Concerning the Lawfulness of Joining with Forms of Prayer Part 1, Case 3
Case III. Whether the Use of Publick Forms of Prayer doth not deaden the Devotion of Prayer?
For thus our Brethren argue, that by the command of God we are obliged not only to pray, but to pray with the utmost devotion we are able, and accordingly to use such means of Prayer as are most apt to heighten and intend our devotion, and thus far we agree with them; if therefore Forms are in themselves, and not through our fault and erronious prejudice, less apt to quicken and raise devotion than conceiv'd Prayers, it will be granted of all hands, that this is a good Argument against the use of them. This therefore is the case wherein we differ, our Brethren say, that Forms of Publick Worship, (for 'tis that we are now discoursing of,) are in themselves apt to dispirit and deaden the Devotions of those that use them; we say the contrary, viz. that publick Forms are in themselves more apt to improve and quicken the common Devotions, than Extemporary Prayers of the Ministers own conceiving; in order therefore to the clearing and full resolution of this Case, we will briefly enquire into these three things:
1. What these advantages to Publick Devotion are, which conceived, or extemporary Prayers pretend to?
2. Whether these Advantages are not for the most part fantastical and imaginary, and whether so far as they are real they are not much more peculiar to Forms than to extempore Prayer?
3. Whether besides these common advantages publick Forms have not peculiar advantages, which conceiv'd Prayers cannot pretend to?
1. We will enquire what those advantages to the publick Devotions are which conceiv'd or extemporary Prayers pretend to; in short, it is pretended in the behalf of conceiv'd Prayers, that they do much more fix the attention, and raise the intention of the Peoples minds in Prayer, than publick Forms; that is, that they do more confine the rovings of mens thoughts in Prayer, and keep their minds more attentive to it, and that they do much more warm and enliven their affections in it; for, say our Brethren, the Devotions of the people are very much rais'd or deaden'd by the performance of the Minister, according as he is more or less devout in it; and as for the Minister, he must needs be much more devout in a Prayer of his own conceiving, than in the use of a publick Form; because first, say they, 'tis impossible for him to keep his mind so attentive in reading a Prayer, as in conceiving one in his own mind, and speaking it from his own conceptions; the care of performing which naturally bounds the wanderings of his thoughts, and keeps them more fixt and attentive; and secondly, because when he utters his words immediately from his affections, his thoughts have not that scope to wander, as when he reads them out of a Book. And as conceived doth more fix the attention of the Minister, so it doth also more raise his intention, or in other words, more warm and inflame his affections; for first, whereas in reading a Form, his affections follow his words, and are raised and excited by them, in conceived Prayer, his words follow his affections, and are immediately utter'd from, and indited by them; and secondly, how is it possible, say they, that the words of another, which he reads out of a Form, should so well express his affections as his own; besides, thirdly, that while he is reading his Form, his soul is so intent in directing his eye to read, that it cannot direct its affections to God with that fervour and intention as it might do in conceiv'd Prayer. These are the supposed helps which the Ministers devotion, and from his the Peoples receive from conceiv'd Prayers, above what Forms of Prayer can afford: and as conceiv'd Prayer hath these peculiar advantages to raise the Ministers devotion, and by his the Peoples, so it hath another advantage by which it more immediately influences the devotion of the People, viz. that the matter of it is still exprest in new words, which must needs much more affect the attention of the People, than when it is always exprest in the same words without any variation; And this, so far as I can gather from the Writings of our Brethren, is the sum of what they plead in behalf of conceiv'd Prayer, as to its peculiar advantageousness to publick Devotion above stated Forms.
