,
judge then, I pray you, of the sacrilegious boldness and impiet.y
of those U zzahs among the laity, that dare touch this ark, the
priest's charge and care. If we, my brethren, that have been
trained up in the schools of the prophet.s, that have been
educated with no small care and cost to this employment, that
have spent a double apprenticeship of years in our studies, and
Inost of us a great deal lllore-if we, I say, after all this, find
reason to tremble at our insufficiency for such an undertaking;
how horrible is the confidence, or rather impudence, of those
mechanics, that have leaped from the shopboard or plough into
the pulpit, and thus per saltu'ln, by a prodigious leap, com-
menced teachers! what shall we say to these mountebanks in the
church, these empirics in theology? I only say this. I can never
sufficiently adll1Ïre either their boldness, in venturing to be
teachers, or the childish folly and simplicity of those, that give
themselves up to be their disciples. It is a miracle that any
such person shall dare to preach, or if he do, that any man in his
right wits should vouchsafe to hear hiln.

. This discourse concerning the difficulty and hazard of the
priestly office shews sufficiently all the people's danger. It is
the danger your own souls are in, my brethren, if not carefully
looked to, that is the great hazard of your office. 0 therefore, if
you do consider it, what need have you to look to yourselves!
3. Lastly, if our work and office be attended with this difficulty,
sure it is your duty to pity us, to pray for us, to encourage us,
by all possible ways and means, to the vigorous performance of
it; at least not to add to our load, or discourage us, either by
your wayward factiousness, or stubborn profaneness, or sacri-
legious injustice: if you do, sad will be your account.
Remmnber therefore the advice.of the apostle b ; Obey thenlJ
that have the rule over you, and sulÚnit yourselves; for they
'watch for your souls, as they that must give an account; that
they 'Jnay do tlâs (i. e. attend on this work of watching over your
souls) with joy, and not
()ith griefc. Grotius's paraphrase is
here nlost genuine; "Sweeten and allay the irksonle labour of
)'our teachers, by performing to them all offices of respect and

b Hebrews xiii, 17. c "'Iva pETà xapâr TOVTO 7roté;)ut, Ka1 p.
UTEVú(ovTEr.

27
A OOilíjJanion fop the Candidates of koly Ol'del's.
love, that they may, with alacrity and not wit.h grief, discharge
that function, which is of itself a sufficient burden without any
addition of sorro\v from you d."

""OIW to God tlte Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, he ascrihed all
honour and glory, adoration and 'loorship, hotlt now and fO'ì

ever. Ànlen.

d :\Iulcete eum laborem omnibus obsequiis et officiis, ut cum alacritate
potius quam dolore fungantur munere satis gravi, etiamsi a vobis nihil
triste accedat.

THE

PRINCIPAL PARTS AND BRANCHES

OF THE

PASTORAL OFFICE,

WITH

RULES AND DIRECTIONS

FOR THE DUE PERFOR)IANCE OF EACH OF THE}! j

I
A CHARGE TO THE CLERGY OF THE DIOCESE OF
ST DAVID'S.

Reverend brethren of the clergy,
I SHALL not waste my time and little strength, by detaining
you with a long and useless preface. In short, IllY business
at this time shall be to set before you the several parts and
branches of that holy office and function which you have under-
taken, together with some rules and directions which are neces-
sary to be observed for the due perfornlance of each of them.
The principal parts and branches of the pastoral office are
these five :
First, Reading divine service, or the prayers of the church.
Secondly, Preaching.
Thirdly, Catechising.
Fourthly, Adlninistering the holy SaCrall1ents of Baptisnl and
the Lord's supper.
Fifthly and lastly, '''lsiting of the sick.
First, l{,eading divine service, or the prayers of the church.
This SOllle may think to be a slight and easy matter, that needs
T

274

A O(j1npanion for the

not any advice or directions; but they are very much Inistaken.
For to the reading of the prayers aright, there is need of great
care and caution. The prayers of the church nlust be read
audibly, distinctly and reverently.
1. Audibly, so that, if possible, all that are present may hear
them and join in them. There are some that mutter the prayers,
as if they were to pray only to themselves, ,vhereby they exclude
most of the congregation from the benefit of thenl.

" The prayers of the church ought to be read distinctly and
leisurely; not to be galloped over, as the manner of SOllIe is,
,vho read the prayers so fast that they outrun the attention and
devotion of the people, not. giving thenI time to join with them
or to Inake their responses in their due places. This rule is to
be observed in reading the prayers throughout, but especially in
reading the Decalogue or Ten COlnnlandnlents in the second
service. There are some that read the Commandments so thick
one upon another, that the people have not tinle to add that
excellent prayer to each of them, Lord, have 1nercy upon us, and
incline our hearts to keep tlds law.
To this head, of distinct reading the prayers, I shall only add
this one observation. Whereas upon Sundays and holydays the
church hath appointed a first and second service to be read one
after another, it is convenient that there be a decent interval
betwixt them. For judge, I pray you, how absurd it may seem,
to conclude the first service with St. Chrysostom's prayer, and
The grace if our Lord Jesus Ohr'l"st, and immediately, ,vithout
any intermission, to enter upon the second service.
I verily believe the first intention of the church \vas, that
these two services should be read at two several times in the
morning; but no,v custom and the rubric direct us to use them
both at the same tinle. Yet in cathedral or nlother churches,
here is still a decent distinction between the two services: for
before the priest goes to the altar to read the second service,
there is a short but excellent anthenl sung; in Ì1nitation where-
of, in the churches of London, and in other greater churches
of the country, instead of that anthem there is part of a psahn
sung.
S. And lastly, the prayers of the church are to be read with
great reverence and devotion, so as to excite and kindle devo-
tion in the congregation. Thus the prayers of the church are to
be read, if ,ve would keep up the reputation of thenl and render

Oandidates of holy Orders.

Q75

theIl1 useful to the people. But alas! there are too nlany lninis-
tel'S who, by disorderly and indecent and irreverent reading
of the liturgy, disgrace it and expose it to contempt. To whom
the church Inay cOlnplain, as one of old in the poet did of the ill
rehearsal of his oration :
Q'uem recitas 'ì1U3
tS est, 0 Fidentine, lihellus ;
Sed male dZlm recz.tas, incipit esse lUllS.
The book of prayers, which ye read, is indeed n
ine: hut at
the sad rate you read it, I an
asha
ned of it; z.t is none of mine,
but YO'ltr's.
I am verily persuaded that this is one cause that there are so
many sectaries and separatists anlong us. They find so little
reverence and devotion in the use of our comnlon prayers that
they cannot away \vith them, but run from the church to the
conventicle, where they hope to find more devotion.
II. Another part of the pastoral office is preaching, i. e. (as we
cOlnnlonly use the word) taking a text or portion of scripture,
eXplaining it, raising some useful point of doctrine frOln it, and
applying it to the edification of the hearers. For otherwise the
bare reading of the scriptures is sonletimes called preaching; as
Acts xv, Ql. For /.Ioses (that is, the writings of l\Ioses) of old
ti1iw hath in every city the'Jì/; tlwt preach kin/;, heing read in the
synagog'ltes every sahhath day. But here I take the word preach-
ing in the forementioned sense, as now it is used. This is a
noble part of the pastor's duty, but difficult; it is not a work
that everyone should undertake or can perform: for it requires
the knowledge and understanding of the holy scriptures, and, in
order thereunto, some skill in the learned languages and other
parts of hUlllan learning; it requires a good judglnent and
discretion, I add elocution too. The tinle will not give lue leave
(if I were able) to set before you all the rules or precepts of the
art of preaching and to give you an entire systenl of it. There
are many learned men, who have written full treatises of this
subject; I mention only our excellent bishop 'Vilkins, who hath
published a treatise, entitled, Ecclesiastes, or the Preacher,
which I reconlmend to the reading of younger divines and first
beginners in the art of preaching: to ,,,holn also I give' this
further advice, that they should not at first trust to their own
compositions, but furnish thenlselves with store of the best ser-
mons that have been published by the learned divines of our
T

76

A Gompanion for the

church. These they should read often and study to imitate
thenI, and in time they will attain to a habit of good preaching
thenlselves. Alllong the printed sernlons, those of the late
archbishop Tillotson are \vell known and approved by all.
But \vhat shall be done in those poor parishes where there are
as poor ministers, altogether incapable of performing this duty of
preaching in any tolerable manner
I answer that., in such
places, Ininisters, instead of sermons of their o\vn, should use the
HOlnilies of the church, which ought to be in every parish. And
they ,"ould do well also, now and then, to read a chapter or
section out of the 'Vhole Duty of l\lan, which, I presullle, is
translated into the 'Velsh tongue. I add that it ,vould be a
piece of charity, if the clergy of the neighbourhood to such
places, \vho are better qualified, \vould sometimes visit those dark
corners and lend some of their light to then1, by bestowing now
and then a sernlon on the poor people, suited to their capacities
and necessities. They have lllY leave, yea and aut.hority so to
do; and they may be sure the good God \vill not fail to reward
thenl.
III. The third work of the pastor's office is catechising, with-
out \vhich preaching will not be sufficient. For if people be not
,veIl instructed in the necessary principles of re1igion ,vhen they
are young, they ,viII hardly attain to any sound knowledge when
they are old. For according to the Greek apophthegln,

N " , " 8 ,.. "
EKpOV tarpEvEtV, Kat YEPOVTU l'OV ETHV, TaVTOV E(]"TL,

To instruct an ignorant old r/lan, and to 'raise a dead 9ìzan, are
tldngs abnost equally diffic1.tlt. I shall not insist upon this sub-
ject; for the usefulness and necessity of catechising is acknow-
ledged by all, though the \vork itself is by many of the clergy
sadly neglected. '!\There such neglect is, it. is the duty of the
churchwardens to present. I shall Inake it nlY business to see
this fault anlended. '
IV. Another and a main part of the priest's office, is the
adn1Înistration of the holy sacraments, Baptism and the Lord's
snpper.
First, for Baptisnl; the church strictly requires that it be
perforrlled publicly, in the house of God, not in private houses,
except in case of real necessity; as when a child is weak and
cannot without endangering itself be brought to church. But
notwithstanding this strict order of our church, in most places in
.

Candid(ltl',
of hO
lJ O,'ders.

277

this countr}T, baptism is altogether adlninistered in private houses,
and scarce any (if any) baptized in the church. If this may be
allowed, away with the fonts in your churches, what do they
signifJ
To what purpose are they there? If all the authority I
:l1n invested with can do it, I will see this lamentable abuse of
the sacraInent of Baptism refornled.
But further observe that, as our church strictly requires that
baptisnl be administered in public, so it advises that it be
performed (if conveniently it n1ay b
) on the Lord's day, in a
full congregation of Chri
tian people. Hear the words of the
rubric:
" The people are to be adn10nished that it is most convenient
that baptism should not be administered but upon Sundays and
other holydays, when the most number of people come together;
as ,veIl for that the congregation there present nlay testify the
receiving of them that be newly baptized into the ntlInber of
Christ's church, as also because, in the baptism of infants, every
man present may be put in renlelnbrance of his own profession
made to God in baptism.""
I take leave to add that it is 1110st for the interest of the infant
to be so baptized, that it nlay have the benefit of the united
prayers of a full Christian congregation, which is nluch to be
valued.
Iethinks there should be no need of urging this to
parents, that have any real love or affection to their children.
This would incline them to desire that thenlselves, which the
church desires of them. Remenlber, I beseech you, that your
children are to be but once baptized: and what is but once done
ought to be well done, in the best and most perfect n1anner.
To come to the other sacrament, the Eucharist, or holy sup-
per: this is the n10st sacred and mysterious rite, the apex. the
t.op and perfection of Christian worship, as the ancients term it;
and therefore it ought to be penormed with the greatest rever-
ence and solemnity in every punctilio of it, according to the
direction of our church in her rubric tu the Communion Office.
But this you are especially to take care of, that you adnlinister
not the holy sacrament to persons known to be vicious and scan-
dalous. Hear the rubric of the church to this purpose, viz.
"So many as intend to be partakers of the holy communion
shall signify their nanles to the curate at least SOlne time the
day before.-And if any of those be an open and notorious

;

....1, Co, pa l.O 1/'0 · II

t.
vil Ii vel' or have done any wrong to hi"! neighbours, b} word
or deed, so that the congregation be thereby offended. the
curate, having knowledge thereof shall c'lll him and advertise
hilu, that in 3n)"wise he presume not to COlne to thp Lord"s
table until he hath openly declared hilllself to have trulJ re-
pented and 3Jnended his fornler naught) life, that the congrega-
tion Inay thereby be satisfied. which before were otrended; and
that he hath recolnpensed the parties to whonl he hath done
"rong, or at least declare hillllÖ;clf to be in full purpose so to
do, as
oon as he conveniently nla
."
I al11 not ignorant that there are SOllIe who plead for n ti'ee
3dIni
:5ion to the Lord's table of all that are lueIubers of the
visible church, and not
-et. excolunlunicated; and exclaÏlll
ngaiust the exclu8ion of BIen fro III the holy conuuunion, LiS a
device and usurpation of the presb
-terian
and other sectaries.
But theQe lHen are grossly luistaken.. for you see it is the expre8s
order of our church. I add.. that the S
Ul1e order ,....a-; observed
in the prÍ1lliti\"e and apostolical churches. For Justin 'lartyr,
who tlourished ,vithin forty years after the apostolic age (i. e.
after the death of St. John the apostle) in his
econd Apology
tells u
. t ha t in his tiine none ,yere adillitted to the holy eu-
charist but those who lived according to the la.". of Christ. It
i
a received di8tinction
11110ng- divines that there is a twofold
L:
exconllllunication. ezc(), 17 .ca .. ajor tino , 'c; the greater
and the lesser excollul1unication." The greater excolllnluni-
cation i
an exclusion of n 111an fron1 the cOllIn1union of the
church and the public ordinance
uniyer:sally. The lesser ex-
conll11unication is indeed in order to prevent the greater and to
bring Juen under the discipline and correction of the church for
the ainendlllent of their lives. that so at length they may be fit
to be admitted to the holy communion.
So our church infornls us in her rubric to the ConlIDunion
Office, where the lnini
ter, repelling any froIH the cOlll1nunion, is
required ,. to gi,.e an account thereof to the ordinary ,,-ithin
fourteen da
Q after at the furthest; and the ordinary shall pro-
ceed against the offending person according to the canon.-'
So nluch for the adlninistratiol1 of the holy sacraments of Baptism
and the Lord\
supper.
,.... I COlne to the fifth and last part of the pa
toral office nz.
visiting the
il'k. For this we have an express conulland in the

en. es of I úb rd 1'8.

279

holy fo.!criptureH, 18 1-ll.,,! sic, (llllfJ11.9 ' fJa, le ltill" ('all fine tIt eld ,'8
()f tl c/ rcl"b, i. e. the pre
byter8 of the church; as
UPIJo
ing
they may not otherwise have noticE:; of hi. sickness. Sick men
too commonly neglect thi
duty, oftentimû'3 out of fpar, proceed-
ing from an evil conscience. They look upon the Inini,;ter's
coming to their sick bed a,,; a kind of a messenO'er of death, for
which they are not so well prepared. But if the
ick man doeíi
not send for his minister, the minister (having other notice of his
:;ickne
s) ought to go to him without being '3ent for.
How to perform this duty towards sick men aright, our church
fully directs him, in her excelIent Office of the V isitation of thE;
Sick, \\hich is so full and perfect that there need,; nothing to be
added to it.
Eut observe further that it iR the pastor"s duty to visit hiß
parishioners, not only when they are sick but al'lo when they
are well and in good health; not only with common neighùourly
vÍRits, but visiting then1 to the purposer-: of
alvation. He
should sometimes go home to their hou'5 s, and minister to their
Boul
in private, mildly reproving them for what faults he
observes in them, admoni:'3hing them of such duties as he knows
them to be ignorant of; as not coming constantly to church, Dot
frequenting the communion and the like. He is there
ri()uEly
to call upon them, to mind them of the great concern of their
immortal souls, in time to prepare for '"ickn8ð.
and death and
the tremendous judgment that follows. Such particular private
applications of the minister to his parishioners are highly useful,
and ,vi]] render the public ordinances more ben8ficial to them.
To JOU, my brethren of the clergy, 1 shall conclude all I have
to say, in a short but serious and affectionate exhortation.
1. In the fir8t place, and above all things, follow after h()ljne
s,
withou which no Il n 81 all see tf Lo d. Holine oS is a qualifica-
tion indispensably required in every Christian, and that sub
pericuTo animæ, as hp hopes to be 8 ved, and to see the face of God
in heaven. And can it be imagined. that a minister of God
should be
aved \\;thout it
Kay, he is obliged to holine:,:; in a
double capacity, both as a Christian and as a minister. _\.s a
minister, his calling obliges him to be almost perpetually con-
versant about holy thing
; which he profane:-z, if he be not him-
self a holy person. He profane God's holy ,,"orship, hi
holy

b Jam
s v, 14.

280

A COljnp((nio/
fOl' the

,vord and his holy sacranlents; and God will 1l10st certainly and
severely punish such profaners of his sacred things.
Nay, a Ininister of God is obliged to an exenlplary holiness.
Epiphanius tells us that the duty of the laity is TÒ (J"Ú/1-PÆTPOV Ka

TÒ uVYYVWUTÒV, a 'flwre
noderate measure if piety, suited to t.heir
capacity and tenlpered with a greater indulgence and luercy.
But frOIU the clergy is expected
7rEPL 7ráVTWV àKptßoÀoyía, a
'f)wre exact and aCCltrate course of life in all tlânps. And St. Paul
speaks to the saIne purpose, when he charges Titus to she\v
himself in aU things an exa}J
ple or pattern of good works c . For
every pattern nlust be excellent and extraordinary and such as
is worthy of imitation. This the people will expect fron1 us,
that we should go before thenl and lead them on to virtue and
piety by our example. And ho\vever they fail in other civilities,
they will be sure generally to observe this piece of good manners,
they will readily give us the precedence in the \vay to heaven
and be content to follow us at a very hllnlble distance. So that
our conversation must be somewhat extraordinary, if we expect
by our example to bring thein up to the ordinary and necessary
measures of piety; and ,ve shall hardly be able to do well, unless
,ve ourselves do sOluewhat excellently.
2. Be diligent, very diligent in the business of your calling;
for it is a laborious calling that will not admit of ease and idle-
ness. I speak especially to the younger clergy; ply your
studies, give yourselves to reading, chiefly the holy scriptures
and the \vritings of learned men, that have eXplained t.hem to
you.
The exhortations of St. Paul to Timothy are full to this pur-
pose; Till I come, give attendance to reading, to exhortation, to
doctrine, meditate 'ltpon tltese things, give thJJself wholly to them,
tltat thJJ p140fiting maJJ appear uvto all d . Consider, I beseech
you, \vhat kind of person he ,vas, wholn St. Paul thus exhorts:
he was one, who froln a child kne\v the holy scriptures; one
that had the gift of prophecy and ,vas endued with extraordi-
nary and even miraculous gifts. This man St. Paul earnestly
calls upon to be diligent in reading and study; ,vhat need then
have we, even the Lest of us, of this diligence, who are so very
far short of his accomplishments! J n a ,vord, an idle person in
any ('aIling whatsoever is very contelnptible; but an idle and

c Titus ii, 7.

d I Tim. Ï\r, 13. 15.

Oandidates of holy 01ylers.

281

Iazy parochial priest is of alllllortals the n10st contenlptible and
inexcusable. '''hat! so n1uch business, and that of so great
inlportance as the salvation of nlen's souls, and yet idle
For the
Lord's sake shake off sloth, rouse up and bestir yourselves in the
business of your calling, renlembering that the souls of your
people and your own souls are at stake.
3. And lastly, be much and often in prayer to God, especially
in private prayer. Content not yourselves with reading prayers
at church, but take care also that there be daily prayera in your
fanlilies, at least n10rning and evening; and some time every day
retire to your studies, and there, upon your bended knees,
earnestly beseech Ahnighty God to have mercy on you, to direct
and assist JOu in your studies and to give you
ood success in
your labours. Pray for the souls of the people committed to
your charge; pray for your own souls that, wl
ile you preach to
others, you !J'ourselvf.s rnay not he castawaJJs.
If you do these things; if you adorn J 9 0ur holy profession
with a holy conversation; if you be diligent in the business of
your calling; if you pray daily to God for his help and assist-
ance; he will not fail to be with you and to carry you t.hrough
all difficulties with honour and success; and in the end your
reward will be great and glorious, and an abundant cOlllpensation
of aU your labours. So St. Peter tells you in that excellent text,
with which I shall conclude; Feed the flock of God, 'If)ltich is
among !fOU, taking the o'Cersight thereof, not hJJ constraint, hut
lcillingly; not for filth!! lucre, hut of a read!f înind,. neither as
heing lords 01Jer God's heritage, hztt heing ensaJnples to the flock. And
(when the chief Shepherd shall appear, !Ie shall receive a crown oJ-
glo'r!f that fadetk not awa!fe.

e I Peter v, 2, 3, 4.

.

DIRECTIONS

GIVEN

TO THE CLERGY
OF THE DIOCESE OF LONDON,

IN THE YEAR l\tlDCCXXIV.

BY THE RIGHT REVEREND FATHER IN GOD

ED
IUND

LORD BISHOP OF LONDOX.

To which is added,

His CHARGE to the Clergy, in his last Visitation, begun in the Year
1741 and finished in the Year 1742.

.

ED
fUND GIBSON ,vas born in the Parish of Bampton,
'Vestmoreland, in J669; and ,vent, from the Free Grammar
School there, to Queen's College, Oxford, in J 686. He took
the Degree of
f. A. in 1694; and \yas elected Fellow of his
College in 1696, having previously distinguished himself, in
the University, by several publications that she,ved diligent
research and much Antiquarian learning. One of these,
dedicated to Dr. Tenison, then Bishop of Lincoln, gained for
him the favourable notice of that Prelate, who soon after,vards
became Archbishop of Canterbury and appointed him, first,
Librarian and then, Domestic Chaplain, at Lambeth. His
relation to the Primate led him to take a prominent part in
the disputes of those times bet,veen the T"fO Houses of Con-
vocation; and his services ,yere rewarded by a series of Pre-
ferments, among which ,vere the Rectory of Lambeth and the
Archdeaconry of Surrey.
In J 7 I 6, upon the death of his Patron and the promotion of
Dr. 'Vake, then Bishop of Lincoln, t.o the Archbishopric, he
was appointed Bishop of Lincoln; and in 1723, ,,-as translated
to the See of London. There he found full scope for his
great abilities in transacting business; especially during the pro-
tracted decline of Archbishop lVake, whose duties, in many in-
stances, devolved on him. A general expectation that he ,vould
succeed the Primate, for ,yhom he had long and efficiently
acted, was in the e'?ellt disappointed. Surviving the Arch-
bishop many years, he continued to preside over the Diocese
of London and persevered in the labours of a faithful chief
Pastor of CHR[ST't S Church, until he died in 1748.
Of his numerous 'V' orks one of the principal is the "Codex
Juris Ecclesiastici Anglicani," which was originally published

86

by himself In 1713; but, in a Second Edition, ,,,ith large
additions from Papers left by the Author, at Oxford, in 1761.
He edited, in I 738, three vols. folio, entitled: " A Preser-
" vative against Popery; a Collection of Discourses upon the
"principal heads of Controversy between Protestants and
" Papists, being written and published by the most eminent
"Divines of the Church of England, chiefly in the Reign of
" James II." This excellent work has been republished, with
some additions, in eighteen volumes octavo, London, 18 4 8 ,
18 49.

-.

DIRECTIONS

GIVEN TO

THE CLERGY

OF THE DIOCESE OF LONDON,

I
THE YEAR l\JDCCXXIV.

Reverend brethren,
"r HEN it pleased his majesty to translate me to the see of
London, upon the death of a pious predecessor no\v with God,
I was very sensible of the great weight and difficuity of the
charge, as requiring almost perpetual attendances of one kind or
another, and entangled with a greater variety of emergencies
and III ore exposed to the observation and censure of the world,
than the administration of any other diocese. But as I was
called to this charge without any application or endeavour on my
own part, I considered it as a providential appointment and
firInly trusted that the same God, whose providence had called
me to it, would graciously direct and support me in the discharge
of it, to his glory and the good of his church.
And next to the divine goodness, upon which I humbly rely
for such a n1easure of wisdom and understanding and 'Such
strength of body and resolution of mind, as a station of so llluch
labour and difficulty requires, I IllUst depend upon the kind and
unanilnous assist.ance of you, IllY reverend brethren; and 1 doubt
not but }'OU will be ready on all occasions to join with nle in

88

TIle Bishop of London's

preservIng and establishing order and discipline within this
diocese; \yhich, as it is adorned with the capital city of the
kingdolll, fron1 whence, as froin a fountain, good and evil are
derived to all parts of the kingdom; and as it may well be pre-
sumed to abound with persons of greater learning, knowledge
and experience, than any other diocese; ought upon both these
accounts to be a pattern of order and discipline to the whole
nation. And nlore particularly ought it to be the pattern of a
regular behaviour in the clergy and of an exact perforinance of
the public offices of the church; upon \vhich two it Dlay Illost
truly be said that national piety and religion do nlainly depend;
nothing being Dlore clear in experience than that the spirit of
piety and religion decays >1' increases in particular parishes,
according as the inculllbent sets a good or bad exalnple, and
the public offices in the church are reverently or negligently
perfornled.
For the promoting these good ends, I choose, at my first
coming to you, to put into your hands SOllie rules and obserya-
tions, \vhich more particularly relate to those t\yO iinportant
points. For though I doubt not but as Illany of the clergy of
this diocese as have been a long time incunlbents in it and have
reaped the full advantage of books and conversation, ,yhich is its
peculiar blessing, are abundantly instructed in the several
branches of the pastoral office; yet it must be renlelnbered, that
there are many others, whose age observation and experience
are much less; and to theIr! therefore I would be understood
11l0re especially to apply InyseIf, in suggesting such rules as are
of n10st constant use and seeill to DIe to be n10st needful, for
discharging the nlinisterial function, \vith honour to the church
and edification to the people: resolving also to put then1 into the
hands of those who will have yet greater need of theIn, Ilnean,
all such as I shall hereafter appoint to parochial cures, whether
by institution or license. And if the rules which I have laid down
shall be thought plain and obvious, it is a sufficient answer that
they are useful: since it may be truly said of all rules for the
conduct of hun1an life in any branch whatsoever that, the lllore
plain the rule is, the nlore Î1nportant the duty.
And because I shall begin with the decent and regular
perfonnance of the public offices of the church; that which I
lnust mention in the first place, as
L general preparation for the
rest, is,

Directions to Ids OleJ
!/, 17
4.

289

1. The decency of the place in which those offices are to be
perforn1ed, in point of repairs, cleanliness and all accomn10dations
of books, vessels, vestn1ents and other things, which the rubrics
and canons of the church suppose and require. For nothing is
more certain than that the solemn appearance of the place is the
11leanS of begetting a reverence in the minds of the persons, and
a suitable honour for the public worship of God; and, on the
other hand, all mean and unseemly appearances in the house of
God and all neglects of the decent and necessary preparations
for his public worship, beget an indolence and inactivity in the
minds of the congregation and a contempt, or at least a disre-
gard, of the worship itself. So that the observation is ordinarily
true that the want of decency and cleanliness in the house of
God is a sign of the want of true piety and devotion in the hearts
of the people. God be thanked, there has of late years been an
unusual zeal in this nation for the repairing and beautifying
parochial churches and furnishing them with all proper ac-
commodations for the decent and orderly perfornlance of divine
service: but where that spirit has not yet prevailed and the
churches appear to need it, I 111Ust beseech you to do all that is
in your power to raise it among the people; and particularly,
I must beseech every rector to set his parishioners a good ex-
anlple upon this head, as well as others, by keeping his chancel
'not only in good repair, but in a decent condition.
The decency and solen1nity of the place being thus provided
for; that which con1es first under consideration an10ng the duties
to be perforn1ed in it is,
II. The reading of divine service to the congregation. An
office that is usually reckoned a luatter of course, which all
clergymen are equally capable of perforn1ing and which they
can hardly perforrl1 an1iss; and yet it is n10st certain that the
edification of the people and the honour of the liturgy itself
depend a great deal upon the luanner of performing it; that is,
upon the reading it audibly, distinctly ànd solenlnly. It is an
absurdity and an iniqnity, which we justly charge upon the
church of Rome, that her public service is in a tongue unknown
to the people; but though our service is in a known tongue, it
lnust be owned that, as the reading it without being heard makes
it to all intents and purposes an unknown tongue, so confused
and indistinct reading, with every degree thereof, is a gradual
approach to it. The dissenters object against our public liturgy,

IJ

90

The Bishop of Londun's

that it is cold and lifeless and unaffecting: but though the
objection has no force in itself (what they call cold and lifeless
being no more than grave and serious, as all public liturgies
ought to be) yet \ve may give it very great force by running
over the service in a cold and unaffecting manner. Our people
themselves are too apt, in their own minds, to vilify and depre-
ciate this part of our public service, as that which is ready com-
posed to the minister's hand and requires no further talent than
the bare reading; but \ve find by experience to \vhat degrees
this objection vanishes, and ho\v devoutly and reverently the
service is attended to, where it has the just advantage of being
read in a distinct, solemn and affectionate manner. In a word,
it is in vain to hope that the people will be zealous, if they see
the minister indifferent, or that any service will be duly attended
to, \vhich is not recommended to them as a matter of great
concern and Ï1nportance, by being perfonned in a serious and
affecting way; and whenever we perform it carelessly and pre-
cipitately, we nIust forgive them if they believe that ,ve ac-
count it a task and a burden to us, which we are willing to get
rid of with as little trouble and in as short a time as we can:
a consideration that \vill oblige me to resist, to the utmost of
nlY power and where there is not the most evident necessity, all
attell1pts in ministers to charge themselves with the performing
of divine service on any Lord's day more than twice; as it is a
practice which for the most part nlust render the service less
affecting and edifying as to the people, and almost unavoidably
dra\vs the reproaches I have lnentioned, both upon the liturgy
and the n1Ïnister.
I an1 aware that the duty \vhich I anI now pressing is not
equally in every one's power; all luen having not an equal
strength and felicity of voice. And, considering ho\v nluch
depends upon these qualifications, in order to an useful and
honourable discharge of the ministerial office, it is 1l1uch to be
\visheJ that greater regard ,vere had to then1, in n1aking choice
of persons for the sacred function; and particularly, that in the
education of those \vho are designed for the ministry, the right
forming of the voice "'ere lnade one special care frotH the very
beginning, in our schools, as well as universities: a care, which
however omitted by others, it is to be hoped will not be forgot-
ten by such clergyn1cn who have sons that are intended for the
lninistry; because they know by experience and cannot but

Di1'ections to ltis Oler!}!!, 17Q4.

91

sensibly feel, the great hnportance and advantage of it. In the
Dlean titue, with regard to those ,vho are already admitted to
holy orders, I Inust beg leave to observe that. as on one hand
there are few whose perfections and abilities in this way are so
conlplete by nature as to supersede all endeavours after further
improvement; so, on the other hand, there are not Inany, whose
natural talents are so very defective and unhappy as to be
incapable of being bettered by care and observation. At least,
it is very certain that none are so irregularly framed as not to
be capab1e of officiating in a devout and serious manner, such as
shall she\v that the person who officiates is himself thoroughly
affected; and this, ,,,here it appears, makes such a strong and
constant impression upon t.he minds of the congregation as goes
a great ,yay to atone for other failings, which they see to be
natural and unavoidable. But a supine, careless and indevout
way of perfol'lning divine service is utterly inexcusable both
with God and man.
'Vhen lllinisters have given it the utInost advantages they can,
they will find it to be all little enough to keep up the attention
and devotion of the people; ,vhose nlinds are overwhelmed with
worldly cares and too little accustouled to spiritual exercises of
any kind. However, nlinisters who officiate in that devout and
affectionate way do a great deal towards the raising in thenl a
spirit of devotion; and nlore they cannot do, unless the people
will be persuaded to the practice of family devotion; which
would hinder the mind frolll being drowned in worldly thoughts
and habituate it to the moving and approaching towards heaven;
and ,vhich therefore I nlust entreat you to pro)note in your
several parishes to the utmost of Jour power, with this view,
among others, that greater degrees of attention and devotion
may be seen in our public assen1blies. For the sanle end, I
will take this occasion to mention one thing n10re; and that is,
the practice of saying grace before and after nleals; which,
howeycr small it may see)l1, yet being a devout acknowledgn1ent
of the providence of God over us and of our dependence upon
him, it would be another good means of keeping up a spirit of
piety and devotion in falnilies, if it were brought into constant
practice.
III. Besides that part in our public devotions which properly
belongs to the Ininister, there is another, which, though it
belongs to the whole body of the congregation. will haròly be
uQ

29

Tlte Bishop of London'8

performed in a decent and edifying n1anner, without sOlne pre-
vious care and assistance on his part; I mean the singing of
psalms. This is a divine and heavenly exercise, which the
scripture recommends to us as one special means of edification;
and being then in its greatest perfection, when it is perforo1ed
by Christians in a joint harmony of heart and voice, it has been
ever accounted a standing part of public devotion, not only in
the Jewish but in the Christian church. And in the church of
England particularly, whose Sunday-service is made up of three
offices, which were originally distinct and in their natures are
so, there is the greater need of the intervention of psalmody,
that the transitions froln one service to another may not be too
sudden and abrupt. This exercise therefore, being a part of our
public devotions and very useful when it is duly and regularly
performed, n1ust not be forgotten, while we are considering of
proper rules for decency and edification in the church; especi-
ally, since it is so plain in experience that, where no care is
taken in this nlatter, the perforlnance will be very indecent and
indeed shocking.
To prevent that, and to provide for due solelunity in this part
of our public service as well as the rest, I have often wished
that every minister would take the trouble of directing the
choice of proper psaln1s; or rather that they would once for all
fix and establish a course of psalms, to be given out and sung in
their order. By \vhich means, the congregation might be fur-
nished \vith those which are most proper and also with a due
variety; and, by degrees, the most useful parts of the Book of
Psalms would be in1planted in the minds of the people and
become familiar to theine
With a view to those good ends, and by way of assistance to
the younger clergy, I have subjoined to these directions a course
of singing-psahns; \vhich may be gone through every six
11lonths, and is so ordered, as to consist of a proper lnixture,
1. of praises and thanksgivings, 2. of prayer to God and trust in
hiln, and, S. of precepts and Inotives to a godly life. But when
I put this into your hands, I would not be understood to direct,
but only to recol11mend the use of it; leaving you at full liberty
to choose any other parts of the Book of Psahns which you may
judge proper; provided you leave not the choice to the parish
clerk, ,vhich I earnestly desire you will not.
And, to the end the psahns so chosen lllay be sung in a Dlore

Directions to his Olergy, 1 724. Q9

decent tnanner, it is further to be wished that the people of
every parish, and especially the youth, were trained up and
accustomed to an orderly way of singing some of the psalnl tunes
which are most plain and easy and of most common use; since
that is the proper season of forming the voice as well as the
mind, and the regularity into which it is then cast with great
ease will remain with them during life, and not only enable them
to contribute their part to the decency of this performance, but,
even for the sake of that talent, \vill incline them to be constant
in attending the public service of the church.
But when I recommend the bringing your people, whether
old or young, to a decent and orderly way of singing psalms, I
do by no means recommend to you or them the inviting or
encouraging those idle instructors, who of late years have gone
about the several countries to teach tunes uncommon and out of
the way; (which very often are as ridiculous as they are new;
and the consequence of which is that the greatest part of the
congregation, being unaccustomed to them, are silenced and do not
join in this exercise at all;) but my meaning is, that you should
endeavour to bring your whole congregation, men and ,vomen,
old and young, or at least as many as you can, to sing five or six
of the plainest and best known tunes, in a decent, regular and
uniform manner, so as to be able to bear their part in them
at the public service of the church,
'Vhich last advantage, of bringing the whole congregation to
join in this exercise, will be best obtained, especially in country
parishes, by directing the clerk to read the psalm line by line, as
they go on; by ,vhich means, they who cannot read will yet
be able to bear a part in singing; and even they who can nei-
ther read nor sing will re
eive, from the matter of the psaln1,
both instruction in their duty and improvenlent in their
devotion.
Under this head, I must take notice of the choice of parish
clerks, who are assistants to the minister in performing divine
service and are still in his nomination, by canon in all places,
and by custonl also in most. And upon this account., their qua-
lifications, "of honest conversation and sufficiency for reading,
writing and singing/yare specially provided for in the ninety-
first canon of our church; which was made on purpose to guard
against the indecencies that parish clerks, who are not duly qua-
lified, always bring into the public worship. In conformity to

9-t

The Bishop of London's

which canon, it is to be hoped that, as there shall be occasion,
n1Ïnisters (setting aside all private regards and applications) will
choose such persons to be their clerks as are known to be of
sober conversation and of ability to perform the part that
belongs to thelli (especially in the point of psalmody) decently
and laudably.
If what I have said under this head, concerning psaln10dy and
the qualifications of parish clerks, shaH be thought a descending
to points too little and unworthy of regard, let it be remembered
that nothing can be called little, ,vhich conduces in any degree to
so great an end, as is the decent, and orderly perforn1ance of the
public 'worship of God.
But to return to the duties which belong to the Ininistcr
alone.
IV. 'Vhat has been said under the second head, concerning
the advantages of reading in a distinct and affectionate manner,
equally holds in the duty of preaching; the effects and impres-
sions whereof, \vith the several degrees of theIn, do net 1110re
depend upon anyone thing than the manner of delivering.
'Vhen Demosthenes was asked, 'V hat was the first qualification
of a good ora tor? his ans\ver ,vas, Pronunciation; and being
further asked, what was the second? and after that, what was
the third? he still ,vent on to answer, Pronunciation; ut eam
videri posset, non præcipuam, sed solam, judicasse, as Quintilian
adds, ,vho relates the passage. Thus it always has been and
always will be, in mixed and popular assenlblies. And the pro-
per inference frolll thence is not to fall into complaints that
elnpty sounds should in so lllany instances obtain greater praise
and a lllore favourable acceptance, than good sense expressed in
proper language; but let the inference be, an endeavour to
reconunend good sense by the advantage of good elocution. For
it is in vain to contend against experience; and in experience
nothing is more plain and certain than the great Ï1nportance of
a distinct and graceful elocution, both to the honour of the
preacher and the edification of the hearers; and therefore an
endeavour after it is a justice that is owing as ,veIl to your
own cOlnpositions as to the souls which are c01l1mitted to
your care.
But although the ehurch having COlllposed a public service to
our hands, all that is required on our part is the reading it in
... distinct, serious and affectionate Inanner; yet the work of

Directions to Ids Olerg!/, 17Q4.

95

preaching, being now left by the church entirely to incumbents,
requires an additional care as to matter, method and other cir-
cun1stances. In speaking to which heads I would not have it
understood, as if my design were to enter into t.he general rules
of preaching: this has been often done already by much abler
hands: and my only aim is to give a ('heck to SOlne particular
irregularities in this way, ,vhich young men are apt to fall
into and which, in my opinion, tend to defeat the main ends
of public preaching, especially in mixed and popular congre-
gations.
To prevent this, it Inust be always remembered, in the first
place, that we are Christian preachers and not barely preachers
of morality. For though it is true that one end of Christ's
coming was to correct the false glosses and interpretations of the
luorallaw and, in consequence thereof. one end of his instituting
a n1inistry must be, to prevent the return of those abuses, by
keeping up in the minds of luen a true notion of natural religion
and a just sense of their obligations to the perfonnance of moral
duties; yet it is also true that the main end of his coming
was to establish a ne,v covenant ,vith mankind, founded upon
new tenns and new promises; to shew us a ne\v way of obtain-
ing forgiveness of sins and reconciliation to God and eternal
happiness; and to prescribe rules of greater purity and holiness,
by way of preparation for greater degrees of happiness and
glory. These (that is, the several branches of what ,ve may call
the mediatorial scheme, ,,,ith the several duties annexed to and
resulting from each branch) are, without doubt, the n1ain ingre-
dients of the gospel state; those, by which Christianity stands
distinguished from all other religions, and Christians are raised
to far higher hopes and far greater degrees of purity and per-
fection. In which views it would seem strange. if a Christian
preacher were to dwell only upon such duties as are comn10n to
J" ews, Heathens and Christians; and were not 1110re especially
obliged to dwell on and)nculcate those' principles and doctrines,
which are the distinguishing excellencies of the Christian reli-
gion, and by the knowledge and practice of which, more especi-
ally, every Christian is entitled to the blessings and privileges of
the gospel covenant.
But yet so it is. that these subjects are too much forgotten
among young preachers; who, being better acquainted with
morality than rlivinity, fall naturally into the choice of moral

Q96

Tlte Bishop of London's

rather than divine subjects and will of course do so, till the two
subjects are equally considered and understood. And this par-
tiality (if I may so call it) to one above the other seems to have
had its rise from the ill tilnes, when, the pulpits being much
taken up with some favourite points of divinity, discourses upon
moral heads were less common; and after those times were over,
their successors, upon the Restoration, desirous to correct that
error and to be upon the whole as little like their predecessors
as lllight be, seem to have fallen into the contrary extreme;
that probably in Inany places the heads of divinity began so
to be as rarely treated of, as the heads of morality had been
before.
The thing therefore, \vhich I would reconlmend to young
preachers is, to avoid both the extrenles, by ordering the choice
of t.heir subjects in snch a manner that each of those heads may
have its proper share and their hearers be duly instructed upon
both. Only, \vith these caut.ions in relation to moral subjects;
that, upon all such occåsions, justice be done at the sanIe tinIe
to Christianity, by taking special notice of the improvenlents
which it has made in each branch of the moral scheme, and
\varning their hearers not to rest in the righteousness of a moral
heathen, but to aspire to Christian perfection; and, in the next
place, that all moral discourses be enriched by examples and
illustrations from scripture; \vhich, besides its being nIore fa-
miliar to the people than any other \vritings, has in it such a
noble plainness and sinIplicity as far surpasses all the beauties
and elegancies t.hat are so llluch adnlÏred in heathen authors.
To which give me leave to add a third observation, with regard
to the doctrines and duties, peculiarly belonging to the Christ-
ian scheme or the ne\v covenant; that the true ,vay to secure
to these their proper share, is the setting apart some certain sea-
sons of the year for catechetical discourses, whether ill the way
of expounding or preaching; which being carried on regularly,
though at different tinIes, according to the order and method of
the Church Catechism, \"ill lead the 111inister, as by a thread, to
the great and fundanIental doctrines of the Christian faith; and
not only to explain them to the people, but to layout the parti-
cular duties \vhich more inInlediately ßO\V frolll each head, toge-
ther ,vith the encouragenlents to the performance of them; that
so principle and practice may go hand in hand, as they do
t.hroughout the \vhole Christian scheme, and as they certainly

Directions to kis Gle1:qy, 17Q4.

297

ought to do throughout the preaching of every Christian minis-
ter. This was the foundation of that standing rule alnong our
ancestors, to proceed upon every head, expressly, by way of
doctrine and use; and however the terms may be discontinued,
the things never nlust, if we resolve to preach to the true edifi-
cation of our hearers. And, with the same view, it seenlS neces-
sary to add one rule more, which is, that in our sermons the
doctrinal part be conlprised in as narrow a compass as the
a-
ture of the subject will fairly bear, that so sufficient room
may be left for a distinct and particular enforcement of the
practical duties resulting from it, and not barely for a brief and
superficial mention of theIn, which is too often the case and
must unavoidably be so, where too large a scope is given to the
doctrinal part.
This is an error, into which young men are naturally led by
the practice in the universities; where sermons being required
rather as an exercise of the preacher, than for the instruction
and edification of the hearers, greater allowances may be nlade
for theory and speculation: but this is a nlischievous indulgence
in other congregations, over which ministers are professedly ap-
pointed as public teachers, to instruct and edify their people, and
not to make proof of their own abilities.
The same is to be said of the choice of unCOInmon subjects,
and the treating of those that are common in an uncommon and
refined ,vay; which gains great applause in our universities, as a
testimony of good parts or great reading: but in popular con-
gregations it answers not anyone of those wise ends, for which
pu blic preaching ,vas instituted.
In like manner, close argument and a long chain of reasonings
and consequences from the mere nature of things, are very
useful and laudable before a learned audience, who have capaci-
ties to comprehend and follow them; but in other audiences,
the reasonings may easily be so close as to be unintelligible;
and therefore, in condescension to nle
ner understandings, they
must be loosened and disentangled by proper divisions and ren-
dered plain and obvious by such examples and allusions as are
most familiar to the people.
If the submitting to these things shall be thought a diminution \
to preachers \vho are capable of the more close and refined ,yay,
it must be l'emembered that the being able to make things plain
t.o the Dleanest capacities is no ordinary talent; that in all cases I

98

The Bishop of London's

! he must be allo\ved to speak best, who speaks things that arise
most naturally from the subject in hand; and that, particularly
in thp ,york of preaching, the faculty of discoursing pertinently
upon all subjects, in a distinct Inethod and proper language,
with as close reasoning as the audience can bear and no closer,
is a very great perfection, not to be attained but by a clear
understanding and a solid judgment, improved by long exer-
cise and an intinIate acquaintance with the best and most ju-
dicious authors.
Against these and all other errors, into which young preach-
ers are apt to fall, I kno,v no better general remedies than these
two: the first, that when they have pitched upon their subject
and considered ,vhat the heads are which it naturally suggests,
they weigh each head separately, and fill everyone of them
with hints of proper matter, before they begin to compose. By
this nIeans, the discourse will be more solid and the several
parts of it duly connected; and ,vhen they have before their
eyes and in one view, all the heads to be treat.ed of, they ,viII
take c
re that the \vhole be uniform and that no greater share
be allowed to anyone head than is consistent ,vith their doing
justice to the rest. The second is that, before they go on to
conlpose, they make references, under each head, to such proofs
and examples of scripture, as tend to confirm or explain the
several doctrines to be treated of; by \vhich means, the text and
phrases of scriptures (the best elnbellishments of all religious
discourses) will spread themselves into every branch and be
sure to be taken in, 'where the application of them is most easy
and pertinent; as they ,viII also suggest many proper and useful
thoughts in t.he ,vhole course of the conlposition ; there being no
doubt but the Spirit of God is best able to acquaint us with the
motives and arguments which are most effectual for the propa-
gating religion and the reforming of mankind.
The holy scriptures are our great rule both of faith and prac-
tice; but the precepts and examples contained in them are not
ranged into one vie,v under the several heads of duty, but are
mixed and dispersed throughout the sacred books. And though
those books are in the hands of the people and ,vill not fail to
give great light and good impressions, when they are seriously
and frequently read by them; yet it must be owned that the
weight and conviction, \vhich they carry in them, are much in-
creased, ,vhen the several places of the same import and ten-

]Jir'ections to ltis Clergy, 1724.

