I Have presumed to address you upon a subject which appears to me of the greatest impor­tance, and worthy of the consideration of the ministers and elders of the church of Scotland; thank God, I have reason to hope, from your wis­dom, learning, and piety, that I shall be favoured with a fair and patient hearing, tho' my sphere in life be low, and my sentiments set off with no other advantages than sincerity and truth, as far as I can distinguish it; for God, and my own heart, bear witness, that I present this address with no other view than to promote (as much as I can) the glory of God, the interests of true religion, and the ho­nour, purity, and peace of the church of Scotland. Could I have found any better method of commu­nicating my thoughts than by a letter, I would wil­lingly [Page 2] have chosen it; or had I hoped ever to have seen a more favourable season than the present I would patiently have waited for it. But now we are blessed with a learned body of clergy, with a prince well disposed to promote true piety among his people, and we have the happiness to live in an age, in which the prejudices of parties are mostly worn off, the rage of dispute abated, and men dis­posed to hear truth, and obey reason; such peace­ful happy days are designed by heaven, and ought to be employed by men, to repair in religion, what has been pulled down by mad passions, in turbulent times; to restore to its first beauty, whatever has been defaced by party prejudices in the days of con­tention, and to recover the purity of our faith, and decency of our worship, from the rust and low su­perstition which they have contracted in the igno­rant ages; and tinctures of enthusiasm they imbi­bed in the shock and tumult of the reformation. There was no church that met with greater oppo­sition, or was more violently agitated than ours; and tho' (thank God) it stood out the storm, yet it suffered very severely; and when the fury was in some degree abated; and men had time to look about them, our church appeared little better than a ruin; her sacred buildings levelled with the ground, or bare shattered walls, the standing mo­numents of religious madness; her treasures rob­bed by sacrilegious hands; her registers destroyed, or carried off; her funds applied to profane uses, and her clergy left to starve: would to God she had suffered only in these less essential things.

But along with these she contracted a singular and whimsical taste, her principles of faith grew dark and mysterious, and her method of worship [Page 3] defective and unreasonable: some of these ruins, she never can repair; some of them indeed time has in a great measure patched up; and some of them remain to be repaired by the present rulers of our church, or by succeeding generations; of this kind is our publick worship; in which there are several things that demand your serious attention, and call loudly for the diligence and learning of the present age. I will presume, with due deference, to point out a few of them; hoping that my poor endeavours, may at least obtain pardon, out of re­spect to the importance of the subject, and the sin­cerity of my intention; and that some able head and good heart, will take the hint, and fully point out the flaws, in our present way of worship, and direct us how to amend them. Some unprejudiced and happy genius, may perhaps appear, whose per­suasive eloquence, refined expression, and conclu­sive arguments may command attention, and gain assent; in spite of the bigotry of the ignorant, the vain ambition of those, that are fond of popularity, and the whimsical opinions of enthusiasts. Till such an one shall appear, I hope you will not take it amiss, that I offer my remarks, especially as I beg leave to assure you, that this my address does not proceed from a fondness of novelty, much less any intention to disturb the peace of the church established by law, or indeed from any other or any worse motive, than that her publick service may be such as seems best calculated, for promoting the interests of religion and virtue; and most suit­able for reasonable creatures to offer, and an infi­nitely wise God to accept.

First, I submit to your serious consideration, whether a larger portion of the scriptures should not [Page 4] be read every Lord's day in our public assemblies; the reading of the scriptures always made a part of the publick service in all the churches of God; the law and the prophets, were solemnly read^* in the synagogues every Sabbath day; our Saviour coun­tenanced and sanctified this practice^† with his pre­sence and example; the Apostle Paul peremptorily commands Timothy to give attendance to reading, as well as to exhortation and doctrine; and the pri­mitive church religiously observed this command, as Justin Martyr^‡ bears witness. "Upon the day that is called Sunday (says he) all that live in the country, or in the towns, assemble in one place, and the commentaries of the apostles, and the writings of the prophets are read, till the time allotted for them be expired." Nay more, our own directory for publick worship, (which perhaps may have more weight with some, than the example of our Saviour, the command of his Apostles, or the practice of the purest antiquity) recommends^§ that ordinarily one chapter out of each Testament should be read at every meeting. I am at a loss whether to ascribe the negligence of this essential part of our service, to the pride of the clergy, or the perverseness of the people, perhaps it may be in some degree owing to both; the clergy, probably think that it would not give them a sufficient opportunity to display their own talents; and the people, that it does not so fully please their ears, always itch­ing with the desire of something new; to the first I shall only observe, that tho' we have, as we always ought to have, a very great respect for the observations and discourses of our spiritual guides, [Page 5] yet at the same time we cannot but wish to hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches, in his own words; we have room to wish for this, as we are told by the apostle, that the scriptures are profita­ble, for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for in­struction in righteousness; and that by them the man of God may be made perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works. It is true you indulge us now and then with ten or a dozen of verses of pure scripture in our publick assemblies, but as we^* have no regu­lar plan of reading the scriptures, of consequence we only hear detached places, chosen at the pleasure of the preacher, and applied to what purposes he thinks fit; this leaves our understandings too much in the power of the clergy, and exposes the simple and ignorant (who make the greatest part of our congregations) to be seduced by the party princi­ples and whimsical opinions of the preacher. It may at first sight appear, that the whole plan of our worship, is as happily calculated for making a property of the laity, and keeping their judgments and consciences in the power of the person, as any part of the popish system; for the minister needs not read any part of the scriptures unless he pleases; he may choose what place he thinks proper, may begin where he inclines, and break off when he has a mind; he may mangle them in any manner he thinks fit, and make them say whatever he would have them to say.

But allow me tell you, that as the reading of the scriptures in publick assemblies, is of divine ap­pointment, no power upon earth can dispense with [Page 6] the obligation; as they contain the articles of our faith, and the rules by which we are to regulate our lives, nothing can supply and therefore nothing ought to usurp their place; and as all the reformed churches are agreed, that the scriptures are plain in things necessary to salvation, we ought to hear them as they are, without your glosses and comments; nay what can be more effectual for our salvation, or so proper for instruction, seeing they bear witness for themselves, that the word of God is sharper than a two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asun­der of the soul and spirit, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart, ^* That it converts the soul, and makes the simple wise. ^† Is there any thing that can be substituted in the place of the scriptures, from which, such great and happy effects may be expected? But if this shameful negligence be owing to the perverse humour of the people, who perhaps may think, that the reading of the scriptures is a dry insipid part of the service, you will not I hope take it ill, if I say, that amusements are more their errand to church than instruction, and they are more desirous of new words than sound doctrine, and that in fact their hearts are carnal, & estranged from the things of the Spirit; for the apostle informs us that the natural man receiveth not things of the Spirit, for they are foolishness to him. Pardon me if I think that your compliance with this humour, is like Aaron's to the folly of the Israelites; as he ser up a calf made with his own hands, to be the object of the people's worship, instead of the living God; so you set up your own compositions, to direct the faith, and regulate the manners of the people, in the place of the scriptures of truth, dic­tated [Page 7] by the Holy Spirit. The service of God in the way of his own appointment ever was, and ever will be disliked by the bulk of the people; the Jews would willingly have embraced any religion, but that which was given them from heaven; they would have sacrificed in any place but in that pointed out by their Maker; and thought no rites burdensom but those that God was pleased to appoint; but with respect to those, the prophet upbraids them with saying, as our people say, Behold what a wea­riness is it. ^* It is the business and duty of ministers to check and resist this humour of the people, and not encourage it by a mean compliance with a viti­ated taste, and a base betraying of the trust reposed in them; but, alas! the taste of the people in this, coincides with the inclinations of the pastor, and flatters his pride and vanity too much to be restrain­ed; however, with all humility I presume to beg, that you would be pleased to consider, how you can answer to God, to your own consciences, and to us your hearers, for such a dangerous and wilful neglect.

As to praise, we seem to study to give this part of our worship as much the air of rusticity, and contempt of God as possible; because we thought that the engagement of the heart was (as indeed it is) the essence of this part of worship, we have whimsically thrown out every thing that helped to engage and elevate the heart; many of the words we use are obsolete and low, the versification is mean and barbarous, and the musick harsh and ill performed; our harmony otherways not very sweet, is entirely lost, and the sense broke off at every line; our posture too is the most indecent, negligent, and [Page 8] improper for singing well, that we could have con­trived; it is true, the posture is of no importance, farther than as it expresses our reverence to the God whom we worship; yet it is as necessary that it should be decent, as that our words should be pro­per, for both are only signs of inward sensations; should we find a fellow crying very bitterly, and dancing very briskly, these are signs of so opposite sensations, that we would be apt to imagine he was distracted; and what shall we conclude, when we hear a congregation addressing God in some ar­dent hymn, or earnest petition, and see them sitting upon their breech, or lolling with the most negli­gent air and posture upon their seats? the signs here point to very different sensations! Quintillian seems to think that there may be a solecism in gesture as well as in the expression; and if such a thing can be, we seem guilty of a very great one, in using the most indifferent, negligent posture, when we are employed in the most interesting and serious affair, I mean offering praise to the living God.

I cannot help thinking, that all the rational peo­ple of our communion, must be shocked with the indecencies, and follies, that attend the adminis­tration of our Lord's supper, known among the the common people by the name of an occasion. We accuse the Roman church of superstition, and that very justly; but in this instance she may fairly retort, and tell us, that we blame in others, what we approve of, or at least allow in ourselves; for if our people did not imagine that there was some superior virtue, in sermons preached upon these occasions, some sanctity in the place, or some merit in their attendance, it is unlikely, that such num­bers, who have no intention to communicate, [Page 9] should crowd from all quarters, leave their parish churches almost empty, and slight as good sermons, which they might hear, without the fatigue of tra­veling, or the inconveniencies that attend a crowd. Superstition in all countries has the same effect, tho' it may be directed to different objects: in popish countries, people crowd from place to place, to visit the shrines of the saints, and pray before the most famous images; in Scotland, they run from kirk to kirk as it were after the host, and flock to see a sacrament, as those to share in the proces­sion, and too many of our people (with shame we must confess) make the same use of our occasions, that the papists do of their pilgrimages and pro­cessions; that is, to indulge themselves in drun­kenness, lust, and idleness; most of the servants when they agree to serve their masters in the wes­tern parts of the kingdom, make a special provision, that they shall have liberty to go to a certain num­ber of fairs, or to an equal number of sacraments; and as they consider a sacrament or an occasion (as they call the administration of the Lord's supper in a neighbouring parish) in the same light in which they do a fair, so they behave at it, much in the same manner. I defy Italy, in spite of all its su­perstition, to produce a scene better fitted to raise pity and regret in a religious, humane, and under­standing heart, or to afford an ampler field for ri­dicule, to the careless and profane, than what they call a field preaching upon one of those occasions: at the time of the administration of the Lord's sup­per (ye know) that upon the Thursday, Saturday, and Monday, we have preaching in the fields near the church, which it seems we must not use upon that occasion; I have often thought that the fre­quency [Page 10] of the sight makes it familiar, and conse­quently less shocking to you, or that being in the inner circle, you seldom have access to see the in­decency and absurdity of the whole scene, other­ways you would not encourage it. Allow me then to describe it, as it really is: at first you find a great number of men and women lying together upon the grass; here they are sleeping and snoring, some with their faces towards heaven, others with their faces turned downwards, or covered with their bonnets; there you find a knot of young fellows and girls making assignations to go home together in the evening, or to meet in some ale-house; in another place you see a pious circle sitting round an ale barrel, many of which stand ready upon carts, for the refreshment of the saints. The heat of the summer season, the fatigue of travelling, and the greatness of the crowd, naturally dispose them to drink; which inclines some of them to sleep, works up the enthusiasm of others, and contributes not a little to produce those miraculous conversions that sometimes happen at these occasions; in a word, in this sacred assembly there is an odd mixture of religion, sleep, drinking, courtship, and a confu­sion of sexes, ages, and characters. When you get a little nearer the speaker, so as to be within the reach of the sound, tho' not of the sense of the words, for that can only reach a small circle, even when the preacher is favoured with a calm; and when there happens to be any wind stiring, hardly can one sentence be heard distinctly at any conside­rable distance; in this second circle you will find some weeping, and others laughing, some pressing to get nearer the tent or tub in which the parson is sweating, bawling, jumping, and beating the desk; [Page 11] others fainting with the stifling heat, or wrestling to extricate themselves from the crowd; one seems very devout and serious, and the next moment is scolding and cursing his neighbour, for squeezing or treading on him; in an instant after, all his coun­tenance is composed to the religious gloom, and he is groaning, sighing, and weeping for his sins; in a word, there is such an absurd mixture of the se­rious and comick, that were we convened for any other purpose, than that of worshipping the God and Governor of nature, the scene would exceed all power of face.