2. Therefore we will enquire whether these Advantages are not in a great measure imaginary, and whether so far as they are real, they are not much more peculiar to Forms, than to conceiv'd Prayer. And here I will readily grant, that by expressing a serious and devout affection, the Minister doth really advantage the Devotion of the Congregation, even as by his good example in all other things he excites the people to a pious and virtuous imitation; in whose eyes devotion never looks so amiable, as when 'tis exprest in serious and well compos'd words, accompanied with a devout, a sober, and affectionate behaviour: both which are equally necessary to excite the devotion of the People: if therefore it be really true, that the use of conceived or extempore Prayer is in its own nature most apt to fix the attention, and excite the intention of the Minister in Prayer, it must be confest that herein it hath the advantage of Forms. 1. Therefore we will inquire whether these advantages it pretends to, as to the exciting the Ministers attention in Prayer, be real, or no: The first advantage is, that the very conceiving the matter of his Prayer, and speaking it from his own conceptions, doth naturally more bind his attention, than the reading it out of a Form; but I beseech you, what doth it more bind him to attend to? is it to attend to the words and phrases? if so, then 'tis not to attend to the acts of Prayer, or is it to attend to those acts which are the proper business of Prayer? that is to be asham'd of sin, and to bewail it in confession, to be sensible of the common wants, and common dependancies upon God for supply in petition, to admire God's perfections, and gratefully commemorate his goodness in praise and thanksgiving; for in these things the true devotion both of Minister and People consists; and 'tis only by being an example of these in his Prayer, that the Minister excites the devotion of his people: 'tis by confessing sin, as if he were asham'd of, and sorry for it, that he excites their shame and sorrow; by petitioning for mercy, as if he were sensible of the want of it, and did heartily desire it, and depended upon God for it, that he excites their sense of need, and their desire, and hope of relief, and supply; by praising and thanking God, as if he heartily admired his excellencies, and gratefully resented his goodness that he excites their admiration and gratitude; that mode of Prayer therefore which is most apt to fix the Ministers attention to these acts of devotion, must needs be most apt to excite the devotions of the people: Now as for the mode of praying from his own conceptions, I really think that it is much more apt to unfix the Ministers attention to these acts, than that of praying by a Form; because it forces him to attend to other things at the same time, viz. the recollection of matter, and invention of sutable expressions, which must more or less divert him from attending to the inward acts of devotion, according as his fancy and tongue are more or less pregnant and voluble; it being impossible for him to attend at the same time, to several things, as closely as he may to one: but when he prays by a Form, his matter and words are ready before him, and so he hath nothing else to do, but to attend to his devotion; and certainly when a man hath but one thing to do in Prayer, he may attend to that more fixedly and closely, than when he hath two or three: 'tis true, by being released from attending to the invention of his matter and words, his mind is more at leisure to wander, and instead of attending as he ought more closely to the acts of devotion, by imploying those thoughts which in conceiv'd Prayer he imploys in invention in a closer attention to the acts of devotion, he may, if he please, permit them to rove abroad; but if he doth, the fault is in himself, and not in the Form he prays by: the design of his Form is to release his mind from all other business in Prayer, but only that of inward devotion, which is the life of Prayer, that so it may be the more attentive to it: but if instead of applying his mind to this design, he suffers it to wander abroad, he makes an ill use of a good thing, and converts that which is in it self a help to devotion, into an occasion of indevotion: but 'tis objected, that while his thoughts are imployed in inventing the matter and words of his Prayer, they are attending to the duty of Prayer, and while they are so, they are well imploy'd, though they should not be so attentively fixt upon the inward devotion of Prayer, as they might be in the use of a Form: to which in short I answer, That to invent the matter and words of Prayer, is not to pray, but to study a Prayer; and till our Brethren have proved, that our inventing the matter and words, is a part of our duty of Prayer, which is the Question in debate between us, we can by no means grant, that our attention to it is attending to the duty of Prayer; we believe that when we pray devoutly by a Form, we discharge the whole duty of Prayer, though we do not invent the matter and words our selves, and when we see the contrary proved, we will not only yield that to attend to inventing, is to attend to the duty of Prayer; but that it is unlawful to pray by a Form: but in the mean time we can yield neither one, nor t'other. Seeing then that Forms are in themselves more apt to fix the Ministers attention to the inward acts of devotion, and seeing that 'tis by attending to these acts, or at least by seeming to do so, that he influences the attention of the people, it necessarily follows, that in this respect Forms are more advantageous to publick devotion, than conceiv'd or extemporary Prayer. But then,