299

dency are laid together and con1pared and are applied to the
mind in their united strength. A work, which cannot in reason be
expected froll1 the generality of the people, unless they had more
leisure and greater abilities; and a ,vork, therefore, that cer-
tainly belongs to the ministers of God's word, who have both
leisure and abilities and who cannot lay a better foundation of
sound and useful preaching, than in this ,vayof digesting the
precepts and examples of scripture and making them mutual
explications and enforcenlents of one another.
Every minister declares, at the time of his ordination, that he
is determined to instruct the people conlmitted to his charge out
of the holy scriptures and that he will be diligent in reading
and studying them. And I anI fully persuaded that this
n1ethod of conlparing scripture with scripture.) which is so very
beneficial to the people in plain and practical points, will also be
found upon trial to be the best lnethod that a minister can take,
in order to form a just notion of the spirit of religion in general
and of the meaning of such particular passages as are less plain
and need explication. Whether the difficulty arise from the
phrase and language of scripture, or from some peculiar offices
and usages of those ancient times, or from any seeming incoher-
ence in the reasoning and argument: in all these cases, and I
will add, in all other difficulties, of what kind soever, the
frequent reading of holy writ, till the stX1e and spirit of it be-
comes fanliliar to us, and the comparing particular passages with
others of like nature and tendency, ,viII appear to be our best
help and most sure guide. And whoever has patience and
resolution enough to proceed and persevere in this way, though
he may go on slowly, will go on surely and find hinlself in the
end a far greater proficient than those who, neglecting this
method, shall w hoUy betake themselves to assistances of other
kinds. Not that any assistance is to be neglected, which may
furnish us with knowledge of so high and valuable a nature;
but my meaning is that, in general, b\"l'ipture is the best inter- } .
p re ter of se ipture, and that the conl p ãring scripture ,vith scrip- (
ture is the surest way to the true understanding of it; and
therefore, that recourse ought not ordinarily to be had to the
other ways (however seemingly more short and easy) till this
has been fully tried and the nlind still calls for further light
and assistance. It was the saying of a great man that the time
which he thought he spent best was bet,veen his Bible and his

300

The Bishop of London
s

Concordance: and however expositors may be useful and even
necessary, upon sonle particular points, yet it is very certain
that no person, who is possessed of those t\VO and has not at
least a cOlnpetent knowledge of the holy scriptures, can fairly
charge his want of kno\vledge upon the want of books: on the
contrary, it can be a ,vant of nothing but industry and applica-
tion in the business of his profession.
But \vhatsoever means or helps of other kinds we lnay have
recourse to for the right understanding of the holy scriptures,
there are two which will be always necessary, and which are
equally in everyone's power, viz. a sincere desire to know the
,viII of God, in order to practise it when known; and earnest
prayer to him for the assistance of the Holy Spirit, in all
our inquiries concerning the revelations
which he has made to
mankind.
V. But, notwithstanding the greatest care and most serious
endeavours in ministers to render their discourses useful and
edifying, ,ve must not expect that preaching will have its full
effect, unless there be some preparation also on the part of the
hearers. For as no discourses in any art or science can be tole-
rably understood, where the general terms and principles be-
longing to them are not learnt in the first place; so those
particularly of religion must in great measure be lost, unless the
people be prepared to receive and apprehend them, by a general
knowledge of the language and principles of Christianity. This
shews us the great necessity there is to be careful and diligent
in the work of catechising, or instructing youth in the general
principles of religion; because upon t.hat it nlainly depends,
whether our preaching shall be successful or not; in other
words, whether people shall be capable or uncapable, during
life, to hear and read religious discourses with profit and delight.
And as none who is a faithfullaoourer in God's vineyard can be
indifferent, whether the seed which he sows shall grow up or
die; so, in proportion to everyone's desire to see that seed grow
up to perfection, ,viII his care and diligence be to prepare the
soil for the kindly reception of it: a preparation, which must be
begun in repeating the Catechism by heart; but, if it end there,
will not av
il much to the purpose of profitable hearing. And
therefore it is of great use, and indeed necessity, that children
be likewise obliged to con1mit to melnory such plain texts of
holy scripture as confirm and illustrate the several branches of

Directiolls to kis Clergy, 17
4.

SOl

the Church Catechislll, and that, as they grow up, they be ex-
horted to peruse and consider sonle of those larger catechisms,
which give a more particular insight into the Christian faith and
which therefore may be properly said to finish the preparation
that we are now speaking of.
VI. The directions which I have been hitherto offering re-
late to the performance of public duties and offices in the church.
But you are not to reckon yonI' ministerial cares at an end as
Boon as these are over; there being other pastoral duties of
a more private nature, to which you are equally obliged, though
not in law as incumbents, yet in conscience as the nlinisters
of Christ.
For instance, dissuasives from vice in general, or even from
this or that. particular vice, when delivered from the pulpit, may
possibly not be heard by the persons who are most guilty; or
if they be heard, men are apt to be partial to themselves, and
not to reckon that what is delivered equally to all concerns
them more than their neighbours; or those general dissuasives
may be capable of additional strength from particular circum-
stances in the condition of particular persons; the mention of
which in public would be more apt to harden than reform. In
these and the like cases, ministers will ofttimes see very great
need of private admonition and reproof; and if those prove in-
effectual, there is one step further, which they either ought to
make themselves or procure to be made by the officers of the
church, and that is, the presenting of obstinate offenders to the
spiritual power, to bring thenl to public shanle and to deter
others from falling into the like practices; and so to deliver the
Christian name from the scandal of open and barefaced wicked-
ness, and our church from the reproach of suffering it to go
on with impunity and in defiance of her la\vs. Two vices I will
name in particular, which are more conlmon and more daring
than the rest, drunkenness and swearing: but notwithstanding
they are so very comnIon, and that t
e canon concerning pre-
sentments makes express mention of those two by name, yet I
believe they are seldolll found among the crimes presented: for
what reason I cannot conceive, unless it be that the laws of the
state have appointed temporal penalties for them. But as there
is nothing in those laws that has taken away the authority
of the church, so is there no cause why the exercise of that
authority in these particulars should be discontinued; at least,

SOQ

The BisltOl) of London's

till we see the teluporal hnvs executed with greater zeal 3nd
better effect.
In the next place, there may be those under your care, who
are troubled in mind or amicted with scruples; and as Christ,
in the \vords of the prophet, 'was sent to 'bind 'lip the 'brolcen-hearted,
\vhich our Saviour also has specially applied to himself; there
can be no doubt but you are obliged to attend the saIne \vork
and to consider yourselves, in this respect aluong others, as his
ministers upon earth: endeavouring to discharge this branch of
your office \visely and prudently, and to be able to resolve
doubts and difficulties ,vhich relate to conscience, by a competent
knowledge in casuistical divinity.
This is oftentinles the case of sick persons; \vhom a lowness
of spirits naturally subjects to doubts and distrusts, either wholly
groundless or far nlore dark and dislnal than they need be; and
\vho in that condition are great objects of your compassion. Or
it nlay happen in other instances, that the fears are too well
founded upon the sense and consciousness of a wicked life; and
in that case they have still the more need of your counsel and
assistance, to direct thetu in the great affair of their souls and
the nlost probable methods \vhich then relllain, of luaking their
peace \vith God. Or, though there be no doubts or fears of any
sort, yet the bare \veakness of body and mind calls for your
assistance in prayer to God; \yhich, besides the other effects, is
usually a great cOlllfort and refreshment to thenI. Upon these
accounts our church has made it one part of the business of
every lllinister to visit the sick; and there relnains yet one 1110re
duty in case of their recovery, nanlely, to Le often pressing thenl
to a serious reflection upon the danger they have been in and a
remembrance of their solenln vows and pronlises, while they had
death before their eyes.
And \vhile I am Iuentioning the pastoral duties of a more
private nature, I must not onlit that of lnaking peace and cOln-
posing differences al110ng neighbours; a \vork, which certainly
belongs to the preachers of peace and the ministers of the God
of peace, and for which they are generally nluch better qualified
than other men, by their equal influence over both parties and
the equal relation they bear to both. Accordingly our Church,
in her Ordination-Service, requires of every person, who is to be
ordained, a solemn declaration and proluise "that he \viII main-
tain and set forwards, as much Jieth in hilu, quietness, peace

Di1'ectlulls tu ltis Ole'i:qy J 1724.

JOS

and love fi1l10ng all Christian people, and especiaIIy among theln
that are or shall be committed to his charge."
These and the like duties of a pastoral kind (which I call
private, by way of distinction froIll the public duties in the
church) do ilnlnediately result froln the nature of your office and
ministry, but are not so strictly bound upon you by the laws of
church and state as the public duties are: a circumstance
which adds much to the honour, as ,veIl as merit, of discharging
them diligently; since the nlore this appears to be the effect of
your own choice and inclination, the more it endears you to the
people and is the strongest testimony both to them and your-
selves that you are acted, in the whole course of your ministry,
by a true principle of conscience and a tender concern for the
souls of men.
VII. But besides public instructions fronl the pulpit and
adnlonitions and reproofs in a private ,vay, there is another sort
of teaching, which is no less effectual, and that iS J by our lives.
This is a daily and hourly lesson to the people; and that, with-
out which all other lessons arc fruitless and ineffectual. And
for this reason, even the heathen writers made it a necessary
qualificp4-ion of a good orator, that he should be a good nlan;
one, whose reputation for probit.y and sincerity might be a
pledge of his dealing honestly with them and might by conse-
quence give every persuasion and argulnent its full force. 1\1uch
nlore is this a necessary qualification in a Christian orator, the
great design of whose preaching is to persuade men to be good,
upon the considerations of duty to God and of future rewards
and punislnnents; and it would be an extraordinary denland on
our part, if we should expect to be thought sincere and in earnest
in persuading others to be good upon those motives, on any less
terms than the being very good ourselves; not only in those
negative degrees which pass in COlnmon account for goodness
(the not being drunkards, nor swearers J nor profane, nor unclean
and the like) but that goodness, I mean, which consists in a
steady and unifornl exercise of the graces and virtues of the
Christian life; that which nlakes us fit to instruct and reprove
and to be patterns and examples to the flock of Christ.
With those views of instruction, reproof and exalnple and the
unhlan1able character, which these offices require, every clergy-
nlan solemnly promises at his ordination
, That he will be dili-
gent to frame and fashion not only his own life, but also the lives

304

The Bisltop of Londun's

of his fainily, according to the doctrine of Christ, and Inake both
himself and them, as much as in him Iieth, wholesome exanIples
and patterns to the flock of Christ." And the rules of the church
have descended to the minutest circumstances in their outward
denIeanour and even appearance; to the end every thing about
theln may be grave and serious, and renIote from the gaieties
of the world: more particularly their habit; which hath been
ever considered as a certain nlark of distinction from the laity,
not only in the time of their officiating, but also in their
travels; and which, being such as is suitable to their office and
character, is justly accounted a token of inward seriousness and
composedness of nlind, and (as the canon of our church expresses
it) " is one good Dleans to gain them honour and estimation
from the people."
For the same ends, the la\vs of the church in all ages have
restrained clergymen froln many freedoms and diversions, which
in others are accounted allowable and innocent: being either
such exercises as are too eager and violent and therefore
unagreeable to that sedateness and gravity, which becomes our
function; or such ganles and sports as frequently provoke to
oaths and curses, which \ve can neither decently hear, DOl", at
that time, seasonably reprove; or such concourses and meetings
as are usually accompanied with jollity and intemperance, with
folly and levity and a boundless liberty of discourse; which are
very unfit for the eyes and ears of devout and serious Christians,
and among which tenlptations it is by no lneans proper to trust
so nice and tender a thing as the reputation of a clergJrnan.
'I'he canons of our own and other churches abound with cautions
and prohibitions of this nature: and the \visdom of them is fully
justified in experience; by which (if we \viII but make our own
observations) it \viII be found very clear that the different de-'
grees of respect and authority, \vhich ministers enjoy, depend
upon no one thing so much as their Inixing or not mixing with
the laity in those diversions and freedoms of life. It is t.rue, the
subn1Ïtting to such nlixtures n1ay gain them the reputation of
. 4 good-nature; but that reputation Illay be easily got and main-
tained \vithout it, and is certainly bought too dear, at the
expense of their proper character, as ministers of the gospel.
Or, it lnay endear them to free and irregular livers, who delight
in nothing more than to see clergynlen willing to beCOlne
sharers in their irregularities. But \vhether that, in the end,

.Dirrections to h:is Olergy, 17Q4.

305

proves the foundation of inward respect or inward contempt, is
too plain to be made a question.
'TIll. This is a snare into "hich the younger clergy are Illost
apt to be drawn, and 1 know but one way that will effectually
prevent their falling into it; which iS J the entering into a course
of studies suitable to their profession, particularly of the holy
scriptures; with a resolution to go through and finish that course,
in the best manner that they are able and their circumstances
will admit; out of a laudable desire, not only to be qualified in
all respects for the discharge of their duty, but also to improve
and enrich their own minds and not to remain strangers to any
parts of knowledge, which it is proper for divines to be ac-
quainted with. This will always secure to them an agreeable
entertainnlent at home; and whenever they desire diversion
abroad (which it is far from my intention to discourage) it will
incline them to seek it chiefly among their own brethren and
among the most serious and knowing part of the laity; and
there the pleasure will be doubled by the nlutual improvement
of one another, ,vithout danger of giving scandal and without
temptation to irregularities of any kind.
And there is the greater need, in our days, to press upon the
clergy a diligent application to the studies of their profession,
with regard as well to the dissenters, whose teachers, generally
speaking, are more learned than in former days, as to the
papists, who are more diligent than ever in corrupting and
seducing the members of our communion. Against the assaults
of both these, the parochial clergy cannot furnish themselves
with any better arm our than those excellent treatises 'which
were written by the London divines in the reigns of king
Charles and king James the Second. :But, besides the attacks
from those two quarters, there is in our days a further need of
study and application in the clergy, with regard to the younger
gentry; too many of whom, out of a love ûf novelty and under
pretence of thinking with freedon], are become zealous advocates
for such doctrines and principles as subvert the Christian faith
and destroy the divine mission and authority of a Christian
ministry and a Christian church. The broaching of these
schemes carries in it a show of new discoveries and of a pene-
tration, which disdains to go on in the common road and, in both
these respects, is calculated to feed the vanity of young men;
who are therefore eager on all occasions to Ji
cover and main..
x

306

Tlw Bisltop of London's

tain their sentiulents and think it no sHlnll nlat-ter of tritunph,
when they lueet with clerg)"nlen unacquainted \vith the cause
and not able to manage the dispute against theine This is an
open attack upon our comlnon Christianity, \vhich it is the more
inlnlediatü work of the 11linisters of the gospel to maintain; and
as lnanyas shall take care to furnish themselves with proper and
sufficient arluour for that end and shall employ it zealously, as
they see occasion, against these enenlies of religion, will be ac-
counted faithful soldiers of Jesus Christ. Especially, if to their
study and reasoning, by which they are able to bear up against
the attacks of freethinkers, they add the powerful argument of
an exelnplary and truly pastoral life; which is a sort of argu-
ment that is easily understood by the people and carries in it an
irresistible force. No doubts \viH ever gro\v in the minds of
," 1 the people \vhether that pastor is a messenger and anlbassador
of Christ, \vhom they see diligent in inforn1Íng them, both by
, doctrine and exanIple, concerning the will of Christ; nor can
they ever be persuaded that they are not his shepherds and his
stewards, who watch over their flocks with such caro as beconles
those that believe themselves accountable to their Lord and

laster .
And that you nlay never be unnlindfiIl of the relation, \vhich
you bear to Christ, and of the duties inculubent upon you in
consequence of that relation, I must earnestly recomnlend to you
a frequent and serious perusal of the forms of ordination, especi-
ally that of priests; \vhere, together with that relation, you will
see the solemn engagements, \vhich )'oU entered into at the tÍIne
of your ordination, and find the chief offices of the ministerial
function distinctly laid out; and all this in such an excellent
and lively nlanner as cannot fail of nlaking great impression
upon a serious nlind.
The two qualifications last lnentioned, nalnely, a good life
and a serious application to the study of divine matters, are the
principal ingredients in the character of a clergYlnan; those,
,vithout 'which he cannot only do no service in the church of
Christ, but must bring dishonour to his profession and great mis-
chief to the soul
of men. On those accounts, it becomes the
duty of every clergYlnan not only to be possessed of those quali-
fications hiIl1self, but also to use his utnlost endeavour that none
but such as are possessed of thell1 be adnlitted to holy orders or
the cure of souls; and much nloro to take care that he be not

Directions to his Clergy, 17
4.

307

aecessary to such admissions, by joining in undue testitnonials
for those ends. It is a duty \vhich every man owes to truth, not
to give his testimony to things which he either kno\vs to be
false or does not kno\v to be true: it is a duty which every
clergyman owes to his bishop, not to deceive and impose upon
hÏIll: it iS I further, a duty \vhich he owes to the church where-
of he is a member, not to be the means of sending into it igno-
rant and unworthy ministers: and, last of all, it is a duty which
he owes to his own soul, not to involve it in the guilt of all that
mischief which such ministers do to the souls of others and of
all that scandal and reproach which they bring upon their pro-
fession and order. By these and the like considerations, every
clergyman must arm himself against the importunities which are
usual on such occasions, and against all the argulnents of com-
passion and friendship and neighbourhood. And whoever con-
siders this matter aright will not only refuse to join in undue
testimonials, but must think himself obliged, when he sees II
others joining in them, to convey beforehand such private inti-
mations as may lead the bishop to further inquiries and hinder
him from proceeding, till he shaH have given himself proper
satisfaction in some other way.
IX. From the distinction mentioned under the sixth head,
between public duties, to which ministers are strictly obliged by
the laws of the church, and the duties of a more private nature,
which, though not so strictly bound upon then1 by the laws, are
very important branches of the Ininisterial office; from that dis-
tinction, I say, there arises another duty, namely, residence; as
this is necessary to the due discharge of all those pastoral offices
which are of a more private nature. And I choose here to
resunle that distinction, as a proper ground of the duty of resLl
dence, because it has been urged to me by some, as a sufficient
reason why I nlight indulge non-residence, that they should be
near enough to perform the duties of tþ.e Lord's day in person,
and if any necessary business should fall out on the "reek-days,
as buryings, christenings, or the like, some neighbouring clergy-
man ,vould be ready to attend. A \vay of reasoning which rests
upon this supposition, that there are no ministerial duties but
such as are made expressly necessary by the laws: and it will
appear to be very wrong reasoning, when it is considered how
many excellent ends there are, which either cannot be attained
at all, or at best in a very Í1nperfect manner, without personal
x 2

308

The Bishop of London's

residence. Such are, a daily oversight and inspection, and, by
that n1eans, a constant check and restraint upon evil practices of
all kinds and upon the growth of corrupt custonlS and habits
anlong the people: Buch are also, a more intin1ate knowledge of
their spiritual estate, and occasional exhortations and reproofs,
I and, that which exhorts and reproves most effectually of all, the
daily sight and influence of a good example: to which we nlust
add, the being always at hand to observe and compose differ-
ences, before they grow too strong; and to assist the rich \vith
counsel, the sick with comfort, and (according to your abilities)
the poor and distressed with seasonable relief; and to perforlu
among them all neighbourly and charitable offices of the like
kinds, which are not only. excellent in themselves, but are the
Ineans of endearing ministers to their people and of opening a
passage into their hearts for spiritual instructions of all sorts.
I aln aware that there is one case which nlakes constant resi-
dence impracticable, and God knows it is a case too common in
11108t dioceses, nalnely, the insufficiency of a nlaintenance; \vhicb
renders it necessary for the bishop to comnlit the care of n10re
than one parish to one and the same hand; and, in such cases,
we can only exhort and entreat nlinisters to have those good
ends seriously in their thoughts and to endeavour after them as
far as sllch unavoidable absence will permit. But the cases
which I no\\' mean are those of convenience only, not of neces-
sity; and nIY desire is, to obviate all applications for indulgence
on sueh occasions, by convincing the clergy that personal resi-
dence is of too great importance in the 111illisterial office to be
sacrificed to private convenience.
I an} also aware that there are cases, in which the laws of
church and state suppose and permit ministers to be absent from
their cures; particularly the caee of pluralities and of residence
in cathedral churches: but, in regard to these, it is my duty to
take care that such absences be not 1110re long and more fre-
quent than the laws intend and direct. By the express tenonr
of the dispensation, every pluralist is bound to preach thirteen
sennons every year at the place where he does not ordinarily
reside, and to keep hospitality there for two months; and by the
forty-fourth canon of our church, every bishop is enjoined to
take care that all such residentiaries of his cathedral church as
have also parochial cures, be obliged to return to them as soon
as ever their statut.able residence is perfonned. Nor is it a suf-

Directions to his OkrO!l, 17Q4.

309

fìcient plea for the habitual absence either of pluralists or resi-
dentiary-canons, that they have curates under then1 of good
abilities and with sufficient salaries, who officiate in their stead. I
For though it is to be hoped, on one hand, that all curates will
remember that, in t.he eye of the la\v and in the sight of God,
they stand chargeable 'with the cure of souls; and, on tIie other
hand, that all such incumbents, who enjoy those additional ad-
vantages, will freely and of their own accord allow such salaries I
to their curates as are sufficient and reasonable; yet is there a
great difference, in the point of ability to do good, between in-
cumbents and curates. The curates, ordinarily speaking, must
be supposed to have less knowledge and less experience in their
profession, and not to have near so much influence and authority
as incull1bents personally residjng: and, not to insist upon the
natural relation there is between a pastor and his people, a shep-
herd and his flock, which certainly ought to rest upon the n1ind
of every pastor, it will be hard to persuade the people that the
care of their souls is the thing at his heart., if they receive not a
reasonable share of pastoral offices, by way of return for the
revenues of the church.
From hence it appears that where the law indulges non-resi-
dence, it does not intend a total discharge from the care which
was originally conl1uitted to incumbents, but only a discharge so
far as it necessarily follows f"ronl the ground and reason of such
indulgence; and when that ceases, the obligation to a personal
care and attendance returns of course. And even in the tilues
of necessary absence luany things may be done by an incumbent
to shew that he is far from reckoning himself discharged frolH
all lUanneI' of care: the needy may be relieved, poor children
may be sent to school, useful books may be distributed, inquiries
n1ay be n1ade frolll tin1e to tilne concerning the state of persons
and things, and proper directions may be given to the curate for
his behaviour and studies, that he may be trained up t.o be an
useful preacher and a prudent pastor, and thoroughly qualified
for a parochial cure of his own, whenever it shaH please Provi-
dence to call him to it: a circun1stance, which makes some
aluends to the church for the mischiefs of non-residence and has
doubtless a good effect, where learned and experienced incun1-
bents luake it their care to direct young persons in the study of
divinity and to frame their minds to a pastoral life.
But, with whatever n1isfortunes, luischiefs and inconveniences

310

The Bis/top of L,ondon's

non-residence may be attended in itself and by unavoidable
necessity, it is certain that these ought not to be increased
beyond ,vhat the laws allow and natural necessity requires; but,
on the contrary, to be made up and balanced by an exact observ-
ance of the rules, which the church has laid down for the sup-
ply of the cures. Every incumbent has the cnre of souls
committed to him by the bishop; and he needs no other com-
nlission, while he continues to attend that cure in person. But
if either the law discharge him from constant residence, or the
bishop dispense with it, on account of health, or for other rea-
sonable cause; in those cases he has no po\ver, in virtue of his
first comlnission, to transfer the cure to ,,,hat hand he pleases,
but, upon such failure of personal attendance, the bishop is the
proper judge of the fitness of the
erson ,vho shall be appointed
to the cure. And if he were not the judge, the consequence
must be (\vhat I have too often found by experience) that nUln-
bel's of cures will remain in the hands of persons, concerning
whose abilities, nlorals, opinions and even orders, the bishop
has not the least satisfaction. An abuse, so un,varrantable in
itself and so pernicious in the consequences that I shall think
Inyself much wanting to my duty, if I do not put in execution
the laws of the church upon this head; especially since his grace
the lord aarchbishop of this province, in his directions to his
suffragan bishops, hath expressly recolllmended to us, " That we
make diligent inquiry concerning curates in our several dioceses,
and proceed to ecclesiastical censures against those ,vho shall
presume to serve cures, without being first duly licensed there-
unto; as also against all such incumbents ,,,ho shall receive
and employ them, \vithout first obtaining such license." Or,
at least, without satisfying the bishop concerning the characters
of the persons they employ, till such license Inay conveniently be
obtained.
And when I am speaking of curates \"ho enter upon pa.rochial
cures \vithout the license or kno\\ledge of the ordinary, I cannot
. omit to take notice of the very mischievous and irregular prac-
tice of obtaining titles to cures, for the single end of obtaining
holy orders in virtue of such titles, \vithout any intention to
serve the cures. This is a shanleful inlposition upon bishops,
and defeats the ,vise end of the thirty-third canon of our church,
which was to prevent the needless nulltiplying of clergymen,
a Archbishop Wake.

Difections to his Clcr.f/Y, 1724.

11

beyond what the present occasions of the church require; and
this, ,,,hen it happens, exposes the church to contempt and the
persons to reproach, and lays the III under temptations to sublnit
to mean and sometimes indirect Inethods of application for pre-
ferment, and gives great advant.age to mercenary patrons. To
prevent those evils as much as may be, I shall insist upon a
solenIn declaration to be made by every incumbent who gives a
title for orders, that such title is true and real; according to a
b form, which is printed for that purpose at the end of these
Directions and which I expect to be the standing fornl of all
titles that are sent to me.
X. Hitherto I have applied l11yself to you, as you stand
intrusted by God and his church with the administration of
divine offices and the care of souls. I must now say somewhat
concerning another kind of trust, which is not indeed so high
and important in its nature, but Jet is such as cannot with a
good conscience be neglected; I mean the patrimony of the
church; without which ,ve could not, humanly speaking, have
established cures, nor by consequence those many advantages of
constant personal residence, which I have enumerated under the
last head. Religion therefore is nearly concerned, that due
care be taken to preserve and continue things, which are such
manifest supports to it. And I need not say on ,vhom that care
rests, since all our Ia,vs consider the church as in a st.ate of mi-
nority and pupilage, and every incumbent as the guardian, for
the time being, of the rights of his own church; who therefore
stands obliged to transmit thenI entire to his successors and is
guilty of a breach of trust, if through his neglect the church
shall suffer loss or diminution in profits or conveniences of any
kind; if the houses shall run to decay, or the glebe be injured in
tillage, fences or trees; or the tithes be diminished by undue
compositions and by custonIS and moduses growing and gaining
strength in his time.
'Vhere no house is, the law does i;,öt think it reasonable to
inflict the penalties of non-residence; and therefore it takes great
care, where houses are, to keep them in due repair; not only in
a habitable, but, as an ancient constitution of our church ex-
presses it, in a decent state; such as is suitable to the character
of :t clergyman and to the condition of a person who has had a

b This form has been omitted, as being no longer in general use.

31

The Bishop of London's

liberal education, and such as may nlake personal residence easy
and agreeable. This is \vhat the laws of the church require of
every clergyman, under severe penalties: but IllY present busi-
ness is not to explain the obligation of la\v, but to enforce the
obligation of conscience; having far more delight to see justice
done to the church freely than by constraint; and kno\ying
ho\v much more agreeable it is to the sacred character and
function, to be led into what is right by a sense of duty and
conscience than to be driven into it by the threatenings and
penalties of the la\v. And a matter of conscience this certainly
is, not only in itself, as it is the betraying a trust which the
church cOInmits to incunIbents; but in the consequences also, as
it brings a great charge and difficulty upon the successors and,
which is no sillall aggravation of the injustice, a charge that
might have been prevented at very little expense, by an early
care in the predecessors; the failings in fabrics being like those
in our bodies, cured and amended at small expense, if taken
in tinIe, but by delays becoming very chargeable and ofttÏInes
incurable.
The thing then to be guarded against in this matter is delay;
which must occasion a heavy burden somewhere: if upon the
incumbent himself, it is great folly; if upon his successor, it is
great injustice. Nor is it enough to satisfy the conscience under
such delays, that their executors "rill be accountable to the next
successor; since they kno\v that the utmost ,vhich the law itself
allows in that case, though generally much Illore than would
have prevented the mischie
bears no kind of proportion to the
real danIage which the successor sustains by such delay.
'Vhen I spake, under the last head, of the many mischiefs of
non-residence, I industriously reserved one of theln for this
place, viz. the decay and ruin of parsonage-houses. It may be
supposed, ordinarily speaking, that clergymen will provide for
decency in the places ,vhere they dwell, not only from a sense of
duty to God and the church, but for their own convenience
and credit and to secure themselves from the contelnpt of their
neighbours. But we see too little of this, ,vhere incumbents do
not personally reside; the houses, in that case, usually falling
into the hands of farmers, who are no further concerned, either
in conscience or credit, than to keep theI11 in a mere habitable
condition. And ,vhere pluralists, who enjoy a double portion,
can prevail with thenlselves to leave the houses of the church to

Directions to Ids Clerfl!J, 1724.

313

the mercy of such inhabitants, they must have forgotten not
only the obligations, \vhich rest upon theln in common with
other incumbents, but also how unseemly it appears in thenI, to
be less forward in doing right to the church, the more she
enables them to do it; to be less kind to her, the more bountiful
she is to them.
The mischief and injustice which attend those neglects in the
repairing of parsonage-houses do equally attend the neglect of
chancels, the care whereof is assigned, by the laws of the
church, to rectors; who, by bestowing upon them a decency
suitable to that most sacred office of our religion to which they
are appropriated, do not only invite the parishioners to preserve
the church in a clean and decent state, but also leave the neigh-
bouring impropriators \vithout any colourable excuse, if they do
not right to the chancels under their care; which undoubtedly
they will be less forward to do, as long as they can be kept in
countenance by the neglect of spiritual rectors.
The like reasoning frOllI the obligation of conscience will
equally hold with regard to the possessions of the church; both
as they are a trust in the hands of the present incumbents, and
as the neglect or abuse of them is a great damage and injury to
the successors. In the case of temporal possessions, if one is
tenant of an estate for life only and destroys the woods, or lets
the houses and fences run to ruin, or uses the grounds otherwise
than in a fair and husbandlike way; the law accounts all this a
plain injustice to the next heir, and accordingly, at his motion,
will give satisfaction for the damage done and put a stop to such
abuses for the time to come. In the case of ecclesiastical posses-
sions, the next incumbent is not known, and patrons ofttilnes
live at a distance, or nlay not think fit to give thenlselves the
trouble of interposing; but inasmuch as the being a tenure for
life only is the foundation of the injustice, the crime is the very
same here as in the case of temporal possessions; and the less
hold the law takes of it, the greater need there is to urge and
enforce the obligations of conRcience and to beseech incum-
bents to have a watchful eye over their agents and tenants, that
the glebes be not abused by them, either in those or any other
respects.
In like manner and upon the same obligations of conscience,
great care ought to be taken in the ordering and management of
tithes; that no unreasonable conlpositians be made, nor permit-

314

The Bishop of London's

ted at any hand to gro\v into moduses; \vhich ha
e already
swaIlo\ved up so large a share of the patrimony of the church
beyond the possibility of a retrieve, and which therefore ought
to be immediately broken, \vhere they are not yet arrived to a
legal establishment. Nor must the clergy, \vhen there is need
to call in the assistance of the law, be discouraged by the fear of
being thought litigious; since" besides t.he special obligations
upon them not to see the church injured, they have certainly
the same privilege \vith other men, to maintain their own just
rights. So far are the clergy from deserving such a censure
that it is to be feared they are rather more easy and indulgent
than is fairly consistent with their duty to the church; and if
inquiry were to be made into all the suits that have been com-
menced for tithes it would be found that the instances, in which
they have miscarried, bear no kind of proport.ion in point of
number to those, in which they have prevailed. But if any
clergyman shall have entered unhappily into settled engage-
ments for his own time, the church may however expect this
justice from him, that he take care to inform his successors,
either by an entry in the register-book of the parish, or by some
other method equally proper and sure, that such continuance of
the selfsame payments through a succession of years was owing
not to any legal composition or modus, but to special agreements
bet\veen him and the parishioners.
J doubt not but those prejudicial compositions, \vhich are slid
by degrees into settled 1110duses, have been o\ving in many in-
stances to the supineness and negligence of incumbents; but I
an1 also afraid that in sonle instances they may have been owing
to a far worse cause, and that is, bonds of resignation, exacted
by patrons and given una\vares by clergymen; \vhich are not
only inconsistent with the oath agD.inst sill10niacal contracts and
contrary to the laws of the church in all ages and, upon both
these accounts, an unhappy entanglement to the minds and con-
sciences of clergymen; but are also the means of enslaving them
during life to the will and pleasure of patrons, and particularly
of tempting theln to sublnit to all the most unreasonable agree-
ments and compositions for tithes which can be proposed.
These things are but small in comparison of the duties \vhich
Inore inunediately belong to the pastoral office; but the mis-
chiefs occasioned by the neglect of thel11 are not sl11aII; nor
ought. any thing to be so accounted, which is a necessary nleans

D-irections to kis lJlerg!l, 17
4.

315

to preserve the rights of the church, and to enable the parochial
clergy to go through their pastoral labours with conlfort and
success. In the pursuit of which excellent ends, you shall al-
,vays be sure of the best assistances that are in DlY power; and
you cannot fail of a special blessing from Heaven upon your un-
dertakings, while you continue to express your zeal for the
honour of God and the salvation of souls, by a faithful and
conscientious discharge of all the parts of the ministerial
function.
And now, my brethren, having laid before you what I
thought proper concerning the public service of our church and
the provisions for a public ministry to attend that service, and
having suggested such rules, in relation to both, as seem to me
to render them most effectual for the great ends of religion; I
nlust beg leave to DIention one thing more, and that is, the ob-
ligation that lies upon us all, not only to make the due adminis-
tration of these a blessing to our o,vn time, but also to do all
that lies in our power to ensure the enjoynlent of theln to our
latest posterity. In pursuance of this, c I must entreat you to be
very diligent in inculcating upon your people this most plain
and important truth, that there is no means, under God, of con-
tinuing these invaluable blessings to us or our posterity, but a
zealous and resolute maintenance of the succession to the crown
in the protestant line; there being no thought Dlore visionary,
nor any reasoning more absurd, than the supposing that a pro-
testant service and a protestant ministry can prosper or subsist
under a popish prince. Put them in mind (as many, I D1ean,
as 'did not see it, or seem to have forgot it) that the experiment
has been already tried, and not only failed, but that the swift
progress which was then made towards the destruction of our
religious rights left the nation a most convincing proof of what
they are to expect from a popish prince; all princes of that
religion being equally bound in conscience to endeavour the
extirpation of a prot.estant church. And let me further entreat
you to urge upon particular persons, as JOu see occasion, the
regard they o\ve to their religion and country; and also, ho,v
abolllinable it must appear to all honest and sober minds, to find
the general tenor of their actions and discourse a direct contra-

c This was added upon occasion of the plot, which had been laid and car-
ried on a little before that time, for ahrogating the protestant succession and
setting a popish pretender on the throne.

316 The Bishop of London's Directions to kis Olerg!l, 1724.
diction to their oaths. Above all, let me beseech you to make
it your care, that every thing in your own conduct and conver-
sation be exactly agreeable to the oaths you have taken; and
particularly, fail not to let your parishioners hear the king and
the royal family constantly prayed for before sermon by name;
which I must peremptorily insist upon, as well in compliance
\vith the canon of our church to that purpose as to remove a
reproach which the omission of it must occasion, as if such
clergymen had not taken the oaths sincerely, and therefore are
,villing to avoid, as nluch as they can, all public notice of the
king and the royal family and all expressions of regard and
respect to them: an opinion, ,vhich being joined to the remem-
brance of their having taken the most strict and solemn oaths of
fidelity and abjurat.ion, must lessen the reverence of an oath in
the minds of the people and weaken the credit and authority of
the clergy and be a great hinderance to the success of their
ministry in general.
Finally, I must entreat you to go one step further in your
expressions of zeal for the king and the protestant succession;
and that is, to endeavour to remove out of the minds of your
people all those unjust jealousies and prejudices against his ma-
jesty and his administration, which you see sown among them
by the professed enemies of his government, with a design to
overthro,v it. And this I may and ought to press with the
greater freedom and earnestness, both because the diligence of
the enemy in sowing jealousies and spreading misrepresentations
is incredible; and also because I can declare, \vith the greatest
sincerity, that I am firmly persuaded that our good and gracious
king has nothing more in his desire and intention than to pre-
serve the constitution, as it stands established both in church
and state.

THE CHARGE

OF

EDl\IUND, LORD BISHOP OF LONDON,

TO THE

CLERGY OF IllS DIOCESE, &c.

Reverend hrethren,
I. 1V HEN I held my prÏ1nary visitation of this diocese, I
put into the hands of the clergy a book of Directions, relating
to the due discharge of the ministerial office and the several
branches of it. And having made it a rule ever since to put
the same into the hands of every person who has been instituted
or licensed by DIe, as containing the several heads of duty,
which I judged necessary to be attended to by everyone
,vho takes upon him the cure of souls; having, I say, done
this, there has been no need to speak to you upon those heads,
in the several visitations which I have held since. And there-
fore I have usually chosen for 111Y subject on these occasions
such incidents relating to the church or clergy or religion, as
have fallen out between the several visitations; in order to give
you a clear insight into the facts and to make such applications,
for our conduct and practice, as they naturally led to. And this
is the n1ethod which I shall continue at present; but I must first
entreat your patience, while I further press and enforce one

318

The B-isllol J of London's

particular branch of the forenlentioned Directions. \Vhat I lnean
is, the distinction that is there made between duties legal, the
neglect of \vhich is punishable by the laws of church and state,
and duties pastoral, which are not expressly enforced by laws
and penalties, as the others are, but yet are bound upon us by 3,
more sacred tie, and that is, the obligation of duty and conscience,
founded upon a serious sense of the nature and ends of the
ministerial function, and of the ilnportance or rather necessity
of those pastoral labours, to,vards a successful discharge of it.
Such are, private admonition and reproof; the taking the
ad vantage of sickness or other calamity (which are apt to open
the mind to instruction) to infuse into your people serious and
good thoughts and such as may Inake the most lasting ÏInpres-
sion; to endeavour to convince and reform those \vho are found
negligent in the great duty of resorting to the public service of
the church, or not careful enough to be present at the beginning
of it; and, to bring all, in general, to a just sense of the obliga-
tion they are under, to give a diligent attention of the mind in
all the offices of r
ligion, ,vhether public or private. To which
I must add, as a branch of the pastoral office which is never to
be forgotten, private exhortation to parents and masters, where
it is found needful, to fit and prepare the youth under their care
to be publicly catechised, together with those of their neigh-
bours; and further, to accustom their children, from the begin-
ning, to a regular attendance upon the public worship of the
church, with a decent and orderly behaviour therein; and, to
check the first tendency they observe in them to any irregu-
larities in life: duties \vhich are of great importance to religion,
and to which parents and masters are strictly obliged, in pursu-
ance of the powers that God has given them over their children
and servants. But yet, in many c
ses, it will require some care
and pains on the part of the minister, to make parents duly
sensible either of the importance of those duties or the special
obligation they are under to perform theln. And would to God
they could be further convinced ho,v many and great blessings,
spiritual and tenlporal, the practice of family devotion \volIld
procure to then1 and their household; and ho,v just and reason-
able a thing it is, to express their thankfulness to God for the
support.s of life and to beg a blessing upon thenI, as oft as they
feed upon the fruits of his bounty.
II. These private applications, though no part of the legal and

Oharge to ltis Olc')'!JY, 1741, 174Q.

319

ordinary offices of the church, arc of great moment towards the
preserving anlong our people a serious sense of religion; or
rat.her, are absolutely necessary to the giving the legal offices their
due effect.
Ien, for instance, are not over-forwnrd in applying
to themselves the public admonitions which are heard from the
pulpit nor apt to be duly affected in hearing them, unless they
be privately put in mind, as there is occasion, of the more par-
ticular concern they have in them. Next, if men can be brought
to serious thoughts and resolutions, in the time of sickness or
other calaulit.y, by private applications, it may reasonably be
hoped that from thenceforth the exhortations of a more public
nature, while they find themselves in health and at ease, will
take the faster hold of theine Again, if men will not attend the
public worship of God, or, attending it, will behave theulselves
there in a thoughtless and negligent manner, it is, to them, as if
there were no public worship at all. And lastly, if children be
not early instructed in the general principles of their religion,
but remain strangers to the sense and meaning of the ternlS
under which they are couched, the public discourses they after-
wards hear will neither be understood nor relished by then1; at
least, will lose much of the instruction they 'would have con-
veyed and the impression they would have made, if the hearers
had been duly prepared, first, by a general knowledge of the
principles of their religion, and next by an habitual reverence
for the public devotions and instructions of the church; as ordi-
nances of God's own appointInent, and as a special means of
obtaining his grace and favour, to all those who religiously
attend them.
By this it appears, of how great inlportance or rather neces-
sity, these pastoral duties are, as well for the giving the legal
duties their operation and effect, as for the keeping up a true
spirit of religion among our people. And surely, there never
was a time when religion did more earnestly call for those
pastoral endeavours to support it; Gr rather, to preserve it in
being. Nothing is more evident than that a great looseness"
both in principle and practice, is graduaHy descending to thE..
middling rank, under the influence and authority of higher
exanlples, and through a too great disposition in corrupt nature
to approve and follow them. And nothing can hinder this
infection from descending lower anrl. lower, till it becomes
general, and ,ve upon the point of being overwhelmed by it, but

3
O

The B-isltop of London's

a diligent endeavour, on the part of the parochial clergy, to check
and resist it; particularly in the methods already luentioned,
and such others of the like kind as tend to establish the people
committed to their care, both in the principles and the practice
of the Christian religion.
III. I need not tell you ,vhat gross representations have been
made both here and in the Plantations, as if the generality of the
clergy of the church of England were shamefully renliss and
negligent in the pastoral office. This slander upon our church
and clergy has been publicly spread and avowed in a very
unworthy and licentious lllanner, and has received a reprehen-
sion, though lllore gentle than it deserved, in a late pastoral
letter against the enthusiasm of these days. But however, the
reproaches of those men may be so far of use to us, as to be made
a fresh incitement to care and diligence in the offices belonging
to our function; that, after the example of St. Paul in a like case,
,ve may C'ltt off all occasion of slander fron't them who desire
occasion. And since it is not to be expected that, amongst such
a nUlnber of clergynlen, there should be in all the same degree
of zeal and activity in the discharge of their duty; those of them,
\vho have been hitherto less zealous and less active than their
neighbours, llluSt increase their diligence, upon this, among
other motives, that they nlay cut off all occasion of slander froln
those \vho seenl not to be ill pleased with any handle for it. And
,ve must all of us remember that we cannot do greater justice
and honour to our established church than by luaking it appear,
in fact and experience, that its rules and orders, pursued and
invigorated as they ahvays ought to be, are an effectual means of
promoting piety and goodness among the members of it; an
honour for which it lllust at all tiules be nuånly indebted to the
care and vigilance of parochial ministers.
It is nO\Van hundred years since the like clamours were raised
and propagated throughout the nation against the established
clergy; as a body lazy and unactive in the ,vork of religion, and
whose defects in the discharge of their duty did greatly need to
be supplied by itinerant preachers. And these preachers, under
a notion of greater zeal and sanctity, and by pretences to more
than ordinary measures of the Spirit, dre\v after them confused
lllultitudes of the lo\ver rank and did all that was in their power
to lay waste the bounds of parochial conlmunion and to bring
the established service into disgrace. And we cannot have a

Charge to Ids Olero!!, 1741, 1742.

3
1

lllore pregnant testimony, how mischievous such practices are to
religion and how productive not only of confusion, but of
blasphenlY, profaneness and the most wicked and destructive
doctrines and practices, than these and the like effects, which
they then had, as they are set before us at large in the histories
of those times. A sufficient warning to all ,vho have a serious
concern for religion and a just regard to public peace and order
in church and state, to use their best enùeavours to oppose and
suppress that spirit of enthusiasm, which is now gone out and
which cannot be opposed and suppressed more effectually than
by preserving the bounds of parochial communion and opposing
all breaches upon them; and then by every ll1inist.er"s satisfying
his people, ill the course of a regular life and a diligent discharge
of all duties and offices, pastoral as ,veIl as legal, that they need
no other instruction, nor any other means and helps for the
saving of their souls, than those which the church has provided
for them; on supposition that the people, on their parts, wiII
seriously enIbrace those l11eans and helps and religiously con-
form to the established worship and discipline and subnlit to the
advice and instructions of those, to whom the providence of God
has comn1Ïtted the care of their souls.
IV. And for the keeping up this good disposition among your
people, let them be made sensible of the excellencies of the
public offices of our church; as a service that comprises all and
every branch of Christian devotion - confession of sins and
declaration of pardon to penitent sinners-a suitable and edifY-
ing mixture of psalms and hynIns and the scriptures of the Old
and New Testanlent-acknowledgments of our own ,veakness and
addresses to God for spiritual aid and strength - confessions of
faith and remembrances of duty to God and our neighbour, as
set forth in the Ten Commandnlents, with the prayer, after every
branch, to incline the heart to the performance of it-supplica-
tions for averting all evil and prayers for obtaining all good, to
soul, body and estate-intercessions fot blessings to others and
thanksgivings for nlercies to ourselyes-special prayers for t.he
divine blessing upon kings and counseIIors, civil nlagistrat.es
and spiritual pastors; as those, through whose pious and wise
adn1Ïnistration, national blessings and benefits, spiritual and
tenlporal, are in the ordinary course of providence conveyed to
nlankind-together with particular prayers and thanksgivings,
adapted to particular seasons and occasions-to which are added
y

g

The Bishop of London"'s

proper offices for a devout and solemn administration of every
Christian ordinance and institution-and the whole conceived,
as public liturgies always have been and always ought to be, in
a language that is grave, serious and expressive; without any
of those irregular flights and redundances, from which extem-
pore prayer is seldom free; and least of all, that sort of it,
\vhich presumptuously fathers itself upon an immediate dictate
of the Spirit of God.
I have only to add upon this head that, next to the internal
excellencies of the liturgy itself and that knowledge or rather
feeling of those excellencies, which a reverent regard and atten-
tion \vill breed in the heart of every Rincere worshipper; next to
these, I say, nothing contributes more to the possessing the
minds of the people \vith a due sense of those excellencies than
the minister"'s giving the offices, throughout, the just advantage
of being performed in a solemn, serious and affectionate
lllanner.
And as to a personal respect to yourselves and a due regard
to your instructions; the apostle has plainly pointed out the
\vay to secure these, \vhen he grounds the obedience and esteem
of the people upon the watchfulness and diligence of the pastor.
His lesson to the people is, Ohey them that have the rule over
!IOU and suhmit !!01trselves; and why
hecause the!! watch lOT
!!our souls, as they that must give an account. And again, Es-
temn those who are over you in the Lord, 'Ver!! highl!! in love; and
\vhy
for their wor7c"'s sa7ce.- Where there is a due \vatchfulness
and working on one side, there \vill very rarely be ,vanting a
due love and esteem on the other.
V. I have taken notice before that one branch of these
pastoral duties, that every minister is bound to discharge, is
admonition and reproof; ,vhich cannot bo performed from the
pulpit, without the danger of hardening, instead of refornling.
And this being, in truth, the most difficult part of the ministerial
office, and yet highly necessary to be done, and also done in
such a manner as may make the greatest impression and give it
the most lasting effects; I cannot onlit to Inention one expedient,
\vhich may make that \vork less difficult to nlinisters and more
effectual upon their people. What I mean is, the having in
their possession some Snlan tracts against particular vices and
the more notorious defects in duty, to be occasionally put into
the hands of those, who are found to be going on in any habitual

Oharge to Ids Olergy, 1741, 1742.