But when one considers, what solemn awe should accompany the pronunciation of his name, and what decent gravity attend his worship, and sees such an unhappy contrast, if his heart be not en­tirely unacquainted with the feelings of humanity, the sigh will force its way, and the pitying tear start into his eye; especially if he knows, that ma­ny of the clergy encourage this absurdity; that this is the time, when they vie with one another for popularity, and try who can convene the greatest mob; that some of the elders are so fond of these religious farces, that they have threatened to aban­don their churches, if the absurd practice of preach­ing without doors should be discontinued; and that even those of the clergy, who have sense to per­ceive its inconveniencies, and ingenuity to own that it is wrong, yet want courage to oppose the popular frenzy, and resolution to reform what in their own hearts they cannot but condemn. Whe­ther we consider this practice in a moral, politi­cal, or religious light, we shall find it attended with very bad consequences; how much must it encourage drunkenness, when such crowds are con­vened [Page 12] from all quarters? what must the conse­quence be, when a whose country side is thrown loose, and young fellows and girls are going home together by night, in the gayest season of the year; when every thing naturally inspires warm desires, and silence, secrecy, and darkness encourage them? When I was a young fellow at my apprenticeship, I was a great frequenter of these occasions, and know them so well, that whatever others may think, I would not choose a wife that had often frequented them, nor trust a daughter too much, among those rambling saints; old maids may perhaps be be al­lowed to revenge themselves of the world, by grow­ing religious at the easy rate of running from sacra­ment to sacrament; and they who are in pain to be provided with husbands, may possibly find their account in frequenting those sacred assemblies; but I would advise others to go but seldom, and never to a greater distance than that they can return be­fore sun-set; lest by frequenting them too much, they contract an idle disposition of mind, and by staying too late, they get into a bad habit of body. Nor are the consequences of this practice, considered in a politcial light, more favourable than in a mo­ral; our church disclaims all holy days, and I should offend at once against truth and the rules of our church, if I said that we observed any such; but I presume that the number of our idle days will fall very little short of the number in the popish kalen­dar, and all the difference is, that their holy days are fixt, and, our idle days moveable; theirs are dedicated to some saint, and ours are devoted to some occasion; theirs foster superstition and idleness, and so do ours; theirs are signalized now and then by miraculous cures, by which the patient's health [Page 13] is seldom bettered; and ours by miraculous con­versions^*, by which the converts morals are rare­ly mended; and to do the papists justice, they deal more fairly in their miracles than we, for a man can see if a crooked limb be made straight, because it is the object of the senses, but a miracle wrought instantaneously in the mind, must be taken upon the word of the patient or the parson; but the truth is, their holy days, and our idle days, whatever miracles they may produce, do hurt to true religion: the people lose many labouring days by them, and the country is deprived of the fruit of their industry. I have seen above three thousand people at one of these occasions; but supposing that one with another there are only fifteen hundred, and that each of them, one with another might earn six pence a day, every sacrament, by its three idle days, will cost the country much about 112 l. 10 s. sterling, not including the days that they who live at a great dis­tance must lose in coming and going, not the los­ses the farmer must sustain, when occasions happen in the hay, harvest, or seed times; the man of bu­siness, when they chance to fall upon market days; or the tradesman, when any particular piece of work is in hand that requires dispatch: now sup­posing the sacrament should be administered only twice a year, in all our churches, which, if it be not, it ought to be, these occasions, as they are managed at present, will cost Scotland at least 235,000 l. sterling, an immense sum for sermons! the greatest part of which might be saved, much disorder and irregularity prevented, would the assembly be gra­ciously pleased to appoint some particular Sundays [Page 14] in the four seasons^*, for the administration of this sacrament, over all the kingdom. We were too fond of novelties, and perhaps too proud of our own judgments, when we altered established practices founded on reason, and approved, by long expe­rience; and we could hardly have pitched upon a more unnatural method than the present, consider it in what light you will; for if the design of this sacrament, next to setting forth the death of our Lord, be to remain as a piedge of love and charity among christians, it does not with us seem at all to answer the design; as our congregations, like discontented children, take a private hour as it were, and eat their bread by themselves in a cor­ner; whereas all the rest of the christian world, do, christian like, communicate together three times in the year; and as they shew forth the same me­ritorious death, they shew it forth at the same sea­son, and, like brethren, sit down at once to the same love feast.

But, besides this, the great noise that we make about these occasions, leads our people to lay too great a stress upon them, and to imagine that there is something meritorious, nay that the life of reli­gion lies in hearing a great number of sacramental sermons; they serve nearly the same ends in our church, that confession, and absolution, do among the papists; our people put on a very demure look some days before the sacrament; the gloom gra­dually gathers upon their faces as it approaches; and they look like criminals going to execution when the day is come; just so may it be seen in the [Page 15] popish countries, in the seasons set apart for con­fession and penance; but in both countries the pro­fessed repentance proves only a flash of devotion, and as if matters were made up with the Deity, and all former accounts cleared, the papist soon put off his penitential countenance, and the presby­terian lays by his sacramental face, and they and we in a little time are the same men that we were before.

And as these occasions make our people lay too great a stress upon the outward means, while they neglect the great end of all religion, I mean, to better the heart, and reform the conduct; so they raise contention, heart-burnings, envy, and factions among our clergy, while they contend for popu­larity, vie with one another who shall convene the greatest crowd, and work up the mob to the highest pitch of enthusiasm; and they offen succeed so well, that they bring the weak and ignorant, to the very brink of downright madness. I have seen scenes of this nature, that had much more of the fury of the bacchanalia, than the calm, serious, sincere devo­tion of a Christian sacrament. It is here that the ministers display that false eloquence which catches the crowd, and consists in a strong voice, a melan­choly tone, and thundering out at random damnation, death, and hell, fire, and flames, devils, darkness and gnashing of teeth; any one who has good lungs, and can borrow the beggar's cant, and the merry an­drew's action, may become very popular, and make a great figure at an occasion; for the contention there is not, who shall reason most justly, deliver most gracefully, or direct their discourse in the best man­ner for bettering the heart, and reforming the man­ners of the audience; but who shall appear most [Page 16] frantick, cry loudest, speak with the deepest, stran­gest and most hollow tone; and be most wrapt up in mystery, and scholastick terms. I have known these qualifications make nonsense triumph over sense, ignorance be preferred to learning; and in­coherent, unintelligible, nay contradictory rhap­sodies, be received with admiration by the gazing crowd; white plain, learned, and pious sermons, de­livered with a becoming modesty and gravity, have been preached almost to the empty pews. Quintillian, assigning the reasons why the ignorant orators were heard with more applause by the mob, than the ingenious and learned, paints so justly the methods by which our ministers contend for popularity at the occasions, that the passage is worth transcribing, Clamant ubique, et omnia levata (ut ipsi dicunt) manu emugiunt, multo discursu, anhelitu, jactatione, gesta, motuque capitis furentes—mire ad pullatum circulum facit—cum ille [...]ruditus modestus et esse, et videri malit—at illi hanc vim appellant, que est potius vio­lentia ^* The art of managing mankind (says Mr. Addison, speaking of quacks in physick) is only to make them stare a little, to keep up their astonish­ment, and to let nothing be familiar to them; this art is perfectly well understood by our parsons, for at these occasions, they try who shall make the peo­ple stare most; and sometimes they make them stare so long, and so eagerly, that the poor people [Page 17] turn almost stark staring mad: we are damned an hundred times over in one day; and damned too, without any sort of discretion; for most of our ministers that I have had occasion to hear, seem to have embraced, and do certainly propagate Hoadly's notions of the sacrament of the supper; and yet they go on damning us still, when their master says, and they sometimes say, that the communion is little more than a mere ceremony. Poor lay-men I own ought not to presume to dictate to the parson, what notions he is to embrace, and teach; but I humbly hope that we have a right to expect that the parson be consistent with himself, so far at least as not to damn us, where at other times he teaches us that there is no danger.

But as it is not likely that these opportunities of speaking great and swelling words ^* will be given up, while men are so presumptuous and self-willed; I submit to your consideration, whether it would not be proper to pitch upon the place designed for the scene of the field preaching, at least upon the communion Sunday, at a considerable distance from the church: this would draw off the mob, the contrast between the solemn action within doors and the comical scene without, would be less stri­king; the communicants would breathe a freer air, they would be less distracted in their devotions, have easier access to come up to the table, or to return to their seats, & the whole might be trans­acted with less bustle and confusion, and with more decency and order. As it is managed at present, it is liker any thing than the administration of the supper of our Lord; not a man amongst us [Page 18] would be content with a common meal served up in such confusion; I am sure that it is impossible for me, and I believe it is very difficult for any one, to carry up with him that sedateness of soul, and calmness of thought, that I presume to think are necessary, when he approaches the table of the Lord. How should he? when he is forced to wrestle through a crowd, to push and be pushed, stun­ned with a general hubbub, the seats rattling, the gal­leries sounding, the people singing, the communicants justling one another in the crowded passages, some fall­ing, others fainting, and in all corners of the church, hurry, confusion, and noise. I never see our tables^* filled up, but it gives me an idea of the distraction at Babel, when the confusion of languages began to be felt. I submit it, whether the apostle's cen­sure of the Corinthian church be not pertinent here, This is not to eat the Lord's supper ^†.

Perhaps the communicants should be left a little more to their own meditations, at least for my own part I could wish, that while the elements are handing about, there were observed (if it be possi­ble) a solemn and universal silence, that we might have time for our private devotions, and an oppor­tunity to ask a blessing of God upon his word and ordinances; especially as it is either forbidden, or become unfashionable with us, to do so when we take our seats, or finish the service. These things I have mentioned, and I submit my thoughts to the wisdom and candour of the rulers of our church. [Page 19] There still remains a very solemn and interesting part of our worship, I mean that of publick prayer, upon which I beg leave with all submision to make some few remarks, earnestly entreating that they may be considered with calmness and impartiality by your reverences, and the other members of our church; and that though my sentiments should not please, yet in charity you will believe that I wish well to the protestant cause, the interest of religion, and the purity and peace of the church of Scotland. These, I presume to think, would be greatly promoted, by the composition and establish­ment of some devout liturgy, or form of prayer, for publick worship. Have patience, and hear me out! I was once as much prejudiced against a pro­posal of this nature, as you can be at present, and if you will consider the inconveniencies that attend our present way of worship as calmly as I think I have done, you may perhaps see the necessiy and advantages of a form of prayer as clearly as I do.

