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THE LIFE OF

ceiv’d by himself) for the worshihping of God, was a Thing, the Power*whereof was never given to him: for neither at holy Orders, nor by Institu-tion and Induction, nor by any Licence granted, is such Power given. Andit is rightly observed, by the Learned upon i Cor. xii. that the Grace, or ena-bling Gift, is not presently to induce the Operation or Act, in the Church ofGod, unless the Administration, that is, the Office or Calling be also given.By that Rule therefore, to which St. Paul faith, Chrifl himself submitted, Heb.v. 4, Nemo asfumit sibi hunc honor em, As no man (how able soever to performit) ought to take upon him any Office in God’s Service, so nor any Functionof that Office, till he be thereunto called, that is, by an express Power givenhim } he be thereunto appointed.

However, then it be not denied by this Defendant, hut that some private•conceived Prayers have been used by many learned Divines in the Pulpit, aftera good and godly Manner; yet he humbly conceiveth that it was necessary,that the Rule how Men should pray there in the Pulpit, should be general andcertain, not arbitrary; because they which are most unable so to do, willtake the same Liberty that others have ; whereby many, by venting their ownindigested Conceptions in the Pulpit, have greatly offended God and theChurch, and brought a Scandal on those two most divine Offices, Praying andPreaching.

He thought it therefore meet to adhere to the antient Usage of our Church,as he found it both intheCanon prescrib’d, and practis’d also, not only by BiihopLatimer, but also by Bishop Jewel, whose Form is extant in that Book of his,appointed to be had in all Churches, the rather, because Bishop Andrews andold Dr. Montfort, had often affirmed to this Defendant and others, that tillMr. Cartwright's time, it never was otherwise in this Church. But then a dis-like of the prescript Form of publick Prayer, established by Law, burstingforth both in their Preachings and Writings, till the State began to questionthem for it; and when they found it not safe to preach or print any moreagainst the Liturgy, they betook themselves to the Use of these new formedPrayers in the Pulpit, thereby to continue the People in a Dislike and Neglectof the prescribed Form.

He further answereth and denieth, that at the Sermon in Ipswich, when thePreacher made his Prayer, he gave no Reverence of kneeling, or otherwise,thereby to discountenance the said Prayer. For he sat with his Head uncover-ed, and did very reverently and diligently attend to what was said at the Close ofall, and did humbly kneel down and pray. And this Course he had antiently ob-served in the University, it being usually so done there in his Time by theDoctors and Heads of the Houses, to attend what the Preacher would prayfor, and then at the Lord’s Prayer to kneel down. Wherein he did morethan that whole Congregation did generally use to do (though there were a-bove 500 present) till by this Defendant, some of them were induced to moreReverence. For, ordinarily not one but of his Company (whether Man orWoman) was seen to kneel at any part of the Prayers, from their first com-ing into the Church, to their going forth. But the Reason why this Defen-dant kneeled not, during all the said Pulpit Prayer, was, for that he durst notjoin in those extemporary Prayers, till he had heard and collected, what they•would pray for, as having many Times met with Passages not unadvised only,or confused, but erroneous also, scandalous, seditious and dangerous, utter’d insuch kind of praying. Some have prayed for holy Machiavelijime ; some thattheir original Sins might at last be forgiven them ; some ordinarily traducedthe King, and Queen; some took upon them to distinguish the Nobility, bytrue hearted, and not; some, Vc.

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