3
3

sin, either of commission or omission, and so to need a more
close and forcible application; \vhether it be by way of restraint
from vice or incitement to duty, as the case requires. As this
is the gentlest method of proceeding, there is the least hazard of
giving offence; and as the tracts themselves are both short and
plain, they are nlost likely to be read and considered; pnd they
make a much deeper ilupression upon the mind than either
general admonitions from the pulpit or particular adn1onitions
by word of mouth. A great variety of tracts, calculated for
that use, is constantly provided by the Society for promoting
Christian Knowledge a ; the lnembers whereof are entitled to as
many as they apply for, at one half of the prilne cost; which
reduces the price to a trifle. And, that no part of my diocese
might want the convenience of being furnished with them as
they see occasion, the incumbents of the several nlarket-towDS
have readily agreed to take the trouble of becoming nleInbers of
the society and so have put themselves in a condition to furnish
their neighbours, whether clergy or laity, with as many as they
shall need.
This nlay seem, at first sight, to be a matter of small moment,
but in the effects it will be found by experience not to be small.
And great need there is in this degenerate age to have recourse
to all expedients, whether great or small, for putting a stop to
the growth of vice and wickedness and for raising and keeping
alive a spirit of religion among us; the first, to avert the judg-
ments of God from falling upon a sinful nation; and the second,
to nlake us a proper object of his mercy and forbearance. Vice
is grown bold and headstrong and has wen nigh broken loose
from the last restraint, that of shame. And though the powers
put into the hand of the civil magistrate for restraining and sup-
pressing it are very great, the fruit and effect of those powers
is found by experience to be very small. N or is it to be ex-
pected that the spiritual powers should be able effectually to
encounter it in the way of discipline and censure, \vhile they are
fettered to such a degree and liable to be interrupted in almost
every step they take.
And as to t.he clergy; the utn10st they can do in the ,vay of
punishluent is, in the most prudent and respectful manner, to
put the magistrate in mind that the authority with which he is
intrusted is not only for the preserving of peace, but likewise for
a At their office No. 67 Lincoln's Inn Fields.
y

g
4

The Bishop of London's

the punishment of vice; one as a duty he owes to his prince,
and the other as a duty he o\ves to his God. Both these are the
duty of civil magistrates; and it is greatly to be wished that a
due regard may always be had to both in the appointment of
them; and much to be wondered that any magistrate, who is
otherwise a serious person and frequents the public service of
t.he church and appears to have a sense of duty in all other re-
spects, should need to be put in mind of this branch of it, when
the scripture so expressly charges it upon him and when he is
so frequently reminded of it in our own liturgy; \vhich makes
it the prayer of him and of the whole congregation, "that all
who are in authority may truly and indifferently n1Ïnister jus-
tice, to the punishlnent of \vickedness and vice and to the main-
tenance of true religion and virtue."
IT pon the whole; till \ve see a greater probability that
national \vickedness and vice will be restrained and kept under
in the way of authority, coercion and censure, the great refuge
of religion must be in the parochial clergy; and to their pastoral
labours, under the divine blessing, the nation will be chiefly
indebted, if vice do not grow triull1phant and God do not visit
us with some remarkable judgment; or, which is the heaviest
judgment of aU, give us over and relnove his candlestick from
among us.
This is a melanch01y subject.; and the thought of national
judgments an uncolnfortable scene; but yet no \vay unfit to be
opened and represented before those who, by their vigilance and
activity in their several stations, have it so much in their power
to prevent them.
And though you may not find such a measure of success as
might be expected from your pastoral labours, be not dis-
couraged, but labour on. Some of the good seed you now sow,
thòugh seemingly dead for thE=' present, may hereafter, by the
blessing of God, take root and spring up; or if it do not, you,
ho\vever, are sure of your reward from God.
The earnest wish of religious and good men always has been
and ahvays will be, to see the \vorld grow better; and it is nlore
peculiarly the duty of the ministers of the gospel to use their
best endeavours to make it better. But it must be remembered,
at the same time, that it is a great work to keep it from growing
worse. And therefore, though that part of the vineyard which
the providence of God hath comlnitted to your care should not

Oharge to his Olergy, 1741, 174
.

J
5

increase in fruitfulness so sensibly as you could wish, do not
despond nor be discouraged, as if you were an unprofitable la-
bourer; but consider, for your comfort, how soon it would be
overrun with thorns and briers (the fruits of the seed sown by
the wicked one) if you did not watch their growth, and use the
best methods you can to keep them under or root them up, and
to sow the seeds of religion and piety in their stead.
VI. Next to the care of promoting the practice of religion in
our particular stations, there is a general obligation upon us all
to use our best endeavours to preserve and maintain the legal
establishment of it in this church and nation, as the most sure
foundation, not only of preserving peace and order in church
and state, but also of preserving and promoting religion and
the practice of it, within the several districts, which that esta-
blishment has fixed; provided there be no failure, either on the
part of the minister or on the part of the people. And where
either of these is the case, the constitution cannot justly be
charged, if it fail of attaining the ends of its establishnlent.
There are three sorts of people anlong us who, though of dif..
ferent principles and views, do yet agree in their enmity to the
established church: they who disavow all revelation; they who
are against all establishments, as such; and they who dislike
our present establishment. These, all together, are a formidable
body of men; ready to join, upon any fair prospect, in an at-
tempt upon the constitution of our church; and therefore ought
to be diligently watched and guarded against by all the true
lovers of it.
As to the first sort of enemies, they who disavow all revelation;
it is not to be wondered that they contend with so much earn-
estness for no establishment, because they know ho\v greatly a
regularity, order and uniformity, in the public exercise of reli-
gion, tends to preserve the honour of it and to defeat their
schemes for' promoting infidelity. Of the truth of \vhich we
need no other evidence than the particular zeal, 'which has been
shewn by the chief patrons of infidelity, against all religious
establishments, under colour of their being destructive of the
general liberties of manliind; whereas, in truth, they are de-
structive of nothing but of that general licentiousness in princi-
ple and practice, to which the schemes and pursuits of these
people have so visible a tendency. And they know very well
what they do, when they a.re contending for such a confused and

326

Th(! Bis/tOp of London's

irregular state of things as not only naturally tends to expose
religion to reproach and contempt, but has been found by
experience so to do.
And therefore it has sometÎ1nes been a matter of wonder with
nle that the second sort of enelnies, those, I mean, ,vho profess
a serious regard to religion, but are yet against any national
establishlnent, should not see that they are doing the work of the
common enemy; especially when a nation of gathered and inde-
pendent congregations, without any fixed parochial districts, is,
at first sight, so very big with confusion; and \vhen they cannot
but know what a nlonstrous degree of profaneness, enthusiasm
and immorality it produced, when the experiment \vas made in
the days of their forefathers.
As for the third sort; those who are satisfied concerning the
expedience, if not necessity, of a national establishment, but are
dissatisfied with the present; it is time enough to enter into
reasonings with them, when they have agreed among themselves
what the establishment is, which they would introduce in the
place of the present. They have, indeed, in many of their
writings, raised exceptions against our liturgy and sonle other
parts of our constitution; (and what human constitution ,vas
ever perfect
) but what they have hitherto done in that way
has been nlainly to justify their separat.ion from the national
church and goes little further than to the pulling do\vn the
present fabric. But, surely, it is most unreasonable in them to
expect that anyone \vho is well satisfied with the present
should be willing to part with it, till he has a full and entire
vie\v of \vhat is to succeed in its place; i. e. till he is enabled to
form a judgment for himself; first, which of the two is most
agreeable to the word of God and the practice of the first and
purest ages; and next, which of them is best calculated to an-
swer the ends of peace, order and unity in the church, and
makes the best provision for the instruction and edification of
every particular member of it.
VII. Next to a sincere zeal and endeavour to keep up a
serious sense of religion among your people and a reverent regard
to our established \vorship in subservience to that great end,
there is another point which also demands your care, nalnely,
the established provision, which our constitution has made, to
support the clergy \vith comfort under their pastoral labours;
and which, in that respect, is directly subservient to the great

Okarge tu Ids Clergy, 17.J.l, 174
.

Jfl7

end of religion. What I mean is, the l'atrin1ony of tbe church
and the conveying it to tbe successive incumbents, unhurt and
undin1inishcd. A caution, which I know you will not think un..
seasonable to be repeated b, when you remember the two attacks
that have been n1ade in parlian1ent; the first, commonly called
the Tithe Bill; and the second, of a later date, and distinguished
by the name of the Quaker's Bill; both of them indeed de-
feated in the first attempt, but, I doubt, not so as to discourage
a second.
You may remember that the design of the Tithe Bill was to
establish exemptions from tithe for ever, if in a certain number
of years no tithe at all had been paid. This, if the bill had suc-
ceeded, would, as to exemptions, have made an entire change in
the present law of tithes. A s the law now stands, the incum-
bent is entitled at all times to sue for tithe of common right, and
the proof of the exelnption rests upon the occupant and land-
holder. But, if such a bill shall ever succeed, the proof will be
put upon the incumbent; and he will fail in his suit, unless he
can shew that tithe has been paid within the time limited by the
act. And this, a new incuD1bent may not be able to do; partIy,
because no tithe may have reaUy been paid within the tiD1e,
through private agreements or personal indulgences, by one or
more of his predecessors, or through a natural inactivity, or an
unhappy inability to sue for it; and partly, through the difficul-
ties of making proof of payment of tithe, where it really has been
paid within the time; whether through a negligence in keeping
accounts by former incumbents, or through the concealment of
those accounts by their executors; or through the fear of the
poor to displease the rich, and an unwillingness in one neighbour
to be witness against another. The manifold and visible incon-
veniences which such a bill must bring upon the church, if it
should pass into a law, make it the duty as well as interest of the
whole body of the clergy, not only to do all that is in their
power to obstruct it, but in the nlean time to be guarding care-
fully against the consequences of it, if (which God forbid) it
should ever succeed; by getting the best information they can
of the ground and foundation upon which the claim of exclnp-
tion rests, and whether it be such as the law will support; and
if it be not, to enter into proper Ineasures for overthrowing it,

b See Directions, above, p. 31 I.

3
M

rite BisltOp of London's

while it is in their power and before it receives a final establish-
Inent from such a la\v as we are now speaking of, \vhich has been
already attempted with great zeal and may probably be at-
tempted again: and as to moduses also, to take care to vary
their agreements and compositions for tithe; and having.. from
time to time, made due entries of such variations, to give special
direction that the evidences thereof be faithfully transmitted to
their successors.
And to induce incumbents the more effectually to provide
against all encroachments upon the patrinlony of the church,
\vhether by exenlptions or moduses, they must always remember,
that as they are the proprietors for their o\vn time, and that by
as good a title as any other e$tate is enjoyed, \vhatever the ene-
nlies of the clergy may pretend to the contrary; so they are
likewise guardians and trustees for God and his church; and, as
such, are bound in conscience to use an reasonable care that
the rights of their respective churches be by them transmitted
entire to succeeding incumbents.
I need not say nluch of the other attack that ha
been made
upon the patrimony of the church, I mean, the Quaker's Bill;
both because it is of a later date, and because the mischievous
consequences of the bill, while it ,vas depending in parlialnent,
,vere published to the world, and cannot be so soon forgotten by
the clergy, whose more immediate conoern it is. It is enough to
say in general that, if it had passed into a law, the \vhole body
of the clergy would, in innumerable cases, have been deprived
at once of the benefit of the established courts of the realnl,
ecolesiastical and temporal; that all apprehension from those
oourts and the exact and regular proceedings therein, which at
present do in many oases discourage the Quakers from being so
vexatious to the clergy as their principles lead them to be,
\votdd then be removed; that, if these restraints were removed..
inounlbents \vould be exposed to all the arts, oonceahnents and
vexations, that they have reason to expect from a people, who
think the clergy have no right to tithe and who are so far from
owning an obligation to pay that they think themselves bound
in conscience to do all that is in their power to avoid it. These
are difficulties, which the passing such a bill into a la,v ,,,ould
bring, more or less, upon the whole body of the clergy; but which
\vould fall most heavily upon the poor vicars, whose all \yotlld
frequently COlue within the compass of such an act; and, as it

Oharge to ltis Ole

gy, 1741, 174Q.

3Q9

consists of s111al1 tithes which are not so easily ascertained, does
greatly need the assistance of the estab1ished courts for that end.
And God knows, with all the assistance that the laws can give,
the clergy find it difficult enough to bear up against the many
advantages which the Quakers, as a kind of body corporate and
that of no small influence and zeal, are known to be in possession
of. And ho\v greatly would the difficulty be increased, if the
present advantages of the laws should be taken from them!
VIII. To conclude: As the laws of the land are on the side
of the church, it is not only her interest, but her duty, on all
proper occasions, to take the benefit of thenI and to endeavour
to defeat all attempts that may be made to deprive her of that
benefit. But, at the sanIe tilne, it must be remenlbered that
against all manner of attempts, whether upon the constitution or
upon the rights of the church, our best defence and greatest
security will ahvays be, the love and esteem of our people; and
the only true way to be sure of this is, an exelnplary life, a cir-
cU111spect behaviour, a diligent discharge of the duties of our
station and a visible concern for the good of souls. These, I
say, will, in all events, be the best security to our church that
hU111an helps can afford and the most likely means of engaging
God to support and defend it; especially if, together with our
o\vn endeavours, we fail not to make our earnest prayer to him,
to preserve it both in outward peace and Ìn\vard purity: for its
outward peace, to pray in the words of one of the collects of our
church, " that the course of this world may be so peaceably
ordered by his governancB, that his churoh may joyfully serve
him in all godly quietness :" and for inward purity, in the words
of another collect, "that he will keep his household the church
in oontinua1 godliness; and that it may be devoutly given to
serve him in good ,vorks, to the glory of his name, through
J eSllS Christ our Lord.'')

INSTRUCTIONS

TO

THE CLERGY
OFT 1-1 E D 1 0 C ESE 0 F T U A 1\1,
BY JOSIAH HORT,

LATE LORD ARCHBISHOP OF TUAM,

A THIS

PRIlVIARY VISITATION

Held there on WEDNESDAY, July 8, MDCCXLII.

J OSIAIl HORT, a native oî
Iarshfìeld, in Gloucestershire,
,yas educated at an Academy in London for training Ministers
among the Dissenters, under Mr. Thomas Ro\ve, a Non-con-
formist of eminence, at the close of the Seventeenth and in the
beginning of the Eighteenth Century. The celebrated Dr.
Isaac Watts, who was sent to the same Academy in 1690, ,vas
one of his fello\v-students there; and has recorded of him that
" he was the first genius in the Academy." A proof that the
friendship, thus begun, \vas continued through life, is fhrnished
by a Letter from him to Dr. Watts, written only a fe\v years
before his death and subscribed: "your old friend and affec-
"tionate servant.'
The interval bet\veen the completion of
his studies and his conformity to the Church of :England (spent,
according to some accounts, in the charge of a Dissenting con-
gregation) \yas but short; for it \vas doubtless \vith a vie\v to
qualify himself for Episcopal Ordination that in April, 1704, he
entered Clare Hall
Cambridge. "Tithout staying to graduate,
he \yas, in 1705, admitted to Deacon's Orders by Dr. More,
Bishop of Nor\yich, and to Prieses Orders by Dr. Simon
Patrick, Bishop of Ely. In 1709, he accompanied the Earl
(after\vards Marquis) of '\Vharton, as Chaplain, \vhen that
Nobleman, soon after the change of Ministry, \vhich follo\yed
the death of Prince George of Denmark, "
ent over to Ireland,
as Lord Lieutenant. The Earl \yas quickly recalled and suc-
ceeded by the Duke of Ormonde; not, however
before he had
nominated his Chaplain to a Rectory in the Diocese of Meath.
A dispute having arisen respecting the right of the Crown
to present, the affair \yas not finally settled in Mr. Hort's
favour until 17 17, ,vhen he quitted a Benefice in Buckingham-

334

shire, \vhich he had in the meantime received from the Lord
Chancellor Co,vper, and returned to Ireland. In the next
year, he was appointed to the Deanery of Cloyne, and in 1720
removed to that of Ardagh. He ,vas consecrated Bishop of
Ferns and Leighlin, on the 26th of February, 17 Z J; trans-
lated to the See of Kilmore and Ardagh, in 1727; and raised
to the Archbishopric of Tuam, in 1742. He died at an
advanced age in 1751, having been distinguished for zeal and
beneficence in the successive scenes of his Pastoral labours and
particularly in the Diocese of Tuam, ,vhere his memory is still
gratefully cherished. In 17
8, he published a volume of Ser-
mons, inscribed to the Clergy of his Diocese, to ,vhom he
accounted for the publication by representing himself as "dis-
" abled from Preaching by an over-straining of his voice in
" the Pulpit many years before."

INSTRUCTIONS

1'0

THE CLERGY

OF THE DIOCESE OF TU Al\l, &c.

:ßI!I reverend brethren,
THE providence of God having called l11e to the government
of this diocese, I have judged it not improper for me to commu-
nicate my thoughts to you \vith regard to the execution of your
ministerial office, in order to the edification and salvation of the
souls respectively committed to your charge.
To this end I shall reduce what I have to say to you under two
general heads:
The first relates to your conduct in the actual performance of
divine offices in the house of God.
The second relates to your behaviour at large towards your
parishioners.
In speaking to the former, I shall confine myself to these four
branches of your office, nan1ely, preaching, praying, catechising
and expounding the holy scriptures.
I shall begin with preaching, which is one of those means
appointed by our Saviour, for the enlightening the minds,
awakening the consciences and refonning the manners of your
hearers. In order to a.nswer these great ends, some degree of
skill and address, as well as of pains and study, will be requisite:
and I shall, for the sake chiefly of such of you as have not been
long in holy orders, communicate my sentilnents wit.h regard to
t.he subject, the composition, the style and the pronunciation of
a sermon.

336

Hort's Instrltctions to the Ole'iYJ!I

The subject of a sermon ought to be some point of doctrine
that is necessary for a Christian to know; or some duty that is
necessary for hirn to pract.ise, in order to his salvation. I speak
this in opposition to subtile questions and curious speculations,
that are above the common level of the auditory, and which have
often no other effect than to disquiet the minds and consciences
of those who do not rightly understand them; and if they please
curious and itching ears, yet will edify no man in faith and a
good life.
Upon this occasion I \vould recommend it to young preachers
especially, to con1pose a set of sermons upon the chief articles of
the Christian religion, according to their natural order and
dependence. By this means. they will improve their own know-
ledge at the saIne tilne that they are teaching their hearers:
but this should be done in the plainest and easiest manner, lay-
ing aside metaphysical niceties and the jargon of the schools, and
especially avoiding to explain mysteries; for this is generally
giving \vords and terms without lueaning; and no nlan has ever
succeeded in the attempt.
When a useful subject is chosen, the next care of the preacher
is to find out some proper and pertinent text, that will naturally
lead hin1 to pursue his subject, and that \vill yield him those
doctrines and practical deductions which he had in his vie\v,
without force and torture. For \vant of this, the whole operation
will be laborious, obscure and perplexed to the COD1poser; and
the discourse will be void of that perspicuity, which is necessary
to engage the attention of the hearers. And I an1 sure there is
no \vant of such texts upon all subjects in the Bible.
It has given me disgust to observe in some preachers a certain
affectation of choosing such texts as appear remote and foreign
to their subject, that by this means they may have opportunity
of shewing their wit and ingenuity in fetching that out of a text,
which nobody in1agined could be in it. They would do some-
thing miraculous, like bringing water out of a dry rock in the
\vilderness, in order to surprise their auditory; but this will
ever give distaste to good judges, and there is no occasion for
putting one text upon the rack, to Inake it speak that \vhich
would naturally and easily arise out of another, that might as
well have been chosen in the roonl of it.
When a useful subject and a pertinent text are chosen, the
next ,vork is con1position, or the ranging of such thoughts as

of the Diocese of Tuan2.

SS7

naturally n,rise upon the subject, into n, convenient order and
luethod : this will be the plan of his discourse; and the cOlnpo
er
will reap no snIall advantages fro111 this practice.
First, As it will help hin1 to enter all his loose and detached
thoughts in their proper places, for want of which sonle of thelu
n1ay escape hin1 when he COllies to the finishing part.
Secondly, It will lead hin1 to break his 8ern1011 into heads,
which is absolutely necessary for giving strength and clearness
to the whole and for engaging the attention of the audience;
which will be soon blunted and tired with hen,ring an harangue
,vhere all the parts are run into one general lliass, and nothing
distinctly and specially offered to the understanding.
Thirdly, The 111eInory of the hearers will be greatly relieved;
for 3, Se1'l110n thus broken into particular heads will be better ill1-
printed and l110re easily recollected, by reason of the depend-
ence and connection of the parts, where one draws n,nother after
it like the links of a chain.
And lastly, It will give the preacher an opportunity of inter-
spersing apt texts of holy scripture for the support or illustration
of every particular head.
There n1ay inde
d be a faulty extreIl1e on this hand; for I
haye heard a sermon that has been so overloaded with texts of
scripture that the thread of the reasoning was in a manner lost
and the whole looked like a piece of rich patchwork, without
any ground appearing at the bottoln. But the other extreme,
of a penury of sacr(!d texts, prevails too nluch in our nlodern
and refined conI positions; which, for that reason, nlay rather be
called orations than sern10ns.
A. due luedi lUll- therefore ought to be observed in this case;
but of the two, the latter extrenle is 1l10st blall1able; for a
sern1011 will appear lean and unsatisfYing to a religious palate,
when it is not sufficiently larded with scripture, but the whole is
Inade to rest on the reasonings of the preacher, unsupported by
the authority of God's word.
By this n1eans likewise he will becon1e an expert textuary,
which is the first excellency of a Christian divine; and the
people will occasionally be made acquainted with the holy
scriptures.
Now this is what I call n, sern1011, in contradistinction to an
oration, which by one uniforn1 flow of eloquence, without proper
breaks and di yisions, glides like a snIooth strean1 over the soul,

z

338

[lort's Instructions to tIle Olergy

leaving no traces behind it. Tho ,yord thus delicately sown
lnay, like a concert. of nlusic, delight the ear while it lasts, but
dies with the sound, and the hearer will carry little hOI11e, besides
a renlenlbraI1ce that he was sweetly entertained.
The effect of this \viII, \yhere there are any kind of talC'nts for
it, be a good style; by \vhich I would be understood to mean
that sin1plicity and propriety of language, which clearly conveys
the sense of the speaker in to the lllind of the hearer . 'V hen
therefore, by the luethod before prescribed, the preacher is bû-
COIne n1aster of his subject and has ranged all his nlaterials fitly,
fit. \vords and expressions wil1 readily offer thelnselves to answer
to his clear ideas; for nothing perplexes t.he style but a confused
and perplexed manner of thinking.
lIe therefore \vho ,vonld convince and persuade his hearers
should above all things ain1 at that. perspicuity and silnplicity,
which are the greatest ornaments of language: whereas, on the
contrary, a tawdry style, garnished with flowers of rhetoric and
flights of fancy, which are incident to young preachers, n1ake8
only a bright confusion, that glares upon the Blind \vithout
enlightening it.
As to the doctrinal part of a sermon, the style cannot. be too
plain and chaste, though it need not descend to be base and
vulgar (for there is a wide difference between these two)
because it is addressed to the understanding; but as the practi-
cal part is designed to lllove the affections and passions, the style
n1ay rise, and grow \Varlll with SOUle height.enings of imagination,
the better to answer that purpose.
I have only t\VO short renlarks to add on this heacl. The
first relates to the introduction, the second to the conclusion of n
sern10n.
As to the foriner, if an introduction be necessary, it should
always be short, pertinent and leading as soon as may be to the
main subject of the discourse. If the text needs any light fron1
what goes before and follows it, this should be collected and
brought to bear upon the text with the utIuost brevity and clear-
ness; for people are naturally Ï1npatient to kno,v what the
minister would be at, and t.o have him take his 11lain business in
hand. 'Yhen I hear a preacher set out with a general prealllble,
that has no illlinediate relation to his text and can never carry
hilll to it but. by a lnighty circull1ference, I easily conclude with
n1yse]f what I ain to f'xpect in the soquel of the discourse.

oj' the Diocese of Tuam.

SSg

"Tith regard to the conclusion of a senuon, it should be
always practical and persuasive to a good life; it should consist
of exhortations and 1110tives proper to enforce such duties and
virtues as luay pertinently arise fronl the doctrines and positions
before laid do\vn. For the great end of preaching is to nlake
l11en better: Jnere knowledge l)l
t into the he[td, if it does not
penetrate to the heart and frOln thence diffuse itself into the
life and conversation, beconles not only useless but hurtful, as
it will turn to a Ulan's greater condeulnation.
I shall dismiss this general head with sonle remarks upon the
subject of pronunciation or elocution. And here I n1ust observe
to you that no one Dlanner of pronunciation will befit every
8ernlon, nor every part of the saDle sermon, but that it nlust be
diversified according to tbe nature of every period; it is impos-
sible therefore to give precise rules where so great a variety of
circunlstances will arise, which require :1 different nlodification
of voice and action; but every preacher 111Ust, in :1 good
degree, be left to the direction of his own judgnlent and the
best exanlples.
A II that I shall therefore atteIl1pt. under ihis head is to pro-
pose SOl11e general rules that will extend to all cases and that
nlay be of use for correcting some COlnn10n faults and rnistakes.
The first is, to pronounce every word and syllable distinctly, \
and to beware of sinking at the close of the period. This is
undoubtedly the first and chiefest excellence of pronunciation,
because the very end of speaking is so far lost, as it is not dis-'
tinctIy heard.
I would not be here understood to recomnlend that heavy and.
p hle g nlatic deli very that retails out words by theii: syllables; for
this is more properly to be callcd spelling than speaking and is
apt to t.ire 111e11"8 patience and lull t.hem to sleep: but I 111ean
that articulate expression, with rests and pauses properly inter-
posed, which shall break and distinguish the parts of n period
according t.o the sense; and herein consists the propriety and
beauty of elocution, which both speaker and hearer will sensibly
enJoy,
This rule is calculated for the cure of two faults that arc not
unfi'equent; one is a thick and confused delivery, which runs
syllables and words into one 111ass, so that the ear cannot wen
separate theIl1 and tho hearer is forced to Blake up the sense by
conjecture, The other is a rapiJity of speech which runs off too
z

340

Horts Inst/ 1 ltctions to the Olergy

fast to ilnprcss any distinct idea, on the nlind, by which lueans
both the pleasure and profit of a serlnon are in great measure
lost. A little tilne and practice win certainly cure this fault,
\vhere there is no nat.ural defect in the organs.
The second rule I would mention is, to be careful not to
exceed the cOlnpass of t.he voice. There is a certain ne pllts ultra
to the organs of speech ill eyery nlan, and his own feeling alone
can teach hinl where it lies: if he goes beyond this, hi
pronun-
ciation will be harsh, unnlusical and disagreeable both to hiul-
self and to his hearers, who cannot receive with pleasure what
they perceive he delivers with pain and violence; besides, that it
is inlPossible for hitn duly to tell1per and govern his yoic{! under
these unnatural strainings aiid efforts.
'f It is a great Inistake to ÏInagine that a voice nlust needs be
(, ,veIl heard, luerely because it is loud. rrhis is indeed a noble
foundation for art and skin to work upon; but without the aid
of these, it is often swallo,ved up and lost in itself.
A Illoderato strength of voice, ,vith a due articulation of word$
and distinction of pauses, will go further, even in a large congre-
, gation, than the thunder of an unsldlful tongue; and this is that
· suaviloquentia, that IneIlowlless and sweetness of speaking, so
nluch praised in sonle of the Ronlan orators, in opposition to the
rusticity of noisy decIaÏ1uers.
Let llle here add, by way of caution, the danger of forcing and
straining the internal organs. I wish I were not an unhappy
exalnple of this kind, and that I did not to this day feel the sad
effect.s of making too violent efforts in the pulpit Inany years
ago: frolH lllY own experience therefore let me adyise young
preachers, who have not the most robust lungs, to have recourse
to art and 11lanagelllent rather than to force, for suppl)'ing that
defect.
The third rule I would recOllltnend to you is to observe one
even and unifonn Inanner of pronunciation. I" ould not be
here understood to 11lean that a preacher is to confine hinlself to
one silnple note or sound, or to one degree of tilHe and nlotion
frolll the beginning to tho end of his discourse; for this is that
'JJlonotonia, or una quæda17
spiritus ac soni intcntio, which the
great teacher of ROlnan oratory explodes. It3Q!! ld be 11l0st
absurd to do this, unless every thought. and every
s ion "'ere
perfectly alike. The
pirit and beauty, and, I may say, the very
essence of pronunciation, lie
in pro!)er enlphases and accents,

(1
llw Dioces(' of TU(I/Jl.

3
1

and in vnl'Jing the notes find tilnes pursun.nt to the diversitJ of I
sentilnents and occasions.
But I anI levelling this rule against that subsu1tory way of
delivery, that rises like a stonll in one part of the period n.nd
presently sinks into a dead cahn, that wiU scarce reach the ear.
I allow that eleyations and softenings of the voice, judiciously
nlanaged, are both ornamental and useful; but those sudden
starts and explosions are 1110St ungraceful and unbecoming the
gravity of the pulpit, and are of no use, thn.t I can think of,
unless it be to startle a hearer that happens to be asleep: and
the other extrclue of sinking below the ear is still Inore
ridiculous; for words which cannot be heard may as well not be
spoken.
The fourth and last general rule I would suggest is to
distinguish carefully between the doctrinal and practical part of
the discourse, in the luanneI' of your pronunciation. The inten-
tion of the doctrinal part being to enlighten the understanding
and to lead it to the knowledge of truth, by cool reasoning and
nrgumentation; all that is proper and necessary here is that
silupJicity of accent and eluphasis, which n1ay serve to point out
where the force of the argunlent lies; and no luan, who is master
of his subject, can greatly err in this part.
But the practical part of a sernlon requires a very different con-
duct; for the n1ind having been before sufficiently enlightened
and the nature and obligation of virtue clearly proved, the inten-
tion is now to persuade the win to en1brace it; to which end the
passions are to be excited to COlne in to assist the reason.
And here it is that the pathetic alluren1ents of 'Toice will be use-
ful and proper: for experience shews us the power of the out-
ward senses in this case, and particularly that action and lllotion,
skilfuUy presented to the eye, and musical sounds, received by
the ear, produce wonderful effects on our passions and affec-
tions. It is therefore necessary, when your design is to raise
fear or hope: joy or sorrow, love or natred, to vary the nction
and pronunciation fronl cool and sedate to that which is Inore
\VarIn and Hluving; in order to touch the spring of tha t passion,
which you would luake use of to answer your end.
To descend to particulars in this case is inlpossible, because
the variety is infinite. The simple accents required in reason-
ing are few and easy, and good sense alone will direct these;
but the various 111odulations of the voice, which render tone and

3-t2

IIvr{':( IJU5tl'Uct iuns tv the UleJ:qy

c3,dence harnlonious, are talents of quite another kind: for the
e
being in reality nothing but different notes in the scale of lllusic,
require a l11usical ear to fOrITI and direct then1; and where this
natural giÎt is wanting, the preacher will fall into discords and
, only expose hiIllself by his attelnpt.
For t.his reaS0n, the safest way ia, generally, of t.he two
extrelues, to
void that of running into too luuch tone and
cadence; his defect on this side ,viII, at the worst, only not
pleaso, but an error on the other side will disturb and displease;
and it l11ay 1110reO\Tor carry the appearance of affectation and
scIÏ-opinion, which will expose hinl to contempt and censure.
I COlne next to the second branch of your office in the church,
and that is reading the public prayers; and, I do assure you,
there is no littIe slíÌll required to do this as it ought to be Jone.
I can it indeed reading the prayers, in c0l11pliance \vith the
.. conUTIon phrase; but speaking properly, prayers ought to be
prayed and not read.
'fhere is a certain propriety of accent, cadence and gesture,
that befits the sole1l1nity and seriousness of devotion; and where
this is duly observed, the nlinister will find it a great help, both
to wal'ln his own heart and to draw out the attention and affec-
tions of the congregation. I do allo,v that praypr is a spiritual
duty and is properly the action of the s()ul: but experience
she,vs us to be so lllade and compounded as that our souls
receive great in1}Jressions and changes from our outward senses.
.r\nd therefore the Ininister should chooso those accents and
gestures that are n10st apt and proper to excite his own elevotion,
as well as that of the people; he should pray to their eyes and
pray to their ears, as the readiest way to affect their hearts.
TIut he nlust at the sarne tillle carefully avoid theatrical accents
and gestures; all affectation is offensive to good judges; but
that of the theatre is of all others the most unbecol11ing the house
of God, and will disgust serious persons. A ud yet if accents
and diversification of voice be ,vhoBy rejected, the prayers will
seenl cold and lifeless, the attention will languish and the devo-
tion lose its spirit and fervour.
There is likewise a due lllediuIl1 to be observed in the t.itne
and 1110Vemí'nt of prayers: if they are rea,d too fast, they cannot
in1prcss the soul with due sentilllents and affections as the lnin-
istcr proceeds; on the other hand. slo\v and heavy reading will
111ake tho work dull and tiresol1u'; and the ilnpaticnt hearer will

o.f flu} Diocese of TU(lu/;.

343

be apt to let loose his thoughts to wander upon foreign subjects
or perhaps con1po
e hin1self to rest.
So that it requires SOHle degree of judglllent to steer between
these extrell1es; and the reading of the public prayers is an art,
which all clergYlnen should set thelnselves to acquire by study
and practice and by copying after the best ex
tlnples.
And Jet I fear that it is too Inuch neglected by those who are
newly ordained; and that, when they COlne first into the desk,
they strike at randoln and without any regard to propriety, into
a certain Inanner of reading, which every body observes to be
wrong but thelnselvés; titne and use ,vill soon render this falni-
liar; and as they never discover the fault, it becoines a habit,
and they Deyer think of correcting it afterwards.
It is indeed difficult to change a bad n1anner; but difficult
things may be done and often D1ust be done. And to make
this point 1110re easy, I will give you one short rule, which Inay
be of use both to such clergymen as are yet to forin their man-
ner and to those who have habituated theIl1Selves to an im-
proper one; and it is this: let a ll1inister, when he opens his
book, possess his soul with this thought; that he is going to
address hinlself to the great
Iajesty of heaven and earth, \vho
knows all his thoughts and beholds all his actions; and that he
is in the inllnediate presence of this adorable Being, who is very
jealous of his honour; I say, let. hilll possess his soul duly with ·
this consideration and he ,viII naturally fall into all the pro - .
prieties of prayer.
The third branch of your office is that of public cat.echising.
The compilers of our liturgy acted very prudently in Inaking
the Church Catechisrn short and sU1l1nlary, for fear of overbur-
dening the nlemory and rendering it distasteful and irksoIlle.
For this reason they did not support the doctrines and duties,
there laid down, with proofs out. of the holy scripture, taking it
for granted, that this part would be supplied by the pastors of
the church: this has accordingly Leen done by l11any of our
bishops and learned divines, in their printed expositions of the
Church Catechisnl; descending to 111any particular questions
and answers, which naturally branch out fronl the general heads
of that SUllllnary.
..A..nlong these I HUlst nlcntion and recoDunend one in pal'ti-
cular, cOlnposed by that Inost excellent prelate z (now with God)
z Edward Synge
D. D. who was .Archhi8hop of Tuam from 1716 to 17-1 I.

f
1-4

IIort's Instl'uctions to the Clel
(j!l

,vho was nlY illlnlediate predecessor in this dioc(1se and province,
in whose steps I beseech God to give l11e grace to tread.
'Vith regard to children, the chief use of catechislllS is to
treasure up the nlaterials of knowledge in their nlenlories, though
they nlar perhaps enter very little into the sense of thenl: but
as their understandings ripen with tilDe, anò their appetite for
knowledge increases, it will be no SIll all advantage that they
have the words and sentences reaùy stored up for use; for they
will easily put sense to thenl hereafter, and then it is that a
]))ore copious exposition becoilles seasonable and necessary:
however, no pains should be spared for enlightening theln at
present according to their capacities.
And J anI afraid that too .TIlany of your parishioners \vho are
of nlature age, and even SOllle who are advanced in years, have
neod to be taught ,,,hat are the first principles of the oracles of
God. 8hal11e will hinder such frolll cOIning to be catechised
like children, but that shalne win be covered by Jour putting in
practice the lnethod I anI recol1unending; for light and know-
ledge will be obliquely conveJerl into their lninds, find you ,viII,
by instructing children in their presence, instruct thell1 at the
saIne tinIe, without exposing their ignorance.
In such parishes as afford fi sufficient auditory at the evening
service, this work luay be then 1110st conveniently perforlued, till
the short days COllie in; but where the parishioners lie relnote
froln the church, the lllorning will be the fittest tlnle. J twill
indeed prolong the service for half an hour; but they who conle
to worship God but once in seven days lllay look upon this as
an easy cOlnposition; and if the n1inister should not grudge his
pains, it will be hard if they should grudge their tinle, when they
have no worldly business upon their hands.
If you should at the sanIe tilll0 take occasion to explain and
enforce the doctrines of protestantisln and of the eShl,blished
church, it lnight be of great use to fortify your people and pre-
vent apostasies, and perhaps to bring over such as nlay have the
curiosity to be your hearers. And to speak the truth, there is
no other way of effecting this properly upon reasonable creatures
and Christian, than the way of reasoning and conviction. Coer-
cive laws nlay restrain and disable those who a YOW principles
that are delStructive to the church anti 8tate, and coercion in
those cases is wise and necessary; but they can never convince
any body: they nlay tie up JHen'S hands and tongucs
but never

úf lIte Diocese of Tuanz.

345

reach their hearts; this is only to be clone by enlightening the
]]}ind and working properly upon the conscience.
I n1ust therefore, 1UY rcyerend brethren, 11108t earnestly press
you to be assiduous in the discharge of this part of your office;
declaring, at the sanIe tiI11e, that I shall distinguish with my re-
gards such Ininisters and curates as shall distinguish thelnselves
by their diligence upon this and the following head;
'''
hich is, fourthly, the reviving of that ahnost antiquated
exercise of expounding the holy scriptures to your congre..
gations.
I aIn afraid the bulk of your people are very little acquainted
with this divine book; sonle for want of inclination to read it,
and others for want of proper helps for understanding it; and
yet this is the book that is able to mal'e them 'lcise unto salvation a.
This book is the great rule of their faith and practice, and
according to this book they nlust be judged at the last day.
'Vho then should teach theu1 to understand it but their pas..
tors, who are caIled by that honourable nalne, because they are
to .tèed tlteir people u'ilh knou.:led.Qe and 'ltnclerstandinp b? For the
priest's lips should leep Ænou;ledge, and the!! :5ltould seek tIle law
at ltis 'JJ20uth; fm o he is the 'lnessenger of tlte Lopd of Hosts C .
By this l11e3:nS you will by degrees lead those into the know..
ledge of the holy scriptures, who will not be at the pains} or
Inay want leisure, to read then1 a,t honle; or if they do read, yet,
for want of conUl1entators, arc sometilncs at a loss for the true
sense.
Let nle add that this exercise will be of no slllall advantage
even to yourselves, as it will lay JOu under a necessity of study..
ing the word of God, which you are by profession and prolllise
at your ordination, bound to do : for n clergYlnan can no Inore be
un skilful in the holy scriptures, without great shanle and reproach,
than a lawyer in the la\v.
The Epistles and Gospels all(l Lessons for the day will
furnish JOu with choice of subjects' for this work, which will be..
conIC easy and falniliar to the Ininistcr, after he has once nIade
hilnself Inastet" of the sense and connection, And the saIne
notes will generally serve, as the sallIe portions return in an
annual rotation.
nut let IHe not ÙC 11lisul1l1érstood: I aln not recollllnending

a 2 Tim. iii, Ij.

b Jer. iii, 15.

c
Ia1. ii, 7.

S.J.6

Hort's Instruct-ions to the Clergy

this as an additional task, over and above the serlnon, but to be
substituted sonlctilnes in the place of it; and which, in Iny judg-
HIcnt., will be more profitable; especially if care be taken to
Blake such practical inferences and applications, in the course of
the exposition, as Inay naturaIIy arise out of the text. This ,,,ill
indeed ll1ake it a sernlon in another shape; with this difference
only, that the variety of subjects and incidents ,vill enliven the
attention and give a l110re agreeable as ,veIl as instructive en-
tertainll1ent to the audience j who, I dare say, ,vill come ,vith a
better appetite to this exercise, ,,,,hen judiciously perfonned, and
fill your churches better.
It ,vill renlain in the l11inister's discretion to interpose a ser-
Ulon when he pleases; but he will do well to note dO'wn those
Sundays, in order to expound in the follo,ving year those por-
tions of holy scripture, \vhich by this ll1eans ,vere omitted.
And if the people were achnonished to bring their Bihles ,vith
theIu, according to the good old practice of our ancestors, and to
accompany the minister as he reads and expounds, they would
understand and retain it better and be enabled to spend an hour
lnost profitably in recollecting and re.peating to their fanlilie.s
,vhat they had heard at church.
I \ I f this custom, practised in the times of puritanisln, was laid
, aside in a licentious age, when all seriousness in religion gre,v
out of fashion, let us not be ashamed to revive it; for it is no
I
. shalne to learn that ,vhich is good froin any body. After all, if
a sennon in fornl should, in COlllpliance with custom, be found
indispensable, it may however be shortened to allow for the tÍlne
that had been spent in the exposition.
I conle now to the second general head I proposed to speak to,
viz. your duty at large and out of the house of God.
The first I should ll1ention is the visitation of the sick. And let
Ine assure you that this is a very critical office at certain conjunc-
tures, and that great discretion is required for the right c1ischarge
of it; for there llla)' be danger in adnlinistering either too llluch
fear or too 11luch hope.
To awaken a sick Ulan to reflect upon his past life and to ca1l
his sins to rClnelnbrance, in order to a particular repentance,
\vill be of great use to hinl; but carc Blust be taken not to
throw hilll into despair of God's 111crcy and forgiveness; for
this will prevent his repentance and shut tho door of 11lorcy
against hin1.

if the Diocese of Tuam.

3-t7

On the other hand, to set only the mercy of God before hinl
nnd deal out hope too liberally, \\ill be the way to Blake hinI
secure at a time, when his soul is in the utInost danger and
when repentance i
all that he has for it. .And by-standel's
win be too apt to lay hold of such sweet doctrine to their own
undoing.
I anI afraid. it is too frequent for wicked livers, when they
apprehend the approaches of death, to send for the n1Ïnister, in
order to receive the cOllul1union and absolution as a kind of
l)assport, which they hope will do their business at once and
carry thel11 by a short way to hea yen; and indeed this is a very
short way, if it would do. But alas! we do not find in the holy
scriptures that the way is quite 80 easy; on the contrary, we
find that repentance and a good life are the only sure foundation
of hope and con1fort at the hour of death. For this reason a
l1Iinister ought not to be too ready with his absolutions; nor
has he any warrant for it, unless the proofs of repentance be
strong and the sick person 11ll!nbly and earnesUy desire it; in
which case only, the rubric direct.s absolution to be given.

-\nd even then, it will be very proper for the minister to ,
übserve that he has no power to forgive sins absolutely; but
that all that he can do is to declare, for the con1fort of the sick,
that God forgives hinl, in case his repentance be sincere and
his heart thoroughly changed.
I confess that, when things are con1e to the last extren1Îty, re-
pentance is all that is in the power of a dying 111:1n, after a bad
life: but God only knows, whether it be the nIere effect of
terror, or whether the heart be so changed as, in case of re-
covery, would have operated to a virtuous life. Charity, ,yhich
hopeth aU things, will make the best of it; but it is a very poor
refuge; and as it would be cruel to refuse a dying luan that
little comfort which his case 111ay possibly adnlit, so it would
encourage presun1ption in the living to give too Inuch.
But the case is quite otherwise with regard to a virtuous and
godly l11an in his last mOlncnts; here none of these cautions arc
necessary, but the u1inister nw.y safely pour the oil of" joy and
hope with profusion into his soul.
But the visitation of the sick is only an occasional branch of tt
pastor's duty, and thoro is another of lunch greater Í1llporta11cO
and extent, and that is,

;348

lIoJ'ts Instructions to tlte Cia,!!!!

Secondly, His yisiting all his parishioners at their houses in a
stated and a regular course. By this nleans only can he ]earn
the true state of their souls and all their spiritual wants. In
the church he is to speak and they to hear only; but his
falniliar conversation will give thelll an opportunity of speaking
in their turns and of opening to hilll their doubts and scruples
of conscience; their fears, their tenlptations and their ignorance;
and he ,viII take fit occasions to adnlonish and reprove thenl
privately, without exposing them to shaule, according to our
Saviour's advice. The tenderness and regard t.o the character
and credit of an offender nlust naturally tend to soften and re-
clainl him; but if after repeated adillonitions he should prove
obstinate and incorrigible, then, and not till then, is he to be put
to open shalne. Presentments, exconllliunications, judicial cen-
sures and penances, are always to be the last resort, when
private adtl1onitions and expostulations have been repeated
,vithout effect.
If there be dotuestic quarrels and dissensions, the discreet
advice of the Ininister may heal thenl and restore unity and
peace and lllutual affection between husband and wife, parents
and children, brethren and sisters. If reciprocal passions or ill
offices have set neighbours and friends at variance and given
rise to vexatious prosecutions and lawsuits, which are often
occasioned by a luere lllisunderstanding of one another (or by
Inalicious whispers and insinuations), he \rill set things in a
better light and 11lo11ify them to a better tenlper; and bring
then1 to decide their differences by the cheap and Christian way
of arbitration, to the saving of fanlÎlies froln utter ruin. And
indeed I have observed that, when once a 11linister has, by his
discreet, peaceaLle and upright behaviour, estaLlished hill1self
in the good opinion and confidence of his parishioners, he be-
COllles froln that titue a general arbiter and judge alnong theIn,
and all their little strifes are readily subluitted to his decision.
By the saine lneans also he will learn if the worship of God
be kept up in f
tlnilies, as it ought; he will discover ,vhat good
books are used all10ng thenl and what bad ones, which Illay tend
to corrupt their principles and lllanncrs. He will find if seduc-
ers have been privately at work in his parish, to practise on the
ignorant and unstable and lead thCln astray; and this ,viII give
hitll an opportunity to set thenl right and fortify them. And I

of the Diocese of Tuaì'Jt.