I beseech you then to reflect, that our present extemporary way of worship is contrary to the practice and opinion of all mankind, in all ages, and of all religions, until it was introduced amidst the ferment and confusion of the fifteenth century; for before that time, whatever was the object of men's worship, whatever the matter of their pray­ers, or however widely they differed in the arti­cles of their creed, yet they agreed as unanimously in the use of forms of prayer for their publick wor­ship, as they did in the belief of a God, Greeks and Romans, the Magi and the Mahometans, Jews and Christians, have all agreed in this practice. I have often heard our Mass John, honest man, urge the universal consent and opinion of mankind, [Page 20] against the atheists, as a proof of the existence of a Deity; if this argument be conclusive, when ap­plied to the first and greatest article of religion, I mean the existence of God, sure it will be so too, with respect to the best and fittest way of worshiping him. But what is still more, God himself pre­scribed this way of worship to the Jews, as in the cases of murder, when the person who committed it was unknown; of suspicion of adultery; and when the first fruits were presented; his Son our Saviour honoured this way of worship with his pre­sence (for the worship of the synagogues was by a form of Prayer;) he sanctified it by his practice, for in his agony in the garden, he rose up, awaken­ed, and rebuked the disciples, returned to the same place, repeated the same form of words three times over; and, before he expired upon the cross, he offered up his devotions, in the words of the twenty-second Psalm; he authorized it by his command; for our directory for prayer, informs us that our Lord's prayer is not only a pattern for prayer, but is itself a most comprehesive prayer; so that if the command of God himself, the example, practice, and command of his Son, be sufficient to point out, in what way he would be worshiped, a form of prayer is pointed out for that purpose; whereas it cannot be proved that ever God com­manded extemporary publick prayer; that ever his Son attended worship performed in that way; that ever he practised it, or ever commanded it; nay I am not certain that there is one example of extemporary publick prayer in all the Bible; at least, I am sure, there is not an instance that will correspond with our situation, or authorise us in the use of it, when so many and so great inconvenien­ces do attend it.

[Page 21] We complain, and very justly too, that the po­pish clergy are too assuming, and claim a superiority over the laity, inconsistent with the natural rights of mankind, and the relation of brethren formed by the covenant of grace. Pardon me, gentlemen, if I say that you claim a very extraordinary supe­riority over the laity, in the case before us; every one of you claims an exclusive privilege of manu­facturing our publick prayers, and assumes a right of making us say to the Deity, whatever he thinks fit. In the most momentous affair in which we can be concerned upon earth, we must depend en­tirely upon the discretion, honesty, and ability of every private parson, and take the words and mat­ter of our addresses to our God and maker, such as he is pleased to give, without ever seeing, examin­ing, or judging for ourselves. This is really treat­ing us as if we were children or fools; we allow that you have a right to offer our prayers; and as it is not fit that we should all speak, the minister may be called the mouth of the congregation; but the mouth of the congregation should speak the mind of the congregation. In our congregations, the mouth runs before the mind, and speaks with­out giving us any opportunity of thinking what we ought to speak, and often says things that we should certainly reject, and sometimes offers petitions that we should absolutely abhor, had we time calmly to examine them: our mouth leads us into the gross blunder of presenting our addresses to the Deity first, and next judging whether they be proper addresses after they are offered, when we cannot mend what is wrong, or alter what is improper; we absurdly begin where we should end; for, in the natural or­der of things, the congregation should first be satis­fied [Page 22] that the prayers are proper to be offered, and then the minister should offer them in their name; just as a prudent man will think before he speaks; but in our admirable plan of worship the congrega­tion speaks by its mouth, before it has considered what it is to say; that is, the parson offers up the petition, and the people may judge of its propriety after it is offered, if they please.

The absurdity here is so glaring, that it is astonishing that it escapes the observation of the lai­ty; and it would not escape them in any other in­stance. Should the ablest member of the house of commons, propose to offer an address to his majes­ty, in the name of the house, without communi­cating it to the members, the impropriety would be immediately perceived. When the estates, or counties, design to address their sovereign, offer your service, and tell them, "Pray gentlemen, give yourselves no trouble about the matter, we and our brethren will each of us address the king in our own way; trust the whole affair to us, every indi­vidual of the cloth is more than sufficient for the undertaking; it is your business to approve of what­ever we are pleased to say for you; or at least, you may consider how you like the address, after it has been offered." Take this advice, and try if the laity will be as complisant with respect to the ho­nour of their prince, and the concerns of their bo­dies, as they are with respect to the honour of their God, and the interests of their souls: yet one would be tempted to think (if the common consent of this nation were not against the opinion) that the laity are as much interested in an address to the Deity, as in one to the king; and that they would be at least as loath to trust the first, as the last, to the dis­cretion [Page 23] ability, or honesty of every man who chan­ced to put on a black coat, or wear a starched band. But the grossest absurdity will be swallowed down when it is in fashion, & I think there can hardly be a grosser one, than that a gentleman should mount the pulpit, of whose principles or discretion we have no knowledge at all, and that this man should have a right to dictate the prayers of the whole congre­gation. If we will believe the author of the cha­racteristics^†, who seems to speak from experience, there are among you many whose principles are very dangerous, and very inconsistent with the re­ligion of Jesus; yet these men not only lead, but even compose the devotions of the people, and make us poor lay-men address our Maker upon any principles that they please.

I have come from my house a found orthodox Christian, and have hardly taken my seat in the church, when I have found myself praying, or at least one was praying in my name, as a rank Soci­nian. I have been made an Arian, as to my pray­ers, very often; and in short, there has hardly any whimsical opinion been broached among the clergy for these forty years, that I have not sometime or other found mixed with my publick prayers, tho', for my part, I am a plain old fashioned man, and content myself with the apostles creed. Sometimes, indeed, for my heart I could not have told upon what particular principles my prayers were offered, they were so excellently well contrived, and so free from all narrow notions that they would have served a Jewish synagogue, a Mahometan mosque, or a congregation of Persian magi, as well, or better [Page 24] than a Christian assembly. If the minister that officiates be a sceptick; I am made to pray like a sceptick; if an enthusiast, he addresses God in my name, according to his own enthusiastical notions; when he chances to be a factious firebrand, or a keen party man, tho' I be a very peaceable trades­man, my prayers breathe faction, my devotions in publick are flaming with party heat, and tinctured with the fury of his faction. It is well known, that when any disputes happen, and differences arise among the clergy in their synods or assemblies, both sides appeal to heaven in their publick prayers, and force the laity to appeal with them (we are not supposed to have any right to judge for ourselves in these cases;) and what is even worse, by an un­lucky change of ministers, or by stepping into an­other church, I have often been made to appeal to heaven as an advocate for both sides of the question, and pray for and against each of the parties in one day: for tho' our churches have the appearance of the same worship, yet in fact their worship is as different as the tempers, principles, and parties of the parsons who manufacture it; and this leads the laity into the dangerous blunder of offering contra­dictory petitions, and praying at different times, upon principles as opposite to one another, as light is to darkness. It is an unsual thing amongst us to pray for and against presentations in one week; I have thanked God for his decrees of election and reprobation in the forenoon, and in the afternoon offered my humble thanks that all men have equal access to salvation, by faith and virtue. In a word, there is no party, nor different principle among our clergy, with respect to which I have not been made to play fast and loose with the Deity, to ask what I [Page 25] did not want, and to pray against what I most ear­nestly wished for. This we call worshiping God! but did we deal so with our fellow men, they would call it mockery, and take it as a gross affront: I cannot help thinking, gentlemen, that this will appear, even to yourselves, hard treatment of the laity, and that you will acknowledge, that their judgment ought not to be so entirely made a pro­perty of, as to oblige them to have their publick worship offered upon what principles the parson pleases to espouse; or upon opposite principles, as the minister, for the time, is of this, or the other, party. One of your cloth complains, that we betray a ^† visible impatience till prayer be over; is it any won­der if we do? for, as it is managed at present, pray­er is to us a very dangerous part of worship; for as that judicious gentleman observes, A great deal more, a vast deal more, depends upon our performance of this duty with judgment and propriety, than most people seem to be aware of. They who are aware of this, cannot help being impatient and uneasy, when a duty of such vast importance is trusted to every individual of the clergy; and they who seldom think of its nature or importance, will always es­teem it a dry and lifeless part of our service.

I am apt to think, that it is sometimes happy for our laity that they only hear prayer as they do sermons, and cannot, I believe, as it is at present performed, or at least, I am sure do not, join in it, for tho' it be criminal not to worship God in pub­lick, yet it seems to be as great, if not a greater crime, to offer an irrational worship, to insult him with contradictory petitions, with ministers of op­posite parties, and to have our devotions tinctured [Page 26] with the spirit of faction, the wild dreams of en­thusiasts, the dangerous notions of scepticks, and the absurd follies of men whose heads are filled with vapours and whims. Tho' these should some­times be mixed with your discourses, the hardship and danger would not be half so great. If they did not instruct, they might amuse; and we needed not embrace your notions, unless we pleased; our own reason might resist, or some approved printed ser­mons might expel the poison. But when they are wrought into our publick prayers, there remains no remedy; we must take these as you are pleased to give them, or go away without publick worship.

The popish clergy indeed put a great hardship upon the laity, by offering their prayers in an un­known tongue; but tho' the hardship be great, it admits of some remedies; they may have their prayers translated into their respective languages; they may have them explained by those that under­stand the language; and constant use of the same forms, may in time enable them to annex proper ideas to the words: but the hardship put upon us admits of no remedy; we must offer what prayers every clergyman pleases; we must understand them the best way we can; we must pick up the words as we can catch them, according to the strength of your voices, the distinctness of your pronunciation, and the largeness of the church; the fall of a bible, the opening of a seat, or a cough in any corner of the church, will lose us half a sentence; and yet, if we would pray with the understanding, we must col­lect the several parts of the sentence, supply the words that are lost, compare it with what went before, examine, approve, and offer it; and this must be all done in a breath. I question whether [Page 27] the parson could perform this task himself; and I am convinced that it is impossible for the slow and ignorant part of the audience; especially as some of you speak so fast, that we cannot keep pace with you barely in hearing what you say; others deliver so slowly, that our memories cannot serve us to col­lect the several parts of the sentence; some are so fond of new and learned words, that one half of the congregation cannot know their meaning; and many of you have such a perplexed, intricate way of expressing yourselves, that we find it impossible to discover the import of your petitions; and per­haps would find this a difficult task, tho' we had an opportunity to consider them at leisure in our closets.