2. It is pretended that conceiv'd Prayer is in it self more apt to fix the Ministers attention in Prayer than Forms, because in conceiv'd Prayer he utters his words immediately from his affections, by reason of which his thoughts have not that scope to wander, as when he reads them out of a Book: to which, in short, I answer, That if he hath devout affections, he may utter his words as immediately from his affections in a Form, as in a conceiv'd Prayer; and therefore this pretence is altogether insignificant; for his own invention is as much a medium between his affections and utterance in Praying extempore, as the Book in praying by a Form; as for instance, suppose that in confessing sin, he be affected with shame and sorrow, he cannot express it in words, but by using his own invention, or a Form, and whether he uses one, or t'other, he uses a medium to express it; and why those words which he reads should not be as immediate to his affections as those which he invents, provided they do as fully express them, I am not able to apprehend; in short therefore, if he hath devout affections, they will at least as much confine his thoughts from wandering when he prays by Form, as when he prays Extempore, if he hath not, he cannot utter his words from his affections, either in the one or t'other.
2. We will inquire whether those advantages which our Brethren ascribe to conceiv'd Prayer above Forms, as to the raising the Ministers intention in Prayer, be real, or no: first they pretend that in reading a Form, his affections follow his words, and are raised and excited by them; whereas in praying extempore, his words follow his affections. This I confess is a very curious distinction, but I am not able to apprehend either what foundation there is for it, or how it is applicable to the matter; for first what necessity is there either that his affections should follow his words in a Form, more than in a conceiv'd Prayer, or that his words should follow his affections in a conceiv'd Prayer, more than in a Form? why may not a man be devoutly affected with the matter he prays for, before he expresses in a Form of words, as well as before he expresses it extempore? since if he be acquainted with the Form, he cannot but know before-hand what he is to pray for in it; and therefore if he be truly devout, cannot but be affected with it, before he prays for it; and so on the other hand, why may not a man as well be unaffected with the matter he prays for in conceiv'd Prayer, till he hath exprest it, as with the matter he prays for in a Form? or what reason can be assign'd, why the affection may not follow the words, and be excited by them in the one, as well as in the other? may not a man pray inconsiderately, and suffer his tongue, to run before his heart in both? and may not his affections which were before asleep, be awakened by the sound of his words in either? In short therefore, since in praying by a Form, a man may know as well at least, and hath as much time to consider the matter he is to pray for before-hand, as in praying extempore; what reason is there why it should be more difficult for him to affect his soul before-hand with it in the one, than in the other? and if it be equally hard and easie in both, than 'tis equally possible for his affections to go before, or follow his words in either. But then secondly, suppose it were true, that in conceiv'd Prayer the words follow the affections, and in a Form the affections the words, how doth it from hence follow, that conceiv'd Prayer doth more intend and heighten the affections, than Forms? what reason can there be assign'd, why those acts of inward affections, which follow our words in Prayer, should not be as intense and vigorous as those which go before them? why may not a man exert as flagrant an act of desire, immediately after he hath exprest his Petition, as immediately before, especially if that be true which our Brethren affirm, and which most men find by experence; that the words of Prayer, if they are proper and expressive, do naturally quicken and excite the affections; so that if it be the matter only that excites the affections, they may be as vehemently excited after the words are spoken as before; if it be the words also, the affections must be less vehemently excited before the