349

fear there ,vas never 1110re occasion for the vigilance of n1inisters
in this case, than in these days, when the flock of Christ is beset
with wolves of various denoll1inations.
To nanle no l11ore, he will learn from his o,vn eyesight the
rlistresses and wants of the poor fan1Ïlies in his parish, which win
l11o,.e hinl both to extend his own charity and to solicit that of
others, for their relief.
These and a thousand other good ends are to be obtained only
by the diligence of a pastor in visiting his parishioners at their
houses; so that, if he should content hÎ1nself with officiating in
the church only and having barely a face-linowledge of thenl, he
willlea,.e a great part of his duty undone.
It is incredible how far this practice would go towards refOrll1-
iug t.he people and especially those of the lower rank; for though
he is doing no n10re than his bare duty, yet they would 111istake
it for a great honour and condescension on his part, to visit thenl
fanÚliarly in their hOlnely cottages; and, by thus gaining their
hearts, he would find then1 soft to his good iU1pressions and
patient under his reproofs.
I hope, therefore, my reverend brethren, that you will be
particularly assiduous in this branch of your duty; and that., for
the 1110re easy and effectual pel'forlnance of it, you will divide
your respective parishes into convenient districts, to be visited by
you in a staterl course.
N eerl I observe to you, in the third and last place, that the
exaluple of a virtuous and holy life in a minister will have Inore
effect upon his people, than a thousand discourses froln the
pulpit, be they never so excellent

The bulk of Il1ankind are n1uch easier led by the eye than thf\
ear; and though he should preach like an angel, yet they will
despise his doctrine, if they do not read it in his life: but, when
he shews hinlself in all tkings a pattern of good works and pre-
sents in his own life n fair copy of all those gracea and virtues
which he reco1l1n1ends fron1 the pulpit, his people ,viII believe
hilll to be in good earnest, and that his sincere ailn is to save
their souls as well as his own. IIis hun1Ïlity, nleekness and
forgi\Teness, his charity and 1110d.eration, his tenlperance and
sobriety, his grave, prudent and peaceable behaviour, his encou-
ragelnent of religion and devotion in his own fanlily, will procure
reverence and authority to his person, attention to his preach-
ing and a zeal to iluitate hi
virtues: they will think such a

350

Hopt's Instructions tú the Clerg!/

labourer uJortltY of his hire; and he nlust be of [t very perverse
telnper indeed, who ,viII not cheerfully render hinl his dues.
I HUlst here I1lake one observation, which lnost naturally
arises out of this head; and that is the indispensable duty of
residing on your respective cures; for it is of the nature of eX:Ul1-
pIes to be present and before the eye; so that [t n1inister, ,vho does
not live alnong his flock, can never be an exaulple to theine
I Inight. here lìlention, as a lo,ver consideration, the convenience
of resiùence to yourso1ves; not. only for the hetter ilnprovenlent
of your glebes anrl t.he providing of l110re cOlnfortable habitations
for yourselves and successors and being in the 111idst of your
business; but also for avoiding all pretences of withholding fronl
)'ou your legal dues. ·
'Vhen a Ininister is not resident, either in person or by his
curate, the parishioners are ready to plead (and indeed with too
lunch colour) that they do not receive tho valuable consideration
of their tit.hes.
In strictness of la\v there is no foundation for this pIca,
because tithes are not the property of the tenant or the landlord,
bnt free donations to the church by the piety of ancicnt tilnes ;
\vhich by unlucky accidents are fallen into the hands of n1ere
laynlcn, ,,,ho can do no spiritual service for the same: and in
fact all estates subject to tithes were trans111itted or purchased,
suLject to this incumbrance; for which the purchaser n1ust have
paid a greater price and the fanner :1 higher rent, if they had
been tithe-free. Every TIlan therefore n1ust consider hilnself not
as a possessor in property, but as a trustee of the tenth part of
the produce; which he holds in trust for the use of the parish
H1inister; and which he cannot without injustice withhold and
apply to his own nse, since he has no title to it.
And the case is beconle t.he san1P, ,,,here there are Iay-ilnpro-
pria tors; and yet these receive their tithes \vith less grumbling
and opposition, though they can neither pray nor preach as a
consideration for the same.
The nonresidence t.herefore of the lninister, or even his
neglects of duty, are a mere pretence set up against paying
tithes; and I alll afraid that if he would graciously renlit his dues.
too luan y of these claluourers ,voulcl readily di.
pensc ,,,ith his
residence.
But give 111e leave to obseryc, on the other hand, that, if in
law the 111inistcr be entitlerl to his tithes, the parishioners arc in

of the Diocese of TUaJJl.

331

good conscience and by the rules of the gospel anà the will of
the donor, entitled equally to his spiritual cares and labours in
tho execution of his office for the goorl of their souls. If he
'reaps thei1
carnal tldugs, it is in consideration that he shall SOlD
'Unto theJJt sp;"itllal things; and fiS he is partaÆer of the altar, he
is required to
()ait at the altar d ; and therefore if he proyes ren1Ïss
in the discharge of his duty, if he is not at hand to watch over
his flock, to feed and to guard theIn, he Blust not ,\-onder if they
are untoward and difficult in the payn1ent of their dues; for
though tIle law be with hiln, Jet they will justly set up the equity
of the gospel against him.
I cannot disnlÍss this general head without putting you in
Blind of one duty more which, though it be not properly canon-
ical and within ll1Y province, yet is truly of religious considera-
tion.
I an1 speaking of that provision for your faluilies, by a prudent
lllanagenlent of your inCOl1leS, \vhich every luan is bound by
the laws of God and of nature to nlake. St. Paul's adillonition
in this caso is at least as binding as any canon of Ollr church:
If anyone p1"0'Cide not .(01' llis ou:n and especially for those of
!tis own house, lw hath denied the faitlt, and is worse than an
infidel e.
A.nd I a111 sorry to observe that the 111elllories of n1any
cIergynlen lie under just reproach for their neglect of this duty,
,vhich the laws of God and nature oblige every nlan to do. If
a clergyman happens to have a tClnporal estate, sonlething will
rCluain for the support of his f(lIuily who survive hilll; but
where his benefice is his only fund, he lllust want natural affection
and justice, or to suppose the best, he lllust be void of all thought,
who spends it as fast as it COlnes in, without laying up SOllle
part of it for their support. \Vhether it be owing to indolence
or bad nlanagell1ent, or to idle projects, or whet.Jher his ir..coJne be
expended in entertainl11ents and high living, falsely called hospi-
tality, though it Inay 11101'e properly be called prid.e and ostenta-
tion; yet it 11lakes no difference with respect to theIn, when
there is nothing left for their subsistence.
He would disdain to be told, that the only refuge of his widow
HUlst be in some charity-house; and that his daughters, after
being delicH/tely bred, n1ust be quartered as Innllble cOlnral1ions

d I Cor. ix, 1 I, 13.

e I Timothy Y, 8.

g:3

IIorts I,lSt,'llCtiolls to the Olergy

upon sOlne good lady; ,,,here, if they are treated better t.han

ervants, in point of cerClllony and respect, yet their condition is
so far worse, as they serve without wages; or if this should not
Le their good fortune, they 111USt be exposed to snares and
telnptations and at last perhaps fall a prey to sonle rich invader
of their virtue, for the sake of a Inaintenance: I say, he would
disdain to be told this, and yet he is taking the ready way to
bring things to this issue. }1'or he well knows that he is only a
tenant for life and that, as he spends all while he lives, all his
funds HUlst die \vith hilu.
IIow D1uch better would it be for such a one to retrench all
superfluities in good tilue and enter upon a new econon1)'!
'Vhat if he should not treat 1\-ith wine, and rivalluen of perma-
nent fortunes in his entertainulents; what if his wife and daugh-
ters were not to shine in silks, but be nlodestIv clothed in decent
stuffs, and the savings laid up for their fortunes; would any
,vise nlan think the \vorse either of hilu or them
:So; his pru-
dence and their IUlluility ,,"ould be universally applauded and
,,"ould be set up as an exalnple to other falnilies in the like cir-
CUIllstances.
I should therefore think it a Inost laudable resolution in every
clergynlan, who is not possessed of a telnporal estate, to lay up
one half, or one third, or at the least one quarter of his incolue,
according as the thing will bear, for the future occasions of his
faluily; and to look upon such sa.vings as not at all his own, but
sacred to their use.
It reulains only that I exhort you to that which is not so pro-
perly to be called a distinct and separate head of duty, as a III ode
or quality that ought to run through all the rest: I anI speaking
of zeal, or that fervent de
irc of doing good to the souls of your
parishioners, which will anilnate and enliven every part of Jour
duty. This is opposed to that indolence and lukewü,rluness of
spirit, which always proceeds with indifferen
e and slothfulness
in business; which does what is barely required and no l11ore,
and therefore generally underdoes in every thing. To such
tenlpers every thing goes up hill and against the grain; and
is perforllled as if it \vere a task, which is done only because it
Innst be done.
But a principle of zeal will turn our duty into deIight and
Inake us active and diligent; it will overCOIne all difficulties and
spare no pains in proilloting the honour of God and the salva-

oj'tll Diurese uJ'Tuarn.
tion of those soulg that arc COllllnitteù to our charge. ()l1r
Sayiour gives John the character of a burnÙlg and a shining
lZQnt f, shining by tho light of his doctrine and burning by the
warIuth and activity of his zeal: and the sallie should be the
character of every luinister of the gospel.
I n order therefore to excite you to the effectual discharge of
your spiritual offices with this laudable telllper of lllind, I shall,
as I proposed, lay before you some lllotives and considerations,
which, if duly attended to, cannot fail of success.
The first shall be taken frolll the nature of that trust, which
with Jour own consent has been cOInn1Ítted to you. The souls
of your parishioners are your iuunediate charge, and JOu are to
guide then1 in the way to eternal salvation. Hence it is that the
office of a 111inister is represented in the holy scriptures under
Inetaphors and characters importing a very high trust.
You are called shepherds. who are to feed the flock of Christ,
by enlightening their Iuinds with the knowledge of divine
truths; to establish their faith and influence then1 to the prac-
tice of virtue. 8inwn, SJn of Jonas, lovest tlw'lt fine? says our
Saviour; Feed m!1 sheep?;; which he repeats three tilues. The
trust is c0111prised in three words, but so big with inlportallt
Inatter as luight fill a voltune. However, you 111ay observe the
principle and spring froin whence it is inferred and enforced:
Lorcest tlwlt me P strongly inlplying that, wherever there i8 n,
true love for our blessed Saviour, it will naturally operate by a
zeal for prollloting the salvation of those souls, for whom he shed
his I110St precious blood.
As shepherds, JOu are likewise instructed to guard your
flocks froin spiritual eneIl1ics and dangers, especially as they are
surrounded with those who will be assiduous to pervert and
corrupt both their faith and l11anners. For this reason a good
1)3.stor will always have an eye upon his flock, to confirn1 those
that are wayering, and to reclaiul and recover such as have been
led astray, being selluced by cunning iten 'wlto lie in 'lcait to
decetve; for those wolves have ever haunted about Christ "Is fold.
And it is in the saIne view and for the saIne purposes that you
are called watchnlen; for you are to watch oyer the taith and
n10l'a1s of yonr people and guard thenl against infidelity, idol-
atry, false doctrines, corrupt religions. evil CUSt0l11S and imrnoral

353

f John v, 35.

go John xxi, 16.

Aa

55

Hort"'s Instrnctions to tit' Clerl/!1

practices. Son of }}
an, says God to the prophet, I have 'lnacl
tltee a watekJJ
an over tlte lto'ltse of Israel,. and tho end follows,
nttlllely, to l,Darn the u)iclced frorn ltis evil way. St. Paul takes
np the allusion, Ohey tltmn tltat Ilave tIle rule ovei' you, for tIle!!
watel" for your sou/s h .
And here I cannot but repeat the hint of the necessity of
residence, which is so clearly and strongly iU1plieù in those
u1etaphors; for an absent and rall1bJing shepherd 11111st needs
neglect the safety of his flock, and a \vatchlnan or sentinel will
be punished, if he leaves his post.
And lastly, to name no 1110re, you are stewards of tIle rn..?fsteries
of God i, and dispensers of the means of salvation in his church.
The church is Christ's hous;hold or falnily; and it is Jour office
to adtninister their spiritual food to theIn, even tIle s'Ùleere
nil1c of
the u'ord, that. so they may gr()1J) in grace and in the knowledge
of God th,eir Saviour.
Now these metaphors of a shepherd, a \vatchman and a ste\y-
ard express, in a most significant and lively l11annel\ the nature
of that trust which is con1mitted to everyone who has taken
upon him the holy character; and shew that he is responsible
for the souls of his parishioners.
And as every trust must one time or other be accoun ted for,
this leads n1e to the other motive, proper to excite you to a zeal-
ous and diligent discharge of your office; nanlely, that you will
1110st certainly be called to a strict account for the san1e. This is
strongly urged by St. Paul, in the place before Inel1tioned, as an
argunlent both to minist.ers and people to discharge t.heir duties
reciprocally; Obey tlte
n that rule over 1/01t, for tlte!! watcll for
!JOWl' souls as those 'lDho
nnst give aeco
tnt.
And what account will a lukewarm, slothful and negligent
minister give at tl1at day, if hiF unhappy parishioners should
turn evidences against him and, in excuse for their own faults,
plead that they miscarried through his neglect? ,viII he plead
his obedience to the canons and rubrics and that he perforrned
} every service, which the letter of the la\v required? Let nle as-
sure you, my reverend Lrethren, that this plea will not be arlnlit-
ted before the great Judge and that the Father and Lover
of souls requires runch nlore at your hands.
I Canons and rubrics are useful instrtunents for ]{eeping up

h Hebrews xiii, 17.

I Cor Ì\
, I.

of tlte Diocese of TuaJ}l.

j55

external discipline, order and decency in an established church; (
and it is sUlall merit in a clergylnan to obey these, because he
will be exposed to ecclesiastical censures for his neglect. But if
he contents himself with this legal observance and goes no fur-
ther, he will be fm/;nd Iwanting when he comes to be weiglwd in
the balance. His heart and soul must be set upon his \vork; he ·
must give up the best of his tillle and pains to it, labouring in .
season and out of season k, perfornling many things as a volun- J
teer, which laws do not and cannot prescribe; or he will never I
stand the inquisition of the great day, but be ranked in the '
nunlber of unprofitable serrants. This day of reckoning nlust ,
come; it is what you preach to others and it is what you should ,
seriously consider Jourselves, lest, after p'peaclting to tken];, you
yourselves should he castaways 1.
But as dreadful as this day will prove to slothful and nlerely
canonical pastors, it will be no less joyful and happy to those,
,vho have been zealous and diligent in saving the souls com-
nlitted to their charge. 'Vith what pleasure will every such
Ininister appear at the head of his happy flock before the great
Shepherd and in his own words say, Those thou gavest 1ne I
have læpt, and none of them.! is lost! The light of his doctrine
and the living light of his example did not shine in vain, even
with respect to hinlself, before his people; for' they that t
trn
tnany to lj'ighteOl/;sness shall shine as tlte stars for ever and ever m .
If any further motive were necessary, though one would think
it should not, you n1ay turn to the Office of Ordination, and
refresh your memories with the solemn promises you luadc at
your adluission to the order of priests; and I would earnestly
advise every clergyman to read over that Office once at least in
every year, because stale prolllises are too apt to be forgotten.
Having thus, n1Y reverend brethren, delivered IUY thoughts to
you, though very imperfectly, upon SOlue of the chief branches
of your sacred function, I hope you will receive them favollrably,
and that they will not be quite unprofitable; and especially to
such of you as have not long been adnlitted to the cure of
souls.
I shall, by God's assistance, endeavour to cooperate with you
for promoting the great ends of your ministry; I shall rejoice to
live in harn10ny and a good understanding with you
I shall be
happy in your esteem and affection and in giving you the best
k 2 Tim. Ï\', 2. 1 I Cor. ix, 27. m Daniel xii, 3.
Aa2

356

11ol'ts In
tructions to the (}lergy
c.

proof'S of tuine. If any of you should ne('d adnlonition, you will
renlelnber that it is 111Y duty to give it, and yours to take it in
good part: and I hope always to give it in the spirit of lneek-
nes and with a due regard to the dignity of your character. I
shall be apt to take good ÏIllpressions of you and slow to believe
things un\vorthy of you; and would hope that this disposition of
charity and benevolence will be I1lutual. I shall cheerfully
assist you, as far as I anl capable, with IUY advice and with IUY
prayers in your behalf; and I hope I shall not want the benefit
of your advice as there shall be occasion; and especially of your
prayers, that God ,viII enable nlC by his grace to discharge faith-
fully the great trust committed to me, for the promotion of his
glory and the edification of this diocese: that so, when the great
Shepherd shall require an account of the flocks CODIDlittf'd to our
charge, you and I may be able to give it up with cheerfulness,
and enter' into the Joy of our Lord.
I shall conclude ,vith those awful words of God to the prophet
Ezekiel in his 33d chapter. 0 son of man, I have set tltee a
'watchJnan
tnto the llmtse of Israel; thel"efore {holt shalt hear tlte
'lVord at 'In!! mouth, and 'll'arn then't fron't me. JVhen I say unto
tlte 'wicked, 0 wicked man, t!tou shalt s1trely die; if tlwu dost not
speak to warn tlte
()iclæd froìJ
ltis
vay, t!tat
vicked n
an shall die
in 'tis
.niq
âty; but his blood will I require at thine hand.
Ne1)erthele
s, if tho'll warn the wiclæd of his 'l()ay to tu/rn frorn ,it;
if he do not turn fro'ln his 'U'ay, he shall die in his i1ziqU1'ty; hut
thou hast delivered thy soul.

r -L\.l
0 C 111.L\.1
I A :

OR,

INSTRUCTION
TO THE CLER(
Y,

I
THE DISCHARGE OF THEIR

PAROCHIAL DUTY,

BY THE RIGHT REVEREND

THO
IAS 'VILSON, D. D.

J,ÜHV BI
HOP OF 80VOR
\:\"D
I.AN

l'IIO
l.L\.S "
ILSOX ,,,as born at Burton, in Cheshire, on
the 20th of December, 1663, "of honest parents, fearing GOD."
From a school at Chester, he ,yas removed to Trinity College,
Dublin, ,,-here he at first studied for the l\Iedical Profession
but soon changed his purpose and prepared himself for the
ministry of the Church. lIe was ordained Deacon by the
Bishop of Kildare, on St. Peter's day, 1686; and, in December
of the same year, licensed to a Curacy in the Parish of "Tin_
,vick, Lancashire, by the then Bishop of Chester. fIe ,vas
adlnitted to Priest's Orders in 1689. fIe became Domestic
Chaplain to the Earl of Derby and Preceptor to his son, in
1692. His conduct ,vas marked by such disinterestedness and
integrity as gained for him the entire confidence of the noble
falnily and a most beneficial influence over its members. In
1697, he modestly declined the offer of the Bishoprick of the
Isle of
Ian, which the Earl, as Patron of the See, made to
him; and it ,yas not until the I{ing ('lrilliam Ill) haù, in the
following year, threatened to fill up the vacancy, ,,-hich had
continued too long, that Lord Derby could prevail on his
Chaplain to accept the Preferment. He ,vas thus (to use his
own expression) "forced into the Bishoprick."
In 1 707, each of the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge
conferred upon hin1 the Degree of D. D. Some years after-
,,-ards, a vigorous enforcement of lHscipline in his Diocese led
to his temporary imprisonment and involved hin1 in consider-
able expences. An appeal to the King in Council vindicated
the character and proceedings of the injured Prelate; and
liberal contributions somewhat lessened the pecuniary burden,
,yhich had been laid upon him. On three several occasions,
in the Reigns of Queen ...\nne, of George I and of George II

360

(once before, and t\vice after, his sufferings in the cause of the
Church) an English Bishoprick "as even urged on his accept-
ance; but in vain. 1"he latest of these proposals occurred in
] 735, ,,'hen he paid a final visit to England and \yas intro-
duced to l{ing George II and Queen Caroline. "See here,
my Lords" (said the Queen to several Prelates, attending her
Levee) "is a Bishop, \\"ho does not conle for a translation."
" No indeed; and please your Majesty" (said the good Bishop)
" I will not leave my \yife in myoid age, because she is poor."
Having entered on the 93rd year of his age and the 58th of
an Episcopate, marked, through its \vhole course, by primitive
-
simplicity, piety and zeal, he died on the 7th of March, 1755.
He has justly earned the title of the Venerable and Apostolic
Bishop of Sodor and Man, and ",ill retain it, as long as the
English language shall preserve the nunlerous \vritings, prac-
tical and devotional, which he has left behind and by ,,'hich
H he, being dead, yet speaketh" to the Church of CHRIST.

The Life of Bishop 'Vilson, consisting of authentic notices
and memorials chiefly furnished by his Son, Dr. Thomas
"Tilson, is prefixed to a complete Edition of his Works, pub-
lished at Bath in 1796. And a more recent Biography, by
the Revd. Hugh Sto\vell, has gone through several Editions.

THE I. REF ACE.

TIlE venerable author of the folIo\ving Instructions to
the Clergy presented a copy of theIn, in lnanuscript,
to every clergynlan in his diocese; and, as they are
adlnirably adapted to the end for ,vhich they ,vere
designed, \\?e may reasonably presume that this instance
of his lordship's affectionate concern for his clergy and
people ,vas attended ,vith the happiest effects.

The Instructions comprehend several of the nlost in1-
portant branches of the pastoral office; and, as they are
the fruit of long experience in the ,york of the 111inistry,
and that too the experience of Bishop 'ViIson, they carry
their o,vn recommendation ,vith thenl and lviI1, \ve doubt
not, be favourably received bJ the reverend body, for
whose use they arc intended and to ,vhom they are ll108t
rcspectfully offered.

'1'0

1
II E C 1
E I
. G Y

OF THE

DIOCESE OF SODOR AND
ll\N.

Bishop's-Court, :\Iarch 3, 1708.

J.1I!I deal' bretltren,
I PERSUADE DI)'self that you will take the following advice
well froln l11e, because, besides the authority (}od has given nl0.7
I have always encouraged you to give me your assistance to
enable DIe to discharge my duty.
Every return of Lent (a tilDe ,,,hen people were wont either
to call themselves or to be called to an account) should put us,
above all men, upon exal11ining and judging ourselves, because
we are to answer for the faith and Dlanners of other
as well as
for our own; and therefore this is a very proper season to take
an account both of our flocl<:s and of ourselves, which would
Inake our great account less hazardous and dreadful.
Let IDe therefore entreat you, at this tinle
to do what I alwaYb
have obliged Iuyself to; nanlely, carefully to lool\.. over your
ordination vows. I t is very cOll
lnel1dable to do this every
Elnber- week, but it would be unpardonable negligence Dot once

t year to consider what we have bound ourselves to and taken
the
acranlent upon it.
In the first place, therefore, ij
lee li
crv indeed 'ilbOl,'ul h!J the
1Iol!! Glwst and trul!! c(llled to the IllÍlt;istr!J of tlte church. as we
declare(l we \\ere, thi8 will appeal' in our conduct ('yer since.

:364

BishOjJ JVilson's Pal'oclâal-ia :

Let us then consider whether our great ainl has been to prolnote
tho glory of God with which we were intrusted and the eternal
interest of the souls con1nlitted to our charge, aceording to the
vows that are upon us? If not, for God's sake let us put on
resolutions of better obedience for the tinle to come.
The holy scriptures are the rule, by which we and our people
are to be judged at the last day; it is for this W{' solen1nly pro-
lllise, to he diligent in readillg and to instrztct our people out of
tlie sauw 1ioly sCl'iptztres. They do indeed sufficiently contai/
all
doctrine Iwcessary to eternal salvation (as ,ve profess to believe)
but then they nlu
t be carefully studied, often consulted and
the Holy Spirit often applied to for the true understanding of
thenl; or else in vain is all.our labour, and we are false to our

YO\YS.
Upon which heads it will behove us to consider, ho\v 111tlCh
,ve have neglected this necessary study;-ho\v often we have
contented ourselves with reading just so much as we were
obliged to by the public office
of the church !-Ho\! apt such
as read not the holy scriptures are to run to other books for
n1atter for their sermons; by which Ineans they have been too
often led to speak of errors and vices, which did no way concern
their hearers, or of things above their capacities :-and it has
often appeared that they thelnselves have scarce been convinced
of (and of course have not been heartily in love with) the truths,
,vhich they have recommended to others; which is the true
reason why their sermons Inay have done so little good.
But when a man is sensibly affected with the value of sonls,
,vith the danger they are in, with the manner of their redenlP-
tion and the price paid for them; and is ,veIl acquainted with
the New Testal11ent, in which all this is plainly set forth ;-as he
will never \vant Dlntter for the b(1st sermons, so he will neyer
,vant arguments sufficient to conv
nce his hearers, 11is own heart,
being touched with the ilnportance of the subject. U uder this
head, we nlust not forget to charge ourselves with the neglect of
catechising
for, as it is one of the 111081 ncce:ssary duties of the
Ininistry, so it is bound upon u
by laws, canons, rubrics and
constitutions, enough to a,val{cn the lTIOst careless :,unong us to a
Blore diligent. discharge of this duty.
J
ut though we
houId be nev('r
o cliIigpnt in thcsr duties, if
onr pOl1y{\rsntion np not prlifying-. we .
hal1 only bring the
(

or IIl
truction.;; to ltis Ole'ì:qy.

365

ordinances into conteIupt; and therefore, when a priest is or-
dained, he prolnises, b..1J God's help, to frallze and fasldon ltimself
and family, so as to 'Inale botlt, as uluclt as in 'lint lieth,
l)holes(J'Jne
examples and jJatterns of tlie floclå- of Ollrist.
Under which head it will be fit to consider what offence we
may have given, by an unwary conversation, by crinlinalliLerties,
&c. that we Inay beg God'ls pardon and Inake sonle alnends by 3,
nlore strict behaviour for the future; that ,ve may be examples
to the flock, teaching then1 sobriety, by our strict telllperance ;
charity, by our readiness to forgive; devotion, by our ardent zeal
in the offering up their prayers to God.
They that think all their work is done when the service of
the Lord's day is over, do not remenlber that they have pro-
nlised to use both public and private monitions, as well to the sick
as to the whole, within their cures, as need shall require, and
as occasion shall be given. Upon this head, let us look back
and see how often we have forborne to reprove open offenders,
either out of fear or froln a sinful modesty, or for worldly
respects :-considerations, which should never conle in com-
petition with the honour of God, with which a clerg)'nlan
stands charged.
Let us consider how few we have admonished privately; ho\v '
few we have reclaimed; and how l11any, who are yet under the
power of a sinful life, \vhich we n1Îght have reclaimed by such
admonitions !
Let us consider how many have been in affliction of luind, I
body or estate, without any benefit to their souls, for want of
being made sensible of the hand and voice and design of God
in such visitation! How n1an)' have recovered froll1 the bed of
sickness without becol11ing better men, only for want of being
put in Inind of the fears they were under and the thoughts they
had and the pron1ises they Inade, when they were in danger!-
IÆ,stly, how nlany have lived and died in sin, without luaking
their peace with God or satisfaction and rest.itution to nlan, for
want of being forewarned of the account they were to give! A
negligence which we cannot reflect upon without tren1bling.
It will here likewise be proper to consider how nlany offenders
have escaped the cen
ures of the church through our neglect,
by which they 111ight have been luunbled for their sins, and
others restrainf'd frotn falling into tho like nliscarriagt.s.-Othel'

3Gü

Bishop nTilsún's Papocltialia :

churches lalnent the \vant of that discipline, which we (blessc(l
be God) can e'{ercise. I-Io\V great then is the sin of those who,
by laziness or part.iality, ,vould bring it into disuse!
Because a great deal depends upon the manner of our perfonu...
ing divine offices, ,ve ought to reflect upon it, how of ton we read
the prayers of t.he church with coldness and indevotion and
administer the sacralnents \vith an indifference unworthy of the
holy Inysteries; by which it conIes to pass that some despise and
SOlne abhor the service of God! Let us detest such indevotion,
and resolve upon a beconling seriousness when ,ve offer up the
supplications of the people to God, that they, seeing our zeal,
l11ay be persuaded that it is not for trifles ,ve pray, nor out of
custon1 only that ,ve go to cllurch.
The great secret of attaining such an affecting way is to be
constant and serious in our private devotions, which will beget
in us a spirit of piety, able to influence our voice and actions.
Having thus taken an account of our own engagenlents and
heartily begged God's pardon for our on1Ïssions and prescribed
rules to ourselves of acting suitably to our high calling for the
future, ,,,e shall be better disposed to take an account of our
flock: always rel11elnbering, that our love to Christ is to be
expressed by feeding his sheep.
I have observed with satisfaction that In08t people, who by
their age are qualified, do come to the Lord's supper at Easter.
Now it is llluch to be feared that f';uch as generally turn their
backs upon that holy ordinance at other titues, do come at this
titne }nore out of custom, or to con1ply \vith the la,,"s, than out of
a sense of duty.
This is no way to be prevented, but by giving theul a true
notion of this holy sacrament, such as shall neither encourage
the profane to eat and drink thpir own daulnation, nor discourage
well-meaning people frOIH receiving the greatest con1fort and
support of the Christian life.
To this end it will be highly conducive (and I earnestly recom..
Inend it to you) to luake this the subject of a good part of J'our
sermons during Lent. But let them be plain and practical dis-
courses, such as Inay set forth the nature, end and benefits of
the Lord's supper. That it is to keep up the ren1embrance of
the sacrifice and death of Christ, whereby alone ,ve obtain
remission of our sins and all other benefits of his passion. That

OJ' Instructions to !tis Cler.q!l.

367

it is a 1113,rk of our being llleinbers of Christ's church, a token of
our being in covenant with God. That a sinner has nothing but
this to plead fOI' pardon, when the devil or his conscience accuse
hiln before God. That we ought to receive as often as conveni-
ently we can, that, as Peter Dalnian expresses himself, "the
old serpent, seeing the blood of the Lal11b upon our lips, 111ay
trmnble to approach us." That.J esus Christ presents before
God in heaven his death and merits, for all such as duly reluem-
bel' thenl on earth.
Let thelll know that. a Christian life is the best preparation;-
that God respects sincerity of heart above all things; which
consists in doing what God has cOlluuanded us, to the best of our
knowledge and power.
Let them know the danger of unworthy receiving, without
full purposes of anlendinent of life. And that they 111ay know
wherein they have offended and that they may have no cloke
f01' t!teil' sin, it would be very convenient, SOlne Sunday before
Easter, to read to them SOllle heads of self- examination (leaving
out such sins and duties, in which none of thenl are concerned)
such as you will find at the latter end of the Whole Duty of :1\lan
and in lllany other books of devotion.
But to nlake your sernlons more effectual (and I desire it and
require it of you) that you take an account of the state and
condition of your particular flocks, during the approaching sea-
son and visit and deal in private with those, upon ",honl your
sernlons have probably had no influence.
Let them know that t.he church obliges you to deny them the
Llessed sacraillent, 'which is the 111eans of salvation" until JOu can
be satisfied of their reforlnation.
Let such as live in n1alice, envy or in any other grievous
crinle and yet come to the holy table as if they were in a state of
salvation; let theln be told that they provoke God to plague
them with his judgn1ents.
Adillonish such as are litigious and vex their neighbours with-
out cause, that this is contrary to the spirit and rules of Christi-
anitv ;- that this holy sacralnent either finds or nlakes all COln-
w w
nlunicants of one heart and lllind, or mightily increases their
guilt that are not nlade so.
Tell such as are wont, before that solemn season of receiving,
to forbear drinking and their other vices,-that fast and pray

S6

Bishup TfTil.;;un's POÎ
ocldalia:

for a few day
;-tell then1 plainly that none of these exerei8eB
are acceptable to l
od, which are not attended with a111enlhl1cnt
of life.
Rebuke severely such as despi
e and profane the Lord's-day;
111ake then1 sensible that a curse lllUSt be upon that fiul1ily, out
of which none goes to church to obtain 3, blessing upon thos(\
that stay at hon1e.
Tell such as have submitted to church censures and are not
becoIne better n1en, how abolninable that hypocrisy is, that 111ade
them utter the nlost so]en1n proll1ises, which they never nleant
to keep.
By this luethod you will answer the ends of that rubric
before the Comulunion, which requires all persons that design
to receive to signify their l1alnes to the curate at least SOBle tinle
the day before-an order \vhich, if observed, \vould give us rarp
opportunities of adlllonishing offenders, who yet do not think
thenlseh-es in danger.
Lastly, in Inaking this visitation you ,vill see what children
are uncatechised, what falnilies have no face of religion in
them, &c.
J3ut for God's sake relneInber that, if an this is not done in the
spirit of meekness, with prudence and sweetness, you will never
attain the end proposed by such a visitation of your parish.
Do but consider with what goodness our blessed
Iastcr
treated with sinners, a.nd you will bear much in order to reduce
them. At the sanle time fear not the face of any nlan, while you
are engaged in the cause of God and in the ,yay of your duty.
He will either defend you or reward your sufferings; and can,
'when he pleases, terrify gainsayers.
It is true, all this is not to be done without trouble; but then
consider what grief and weariness and contClnpt our l\Iaster
underwent, in turning sinners fron1 the power of Satan unto God:
and as he saw the travail ofltis soul, so shall \ve roap very great
benefit by it even in this world.
"r e shall have great satisfaction in seeing our churches
thronged with COllllllunicants, who COIne out of a sense of duty
Inore tha.n out of 3, blind obedience. We shall gain a wonderful
authority anlongst our people. Such as have any spark of grace
\vi]] love and respect you for your frienùly adn10nition: such a

haye none, will however re\'erence you and stand in awe of you.

or I'lst,'uctions to his Clergy.

3U9

And they that pay you tithes will by this be coñvinced that it
is not for doing nothing that you receive them, since your calling
obliges you to continual labour and thoughts of heart.
That you nlay do all this with a spirit of piety ,vorthy of the
priesthood, you have two excellent books in Jour hands, The
Pastoral Care, and The Country Parson, which I hope I need
not enjoin you to read over at this tilne.
I considered that the best men have sometimes need of being
stirred up, that they may not lose a spirit of piety, which is but
too apt to languish. This is all the apology I shall make for this
address to )'ou at this time.
Now that both you and I may give' a comfortable account of
our office and charge, as it is the design of this Jetter, so it shall
be my hearty prayer to God.
I am your affectionate brother,

THO
IAS SODOR AND
IAN.

sb

I> A It 0 C IlIA L I -1\.

.

OF CONFIR
IATION.

Of answering the ends of this apostolical institution.
THERE is no question to be Blade of it but that nlost of that
ignorance, inlpiety, profaneness, ,vant of charity, of union
and order, which we conlplain of, is owing to the neglect or
abuse of this one ordinance; which being appointed by the
apostles and practised even when baptism 'vas adn1Ìnistered to
people of full age a , it is no ,vonder that God punishes the con-
telnpt of it, by withholding his holy Spirit and those graces
\vhich are necessary and would certainly accolnpany the religious
use of it.
If this were well considered and pastors would resolve to
discharge their duty in this particular faithfully, ,ve should soon
see another face of religion: Christians ,yould be obliged to
study their religion and to think it something more than a work
of the lips and of the Inenlory, or the nlere CustOlU of the place
where they live. And being nlad sensible of their danger (being
liable to sin, to deatlt and to darnnation) this \vould Dlake them
serious and thoughtful and inquisitive after the luanneI' of their
redemption and the nleans of salvation ;-and their consciences
being awakened and infornled, sin \voltld beco111e more uneasy to
then1 and virtue 1110re acceptable. In short, by this nleans
people would know their duty, the sacralnents ,yould be kept
frotH being profaned and pastors would be respected and obeyed,
as being very truly the fathers of their flock.

a Acts viii, 17.

Bp. JVilson's InstJ'llCt-ions to his Ole)"!JY. 371
And certainly no greater injury can be done to religion than
to t:Juffor young people to come to confirmation, before they
know the reason of this service and have been well instructed
in the principles and duties of Christianity. This being the very
tinle of seasoning their luinds ,vith sound knowledge, of fortify-
ing their wills ,vith sober resolutions and of engaging them to
piety, before sin has got the possession of their affections; this
being also the tiIne of qualifying theln to receive benefit by all our
future labours andofarnling them against apostasy, heresy, schisnl
and all other vices, to which ,ve are subject in this state of trial.
In short, I do not know how a clergYluan could possibly
spend one month better than by leading young people, as it
were, by the hand, into the design of Christianity, by SOlne such
easy method as this following: if which, deliberately proposed
to every single person in t.he hearing of all the rest (who should
be obliged to be every day present) and fanliliarly explained,
not the most ignorant (supposing he had learned, as he ought,
the Church Catechism) but ,,"ould be able to give a reason of tlte
hope that is in hin
; and his faith being thus built upon a solid
and sure foundation, ,,"ould, by the grace of God now iluparted
to hinl in a greater Ineasure, \vithstand all future trials and
teIuptations.

The metltad of clealinq witlt young Ohristians, in o'1'der to fit tltern
for conþr Jìzation.
I DO not ask JOu, whether you believe in Goel: you cannot
open your eyes but you must, by the world that you see,
acknowledge the God that nlade it and does still preserve it;-
that He is infinite in power, in wisdom and in goodness ;-that
in Him ,ve live and move and have our being; -that He is
therefore worthy of all the love and. service that we can possibly
pay Hitn.
Ho\V' then do you think it COlues to pass, that so nlany who
profess to know God, do yet in tlteir 'lco'ples deny hÙn b? 'Vh)', this
shews plainly t.hat man is fallen fronl that good estate in which
God created him. He knows that he ought to live righteously,
as in the sight of an holy and just God ;-that he should be
afraid of doing any thing to offend so powerful a Being ;-that
he should love and strive to please him, upon whose goodness
he depends; and that he should obey all his laws. And yet
b Titus i, 16.
ßb

37

Bishop JVilson's Parochialia:

be cannot prevail with himself to do \vhat he is persuaded he
ought to do.
This lllay convince you that man's nature has been sadly
corrupted some ,vay or other; we having, in everyone of us, the
seeds of all manner of wickedness, which, if not kept under, \vill
certainly grow up and be our ruin.
No\v, the holy scriptures tell you how this came to pass;
nan1ely, that our first parents being created perfect (that is, able
to know and obey any law that God should give them) God
gave thellI the la\v of nature and right reason to live by, and
required of thenl a perfect obedience, with this assurance, that
they should never die, if they did not transgress one particular
cOlllllland-of not eating the forbidden fruit, which command
\\'as given them both to try their obedience and to keep their
appetites in subjection.
Now, they did transgress this command and thereby became
subject to sin, to death-the reward of sin-and to the wrath of
God; for God withdre,v the supernatural po\vers and graces
which he had given theIn, so that no\v, though they kne\v ,vhat
\"as fit to be done, yet had they no longer power to perform it;
\vhich would certainly have driven thenl to despair, but that
God ,vas pleased illlinediately to comfort then1 \vith this promise,
that a titHe \vas conling when he would send one to redeem
thelu and their posterity froni this lliiserable bondage; and that
he would then receive thenl again into favour, upon reasonable
conditions.
In the Ineal1 tilHe, Adaln begat a race of children after his (}wn
likeness c ; that is, with such a corrupt nature as his own was now
becollle; and his posterity grew every day 1110re and nlore
wicked, till at last God destroyed the \vhole world (except eight
persons) by a flood.
JJut this did not destroy the seeds of sin which ,vas in them,
for by these eight pel'sons the world was peopled with a -race of
men, who in a short tin1e did quite forget and forsake God; and
for the nlost part becalne the subjects of the devil and \vere
led captives by him at his ,vine
,At last, God remeulbered his pronlise, and resolving to
mend that disorder \vhich sin had caused in the world, he sent
his Son to take our nature upon hilll and to give Inankind
l.
surance that God \vould be reconciled to them upon very
c Genesib v, 3.

or Instrztctions to his Olergy.

373

Inerciful conditions; nan1ely, if they would renounce the devil,
who first tempted man to sin, and accept of such laws and rules
as were necessary to change their nature, which was no\v become
prone to evil continually.
Now, to assure them that Jesus Christ came with this message
from God, he did such miracles as none but God could do; and
to convince us how much he loved us and what a 8ad thing sin
is (which nothing but his death could atone for) he gave his
life a ransom for us; the punishn1ent due to
tS being laid on
him.
And God, to let us know that he was well pleased with what
his Son had done and taught and sltffèred, raised hitn to life, after
he had been crucified and received him up into heaven, and gave
him all power in heaven and in earth, and sent down the Holy
Ghost, with mighty power, to set up his kingdom, which is his
church, among men ;-to destroy the kingdonl of Satan, ,vho
hitherto had ruled \vithout control ;-and to free nlankind from
the tyranny and slavery of sin.
In order to this, the Holy Ghost appointed certain persons
(who are called Christ's ministers) and gave theln power to
receive into his church all such as \voldd promise to obey his
la ws.
Your parents therefore took care (as the Jews did by their
children) to consecrate you to God and Christ as soon as you
\vere born. And this they did by baptislll (as Jesus Christ had
commanded) by which holy ceremony you were dedicated t.o
God, who 'inade you; to Jeszts Christ, who redeemed you; and to
the Holy Ghost, who sanctifieth all God's chosen servants.
Thus you were translated (or taken) out of the kingdom of
darkness into the kingdonl, protection and government of Jesus
Christ d : and being thus received into Christ's church, you becan1e
a child of God and an heir of the kingdoul of heaven.
But then you are to consider, that before you were adulitted
to this. favour, your sureties prolllised for you, that when you
should come to age, you should in your own person and with
your own free consent, renounce the devil and all his works, the
world and all its wicked customs, and the flesh with all its sinful
lusts :-that you should believe in God, that is, receive the
gospel as a rule of faith; and obediently keep God'ls cOlnmand-
ments.

d Col. i, 13.

374

Bishop JVilson's Parocltialia:

You are no\v therefore called upon to do this before God,
\vho kno,vs all the secrets of your hearts ;-before God's minister,
who will charge you very solemnly to be sincere ;-and before
the congregation, who \vill be witnesses against you, if you shall
break your vows.
I must tell you further that to root or keep out evil habits
and to get habits of virtue and to live as becomes a Christian, is
not so easily done as pron1Ísed.
Yon \vill be obliged to take pains, to \vatch and pray and
deny yourself and even lay down your life, rather than deny
your profession or dissenlble it.
But then you ,viII not think this too much, \vhen you consider
that it is for your life and that it is to escape eternal death.
For Jesus Christ has Inade kno,vn to us that this life is a
state of trial and only a passage to another life, ,vhere Goà will
take an account how' all nlen have behaved thenlselves here and
appoint them a portion suitable to what they have done in the
body, \vhether good or bad: When they that have done good,
shall go into life everlasting; and they that have done evil, into
everlasting misery.
Now, that you may not despair of going through the \vork of
your salvation and getting the victory over all your enemies,
.J esus Christ hath sent down his holy Spirit to be communicated
hy tlte laying on of hands e , to all Euch as are disposed to receive
him; by which Alnlighty Spirit all your enemies shall be
subdued, all your lusts nlortified, your corruptions rooted
out and your soul purified; so that, when you die, you will
be fit to be carried to the quiet and happy regions of para-
dise, where the souls of the faithful enjoy perpetual rest and
happiness.

Every Christian, who is preraring binlself for confirmation,
ought to have this or SOlne such short account of the nlethod of
divine grace read to him distinctly (and explained where there
is need) once every day for one nlonth, at least, before that holy
ordinance; that he may remember it as long as he lives and be
able to give a reason of the !tolJe t!tat is in hÙn.
But, forasmuch as he is to renew his vows before God, who
\vill be provoked \vith the hypocrisy and impiety of those, who

e Acts viii, I 7.

OJ'' Instr
tct1'ons to ltis Clei:fJ!lo

375

promise what they do not understand, or what they do not think
of performing, a good pastor will not fail to ask every person, in
the presence of the rest (that by hearing them often they nlay
be better able to remember them) sonle such questions as these
following:

01 renouncing the Devil,
c.
ARE you convinced that you ought to love God, as he is the
author of all good, and upon whom you depend for life and breath
and all things

'Vhy then consider that you cannot possibly love God, un-
less you renounce the love of eyery thing that Inay displease
hinl.
Do you know that all sin is displeasing to God, as being the
transgression of his law f

Do you therefore renounce all sin and every thing that would
draw you from God

Do you renounce the devil, the great enemy of God and man;
all his 'works, such as pride, malice, revenge and lying; and wicked
men, which are his agents

Do you know that this is not the ,vorld you ,vere nlade for;
that it is only a passage to another

Do yon then renounce the world,' that is, an evil customs, all
that is wicked or vain, all covetous desires and inordinate love
of riches or pleasures or honours,-which are the ,vodd's idols
and dra\v the heart fronl the love of God?
'ViII JOu renounce and abhor all !fouthfitllusts, all sins of im-
purity and uncleanness, and all sins which lead to these; such as,
gl
tfton!/ and drunkenness, filthy 'words and songs, intemperance and
an idle life ?
Do you kno,v that it is a very hard thing to break off evil
habits?
Will you then call yourself often to an account, that you
Dlay repent and alnend, before sin and hell get dOluinion over
you

Will you be careful to avoid all temptat.ions and occasions of
sin, and especially of f:l1ch sins as you are most apt to fall into

'ViII you keep a strict watch over your heart, remembering
that adulteries, murders, thefts and all manner of "ickedness
proceed from thence

f I John iii, 4.