So that putting all these difficulties together, I imagine that it will appear that the laity of the kirk of Scotland lie under greater hardships, with res­pect to publick worship, than the laity of any church upon earth; and this hardship is made still more galling to those who have sense enough to feel it, by the pompous harangues that we are frequently entertained with, upon the privileges that we pos­sess above other Christians, the religious liberty we enjoy, and the singular purity of our worship. Sure, gentlemen, you must mean your selves, when you ascribe these great blessings to our church, o [...] you insult us in the most cruel manner; if you mean that you enjoy great privileges, and a most exten­sive liberty, it is very true▪ for you ray what you please, you sing what you please, you teach what you please, and your whole publick worship is so much of your own manufacturing, that there can hardly be found room for a verse or two of scrip­ture, and these you choose as you please; in a word, [Page 28] every parish minister is a little pope, subject to none but a general council, and, like the great pope, not subject to that, but when he pleases: for it seems to be a point as much disputed in the pres­byterian church, whether a minister is obliged to submit to the sentence of a general assembly, as it is in the popish, whether his holiness ought to yield obedience to a general council. So that it must be acknowledged, that you enjoy very great privi­leges, and a most extensive liberty. But pray what privileges do we enjoy, when one man's judgment prescribes to a whole parish? when we must pray for or against whatever party the parson pleases? offer our devotions according to the religious or po­litical principles that the minister for the time, choo­ses to embrace? shift sides as your humours change, and address our God, as Arians, Socinians, or Scep­ticks, as the gentleman in the pulpit is inclined?—Sure, if our civil liberty were not something more substantial, we should be the greatest slaves in Eu­rope!—Again, what purity can there possibly be in our worship, when the passions, prejudices, and whimsical opinions of every minister may, and do mix with it? I have always been at a loss to de­termine whether your confidence in entertaining us with such harangues, and your power of face in keeping your countenances, and stifling the laugh, or our stupidity in not perceiving the gross affront, and patience in not resenting it, were most to be admired. I cannot imagine that you are so weak as to think, with the bulk of our people, that our worship must of consequence be pure, if it be diffe­rent from the practice of the church of Rome; and that we can only err upon the side of superstition. If this be your opinion, it resembles the conduct of [Page 29] some Germans, of whom I have read, who, for fear of the Roman army, ran into a river and were drowned. Just so the greatest part of our people (for I believe better things of you) conclude that our worship must be pure, if we do not worship images, pray to saints, or adore the virgin Mary, tho' it be mixed with the whimsical notions, en­thusiastick opinions, and silly nostrums of every quack doctor in divinity. It would be happy if you would content yourselves, with insulting the people only, with such harangues; but you often make them insult their God, or at least, you do it in their names, by thanking him for establishing a pure worship, which he did not establish; a worship which cannot possibly be pure; and which even in your own opinion is not pure; for if the moderate party consists of such ministers as the author of the Characteristics^† (who is said to be one of your order) has represented them to the world, God have mercy upon the souls committed to their care! and may the Almighty pity and relieve the congrega­tions whose devotions they compose, dictate, and offer. Yet in all probability if the moderate men were to write characteristics, they would give us [...] forbidding a picture of the party that our author is pleased to call orthodox. What then must be­come of us poor lay-men, whose souls are bandied about between the factions, and our prayers offered sometimes upon the principles of the one, and sometimes upon the principles of the one, and sometimes upon the principles of the other? Would it not be happy for us, that we had some pious, primitive form of prayer, that would secure the pu­rity and reasonableness of our prayers, let the mi­nisters private opinions be what they would? As [Page 30] things are at present, it is impossible that our ser­vice can either be reasonable, perfect, or pure; un­less we can suppose, that our church has a privi­lege, which no other church upon earth ever had or ever claimed; I mean, that no weak or whim­sical minister, no factious fire-brand, no sceptick or enthusiast, can mount our pulpits; or that after men of these characters get into them, they will pray better than they are able, upon principles that they do not believe, or with a calmness which they do not possess. Now supposing, that there are only an^* hundred of our ministers of some or other of the above characters, and that one with another each of them has 500 souls under his charge, there will be 50,000 persons in Scotland, who never wor­ship God in publick in the way of his own appoint­ment, and whose publick worship must be dange­rous to themselves, and unacceptable to the Deity. Where must the blood of these poor people fall, but upon the rulers of our church? who', tho' they have found by fatal experience, that all the sub­scriptions in the world will not hinder men of per­nicious principles from creeping into the church, yet will not take the only effectual method to pre­vent them from doing mischief there.

But besides the injustice of assuming to yourselves a right to dictate to us what prayers you please; besides the absurdity of making us offer contradic­tory petitions, and leaving our publick worship ex­posed to the whims and follies of the sceptick and enthusiast, there are many other inconveniencies that attend our present method. First, it is a ques­tion [Page 31] whether the laity can join at all in our publick prayers; for we must either suppose that they go along with the minister, offering every word as he utters it, or wait until he has finished the sentence, and then examine it, and give their assent. If the first be their method, it is evident that they place an absurd and dangerous confidence in the honesty and ability of the parson, and embrace in their prayers all the whimsical notions and pernicious principles that he may chance to mix with them: and further, that many of them, will, like parrots, talk what they do not understand, since many words will occur, whose meaning and importance they are not able all at once to conceive. At least I find it so with myself. Perhaps our people may be inspired with more than ordinary penetration in the time of prayer; but, at other times, I find it difficult enough to make many of them comprehend an ordinary message, delivered in the plainest words that I can possibly find; and after repeating it over and over again, have the mortification to find, that they misunderstand me, tho' the whole passage does not exceed two sentences. That these men should understand all the expressions in an extempore pray­er, and with their understandings and judgments keep pace with the minister for half an hour, or twenty minutes, to me appears impossible, and, I believe, will appear even to you very miraculous. But suppose that our people wait till the minister has finished the sentence, and then compare the se­veral parts, examine the whole, and give their as­sent, God knows how unfit many of them are for this task; but let them be ever so fit, if a word be lost, if one occurs whose meaning they do not un­derstand, or if the arrangement of the words be per­plexed [Page 32] it is evident that they cannot give a ratio­nal assent: and if they take time to examine what may be suspicious, to supply what is lost, or to un­ravel what is perplexed, let them be as quick as they will, the subsequent sentence will be lost. I do not indeed suppose that the bulk of our congrega­tions ever dreamt of these difficulties, because they give themselves no trouble about understanding, ex­amining, or assenting; but content themselves with being humble hearers, and perhaps in all their lives never once gave a sincere and rational amen to pub­lick prayers; though hearing another pray, and joining in prayer, be very different things.

Another inconvenience that attends our way of worship is, that young gentlemen, just come from the university, full fraught with philosophy, and fond of shewing their learning, very injudiciously vent their notions in our publick prayers. A young spruce gentleman the other Sunday converted us in an instant, from plain country people, into pro­found philosophers, and these too of the dogmatical kind; for we told God Almighty many things con­cerning his own works, which the learned gentle­man, it seems, thought he did not know before, many things that we neither understood nor be­lieved; we travelled so high, that our heads began to turn, and after all lost our gentleman, for fifteen minutes, amongst other things that he called vortices, and began indeed to suspect that he was swallowed up by them, or had gone where Milton tells us all vain and empty things go,

[Page 33] Whether he visited that place or not, we cannot tell, but we found him at last upon earth, cha­sing a mole. Had he been pleased to tell us these things, stripped of their philosphic garb, in a ser­mon, some of them might have been entertaining, some of them useful, and most of them tolerable; but to make us inform the Deity of things that we neither knew nor believed, and as it were instruct our maker in the nature, beauty, and order of his own works, (I humbly think) was imprudent and presumptuous. However, he made a shift, by new-coined words, and terms of art, to be far above the reach of our understandings; and to pray with him, we must have read Euclid, studied Newton's works more than our bibles, and brought half a dozen of dictionaries to church with us, to help us to the meaning of his words. The gentleman however obtained his end, the people stared, and, when they came out, concluded that he was admi­rably learned, and that none was so fit to be their minister. Upon this whim, they vigorously oppo­sed the settlement of a pious and prudent gentleman, presented to the charge by the patron, and are most piously supported in their wise opposition by a set of the clergy, I suppose for conscience' sake. But I beg pardon, digression is a fault. My business is only with our publick worship; and I flatter my­self that you will own, that upon that Sunday it was but poorly performed: yet such farces as these we are often forced to bear with; and instead of the humble expressions of penitents, the concise petitions of poor mortals, and the grateful thanks­givings of rational creatures, to their merciful God, our prayers frequently consist of the foolish ostentation of learning, and the harsh jargon of hard words.

[Page 34] Neither does our worship suffer more by the ostentatious folly and pedantick humour of our young Dominies, than by the natural and necessary decays of the invention, memory, and judgment of our aged ministers; for as the clergy are foolish enough to vie in the expences of dress, table and equipage, with the landed gentlemen, most of them are unable, and all of them are unwilling to call an assistant, as long as they are able to creep up to a pulpit, and prattle out something like a prayer; so that you will frequently find a man in­venting and dictating the devotions of a congrega­tion, who is superannuated to all the other affairs of life. This man it seems has a right to make us address our maker, in what manner and with what words he thinks proper; though in common con­versation, we cannot help perceiving that his me­mory has lost its strength, and that his understand­ing is decayed, and all the powers of his mind are sadly declined. It would perhaps be cruel to give instances of the blunders, blasphemy, and nonsense that have been mixed with our prayers by this mis­fortune, tho' many instances might be produced; but it is (I humbly think) more cruel and highly unreasonable, to put the aged ministers under the necessity of exposing their weakness, and disho­nouring the service of their Maker; and the laity under the hardship, either of offering non-sense, or blasphemy, instead of pious, ardent, and expres­sive prayers, or of reducing their minister to want and beggary in his old age, by forcing him to call an assistant, whether he can maintain him or not; especially, as all danger might be prevented, and all deficiencies supplied, by composing and establish­ing a pious form of prayer; for he might read a [Page 35] prayer very devoutly, and distinctly, when he cannot invent readily, or dictate an extemporary prayer to the congregation with propriety and judg­ment; or if he chanced to blunder, or pronounce indistinctly, having the form before us, we could easily supply the defects; we could much better put up with trifling in his sermons, and patiently hear him prattle about his subject and about it, because we could supply our loss, in some measure, by read­ing some of the best sermons ourselves, or to our families; but publick prayer is a matter of that importance, that there is no possibility of supplying it by our own industry, no rectifying mistakes after the prayer is offered, and no possibility of prevent­ing very gross and dangerous blunders, while we perform this part of our worship after the present method: for though our aged ministers should retain all the powers of their minds to the last, which is not the case with one in a hundred; tho' they should be able to invent extemporary petitions, with propriety; yet as the organs of the body decay, it is impossible that they can express them with that strength of voice, and distinctness of pronouncia­tion, which are necessary to us, before we can give a rational assent, if we can at all give a rati­onal assent to prayers that we have never examined; no, nor yet the minister himself. The weak voice, the trembling body, the want of teeth, and other infirmities incident to old age, do often render the pronunciation so indistinct, that in our present way of worship one half of the congregation is at as great a loss, as if the gentleman prayed in an un­known tongue; or at most they can only pick up a word here and there, without any connection. Let us suppose, that among more than a thousand [Page 36] ministers there are only 80, whose understandings, or bodily organs, are thus decayed, and that one with another, each of them has 500 souls under his charge; it would be a misfortune to those who are under the care of the first, if they did join in the publick worship as it is performed amongst them; and they who are under the care of the last, cannot possibly do it; so that there must be in Scotland at least 40,000 persons, who are debarred from the most essential part of publick worship, by the old age of our ministers, joined with the absurdity of our present plan; to which if we add the 50,000 I mentioned before, there will be ninety thousand persons in this nation who cannot worship God at all in publick, or worship him in a way unworthy of him, and dangerous to themselves, whose blood must be crying to heaven against the rulers of our church. For whether the above calculations be allowed to be just or not, there must certainly be a very considerable number of our brethren in this distressed situation; unless we suppose, contrary to known matter of fact, that the ministers of our church are not subject to the same infirmities of body and mind that other men are subjected to; and that they are secured by some sacred infallibility, from embracing enthusiastical or sceptical opinions.