words, than after: in short therefore, when the Minister prays in publick, whether it be by Form, or extempore, he prays on, without making any long pauses between one Petition and another, so that as soon as ever he hath conceived the matter, he expresses it, and whether it be immediately before or immediately after, or while he is expressing it, that he joyns his affection to it, there can be no reason assign'd, if it be the matter he joyns them to, why he should more affect it now, than then, there being nothing in the order of before or after, to raise and excite his affection: and if so, his affections following his words, though it were necessary to his praying by a Form, can be no disadvantage to his Devotion, nor the contrary an advantage to it, though it were necessary to his praying extempore: but then secondly, it is pretended that the Minister cannot so well express his devout affections in other mens words, as in his own, and therefore when he prays in a Form of words of other mens composure, 'tis impossible his affections should be so livelily represented, as when he prays extempore: To which in short I answer, That the Ministers business in publick Prayer is not to express the degrees and heighths of his own affections, or to acquaint God of the particular and extraordinary fervencies of his own soul: for in publick he prays as the common mouth of the Congregation, and therefore he ought not to express to God in the name of the People, any matter that is peculiar to himself, or to represent his own particular extraordinary fervours, as the common case of the Congregation, but his words ought to be such as every honest and ordinary Christian may truly joyn with, as the sense and meaning of his own soul; and for him to express to God in the name of the People, such heights of Devotion as few or none of them are arrived to, is as bad as to confess in their names such sins to God, as few or none of them are guilty of. So that if the Minister hath such peculiar heighths of affection as can be fitly exprest only in his own words, he ought not to tell God of them in a publick Prayer, in which he is to express nothing but what is the true and common sense of every honest and sincere Christian; and this certainly may be as fitly exprest in another mans words, as in his own, unless we will suppose that no man can so well express the common sense of a Christian Congregation, as he that prays extempore, yea, and that he himself cannot so fitly express it in premeditated words, as in extemporary ones; neither of which I suppose any sober Dissenter will affirm. But then Thirdly and lastly, it is also pretended, that in the use of Forms, the Ministers soul is so ingaged in directing his eye to read, that it cannot be so intensly affected with what he prays for, as when he prays extempore; in answer to which, I leave the Reader to judge, whether the recollecting of the matter of Prayer, the disposing of it into a due method, and inventing of proper phrases to express it, (neither of which are acts of Prayer, as I shew'd before) must not much more busie and ingage the Ministers soul when he is praying publickly, than the directing of his eye to read; that is, whether one that hath so perfect a habit of reading as that he can readily exercise it without imploying one thought about it, cannot read a Prayer more easily, than invent one? for so much easier as it is to read than to invent a Prayer, so much less his soul hath to divert it from being affected with what he prays for when he prays by a Form, than when he prays extempore. And thus you see that those advantages which are ascribed to conceiv'd Prayer, as to the raising the Ministers Devotion, are such as are either imaginary, or as ought rather to be ascribed to Forms.
But it is pretended, that Forms of Prayer do not only deaden the Ministers Devotion, and so by consequence the Peoples, but that they do also deaden the Peoples by a more direct and immediate influence, because they still express the matter of Prayer in the same words, which when the People have often heard, will be apt to cloy their attention, whereas the very newness and variety of words, in which conceiv'd Prayers are exprest, doth naturally awaken and entertain their minds and keep them more fixt and intent. For answer whereunto, let us consider upon what it is that this novelty and variety of expression doth keep our minds so fixt and intent on, is it upon the matter of Prayer? doubtless, No; for that is generally the same, especially the matter of publick Prayer, and therefore if it were that that fixt our minds, 'twould as well do it in the same as in new and varied expressions; and since the matter of publick Prayer is old, and for the main will be always so, why should it not as well affect us in old words as in new, provided they exprest it with equal propriety and fitness; but if it be meerly the newness of the phrase 'tis express'd in, that fixes their minds: there is nothing in it but a meer