376

Bishop Wilson"s Parochialia:

Since heaven and happiness eternal are blessings too great to
be attained \vithout labour and pains, will you resolve in earnest
to enter in at the strait gate, cost what trouble it will?
,V ill you be temperate in all things, deny yourself and use
such abstinence as, the flesh being subdued to the spirit, you
may in all things obey all godly motions

Are you convinced that the po,ver to do good is from God

\Vill you then pray to God daily that his holy Spirit ll1ay in
all things direct and rule your heart?
And will you take care to remenlber this great rule of the
gospel, - that he, that makes use of God's grace, shall have
still more grace; and he, that neglects it, shall lose what he
h
h? ·

Of faith in God, in Jesus Ohrist,
c.
YOU know it is your duty to helieve in and to love God.
. That you Inay do so truly, you nlust often think of God as the
author and fountain of all good; you must pray to him, give him
thanks, and always Bpeak of him with great reverence.
'ViII you resolve to do so ?
And if you set God always before you and renlember that he
hates all iniquity, that he sees all you do or speak or tldnk, this
will fill your heart \vith godly fear.
Are you persuaded that nothing does happen in the \vorld
\vithout God's knowledge and perlnission

'Vill you then trust in the Lord wit.h all your heart and rest
assured that neither nlen nor devils can hurt you \vithout his
leave!
'Vill you consider afflictions as coming from the hands of a
good God and therefore to be borne with patience, sub1nission
and a firm faith that all things work together for good to those
that fear God?
The holy scripture, as ,veIl as sad experience, assures us that
our nature is corrupt and prone to evil continually. Are you
truly sensible of this

If you are, then you know for certain that you are liable to
the wrath of God and that there is a necessity of a Redeemer
to make your peace with God and to shew you ho,v to please
him.
Know then that it ,vas for this reason that the Son of God
took our nature upon him, that he might suffer what we had

or Instructions to his Olergy.

377

deserved to suffer, and that God laid on hiln the iniquities of us
all, and that he hath obtained everlasting redemption for all them
that obey hinl.
Are you then persuaded that such as do not lay hold of this
mercy n1ust suffer the ,vrath of God in their own persons

Are you then resolved to fly to God's mercy, for Christ's sake,
to obey his laws and follo\v his example?
'Vill you always endeavour to do what you believe Christ
would do, if he were in your place and circumstances

'ViII you set before your eyes his s'lffferinps, his humility, his
patience, his charity and his sulnnission to the will of God, in
order to direct, to support and comfort you in all your troubles?
And remember that Jesus Christ is now in heaven, in his
hlunan nature, evernlore interceding for all that go to God
by him.
Do you firnlly believe all that God hath made known to us by
his Son

Do you believe that we must all appear before t.he judgment-
seat of Christ, by \vhose righteous sentence, they that have done
good shall go into life everlasting and they that have done evil
into everlasting misery?
"\Vill you then live like one that believes all this; being care-
ful of all your thoughts, words and actions, which must then
be judged

Do you know that in baptism we are dedicated to the Holy
Ghost, because it is he, who must sanctify our nature and fit us
by his graces for heaven?
'ViII JOu then pray earnestly to God, and especially at this
titne, t.o give you this blessing, since he himself hath promised
to 9'ive the Holy Spz.rit to the'Jn that ask hÙn?
'ViII you order your life according to that \yord, \vhich he
inspired, and take care not to grieve him by continuing in any
known sin?
And since you are taught and governed by a bishop and
pastors comnlissioned by the Holy Ghost g, will you therefore
live in obedience to them, to whom Jesus Christ Inade this
promise h : Lo, I arll with you alway, even unto the end of th.e
'world?
'''ill you treat all Christian people with love and charity,

g Acts xx, 28.

h
Iatth. xxviii, 20.

378

Bishop Wilson's Par'ochialia:

as being members of that body, of \vhich Jesus Christ. is the
head

'ViII you hope for forgiveness of sins for Christ's sake only
and believe that the goodness of God ought to lead JOU to
repentance

Do you believe that there \vill be a resurrection both of the
just and unjust

Do you faithfully believe that after this life there will be a
state of endless happiness or endless misery

Remember then that a saving faith purifietlb the heart; and
that a good faith must be kno,vn by its fruits, as one tree is
known fronl another.

..

Of obedience to God's com'inands, &c.
ARE you persuaded that the design of all true religion is to
make men holy, that they may be happy

Do you think that man is able to find out a ,vay to please God,
and to govern himself by his own reason?
So far from it that, \vhen God left men to themselves (as he
did the heathens) they chose the most foolish and abominable
ways of serving their gods and fell into ,vickednesses scarce fit
to be named i.
'Vill you then make the law of God the rule of your life

Will you be careful not to love or fear any thing more than
God
for that \vould be your idol.
Will you ,vorship God with reverence; that is, upon your
knees, when you ask his pardon or blessing; standing up, ,vhen
you praise him, and by hearing his ,vord with attention

'ViII you honour God's nanle, so as not to use it but with
seriousness

Will you abhor all manner of oaths, except ,vhen you are
called before a magistrate; and ,viII you then speak the truth,
as you hope the Lord ,viII hold you guiltless

Will you remember to keep holy the Lord's day, as that ,vhich
sanctifies the ,vhole \veek

,V ill you honour your parents and be subject to the higher
powers, obeying all their la\vful conlnlanòs

'ViII you reverence your pastors and take in good part all
their godly adnloni tions

i Rom. i.

or Instructions to his Olergy.

379

Will you be careful not to hurt or wish any man's death, not
be glad at misfortunes or grieve men without cause

'ViII you be gentle and easy to be entreated, that God for
Christ's sake may be so towards you

'ViII you remember that whoredom and sins of inlpurity will
certainly keep men out of heaven

Do you believe that restitution is a necessary duty (where it
can be made) without w
ich there is no forgiveness

If you believe this, you will never wrong any body by force,
fraud or by colour of la\v; you wiII pay all your just debts and
never take advantage of any man's necessity.
'ViII you remember that the God of truth hateth lying,-that
the devil is the father of lies,-and that liarsJl slanderers and
backbiters, are to have their portion in the lake that b'lcrneth 'with
fire and brÏ1llstone k ?
'ViII you endeavour to be content with your own condition,
neither envying that of others nor bettering your own by unjust
ways?
'Vill you in all your actions have an eye to God; and say to
yourself, I do this or forbear that, because God hath commanded
11ze ?
'ViII you remember this good rule, never to undertake any
thing which you dare not pray God to prosper

Are you convinced that all power to do good is from God;
and that without his grace you cannot keep his commandments

Will you then pray to God daily, that his holy Spirit may in
all things direct and rule your heart ?
J.\;Iay the gracious God enable you to do what you h3Jve now
resolved upon.
You are now going to profess yourself a member of the church
of Christ.
'ViII you then endeavour to becolne a ,vorthy member of that
society

'ViII you make the gospel of Christ your rule to walk by, and
obey them that are over you in the Lord

'ViII you promise, by the grace of God, to continue in the
unity of this churchJl of which you are now going to be made a
complete member

If you should be so unhappy as hereafter to faU into any

k Rev. xxi, R.

380

Bishop Wilson's Parochialia:

scandalous sin, will you patiently submit to be reformed by godly
discipline?
Will you be very careful not to let wicked and profane people
laugh you out of these holy purposes and resolutions, remem-
bering the words of J eSllS Christ; He that denieth me, him will
God den!! ?

If this short method were conscientiously observed by every
curate of souls, for thirty or forty days before every confirmation,
and two or three hours every day spent in reading deliberately
the short account of religion and in asking every particular
person the questions, in the hearing of all the rest (which
according to our constitution ought not to be above thirty or
forty at one tÍIne) I will venture to say that the remen1brance
of this dut!! would be of more comfort to a pastor on his death-
bed than of all the rest of his labours.

A pra!!er that ma!! be used ever..lJ day during the time of
instruction.

o LORD, graciously behold these thy servants, who, accord-
ing to the appointments of thy church, are going to dedicate
themselves to thee and to thy service.
Possess their hearts with such a lively sense of thy great
mercy, in bringing them from the power of Satan unto God ;-
in giving them an early right to thy covenant and an early
knowledge of their duty; that" with the full consent of their
wills, they n1ay devote themselves to thee; that so they n1ay
receive the fulness of thy grace and be able to \vithstand the
temptations of the devil, the world and the flesh.
Continue them, 0 Lord, in the unity of thy church and grant
that they n1ay improve all the means of grace vouchsafed them
in this church, of \vhich they are members.
Preserve in their minds a constant remembrance of that love,
which they are going to renew before thee and thy church.
That kno\ving they are the servants of the living God, they
may walk as in thy sight, avoid all such things as are contrary
to their profession and follo\v all such as are agreeable to the
same.
o Lord, who hast made then1 thy children by adoption, bring
them in thy good time to thine everlasting kingdoll1, through
Jesus Christ our Lord. A 1nen.

or Instr'uctions to his Olergy.

381

OF THE LORD'S SUPPER.
The method of
.nst'J'ztctz'ng such as have heen confirmed, in order to
prepare them for this holy ordinance.
IF Christians do frequently turn their backs upon this sacra-
ment and are not concerned to have it often administered or
seenl little affected when they do partake of it, one llIay certainly
conclude, they never truly understood the meaning of it.
This ll1ight surely, in some measure, be prevented, if due pains
were taken to give young people a distinct knowledge of tit is
most important duty
. and of the manner of pr
paring theln-
selves for it, before they should be adulitted the .first tinw to
the sacralllent; for want of which, very lllany continue in a
gross ignorance both of the nleaning and benefits of this ordi-
nance all their days.
A good pastor, therefore, will not suffer anyone to come to
the holy communion, until he has taken pains to exanline and
inform hinI very particularly concerning the meaning of this
ordinance and the ends for ,vhich it ,vas appointed ;-,vhat this
sacranlent obliges Christians to and the benefits they luay expect
from it ;-with what dispositions a Christian should COBle to it,
and the great sin of despising it.
The young Christian should, for instance, be put in nlind that.
as there \vere in the Jewish, so there are in the Christian church,
two sa cra'in en ts .
That the sacranlent of baptism ,vas ordained by Christ for
admitting us into his church upon certain conditions, \vhich such
as are baptized in their infancy are to perfonn, ,vhen they come
to age.
And the holy supper he ordained, that Christians might have
an opportunity of renewing their baptislual vows, which they
are but too apt to forget and of Inaking their peace with God,
when they had broke his laws and desire sincerely to return to
their duty.
Now, as Jesus Christ did hy his death make our peace with
God and obtain eternal redemption for all tltern that obey lâ'Jl
, ,va
Christians, in obedience to his cOlllllland, do keep up the re-
membrance of his death until his coming again, after this solemn
'lnanneJ'I.
First, As God is the I\:ing of all the earth, we offer un to him
the best things that the earth affords for the life of nlan, namely,

382

Risho}) 1VilsQn's Parocltialia:

bread and wine, as an acknowledgment that all \ve have, whether
for the support or comfort of our lives, is owing entirely to his
bounty.
The bread and wine being placed upon the altar (by \vhich
they are sanctified, that is, set apart for holy uses) we then pro-
ceed to give God thanks for his Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, who
is the life of our so
tls, after this manner:
The priest, by doing what Christ did, by prayer and thanks-
giving, by breaking the bread and pouring out the wine, obtain-
eth of God, that these creatures beconle, after a spiritual manner,
the body and blood of Ghrist, by receiving of ,vhich our souls
shall be strengthened and refreshed, as our bodies are by bread
and ,vine. ·
For all this is done to represent the death of Jesus Christ
and the mercies which he has obtained for us; to represent it
not only to ourselves but unto God the Father, that as the
prayel's and alms of COfl'nelius are said to llave gone up for a 'lne-
morial bejofl'e God, so this service may be an argunlent with his
divine l\lajesty to relnember his Son's death in heaven, as ,ve do
on earth, and for his sake to blot out our sins and to give us all
an interest in his Inerits.
After this \ve all receive the bread and wine (being thus 111ade
the body and blood of Christ) in token of communion ,vith
Christ, our head, and \vith all his members.
And that we lnay have a nlore lively sense imprinted upon
our souls, of the love of God, of the kindness of our Redeemer,
and of the benefits he has by the shedding of his blood obtained
for us, the minister of God applieth the nlerits of Christ's death
to t.he soul of every faithful receiver, in these ,vords: Eat and
drink thz.s in remernbrance that Christ died for thee, and that lte 'Jnay
preserve thy body and SO'ltl unto eternal life.
By eXplaining the ll1eaning of fltis ordinance after sonle such
falniliar way as this, a young Christian ,viII see,
That, by joining in this sacrament, we keep up the remen1brance
of Christ's death, which is our salvation:
We plead with God for pardon, for his Son's salce, after a way,
which his Son himself appointed:
'Ve are hereby more firnlly united to Christ, our head, and to
the church, \vhich is his body:
And lastly, ,ve do hereby express our faith and hope of his
conling again to reward his faithful servants.

Oí' InstTuctions to ltis Olergy.

83

Now, these being duties of the greatest concern to Christians,
it is no wonder that the church, directed by St. Paul, very
seriously exhorts all Christians to exanline and to prepare them-
selves for this holy ordinance; for if a Christian should presume
to come to the Lord"s table without knowing what he is going
to do, without repentance, ,vithout purposes of leading a Christ-
ian life, without faith in God's lnercy through Christ, without a
tkanlcfullteart and without charity, he will receive a curse instead
of a blessing.
llecause nlany Christians, therefore, especially the )Tounger
sort, lllay not know upon what heads and after what rranner
they ought to examine themselves, or lest they should do it by
halves, or perhaps not at all, a faithful pastor will shew thenl the
way, by examining them hinlself, after lhis or some such like plain

ltethod.

Concerning their repentance.
DO you kno,y that God will not accept of the service of such
as live in the practice of any known sin

Let me therefore advise you, as you loye your soul, to con-
sider seriously, whether you are subject to any evil habit, either
of l!J'ing or swearing or drinking; or of any sin of 'uncleanness;
or of an idle life, which will lead to these
And if you find you
are, your duty is to judge yourself, to beg God's pardon and to
anlend your life.
'Vill you do this, and in obedience to God, because he requires
it

'ViII you proluise sincerely to avoid all occasions of sin, espe-
cially of such sins as you have been ll10st apt to fall into

If through ,veakness or tenlptation you commit any sin, will
you forthwith confess your fault to God, ask his pardon, and be
lllore careful for the time to come?
'ViII you endeavour to live in the fear of God, always
relllenlbering that a good life is the best preparation for this
sacrament

'ViII you constantly pray for God's grace and assistance, with-
out which all your good purposes will come to nothing

'Vill you strive to keep your conscience tender and awake,
that YOll lllay know ,vhen you sin and that your heart may not
be hardened, which is the greatest judgnlent ?

584

Bishop Wilson's Parochialia:

Lastly, Will you be careful to keep a watch over yourself, that
you may not fall into the sins you have repented of

And will you often examine into the state of Jour soul, espe-
cially before you go to the Lord's table, that you n1ay see whether
you grow in grace and get the mastery over your corruptions

For if you do so, you are certainly under the governUlent of
God's holy Spirit.

Concerning a Ohristlan's PU'ì1Joses of leading a new, that is, a
Ohristian life.
DO you sincerely purpose to make the law of God the rule of
your life

',ViII you do \vhatever you believe will please God, and avoid
\vhat you kno\v or suspect will displease hiln

'ViII you shew that you believe and fear and love God with all
your heart, by being fearful of offending him, by giving him
thanks for his nlercies and by praying to hin1 daily for pardon,
for grace and for protection

Will you have a great regard for every thing that belongs to
God, his name, his house, his day, his ministers and lùs word?
'ViII you be careful to attend the public worship of God, and
especially upon the Lord's day, as you hope for God's blessing
the \vhole \veele following

Will you be sure to behave yourself reverently in God's house,
not sitting at your ease ,vhen you should stand or kneel, lest your
prayers becon1e an abomination?
'ViII you reverence and obey your parents, your governors
and your betters, and especially s'uck as are over !IOU in the
Lord

Will you endeavour to live peaceably and charitably with all
lnen, avoiding all n1alice, revenge, ill-will and contention

'ViII you be chaste, sober and te1l1perate, as beconles a mem-
ber of Christ and his fan1Íly, avoiding all excess in meat and
drink, and an idle life, which are the occasions of sins not fit to
be named an10ngst Christians

'ViII you be true in all your dealings, avoiding all wrong,
oppression and extortion

And will you reluelnber that \vithout restitution, where it can
be made, there is no acceptance with God

Will you be careful to speak the truth, avoiding the sins of

or Instructiolts tv lÛs Clm:fJ!J.

385

lying, of l)erjury, of tale-bearing and ll1eddling with Inatters
which do not belong to you,
s things hateful to God and 111a11

'ViII you be content with your lot, ,vhatever it be; neither
coveting what is another's, nor envying his prosperity, nor being
glad at his calalnities

Lastly, Will you do these things out of the love ana reverence
you bear to God, whose laws they are

And will you seriously beg of hinl to write all these laws In
your hearts and to incline and enable you to keep thenl

How a Christian, should exautÍne wlwtlter he hath a lively faitlt in
God's 'lnerc!I throu.gh Cltr'Ïst.
AS the blood of the paschal lamb sprinkled upon their doors
was that which saved the Israelites froln death, so the blood of
Jesus Christ is that which saves all Christians that partake of it.
Do you steadfastly believe this?
Do you trust in Jesus Christ, and in what he has done and
suffered for you, and in him only, for pardon and salvation

Do you firnlly believe that Jesus Christ is now in heaven,
interceding with God, by virtue of his death, for all such as on
earth do religiously keep up the renlelllbrance of that his death,
until his coming again

Your faith being built upon the promises of God in Jesus
Christ, and all his proluises being on condition that we live as
becomes Christians, will you seriously purpose to do so

And will you remember not to presume on God's n1ercy, or
expect that he will cOllullunicate his graces, while you continue
under the power of a sinful life

How a Cltristian .may know wltether he has a thaniful re1ìWln-
hrance of C'kr.zst's deallt.
DO you desire to have a thankful rCIlleIubrance of Christ's
death!
'Vhy then consider what he has done for you and for all 111an-
kind, to recover us from a state of sin and lllisery.
'Ve w:ere all enenÛes to God b!l 'wicked
corks. J eSllS Christ
undertook to restore us again to God's favour. God therefore
laid 01
him the iniquities of us all: for the 8ake of his death,
God was pleased to overlook the untowardliness of our nature,
to forgive us our sins, to look upon us as his children, to give us
c c

886

ß.ishop tV1'lson's Parockialia:

all the grace and assistance which we shall want; and, if we
behave ourselves like his children in this state of trial, he will
for Christ's sake make us happy to all eternity when 've die.
You see what reason we have to remelnber his death with
thankful hearts.
"\Vill you therefore keep these things in your heart, and she,v
your thankfulness for the sanle, by living like one who has been
redeemed from death and from danlnation

And will you be sure to remember this; that Jesus Christ did
indeed die to redeem us fron1 death and hell! But then he Blust
first redeenl us from this present evil world, from our vain
conversation and from all iniquity; that is, he must nlake us
holy that ,ve 111ay be happy, for without holiness no man can see
the Lord.

How a Ohristian 'l1Zall exaJJÛne and know 'whether Ite is in charity
with all men.
OUR Lord Jesus Christ having by his death restored all
mankind to the favour of God, he only expects this of us; that
,ve should love one another as he loved us.
To this end he hath appointed that in this sacralnent 've
should all, as members of one family, of ,vhich he is the nlaster,
as members of one body, of which he is the head, that ,ve should
eat of one bread in remenlbrance of his death, and in token of
that strict union, ,vhich there ought to be amongst Christians.
'ViII you then 'lvallc in love, as Cltrist !tatlt loved us, an(l given
ltimself for 'Us ?
Will you consider whether you have given any just occasion
of offence, or injured any body, so as that )10U ought to ask their
pardon and make them restitution

A nd that no worldly shame may hinder you from doing so,
you shall hear the very direction of Christ hinlself :-
latth. v,

3,
4, If thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there 'rememherest
that thy brother hatlt augld against thee; leave there tlt.lf gift hefore
the altar, and go thy 'way; first he reconciled to thy hrother, and
then come and offer tlty gift.
Will you therefore desire forgiveness of all such as you have
offended?
And do you forgive all that have offended you?
Can you heartily pray for every body; and will you do so

or InstructiollS tu ltis Clergy.

S
7

'Vill you (as the apostle <lirects) love, not in word only, hut in
dæd and in truth, that is, doing good, as well as giving good
words?
You will see Jesus Christ every day in some of his members;
sonle naked, some hungry, some in affliction, sOJue wanting
cOlufort, others instruction: will you, for his sake, be kind to
them, according to their wants and your power to help thenl?

Aft.er this, a good pastor "ill let the young Christian see the
benefits of receiving as often as he has opportunity and the
great sin of turning his back upon this ordinance.
He ,viII, for instance, put him in 111ind that all Christians
being obliged to exaluine thelnselves before they go to this
sacraluent; this will keep them from falling into a state of sin
and security.
That if we find ,,'e grow in grace, we shall have the greatest
comfort; and if we have not got ground of our corruptions, this
will make us n10re careful.
That our faith will hereby be strengthened, when we call to
remen1brance what Jesus Christ hath done for us, and that
his love and his power are still the same, if we strive to deserve
his favour.
Lastly, That, by duly partaking of this holy ordinance, we
shall conle to such a state that it will be uneasy to us to offend
God, and the very pleasure of our souls to obey his laws.
On the other hand, if a Christian turns his back upon this
sacranlent (without good cause) he transgresses an express
conlmand: Do this in renzembrallce of iJle. He shuts hilnself
out of Christ's fan1Íly; he lives without hopes and without
prOllllses.
If therefore he ask how often he should receive this sacra-
ment, he ought to have an answer in the words of an ancient
writer: "Receive it as often as you can, that the old serpent,
seeing the blood of the true Paschal Lalub upon your lips,
may tremble to approach you."
And if to these instructions a pastor exhort the young Christian
t.o be very careful not to separate fronl the church, in unity with
which he may expect the Holy Spirit and all other benefits of
Christ's passion: and if he likewise require hiln, at all titnes
hereafter, before he designs to comnlunicate, to give his pastor
an account of it (in obedience to the orders of the church) that
cc

SS8

Bishop JfTils01
'S Parocltialia:

he may receive further advice as there shall be occasion, he
will have done a ,york ,vorthy of a good pastor and will un-
doubtedly receive a good reward for so doing.

CONCERNI
G F A
lIL Y PRAYER.

THE very learned and pious bishop Pearson took occasion
very often and publicly to bless God that he wa
born and bred
in a fan1Ïly, in which God was worshipped daily. And certainly,
it is a duty \vhich entails very nlany blessings on posterity; for
which reason a pastor should labour with all his Inight to intro-
duce it into every fan1Ïly under his charge; at least, he should
give neither himself nor his people any rest, till he has done all
that lies in his power to effect so good a work; which if he does
not do, this very intimation will one day rise up in judgnlent
against hinI.
And in truth this duty is so reasonable and advantageous
that a nlan, who will but set about it in good earnest, ,,,ill find
people less backward than at first he would iluagille.
To acknowledge God to be the giver of all good gifts ;-to put
a luan's self, his wife, his cltildren, his servants, and all that
belongs t.o hinl under God's protection ;-to ask fronl hin1, as
frOllI a father, whatever \ve want and to thank hiln for ihe fa-
vours we have received; -these are duties, \vhich the reason of
luankind closes with as soon as they are fairly proposed.
And then the advantages of fan1Ïly worship will be evident to
the nleanest capacities.
First, To begin and end the day with (Jod, \vill be the likeliest
\vays to lllake servants faithful, children dutiful, wives obedient
and kztSbands sober, loving and careful; everyone acting as in
the sight of God.
Secondly, rrhis will be a lllighty check upon everyone of the
faluily and will be a Ineans of preventing Inuch wickeùness;-
at least, people will
in with reillorse (which i.
nIuch better
than with a seared conscience) when everyone knows he must
go upon his knees before he sleeps.
Thirdly, This is the way to entail piety upon the generations
to come. 'Vhen children and servants, conling to have families
of their 0\\11, cannot be easy, till they fall into the salue pious
.1uethod which they have been long used to. TJ'ain .ap a ckild

or In.ç[,'uctio'Yts to !tis Ole'rgy.

389

in the 'Way he skould go, and 'l()hen he is old he 'will 'not depart fr01n
it; nor perhaps his children after him for many generations.
But if there are persons, upon WhOlTI these motives n1ake no
impressions, let them know the evil consequences of neglecting
this duty:-
That (he curse of (he Lord is in the nO'ltSf! of the ?üiclæd m .
Pour out thine indignation, saith the prophet n (that is, God
,viII do so) upon the fan
ilies that call not 'Upon thy nan'lt?
Add to this, that ignorance, profaneness and a curse must of
necessity be in that fan1ily, where God is not o\vned; where, as
one observes, not a creature but is taken care of, not a swine but
shall be served twice a day, and God only is forgotten. I say
he Inust be worse than a heathen, whom these considerations do
not influence.
I know of no reason that can be offered why every family in this
diocese might not be brought to observe this duty, except this
one; that very nlany cannot read and are too old to learn the
prayers provided for them; (though it \yould be well if all that
can read did conscientiously discharge this duty!) Now, ,,,here
this is indeed the case, I nlake no question but that, with half
an hour's patience and pains, a pastor n1ight bring the most
ignorant person to observe this following method of orderly
devotion:
First, Let him speak to his falnily and say, Let us confess our
sins to God, saying,
Remember not, Lord, our offences, nor the offences of our
forefathers; neither take thou vengeance of our sins: spare us,
good Lord, spare thy people, whom thou hast redeemed with thy
most precious blood, and be not angry with us for ever.
Then let him say to the family, Let us praise God for all his
. .
merCIes, saYIng,
Glory be to the Fatker, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;
.A s it 'll)as in the beginning, is nOlO, and ever shall he, world
without e,
d. Amen.
Then let him say to the family, Let us pray for God's blessing
and protection, saying,
Our Fatner, u:hich art in hea1:en, (.
c.
And then let him conclude the whole, saying,
Tile grace of our Lord JesZls Ghrist, and tne lore of God, and
the fellowship of the Holy Gnost, be 'lcith IllS all evermore. Amen.

m Provo iii, 33.

n Jer. x, 25.

390

Bishop JVilson' s l
arochialia :

rhere is not one person but can say these prayers already
and only wants to be put into a method of saying them after this
orderly manner; and I am sure the cOlllfort and blessing of
bringing all our people
that cannot read, to this would be un-
speakably great both to them and to ourselves; and for t.he love
of God, let it be attenlpted in good earnest.

AN AD:\10NITION PROPElt FOR PARENTS.

l\10ST parents are concerned for their children's present
welfare and too often renoun
e a good conscience rather than not
provide for them, while fe\v are careful to give them such in-
structions and examples as, by the grace of God, may secure
them an eternal inheritance.
They should therefore be often put in mind of their duty in
this particular, that they Inay not have the tornlent of seeing
their children for ever ruined by their negligence.
I t is a strange stupidity, and they should be told of it, for
parents to be much concerned to have their children dedicated to
God in baptisnl, and yet utterly unconcerned ho\v they behave
themselves afterwards.
The least that parents can do is, to instruct, or get their chil-
dren instructed, in the principles of the Christian religion ;-to
pray for them daily, and to see that they pray daily for thenlselves;
to possess their 111inds \vith a love of goodness, and with an
abhorrence of every thing that is ,vicked ;-and to take care that
their natural corruption be not increased by evil examples.
I t is a sad thing to see children under the very eye of their
parents and too often by their exan)ples, getting habits of vanity,
of idleness, of pride, of intemperance, of lying and pilfering, of
talebearing and often of uncleanuess, and of nlany other sins,
\vhich might be prevented by a Christian education.
Parents therefore should be nlade sensible of their great guilt,
in suffering their children to take evil ways. They should be
often told that, human nature being extreulely corrupt, ,ve need
not be taught and be at pains to go to hell; we shall go
thither of course, if we do not Inake resistance and are not
restrained by the grace of God and our o,vn care and endeavour.

rhey should kno\v (however loath they are to hear it) that
they arc their children'8 worst enemies) ,vhcn they will see no

or Instr
tctions to his Olm"!!!!.

391

faults in theIu,-connive at what ought to be corrected,-and
are eyen pleased with what ought to be reproved.
lIe that spareth his rod, saith Solonlon 0, hateth Ids son (that is,
acts as if he really did so) ; but he tkat loreetk Ids son chastenetlt kin'/;
betimes, that is, before he grows headstrong and before he is
corrupted by evil habits. For II cldld left to himself hringeth his
'Inotner to shamep.
In short, a parent, ,,,ho has any conscience of his duty, will
not suffer the least sin to go unreproved or without due cor-
rection; but then he will take the apostle's adviceq, not to
provoke their children to wrath, by a causeless or too great severity,
lest they be discouraged, and thereby their children's love, both
for religion and for themselves, be lessened.
'Vhen children are grown up to years of discretion, parents
should be admonished to.fit thmn fo'l' confirrnation ;-a privilege,
which both parents and children would very highly value, if
t.hey were luade to understand the worth of it, which of all
things a pastor should take care to explain to them.
In the next place, it would be great charity for a clergy-
Dlan to interpose his good offices (at least to offer his advice)
when parents are about to dispose of their children in marriage
upon luere worldly considerations, and very often for little con-
veniencies of their own, without any regard to their children's
future ease and welfare.
It is seldonl that either parents or children pray for God's
direction and blessing upon an undertaking, which is to last as
long as life; but run on headlong, as humour or passion or
\vorldly interest lead them, which is the true occasion of so many
indiscreet choices and unfortunate 'marriapes, which a pastor should
prevent as much as Inay be, by adll10nishing Christians of their
duty in this particular, both publicly and in private conversation.
And when parents are providing for their children, let this
consideration be always present with them both for their own
and their children's sake: Better is a little 'With rigldeousness
(that is, honestly gotten) tItan preat 'revenues Wit/lOut rright r .
'Vhen a curse goes along with a portion, it is often the ruin of
the whole family. These were the remarkable words of the
pious judge Hale to his children: "I leave JOu but little, but it
will wear like iron."
Lastly, A pastor's advice would be very seasonable and should
o Provo xiii, 24. P Prox. xxix, 15. q Co!. iii, 21. r Provo xvi, 8.

3g

Bishop TVilsQn's Parocllialia:

be often repeated to such parents as are squandering a\vay the
inheritance, which \vas left them by their forefathers, and left
then} in trust only for those that should con1e after them; de-
priving their children of their right, exposin
them to hardships,
to telnptations, and to curse their memory. Considerations
which should n1ake their hearts to ache and force them to put
an end to that idleness and intelnperance, which are the occasion
of so much sin and mischief.

INSTRUCTIONS PROPER FOR YOUNG PEOPLE.

.
IT is the great misfortune of !foul!t that, \vanting expe1rience,
J1td.rJ1nent, and very often friends capable of giving them good
advice and following the bent of their passions, they love an_d
seek such company and pleasures as serve to strengthen their
naturaÌ corruption, which, if not prevented by charitable advice,
will be their ruin.
And certainly a pastor has much to answer for, \vho does not
lay hold of eyery occasion of shewing young people their danger
and their duty.
The first thing a youth should be made sensible of is this:
That he has in himself the seeds of all manner of sin and
\vickedness, which will certainly spring up and be his nlin, if he
does not ,vatch against it and pray daily for God '8 grace to
preserve him from it :
rrhat the \vickedest man he kno\vs ,vas once as capable of sal-
vation as he thinks himself to be; but by provoking God to leave
him to hilnself, sin and hell have got the dominion over him:
And that therefore it is the greatest judgment that can fall
upon any man, to be left to himself.
To conle to particulars:
First, Young people are apt to be headstrong and fond of their
own 'lCays, and should therefore be told 'what God declares by
Solomon s; Poverty and shame shall be to hÚn that refuseth instruc-
t ion; but he tkat re.qardetlt reproof sllall be honoured.- That there
is a way that seemetk ripht to a rnan, hItt the end thereof are the u.ays
of death.
Secondly, They love idleness naturally, and therefore should
be put in mind,-that slotlifulness castetl!J into a de('jJ sleep, that
S Provo xiii, 18. xiv, 12.

or Instructions to his Olergy.

393

is, makes IHen as careless of what win become of them, as if they
,vere fast asleep; and that dro'lvsiness 'will corer a 'Jnan 'lV'lth rags.
Above all, they should be put in mind of our Lord's sentence,
Oast !Ie tIle 'ltnprofitable servant into outer darkness.
Thirdly, This being the age of sensuality, libe'ì'tinism and vanity;
it n1ust be 3, great grace and very frequent instnlctions, that
must secure Joung people from ruin.
1'hey should therefore be often told,
That fools (and only fools) make a mock of .
in, it being too
dreadful a thing to be laughed at:
That 'lvhored01n and w'l.ne taÆe away the heart; that is, make a
man a mere brute:
That lyin.q lips are an aDonzination to the Lord, and that SUJear-
ing and cursing are sins easily learned, but hard to be left oft:
and will be punished most severely :
That evil cornm'ltnications 'Icill corrupt good manners:
That therefore young people should not, at their peril, run
into unknown company and temptations, depending upon their
own strength and good resolutions.-They should be told,
That nobody is very wicked at once ;-that there are few but
had some time good notions, good purposes and good hopes j-
and those that are profligately wicked became so after this man-
ner: they took delight in loose and wicked company; then they
neglected to pray for grace; then they cast off the .fear of God;
then holiness; after that 'lnodesty; then care of reputation ;-
and so contracting evil habits, they became at last abandoned of
God and left to themselves.
Fourthly,
\. good pastor win not forget to exhort young
people to flee youthful lusts and all sins of impurity, filthy songs
and filthy stories, which leave cursed impressions upon the
soul, do grieve God's holy Spirit, which ,vas given them at
baptism and at confirmation, and provoke him to forsH,ke then1 ;
and then an evil spirit lllost certainly will take them under his
governnlent.
Fifthly, Such as have parents should be exhorted to love,
honouï'" and obey them: That, as the a.postle saith t, it may he
well with tllmn, and tlzat tlley 'may live long on th.e earth.-That
they may escape that curse pronounced, Deut. xxvii, 16. Cursed
is he that setieth light hy his fatlwp and mother ;-and that of the
'Vise l\Ian 11, The eye fhat '1n0 c/æth, at his falhe}'" and despiseth to
t Ephesians vi, 3. n Prov. xxx, 17.

394

Bishop Wilson's Parochialia:

obey his 'Jnother, the ravens of the valley shall pick it out; that is,
such a one shall act in every thing he does as if he 'vere blind.
In short, children, as they hope for God's favour and blessing,
should strive to please their parents ;-be grieved ,vhen they
have angered them ;-take their advice kindly and follow it
cheerfully ;-and never marry without their consent, as they
hope for happiness in that estate.
Above all things,-young people should be obliged to observe
the Lord's nay :-they should be taught to reverence God's
house and God"s ministers, who pray for them and are to give an
account of their souls.
They should be exhorted to pray daily for thenlselves, and
against being led away by the violence of evil customs and the
,vays of the world, ,vhich they have renounced at their baptism.
And \vhen they have run into errors (\vhich they are but too
apt to do) they should be nlade sensible of the ruin they are
bringing upon thelllseives, that they may return to a better
]nind and, after the exall1ple of the prodigal in the gospel, beg
God"s pardon and sin no III ora ; being often forewarned that
God \vill, one tilHe or other, 'lnalce them to possess tlte iniqu'ities of
their youtlt Y.

OF 'VORLDL Y-
IINDEDNESS.
A PASTOR \vill find that worldly-'}nindedness is one of the
most universal diseases of his flock and the most difficult to be
cured.
People see an absolute necessity of taking care for themselves,
and duty obliges thelli t.o provide for their families.
But then this care very often increases beyond necessity, and
\vhat ,vas at first a duty beconles at last a sin; when Christians
begin to set their hearts upon the world, to place their happiness
in its favours, to dread its frowns and to depend upon it as a
good security against future evils.
Now, the consequence of such a love for the \vorld \vill be,
that Jnany Christian duties must give place to \vorldly business;
the very commands of God shall often be broken to gain worldly
ends; lnen shall Inake a luere idol of the world; love a nd fear
and think and depend upon it Inore than upon God; and \"ill at
y Job xiii, 26.

or Instructions to his Clergy.

395

last be so bewitched and blinded with it that they shall not see
the sin and vanity of all this, until the approach of death opens
their eyes, and then they see the folly of their choice, but see too
that it is too late to make a better.
In short, it is bard to live in the world and not to love it; and
nothing in nature can prevent or cure this disorder, but a sincere
belief of the gospel and a resolute practice of the duties of Christ-
ianit y .
For the Christian religion lets us l{now that while we are in
this world we are in a state of banishment ;-that here we have
no abiding place ;-that God has made our life short, on pur-
pose that we may have no pretence to set our hearts on this
\vorld ;-that it is a dreadful thing for a man to have his portion
in this lifez;-that a 111an's true happiness does not consist in the
abundance of the things which he possesseth ;-and that God
hath ordained that all things here shall be uncertain and full of
troubles, t.hat we n1ay be led lTIore easily to set our affections on
tIlings above, not tl
ings on the earth.
And forasmuch as it is found by sad experience that, the more
luen have, the lllore fond they will be of the \yorld, Christians
should be often advised to receive its favours with a trembling
hand and to rCll1ember that, the more a man has, the more he
must account for, the greater danger he is in and the more pains
he Inust take to pre,
erve himself from ruin ;-for it was not for
nothing that our Lord said, How hardl!! shall they t/
at ha've r'iches
enter into lIte kÙzgdont of Ileaven !
In short, there is no greater hindrance to piety than the love
of the world; God therefore having made that and the care of
our souls the great business of our lives, he has bound himself t.o
take care of us, and that we shall want nothing that is necessary
for this life. Take no tlw
tglll, saith our Lord 3, for your life, what
!Ie shall eat j nor for your bod!!, what ye shall put on. Does not
J/mtr heavenly Fatlter feed the fowls of the air? Does he not know
that ye are better than tltey, and that ye have næd of these things?
Let not therefore Christians flatter themselves with the hopes
that worldly business will excuse thenl fronl serving God; our
Lord has already t.old us what sentence such people must ex-
pect h : Not one of those 'Jnen shall taste of l1ZY supper. That is,
those that were so taken up about their oxen, their fields and

z Psalm xvii.

a l\Iatthew vi, 25.

b Luke xiv, 24.

396

Bishop W'ilson's Parochialia:

their worldly business, that they would not mind their Lord's
invitation.
And indeed our Lord tells us in another place c , that the very
,vord of God ,viII be lost on those ,vhose hearts are fun of
the cares of this world,
()hich c'tolce the 'word, and it becometk
unfrzÛtfltl.
Rut then Christians have another way of deceiving themselves,
and that is, with the hopes of reconciling a love for the w01"ld with
the love of God.
And yet our Lord Christ assures us that they are as utterly
inconsistent as light and darkness; that no man can serve two
rn,asters; and that whoever will be a friend of the
()orld is the
enemy of God. -
To conclude: All Christians are by their profession obliged
not to love the world.
They are also obliged to use all proper Ineans to prevent this
love, which \vould otherways ruin them.
Especially, they are obliged to great \vatchfulness and earn-
est prayers for God's grace to keep them from becoming slaves
to the world ;-from placing their confidence or happiness in
it ;-fron1 taking delight in the possession of it ;-from distract-
ing cares about it;-from taking unjust ways to better or Eecure
their portion in it ;-froll1 being extremely grieyed at the loss of
it, or unwilling to part with it, when God so orders it ;-from an
hard heart and a close hand, \vhen the necessities of the poor
call for it. And lastly, from being diverted, by the hurry of this
\vorlrl, fron1 the thoughts of the world to come.
For 'what u,ill it profit a man, if he should gain tile whole 'world
ancllose l
is own soul ?-Renlember Lots '/ .ife.

AD'7"ICE TO
IEN OF ESTATES.

IEN of estates are but. too apt to abuse the advantages they
have above others, and they are unwilling to hear of it; they
imagine they are above advice, and for that reason they are in
most danger.
But whatever they fancy, a good pastor will
hew then1 their
danger and their duty, u
kether they 'lD'ill hear or u"hethn w the!! 1cill
foròear.

c Luke viii, 14.

or l/lstructiUllts to lLis Clergy.

397

Now, such persons being subject to idleness, to intemperance
and to bear ltard upon their poor neighbours, they should ha\e
prudent hints given thenl to avoid these sins wlâch do easil!J
beset tltent.
That such, for instance, who have plenty without taking pains,
Inay not contract an habit of idleness, which is the IJarent of
infinite evils; (a lllan that has nothing to do being ready to do
any thing that the devil shall tenlpt hinl to ;)-a dislike to busi-
ness ;-a love of ease ;-a dependance upon an estate 1110re than
upon God's providence ;-running into company to pass away
tilue; a neglect of faillily duties ;-an evil exalnple to children
and servants ;-an estate going to ruin for want of God's bless-
ing and an honest care.
And though no man can call such a person to an account for
leading an idle and a useless life, yet God often does do it;
and hence it is we so often see fanlilies of an ancient standing
broke, and estates crunlbled into pieces, because the owners
thereof ,vere above taking pains and neglected to pray for God's
blessing upon their estates and faluilies.
It will be great charity therefore, however such people will
take it, in a pastor to put thenl in mind,
That ,ve are none of us proprieto'ps, but only steu:ards; for
the whole earth is the Lord's, and he disposes of it as he
pleaseth :
That such as have received Inore than others have more to
account for:
That if they only seek to please thenlselves, they may justly
fear the sentence of the rich man d ; Rellle}}
bel' that thou in thy
lifeti1ne 'l'eceivedst thy good things, for 'l(."llÍcl" thou art nOUJ tor-
mented :
That not only the wicked, but even the unprofitable servant,
was cast into outer darkness:
That if men have estates, they have greater opportunities of
gaining God's favour, by doing good to others:
That if they have Inore tÏ1ne to spare, they have 11lore time
and more reason to serve God:
And if they feel not the affiictions of poverty, they are lllore
obliged to assist and help them that do.
But if, in
tead of doing so, they consunle their estates upon

d Luke xvi, 25.

398

B.ishop JfTilson's Parockialia:

their lusts; and when having received nlore favours from God,
they should be eX:llnples and encouragers of religion, they be-
come themselves the greatest contemners of religion j-if their
plenty Inakes them forget God, and their power more trouble-
some to their poor neighbours, then an estate is a curse and
not a blessing.
In short, those that have estates should be charged, as the
apostle directs e, not to he ldgl
minded; ,wt to trust in 'll'/lce'rtain
riches, hut in the livz.ng God; tl
at t/leY do good; that they he rich
in good works; ready to distribute, willing to cOll
?nunicate; laying
up in store for tl
eJnselves a good foundation against the tirn
e to come,
that they ?naylay hold on eternal life.
They should be exhorted to give God thanks for his favours;
to lay by a reasonable certain proportion of their incomes, to be
besto,ved in works of piety and charity; to be exanlples of in-
dustry, sobriety and godliness to their children, falnilies and
ncighbourhood.

CONCERNING THE POOR.
THE poor being God's peculiar care, they ought to have a
great share in the concern of his Ininisters, to relieve, to instruct
and to comfort theIne
For nature being averse to contempt and sufferings, \vhich are
often the lot of poor people, they are therefore too apt to charge
God foolishly for the unequal distributions of his providence;
so that their nlinds must be satisfied and their spirits supported
by such considerations as these:
First, That Jesus Christ himself, though Lord of the whole
creation, yet Inade it his choice to be born and to live in
poverty; to convince the poor that that condition is not un-
happy, if they do not make it so by their ilnpatience.
Secondly, That there is no state ,vhatever but has its proper
difficulties and trials; and the
"iclt especially, ,vho are so llluch
envied, are often forced to confess that, as our Lord has told
us, a 'lnan's life and l
appiness consi:5teth not in tlte abundance of the
things wlde/" he possesseth.- And as to the next world, the poor
have much the advantage of the rich, in wanting so Inany telnp-
tations to the ruin of their souls; -and in the less account they

C I Timothy vi, 17.

or Instructions to ltis Clergy.

399

have to make for what they have received. And then the poor
(as an excellent poet expresses it)
- will bless their poverty, who have
No reckonings to make when they are dead.
Thirdly, They should be put in Inind that God has Inade
poverty the lot of Inany of his dearest servants, fitting them for
future and eternal happiness by the short affiictions of this life;
\veaning their affections from things tenlporal and forcing
them, as it were, to look for rest and ease and an inheritance
elsewhere.
Fourthly, Let them therefore be often exhorted to pUJt their
trust in God, wlw is the helper of the friendless.
To have much in their thoughts the joys of heaven, which
will enable them, as it did our Lord hÏInself, to bear with
patience the hardships of their condition; not to envy such as
are in better circumstances, nor to endeavour to better their own
by unjust ways. But to believe assuredly that, if it is not their
own fault, God will make them sufficient amends in the next life
for what he denied them in this.
Thus poor Lazarus no sooner expired, but he ,vas carried by
the angels into Abrahanl's bosom, to enjoy perpetual rest and
felicity.
Let them therefore be comforted with such scriptures as these:
Yoltr heavenl!! Father knows what things ye have need of Cast
tlwrefore all !!oztr care upon ltim, for lw caretlt for YOZt f.
Be content with such things as ye ltave, for God hatlt said, I will
never leave thee, nor forsa/(e tltee g.
Better is a little with the fear of the Lord, than great treas
tl'e and
trozthle therewith h .
Hath not God clwsen the poor of this world, rich in faith, and heirs
of the lcingdonz which lte hath pl-01nised to them that love hÍ1n i ?
But then they nlust be put in nlind often to pray to God,
to deliver thenl froln the sins to which their poverty might tenlpt
them.
Not to give thenlselves up to sloth and idleness, but to do
what they well can for an honest livelihood; to bring up their
children in the fear of God, and to be sure not to set thenI evil
examples-of Inurmuring against God, of coveting what is an-
other's, of filching and stealing; for if they should be guilty of

f I Pet. v, 7.

g Heb. xiii, 5.

h PrO\T. XY, 16.

i James ii,5.

400

Bislwp JVilsú/t's Parúclâalia :

any of these sins, they ".ill lose all title to the pron1ise of J e8US
Chris t k, Blessed are ye pOOl., for your's is tlte kingd01Jl of Iteaven.
And if to these exhortations a clergyman adds his alms, or
procures the charity of such as are more able than himself, he
will discharge a very material part of his duty and he will
have the prayers of those ,vho have the freest access to the
throne of grace.

'ro PERSONS IN AFFLICT lOX.

lJIA1V (as Job saith I ) being born to tro'ltble, a pastor can hardly
visit his flock but he will meet with SOlne who ,viII want words
of comfort; \vith which therefore he should be always furnished,
both to guide and to support the spirits of the afflicted.
For Christians in affliction are but too apt to distract theu1-
sel ves and increase their burden, by considering only ,vhat
flesh and blood suggest, not what faith and religion propose for
their support and conlfort.
They are too apt to charge God foolisltly ;-to be angry with
those, \VhOlli he has made or pern1Ïtted to be the instrulllents of
their affliction;- to grow ùp-jected and llielancholy upon the
thoughts of the sins, which they suppose have provoked God to
visit them i-and lastly, to despair of ever seeing an end to their
sorrows.
Here then the pastor's help will be seasonable and charitable;
for he will teach such as are in trouble to seek cOlufort in God
and in the aids of religion.
He ,viII convince them (for instance)
That events are not left to chance, but that all things COlne to
pass by the appointn1ellt or perIni
sion of God:
'That the very hairs of our head a'J'e all nundJel'ed:
That we are nnder God's care, as weB when he suffers us to
be troubled as when he sn1Ïles upon us:
That he is a very undutiful child, who will love and obey his
father just as long as he pleaseth him and no longer:
That God has a right to try whether Christians are sincere
or not; that is, ,vhether they will believe hilll to be their God
and Father, as well when he corrects as when he gives theln
their desires :

k Luke vi, 20,

1 Chap. v, 7.

or lm
tì'uctions to his Clel"9/J.