But further, our worship, as it is performed at present, is not only corrupted by the contrary pe­titions of contending parties; not only tinctured with the heats and animosities that arise in synods and assemblies; not only mixed with the whimsical opinions, and pernicious principles of libertines and enthusiasts, that climb up into our pulpits; not on­ly rendered obscure and contemptible by the pedan­try and affected learning of the younger, and the [Page 37] weaknesses of mind and body of our older ministers; but frequently interlaid with ill-timed compliments to the great, or the minister's favourites, and the grossest abuses of those who have the misfortune to be out of favour. I could produce numerous in­stances of both, and, were it not an invidious task, point out the persons, places, and times. Upon the marriage of a certain noble peer in this nation, the parson carried his compliments so far in the publick prayers, that he exceeded all the bounds of de­cency, and made his female hearers blush; and I would blush to repeat to the rulers of our church, in a letter, the expressions that he made use of to the God of heaven and earth, in the face of a con­gregation; so extravagant and ill-chosen were his words, that the lady was forced to direct the clergyman, and intreat him to forbear his rude petitions. A minister, even in one of our royal burghs, observing a young gentleman, son to one of the magistrates, in church, after a journey to London, made all the congregation thank God, that he had brought back their friends from foreign lands. Most men, I presume, will remember how grossly the royal commander of his majesty's forces, during the last war, was abused, by having his praises wrought into our publick prayers, by rough and unskilful hands; some allowances, I own, are to be made for the clergy in this instance; the aug­mentation scheme was then in agitation, and the weaker part of them foolishly thought, that this would pave the way for it.

On the other hand, he must be a great stranger in our congregations, or very heedless when he comes there, who has not observed that sometimes a well meant zeal, and sometimes too warm an at­tachment [Page 38] to party opinions, with respect to reli­gious subjects, and private resentments too, have taught ministers of keen passions, to use several ex­pressions, not only inconsistent with the charity of Christians, but even with the humanity of men; Vex them in thy wrath, and plead with them in thy dis­pleasure, through all eternity, was the unchristian pe­tion of Mr.—with a respect to papists; Pour down the vials of thy wrath upon them, and burn their flesh with fire, was Mr. C—'s ungenerous wish. Nothing but heat of zeal, and hurry of passion, could have dictated these petitions; and I am far from thinking, that many of our ministers suffer themselves to be driven to so great lengths▪ But all of them are subject to passions, and what is left to the discretion of the minister, is left also to the in­discretion and passions of the man; and we fre­quently find the two last, where the first was de­signed to take place. Many instances could be given of the ill-timed flattery of friends, and un­christian expressions, with respect to enemies, that have been vented in our publick prayers; but I am tender of the reputation of the clergy, and do not choose to expose their errors, farther than is abso­lutely necessary to shew the danger and absurdity of our present way of worship; and to pursuade them to recover and secure its purity and decency; and therefore, I humbly intreat you to consider, whether the ill-timed, ill-chosen compliments of syco­phants upon the one hand, and the unchristian expressions of keen zealots upon the other, do not render our publick worship contemptible and dan­gerous; and whether there be any thing so likely to prevent them from indulging their humours, to the dishonour of God, and disgrace of religi­on, [Page 39] as some well-chosen, pious, publick form of prayer.

After flattery we may mention politicks, in which our ministers will be dabbing, in spite of grace, nature, and common sense, as another very fruit­ful source of blunders in our worship; few of them have genius, fewer still have sufficient intelligence, and all of them are at too great a distance from the seat of government, to comprehend the secret in­trigues of courts, or to perceive, in spite of the varnish by which they are disguised, the real views of parties; yet all of them will be meddling, and in every dispute our prayers must take a side, and the poor lay-men must address their maker, some­times upon the faith of a foolish rumour, and often upon the credit of common news. To say nothing of the times, very wittily but very truly described by Butler in his Hudibras,

Not (I say) to mention these days, whose history will be an eternal disgrace to our religion, and would furnish as many instances of nonsense and blasphemy vented in our publick prayers, as would be sufficient to fill up a large volume; even in latter days, politicks have introduced very gross ab­surdities into our publick service. I am not yet an old man, and I remember to have been made to pray, that God would pull down the bloody house of Austria: during the last war, I earnestly begged that he would build it up; now I begin to give broad hints that I would have it pulled down again; [Page 40] and am expecting every Sunday, to be made to desire it, in a formal manner. The interests and leagues of the states of Europe shift so frequently, that we are often flung out in our prayers, and pray for our enemies as if they were our friends, and against our friends, as if they were our enemies. Would our ministers be contented to make us pray in general for our friends, and against the devices of our enemies, we should never be wrong: but they choose to mention whom they mean, lest omniscient wisdom should mistake, or at least that their people may know that they are great politi­tions, and very zealous for the publick good. Many a time have I thanked God for giving us glo­rious victories, when we have been shamefully beat; for inspiring courage into our troops, when they have run away; for success granted to our arms in battles that were never fought; and for delive­rances from plots that were never formed. Our publick worship, in the present way, has always been and will always be tinctured with the spirit of party, and made the property of faction in church and state. When the famous Cambuslang conver­sion was going on (I shall never forget it) one Sunday morning I was made to thank God for the manifestation of his power in that conversion, and intreat him to continue the great work he had be­gun; in the afternoon, by an unlucky change of ministers, I was made to pray that God would put a stop to the delusions of the devil, by which the ignorant and simple were deceived, and give us grace to resist that spirit of enthusiasm, that had gone out into our land: thus, what I ascribed to God in the morning, I ascribed to the devil in the afternoon; and what I had requested God to pro­mote, [Page 41] I requested him too to give me grace to resist. I prayed long and earnestly with Walpole's ene­mies, before their intrigues and my prayers could pull him down; and when he fell, I was made to thank God for the great deliverance; though it was soon discovered, that it was nothing more than a struggle for power between parties, and a matter of no moment to me or my country, which of the parties was in or out: however, all ranks contri­buted something to raise the clamour; the mob made bonfires, the magistrates rung the bells, the ministers gave their prayers, and the mountain brought forth a mouse.

Nay, I have known the private piques and little quarrels between the parson and his neighbours, introduced into the publick worship, and made a part of our prayers; even when the parson was the first aggressor, he had the assurance to complain to God (as he called it) and what was still more un­reasonable, made his parishioners complain with him, or at least, he complained in their names, though most of them were very sensible, that he himself had done the injustice; how his complaints were received in heaven, I cannot tell, but I know that they had their effects upon earth, for his anta­gonist, unable to bear the staring of the congre­gation every Lord's-day, was forced to sit down under the injustice. It is hard to determine in this respect, whether you have the meanest opinion of your God or your hearers; for it seems you think that both are obliged to shift sides as you are pleased to direct them, and, right or wrong, be still of the party which the parson for the time thinks fit to embrace. That you should treat the laity with so great contempt in this case, is not so [Page 42] surprising, as you may be convinced from long experience, that they will swallow down the gros­sest absurdities in their publick prayers, and trust the propriety of their worship upon Sunday, to the discretion and ability of a man, whose folly and weakness perhaps they laugh at all the week. But I own it is amazing that you can use such freedom with the Deity, to desire him to do and undo as the fancy strikes you, or your designs chance to alter.

Our prayers are, for the most part, too histori­cal, and seem rather designed to instruct the con­gregation, than to confess their sins, express their wants, or offer their grateful thanksgivings. I do not at all suppose that you are ignorant, as our people seem to be, of the difference between preaching and praying, or that you are not sensible that a very good sermon will make but a very bad prayer; but I cannot help thinking, that you comply too far with the popular taste in this respect, and strive to please, by giving our publick prayers as much the air and manner of a sermon as possible; or know­ing that many of your people judge of the propriety and excellency of a prayer, by its length, to come up to the common standard, you are forced to fill up a gap with what materials come first to hand; and this I am more apt to believe to be the case, because we sometimes find half a dozen of senten­ces from scripture, poured into our prayers all at once, without the least connexion among them­selves, or the least relation to what went before, or follows after; and frequently too, without the least affinity to any of the parts of prayer. What Mr. Fordyce means, by that certain ^* happy irregu­larity [Page 43] in our publick prayer, which he is pleased to recommend, I profess I know not; but I know very well, that there is a certain unhappy irregu­larity in most of ours, that renders them very im­proper for publick worship. The several parts of prayer are most absurdly confounded, though they require very different dispositions of heart; confes­sion is jumbled with thanksgiving; petition is mixed with narration; and somtimes we have all the parts of prayer in one single sentence. By these means the mind is held in suspence, and cannot set­tle to that humility, conviction, and sorrow, that ought to attend confession; nor is it raised to that warm gratitude, and ardent love, that ought to enliven our thanksgivings; neither is it filled with that sense of dependence, nor formed to that seri­ous earnestness and lively faith, with which our petitions ought to be sent forth.

Instead of these, amused with the novelty of ex­pression, and distracted with the quick and irregu­lar successions of the several parts of prayer, it fluc­tuates between these sensations, and feels not much of any of them. When all the powers of the soul should be employed in their proper places, and making their greatest efforts to offer a spiritual wor­ship to the Father of spirits, our curiosity is only awake, and we are listening to a prayer no other-ways than we do a sermon. I would beg leave fur­ther to observe, that our extemporary worship in the church, produces very bad effects, with respect to our worship in our families; for as praying to God extempore is the prevailing fashion, and as our people are taught to despise worship offered by a form, so those of them who want memory, learn­ing, and invention, to express themselves extem­pore [Page 44] with propriety, and have modesty to be asha­med of indecent expressions, and reflection to think of the danger of unreasonable and unchristian pe­titions, never pray with their families at all. On the other hand, when ignorance and self-sufficiency meet in the master of a family, their worship of consequence is a miserable mixture of nonsense, er­ror, and blasphemy. The most ignorant are always the most presuming, and the less sense that a man has of the nature and importance of prayer, the more readily will he venture upon extemporary worship. In fact it is true, that many of our peo­ple, who can hardly repeat their creed, and know very little more of their religion, than a few hard words that they have gleaned out of our catechisms, imitate our parsons in praying extempore; and ap­proach their maker with as great familiarity, as they would do their neighbour, and with much less respect and reverence than they dare treat their laird. Good God! what pitiful scenes have I seen of this kind! what rude and shocking expressions, what blasphemous petitions have I heard! how of­ten have I trembled, when the ignorant and proud enthusiast kneeled down with his family to his ex­temporary worship! how often have I shuddered at the whimsical notions that he wrought into our prayers, the insolent and unchristian expressions which he used, and the nonsense that he offered in our name. How often has my heart bled in secret for the sad situation of many miserable families, who, by our unhappy attachment to extemporary prayer, either want family-worship altogether, or offer their worship in such a manner, as dishonours God, disgraces religion, and is very dangerous to themselves! but I would very far exceed the bounds [Page 45] of a letter, and I am afraid, weary out your pa­tience, if I should endeavour to lay before you all the inconveniencies that attend our present way of worship; and I flatter myself, if you will add to these already taken notice of, the blunders of ig­norance, the flights of vanity, the needless silly re­petitions, the unguarded expressions, and the chil­dish thoughts that are mixed with our prayers (and must be mixed with them, unless you can suppose that all our ministers are men of the greatest abili­ties, elocution, and prudence) you will see, that our present way of worship, is defective, unrea­sonable, and dangerous; and that the hardships that the laity labour under, and the danger to which they are exposed, can only be removed by some de­vout and approved form of prayer.