surprise and amusement of their fancies, which instead of fixing doth unfix their minds from the internal acts of Prayer, and divert its attention from the devotion to the oratory of it; so that this fixation of their minds on the novelty of the phrase and method of Prayer is so far from being an advantage, that 'tis a distraction to their devotion. As for Forms of Prayer, there is no doubt but they may be composed with the same advantage of expression and pronounced with the same affection as the Prayers of our own extempore composure, and if they are so, they will have the same advantage of the musick of speech to excite the Devotions of the People; but as for novelty of method and expression, that may indeed entertain their minds and divert them from roving out to other objects, but even this entertainment is a roving and excursion of their minds from the acts of Prayer, which, while they are amused with the novelty of the phrase and method of the Prayer, can be no more intent on the devotion of it, than while they are busied about secular objects and affairs. And indeed that seeming devotion that is raised in the minds of the People by the gingling of the Ministers words about their fancies, is generally false and counterfeit, for as words do naturally impress the fancy, so the fancy doth naturally excite the sensitive affections; so that when the affections are excited meerly by the art and musick of the words of Prayer, it is not Devotion but Mechanism; for there is no doubt but men may be and many times are strangely affected with the words of Prayer when they have not the least spark of true devotion to the matter of it; for when they fancy the matter of Prayer and are affected with it meerly for the sake of the words, the movement of their affection will cease as soon as the impression is worn out which the words make upon their fancies, and if in the mean time they happen to hear any other matter exprest in the same affectionate words, they will in all probability be as much affected with it, as they are now with the matter of Prayer, but if the mind be truly devout and doth affect the matter of Prayer for it self and not for the sake of the words, I cannot imagin how new words should any way advantage its devotion, unless they were to express new matter. Since therefore the matter of publick Prayer neither is nor ought to be new, unless it be upon extraordinary publick emergencies, what colour of reason can there be assign'd, why the devotion of the hearers should be more affected with it in new words than in old, supposing it be express'd and pronounc'd with the same propriety and affection in both. And thus I have shewn that those advantages of publick Devotion which are pretended to be peculiar to conceiv'd Prayers, are for the most part imaginary, and that so far forth as they are real they are more peculiar to Forms of Prayer, I proceed to the third and last enquiry, viz.
3. Whether there are not sundry advantages of publick Devotion peculiar to Forms of Prayer, which conceived Prayers cannot pretend to? That there are, I do affirm, and will indeavour to prove by these following Instances.
1. One great advantage that is peculiar to publick Forms of Prayer, is, That the People may address themselves to them with greater preparation; for if they please, they may peruse the words before-hand, and consider the sense and matter of them, and indeavour to affect their minds with it; as for instance, when I know before-hand what words my sins will be confest in, when I am to joyn in the publick Devotions, I can consider before-hand the sense and meaning of them, and prepare such affection as are sutable to them; as suppose the confession be that of our Church's Liturgy, wherein we begin with Almighty and most merciful Father; I can consider the meaning of these words before I come to Church; and from the consideration of God's almighty and most merciful nature, excite my affections to an awful dread of his power, and an ingenuous sense of his mercy; by which when I come to joyn with these words in the publick confession, I shall be duely affected with the sense of them, and my soul will beready melted into all that filial sorrow and humiliation for my sin, with the consideration that I have offended by it an Almighty and most merciful Father suggests; and so if I consider, and apply before-hand all the rest of the confession, I shall thereby tune and set my affections to the sense and matter of each particular phrase and expression in it; which 'twill be impossible for me to do when I am to joyn with an extempore Prayer; because I cannot know before-hand what the phrases and expressions of it will be; besides which, upon the words of publick Forms, there may be written excellent Paraphrases and Meditations, such as is that of the Companion to the Temple; by reading of which the Devotions of the People may be very much excited and improved; which is such an advantage as the words of extempore Prayer will not admit of.