401

That we are in darkness and rlo not ourSìelve
know what
,vould be best for us :
That God has made no earthly cOlnforts full and lasting, on
purpose that Christians, seeing the vanity of all worldly enjoy-
nlents, 111ay not desire to set up their rest llere but be obliged to
think of another life, where all tears will be wiped away:
That God often punishes us in this world, that he lnay not be
obliged to punish us hereafter:
That the best of men have need of being awakened into a
sense of their duty and danger:
That a disciple of Jesus Christ nlust take part in the sufferings
of his Lord and
Iaster, as he hopes to be a partaker of his glory;
for if u:e sziffer 'with hi1n, 'we shall also reign with him.
It is thus a Christian may be taught to sublnit to God's
dispensations and to make an advantage of what the ,vorld calls
'lniifortunes, a.ffiictions, calaulities, Judgnwnts: and that, instead
of being impatient, fretful or døJected, he should rather rejoice in
tribulation, in 'wrongs, in losses, in su.f!êrinps, anù be glad that he
has a proper occasion of offering his zf.ill a sacrifice to the will of
God, which is a nlost acceptable oblation.
When a pastor has made his distressed patient sensible of the
reason and benefit of a.fllictions, he will then proceed to shew him
how to quiet the disorders of his soul.
He will advise him (for instance) not to torment himself about
the cause of his troubles or the instrulnents of his afflictions, or be
over anxious concerning the isslte of them. For this ,vill only
create roexation, frnitless conplaints and a sinful distrust, which
are all the effects of pride and self-love, and serve only to bereave
hilu of that peace of mind, which is necessary to carry hinl
through his trials with the resignation of a Christian.
lIe will then shew hiln that, by being brought into these cir-
cun1stances, whether his afflictions be for tr'ial or punisltulent, he
has a special title to the favour of God and to luany great and
precious promises, provided he su1mits to God's order and
appointment. For God has declared hilTIself to be the helper of
the friendless; the comforter of the afflicted; a light to then1
that are in darkness and know not what way to take. lIe has
promised to be a father to the fatherless and an ltusband to the
'Uyidow; that he will undertake the cause of the oppressed anù
of such as call upon hirn in their distre
Sì. So that no nlnn ought
Dd

40Q

BisltOp JVilson's Parocltialia :

to think hinlself destitute and nliserable, who has God to fly to
and God's word for his cOlufort.
U pOll the first approach of troubles, therefore, his spiritual
guide will direct hin1 to fall down before God-to hun1ble hin1-
self under his afflicting hand-to acknowledge that God's i
tdg-

nents are r
(]ltt, and tltat he of.vel,!! faitlifulness has caused ldJ,t to be
troltbled; beseeching God that he may make good use of his
troubles ;-to cast his whole care upon God, trusting in his wis-
don1 to know and his goodness to appoint what is best for hin1 ;
resol ving, by the grace of God, to Inake that his choice which b.e
has prayed for all his life, that God's wi1l1nay be done.
He will also assure him that þ let his luind be never so much
disordered and his soul oppressed with sorrow, God CD n support
and cOlnfort hilll; that he has a prolnise of the sanle grace, which
enabled St. Paul to take pleasure in aiflictions, in persec
ttions, in
infirlnities, in re})roacnes; which enabled the first Christians to
take ioyfully the spoiling of their goods, knowing that they had in
heaven a better and an enduring slthstance m; which enabled
holy Job, under the severest trials, to subluit without repining to
God's appointment, saying only, The Lord gace, and tlte Lord hatk
taken away. Bles8ed be the nallM of the Lord.
Lastly, His pastor will ten him, that St. Jalnes is so far fronl
looking upon the case of the afflicted as desperate that he affirnl-
eth-Blessed
.s the man that endureth ternptation / for 1.cken he is
tried (that is, approved) he shall receive a crown of Ufe þ 'which
fadeth not away.
And sure no man wiM think his o\vn case hard, whatever his
afflictions 1nay be, when he Í8 put in luind of the sufferings of
Christ his Lord and
Iaster, who had not where to lay his head;
-who was set at nought by those he can1e to save ;-who was
called a dealer with the devil, a glutton and a wine-bibber;-
who was assaulted by all the powers of hell, so that his soul ,vas
sorrowful even to death ;-was betrayed by one disciple and for-
saken by all the rest ;-was falsely accused by the Jews, set at
naught by Herod, unjustly condenlned by Pilate, barbarously
treated by the soldiers, \vas led as a sheep to the slaughter and
suffered death, even the death of the cross.
This was the treatn1ent, which the Son of God luet with when

m Hebrews x, 34.

01' InHtl'ltctiollS to his Olel:qy.

1-03

he was on earth; and this will silence all c01l1plaints, or else we
are very unreasonable indeed.
But after all, our greatest conlfort is this: that this .Jesus, who
himself was a man of sorrows and acquainted witlt grief; who felt
the weaknesfö; of hunlan nature and the troubles to which we are
subject: this Jesus is our advocate with the Father; who for his
sake will not sujfer us to be ternpted above l.cnat we are able to bear,
but will enable us, as he did St. Paul, in whatever state we are to
be therewitlt content.
TVherefore, let tne,n that suffer according to tke will of God com-
m,it the keeping of their souls unto hhn in well-doing as unto a faith-
fulOreator n .

EXHORTATIO
S PROPER FOR SER,r ANTS.
SERV ANTS luake a considerable part of every clergyman'ls
charge and will always stand in need of a particular application.
They have as many duties and telnptations as other Christians
and have need of as much care-to implant the fear of God in
their hearts-to encourage then1 to bear with patience the
difficulties of their state-to teach theln the duties of their
calling-and to secure them fronI such sins as they are most
subject to.
Servants ought not to imagine that the nleanness of their con-
dition will free them from being accountable to God for their
behaviour in that state of life, in which his providence has placed
then1. They are as capable of eternal happiness and as liable to
eternal misery as the Inasters they serve; and as strict an account
will be required of then1. And therefore the apostles are very
l}articular in setting down the duties of their calling and the sins
they ought to be Inost careful to avoid.
For exan1ple :-That they should be diligent in their husiness,
not with e!/eserrice, as men-pleasers, but as the sercants of Christ, in
singleness of heart, fearing God ; knowing that of the Lord the!! shall
'receive a reward o.
They should be often put in mind to nlake a conscience of their
Inaster's interest, that nothing under their care be lost or wasted
by theil' negligence. This is to shew all.qood fidelity P.

n I Peter iv, 19.

o Col. iii, 22, 24.
Dd2

P Titus ii, 10.

404

Bis/top lVilson's Par;'ochialia :

To be exactly just and honest; not purloining, as the apostle
speaks l but ren1embering that he ,vas an ?tnjust steward and not
to be imitated by any honest servant, who made hiInself friends
at his Inaster's costq.
To bear with patience the orders and the reproofs of those, to
,vho111 they are subject, not only to the good and gentle, but also to
the froward. St. Peter saith expressly, that such sublnission is
not only a duty, but a duty acceptable to God r .
They should have a strict charge given thetn to avoid lying,
,vhich is hateful to Gods, and talebearing, which is the occasion
of much sin and lnischief. Not to corrupt their own or others'
hearts and memories with
filth!l stories, l.vicked songs or profane
expressions. Never to be tempted by the authority of a wicked
master or by the example of a ,vicked fello\v-servant, to do any
thing ,that is u1
iust, ext1'aroagant or any way unlawfitl. To
avoid sloth and idleness, \vhich are very bad characters of a
servant.
They should be often called upon to be careful to keep the
Lord's day holy.
Servants have a special right and interest in that day, given
them by God hin1self-110t to spend it in idleness and vanity,
but in going to church and hearing God's word and begging his
grace, conlfort and blessing, that, \vhatsoever their lot is in this
life, they may not fail to be happy in the next.
For this reason they should be put in Inind that their state of
life does not excuse them from praying to God daily as ,veIl as
they can, that they nlay faithfully discharge their duty and
patiently bear the burden laid upon thenl; which the lneanest
servant will be better content with, if he is put in mind of our
blessed LordI ,vho, though he ,vas the Son of the
Iost High, yet
he took upon him the condition of a servant, to teach us hu-
mility and that the lowest condition is acceptable to God, where
people are careful to do the duties of such a state.
Lastly, Servants should know that labour is the punishment
of sin appointed by God hinlself, who passed this sentence upon
Adam t , In the sweat ofth!I face shalt thou eat bread; condemning
him and his posterity to labour and toil, that they nlight look
for rest in he
ven, since there is so little true satisfaction on
earth. So that such as accept of this punisluuent, in subn1ission

q Luke xvi, I.

r I Pet. ii, 18, 20.

S !)rov. vi, 17.

t Gen. iii, 19

or Instructions to his Ole'J"9!/.

40.t)

to the appointInent of God, have indeed a better title to pardon
and happiness than such as spend their lives in ease and
pleasure.

OF DEALING \VITH FORl\IAL CHRISTIANS.
THERE is not a more desperate estate than that of the
fOrJ/
al Ohristian, who has the outward sllow of godliness, but
denies the power thereof; who performs the COlnmon duties of
Christianity ,,,ithout any great concern to do them well;-
believes in God without sense of his presence or thoughts of
being accountable to him; and in Jesus Ohrz.st, without feeling
the want of a Redeemer; without considering the life of Christ,
,vhich he ought to imitate, or the gospet which is his rule to
,valk by; -wlw believes in the Holy Ghost, without thinking how
much he stands in need of his aids; without considering the
enemies he has to deal with, the difficulties he shall meet with,
the self-denial he is to undergo, or the good works he must
abound in, as he hopes for heaven.
In short, he hopes for hea ven with the indifference of one
who scarce thinks of going thither, and believes eternal tonnents
,vithout being concerned to avoid them. He knows he ought. to
do more than he does, but he has 80me faint hopes that. what he
does may secure him from hell.
No\v, this being the case of an infinite number of people, a
pastor can hardly look abroad without meeting with one or other
of these formal, indifferent, thoughtless Christians, who live
without fear of dying, and, if not hindered by tilnely care, will
die unhappily.
These Christians therefore should be often put in mind of
God's displeasure against such as pretend to be his servants,
without any concern to serve him faithfully;- of the folly of
being indifferent, when a man's soul lies at stake ;-of the abso-
lute necessity of an inward conversion as well as of an outward
religion ;- of the very great sin of neglecting or abusing the
means of grace, which God vouchsafes unto us.
Re will shew him moreover that withmtt a lively faith it will 1
be impossible to please God ;-that without a serious repentance
there is no fOl'giveness ;-and that without holiness no man shall
see the Lord.
In short, such Christians should have no rest, until they shall

406

ßisltop TVilson"s P(u'ockialia :

be forced, out of a sense of their danger, to ask in good earnest,
fVhat shall it profit a man, if he sltall gain the 'lvltole 'world and
lose his own soul? And that it was not for nothing that he conl-
nIanded his followers-to seek the kingdom of God in the first
place and before all other things.
He \vill then shew him, that. all outward ordinances from the
beginning \vere appointed either to create or to prollwte or to
secztre a lively sense of God and of the duties ,ve owe hinl
alllongst men.
And as these ordinances are not at our peril to be neglected,
so neither are they to be depended upon, unless they lead us to
the love of God and of our neighbour, and beconle a Ineans of
recovering in us the iluage of God, in ,vhich we were created,
,vhich consists in righteozlsnes and true !toliness.
",'Then he has convinced theIn of this, he will exhort them to
lose no tilDe, but to beg of God to increase their faith-to plant
his fear in their hearts-to a waken in them an hearty concern
for their souls, and to give thenI such a measure of hope and love
of God as may enable thenI to OVerCOll1e the difficulties, the
temptations and the dangers of a Christian life.
And the good pastor will not fail to add to these endeavours
his own earnest prayers that God, of his great Dlercy, would
awaken the careless ,vorld into a better sense of religion and
care for their souls; that nlen luay desire in good earnest to
serve God and be solicitous ho,v to do it DI08t acceptably, with-
out abusing the means of grace, or deluding themselves with the
foolish hopes of serving God and Inam1110n, of being indifferent
here and happy hereafter.

OF DEALING WITH HABITUAL EVIL LI'TERS.

TO visit people of this character, \vhen they come to die, is
80 frightful and so difficult a part of a clergyman's duty that one
,vould be at any pains to prevent so affiicting and so uneasy
a task; and ,vhich can only be prevented by dealing ,vit.h such
people very often and plainly, while they are in health.
By representing to theln the danger they are in, while they
live in open rebellion against God: that, as sure as God is just,
he will call then1 to a severe account for the abuse of his good
creatures-for dcfiling their own bodies-for tenIpting others

0,' Instructious to his Clerg!!.

407

to f:in-for 111ispending that very time, which God has given
them to work out their salvation-for the evil exalllple they
give- for leading an idle and unprofitable life- and for dis-
honouring God, his lazes, his name, his n'ord and his day.
Upon all which accounts, they are under thp displeasure of
Abnighty God; his judgments are hanging over their heads
continually; nor have they any hopes of lllercy but by a speedy
repentance.
For (as it is plain frolH God's word u) the sentence of eternal
death is already pronounced against them, and God only knows
how soon it may be executed. IVho'J'emongers, dr1lnJ:ards,
'itnJust, prqfåne and even the unprofitable, shall not inherit the
kingdolll of heaven, but shall be cast into outer darkness, wke,'e
the 'l()or'JJ
dieth not, and wlwre the fire is not quenched.
By doing this faithfully, a pastor will keep the conscience and
the fears of a sinner awake; he wiII sin at least with uneasi-
ness; and finding that sin is a 'real sla very, he may perhaps at
last resolve to seek for ease in the ways of God's comnlandlnents.
That he may do so, \ye ought to set before hin1 the happiness
which he is yet capable, by God
s grace, of obtaining; for the
very design of the gospel (as Jesus Christ hin1self' teIIs St. Paul x )
is, to t1trn 1i'ten frOJn darkness to light, and fr01n the pozeer of Satan
unto God, tltat they may receive forgiceness of sins, and an
inheritance a1J
ongst then
that are sanctified hy faitl" in Ollrist
Jesus. .
After this a pastor lllust endea your to drive hin1 from all his
holds of false hopes and vain purposes. For instance -of
repenting time enough hereafter; as if sinners could repent when
they please, or as if it were enough to be sorry for one's sins,
which a ll1an l1lay be, when it is too late to alnend and to hring
forth f'J''Uits meet for repentance.
Let hÜll therefore see that, by deferring his repentance, he
makes it still more difficult to repent; and that, "hen once he
has fillerl up the 111eaSUre of his sins, he Blust after that expect
neither grace nor pardon.
Lest he should depend upon the goodness and longsuffering
of God, let hilll know that iltis ought to lead him to repentance.
That it is a great Inercy that God, notwithstanding all a sin-
ner has done to provoke hil11, will yet restore hin1 to favour, and
be a father to hin1.

U Galatians v, 19.

x Acts xx\ri, 18.

408

Bishop
Vilson"s P aruckialia :

Let hÎ1n know that there is certainly evil towards that n1an
who sins and prospers in his sin, it being a sign of God's great-
est displeasure, and that he leaves such a man to himself: a
condi tion the most to be dreaded.
Let hin1 be assured that, if once the sentence of the unfruitful
tree is passed, Cut it down
. why cU1nberetl" it the ground? the
prayers and tears of the whole ,vorld cannot save it. .
And lastly, endeavour to convince him that God is Just as well
as good, and that he has already shewn that his mercy and good-
ness can be provoked, since he has condemned creatllres of a
n1uch higher and better order than ,ve are, even the very angels
themselves, when they rebelled, which he hath reser-ved in ever-
lasting chains ztnto the Judgll
ent of the great day.
After this, represent to hiln the mercy of God, in sparing hinl
so long and in not cutting him off in the Inidst of his sins; his
readiness to forgive such as truly turn unto hinl; and t.hat there
is JOY in lteave'JZ over a sinner that repentetk.
And that he n1ay not think his case desperate (as great sin-
ners are apt to do \vhen their consciences are awake) or that
it is a thing Í1npossible to overcome the evil habits he has con-
tracted; let him understand that, as the goodness, so the power
of God is infinite; that the same Spirit, which raised up our Lord
Jesus Christ from the dead, can raise a sinner from the death of
s in unto a life of rigldeousness.
This let him steadfastly believe and use his endeavours, and
such a faith will work wonders.
Now, if a sinner is once brought to a sense of his evil condition
and has thoughts of becolning a new luan, he will still want his
pastor's assistance and advice, what methods to take in order to
his sincere conversion.
And first, he must be told plainly that he has a work of
labour and difficulty to go through, such as will require thoughts
of heart, great patience, earnest prayers and earnest endeavours,
self-denial and perseverance; but then he must consider that it
is for Iûs life, and that Jesus Christ has told us that strait is the
gate and narrow is the way iltat leadeth unto life.
He must then be 111ade sensible that., as of him
elf he can do
nothing, so by the grace of God he can do every thing that God
requires of him, ,vhich he must pray for with the concern of one
that is in earnest.
To his prayers he nlust add his best endeavours; that is, he

Vi' Instructions to his Clergy.

409

must avoid the occasions of sin, keep out of the way of tempta-
tions, avoid all company that may any way divert his thoughts
frorn his holy purposes ;-he must fast, and deny himself a great
many things which his corrupt heart hankers after.
,And if these things appear difficult unto him, let hirn ask
hirnself, whether it is better to do so now than to àwell with
everlasting burnings hereafter?
A sick man for his health will do all this: he will avoid COIIl-
pany; he will observe rules; he will take very bitter potions,
he will endure very many things to make the remainder of a
short life cOlnfortable. A sinner, that considers that his soul lies
at stake and that eternal happiness or misery will be the event,
,viII not think any thing too lnuch which God prescribes.
Lastly, if to these pious endeavourõ a pastor adds his own
prayers for the sinner that God would touch his heart, take
from him all obstinacy and blindness ;-that he would awaken
hinl, give him a lively sense of his sad condition ;-caU him to
repentance, enable hin1 to break aU his bonds, graciously forgive
hinI, and give hilll all those helps that are necessary to becolne
a ne\v creature: a pastor (whatever is the consequence) wiU
have the comfort of having done a good work and his duty.

NECESSARY INSTRUCTIONS FOR SUCH AS ARE
UNDER THE CENSURES OJ.i' THE CHURCH.

'VHA T the church of England so passionately wishes for
(nalnely, that godly discipline nlay be restored) this church, by
God's favour, does actually enjoy. NotorioltS sinne1
s are put to
open penance, and p
tnished in this world, t!tat their souls rnay be
saved in the day of the Lord, and tn,at o tlters, ad'lnonislted by their
example, fnay be 'Jì'lore afraid to offend.
N ow to Inake this a real blessing to our church and people, it
is necepsary that they should be often and plainly told the
lueaning and reason of church discipline.
They should be told, for instance, that the church is Christ's
falnily;-that all the meTIlbers of Christ"s family ought to be
blalneless and holy, as they hope for any re,vard frolll him;-
that none are admitted into his household, but such as do
solemnly prolnise to live as becolues his servants ;-that therefore
such as, after this, turn disorderly livers, are first to be rebuked,

410

Bishop JVilson's Pa'J'ocllialia :

and by fair nleans, if possible, brought to reason; if not, to be
turned out of his house, till they become sensible of their error;
which if they do, and give sincere marks of their repentance,
they will be readmitted into the church and partake of its
privileges as formerly.
Now that all this Inay be orderly performed, Jesus Christ
himself ordained his apostles and gave theln power to ordain
others, to be the stewards of this his falnily. To theln he gave
the keys of his house, with full power to receive such as they
should find worthy, and to shut out the un\yorthy.
For the faithful discharge of which trust. they will be account-
able to hiIn, their Lord and Master; which consideration ought
to Inake them very careful-to do notlting by preju,dice or parti-
alityY: to use the power wltich the Lord hath given then
for
edification, and not for the destruction of his people z.
Then let your people kno\v, that our power is purely spiritual;
and that when we force people by fines and imprisonments to
subluit to discipline, this is by the laws of the land, and we
execute those laws, not properly as Christ's ministers, but as
subjects to the civil power: for when princes becalne Christians
and were persuaded that they were answerable to God for the
manners of their subjects, they endeavoured to ease thenlselves
of that burden, by putting it into the hands of churchmen,
,vhich has had this unhappy effect, that Christians are often
more afraid of ,vorldly punishnlents than of being denied the
holy sacran1ent and other ordinances of the Christian religion,
prescribed for their salvation.
Christians therefore should be lllade 8ensible that, as by bap-
tiSlll they are made members of Christ's church and fami]y,
children of God; that is, have a right t.o apply to God with the
freedom of children and heirs of the kingdom of heaven; so, by
church censures, they are verily cut off from these privileges,
until they sincerely repent of their sins and are restored by
Christ's ministers to the peace of the church.
If any are so fooli8h as to say (as some have done) that they
can go to another clturch, ask thenl, as the apostle did 3, Is Ohr,ist
divided? that is, is he the head of a party and not of the whole
church! Is not our's a member of that church? Have not Christ's
ministers here the same authority from their Lord as any other
Christian bishops and pastors, viz. the authority of binding and
Y I Tim. v, 21. z 2 Cor. xiii, 10. a I Cor. i, 13.

or InstructiofU; to his Clergy.

411

loosing? And, if we proceed according to the rules of the gospel
and our sentence be confirmed by Christ, what will it profit
theIn, if, for want of being reconciled by their proper pastor,
they shall be shut out of hea ven

Read therefore the cOlnmission which Jesus Christ has given
us; read it to thetn out of his word b: Verily 1 say unto you,
JTThatsoever ye shalt bind on earth (proceeding according to the
rules of the gospel) shall be bmtnd in heaven, &c. and
He that re-
ceireth wlwmsoever I send, receiveth me C . And 'whoso despiseth 'lne,
or
vholnsoever I send, despiseth God that sent me d .
Let people In10w that we take no pleasure in using our
authority; that we do not desire to lord it over God's heritage.
Our ailn and endeavour is to oblige sinners to change their
course of life and be converted, that their souls may be saved;
and that whenever they give us hopes of a sincere repentance,
we receive them with open arms and joyful hearts.
Convince them that it is not to expose offenders that we
oblige them to do public penance, but that they may give glory
to God and declare to an the world that, since they have been
so unhappy as to dishonour God by breaking his laws and
despising his authority, they are heartily sorry for it, and think
it no shalne to own it after any manner the church shall order;
believing that such a sublnission to God's ministers will be
acceptable to God himself and a means of obtaining his pardon
through their intercession.
Assure then1 that in the primitive times Christians begged
with prayers and tears to be admitted to public penance, as the
only "Tay to obtain the pardon of their sins; they looked upon
it as nluch a favour, as if a man, who had forfeited his life or
estate, could have thenl restored upon acknowledging his crinles
and pron1Ïsing al11endment.
Lastly, let thenl know for certain that, if the church should
not take notice of them, but admit t
em to her holy offices and
sacraments} while t.hey continue impenitent, this ,vould be no
more a blessing to thenl than it was to Judas, of whom the devil
took Inore sure possession, after he had received the sacrament
from our Lord's own hands.
By taking pains to instruct penitents (and your people too out
of the pulpit) in these particulars,

b )'latth. x\'iii, 18.

c John xiii. 20.

d Luke x, 16.

412

Bi$lwp JVilson's ParocltÍalia:

Offenders \vill be brought to a sense of their evil condition ;-
they will perform penance after an edifying Inanner.
You will pronlote the honour of God, the good of sinners, the
truth of religion and the public weal and secure the authority
of the church.

OF VISrrING THE SICK.

IF one seriously considers how the generality of Christians go
out of the world, how ill prepared for eternity, and how seldonl
such as recover make that good use of sickness which God
designs by such visitations; bne cannot but wish that such as
have the care of souls ,vould think in good earnest how to
improve such n10111entous occasions to the best advantage.
Anù surely a good pastor must have a great concern upon his
spirits, when any of his flock are visited with sickness.
For if the sickness shall be unto death, here is a soul,
in a few days, to enter upon a state of endless happiness or
endless misery :-a thought which should Inake one's heart to
tren1ble.
But if the sick person shall recover and is not bettered by
his sickness, here is, perhaps, the last opportunity, ,vhich God
may afford that luan of seeing the error of his ways, for ever
lost; and ,vhere the blame ,vill lie, God himself has told us d :
He is taken away in his iniquity, but his blood will I require at the
'watchn
an's hand.
Why, ,vhat could the watchn1an do? He could at least de-
liver his own soul. But he n1ust do a great deal more: so saith
the Spirit of God by Elihu e: JfThen a man is chastened with pain
"-port his bed, and his soul drau.'eth near 'ltnto the g'J'ave: if there be
'with hi1n an interpreter, that is, one able to explain the Ineaning
and use of such visitat.ions; if he say, I have sinned, and it
profited rne not, that is, if he be brought to true repentance; then
1vill God be gracio
ts 'ltnto lti}J
, and his SO'ltl sllall see the ligltt. Lo,
all these things 'worketh God oftentimes with 'JJ
an, to bring hack his
soul frmn the pit, to be enlipntened u)itl" tIle light of the living.
In short, sickness, whether nlortal or not, cOIneth not by
chance, but is a warning for nlen to prepare for eternity. And

d Ezek. xxxxiii, 6.

e Job xxxiii.

01" Instructions to his Olergy.

413

it mightily concerns such as have the care of souls not to lose
such occasions of doing the greatest good to the souls of men,
always remembering that, I 'was sick and ye 'V.isited 'file not f, is
one of those reasons, for which men will be shut out of heaven.
Now, the design of this paper is-to propose a 111ethod of
answering the ends of the church in bel' excellent Office for
visiting tlte sick. That such as are put into our hands, by the
providence of God, may be dealt with as their needs require:
whether it be to exan1ine the sincerity of their faith and repent-
ance, or to receive their confession and adn1inister absolution to
such as earnestly desire it; or to awaken the consciences of the
careless; to comfort dejected spirits; or lastly, to exhort such
as recover to consider the mercy they have received and to
dedicate the remainder of their lives to the service of God.
And, in the first place, a good pastor will not always stay till
he is sent for. He knows t.hat the repentance of the dead comes
too late and that the fear of death, which is to detern1ine a man's
state to all eternity, will make lnen willing t.o hear reproof and
to t.ake advice: such an opportunity, therefore, he will not lose,
if he can possibly help it.
They that on1it the salutation-Peace be to this house and to
all that dwell in it, or pronounce it so low as not to be heard,
have not well considered the authority they have, as ministers
of Christ, to offer peace and salvation to all that are disposed to
receive itg.
If the short litany and pray(]'J's following be said with delibera-
tion and devotion, there cannot better be made use of: besides,
they are the voice of the church, which will be sure to be heard
at the throne of grace.
After these follow two exhortations, which should never be
omitted; but then they should be read with very great delibera-
tion, that the sick person may \veigh what is said and receive
instruction and cOD1fort fron1 it.
And now, foraslnuch as a well-gt0unded faith in God will be
the sick person's best defence against the assaults of the devil h,
who will be sure to tenlpt him, either to despair of God's 111ercy
or to presume upon his own righteousness or to be impatient.,
and to charge God foo!Z.shly; the church, therefore, in the next
place directs us-to examine the sick person "Is faith, that is, whe-

Iatth. xxv, 43.

g
latth. x, 13.

h Eph. vi, 16.

414

Bishop Wilson's J)arocltialia :

ther he believes as a Christian ll1an ought to do, or no: and in
order to that, to ask him-Dost thou helieve in God the Father
.41mighty, &0. ?
But lest sick people and such as are of slow understanding
should profess with their lips what they are not able to apply
to their soul's comfort; it ,vill be highly charitable and useful,
after repeating the Creed, to propose the use that ought to
be made of it, in short questions, after some such way as this
following:
Do you believe that it is God, who ordereth all things both in
hea ven and on earth

Then you must believe that nothing can come by chance; and
that, as our Lord saith, even a sparrow does not die wUlw'ut God's
knowledge and his leave.
Do you believe that this present visitation of your's is frotn
God

If God is our Father, his correction must be for our good.
Do you firmly believe this; and that this sickness is ordered
by him for some special end?
'rhen consider for ,vhat ends a loving father corrects his child:
either he is careless or disobedient or forgets his duty; or takes
such \vays as \yould ruin himself, if he were let alone.
Is not this your case?
To be sure, if it ,vere left to your o,vn ordering, you \vould
never choose afflictions; but God sees that it is good for you to
be in trouble; or it may be, God will try whether you will love
and trust in him, as ,veIl in sickness as in health.
'ViII you therefore, like a dutiful child, be thankful that your
heavenly Father takes so nUlch care of you

Will you endeavour to bear your sickness patiently and 8ub-
mit to God's will, whether it be for life or for death

Does not this affliction convince you that nothing deserves
our love but God, since no being else can help us in the day of
adversity

'Vill you therefore, in tIle first jJlace, make application to God
by prayer for an happy issue out of this affliction?

J ESU8, you kno\v, signifies a Saviour,. and we all hope that he
will be a Saviour to us. But this he will not be, unless we obey
hinl as our Lord, that is, as our ruler and lawgiver.
Y 011 must therefore consider wherein yon have broke his

or Instructions to his Clergy.

415

laws, and you lnust repent of it, ask God's pardon and resolve to
do so no more, as you hope that he will be a Saviour to y(}u.
You believe tl
at he was conceived hy the Holy Ghost, and horn
of {he Virg'in lJIary.
'Vhy then you are sure that he is the Son of God, he is ahle to
save sltck as cOJl
e unto God hy hin
; and as he was born of a
\voman and took our nature upon him, he knows, for he has
felt, our ,veaknesses and will pity our infirmities.
You believe tl
at l
e suffered under Pontius P,ilate, was cr'ltcified,
dead and huried.
Are you not then hereby convinced what a sad state man was
in, when God could not be reconciled to him, till his own Son
had suffered what man had deserved to suffer

And do not you see, at the same tinIe, that no true penitent
need despair, since here is a sufficient price paid for our redemp-
tion

Neither ought you to doubt, that God will deny us any thing,
since he spared not kis own Son, hut gave kim up for us all.
Do you therefore place all your hopes of mercy in Christ's
death and in the promises of God, for his sake, made to us?
'ViII you endeavour to follow the example of your Lord and
Saviour, who bore with submission and patience whatever God
thought fit to lay upon him

And will you renlember that he did so, though his very judge
foztnd no fault in him? But we suffer }ustly, f01" we receive the due
rewards of ou'J" deeds.
And lastly, you will do well to remember the dJing \vords of
our Saviour; and when you come to die, commend ,!/o
tr spirit into
the hands of God.
You believe that Jesus Ckl"ist rose again the third day from the
dead.
"rhy then you are sure that his sufferings and death were well
pleasing to God, who otherwise would not have raised him to
life again.
And though your soul, when you die, shall go into an unknown
,vorld; yet, if you die in the favour of God, you \vill have the
sanIe God to take care of you that Jesus Christ had.
And lastly, you are hereby assured that God, who raised
Christ frorn the dead, will also quicken our rnortal hodies; for so
he hath declared in his word.
Since you believe that Jesus Christ ascended into hea1
en, and

416

Bishop JVil
on's Pa'j'ochialia:

sitteth at the right hand of God, you must conclude that all power
in heaven and in earth is committed unto hinl.
And can there be greater comfort for a sinner than this; that
he ,vho died for us is ever ,vith God, pleading the cause of his
poor creatures that come unto God by him?
Though therefore, for your own sake, you cannot look for
favour, )Tet for Jesus' sake you nlay, who e.ver li'Ceth to make inter-
cession for us.
'Yill JOU therefore endeavour to set your heart above, ,,,here
your Saviour is ?
And that you may do so more earnestly, remember your
Saviour's words, when he was leaving the world: I go to prepare
a place for you, that wllere I m,!le may he also.
You believe that Jesus Christ shall cmne to Judge hoth the quick
and the dead.
If you believe this so truly as you ought to do, you ,viII take
care to judge yourself beforehand, that you may not be con-
demned of the Lord, when he cometh to judge tIle 'Woí"ld in
'l'zghteousness.
'Vill you therefore exanline your life and see ,vherein you have
offended, that you Inay repent and make your peace with God,
remembering that, as death leaves you, judgment will find you?
Ho,vever, you have this to comfort your soul, if you are sin-
cerely penitent, that he who kno,vs our infirmities, he who died
to redeem us, is to be our judge.
And God grant that you 11lay find mercy in that great day.

You profess to helieve in the Holy Ghost, to ,,,honl you ,vere
dedicated in baptism, and hy 'U"hich you 'lDeJ"e sealed to the day of
redemption.
No\v, if you have grieved this IIoly Spirit and by wicked works
have driven hinI froln you, you Inust sadly repent of it and earn-
estly pray God to restore hiln, \vithout whose aid you can never
be sanctified, never be happy.
And when you call yourself to an account, consider whether
you have lived in obedience to those,
vhom the Holy Ghost has set
over you,. that is, the 111inisters of the gospel.
Do you propose to live and die in tlte communion of this church,
in which you were baptized?
Our Lord tells you ,,,hat a blessing it is to be a Inelnber of
that church, of which he is the head.

or Instructions to !'is Olergy.

417

I am (saith he) the vine, ye are tlte branches; as tlle branches
cannot bear fruit, 'Unless they abide in the reine, no 'more can ye,
unless ye abide in rne.
In short, a member of Christ's church has a right to the
forgiveness of sins-to the favour of God-to the ßJerits of
Christ - to the assistance of the Holy Ghost - and to the
ministry of the holy angels :-blessings, which you cnn never be
sufficiently thankful for.

Do you firnlly believe that God, in consideration of Christ's
sufferings, will forgive all such as with hearty repentance and
true fai th turn unto him ?
But then )'oU must consider that fOr'gÜ'eness of sins is to be
hoped for only in God"s own way, that is, by the n1Ïnistry of
those, to whom God has c01n9tÛited the word of reconciliat'ion.
And that the promise of forgiveness of sin should be no pretence
fo'r continuing in sin in hopes of pardon.
Do you believe that we shall all rise again, some to e'Cerlasting
hajJpiness and SOlne to everlasting misery?
If this faith be in you of a truth, it will convince you of the
vanity of this world, its profits, pleasures, honours, fanle and its
idols; so that you will not, as unbelievers do, look for your
portion here.
Do not you see what a nlercy it is, when God punisheth sin-
ners in this life, since they whose punishlnent is deferred till the
next must suffer everlastingly

And if the difficulties of repentance and an holy life affright
you, consider this one thing, TVho can du'ell with everlasting
hurnings ?
Remember the words of Christ to the penitent thief-This
day shalt thou be w'ith rne in paradise.
Let the expectation of that happy day and a faith and hope
full of immortality make you diligent to "'Jnake YOU'P calling and
election su're, and sweeten all the trouble and difficulties of
doing it.
And may Alnlighty God strengthen and increase your faith,
that you nlay die in this belief and in the peace and communion
of the church. A'men.

The sick Christian haying thus professed his faitk in God, the
next thing necessary to be inquired into is the truth of his
Ee

418

Rislwp 1Vilson's J}((J'ocldalia :

repentance. The church therefore orders that now the n1Ïni"Jter
shall cxamine (not exhort him to it only) whether he repent hirn
truly of all his sins.
And verily the church in tltis consulted the necessities of sicA
persons, ,,,ho are not able to attend to long exhortations and
are too apt to forget what is said to then1 after that manner; and
D1ay be brought to kno,v the true state of their souls by
exa1}
ining them, that is, by short, plain and proper questions;
of which hereafter.
In the mean time, a prudent pastor will find hinlself oùliged
here to consider more particularly the circumstances of the
person with whom he has to do, that he may examine his
repentance accordingly. ..
For instance, Christians are not ahvays sensible of their own
ailnlents.
First, SOlue are very ignorant and know not why they live, or
,vhat will become of them when they die.
Secondly, Some are 'Vainly confident and must be humbled.
Thirdly, SOlne are too rnuch clpjected and must be cOluforted.
Fourthly, Some are hardened and IUUSt be awakened.
Fifthly and lastly, Such as hope to recover ,viII be a{>t to put
off their repentance and reject the counsel of Go 1 for their
good.
No\v, sOluething in all these cases should be said, to dispose
the sick to a sincere repentance.
1. To such as are rceJ"Y ignorant.
Such as are ignorant should be made sensible that this life is
a state of trial and a passage only to another. .
. That God has given nlcn reason and conscience and has also
given them laws to walk by.
That after this life we rnust all appear befo1
e the judgnzent-seat
of Christ, who will rcltder to eve}"!!
nan according to his deeds i .
That slwl/; as Ita ve donø good, sltall go into lijè everlasting; and
sZl;ch as hat'e done evil, -into everlasting rniser!J. And. that thus it
,vill be, \vhether men lay these things to heart or not.
And the only comfort a sinner has is this, that God. for Christ's

ake will accept his sincere repentance.
I require you, therefore, as JOu value Jour soul, to Inake
).our peace with (j-od speedily. And that you n1ay know wherein
i Rom. ii, 6.

or Instruclion,ç to his Glc1'.'IY.

419

you have offended, I will set before )'oU the law of God, to the
end you 111ay juùge yourself and call on God for lTICrcy, as
often as I shall put you in 111ind. of any sin you have been
guilty of.

Q. To suclt as are voi-nl!! confident.
Such as are confident of their own righteousness, or depcnd
upon an outward profession of Christianity, should be put in
nlind of our Lord's words to the Pharisees k: ye are they tltat
Justif!J !Jourselves hefore 'men, hut God knowetlt your hearts.
They should be told that the publican who durst not lift up
his eyes to kea
en, but smote upon his hreast, saying, God he
,nercifitl unto 'JIUJ a sinner, returned justified before him, who
thought too well of himself.
A nd that our Lord invited such only as ,vere u:eary únd
heavy laden to come to hilu, becauHe these only are prepared to
becon1e his true disciples.
Thou sayest tllat thou art riclt and !tast need of nothing (saith
our Lord to the church of Laodicea) and knowest not that thou
art wretched and mise1"ahle and poor and hlind and naked l .
You see how sad a thiIJg it is to have too good an opinion of
one's self.
And it is only because Christians do not consider the many
duties that they have olnitted and the many sins they have been
guilty of
that makes thenl speak peace to their SO'ltls.
In the laws of God, therefore, which I anI going to set before
you, you will see, as in a glass, the charge that is against you;
:lnd I require you to judge yourself, as you expect favour frOIH
o-od.

3. To sucl" as u'ant cornfu1.t, being dejected.
And first, if the sick person is under agonies of lllind, on
account of sonle great sin or wickedness long lived in, a vrudent
pastor will not too hastily speak peace to hÌ1n; he will rather
endeavour that he Il1ay continue to sorrOlD aftep a godly .
Ol't:
that is, not so much for having offended against a God, ll"ho can
destroy both hody and soul ,in ltell, but as having offended a
gracious Father, a l11erciful Saviour and an holy Spirit.
Such a sorrow as this will not lessen a Christian's horror for
sin, but willluake hill1 l110re hUluble, luore fearful of offending ;-
k Luke x ,'i, 15. 1 Revelation iii, 17.
EeQ

4
O

Bishop JT/ïlson's Paroclìialia:

acknowledging God"s justice and his o,vn unworthiness, but yet
resolving to lay hold of the promises of n1ercy, for Christ's sake,
to penitent sinners.
But then, there being a sorrow that 'worketlt death, making
sinners impatient, doubting God's goodness, questioning his
promises, neglecting repentance ;-such a sorro,v is to be resisted
and discouraged, as a ten1ptation of the devil, being the effect
of pride and of an unwillingness to submit to God.
But if the sick person's sorrow proceeds, as it too often does,
from mistakes concerning God: the extent of Christ's sufferings;
the unpardonableness of some sins and some states; the sincerity
of his o\vn faith and repentance; he is then to be c01l1forted with
such truths as t.hese : -.
That God deligltteth in nwrcym.
That he is gracious and merciful, abundant in goodness and
tr
ttll, forgiving iniquity, and transgression and sinn.
That the devil, knowing this, uses all his arts and endeavours
to tempt sinners to despair.
That therefore God hil11self bids us to call upon ltÙn in time of
trouble, and he will heal' 'Us.
Nay, he calls hÎInself a fatller, on .purpose that sinners Inay
consider ho,v a father would deal with his own child, when he
saw hinl truly sensible of his errors.
That Jesus Ohrist canle into the world to save sinners 0, even
such as 'were lost P: Tltat he ece1'" li vetIl to 'lnake intercessz.on fop
usq.
.A.nd ,ve have his o\vn prolnise for it; He that conzeth 'Unto
fne, I will Í1
no u:ise cast out r ; and, He that helz"evetll in hint
shall receive rem,ission of sins S .
That the gospel is a most graciolls dispensation, requiring only
such an obedience as a poor frail creature can pay.
That that faith is not to be quest.ioned ,vhich purifieth the
Iwart t ; wlu"ch 'lDorketh òJj love u ; that is, n1akes us do what ,ve
can to please God; and which resisteth tenlptations and enables
us to overcome them.
That wherever aU1endment of life folIo,veth such a faith as
this. there is trzw re]Jentance: and that where there is sincerity,
there our obedience will be accepted, though it is not perfect as
the law requires.
m :Micah vii, 18.
p
latt. xviii, I I.
t Acts xv, 9.

n Exod. xxxiv, 6, 7.
q Heù. vii, 25. r John vi, 37.
'.1 Gal v, 6.

o I Tim. i, I,f).
s Acts ii, 38.

or Instructio/ls to his Clergy.

4Ql

In short, no man will have reason to despair, if he considers,
that God doet! nothing in vain: and that if he visits a sinner; if
he exhorts hinl by his nlinisters; if he touches his heart; if he
gives him tinle to consider his ways, when he might have taken
him away without warning; why, it is because he designs to be
gracious, if the sinner is not wanting to hÏ1nself.
I will therefore set before you the law of God, not to affright
you, but that you may know and confess and forsalæ !joll'r sin and
find fJilercy, as God katlt promisedx..

4 To such as are hardened in u:ickedness and must he
a wakened.
'l'his is indeed a 11lelancholy case; but a good pastor, while
God continues life, will continue his endeavours, for he does not
know but this is God's time.
He will therefore try what the su;ord if the Spirit will do, that
fcord which, the saIne Spirit tells us, is profitable for correction
as well as for instructionY.
He will therefore put him in lnind that, if he dies in his sins
unrepented of, he will go out of the ,vorld a professed enemy to
that God, 'lvllO can destroy both hod!! and soul in hell; '{cliO 'will, as
the holy Scriptures assure us, take 'Vengeance on all the,n that know
not God and tlutt ohey not the gospel oj' our Lord Jeslls Ohrist, and
'll,ho shall he punished 'with everlasting destructiou z .
He will let him know that this 11lay be his condition in a few
days; for our Lord assures us that, as soon as ever the wicked
Juan died, he was carried to hell a.
That this is the last till1e, perhaps, that ever God will afford
you to beg his pardon; and you will be desperately nlad to
neglect it.
I t is true, God is not willing tkat any should perish, and he
can conquer the stubbornest heart, but he will not do it by
force.
He has shewn his mercy in afHictl!'g your body and in taking
frOITI you the power to do evil.
'''hat is this for, but that you lnay open your eyes and see
your danger and ask his pardon and beg his assistance and be
delivered from the severity of his \\Tath, which you must cer-
tainly feel, without a speedy repentance

It Inay be, you do not know the cltarge that is against !IOU;
x Isaiah lv, 7. y 2 Tim. iii, 16. z 2 Thess. i, 8, 9. a Luke xyi, 23.

4512

BishoJ} rV'ilson's J)aruchialia:

I will therefore repeat to yon the substance of those laws, \vhich
)"on have broken and by which you must be judged.
If you have any concern for your soul, if JOu have any fear of
God in your heart, JOu will hear and judge and condenln
Jourself, that you nlay escape in the dreadful judgment of the
last day.
5. To such os, in hopes of reco'Cel
Y, put off their 'J'ejJentance.
Such should be made sensible-that sickness is not only the
Pltnisll1nent, but the re1Jwdy 0.( sin b.
That it is the chiefest of those ways, by which God shews luen
their sin-by ,vhich he discovers to then1 the vanity of the world
that Lewitches theIn-by wl,ich he takes down the pride of the
heart and the stubbornness of the will, which has hindered their
converSIon.
In short, it is Gad's tilne : so that not to repent in sickness is
in effect to resolve never to repent.
}i"'or ,vhat shall incline a 111an to repent when he recovers,
which does not nlove hin1 now?
.
I-lis hopes of heaven and his fea.rs of hell wiII not be greater
then than now.
And it would be the utU10St presunlptioll to expect that God
,vill give that Inan an extraordinary degree of grace, who despises
the n10st usual n1eans of conversion.
À pastor, therefore, will set before hiln the law of God, which
he has transgressed, that he 11lay see the need he has of repent..
ing, and that he Iuay not provoke God to cut hitn off before his
tilHe, because there is no hope of a luendluent.

}).xa'l1zination iftlle sicl
person's repentance.
])E.A RL Y beloved, you are, it luay be, in a very short tiIne to
appear before (j-od.
I must therefore put you in mind that Jour sah'ation depends
upon the truth of your repentance.
Nü\v, forasn1ueh as you becalue a sinner by breaking the laws
of God, you have no way of being restored to God's favour, but
by seeing the nUluber and the greatness of your sins, that you
1l1LL)" hate thenl heartily, hUllent theu1 sorely and cry nlightily to
(
od for pardon.

b )Iicah yi, 9.

or I/lst,'uctions to his Olergy.

4
3

I will therefore set before you the laws of God, by which God
will judge you; and I will ask you such questions as n1ay be pro-
per to call your sins to your rCilleInbrance; and you will do weU,
,vherever you shall have reason, to say with the publican-God
be merciful 'Unto me, for I have offended in tltis or that thing.
And be not too tender of yourself; but remember, that the
more severe you are in accu
ing and condemning yourself, the
more favour you Inay expect frolH God.

l'"'our duty to God, you know, is to fear him, to love ltim, to trust
in hi1n, to honour and to oóey kÙn.
Consider, therefore, seriously-Have you not lived, as if there
,vere no God to call you to an account?
Has the knowledge of God's almighty power and his spvere
justice nlade you fearful of offending hinl ?
Are )'OU convinced that you have not loved God so nluch as
his g-oodness and care of you deser,.ed

Has the love of God luade you desirous to please him?
Have you so put Jour trust in God as to be contented with
what he has appointed, without murnluring and without ques-
tioning the wisdoln of his choices .