To support the present absurd practice, to make the laity fit quietly down with the injustice done them, and to blind their eyes, that they may not perceive the disadvantages that they labour under, and the danger to which they are exposed, it has been said that a form of prayer will limit the inspira­tion of the Spirit; that it deadens the devotion of the people; that all the wants of a Christian congregation cannot be expressed by a form: and some have been so foolish as to say, that it is unlawful to worship by a form of prayer. Will you pardon my presump­tion, and hear me with patience, if I humbly offer my thoughts upon these heads; I hope you will. As to the first, I might boldly appeal to your own consciences, and ask you, in the name of God, Do you believe that you are inspired? Have you indeed so mean an opinion of the understanding and judgment of the laity, as to imagine that any of them, who think at all, can ever be brought to believe, that the prayers we [Page 46] commonly hear are dictated by the Holy Ghost? Or have you so little regard to the honour of God, and the interests of religion, as to ascribe your extemporary ef­fusions to the Holy Spirit? No, I am persuaded, that none but the rankest enthusiasts will ever urge this argument against a form of prayer; and I will beg leave to ask such, are the words or the matter of your prayers, or both, inspired? That the words are not inspired, is evident from the difficulty that you frequently have to find proper words; from the improper, and sometimes indecent expressions, that fall from you; from the ill-timed pauses that you are forced to make, and the most useful supplement of coughing, groaning, and spitting, that must come in to your assistance. But supposing that you were indeed inspired with words, it would be of small im­portance to yourselves or to us, unless the matter of your prayers be inspired too: and if the matter of them be inspired, your prayers are of equal au­thority with the scriptures themselves, and should be entered into the canon. I know not how to excuse the negligence of the people of this nation, in suffering so much sound doctrine to be lost; it might have cleared up some difficult passages in scripture, and decided several important disputes. I know not what to say for this piece of negligence, unless our people think that all things necessary for Christians to know, to believe, and to practise, are revealed in the holy scriptures; and that they may be taught by them what to ask in prayer, and how to regulate their lives; and if this be true, your in­spiration is a very great gift bestowed for very poor purposes, only to save you the pains of searching the scriptures, and the trouble of composing a form of prayer by the instructions and examples contained [Page 47] in them. The heathen poets themselves had a greater reverence for the Deity than this, for it was a maxim among them

I submit, whether you do not transgress against this rule, by introducing the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, if the scriptures be sufficient to direct us what to ask in prayer; and if they be not sufficient for this, the revelation of the will of God, for our sal­vation, is defective in a very important point; and neither the prophets, nor the apostles, no nor our Saviour himself, though he enterprized it, have taught us how to pray. But supposing that it were necessary, that the words, and matter of our prayers should be inspired by the Holy Ghost; why might not a number of pious and learned divines, met together with such an interesting and great design, as that of composing a form of prayer for a whole church, have as much reason to expect, and be as likely to receive the assistance of the Holy Spirit, as a private clergyman inventing the transient prayer of a particular congregation? But this supposed inspiration in our extemporary way, will involve us in very great, nay insuperable difficulties; for we shall be as much puzzled where to find our miracu­lous inspiration, as the papists are where to find their wonderful infallibility. For if we suppose that this inspiration is confined to any one of the several sects that use extemporary prayer, we prescribe to the Holy Spirit, and limit him with a witness, and [Page 48] shall be sadly perplexed to determine to which par­ticular party this wonderful privilege is given. If we suppose that this privilege is common to the ministers of all the sects, then we must conclude, that the Holy Ghost inspires opposite petitions to men of opposite principles, and directs one sect to pray against another: for instance, if he inspires the burghers^* to pray against the principles of their seceding brethren the antiburghers, and to cut them off from their communion by excommunica­tion; we cannot suppose that he inspires the anti­burghers to return the compliment: and if he in­spires the ministers of these sects to pray against the principles of the church established by law, he does not direct the ministers of the established church, in their publick prayers, to call the secession a dangerous schism▪ that the ministers of the several sects do pray for the success of their several parties, and that God would hinder the spreading of the principles of the other sects, is evident to all the world. Now, unless we would be guilty of the boldest blasphemy, and say, that the Holy Ghost chimes in with the principles of the parson, what­ever they be (as the people are forced to do) we must conclude, that this inspiration is not granted but to one of the sects; and I shall only request each of them to use a form of prayer, until they shall be able to prove that this gift of inspiration belongs to them.—And that the established church, with which I have to do, may be more willing to hear and grant my request, I will produce some strong [Page 49] presumptions that it does not belong to them: in­deed the instances that I have given above, are more than sufficient for this purpose; but I shall further add, first, that if the confession of faith be true, none of our ministers are inspired in their prayers; for there all mankind are divided into two classes, the elect and the reprobates; yet it is evi­dent, beyond all possibility of dispute, that the elect pray as if it were possible that they may be damned; and the reprobates, as if it were possible that they may be saved; and yet it is impossible that the Ho­ly Spirit inspires either of them with these prayers, unless we be so impious as to imagine, that he di­rects them to pray upon false principles, and in­spires them to pray for or against what he knows can never happen; and though some of you urge this argument of inspiration against your adversa­ries, yet our church has in fact very fairly disclai­med it, by publishing and authorising a directory for publick prayer; unless we would suppose them so presumptuous as to direct the Holy Spirit how to pray. In truth, our presbyterian inspiration, is as mysterious and as useless a gift, as the popish in­fallibility. The popish church has an infallibility lodged somewhere, but she knows not where to find it in time of need; we presbyterians, have an inspiration among us, but we know not to which of all the sects it belongs. The infallible church is filled with disputes, which her infallibility cannot determine; and the inspired church has nonsense, contradiction, and whimsical opinions, vented in her publick prayers, which her inspiration does not prevent; the infallible church, has the most un­reasonable and absurd creed of any church upon earth; and the inspired church has, and will have [Page 50] (while she adheres to her present plan) a very de­fective, unreasonable, and dangerous kind of publick worship: so fully, and justly, does the providence of heaven confute the vain pretensions of presump­tuous men.

But it may be said, and it has been said, that this gift of inspiration is not universal to all our mi­nisters, nor uniform and constant to any of them; but granted now and then by fits and starts, some­thing (I suppose) like the quakers' spirit. I cannot help thinking, if this be the case, that the quakers proceed more judiciously than we; they pa­tiently wait in silence till they feel, or imagine they feel the influences of the Spirit; but if he does not come, we venture to do without him: they humbly submit to his will, to inspire whom he pleaseth; but we confine him to the minister: they stop short when his influence ceases; but we run our glasses, let his influences cease when they will. I would therefore humbly propose, ei­ther that, like quakers, we should wait the Spirit, and permit any one of the congregation, who chan­ced to be inspired, to dictate our devotions; or that a form of prayer be composed and authorised, only to be used when the minister feels no inspiration. Let him have full liberty to depart from the form, when he feels upon his mind the miraculous influ­ences of the Holy Spirit, suggesting the matter of his prayers. By this method we shall gain two very considerable advantages; first, we shall always worship, either by inspiration, or by an approved form, and be certain (unless the parson deceives us) that the ignorance, affectation, ill-timed zeal, pride, or passions of the man himself, cannot tinc­ture our publick worship, or mix themselves with [Page 51] our prayers. And next, we shall discover when our parsons are inspired; for, as things are mana­ged at present, this miracle is as much lost in our presbyterian church, as the famous miracle of tran­substantiation is among the papists. In both churches there is a wonderful manifestation of al­mighty power, yet no one is able to perceive it in either. The papists are convinced that bread and wine are converted into flesh and blood, though to all the senses, they remain bread and wine still; we presbyterians are persuaded that our ministers are sometimes inspired, though we cannot tell when the inspiration begins or ends; and though our mi­nisters in this case, lye under the same misfortune that Hudibras did,

so it unluckily fares with them, when they pray most by inspiration, they only pray like other peo­ple; and all my attention and skill has never been able to discover the inspiration in one single instance. But by the method that I am proposing, we shall discover, that the inspiration immediately begins, when the minister departs from the established form; and perhaps we may make another disco­very; I mean, that the rage of party, the spirit of pride and enthusiasm, as frequently inspire our mi­nisters, as the spirit of peace and love. In a word, let those ministers who have pride enough to be­lieve, and presumption to affirm, that they are in­spired, and can find people so ignorant and credu­lous as to believe them, or so tame and indifferent as to trust their devotions to an imaginary inspira­tion: [Page 52] let these, I say, use the present method, but have pity upon us, who see the difficulty, disadvan­tages, and great danger of our present way of wor­ship.

As we cannot find in scripture any promise of such a gift, as we are convinced that there can be no need of it (unless we suppose, that the Holy Ghost has not fully revealed the will of God for our salvation) as we are absolutely certain that you are not all inspired, and have no reason to be­lieve that any one of you is so; we presume most humbly and most earnestly to request, that some pious form of prayer may be composed and autho­rised. The only inspiration that is promised in scrip­ture, that is necessary, or that can be useful, is that the Holy Spirit will inspire the hearts of the faith­ful with affections proper for this important duty; such as shame and sorrow in confession, an humble Christian hope of obtaining what we ask in our pe­titions, gratitude and love in our thanksgiving, and such other affections as are suitable to the several parts of prayer; and no man, I believe, will say that the Holy Spirit cannot, or prove that he will not, inspire our hearts with these affections, as easi­ly and as readily when we pray by a form, as when we pray without one. And as far as prayer may be considered as one of the means of inspiring these affections, a form seems better calculated to answer that purpose, in publick assemblies, than extemporary effusions: for in the extempore way, the hearer, (if he has any sense of the nature and importance of prayer) must begin the duty with a trembling heart, and go through it with a continual diffidence, as he trusts it entirely to the discretion of another man; sometimes to a man whom he never saw be­fore, [Page 53] and always to a man who has not so much as calmly considered it himself. He must often sus­pend his assent, when he is not satisfied of the pro­priety of the expression; he must lose the sense, where the sentence is intricate; and through the whole, be in perplexity, suspicion, fear, and real danger. Whereas when prayers are offered by a form, no word needs escape him, he understands every word, he perceives the connection of every sentence; and let the minister's judgment be ever so weak, his learning ever so little, his manner of expressing himself perplexed, his principles perni­cious, his passions ever so keen, and his party pre­judices ever so violent, yet in spite of all these he offers a reasonable service, and breaths forth the warm feelings of his soul, in decent, devout, heart-affecting, and heart-approved prayers. This ob­servation may in a great measure obviate the second objection; I mean, that a form of prayer does not so much enliven the devotion of the people; but I beg leave further to observe, that they who are used to worship in this extemporary way, cannot be competent judges in this case; because they have not fairly made the experiment, but reason only from speculation. When they drop into a place where forms are used, they come in with strong prejudices, they are entire strangers to the form, and are perplexed in all the parts of it.—It happens with them in this case, as it does with men in every other thing, what they have not been accustomed to, appears strange, what they are unacquainted with, seems perplexed, and what they do not know reasons for, is apt to appear unreasonable. It may be too, that the ignorant miss the unnatural cant, the frantick gestures, and fearful distortions of the [Page 54] face, that, in their opinion, are essential parts of prayer. But let a man of sense and candour, make himself master of a form, and try the experiment for a year or two, by attending carefully to pray­ers offered in that way; and then, and not till then, will he be able to determine whether the form, or the extemporary method, has the noblest effect to enliven his devotions. At least it is certain, that many who have tried both, give their opinion in favour of a form; and that they who use a form of prayer, constantly affirm, that they feel it ten times more enlivening, and better calculated to inspire our devout affections, than extemporary effusions. And there must be something in it, because the pro­fessors of all religions under the sun, have chosen this method; the Christian church universally used it till the fifteenth century, and indeed may be said to do so at present, for we make such a small part of the catholick church, that our practice hardly deserves to be considered as an exception.

