And, fecondly, another Confequence of this Doctrine is this, that upon Suppofition hereof we must be forced to father upon the Holy Ghoft, not only all the Indecencies, all the Indifcretions, all the vain Repetitions, or Impertinencies, that any extemporary Prayers that have been put up in the Church have had in them: But if there have been any thing worfe than thefe; if ever any rude Language hath been given to God Almighty; if ever any falfe Representations have been made of his Attributes; if ever any unfound Doctrines have < been couched in Prayer, tending to Faction, or Rebellion, or the like; all these Things muft have the Patronage of the Spirit, who muft be fuppofed to be the Author, or Infpirer of them.

But I take no Pleasure in mentioning thefe Things, and therefore I will not infift upon them, but pafs on to the third general Propo'fition I am to make out, and that is this: If there be any other Notion of praying by the Spirit in Scripture, fuch as is to be extended to all Times and Ages of Chriftianity, and is "not peculiar to the first, that Notion will every whit as well fuit with Forms of Prayer, as with these that are conceived upon the fudden and prefent Occafion.

There is a Spirit of Prayer fpoken of in Scripture, which I doubt not but God hath endued, and doth and will endue his People with unto the End of the World; and and perf. haps this Phrase of praying in the Spirit, or by

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⚫ the Spirit may, in one or two Texts, be used in the fame Signification: So that to pray by the Spirit fhall mean the fame Thing as to have the Spirit of Prayer; and in this Senfe nobody will queftion that praying by the Spirit is a perpetual Duty, is of perpetual Ufe, and • denotes a perpetual Affiftance of the holy Spi⚫rit of God.

But now what is this Spirit of Prayer? Why nobody that reads the Scripture, and 'confiders how that Term is there used, but will be fatisfied that it imports neither more nor less than the Grace of praying as we ought to do: Juft as the Spirit of Wisdom, the Spirit of Knowledge, the Spirit of Truth, or the Spirit of Meeknefs, are thofe feveral Graces and Virtues of Wisdom, Knowledge, Truth, * and Meekness, that are wrought in us by the Holy Spirit, fo that whoever reverently and humbly addreffeth himself to God Almighty, feriously acknowledging on one hand his own Vileness, and Unworthiness, and manifold Neceffities; and on the other hand God's infinite Power, and Wisdom, and Goodness; profeffing to depend upon him entirely, dreading his Displeasure; earneftly feeking his Grace and Favour, and devoutly rendering Thanks to him for all his Mercies; fuch a Man hath the Spirit of Prayer. When he prays ⚫ with this Mind, with these Difpofitions, with thefe devout Affections, he truly prays by the Spirit, because these Qualities are wrought in him by the Spirit of God; he had not had ⚫ them

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them but thro' the Influence and Affiftance of the Holy Ghoft: But now what I beseech you is all this, either to praying by a Form, or praying in an extemporary Way? Why may not I be thought to have these Qualifi cations, thefe devout Affections, this Ardor and Fervency of Mind toward God, when ⚫ I pray in Words ready made to my Hands, as well as when I pray in Words that I thought is not on before? And confequently why muft I be faid to pray by the Spirit one way, and not in the other? Add to this, in the laft Place, which is the fourth Propofition I am to speak to, that though we should fuppofe that God, 4 even in thefe Days, doth affift Men both as to the Matter, and even the Words of their Prayers; yet we have as much Reason to believe that the publick Prayers of the Church were indicted and contrived by that Spirit of God, as we have to believe that any Man's private Prayers are; and confequently, that when we use them we pray as much by the Spirit, as when we ufe extemporary Prayer.

This Propofition is fo evident, that I need fpeak very few Words towards the clearing of it. The Thing lies here, whether is it not, at leaft, as likely that when a Company of learned, religious, devout Men, are met together, by the Command of Authority, to confider of a publick standing Liturgy to be used in the Church, and fpare no Care, nor Pains, nor Study, to form one as exactly as may be, according to the Will of God declared in Holy Scripture;

Scripture; and not only fo, but earnestly de<fire of God the Affiftance and Direction of his

Spirit to go along with them in that Work: P fay, whether is it not at least as probable that fuch Men as thefe, taking this Method, fhall be extraordinarily affifted by the Spirit in carrying on this Undertaking? Nay, (and if the Spirit now-a-days does vouchsafe fuch Infpirations) fhall be immediately infpired, both as to the Matter and the Words that they agree upon, as it is probable that a particular Perfon that comes up in a Congregation fhall, without any Premeditation or Care of his, be thus inspired? Can we reasonably imagine that • God's Spirit will indite a Prayer for this latter Man, will dictate to him what he is to fay, and will take no care of the former, give them no Affiftance in the forming of their Prayers? Sure the Thing is inconceivable and yet this is directly the Cafe of our CommonPrayer on one hand, and extemporary publick Prayer on the other; fo that if we will not be partial in our giving Judgment, we ought to think that when we pray by the publick Liturgy, we pray at least as much, if not more, the Prayers of the Spirit, as when we go along ⚫ with a Man that ufes his extemporary Faculty.

And thus I have gone through the four • Points I propofed, and I hope by this Time you are convinced what little Force there is in all that Noife that has been made about praying by the Spirit, to make us quit our publick Liturgy for extemporary Prayer.

Before

Before I quit this Head, fhould I fay nothing of our established Liturgy, I might be fufpected, perhaps, to have as mean, and as bad, an Opinion of it, as the Authors of the Candid Inquifitions; and, with them, to defire to fee it alter'd, or rather to fee a new one established in its room. I defire fincerely to be as candid in my Remarks, as they can poffibly think themselves to be in their Difquifitions; and their Candor ought to make them believe me when I fay fo: But Justice intitles me to the Liberty of speaking my Mind as ingenuously, if I fpeak it as decently, as they have done. First of all, as to the Candor of their Difquifitions, I must be of Opinion, that whatever their Intention may be, their Conduct is not quite fo candid as might have been expected on fuch an Occafion. There feems to be a stronger Inclination to raise Objections, than to commend our Liturgy. They have been industrious to collect together every Thing that has been urged against it, but not fo forward to do Justice to its allowed Excellencies. It must be capable of Improvements, in fome Particulars, as it is the Compofition of fallible Men; but, with all its Faults and Defects, it has, upon the whole, been deemed, not only by the Members of our own Communion, but by foreign Proteftant Churches, to be a moft excellent one; as any one may fee that will read Durell's Account of them. Had thefe Projectors been a little more candid in their Cenfures, and more moderate in their Demands, they would have been better intitled to the Attention of the Legislature;

but,