2. Another advantage peculiar to publick Forms, is, That in joining with them the People may pray with more understanding, than they can well be supposed to do in conceiv'd and extempore Prayer, wherein generally the Minister is forc'd to make use of such words and expressions as come first to hand, having not leisure enough to pick and choose his words, without making long and undecent pauses and interruptions, so that sometimes he is fain to use a hard word, which perhaps not half the People understand, because an easier doth not come to his mind, and sometimes to intangle his expressions with long Parentheses, sometimes to darken his matter with far fetch'd Metaphors, or to express it by halfs in broken Sentences, and sometimes to run out his Periods to an inordinate length, by which the sense of them is very much clouded and obscur'd: these and such like inconveniences all the World knows do very commonly attend extempore Effusions: and let a mans fancy and tongue be never so fluent and voluble, he can never be so secure of expressing himself intelligibly to the People when he prays extempore, as he might be if he took time enough before-hand to choose his words, and form his expressions, so that the People may be much more secure of understanding what they pray for when they joyn with a Form, than when they joyn with an extempore Prayer; for to be sure in composing publick Forms more care will be taken of the phrase, that the words may fit the matter, and express it intelligibly to the People, than there can be in extempore Prayer; which admits of no long consideration, no alteration upon second thoughts, no after-scanning or revisal, as Forms of Prayer do, but it must pass as it happens, whether it be intelligible or no, by reason of which those who occupy the room of the unlearned, are many times forc'd to break off praying for want of understanding what the words and expressions of the Prayer mean; for whether the Prayer be spoken in an unknown Tongue, or in words that are unintelligible to the People, it is all one to them, for still their understanding is unfruitful, and so long their devotion must be broken and interrupted.
3. Another advantage peculiar to publick Forms, is, That the People may joyn with them with much more faith and ussurance, than they can with extempore Prayers; it must doubtless be of great advantage to a mans devotion in publick, to be satisfied before-hand that the matter he is to pray for is good and acceptable to God; for by this means he will be inabled to pray on with a stronger faith and surer hope of being heard and accepted; but this a man can never be satisfi'd of aforehand, that joyns in extempore Prayer, unless he hath an implicit faith in his Minister, that he will say nothing to God but what is true, nor ask any thing of him but what is lawful; which how he can certainl depend on, I cannot imagin, especially considering that the Minister who prays is many times a stranger to him, both as to his person and principles, and for all that he knows may be very erronious, rash, and unadvised, or very ignorant of what is matter of Prayer, and what not; And even those Ministers whom he knows, and can best confide in, are not always so very sure of their hands, but that some times they may mistake their passion for their zeal, and reak their anger or faction in their Prayers, or in the heat and hurry of speaking what comes next, let drop an error before they are aware, or express themselves so doubtfully, or unadvisedly, that an honest and discerning mind may not be able to joyn with him; so that in joyning with an extempore Prayer, it is very necessary, (as hath been observed by an excellent Divine upon this Argument) that as we go along with the Minister, we should judge of what he saith before our hearts consent to it, and if it should so happen, that by reason of the novelty, or ambiguity, affectation, or indigestedness of his expressions, or any such rub in our way, we cannot readily judge, but are fain to hesitate, and deliberate upon this, or that passage; in the mean time he who prays is gone on, and now upon a new subject, and we are left behind, and at a loss, and perhaps miserably confounded before our Devotion can close in again, and no sooner it may be is it well fixt, but 'tis led away again into the same inconveniency and maze: all which may be easily prevented by the use of publick Forms; of the matter and expressions of which, the People may easily satisfie themselves aforehand, and when this is done, they will have nothing else to do, but to pray and keep their holy affections a going, they will have no new Judgment to make of what is said, no doubtful phrase or matter to examin, and their judgment being satisfied before they begin to pray, with the words and matter of the Prayer, their devotion may go on with it, without pause or stop in an even and uninterrupted current.
4. Another advantage peculiar to publick Forms, is, That they have much less in them to divert the affefections of the People from the matter of Prayer. For as for extempore Prayer, it is very apt to disturb the devotion of the People, whether it be well or ill perform'd, if he who performs it hesitates, or blunders, or expresses himself in crude, undecent, or fantastick phrases, instead of attending to the matter, and joyning their affections with it, they will in all probability be pitying, or contemning him, carping at what comes next, and running descants on his weakness and impertinence; if he perform well, and his method be orderly and artificial, his matter good, and his expressions fluent and apt, and easie, they will in all probability be admiring his parts, and entertaining their curiosity with the elegancy of his phrase, the solidity and promptness of his judgment, and the art and finery of his composure; either of which must very much divert and call off their affections from the matter; whereas while they are joyning in publick Forms, to which they have been accustomed, and in which neither the strength, nor weakness of the Ministers parts appears, they have none of all these snares to intangle their devotion: for being used to the words, and phrase, and method, they have no temptation to concern their minds any farther about them, than as they convey the matter of the Prayer to them, and having none of the above-named diversions, to carry away their minds from the matter, they may doubtless, if they please, attend to it with much more fervour and affection.