I shall not dwell long upon the speculative argu­ments that are offered by either side, because inge­nious men will always find something plausible to say in defence of a practice that answers their pur­poses. They who use forms, say that their minds are free from all distraction and fear, and have nothing else to do, but attend to the object of their prayers, and maintain upon their minds a constant and lively sense of the importance of the business in which they are engaged, free from the care of ex­amining every sentence before they offer it as their petition; secure that no indecent or unchristian expression can mix with their devotions, being already satisfied of the propriety of the whole form. They say that the mind of man is not able to attend [Page 55] to many things at once, and that in our way of wor­ship, if the people offer a reasonable service, they must examine every sentence, hear every word, and understand every word they hear; and they must remember what went before, if they would conceive the connexion; that they must unravel what is expressed in a perplexed manner, if they would pray with judgment; and in fine, that they must give their amen to their prayers, with a more superficial examination of them, and a much less perfect knowledge of their contents, than they would venture to set their subscription to, in an address to their superiors, upon earth.

We answer, that the novelty and variety of the expression, in our extemporary method, help to fix the mind and keep up the attention. They ask us, upon what is the mind fixed, upon the object and matter of our prayers, or upon the novelty and va­riety of expression? If we say upon the object and matter of our prayers, they will tell us, that there are in these, neither novelty nor variety to assist us; because our prayers are always addressed to that Be­ing, who is the same to-day, yesterday, and for ever; and the matter of our prayers in publick must always be nearly the same: but if our minds be fixed upon the variety of the expression, or novelty of the phrase, they say (and I fear they speak truth) that this is not prayer, but mere amusement; such as the mind receives from musick, a song, or an en­tertaining piece of history; that it might perhaps prepare the mind for prayer, but is not prayer any more than a sermon is prayer.

It is evident that many of our ministers are sensi­ble, that their people attend only to the outward circumstances of their prayers, and that the way to [Page 56] be popular, is to tickle their ears with strange sounds, or please their eyes with antick gestures; else why do many of them affect such an unmanly whining cant? Why use such dismal heavy tones, and draw out their words to such an immoderate length? Or why do they affect such distortions in their faces? All the world will acknowledge, that these are neither necessary nor useful parts of prayer, unless to please the silly vulgar, who regard little more than the sound and circumstances of our prayers.

But whatever weight may be in the speculative arguments upon either side, experience and matter of fact are fairly against us; for they who say that forms of prayer enliven devotion, seem, by a cer­tain decency observable amongst them in time of service, to confirm what they say; while the visi­ble inattention and indifference of our congregations, flatly contradict our arguments, and prove to the very senses, that our extemporary prayers do not enliven our devotions. In assemblies where forms are used, there is at least the appearance of devo­tion, and an air of seriousness. None of them are seen sleeping in time of service, few of them gazing about them, not one of them ever presumes (un­less in a case of absolute necessity) to remove till the whole service be ended; and they frequently meet in publick for the business of prayer, which^† Mr. Fordyce justly complains we never do, and seems to think, that it would be very difficult to persuade our people to it. Thus the practice of those who use forms of prayer, proves to me more effectually than all the speculative arguments that can be offered, that they have an higher opinion of [Page 57] the great duty of publick prayer, feel a greater pleasure from it, or are some way or other more affected by it, than our people are. Whereas in our assemblies there is not so much as the air of de­votion, not even the outward appearance of seri­ousness and attention; many are sleeping, more gazing about them, and all of them ^* betray a vi­sible impatience till prayer is over, that they may be en­tertained with something more to their liking. When sermon is over do we not see them remove in crowds, though one half of our service, and that the most solemn half, still remains? Perhaps it may be thought, that this is not a fair account of the matter, and that I misrepresent things. Will you believe your own brethren? they shall vouch what I have said: let us first hear Mr. Bennet's report of the devotion of our brethren in England^‡ "That careless air (says he) which sits upon the face of a congregation, when engaged in prayer, shews how little they know of the matter, and how few seriously join in publick and solemn prayer; some gaze about them, others fall asleep—others fix their eye, it may be on the minister, and are af­fected with what he says; but then they only hear him pray, and are moved with the prayer, just as they hear sermons, and are moved thereby (a most lively picture of our publick worship!)—I must pro­fess to you, should the enemies of our way of wor­ship be present to observe us, there is nothing I should be so much ashamed of, as our exceeding careless, irreverent, indevout manner of joining in publick prayer." So far Mr. Bennet bears witness to the want of devotion in congregations in Eng­land, [Page 58] where extemporary prayers are used. Let us now see if this way of worship, has any better suc­cess or happier effects amongst us here in Scotland. Alas it is every where the same unnatural, unrea­sonable, lifeless thing. Let Mr. Fordyce speak for the Scotch congregations: "I doubt not my bre­thren (speaking to the clergy) but you have fre­quently observed when the minister of God has been addressing him in the name, and as the mouth of the people, the greatest part of them seem to be doing any thing, rather than joining in the solemn service; in reality there is no exercise of a spiritual nature which the generality seem to regard so little, or to attend so listlessly; seem did I say, the ex­pression is much too feeble; their insensibility, their irreverence in this respect are, from the whole of their deportment, most shamefully distinguishable and flagrant."^* If this be true, as indeed it is the very truth, I may be allowed to add, that it is most shamefully impudent in us to alledge that forms of prayer deaden the devotion of the people, and that our extemporary method enlivens it. The little respect, nay visible contempt, that our people shew of publick prayers, prove more clearly than all spe­culative arguments that can be offered, that our present way of worship is very ill calculated for en­livening the devotion of the people: I have proved by two unexceptionable witnesses, and had it been consistent with the brevity I proposed, could have produced many more, to prove, that our devotion is not only dead, but wants even all appearance of life. In truth it needs no proof, for every Sunday will shew that we want attention, and reverence, to this most important duty; and every impartial [Page 59] heart will tell its owner (if he understands the na­ture of prayer) that it is very difficult to join in our publick worship as it is at present performed; that it is impossible to do it rationally; that it cannot be attempted without great danger; and that in fact he does it very seldom, and even then in a very faint and lifeless manner.

Allow me next to consider the third objection offered against forms of prayer. I mean that the wants of a congregation cannot be so fully expressed in that way, as by the extemporary method. This objection supposes, that a number of the most learned and pious men of the age (for such I imagine would be employed) deliberately composing a form of prayer, calmly recollecting the matter of it, fre­quently reviewing the whole, furnished with all the antient and modern liturgies, directed by all that has been written on the subject, and assisted by every one that wishes well to religion and virtue, are more likely to omit some necessary petition, than a single person, perhaps of very indifferent talents, & a very moderate education, trusting entirely to an extemporary invention, and to his own memory. The man who can suppose this, hardly deserves to be reasoned with; for it is evident, that, in the first case, our prayers will be brought as near per­fection as possible; and that in the second, many things must be omitted, many injudiciously expres­sed, many needlessly repeated, and the whole tinc­tured with weakness, passions, and party principles of the speaker, and that his best performances will be as much inferior to a general form of prayer, as he himself is in discretion, learning, and judgment, to the greatest men that have wrote upon the subject, and to a number of men of the best hearts, and [Page 60] calmest, ablest heads, convened to compose the form. The wants, and consequently the matter of the petitions of a Christian congregation, must in the main be always the same; they will at all times have sins to confess, still have need to ask pardon, and implore the divine grace to direct their thoughts, words, and actions; it will ever be their duty, to pray for all ranks of men, &c. If any general ca­lamity should happen, such as war, famine, pesti­lence, proper forms may be provided; in private cases, perhaps it might be more for the honour of our religion, and decency of our worship, that we did not descend to particular circumstances, so much as we do. It is needless to describe the dis­ease to an omniscient God; most cases of this nature, might be comprehended under the general names of sickness and distress; but if it be thought proper to deal with God Almighty as we do with an ordi­nary doctor, and to lay the case before him at full length, methods may be found to indulge the hu­mour of the clergy, in this respect, without leaving our whole worship to their discretion, and putting all our publick petitions in their power.

Should the spiritual condition of a congregation be altered (if it possibly can alter so much, that the established form could not comprehend the case, which, in my humble opinion, cannot happen, if the form be well composed) let the bresbytery, sy­nod, or commission of the assembly be applied to, and the case being calmly considered, its nature and tendency deliberately examined, and its truth and certainty ascertained; let a form of prayer be com­posed suitable to the case: but this is too delicate, too dangerous, and difficult an affair, to be trusted to the discretion or capacity of any one clergyman; [Page 61] for weakness, or villany, in this respect, has more than once dishonoured our publick prayers, with the grossest enthusiasm, perverted them to serve very bad purposes, and exposed the most solemn part of our service, as well as religion itself, to the ridicule of infidels.

In a word, the ordinary wants of a Christian con­gregation may, nay must be more fully expressed by a form of prayer, than by extempore effusions; and extraordinary cases, after they are discovered and examined, may easily be provided for, and it is not only possible, but very easy, to provide for all cases that ought to be particularly mentioned in our pub­lick prayers, in the first composition of them. But to prevent all wrangling upon this subject, and (if possible) to content the most self-sufficient clergy­man, let there be a proper place in this proposed form of prayer, where the minister may have li­berty to pray for all extraordinary cases, in what words he thinks proper. It is better, that a small part of our worship be exposed to the discretion, ig­norance, and passions of the parson, than that the whole should be liable, as it is at present, to be made the property of faction, to be tinctured with the prejudices and whimsical opinions of every pri­vate minister, and offered upon the pernicious prin­ciples of the deist, or the extravagant notions of the enthusiast.

I shall not dwell long upon the last objection, I mean that forms of prayer are unlawful, because I believe it never will be offered by men of sense and learning; and it is losing time and pains to reason with such as are destitute of both. I shall only beg leave to observe, that they who say that forms of prayer are unlawful, in fact say, that God Al­mighty [Page 62] commanded, that our Saviour attended, used, and taught his disciples an unlawful way of worship; for that he did so I have proved already, and our own directory for publick worship ac­knowledges, that "Our Lord's prayer is not only a pattern for prayer; but is itself a most comprehensive prayer." Here I cannot help observing with re­gret, that where ever our directory directs well, there our clergy have despised our directory; for instance, it recommends that the Lord's prayer be used in our publick worship; that ordinarily a chapter out of each Testament be read at every meeting: the first is neglected by most, and the last by all of them. It directs that our worship begin with prayer, but now it begins with praise; that the minister before worship shall solemnly exhort the people to the worshipping of the great name of God; but at pre­sent we rush into a very solemn part of worship, without a word of previous exhortation, and I fear, very often, without a serious thought. It is easy to find out the reason why the Lord's prayer, and the reading of the scriptures have been jostled out of our service; they have been forced out to make room for Mass John's more masterly performances; but why the other alterations have been made, the clergy, who direct all things, can only tell. To them I leave it, and resume my subject. If forms are unlawful, we are unlawfully baptized, for that is done by a form; and all the extemporary pray­ers which we use upon that occasion are not essen­tial to the sacrament, and are additions of men. We administer the Lord's supper in an unlawful manner, for we do it by a form, I mean the words of the first institution: we are dismissed every Lord's day with an unlawful blessing; for one of the solemn [Page 63] forms with which the apostles conclude their epis­tles, is always used upon that occasion: so that no­thing can be more inconsistent with ingenuity and common sense, than for us to cry out against forms, when the most solemn and important parts of our religion and worship are performed in that way, and when we neither baptize, nor communicate, nor bless our congregations in a lawful way, unless forms be lawful; nor do these things in the best manner, unless doing them by a form be the best.