I-fave YOU not been unthankful for God's nlercies?
oJ
Have you never, as you know of, taken any false oath?
Have you never been accustonled to swear, to curse or to take
God's nan1e in vain?
Have you not very often spent the Lord's day idly?
Have JOll not been careless and irreverent in God's house

Have you been careful to pray to God daily for his pardon,
his grace and his protection?
Have you constantly received the Lord's supper, when )70U
have had an opportunity

Have JOu never gone profanely to the sacraluent, without
examining yourself and without purposing to lead a new life?
I-Iave you not despised God's word, his luinisters or his
house?

Yoztr dut!/ tv !I'ou}' neighbOltr ,is to love hiJ}
as yoursf'lj:
I-Iave you so loved all lHen as to wish and pray sincerely for
their welfare

Have you not. hated your cnenlies

Have JOU paid due reverence in heart, in word, in behaviour,

424

BisltOj) TVilson's Parockialia :

to your parents and to all such as \vere over you in place and
authority?
Have JOU not been subject to sinful, unadvised anger?
Have you never done any thing to shorten the life of your
neigh Lour?
I-Iave you not lived in Inalice or envy, or wished any man's
death?
Ha ve you not been accustomed to So\V strife and dissension
alnongst your neighbours?
IIave you not fanen into the sins of drunkenness, gluttony,
tippling or an idle life?
Jlave you kept yourself free frOlll the sins of whoredom,
impurity or uncleanness? ..
IIa,Te you none of the sins of injustice, extortion or of any
"Tay \"ronging your neighbour, to answer for?
Have JOU not been unfaithful in any matters of trust com-
n1itted to you?
Have you not been subject to the evil habits of lying, slander-
ing or talebearing?
Have you never given false eyidence, outfaced the truth or
countenanced an evil cause?
Have you not been pleased with evil reports; and have you
not been too forward to propagate them?
IIave you not been vexatious to your neighbour and grieved
hiln without cause?
IIave you not been dissatisfied with the condition which God
allotted you?
IIave you not cO\Tcted your neighbour's goods, envied his
prosperity or been pleased with his 111isfortunes

IIave you done to others as you wish they should have done
to you?
Can you call to n1ind any injury or injustice, for which you
ought to ask pardon or mal{e restitution?
And relnen1bcr you are told the truth, that the unrighteous
and unjust shall not enter the kingdoI11 of heaven.
Is there any body that has grievously wronged you, to whom
you ought to be reconciled?
llen1cluber that, if JOu forgive not, you will not be forgiven;
and that he will receive judglnent wit/tOut me1'cl/, who hath sheu:ed
no lIwrc!I.

\rc you therefore in charity with all the world!

or Instructions to ltis Clergy.

4
5

IIaNe you been kind to the poor according to your ability?
And rel11elnber that, the n10nlent Zaccheus resolved to do right
to every body and. to be kind to the poor, our Lord tells hiln
that salvation 'leas then to come to his house.
You would do well therefore, as a proof of your thankfulness
to God, to be liberal to the poor, according to your ability.
And if you have not already settled your worldly concerns
and declared what you owe and what is owing to you; it is fit
you do so now, for the discharging a good conscience and for
preventing n1Ïschief after your death.
And be very careful that, in D1aldng )Tour will, you do no
"Tong, discover no resentment, that the last act of Jour life may
be free from sin.
And now I win leave you for a while to God and to your
own conscience; beseeching him to discover to you the cbarge
that is against you; that you may know and confess and
bewail and abhor the errors of your life past; that your sins
may be done away by his mercy and your pardon sealed in
heaven, hefore you go hence and be no more seen.

CONCER
ING CONFESSION AND ABSOLUTION. -p.,.

CONCERNING confession, archbishop Usher has these
words: "No kind of confession, either public or private, is
disallowed by our church, that is any war requisite for the due
execution of the ancient power of the keys, which Christ
bestowed on the church c."
Concerning absolution, bishop Andrews hath these words:
(t It is not said by Christ, JVlwse sins ye wish and pray for, or
declare to be remitted; but, JVhose sins !Ie reln,it :-to which he
addeth a prolnise, that he will make it good and that his
power shall accolnpany the power he has givcn thel11 and the
lawful execution of it in his church for ever."
And indeed the very saIne per
ons baptize for the remission
of sins, and adn1inister the Lord's supper as a seal of the for-
giveness of sins to all worthy cOlnmunicants.
It is not water that can wash a\vay sin, nor bread and wine;
but these rightly administered, by persons truly authorized, and
to persons duly qualified by faith and repentance. And thus

c Answer to the Jesuit, p.8.t-

4Q6

Bishop JVilson's Parochialia :

absolution henefiteth, by virtue of the power ,vhich Jesus Christ
has given his nlinisters d .
In short-our Lord having purchased the forgiveness of sins
for an mankind, he hath committed the ministry of reconciliation
to us; that having brought men to repentance, ,ye may in Chrisfs
nanle, and in the person of Christ e , pronounce their pardon.
And this will be the true way to lllagnify the po\ver of the
keys, which is so little understood or so much despised; namely,
to bring as many as possiLly we can to repentance, that we
may have more frequent occasions of sealing a penitent"s pardon
by our ministry.
And now, if the sick person has been so dealt with as to be
truly sensible of his condition, he should then be instructed in
the nature and benefit of confession (at least of such sins as do
trouble his conscience) and of absolution.
For instance-he should be told that, as under the la,v of

Ioses, God 111ade his priests the judges of leprosy f and gave
theln rules, by which they ,vere to detennine who were
lean
and fit to enter into the congregation (which was a type of
heaven) and who ,vere not clean:
Even so, under the gospel, he has given his priests authorit.y
to judge sin, which is the leprosy of the soul. He has given
them rules to judge by, with aut.horitJ to pronounce their par-
don, if they find thenl qualified; for this is their comn1ission
frolli Christ's own mouth, JJTlwsesoever sins !Ie remit, tkey are
'renÛtted 'Unto the}}
.
But then we dare not take upon us to exercise this authority,
until sinners give such signs of a sincere faith and true repent-
ance, as may persuade one charitably to believe that alnendluent
of life win foIlo\v, if God shall think fit to grant thenl longer tinlc.
.1\ t the same tinle, therefore, that we are bound to encourage
penitents earnestly to desire absolution and to exhort them to
receive the Lord's supper, as a plerlge to assure them of pardon;
,ve nlust sincerely adlHonish thenl not to hope for any benefit
either frolH the one or the other, but upon condition of their
sincere repentance.
It. will be proper, therefore, before absolution, and for nlore
satisf
lction, to ask the sick person
onle such questions as these:
IIave JOU considered the sins which you have been DI0st
sul.ject to ?
d John xx, 23. e 2 Cor. ii, 10. f Lev. xiii.

or Instructions to ltis Clergy.

:t
7

Are you convinced that it is an e'Cil thing and bitter to jòrsako
the Lord?
.Are you resolved to avoid all ten1ptations and occasions of the
sins you have now repented of

Do you verily believe that you shall not fall into any of these
. . 2
Sins agaIn.
If you should do so, will you inunediately beg God's pardon,
and be more watchful over yourself?
'Vill you strive with aU your Inight to overCOlne the corruptions
of your nature, by prayers, by fasting and by self. denial ?
Do you purpose, if God shall prolong your days, to bring fort/I,
fru'Üs
neet for repentance?
.,A.re you in perfect charity with all the worlel

Every Christian, whose life has been, in the main, unblalu-
able, and whose repentance has thus been particularly exanlined,
and who has given a satisfactory answer to these questions, ought
not to leave the world without the benefit of absolution, which
he should be earnestly pressed to desire and exhorted to dispose
hÏ1nself to receive, as the church has appointed.

COXCER
IXG HAJ3ITUAL SINNERS.

T F a person of this character be visited with sickness, a pru-
dent pastor will not presently apply con1fort, or give hinl assur-
ances of pardon; he will rather strive to increase his sorrow to
fo'uch a height as, if God 8hould spare hinl, Inight produce a
repentance not to he 'repented of
It was thus (as Dr. H:unmond observes) that God hÌInself
dealt with such kind of
inners g.
The c/Ûldren of Is'rael did evil again; that is, they went on in their
wickedness, upon which God sorely distresses theIne They cried
unto God, but he answers theIn, I n'ill deliver !lOll: no morc. I-low-
ever, this did not n1ake them utt.erly to despair; for they knew
that his 111erey had no bounds; they therefore stilI went on to
apply to hiln for pardon and help and resolved to do what was
at present in their power towards a reformation ;-at last, God
was prevailed on to accept and deliver them.
...\nd thus should we deal with habitual sinners :-we should
not óreaÁ
the bru ised 'reed ;-we should indeed give thenl assur-
g Judges x, 6-16.

4Q8

Bishop JVilson's Pa/
ochialia :

ances of pardon, upon their sincere repentance: but., forasmuch
as it is very hard even for themselves t.o kno\v whether their
sorro\v and resolutions are such as \vould bring forth fruit an-
swerable to anlendnlent of life, all that a confessor can do is to
exhort such persons to do all that is in their present power;-
to take shaDle to thelnselves ;-to give glory to God in a free
confession of their crinles (which St. J allIes saith is of great use
to\vards obtaining t.heir pardon)-to pray without ceasing ;-to
warn others t.o be\vare of falling into the same sad condition ;-
and to consider that a wicked life, to ,vhich God has threatened
eternal fire, cannot be supposed to be forgiven by an easy
repentance.
And though the church has no rules in this case to go by but
such as are very afflicting, yet God is not tied to rules; he sees
,vhat is in Dlan and may finally absolve one, \vhoJll his ministers
dare not, until after a long probation they have reason, in the
judgment of charity, to believe that his repentance is sincere.
And this a prudent pastor will be careful to observe, both to
prevent the scandal of an hasty absolution and because he
knows such D1Ïnistrations do no good to those that receive
thenI.

'fO SUCH AS H.A. 'TE RECOVERED FROßI
SICI(NESS.

AND, in the first place, a pastor should be very careful to
put his people in Inind that the first fruits of health should
always be offered to God.
And forasmuch as there is nothing more cornmon nor nlore
to be lanlented than for people in sickness to make very solemn
promises of better obedience and, upon their recovery, to forget
all and to return to their fornler careless life ;-a pastor win
warn them betilnes ho\v God hates such backslidings, ho\v un-
thankful, ho\v provoking it is, and the readiest \yay to draw
do\vn a \vorse evil, or to be given over to a reprobate Dlind.
And indeed a Inan that has received the sentence of death in
himselt:-that has :seen the hazard of a death-bed repentance-
that has felt the horror of sin, when it is most frightful ;-for
such a person to grow secure, is an aluazing instance of the cor-
ruption of our nature; and therefore it will require a pastor's
greatest care to prevent a relapse. Especially to guard his people

or Instructions to his Clergy.

4f<9

against general purposes of amendment, \vhich lull the nlind
asleep; and before people are a,vare, they are just where they
\vere before sickness sei.led thenl.
A love for sin returns ;-God is provoked and grace with-
drawn j-and every relapse makes a Christian's case more
desperate.
A Christian, therefore, who is in good earnest, must be put
upon rectifying the errors of his life immediately, as he hopes for
nlercy, whenever God visits hilll again.
If an idle life has been his fault, he must take to business ;-
if intemperance, he must at his peril be sober ;-if he has been
given to appetite, to ease and to luxury, he must deny himfelf
and labour to mortify these corrupt affections ;-if he has ob-
served no method of living, he nl11st for the future fix proper
times for prayer, for fasting, for retirenlent and for calling him-
self to an account. In short, he ll1ust avoid, as much as possible,
all occasions and temptations to sin j-if he is overtaken in
a fault, he must imnlediately repent of it and be nlore careful;
he must not be discouraged with the difficulties he will n1eet
,vith, for the power of God is sufficient to nlake a virtuous life
possihle, easy and pleasant, to the weakest Christian that depends
upon his grace.
Let hin1 t.herefore be exhorted to persevere in his good resolu-
tions ;-to depend upon God's power and promises to assist hinl,
to pray daily for light to discover and for strength to overcome
- the corruptions of his nature ;-and lastly" to be always afraid
of backsliding :-and then sickness and death, whenever they
come, will be a blessing.
And as a fait.hful discharge of this duty will give a curate of
souls the greatest con1fort at the hour of death, so there is
nothing doth 1110re preserve the authority, which a faithful
pastor ought to have over his flock.

A LETTElt

ADDRESSED TO

THE CLERGY AND LAITY

OF HIS

PRO V I NeE,

BY

'VILLLA.
I, LORD ARCHBISI-IOP OF CANTERBURY.

..

,V ILLIAM Ho"rLEY, whose father ,vas Incumbent of
Ropley, in Hampshire, ,vas born there in 1765. He ,vas edu-
cated at Winchester School. From thence he proceeded, at the
customary age and standing, to N e\v College, Oxford; 'vhere
he ,vas admitted Scholar in 1783 and elected Fello,v in 1785.
Subsequently, he vacated his Fel1o\yship of New College, upon
being chosen Fello,v of Winchester CoHege. He ,vas appointed
Canon of Christ Church, in 1804; and Regius Professor of
Divinity, in 1809. The Bishoprick of London having become
vacant in 18 13, he was nominated by the Crown to that im-
portant See, ,vhich is very seldom recorded to have been filled
otherwise than by translation. After fifteen years of assiduous
and successful labour in the cause of Religion, he ,vas advanced
to the Archbishoprick of Canterbury. He died in 1848;
having displayed in the Primacy, through t\venty years of more
than ordinary trial and difficulty for the Church, administrative
abilities of the highest order, together ,,"ith such combined
meekness and dignity, moderation of spirit and firmness of
purpose as furthered his usefulness in every department of
that various service, which his eminent station required him
to render to <!OD and his country.

pf

ARCHBISHOP HO'VLEY'S LETTER.

FOR a considerable time past my attention has been anxiously
turned to the divisions in the Church, occasioned by differences
of opinion with respect to the intention of certain rubrical direc-
tions in the Liturgy and diversities of practice in the perforlll-
ance of Divine Service. These questions, relating to 111atters in
thelnselves indifferent, but deriving in1portance from their con-
nection with the nlaintenance of unifonuity and order in the
solemn ministrations of the Church, are rendered difficult by the
ambiguity of the rubrics in sonle instances, and, in all, by the
doubts which nlay arise as to the weight which should be allowed
to general usage, when it varies from the written law. It is
partly on these accounts, and partly frollI uncertainty with re-
spect to the extent of the powers comnlitted to the Archbishop
of the province, in the preface to the Book of Common PraJer,
for the resolution of doubts in regard to the contested points,
that I have not felt myself justified in expressing an authorita-
tive opinion upon questions, occasionally submitted to tue on
these subjects. I was, indeed, willing to hope that these con-
troversies, like many of lnuch greater inlportance which have
for a season disquieted the Church, \vould Le suffered to Jie
away of thell1selves, when the argulllents on each side had been
thoroughJy sifted, fronI t.he good sense of the parties engaged in
thenI and the general conviction of their unprofitableness. But
having been disappointed in this expectation and considering
the tendency of continued agitation to weaken the sacred bond
of affection, which ought to unite the clergy and laity as lnenl-
bers of one body in Christ, I hold it :1 duty to come forward, in
the hope of allaying aniUlosities and putting a stop to dissensions,
which are shown by experience to be not only unedifYing Lut
l1Iischievous. 'Vith this view I would call your attention to a
few considerations, which, with persons "ho are desirous of
peace, win, I trust, have their due weight.
Fffl

436

Archbishop Howley's Letter.

I t has long been observed that, in the perfOrIl1anCe of Divine
Service in the generality of our parochial churches, there has
been a deviation, in certain particulars, from the express direc-
tions of the rubric, and that, in sonle cases, a difference in
respect to the sense of the rubric has led to a diversity in prac-
tice. In regard to such points, in themselves non-essential, the
most conscientious clergymen have felt themselves justified in
treading in the steps of their predecessors; and hence the irre-
gularity (for all departure from rule is irregular) which seems, in
sonle instances at least, to have existed from the beginning,
became inveterate. There have, I apprehend, at all times been
clergymen, \vho have been distressed by this inconsistency; and
of late years it has been règarded by many excellent men as
irreconcilable \vith the obligations, \vhich they took upon them-
selves on their admission into holy orders. Under t.he influence
of these scruples, they thought it right to adhere as closely as
possible to the letter of the rubric in their ministrations: ,vhilst
others of their brethren, not less conscientious, have been deter-
Inined by considerations, in their estimation of great ,veight, to
follow the usage, which they found established in their respective
churches. Under these circumstances, a diversity of practice has
arisen, which is not only inconsistent with the principle of uni-
fOrJl1ity maintained by the church, but is sometimes associated in
the minds of the people \vith peculiarities of doctrine and gives
birth to suspicions and jealousies, destructive of the confidence
,vhich should always subsist between the flock and their pastor.
To prevent the increase of an evil, ,vhich might terminate in
actual schisms, ,vas confessedly 1110st desirable; and the Inost
effectual mode of accomplishing the object, it has been thought,
would be found in general confon11ity to the rubric. Universal
concurrence in this easy and obviou
regulation \vould have com-
bined the several advantages of securing cOlnpliance with the la\v
of the church and the land, of putting a stop to unauthorized
innovations and of excluding party distinctions, in their charac-
ter decidedly un-Christian, from the public worship of God; and
I cannot but regret that nleasures \vhich, ,vith a view to these
good purposes, have been recommended by high authorities,
should not have been received with unaninlous acquiescence, as
the Ineans of rest.oring order and peace, ,vithout any departure
frolll the principles of the church, or offence to the most scrupu-
lous conscience.

Archbishop Howle!J's Letter.

437

At the same time I am sensible that those who object have
much to allege in their justification. If the written la\v is against
them, they plead an opposite usage, in parochial churches at
least, reaching back, perhaps, to the time when the intention of"
the lawgiver was best understood, superseding its literal sense
and determining its real meaning; they appeal to the general
consent of bishops, clergy and laity, implied in the absence of any
effectual interference during so long a period; they object to the
sudden revival of rules which, in their opinion, are obsolete, and
still more, to their rigid enforcement after so long a term of
abeyance. In fairness to thenl we must allow that this dislike
of alterations in the manner of worship to which they have been
accustomed fronl their infancy, proceeding, as it does, from
attachment to the ordinances of the church, ought not to be
visited with unkindly censure; and we can hardly be surprised
at any change being regarded with suspicion, when so tnany
attempts have been made to introduce innovations, which are
reaIly objectionable, and tend, as far as they go, to alter the
character of our church. It Illust also be granted that the
intention of the church is not always clearly discoverable from
the language of the rubric, nor detern1Ïnable with absolute cer-
tainty from the records of early practice. In such cases it may
with some show of reason be said t.hat, as the eminent men
to whom the several revisions of the liturgy,vere successively
entrusted, did not see the necessity of giving directions so precise
as to ensure a rigid confornlity in every particular, we nlay be
contented to acquiesce in slight deviations from rule, suggested
by convenience and sanctioned by long usage.
No\v, whatever nlay be the force of the arguments on eit.her
side, a difference of opinion will probably always exist in regard
to the contested points. But all parties will concur in regarding
these points as of far less importance than the maintenance of that
mutual confidence, which, next to support from above, fonns the
main strength of the church, produ
ing the harmonious coopera-
tion of its several t11embers and disposing the people to look up
with reverence to their pastor, as their spiritual instructor and
guide. In whatever degree or by whatever means the tie of
affection is loosened, a proportionate din1Ínution will follow of
that moral influence, on which the efficiency of the clergJman's
teaching will always depend.
The case then, if fairly considered with reference to the

438

Archhishop Howley's Letter.

existing dissensions, and the results to be expected fronl their
continuance, will show the necessity of mutual forbearance to
the peace and the honour, I may even say, to the safety, of the
church. The laity, it may be hoped, ,viII see the propriety of
respecting the consciences of such of the clergy as have held
themselves bound to strict compliance with the express direc-
tions of the rubric, \vithout regard to former disuse; and thp
clergy will perceive the expediency of not pressing too harshly
or abruptly the observance of la\vs ,vhich, having by then1sclves
and their predecessors been long suffered to sleep, have now the
appearance of novelty. I am fully alive to the importance of
uniforlnity in the celebration of Divine Service; but I think it
,vould be purchased too dea ly at the expense of lasting divi-
sions-a consequence which, I trust, will be averted by a sus-
pension of the existing disputes. l\fy hope of such an adjustIllent
is grounded on the wisdom, temper and piety, which are engaged
on both sides of the question. A settleulent, which would have
the sanction of law, is at the present moment impossible; anð,
were it possible, could hardly be attenlpted with hope of success,
till the subsisting excitenlent has been allayed by time and
reflection. But till that time shall arrive, our regard to the
spiritual interests of our brethren ought surely to put a stop to
contentions which, besides the offence against charity, engago
much tinle and ability, which might be infinitely better applied
and \vhich can afford pleasure to those only who bear ill-win to
our church. The nlatters in controversy, considered in them-
selves, are not of vital inlportance: the service in our churches
has in general been conducted in conformity to the apostle's
direction, with order and decency; and, \vhether performed with
exact regard to the letter of the rubric or with the variations
established by general usage, \viU still be decent and orderly. I
therefore entreat you to consider, \vhether the peace of the
church should be hazarded by prolonging an unprofitable con-
troversy, at a time, more especially, when her energies are
directed, \vith such hope of success, to the promotion of religion
and morals, and \vhen the clergy and laity are zealously engaged
in united exertions for the erection and endo,vment of churches
and schools and for other pious and beneficial objects, in almost
every part of the country.
What I \vould most earnestly rcconl1ncnd, for the present, is
the discontinuance of any proceedings, in eithel- direction, on

.A rpcltbisltop IIowley's Lettm..

is!)

the controverted questions. In churches, where alterations have
been introduced with general acquiescence, let things remain as
they are; in those, which retain the less accurate usage, let no
risk of division be incurred by any attmnpt at change, till some
final arrangon1ont can be made with the sanction of the proper
authorities. In the case of churches, where agitation prevails
and nothing has been definitely settled, it is not possible to lay
down any general rule, ,vhich lllay be applicable to all circunl-
stances. But is it too much to hope that those, who are zealous
for the honour of God and the good of his church, will show, by
the telnporary surrender of their private opinions, that they are
equally zealous in the cause of peace and charity?
On the particular questions, which disquiet the public mind, I
think it unadvisable to pronounce an opinion. Upon careful
examination, I have found reason to think that some of these
questions are more difficult of solution than is conlll10nJy ima-
gined and that the meaning which occurs at first sight is not
always the most correct. And the general question, in respect
to what should be conceded to usage in controlling or nlodifying
the written la, v, seems to me to be open to much doubt. l1ut,
if I were ever so fully persuaded in my o\vn mind, I should be
unwilling, for reasons already assigned, to pronounce a judgment,
which, not having legal authority, ll1ight be accepted by SOllIe
and disregarded by others and might thus increase the confu-
sion, which it ,vas designed to remedy. For similar reasons I
have not thought it expedient to call the bishops of my province
to
ether at this tinle, though it ,viII be my desire, as well as lIlY
duty, to seek their advice and assistance, when a fit opportunity
presents itself. I am, however", fully assured of their general
concurrence in deprecating tIle continuance of discussions, ,vhich
will undoubtedly multiply strife and contention, but which, in
the present posture of things, can lead to no beneficial result.
In order to guard against misapprehension, I think it proper
to state that all I have here said is strictly confined to the
rubrical questions, which have occasioned the present agitation.
All change in the perforuIance of the service, affecting the doc-
trine of the church, by alteration, addition or onlission, I regard
,vith unqualified disapprobation. I may further renlark that
the danger to the church would be great, if clergymen, not
having due respect either to episcopal authority or established
usa
e, should interpret the rubric for themselves, should intro-

440

Archbishop HOU)Ü3!J'S Letter.

duce - or curtail cerenlonies at pleasure, or make Divine Service in
any way the means of expressing their o\vn theological opinions
or party views. In respect to the ritual, the preface to the Book
ofComnlon Prayer directs all persons having doubts, or diversely
taking any thing in the performance of the church service, to
resort to the bishop of the diocese for the resolution of such
doubts and the appeasing of diversities. Had due attention
been paid, from the first, to this salutary rule, the church might
perhaps have been saved fronl much of tho dissension, which at
various times has divided her members, and grieved and per-
plexed her rulers, and \vhich, if not speedily checked, nlay again
cause a serious disturbance of her peace. Considering the
course I have suggested as offering the only immediate Ineans of
averting such a calamity, and at the sanIe time preparing the
,vay for a final arrangenIent at a convenient season, I earnestly
reconlmend its adoption, in the hope that, through the blessing
of God, it may lay the foundation of lasting peace; "and to this
end"-(I borro\v the words of a learned and pious ritualiBt)-
" to this end lnay the God of Peace give us all meek hearts,
quiet spirits, and devout affections, and free us from all preju-
dice, that we nlay have full churches, frequent prayers and fer-
vent charity; that, uniting in our prayers here, ,ve may all join
in His praises hereafter, for the sake of J csns Christ our Lord.
Amen."

'v. CANTUAR.

LAMBETH PALACE.
Jan. I I, 1845.

A CH.LtRG E,

DELIVERED IN M:.DCCC.XXXI,

AND

PORTIONS OF A CHARGE,

DELIVERED IN l\I.DCCC.XLVI,

TO THE CLERGY
OFT H E D I 0 C ESE 0 F L I N C 0 L N,

BY

JOHN, LORD BISHOP OF LINCOLN.

JOHN KA YE "as born at Hammersmith, on the 27th of
December, 1783; and educated principally under the cele-
brated Dr. Burney, 'who kept a Classical School of great repute
at Greenwich. At an early age, he entered Christ's College,
Cambridge, ,,-here he gained the bighest honours of the U ni-
versity and a Fello".ship; taking the Degree of B. A. in 1804.
Such was the estimate of his merits soon formed by those, \,-ho
had constant intercourse with him, that, in 1814 and whilst he
,vas still of comparatively short standing, he ,vas elected to the
Mastership of his College, ,vhich had become vacant under cir-
cumstances of peculiar difficulty for the Society. T,,'o years
after, he \Vas appointed Regius Professor of Divinity; and, in
1820, raised to the Bishoprick of Bristol, from ,,,hich he "Tas
translated to the See of Lincoln, in 1827. In the midst of that
active life, ,vhich the watchful superintendence of an extensive
and populous Diocese compelled him to lead, he found leisure
for the prosecution of Theological studies; and published a suc-
cession of valuable 'V orks, il1ustrative of the doctrines, disci-
pline and history of the Primitive Church, ,vhich are ,,,ritten
in a style simple, clear and forcible. He began the series, as
Bishop of Bristol; and ,vas engaged in continuing it, at the
time of his death, ,vhich occurred, after a short illness, on
the 18th of February, 1853; at a season, \vhen the Church of
England could ill spare a Prelate, beloved as he 'vas by his
numerous personal friends and held in honour by all, ,,-ho had
opportunities of observing the Professional learning, the acute-
ness and skill in controversy, happily controlled by a calm and
unruffled temper of mind, the excellent prin('iples and sound
judgment, the pure and fervent piety, for 'which he ,vas
distinguished.

The following Cl1arge and Portions of a Charge are taken,
\vith the consent of Bishop Ka)T'e's representatives, from a
volume, edited by his son, in the year after his lamented death;
and entitled: "Nine Charges, delivered to the Clergy of the
" Diocese of Lincoln, ,vith some other \\T orks
"

,.

A CHARGE

DELIVERED IN
I.DCCC.XXXI,

BY

JOHN, LORD BISHOP OF LINCOLN.

My Reverend Brethren,
"r E live in times of no ordinary character. In making this
assertion, I run no hazard of committing an error into ,vhich it
is natural to nIan to fall-the error of overrating the magnitude
of the transactions, which have occurred while he has himself
been an actor in the scene of life. In the interval of three years
which have elapsed since we last met, events have taken place
important in themselves, but still more ilnportant in their pro-
bable influence on the future fortunes of the civilized world. It
is unnecessary for me to specify them in detail. They will im-
mediately suggest themselves to your recollections; and supply
my justification, when I repeat that we live in times of no ordi-
nary character.
If we attempt to carry our vie\v onward into futurity, ,ve can
discover little that is cheering in the prospect; little to encou-
rage the hope that \ve are drawing near to a state of permanent
tranquillity and peace. It may be that the fury of the tempest
has for a while subsided; but we must not too hastily infer from
this interval of quiet that all will be in future calnl and serene.
There is still a distant munnur of the ,vind, a lowering of the sky,
a heaving of the wave, to .warn us that the danger is not passed
and that we must continue to ,vatch. He must be an inattentive
observer of the state of public opinion and feeling, who does not
di::;cern in it the elements of future struggles and collisions.
There is a disposition to search out blemishes and faults in all
that is established-to regard all existing institutions as impedi-
lnents in the ,yay of the prosperity and weU-being of the country.
So long as this disposition prevails, a desire of change and its
necessary acconlpaniment, a restless and discontented spirit,
must also prevail. To little purpose do we urge that, with our

446

Risltol) Kaye's Charge at the

present institutions, notwithstanding the defects, real or in1agin-
ary, which are imputed to them, our country has risen to an
astonishing height of po,ver, and its inhabitants have enjoyed a
larger_ share of prosperity and happiness than usually falls to the
lot of nations. It is easy to reply that these beneficial results
have been obtained, not by the operation of our present system,
but in spite of it; or that the systenl might be suited to ignorant
and unenlightened ti111eS; but that its various irregularities and
anolualies, as they cannot stand the test of rational examination,
can no longer be tolerated and must give \vay to a system, better
suited to the increased and increasing intelligence of the age.
If this is a correct account of the state of public feeling at the
present moment, ,ve cannot 'be surprised that the established
church shares the fate of all other institutions; that it is the
object of frequent attack; that it is denounced, not merely as
useless, but as positively injurious; as obstructing instead of ad-
vancing the interests of true religion. 'Ve cannot be surprised
at being told, as ,ve repeatedly are, that its days are already
nuulbered and that it is destined to sink at no distant period
before the irresistible force of enlightened public opinion. 'Vhen
in fornler tilues the clergy spoke of the dangers inlpending over
the church, they ,vere charged ,vith exciting a cry, of which they
knew t.he falsehood, from interested motives; but now that its
adversaries declare it. to be in danger and exultingly tell us that
it is tottering to its fall, we cannot be accused of childish prone-
ness to alarnl, if we suspect that these confident anticipations
are not merely the suggestions of their wishes, but that they
intend their prediction to work it.s own accomplishlnent.
At the Revolution, when the principle of toleration was first
recognised by the law, it was nevertheless thought necessary, for
the security of the established church, that none but nlelubers of
it should be admitted to the possession of political po,ver. The
sacr:lluental test ,vas in consequence retained; but though
retained, it soon ceased to be enforced: and ,vhen three years

tgo it was forlnally abolished, they \vho pressed the abolition did
not so lnuch cOlllplain of any practical grievance, resulting from
it., as that the continuance on the statute-book of the enact-
ments by ,vhich it was required was regarded by our dissenting
brethren, as inlplying an offensive and groundless distrust of their
3ttachluent to the constitution. "\Vith the repeal, however, of
the sacraluental test, the principle that political power should be

Tr'iennial Visitation 'in ] S31.

447

lodged exclusively in the hands of lueillbers of the established
church was abandoned. The following year produced a still
wiùer deviation fronl the principles, on which the union of the
established church with the state had previously been supposed
to rest. At the Revolution, the attelnpts of the last misguided
monarch of the Stuart race to 111ake his own religion that of
the state, were too fresh in the recollections of Protestants to
penuit them to pronounce temperately and dispassionately on
the case of their l{oman Catholic fellow-subjects; who were, in
consequence, excluded from the benefits of the Act of Toleration,
and during the greater part of the last century performed their
acts of public worship only under connivance. These restraints
however, on the public exercise of their religion, which ought, in
my opinion, neyer to have been imposed, had, during the reign
of George III, been gradually removed; and in the session of
18Q9, the civil disabilities affecting them were also done away.
All offices, some few excepted, were thrown open to them and
they,vere admitted to seats in parliament; in other words, the
principle that the legislature of this country should be exclu-
sively protestant was abandoned. Last year, a further change
was attempted, though unsuccessfully; it ,vas proposed to
reillove the civil disabilities, affecting the Jewish subjpcts of the
realn1. Had that attenlpt succeeded, the legislature would have
ceased to be exclusively Christian.
To turn frolll the measures themselves to the principle, on
which many of their advocates urge their adoption :-the prin-
ciple is, that it is unjust to subject men to civil disabilities on
account of religious opinions. The ends of civil and religious
society are said to be totally distinct-that of the former being
the temporal-of the latter, the eternal happiness of men. The
state, therefore, has no concern with the religion of its subjects;
its concern is not ,vith opinions, but with actions; and with them,
only so far as they affect the franle or well-being of society.
Doubts may reasonably be entertained respecting the soundness
of the principle so confidently put forth. '
rhe relations, in which
luan stands to his fellow-luen, and consequently the duties arising'
out of those relations, originate in the appointment of God. That
broad line of distinction, which it is attempted to draw between
luan in his religious and in his civil character, cannot be drawn.
1\loral and social is necessarily connected with religious obliga-
tion; it is equally, though less directly, to be referred to God, as

448

Bishop Kaye's Oharge at in

-'

its author. In proportion as nIen take a nIore enlightened and
comprehensive view of their relation to their l\Iaker, they ,vIII be
better qualified and more anxious fait.hfully to discharge their
social duties; and the state has consequently a deep interest in
the soundness of the religious opinions of its subjects. J\Iy
object, however, is not to combat, but to state the opinions pre-
valent at the present monlent, concerning the course \vhich the
civil magistrate ought to pursue with respect to religion; and I
state them, in order to point out their bearing on the interests of
the established church. If the advocates of these opinions are
consistent, they cannot be favourable to an established church.
Finding it in existence, they nIay apprehend greater mischief
from attempting to remove it than from suffering it to remain;
but they must still consider its existence as an evil. According
to them, the state ought to be of no religion; it ought to pro-
tect all modes of faith, but to prefer none-the systen1, ,vhich
still, I believe, exists in the states of New England; and accord-
ing to which every member of the community is bound to con-
tribute towards the support of the ministers of the gospel, but
may select the particular religious society, to the minister of
which his contribution shall be paid. This system is too narro,v
for the enlarged- conceptions of the age, in which we live. It
establishes Christianity; but as to believe is an act, not of the
,viII, but of the understanding, to compel men to contribute
towards the support of the tninisters of a religion, \vith the
evidences of which their '.understandings are not satisfied, is
said to be, an indirect violation of their right of private judg-
ment.
Looking, then, at the feeling, \vith ,vhich all existing institu-
tions are regarded, and at the growing indifference, I should not
perhaps use too strong a ternI \Vere I to say dislike, to civil
establishments of religion, \ve should \vilfully close our eyes, did
we not recognise the probability that attempts \vill be made to
dissolve the union at present subsisting between the church and
the state in this kingdonl. That such attenlpts, if successful,
will be productive of great evil-that they will tend to the
general decay of religion and morality throughout the land-
and that their baneful effects \vill be felt not least sensibly in
those religious comnulnities, which dissent from the estabìished
church; these are assertions which the past history of our
country fully \varrants: though, \vhen they proceed from tue,

Triennial JTisitation in 1831.

449

they,vill perhaps be imputed to the personal interest, which I
have in the maintenance of the existing order of things. But
the point to which I wish particularly to call your attention is,
in what manner ought the present state of public feeling and
opinion to operate on the minds and conduct of the clergy?
Surely it ought to stimulate them to increased diligence in the
discharge of their pastoral duties; to render theIll more earnest
and assiduous in ministering both to the temporal and spiritual
,vants of their flocks; more circulllspect in their conversation
and deportment; more pure and holy in the whole tenour of
their lives. Let not those who scruple not to resort to any
mode of attack when the object is to injure the established
Church-let them not be enabled to give weight to the objec-
tions which they urge against the syst.em, by appealing to the
negligence or misconduct of the individuals, by whom it is ad-
ministered. A single vicious or frivolous or even careless
minister of religion produces a more mischievous in1pression on
the "minds of all classes of society and adds greater number to
the ranks of infidelity or dissent, than the most ingenious argu-
ments which can be advanced agai
st the evidences of Christ-
ianity or the particular doctrines and discipline of our own
Church.
Happily, there never perhaps was a tin1e, ,,,hen the clergy
stood in less need than at the present mon1ent of being urged
by authoritative admonitions to the diligent perforn1ance of
their duties. There never perhaps ,vas a time, when they en-
tertained juster notions of the responsibility attaching to the
ministerial character. Doubtless exceptions may be pointed
out; strange would it be if they could not; but strangely also
must that understanding be perverted which, fastening exclu-
sivelyon the exceptions, can draw from theln a general conclu-
sion unfavourable to the established Church. Just cause have
\ve for thankfulness to Almighty God that, in tiIlles of great
difficulty, he has been pleased to impart to his nlinisters a more
abundant portion of the spirit of wisdonl and knowledge and
holiness. Let us humbly beseech him to continue to increase
our strength in proportion to the burden, ,vhich we n1ay be
called to bear; and let us not on our part be "ranting to
cherish the gracious influences, which he vouchsafes to us,
gladly entertaining every holy suggestion and good resolution,
and striving daily to advance in those qualifications, which will
Gg

450

Bisltol) I{a!/e's Charge at tlte

render our luinistry effectual to the spiritual benefit of our
hearers.
The detrinlental operation of tenlporal prosperity on the cha-
racter of the Ininisters of religion has been the frequent subject
of l:.llnentation to its friends; \vhilst its adversaries have taunt-
ingly remarked that the purity of the Church always shone
brightest anlidst t.he flames of persecution. \Ve mean not to
deny that the effect of adversity is to prove the sincerity of
Christians-to separate the pure ore from the dross. One
good, therefore, will probably arise from t.he dangers, ,,,hich
threaten the established Church-that all who aspire to the
ministry will weigh more seriously the difficulties of the task, in
,vhich they are about to engâge; and lllore accurately count the
cost, before they enter upon the holy warfare. He must be a
very careless observer of the signs of the times who can seek
adnlission to the ministerial office in the anticipation of a life
of ease and enjoyment. The satirist of fornler days l11ight be
justified in associating the idea of lazy ponlp and luxurious in-
dulgence with high ecclesiastical dignity; or the poet, in repre-
senting the country parsonage, removed from the noise and
turlnoil and contention of the \vorld, as the chosen abode of
tranquillity. But rarely, in real life, do we no\v find the original
of either picture. The clergy, \vhatever their condition, elevated
or humble, must live in a state of constant anxiety and ,vatch-
fulness, because the eye of Inalevolence is constantly pursuing
them, to note every fault and olnission and indiscretion. These
are facts, ,vhich, as I have already observed, can scarcely fail to
strike the n10st careless observer: and lllust surely induce every
candidate for admission into holy orders to pause and to ask
hinlself, whether he is fully prepared to encounter the difficulties
,vhich await hin1 ?
But so deeply is t.he Church interested in the dispositions and
character of its future ministers; so intimately is its well-being
connected \vith their fitness for their sacred office, that I should
not do justice to the importance of the subject, did I not consider
it sOluewhat nlore in detail.
After the candidate for the order of deacon has been pre..
sented to the Bishop, he is asked, " 'Vhether he believes that
he is moved by the Holy Ghost to take upon him that office or
111inistration
'I'I An awful question, which no one, who duly
,veighs its import and is conscious of the deceitfulness of his

T'j"iennial VisitatioJl, in 1831.

451

own heart, can hear unmoved. A question so awful that it has
doubtle
s had the effect of excluding fron1 the ministry some, who
possessed every qualification requisite to the effectual discharge
of its duties. Fearful lest they should deceive thenlselves re-
specting their own motives and mistake for the suggestion
of
the Holy Spirit feelings, which originated from a source less
pure, they have, through excess of scrupulousness, hesitated
when there was no real ground for hesitation. This, however,
is not the error, against which it is most necessary to put the
candidate on his guard. He is in greater danger of underrating
the importance of the question; of forming a low and inade-
quate notion of its meaning; of interpreting it in accommoda-
tion to his own views and feelings, instead of raising thell1 to
the level of its serious and solemn import. No fact is more dis-
tinctly affinned in scripture than that the Holy Spirit does
influence the heart of man, prompting him at once to do that
which is right and giving him strength to do it. Respecting
the Inode in which this influence is Í1l1parterl, scripture is silent;
,ve know only that it does not supersede the exercise of the
natural powers of nlan; that though under the guidance of the
Holy Spirit, he is still a voluntary agent and cooperates both
in will and deed. But however ignorant the candidate may be
of the mode, in which the Holy Spirit moves his heart, he cannot
be at a loss for a criterion, by which to determine whether the
feelings which animate him flow from that heavenly source. He
has only to turn to the writings of the ..\.postle of the Gentiles
and to weigh the language, which that devoted servant of Christ
uses when his call to the apostolic office is his theme. St. Paul
speaks of hinlself as placed under an obligation to preach the
gospel-an obligation so strong that he could not fail in the
fulfilment of it without incurring the deepest guilt a : Yea, woe
is unto rne, he says, if I preach not the gospel. So deeply
was he impressed with the ilnperative character of the call that
he deemed himself a debtor to ev
ry people, among WhOllI he had
not personally exercised his ministry-anlollg whom he had not
\vith his own voice proclailned the glad tidings of salvation.
'ViII it be said that his was a peculiar case
that he was spe-
cially called by God to be the instruillent of converting the
Gentiles
and that he possessed in the miraculous powers, with
which, in COlllmon with the other apostles, he was endowerl,
a Cor. ix, 16.
Gg

45Q

Bishop K aye's Charge at tlte

certain assurance that he ,vas moved by the Holy Ghost-an
assurance \yhich "ve, at the present day, cannot possess
'Ve
adn1Ït the fact: ,ve admit also that the candidate would give
way to unnecessary scruples, who should doubt his own fitness,
because he felt not the \varnlth and ardour in the cause of the
gospel-the perfect self-devotion, which is implied in St. Paul's
language. But the actuating principle must be the sanle, though
it may not operate with equal intensity. He cannot truly say
tbat he is nloved by the Holy Ghost to take upon himself the
nlÏnisterial office, ,vho does not feel, to use the apostle"s Ian..
guage, that a necessity is laid upon hiJn; 'vho does not feel that
deep sense of the love displayed by God, in the plan of nlan's
redelnption, ,vhich, as it were, constrains him to become the
instrument of bringing others to a practical kno\vledge of its
gracious provisions. It ,vere to think un\vorthily of the Holy
Spirit, to ascribe to his suggestions a motive less exalted
than zeal for the glory of God and the eternal happiness of
Inan.
Will it be said that we are opening a door to all the extrava-
gances of enthusiasm, by teaching the candidates for adillission
to the ministry, to judge of their fitness by a reference, not to
any fixed standard, but to tbe testimony of their feelings-a
testimony, in which they can at no time place implicit con-
fidence, and which may vary from day to day
Have not
fanatics in every age alleged, ,vith all the sincerity of convic.
tion, the suggestions of the Holy Spirit, in justification of the
grossest absurdities, nay, even of the lnost horrible crilnes
We
know and we lanlent the fact. It must to every pious mind be
,-t source of the most painful reflection that the nanle of the
Conlforter, who is promised to luan to lead him into all truth,
should have been enlployed in order to plunge hiul into the most
grievous errors. But because men have talnpered ,vitb their
conscience, are we, therefore, in no instance to trust to its
guidance? J3ecause, having \vantonly and presulnptuously aban-
doned themselves to the iUIPulse of their feelings and passions,
they have at last been sl1litten ,vith a judicial blindness and
lost the faculty of distinguishing between right and wrong, are
we, therefore, to conclude that there is no test, by \vhich we lllay
a
certain whether our Illotives to action originate in the sugges-
tions of God's Holy Spirit.
The scriptures tell us what are the
fruits of the Spirit; -love, Joy, peace, longsltjJc,'ing, gentleness,

Triennial risitation in 1831.

453

goodness, faith, meekness, te1nperance. Can any man, who seri-
ously examines hinlself, doubt whether his o\vn dispositions an-
swer to this description
Let the candidate for admission into
holy orders apply a sinIilar test sincerely and honestly in his own
case, and it will be scarcely possible for him to err. This at least
may be affirrned-that his error will not be on the side of pre-
sunlption, but of diffidence.
",Vill it be said that the motives by ,,,hich the conduct of man
is determined are rarely sinIple and unnIixed? that various con-
siderations conlbine to influence his selection of the path of life,
which he shall pursue? and that ,ve are consequently laying a
snare for his weakness, when we require hinI to profess a single-
ness of vie\v and purpose, which is scarcely compatible with the
constitution of the human mind
Put the case of one who,
from connection with a possessor of ecclesiastical patronage, is
secure of obtaining a benefice. Can it be supposed that the
certainty of a comfortable, perhaps ample, provision for life will
have no influence upon his determination? or is he justIy cen-
surable for allowing such a consideration to have ,veight with
him, if he at the sanIe tinle entertains a due sense of the heavy
responsibility attaching to the ministerial office and is resolved,
by the divine aid, faithfully to discharge its obligations? Yet
can one who is conscious of being even exposed to the influence
of such a motive answer the question without some misgiving

Are we not laying a burden on tender consciences in requiring
it to be answered
To this objection or expostulation ,ve reply
that, as the operation of the Holy Spirit is not intended to super-
sede the use of the natural faculties of man, so neither is it in-
tended to extinguish his natural affections and principles of
action, but to regulate and purify and sanctify them. \Ve say
not that one, placed in the circumstances just described, is bound
to desist from seeking adlnission to the ministry. TIut we say
that he is bound to scrutinize with peculiar severity the motives
by which he is actuated, lest he should Jield to that powerful,
yet scarcely discernible influence, which the interests of men
exercise over their opinions. He is exposed to a particular
temptation and ought, therefore, to be particularly on his
guard. The profession that we are 11l0ved by the Holy Ghost
certainly excludes interested and ambitious motives; we must
not engage in the ministry as luen engage in secular elnploy-
ments-,vith the view of making a fortune or founding a family,

454

B'islwp K aye's Charg e at the

or rising to power and elninence. Not that we are called upon
to reject the offer of advancenlent or distinction or emolument;
but we Dlust be ever on our guard against the seductive influence
of temporal advantages: against their tendency to indispose us
to make those sacrifices, \vhich the
Iaster in whose service we
are engaged nlay require at our hands. During a long period,
such has been the favoured condition of the visible Church in
this kingdom tha t the faithful discharge of the ministerial
functions has not been inconlpatible with the temperate enjoy-
ment of every ,vorldly blessing. But other times may come,
,vhen the sanle mind lllust be in us which was in the Apostle to
the Gentiles-'when \vhat things before ,vere gain to us, we must
be prepared to count loss for Christ-when we must be prepared
not luerely to make the surrender of our \vealth and ease, but
also to tear ourselves from the charities of domestic life. It
was not to the first disciples alone, but to his ministers in every
age, that Christ addressed the emphatic ,vords-He who loves
father, or mother, or son, or daughter, morø than me, is not worthy
of 'Jne.
I have dwelt at greater length upon the first qualification
required by our Church for adlnission into the ministry-that
the candidate should believe himself to be moved by the Holy
Ghost to undertake the office-because it is most essential to
his o\vn future happiness, not nlerely that there should be no
\vilful insincerity in the answer ,vhich he return s; but also that
he should labour nnder no self-delusion. Cases of ,vilful insin-
cerity are, I aln persuaded, of rare, very rare occurrence-cases
in which the candidate, at the very roomen t that he makes the
profession, is conscious that he is actuated solely by worldly
motives; and that he feels neither inclination to undertake the
\vork, nor any of the dispositions which qualify him for discharg-
ing it. But there are, it is to be feared, cases not unfrequent,
in which the candidate comes without having duly considered
the nature of the ministerial office, and, consequently, \vith very
inadequate conceptions of its obligations. Far be it from me
to perplex with needless scruples the nicely sensith"e lllind,
already too prone to exaggerate the difficulties of the ministry
and its o\vn insufficiency. But I cannot figure to D1yself a Jn01'e
unhappy state than that of him \vho, when he is no longer able
to retrace his steps, awakens, for the first time, to a full sense of
the responsibility, \vhich he has incurred; who finds himself 8U1'-

Triennial Visitation in IS31.