But further, if forms of prayer be not acceptable to God, and an useful way of worship for ourselves, we grossly offend every time that we meet in church: for it is impossible to sing eighteen to twenty lines of a psalm, but we offer some important petition by a form; and some psalms might be pointed out that are almost continued prayers; so that unless we will affirm, that our prayers are acceptable to God, and useful to ourselves when they are sung, but otherwise when they are said by a form, we must allow, that we are inconsistent with our ourselves when we cry out against forms; that our ministers impose upon us, when they spirit us up against that way of worship, that they may have the better op­portunity to gratify their own vanity, to manufac­ture our prayer after their own manner, and to mix them up with their own private opinions.

If extemporary worship be preferable, what good reason can be given why the ministers do not sing psalms extempore in our names as well as offer extemporary prayers; for we are as much concern­ed to join in the last as in the first; a blunder in the one is as dangerous as in the other, and we could as well go along with him in our hearts, when he sung an extemporary psalm, as we can do [Page 64] when he says an extemporary prayer. This inconsis­tency in our worship has not entirely escaped the ob­servation of our brethren, for many of them have warmly insisted upon it, that the Spirit of God is restrained by using the psalms of David ^*, and there­fore proposed that we should sing as well as pray extempore: and upon the supposition, that pub­lick worship in the extemporary way is most rati­onal, they were certainly right; for no good rea­sons can be given for praising God by forms, that will not be equally good for praying to him in the same way; and no objection can be offered against the last, that will not be as strong against the first; for instance, if we say that praying to God by forms deadens the devotion of the people, so will praising him by forms too. If forms of prayer restrain the influences of the Holy Spirit, so must forms of praise. If forms of prayer cannot express all the wants of a Christian congregation, neither will forms of praise comprehend all the causes for which a Chris­tian congregation may have reason to praise God; especially, as the forms we use were composed se­veral thousand years ago, and calculated chiefly for the Jewish religion and worship. If forms of prayer be unlawful in themselves, so must our forms of praise, because, as I observed before, they are often real prayers.

Supposing that extemporary worship was more acceptable to God, and useful to ourselves, no man in a congregation can reap the benefit of it but the parson. Our laity are most grossly mista­ken, if they imagine that they pray extempore by our present method; for if they pray in the words of the minister (and in his words they must pray if [Page 65] they join at all in publick worship) they are as much confined to a form as any other people. For example, if the minister says, most gracious God forgive us our sins, preserve us from danger, and pro­vide for our necessities; if the people repeat these words, either in their minds, or with their mouths, or both, it is evident that they pray as much by form, as if the prayer had been composed a thou­sand year ago; in fact it is impossible for a con­gregation to join in worship other ways than by a form; and all the difference is, that we worship by a form with which we are entirely unacquainted; a form that we have never seen nor examined before; a form that is trusted to the discretion and ability of the parson for the time, and which the minister himself has never once read over, nor examined, even in the slightest manner. It is hard to deter­mine whether his presumption in putting a form of prayer into our mouths, that he has never exami­ned, or our complaisance in using a form that nei­ther we nor our minister have ever once read over, is most unaccountable. But that either he or we should imagine, that to worship God in this man­ner is most rational for us, or most acceptable to him, is such an instance of the strength of prejudice, and the effects of education, as no man could have thought possible, had it not been proved by experi­ence. For in fact, it is to imagine that our wor­ship is the more rational, the more we are stran­gers to the words and matter of our prayers, and the less access we have had to satisfy ourselves of the propriety of our petitions, and the more confi­dence we repose in another man.

That our worship will be the more acceptable to the Deity, the less care and pains are taken [Page 66] about the words or matter of it by the parson, or the people, and that our prayers will be so much the sooner heard, the less chance they have to be expressed in proper words, or to consist of pious and reasonable petitions. We may sometimes have a better, or worse form, according to the judgment and capacity of the minister, but we must always have a very defective one, and our very best form must be as far inferior to a national well-composed liturgy, as the learning, judgment, and memory of one man, is to the abilities and calm reflection of a number of the most learned and judicious men of the age. I must confess that I have often beheld with indignation the parson pulling out his papers for the sermon, when he trusted the prayer to his invention and memory; not that I have any pre­judice against reading of sermons, or am not con­vinced that it is the best method, unless the minis­ter be a man of extraordinary parts, of extensive learning, and blessed with a very good memory; but that I look upon it as an affront offered to God and the congregation, and very absurd in this in­stance, as it shews that the minister is less concerned about the propriety and decency of his address to his God, than to his people; and that he is more afraid of a blunder in his sermon, than in his worship; or at least, that he thinks, either that a mistake in the last is of less consequence than in the first, or that it is an easier matter to pray than to preach well. I own that he has reason to believe that any thing like a prayer will pass with the bulk of the people, because in truth they do not regard it much; but this should never induce him to shew that he is as careless about the matter and words of their pray­ers as they are themselves, and that he takes more [Page 67] care and pains to please them by his sermons, than to offer their prayers in a concise and proper man­ner.

I have often heard the members of our church, when the difficulties and dangers of our present way of worship have been fairly laid before them, satis­fy themselves by saying, that most of our ministers had a form of prayer which they used, and with which, by length of time, their people became very well acquainted. I believe it may be true, that most of them naturally fall into a form; but if we will believe themselves (and they certainly know best) it is rather by chance than by design, and of consequence more by good luck, than good ma­nagement, or much care, if the form they fall into be a good one. However, it is here granted, that the worshiping God by a form, is not only lawful and reasonable, but also necessary; and, if this be the case, why should not our worship be rendered uniform by an established general form of prayer? Why should it not be brought as near perfection as possible, by the judgment, piety, and learning of our ablest ministers, and other members of our church, conferring together upon the subject? why should not this form of prayer be communicated to the laity, that we may examine and approve of it? is the parson's form such a secret that we may not see and examine it for ourselves? is it any advan­tage to our worship that he may alter▪ curtail, or enlarge it, as his passions or prejudices chance to direct, and warp into his form any whimsical opi­nion, that he chances to embrace? we must, not­withstanding of his form, go to the church with a trembling heart, as we know not but some minis­ter may officiate whose form of prayer we never [Page 68] have heard, our own minister may have changed his, or some unlucky and indecent petition may be thrown in, as he has it in his power to do as he pleases.

At the same time it is true, that our ministers, who carefully compose and constantly use a form of prayer, do as much as they can, in their present circumstances, to render our worship pure and ra­tional, and to assist the devotions of their people; and therefore deserve their esteem and thanks; but yet it is evident, that these private forms have no great chance of being so full and perfect, and that they have but few of the advantages of a general established form of prayer, and many of the disad­vantages of the extemporary method.

It has been often urged in defence of extempore publick prayers, that the apostles used that way of worship. If they did so, they did more than their master either taught them, or gave them an exam­ple of, as far as we can judge. But supposing that it were proved (which it has not yet been, and I doubt never will be) that the apostles used extem­porary publick prayer, I am afraid we shall not be able to infer from thence, that our ministers should pray extempore, or that the people should trust every one of them with the composition and direction of their publick worship; unless it could be also proved, that every one of them is directed by immediate in­spiration. I have often blushed for our ministers, when I have heard them urge this argument, as it is so weak and inconclusive in itself, and betrays so much presumption and self-sufficiency in them; for in fact it is putting our present ministers upon a le­vel with the apostles. Some days ago I was pas­sing by Bedlam, and observed one of its wretched [Page 69] inhabitants wrestling with a great iron gate; I ask­ed him what he was about; he told me, with an air of importance, that his name was Sampson, and that he meant to carry up that gate to the top of an opposite hill, as his name-sake did the gates of Ga­za. I did not stay to convince him that Sampson was endued with miraculous strength, but I could not help thinking that there was a great resem­blance in his way of reasoning, or rather running mad, to the argument in hand; for the apostles were endued with miraculous gifts, as much supe­rior to the abilities of our present ministers, as Samp­son's strength was to that of the poor Bedlamite: they lived in an age in which miraculous gifts, by the goodness of God were common in the church; but in our time there is nothing miraculous, unless it be the self-sufficiency and presumption of the clergy, in taking upon them to offer an extempo­rary address to their maker; and each of them claim­ing a right to make a whole parish pray as he plea­ses; and the absurd confidence reposed in them by the laity; and the tame submission by which they suffer every man that chances to fill their pulpits, to manufacture and mix up their prayers as he chooses. These, indeed, are miraculous things, such as no age no country, no religion, ever produced examples of; and it is still more surprising that the clergy them­selves (as I have proved before) see, and publish to the world, that the people do not join in publick worship; and the most learned and sensible part of the laity feel and acknowledge that it is very diffi­cult and dangerous for them to join in it, as it is performed at present; and yet that none of our clergy have compassion and humility to propose, nor any of the laity resolution to demand a change, [Page 70] but that all of them sit down with an absurd and dangerous way of worship, introduced partly by ne­cessity, and partly by enthusiasm, in the distracted days of our reformation; disapproved of by our a­blest reformers from the beginning, as witness John Knox, who composed and used a form of prayer; and only approved of and supported by the silly ig­norant vulgar, who have so little knowlege, either of the nature, or importance of prayer, that they would not give themselves the trouble to go to church, unless it were to hear a sermon; and by the turbulent and self-sufficient part of the clergy, who find that it gives them a fair opportunity to sow discord, propagate faction, and prostitute our worship to their foolish fondness for popularity. That the mob, who place great merit in hearing many sermons, and think preaching the most im­portant part of publick worship, should be fond of our present method, is no wonder at all, for our ex­temporary effusions are rather sermons than pray­ers. It is natural too for the ambitious, enthusias­tical, and libertine part of our clergy to be warmly attached to our present way of worship; it most ef­fectually answers their several purposes; it affords the ambitious a large field for displaying their po­pular talents, and an excellent opportunity to preach themselves; it gives enthusiasts and libertines fair scope to vent their whimsical and pernicious prin­ciples: indeed nothing can be better calculated for propagating sedition, heresy, enthusiasm, and party principles, than our present way of worship, since every minister, has the composition of most of it, and the choice and management of the whole; so that it is no wonder if men of these characters be fond of it, nay, it would be very surprising if they [Page 71] could be persuaded to give up our present me­thod.

But it is not easy to conceive why the learned, orthodox, and pious part of our clergy, who have no other views but the good of souls, and the glory of God, have not endeavoured to remedy these ills, by composing and authorising such a form of prayer, as might enable every congregation in the kingdom to offer their prayers upon truly Christian principles: or how it comes to pass that the sensible and pious part of our laity (though they can hardly miss to see, that it is inconsistent with religion, and com­mon sense, to trust the most solemn part of our worship to the discretion, honesty, and ability, often of strangers whom they have never seen before, and always of individuals, of whose weakness and folly they have many instances) choose to run such a terrible risk.

I have contributed my poor mite to deliver the laity from the hardships and danger to which they are exposed by our present way of worship; and, as (I think) I have made it obvious, that the present method is attended with great inconveniencies and imminent danger to us poor lay-men: I may like­wise hope that the rulers of our church will lay our case to heart, and take such methods as may enable us to offer a rational service to the great source of reason, and to lift up holy hands without perplexity, fear, or danger. While our case continues as it is, our churches may indeed be crowded by those who have not sense to see their danger, nor attention to perceive upon how many opposite principles they are made to pray; persons who have never perhaps in all their lives reflected upon the nature and im­portance of prayer, and come to church partly [Page 72] because it is the custom, or at most to hear a ser­mon; but they who consider the nature and impor­tance of publick worship will hardly choose, in a thing of so great consequence, to be blindfolded and led by the parson.

With all humility and due deference I submit the whole to your consideration, more extensive learning, and better judgment, and to the candid reflection of all pious Christians, and am with the greatest respect,