455

rounded by calIs of duty which he is unable to answer, and
cOlnpelled to devote his time to occupations for which his pre-
vious habits and modes of thinking have given him no relish.
Well will it be for him, if he sinks not under the consciousness
of his incompetency and abandons not his post in despair-well
,viII it be for him, if through divine grace he is inspired with a
steadfast resolution to redeem the lost tinle and to con1pensate
his past deficiency by the greater abundance of his future
labours.
As man possesses not the faculty of looking into the bosom of
his fellow and discerning what is there passing, it is evident
that he must be liable to be deceived respecting the 111otives, Ly
which others profess to be actuated. Establish what external
test you will of the existence of piety in the heart, you cannot be
secure against the artifices of hypocrisy. There are, however,
practices and habits of a character so strongly marked that ,ve
Inay confidently pronounce respecting the man, who indulges in
them. that he is not under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. I
speak not merely of vicious practices and habits; there is a
fondness for the ,vorld, an exclusive attachment to its business,
a levity of deportment and conversation, from \vhich we are
necessarily led to infer the total absence of sobriety and serious-
ness of thought, of well regulated affections and desires, in a
word, of all that constitutes a religious frame of mind. Though
there are no external signs, by which we can infallibly judge of
the fitness of an individual for the sacred work of the n1inistry,
there are signs, from which ,ve may assuredly know that he is
unfit.
On this ground it is that candidates for orders are directed to
produce testin10nials of their life and cO\lversation for three pre-
ceding years, either from the college of which they were mem-
bers, or fi'on1 three beneficed clergymen. The intent of these
testimonials is to certify the Bishop of that, which he has seldoln
the opportunit.y of ascertaining from personal knowledge. The
candidates are rarely known to him even by name, until they
apply for ordination. Possessing himself no 111eans of judging of
their moral character, he is necessarily dependent on the testi-
monyof others. Surely then he has great cause of complaint,
not only against those who sign testimonials in behalf of candi-
dates 'vhom they know to be unworthy; but also against those
who sign in behalf of candidates, of whose fitness they have had

456

Bishop K aye's Oharge at the

no opportunity of judging from personal observation. Anlong
the duties of the episcopal office, there is none which brings ,vith
it a heavier load of responsibility, than the imposition of hands
on those who seek admission into the ministry. So heavy did it
appear to the fralners of our liturgy that they have prescribed
an especial prayer for the guidance and governance of the
Bishops and Pastors of the Church, that they may lay hands
suddenly on no man. In the fulfilment of this nlost arduous
part of his office, the bishop needs, and is entitled to claim, the
zealous cooperation of all his brethren in the ministry. 'Vhat
excuse then can they plead, ,vho instead of assisting him, thro\v
impedinlents in his ,vay; ,vho, instead of endeavouring to give
efficacy to the prayers put up by the Church for his guidance
and governance, as far as in them lies, render those prayers of
none effect
To be the inst.rument of introducing an immoral, or
otherwise un\vorthy person into the ministry, D1ust be a source
of painful reflection to a Bishop, even when his conscience acquits
hiJn of any negligence or want of due inquiry. What, then,
ought to be the feelings of those, ,,'ho have, by their inaccurate
representations, led hinl into error
It may be unpleasant to
refuse a signature in behalf of a friend or a neighbour; it may
be difficult to resist the Ítnportunities of those, who urge that, by
perseverance in the refusal, the ,vorldly prospects of the candi-
date may be for ever blighted. But there are occasions, on
which the sacrifice even of our benevolent feelings becomes a
bounden duty; and on \vhat occasion can the call to sacrifice
them be more imperative than ,vhen, by yielding to them, ,va
shall be instrumental in intrusting the oversight of the souls of
men to those, in 'VhOlll ,ve have seen no signs of fitness, perhaps
signs of positive unfitness for the sacred office; and thus shall
cOlnpronlise the eternal interests of that flock for \vhich Christ
died '?
With respect to the moral fitness of the candidates for ordina-
tion, the Bishop n1ust be, for the most part, dependent on the
testinlony of others; ,vith respect to their literary fitness, he
possesses more ample means of judging for hinlself. That a
certain portion of learning is necessary to a minister of the
gospel will be denied by fe,v; nor do I think that I shall be
charged with fixing too high a standard of qualification, ,vhen
I say that the candidate ought to be thoroughly conversant ,vith
the Greek Testament.; with the chronology of scripture, and

Triennial Visitation in 1831.

457

the connection of profane with sacred history: with Jewish
antiquities; with natural theology or the argument in proof
of the existence and attributes of the deity, deri,yed from
the phenomena of the physical \vorld; with the evidences of
Christianity; and with the doctrines of the established Church,
as propounded in the Articles and Liturgy. Unless he is fur-
nished with theological learning, at least to this extent, he must
ever be liable to be assailed by objections, to which he can return
no satisfactory answer, and thus to bring discredit by his igno-
rance, not only on hin1self, but on the Church, of which he is
a minister. Bishop Tomline, while he presided over this diocese,
pointed out certain works, to which he required the candidates
for ordination particularly to direct their attention. In doing
this, he rendered them no inconsiderable assistance; for though,
if a candidate possesses the requisite learning, it may appear to
signify little through ,vhat channel that learning was obtained;
yet, if he was left to make his own selection from the infinite
variety of theological \vriters who offer themselves to his notice, he
would probably waste much time upon that, from which he would
derive little benefit. Looking, however, at the increased and con-
tinually increasing diffusion of knowledge anlongst all classes of the
community in the present day, I must confess, that a candidate
conversant only \vith the works enumerated in Bishop Tomline's
list b, would, in n1Y opinion, be scantily provided with Theological
learning. To the works, therefore, enunlerated by him, I would
add, Prideaux's Connexion, Horne's J ntroduction-a very useful
compilation-Paley's N"atural Theology, Burnet on the Articles
and Bishop Butler's Analogy. Let me, however, earnestly cau-
tion the student against diffusing his reading over too wide a
surface; to read a few good authors thoroughly is better than to
read many hastily and cursorily.
By the advice and recolnmendation of tho
e who possessed the
best means of informing themselves of the wants of this extensive
diocese, I detern1ined to adhere t
the rule laid down by my pre-
decessor-to receive as candidates for deacon's orders none, who
had not either graduated at the University, or at least passed the
examination required for a degree. I am a\vare that n1any are
disposed to question the propriety of this rule, on the ground
b I do not here allude to the list of books enumerated in the preface to the
first volume of the Elements of Christian Theology; but to a list of works, to
which the attention of the candidates for ordination was particu]arly directed.

458

Bishop Kct!le's Charge at thø

that, in the course of studies prescribed at the University, in-
struction in that which may be terlued the professional learning
necessary t.o a luinister of the gospel does not occupy a sufficient
space. So far am I from participating in the feeling which dic-
tates this objection, that I should deeply regret any change,
,vhich gave to the studies of our Universities more of a strict.Jy
professiQnal character. My view, \vhich ,vas also the vie,v of those
wise and learned men who prescribed the course of Academical
studies-IllY view of those studies is t.hat they are designed to
discipline the mind of the st.udent; to fonn in him habits of
patient and persevering attention and of accurate reasoning;
to comluunicate to him those general principles, without the
knowledge of which it is scarcely possible successfully to engage
in any literary pursuit; to lay, in a \vord, the foundation, on
\vhich the structure of professiollallearning is afterwards to be
raised. A strictly professional education, cOlumenced at too
early a period, has, for the luost part, a tendency to cramp the
mind, to narro\v its views, to subject it to the tranunels of systenl,
to dispose it to acquiesce without exaluination in the conclusions
laid before it, perhaps even to unfit it for the task of examina-
tion. The advantages derived from it are rather of a mechani-
cal character; it places a set of tools in the student's hands and
renders hiln expert in the use of them; but their application is
confined within narrow limits. Observe, on the contrary, the
quickness and energy, \vith \vhich one \vhose education has been
conducted on a more liberal plan applies himself to professional
studies; he displays at once an aptitude to any pursuit, how-
ever foreign to his fornler occupations; nothing comes amiss to
him; he soon plnces himself on a level, in extent of professional
learning, \vith those whose life has been directed to that single
object: while, in the application of his learning to prnctice, he
possesses an incalculable advantage, in the power, ,,,hich the
habit of close and accurate reasoning confers, of seizing at once
the important point of every question, and in the copiousness of
illustration, ,vhich his stores of general knowledge supply.
Let it not, however, be inferred, from these remarks that the
future candidate for holy orders possesses at the University no
opportunity of acquiring the learning peculiar to his profession.
Quite the contrary. He may, if he thinks fit, obtain instruction
in every branch of Theology; or at least, be directed to the
sources fronl which it is to be obtained. The Norrisian Pro..

Triennial Visitation in 1831.

459

fessor at Cambridge has published :1 syllabus of the lectures
which he delivers; and every competent judge "ill say that a
thorough acquaintance with the subjects of those lectures, of
itsel
constitutes no mean proficiency in theological learning.
The volume of lectures on the Ecclesiastical History of the first
century, recently published by the Regius Professor of Divinity
at Oxford, proves that there also every source of information is
open to the student. Let me add that, both at Oxford and
Cambridge, the study of the Hebrew language has of late years
received encouragenlents, which did not fOI1nerly exist. They,
therefore, \vho assert that the English Universities do not afford
the candidate for holy orders the opportunity of acquiring the
knowledge necessary for his profession, advance a charge which
is destitute of foundation c.
I have yet one observation to offer respecting the literary
qualifications of candidates for orders. It is essential to the
efficacy of our preaching that we should ourselves possess a
clear and connected and conlprehensive view of the scheme of
the gospel dispensation, and be able to exhibit its different parts
in their due proportions and in their nlutual dependence upon
each other. 'Ve should regard them as fonning a chain, of
which the very existence depends on the union of its various
links. The justice of this renlark is so universally recognised
that, as the doctrines of the gospel are not systeluatically pro-
posed in scripture, every branch of the visible church of Christ
has drawn up a systeDl for the instruction and guidance of its
ministers. The system of our own church is to be found in the

c I acknowledge it, however, to be very desirable that a longer intenral
than is usually interposed at present should elapse between the candidate's
first degree and his admission into holy orders. In 1819, when Regius Pro-
fessor of Divinity at Cambridge, I suggested, in a commencement speech,
that all who were designed for the ministerial office, should, after they had
taken the degree of Bachelor of Arts, be required to attend a course of Lec-
tures in Divinity, and to pass an exarnin,
tlon in the subjects of those Lectures,
before they received letters testimonial from their respective colleges. Two
objections were then made to the suggestion-the great inconvenience which
would arise to the University, already overburdened by the number of its
students-and the addition to the expense of an university education, already
felt, in many cases, to be oppressive. The force of the former objection has
been in some degree diminished by the increased accommodation for students,
afforded by the new buildings erected at Cambridge.

460

Bishop Kayc's Cl
arge at the

Thirty-nine Al,ticles: to them, therefore, not to the systems of
other churches and divines, the attention of the candidate for
ordination ought to be directed. In them is set forth what he
ought to teach respecting the being and attributes of God, the
mysterious distinction of three Persons in the Godhead, the
parts borne by them in the economy of grace, and the relation
in" \vhich they stand to man as his Creator, his Redeen1er, his
Sanctifier. Secondly, respecting the source from which the rule
of Christian faith and practice is derived. Thirdly, respecting
the state of man, considered ,vith reference to God: his lost
condition; his inability, by his o,vn powers, to raise hin1self
froln that condition; his consequent need of divine grace; the
cause and medium of his justification; the connection of faith.
with holiness; the steps, by ,vhich the Christian advances to a
state of meetness for his heavenly inheritance and n1akes his
calling and election sure.
Lastly, in the Articles is set before the candidate what he
ought to teach respecting the relation of each individual to the
visible Church of Christ, the obligations ,vhich he contracts fronl
that relation, the benefits and privileges ,vhich he derives from
it. Iluperfect as is this enun1eration of the doctrines set forth
in our Articles, it must be sufficient to satisfy us that he, who
has thoroughly studied thein, cannot fail to acquire that clear
and connected and comprehensive view of the Christian schelne,
,vhich ,ve have described as necessary to the efficacy of a minis-
ter's preaching. But although he ought to preach systen1atically,
presenting the doctrines of the gospel, not as so many isolated
truths, but in connection ,vith each other, let him not. forget
that the end of all preaching is practical. It is to little purpose
that he puts forth the clearest and ablest expositions of the doc-
trines of the gospel, unless he so applies them as to render thenl
conducive to the purification of the ten1per and affections and
the ilnprovement of the outward life and conversation. He must
not content himself with speaking to the reason and understand-
ing: they are only the avenues, through ,vhich he must endeavour
to reach the heart.
I proceed to another important qualification for admission to
holy orders-the title; ,vhich comprises, according to the 33rd
Canon, a certain place \vhere the party to be ordained may use
his function and a sufficient provision for his ll1aintenance. At

Triennial Visitation in 1831.

461

a. very early period, a practice had grown up in the Church,
of granting what were termed d ord'l.nationes 'Oagæ, that is, of con-
ferring orders generally, without assigning to the party ordained
any specific sphere of duty. It will be readily conceived that
this practice gave rise to great abuses, that it introduced into
the Church a number of lo\v and needy ministers, vho, in order
to procure a maintenance, prostituted their sacred function to
the purpose of gain, bringing disgrace at once on themselves and
on the cause of religion. To check this abuse, decrees of councils
,vere from time to time enacted; and the canon of our Church
was framed with the same design. I am the more anxious to
call Jour attention to this point, because a notion is very gene-
rally prevalent that the sole reason, for which a Bishop in-
sists upon a title, is that he l11ay secure himself against
the risk of having to maintain the person whom he ordains.
This, however, far from being the sole, is not even the principal
reason. The object ,vhich the Canon has chiefly in view is to
provide that every person ordained shall have an appointed
sphere of action and that the number of unemployed nlinisters
shall be as snlall as possible. That nlind possesses no ordinary
strength, which, in the absence of fixed occupation, can always
occupy itself usefully, or even innocently. An unemployed clergy-
luan is in inlminent danger of becoming a frivolous or worldly-
nlinded, perhaps a vicious clergyman; or, if he escape this danger,
he not unfrequently contracts a querulous dissatisfied temper,
which displays its workings in exaggerated representations of the
defects of our existing ecclesiastical polity and in the suggestion
of schemes of refornlation. Let J11e then entreat the beneficed
clergy to consider whether they are fulfilling the intention of the
Canon, when they give a title for orders without meaning pernla-
nently to elnploy a curate; or whether they do not, by giving
such titles, con
ribut.e to the production of the very evil, against
which the Church wishes to guard-the existence of n nun1ber
of unemployed clergJnlen.
The second object of a title is to secure a sufficient n1ain-
tenance for the party ordained. The incumbent, who gives it,
expressly binds hiJllselfto pay a certain stipend, which, in the case
of non-resident incumbents, is fixed by law; in other cases, may
be settled by agreement between the inculubent and curate, sub-
d See Father Paul's History of the Council of Trent, in Courayer's Trans-
lation, t. ii. p. 180.

462

Bishop Kaye's Charge at the

ject to the sanct.ion of the diocesan. As it is in reliance on the
fulfilment of the stipulations contained in the title that the Bishop
confers ordination, it is evident that every secret agreement
bet\veen the parties, at variance with those stipulations, involves
a breach of faith towards him. Yet one among the charges
urged against the clergy is that such secret agreelnents are of
frequent occurrence; and their existence is ascribed to a want of
due vigilance on the part of the heads of the Church. I would
fain ask those, \vho cast the censure, \vhat course a Bishop is to
pursue
Is he to put questions ilnplying a distrust of the veracity
of the parties who give and receive the title-a suspicion that
they do not intend, 60nâ fide, to perform the stipulations con-
tained in it
"'ere he to put such questions, they, who now charge
him with remissness, \vould be the first to charge him with
assuming to himself an inquisitorial power of the most offensive
character. All that he can do is to mark, in the strongest man-
ner, his sense of the ilnpropriety of such agreements, when proof
of their existence is laid before him.
I t has been the custOlll of the Bishops of this diocese, to hold
annually four ordinations, upon the Sundays specified in the
31st Canon; that is, upon the Sundays immediately following
the Elnber weeks. To this custom it is Iny intention, as far as
I can express any intention respecting the future, to adhere;
and I give this public intilnation of my intention, in order that
no person, desirous of admission into holy orders, may hereafter
be enabled to plead, in excuse of the lateness of an application,
ignorance of the precise time, at which an ordination will be
held. I will take this opportunity of stating that I wish the
candidates to transmit their nominations and other papers, at
least six weeks before the day of ordination.
I have dwelt longer than I originally intended on the qualifi-
cations of candidates for orders, and Inust, in consequence, ab-
stain from all notice of other topics, which lllight have furnished
matter of not unprofitable discussion. They, however, ,vho take
the same vie\v with myself of the present situation of the esta-
blished Church, ,viII think that I have not protracted my re-
nlarks to an unnecessary or unreasonable length. Its ,velfare,
and even its existence nlust, under Providence, principall)T de-
pend upon the personal conduct of its Ininisters; and that con-
duct must be determined by the adequacy or inadequacy of the
vie\v, which they take of the obligations attaching to the n1inis-

Triennial Visitation in IS31.

463

terial character. Observations, therefore, made with the design
of in1pressing the candidates for adn1Ïssion to the D1inistry with
a deeper sense, at once of the excellency and difficulty of their
office, and of enabling them more duly to appreciate the great-
ness of the treasure conuuitted to their charge-as at all times
they constitute an appropriate-seem, at the present n1oment,
to constitute an essential part of an address from this place.
It lnay be thought, from the tenor of ll1Y remar}{s, that I
undervalue the assistance, which the civil power can render to
the cause of religion. Far from it. I know that, in their
glowing anticipations of the future glories of the visible Church,
the prophets, among other marks of its prosperity, announce
that kings shall be its nursing fathers, and queens its nursing
mothers. But the effect of the protection, afforded by the state
to the Church, ought to be to increase the vigilance of the min-
isters of religion. Has this always been the effect upon our-
selves
Or has not our reliance upon the support, ,yhich we
derived from our connection with the state, rather caused us to
rell1it something of our diligence in the work of the ministry?
It n1ay be thought too that, in representing an attempt to
dissolve the union between the state and the established Church
as a probable event, and in even hinting at the possibility of
the success of the atten1pt, I am speaking the language of
despondency-a language, calculated to paralyze instead of in-
vigorating the energies of the clergy, by causing them to think
that at last their labours will be fruitless. It ,,'ould be a
more pleasing task, a task more congenial to my feelings, to
address you in a different tone; to use the language only of
jOJful and confident anticipation. But he is the worst of flat-
terers, ,,,ho speaks peace when there is no peace. I have felt,
therefore, that I should best discharge my dutJ by placing be-
fore you, without reserve, nlY opinion of our present situation.
To close our eyes against its difficulties would be foolish, if it
,ver
possible. Our true wisdÙnl is to prepare to 111eet the
danger, while it is still at such a distance that we can contenl-
plate it calmly, and accurately estinlate its magnitude. If we
\vait till it comes nearer, the season of deliberation will be passed
and we shall take counsel only from fear or rashness.
If, however, Iny language implies apprehension respecting the
pern1anence of the connection of the established Church with
the state, let it not be supposed that I doubt of the permanence

464

Bis/tOp Ka!le's Oharge
c.

of the established Church, " as a congregation of faithful n1en,
in the which the pure word of God is preached, and the sacra-
luents are duly Dlinistered according to Christ's ordinance: " On
that point we are not permitted to doubt-for \ve have the pro-
Inise of Christ hiu1self, as an anckor' of the soul, sure and stead-
fast. To the work of the Dlinistry, in that branch of his visible
Church, which has long been known and reverenced throughout
Protestant Christendom by the title of the Church of England,
,ve have dedicated ourselves. No change in its external circuln-
stances can affect the relation, in which we stand to it, or release
us from the obligation to labour for its welfare. Though, un-
happily for the country, its connection with the state should be
dissolved, ,ve shall not \vant either an ample field to call forth
our exertions, or a fertile soil to repay thenl. What if some of
its professed adherents regard it only as a useful political in-
strument: it lllllnbers amongst its followers thousands whose
attachment originates in high and noble Inotives; who regard
it as a powerful instrument, in the hand of God, for the salva-
tion of the souls of men. They adhere to it, because they
cordially assent to its scriptural creed; because they love its
sin1ple yet impressive ceremonies and the strain of warm yet
sober devotion, which pervades its services; because they ad-
mire the long list of illustrious and venerable names, ,vhich
grace its ann
ls. 'Vhatever be its temporal fortunes, prosper-
ous or advers

their affection towards it, their zeal for its
interests, will súffe
no abaten1ent. To minister to the spiritual
,veIl-being of this chosen congregation of Ohrist, to maintain it
in the unity of the faith and in the bond of peace, ,viII still be
our delightful office: an office, in the faithful discharge of \vhich
\ve may be assured of the Divine support and blessing. No, my
brethren-that pure branch of the catholic Church, in which ,ve
exercise our Ininistry, ,vill not fail. It \viII still shine as a light
fro1l1 heaven, to direct the footsteps of the Christian traveller;
it ,vill still stand as a city on a hill, to which he lllay flee, as a
place of refuge from the perils, of rest from the toils of his way.
Therifore, 'Iny heloved hrethren, he !Ie steadfast, u111no'Veahle, always
abo'ltnding in tlte work of the Lord; forasmuch as ye know that
YOUl' labour is not in, va,in in the Lord e .

e I Cor, xv, s8.

h',l'/'}.arf,., .f}'OIl2 n ()hrl1:qf, delirr1'pll in IM46.

I CO::\JB now to consider the discipline of the Church. It will
not be disput.ed that our blessed Lord intended that his dis-
ciples should fornl a society: or that in the very nûtion of such
a society is implied a power to lnake laws for its preservation
and the prolnotion of its well-being; and to proviJe fur the
due observance of thoRO laws, by annexing penalties to the vio-
lation of them. But Christ a designed his Church to be a
spiritual society, and consequently conferred upon it only spi-
ritual power: the offences, of which it takes cognizance, are
spiritual offences, offences against the rule of faith and life laid
down by its founder: and the punishnlents, which it inflicts,
are spiritual punishnIents, consisting in the exclusion of the
offender, for a longer or shorter periorl. frolll the privileges of
Inembership, to which he was adlnitted at baptisrn. In ord
r
to retain its lnelnber.s in obedience, it holds out the terrors
of the Lord, not of man-the future punisluuents, denoullced
in the gospel against transgressors, not the tenlporal punish-
Inents, inflicted by human laws. It is evident, therefore, that
the efficacy of spiritual discipline ill acconlplishing its object
Inust be proportioned to the degree of persuasion, existing in the
minds of nlcn, that cOllllnunion b with the Church on earth is the
passport to admission to conlmunion with the saints in heaven;
and that all who are cut off frOln the fOrIner will be excluded
frOlll the latter. So long as this persuasion generally prevailed;
so long as luen regarded exclusion fl'OIlI the privileges of Christ-
ian cOllullunion as the greatest evil which could befall thenl-an
evil in conlparison with \\hich all tenlporal privations and suffer-
ings sank into insignificance-so long was the discipline of the
Church nlaintained in its integrity. But this persuasion, far
from being general in the present day, scarcely exists at aU : and
it may not be unprofitablp to inquire how it has conle to pass
that spiritual censures have lost the power, which they once pos-

essed over the consciences of men.

a Bingham, Christian Antiquities, book X\.i. ch. ii.
b Sumrnumque futuri judicii præjudicium est, si quis ita de1iquerit, ut a
communicatione orationis et conventûs et omnis sancti commercii relegetur.-
Tertullian. Apolog. c. xxxix.

ah

t()()

Extracts f'l'01n

Christ designed his Church to Le a spiritual society: but its
lllelnbers are nlelubers al
o of civil society and have in that
('haracter various obligations to fulfil; in that character too
they are an1enable to the tribunals, which the civil magistrate,
,vhose power is ordained of God, has established, in order to
enforce obedience to the la,vs. Ho,v desirous soever Christians
lnay be to live above the world, they lllust Inix in it.s business
and be liable to be involved in those disputes, \vhich are con-
tinually arising out of the clashing of worldly interests. Even
in the infant Church we find believers reproved by St. Paule, for
appealing to the heathen t.ribunals for the settIelnent of differ-
ences, \vhich had arisen among themselves. He thought it a
disgrace that they should exp se their own \veaknesses and those
of their brethren to t.he scoffs and sneers of unbelievers; and
show that they ,vere still under the don1Înion of those carnal pas-
sions, which they professed to have renounced. He wished the
differences of Christians to be settled by mutual agreement
amongst themselves; and that recourse should not be had to the
coercive power of human law: but he never thought of clainling
for the Church a po,ver ,vhich its d Divine founder had in his own
person disclaÍ1ned-the power of deciding disputes about tem-
l)oral matters. 'Ve find e, however, that at a very early period,
in consequence of the respect in \vhich the rulers of the Church
,vere held for their integrity and impartiality, parties ,vere in
t.he habit of referring, by lnutual consent, disputes about ten1-
poral matters t.o their decision; and that their judgments in
such cases, after the empire became Christian, received the
sanction of the civil po,ver and that the secular judges were for-
bidden to disturb them. In process of tilne, by steps which it
is unnecessary for Ine to detail, this voluntary was converted
into a compulsory jurisdiction. Courts of judicature were
established, which at first took cognizance only of the delin-
quencies of the clergy and of matters connected with religion;
but by degrees extended their authority to ten1poral causes, in
\yhich one of the parties happened to be an ecclesiastic; and at
length to all causes whatever; under the pretence that, \vhen-
ever thp civil magistrate either denied justice or adlninistered it
ill, the cognizance of the cause devolved on the ecclesiastical

C I Cor. vi. d Luke xii, 14.
c Bingham, book ii. chap. viii.-Paolo
arpi, Istoria del Concilio Tri-
dentino. L. 4.

Bislwp I(aye's Oha'rge of 1846.

467

court. In the mean time the Bishop of Rome, the self-styled
vicar of hiln, who declared that his kingdoln is not of this world,
claÏIlled to himself a superiority, not in spirituals only but also
in temporals, over all earthly monarchs; fulnlinating his ana,-
therllas against them; absolving their subjects from alle!!iance;
and disposing of their thrones. Excommunication was no
longer elnployed to punish only spiritual offences-to awaken
iInpugners of the true faith and violators of the laws of God to a
sense of their guilt, and thus to lead them to repentance: but
to enforce the sentences of the ecclesiastical court in matters
purely temporal: to enable ambitious and worldly-n1Índed eccle-
siastics to accoluplish their plans of temporal aggrandizenlent.
The aid, too, of the civil power, to which the early Christians
never had recourse, excepting for protection, or for the recovery
of rights unjustly ,vithheld, was now called in, whenev
r the
ecclesiastical authorities thought fit: nnder pain of excommuni-
cation if it ,vas not immediately granted; until, at last, the
state was converted into a mere executioner of the decrees of
the Church. '\Ve cannot, therefore, wonder that the feeling of
awe, with which spiritual censures were regarded in the primitive
Church, \vas gradually weakened, ,vhen men saw thel11 perverted
from the purpose, for which authority to pronounce thelu was
originally conferred-that. of awakening the fears of sinners and
leading them to repentance-and rendered subservient to the
prosecution of worldly interests; when they saw the prodigality
with ,vhich they were poured forth in support of the extravagant
pretensions of the ROlnan pontiff, and the eagerness exhibited, on
all occasions, to elllploy the arUl of the civil power to give then1
effect. Other causes, among thenl the introd.uction of the prac-
tice of auricular confession, contributed graduallJ to inlpair the
efficacy of the public discipline of the Church: but the cause
above mentioned was that which principally operated. A rpaction
was produced in the minds of men; from a superstitious dread
of excol11munication they passed into the opposite extreIlle; and
after having long sublnitted to the abuse, becalne Ï1npatient of
the use of ecclesiastical discipline.
So long as this kingdo111 continued in subjection to th0 Bishop
of Rome, the proceedings in the ecclel"iastical courts were con-
ducted according to the canon law. But Henry \TIII.f was too

ha.rp-sighted not to see that th
abolition of the papal power
f
ee his Letter, prefixed to the ReformatÌo Legum,
Hh

4()R

.b:I:tracls fi'o/Jl-

could not be deeIned cOlllplete
so long as a code of law, fl'alUet(
principally for the purpose of Inaintailling and extending it, rc-
luained in force. He therefore took Ineasures for franling a ne\"
corle; but died before the work was finished. It was resumed
by his successor; and the result of the labours of the learned
men, to whon1 Ed\vard VI as
igned the task of examining the
canons, constitutions and ordinances then in force and franling
n, new body of ecclesia!'5tical laws, is still extant under the title
of Refor'jratio Legul1z EcclesiasticaJ'luI6. If he had lived, there is
little douLt that this ne\v code would have roceiveù the rOJal
confirmation and the sanction of parlianlent. That it did not
recflive thenl in the reign of Elizabeth lnay be ascribed partly
to the jealousy of the civil courts, partly to the jealousy of the
queen herself, who thought that., if the la\v were too strictly de-
fined, the po\ver of altering the ecclesiastical laws, which she
c1n.imed in right of her prerogati\Te, would be cramped and cur-
tailed. The canon la\vg, therefore, is still in force, so far as it has
been received in this reahn, and is not contrarient to the COll1lfiOll
hL\V, the statute laws and the royal prerogative.
A cursory inspection of the Rejòrntatio Leg'll'ìJ'i will suffice to
show \vhat were the sentinlents of our reformers respecting the
n1aintenance of discipline in the Church.
Iany of the canons
of 1603 are directed to that object: and the articles of inquiry,
issued before every visitation of the diocese, are founded on
those canons. But the canons having been pronounced to be
not binding on the lait.y, presentJnents-with a view to the cor-
rection of offences against the laws of God-are rarely Inade ;
and the censures of the Church no longer operate to deter BIen
iroln sin. I anl a\vare that I alU treading on dangerous ground,
when I venture to speak of a revival of those censures and espe-
cially of excolumunication. I an1 aware of the jealousy, which
exists-a jealousy, \vhich, looking back on the past, T cannot
pronounce unfounded or unreasonable-of any measure, \vhich
appears to place power in the ha.nds of the clergy. But the
national Church is now practically deprived of a po\ver, of which
the possession ish, as I have already observed, involved in the
notion and almost essential to the existflnce of a society-the
power of cutting off froln the privileges of nlelubership offendors
against its authority and laws. The sense entertained by the
g Burn, Preface to his Ecclesiastical Law, p. xxxiv. Ed. ï.
h 'Varbul'ton, Alliance, book i, chap. v : Vol. vii, p. 67. Ed. 181 I.

BÙ;lwjJ Ka!le"s Vltargo uj.lg46.

'*69

fralners of our Liturgy of the injury, inflicted on the Church by
the want of 8 penitential discipline, is forcibly expreslSed in the
preface to the Conunination Service. But, if we proceed to
inquire why we labour under that "ant, the answer must., I
think, be that the very aid, which hM been invoked to give
effect to ecclesiastical censures-the aid of tht;} state-has
caused thenl to fall into disuse. The civil penalties, consequent
upon a sentence of excolnnlunication. have prevented the eccIe-
8iastical authorities froIH proceeding against offenders. They
shrink froin the attempt: not more from an apprehension of
the damour, which the infliction of those penalties would create,
than fronl a sense of their un
uitableness to accoulplish the true
cnrl of spiritual censures-the awakening of the conscience of
the transgressor.
Iy conclusion therefore is that, in order to
restore to those cen
ures their due authority, we must discon-
nect them with all civil penalties. The offences, against which
they are directed, are transgrelS
ion
of Divine law: and the
n10ti,'c, which the Church ought to propose in order to detcr
men from offending, is fear, not of the teluporal penalties in-
flicted by hunlan laws, but of the eternal punishments, de-
nounced in God's law against sin. To pronounce an offender
excommunicate and then to call in the civil power.. is to confes

at once that the Church is not invested by its Divine founder
with any external coercive power, and that it is desirous to ob-
tain that, which he never intended to confer upon it.
This suggestion Inay at first sight appear paradoxical. It
nlay be said that, if spiritual censures are now lightly regarded,
though civil penalties are consequent upon theul, they will fall
intu utter eontenlpt, \\hen the dread of those penalties is entirel)'
renloy(.d. Even if this should proye to be the case, and the
censures of the Church should become (if it be possible) JlI0re
inoperative than they now are to regtrain men from the viola-
tion of the taws of God, still the Church will del'ive great
advantage frOln the exclusiou of the offenùer frolH its C01U-
nlunioll. \ \.. e now cOlnplain that men break off and resulne
their c0l111nnnion with it at pleasure, as their interest or their
eaprice pr01l1pts theine Rut if the power of excolllluunication
were exercised, this would no longer be the case: the line would
be drawn, as distinctly as in the prinlitive tin1cs, between those
within and those without the Church: between the subjects of
Christ and the subjects of the god of this world. Again. we

470

Extracts frorn

complain that we are compelled to perforln the last offices, ac-
cording to the rites of the Church, for those ,vho, while living,
openly rejected its authority; and to declare that ,ve conunit to
the ground, in sure and certain hope of the resurrection to
eternal life, the bodies of those, \vho lived in the habitual prac-
tice of sin and died unrepentant: of WhOlll even the charity
,vhich hopeth all things scarcely ventures to entertain a hope.
These are grievances, of which the clergy complain: and fronI
,vhich they \vould be relieved, if the power of excommunication
were exercised, although no telnporal penalties followed upon
the exercise.
Iore than this. Is there not ground for hoping
that the removal of civil penalties, far from diminishing, would
increase t.he dread of spiritual censures? That the appeal to
the offender's conscience \vould be nlore effectual, if the judg-
Inent to come and all the momentous transactions of the day of
final account \vere brought exclusively before his view, separate
from all considerations of human tribunals and temporal pu-
nishments
This good, at least, would flow froll1 the change,-
the Church \vould be able to rely \vith greater confidence on the
sincerity of the repentance of those
who sought readnlission to
its conlmunion: \vould feel a more certain assurance that the
penitent was not actuated by \vorldly 1110tives, by a regard to
his temporal interests; but by those feelings, which it is the
design of spiritual censures to produce: by sorrow and remorse
for sin: by dread of the displeasure, and heartfelt desire to Le
restored to the favour, of God.

If there is much that is unsatisfactory in the external relations
of the Church to the State, there is much to cheer and encourage
us in its internal condition. Never, I believe, did it possess a
stl'onger hold upon the affections of its lay members, especially of
the poorer classes, of those, whose instruction in the truths of the
gospel fornls the principal object of its institution. For this
ilnproved and improving state of feeling towards it ,ve are in- .
debted, under the Divine blessing, to the juster and Inoro adequate
views, diffused among the clergy, of the nature and ends of their
sacred calling; to the deeper sense, which they entertain, of the
responsibility attaching to it; to the Jl10re disinterested, self-
denying spirit, by which they are actuated; to the 1110re enli
ht-
ened zeal, with which they dedicate thenlselves to the ,york of the

Bis/wp J{aye-s Oharge of 1846.

Lt71

11linistry. So long as thc
e qualities are exhibited in the life and
conversation of the clergy; so long as they prove themselves
inrlecd t.o be vicars of Christ-not in the sense, in which the
llishop of Iton1e aSSUln
s to hin1self the title, founding upon it
his clailn to be regarded as the sole depository of spiritual
authority, the source from which it is derived to all others who
bear office in t.he Church-but in the sense of St. Paurs declara-
tion i , that they are anlbassfidors for Christ to pray men in
Ohrists stead to be reconciled to God; so long as they feel that
their Ininistry is the ministry of reconciliation, and so feeling
labour without ceasing to bring Inen to a B3Ning knowledge of
Christ, renouncing, as far as it is possible in our present stnte to
renounce, all worldly cares and pursuits and interests and de-
voting all their energies to the acconlplishment of this one object
-the salvation of souls; so long will the Church, whatever its
external fortunes, cOllln1and the respect and affection of the
people of the land. It is only by thus living and acting that we,
my reverend brethren, can wrest from the hands of our adversa-
ries the weapon, with which they most successfully assail us.
Their n10st powerful argument against a civil establishment
of religion is that its tendency is to produce secularity in the
Clergy; to assimilate them to the laity in their habits, their
studies, their amusements; to cause them to cherish no higher
aÎIn than that of becoming useful members of civil society, to
forget their character of alnbassadors of Christ, t.o merge t.he
tllinister of reconciliation in the citizen. I anI far, very far, froIH
undervaluing the temporal benefits which a body of resident
clergy can confer upon a country; they have been set forth,
as you all know, by one k, certainly not biassed by any undue
partiality in favour of the clergy, \vith a graphic power peculiarly
his own: and sorry should I be, if any expression fell fronl tHe,
which could be construed to imply a wish that you should relax
in the discharge of the duties, which attach to you as members of
civil society. But to minister to the temporal necessities, to
alleviate the ten1poral dist.resses, to promote the temporal C0I11-
forts of your flocJ{s, though an important, is not the chief part of
your bounden duty. Your peculiar office is the cure of souls:
and the question to be kept constantly present to your minds i
,
what a<>count shall I be able to render in the last day of those

i 2 ('or. v, 20.

k The late
I r Cobhett.

472

E.rtrarts þ'ún"

c0I111nitted to IllY charge? I-Iow Iunny have I turne(l unto right-
eousness? The test by which the nleIubel's of your ßocks-tho
e
at least who are thelnselves under the influence of religious prin-
ciples and affections-will try you is, Whetltel' !JOlt
l'atclt for sOlds
as the!! that must give account? How bountiful soever you nIay
be to them in tenIporal gifts, stiH, if JOu are secular in your
habit.s and conversation, if you shew little concern about their
spiritual good, even while they are grateful for your bounty, they
feel that there is sOlnething defective in your character: that
you are not. acting up to the requirenlents of Jour sacred calling:
they draw, though JOu I1lay have forgotten, the distinction
between the nlinister of religion and the )aynIan.

-.

"r e kno\v that the Ronlan Catholics are active in their endea-
vours to 11lake proselytes: and we have to lament that their
endeavours have too often been attended with success. But, in
making their approaches, they do not perplex the luind of the
destined con\Tert with discussions on controverted points of doc-
trine. They begin with appealing to his feelings and affections:
they endeavour to dispose him in favour of their own Church by
dwelling on the greater aids to piety, the superior lneans of ad-
vanCeInent in the spiritual life, which it supplies. They speak of
the frequency and impressive character of its services: they point
to its sacred buildings, of which the ever open doors invite the
worshipper to enter and offer his devotions. This is an argUl11ent,
\vhich conles directly home to the bosonls of men; and how is it
to be answered by one, who thinks that he has done all that is
required of hinl to satisfy the religious cravings of his flock, that
he has provided abundantly for their spiritual sustenance, if he
gives thenI the opportunity of access, for two hours in a week,
to the house of God? Can we wonder that the contrast between
the practice of the two Churches produces an impression un.
favourable to our own and prepares the I1lind for a Illore ready
reception of ROIUish doctrines?
Again, the advocates of the Church of ROlne appeal to the
life of retirenlent and self-denial led by its priesthood. AUlong 1
us, they say, you find a body of luen, dead indeed to the world,
and \vholly occupied with the duties of their sacred calling!.
whereas your clergy appear to be chiefly bent on 1l1ixing in it:
they nre to be seen in every place of public concourse, in every

/J is!wp [( uy J's Cltarge vi 18 J,ö.

.J.7

Ineeting held for the pl1rp08f\ of pleasure. This 3..1'$0 )S an :,u'gu-
nlent, which comes honle to the und('r
tanding8 and reelings of
:111 Juen; they are for the most. part little inclined, perhaps are
conscious of their incolnpetency, to examino and decide upon
the points in dispute between the two Churches; they judge of
religion by its fruits and conclude that the Church, which pro-
duces the most self-denying and devoted nIinisters, is that which
possesses the truth, and which the)' may 1110'3t securely tal{e as
their guide in the path leading to life eternal. How then can
we counteract tbe effect of arguillents t.hus
kilt'ully adapted to
the comprehension and feelings of those, to WhOlll they are ad-
dressed? How refute that drawn fronl the supposed inferiorit)
of thp provision nlade in our Church for the adVanCell1ent of it

111eInbers ill holiness
How, but by carrying out the intentions of
the fralners of our services? by performing those services in the

pirit in which they were frallIed? by unlocking the treasures of
divine knowledge wbich they contain
by showing practically that
they are sufficient for the supply of all the spiritual wants of man.
that they are not lifeless forms, but endowed with a living energy
-effectual, ,vhen used in faith, to the nourishlnent of the divine
life in the soul, fitted to bear it up and sustain it in its loftiest aspi-
rations after holiness and heaven? How again are we to answer
the argument dra\vn frol11 the alleged superiority of the R0J11ish
priesthood in self-devotion and personal purity? How, but by
outliving thenI? by showing that, while we are careful to dis-
charge all the claillls which the world possesses upon us, 've are
not its votaries? that our thoughts, our desires, our affections
are raised above it
that the object, ever pres
nt to our lllinds,
is the accomplishment of the end of our Ininistry, the salvation
of the souls of those cOIllmitted to our charge
by showing that
a cornpulsory celibacy, a renunciation of the donlestic charities,
is not necessary to the production of a zealous, pious, self.
denying clergJ î by exhibiting in our fal11ilies, that which an
unn1arried clergy can, at best, but ilnperfectIy exhibit, a living
picture of a Christian householù? in a word, by making our-
selves in all things H wholesome ex
ullples and patt
rns for the
iJeople to follow
"
, I mean not to say that the most entire and unreserved dedi-
tion of ourselves to the duties of our sacred calling will put
OUI" adversaries to silence or avert the attacks, which they are
meditating against us. He must be little acquainted with the
I 1

474 Extracts fl'O'ln Bislwp Kaye's Oha'pge of 1846.
history of the Church, who does. not kno\v that many of its
severest trials have occurred, not \vhen it was sunk in apathy and
indifference l but when it was labouring most zealously and most
effectually to accomplish the ends of its institution. It is the
activity, not the indolence of the clergy, ,vhich calls forth the
anger of the prince of this ,vorld, by alarming him for the
stability of his empire. 'Ve must also bear in mind that the
evil consequences of carelessness and neglect are not imn1edi-
ately felt. The seeds of mischief are sown, but lnore than one
.generation may pass away before they fully develop themselves:
and the punishment may fall, not on the guilty parties, but on
their successors. The state of the Church on earth 3 a state
of 'warfare: a state, implying dangers to be encountered and
trials to be endured: and our heavenly Father may see fit to
purify it by the same process of suffering, by \vhich his only-
begotten Son was made perfect l . But, whatever the external
condition of the Church, our duty to labour for its purity re-
mains the same. Christ, the ApostIe m tells us, loved the Ohu1.clt,
and gave himself for it l that he nÛght sanctify it l and present it to
himself as a glorious Ohurch, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any
such thing. Let the purification and sanctification of the Church,
,vhich the Apostle here describes as the end of Christ's suffer-
ings, be, my reverend brethren, the end of our labours and our
prayers.

1 Heb. ii, 10.

m Eph. v, 25-27.

THE END.

The Bishop of 1Vinchcster has addressed a second
letter to the Rev. W. OdOlll, vicar of HeelèY, Sheffield,
with regard to his attitude towards Nonconformists:-
4' l\Iost assuredly I never dreamed of coupling Dis-
senters, :l\Iohammedans, and Buddhists together.
If an Englishman were to say, ':Kot only do I not
hate and despise Frenchmen and Germans, but I do
not even despise Kaffirs and Hottentots,' it would
; not follow that hé would put Europeans and savages
in the same category; or if he were to teach his
-child not only not to hurt bis brothers or sisters,
but not also to torment dogs and cats, he would not
therefore treat his own children as dogs. It is also
absolutely untrue that I speak of the organisation
( ,of the English Church as the one Church of Christ,
the one body of Christ, and that it is impossible to
constitute a Church outside this organisation, and
that all other bodies are sects humanly constituted,
or, as he hints (where. when, and how?), I mere
schools of philosophy.' All this is simply wrestinO'
human language to the destruction of its tru

8ignificance. I may very probably have claimed for
an Episcopal constitution strong evidence froDl Scrip-
ture, and tIle irrefragable evidence of the fact that
within half a century from the dèath of the last
Apostle there was not a Church in universal Christen-
dom that was not governed by Bishops. I may add
to this that a Church is a Divine institution. not a
human one. But I have never said more than has
been 8aid by the most moderate divines of the Angli-
can communion-viz., that episcopacy is apparently
Scriptural and certainly Apostolical, and that though
I it may not be essential to the constitution of a
Church, it is necessary to the completeness and per-
fection of Church org-anisation. The assertion that
I I am a high sacerdotalist is absolutely untrue. I
am quite as much an Evangelical as I am a High
I Churchman, and I believe that sound Churchmanship
I and true Evang-elicalism are perfectly tenable not
ønly in one and the same Church, but in one and the
same mind. I can find no party name by which I
caR call myself."

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