5. Another peculiar advantage to the Peoples Devotion in joyning with publick Forms, is, That they are more secur'd as to the decency and solemnity of their publick Worship; and I suppose there is no body will question, but that the decent and solemn performance of publick Worship, is highly advantageous to the Devotion of the People. But now whilst they joyn in extempore Prayers, the decency and solemnity of the performance, doth altogether depend upon the ability and present disposedness of the Minister; so that if the Minister happen to be a man of a mean elocution, of an unready memory, or an unfruitful invention, it is impossible the Office should be perform'd with that decency and solemnity, that is necessary to affect the minds, and excite the devotions of the People; yea, instead of that perhaps, the wretched dulness, the blundering, confusion, and impertinence of the performance, may turn their devotion into scorn and laughter; for of this I have seen too many sad experiments: but suppose the Minister be a man of pregnant parts, and ready invention and elocution, yea and of great Piety and Devotion too, yet 'tis possible he may be frequently liable to great indispositions of body, and mind, to dulness, and inadvertency, to wandering, and distraction of thoughts, to deficiencies of invention, and failures of memory, and incumbrances of mind, with outward cares and accidents; and if he be, what remedy is there, but that he must many times pray confusedly, and omit a great deal of the matter of Prayer, and utter a great deal of it in broken or undecent expressions? and how can he avoid being sometimes at a loss, both for words and matter, and being forc'd to supply the present defects of his invention, with fulsome repetitions of what went before? and how is it possible almost but that a great deal of slat and empty nonsense, a great many crude and undigested conceptions, and rash and unadvis'd expressions should escape from his lips before he is aware? and this, if he hath any grain of modesty in him, must, upon the least reflection, put him into a greater confusion, and so amaze, and bewilder him, that throughout the whole Prayer perhaps, he will hardly be able to recover himself to any consistency of thoughts: Now is it not a hard case, that the decency and solemnity of the publick Prayers of a Congregation, should depend upon the uncertain and variable temper and disposition of one single person; so as that if he happen to be indispos'd or disorder'd in his body or mind, the Devotions of 500 or 1000 persons must partake of his disorders and distractions; for how much soever he is indisposed, their Prayer can be no better than what he is able to pour out extempore, and how flatly, unadvisedly or confusedly soever he prays, they must pray after him, or not pray at all; which vast inconvenience is wholly cur'd and prevented, by a well compos'd Form of Prayer, for how weak soever the Ministers parts be, or how much soever he may be at present indisposed, if he can but read distinctly and seriously, the Devotion of the People will not be at all affected or influenc'd by it, for whatsoever his parts, or present temper be, they will be sure to find an orderly and methodical Prayer to joyn with; a Prayer that is comprehensive of all their common cases and necessities; that is sober and good, mature and well advised as to the matter; that is full and plain and decent as to the phrase and expression of it; and in a word, that is every way suted to all the parts and ends and offices of publick Devotion; And if they please, they may satisfie themselves before-hand, that there is nothing in the Prayer they are to joyn with, but what becomes publick Worship, which is the most serious and solemn thing in the World.
6. Another peculiar advantage of publick Forms, is, That in joyning with them the People may be better secur'd of the reality and sincerity of their own Devotion. For in joyning with extempore Prayers, there is no doubt but they may, and many times do mistake the tickling of their fancics, for true and sincere Devotion; for their fancies being surpriz'd, and amused, meerly by the novelty of the expressions, will naturally influence their sensitive passions, and chase them into such warmths as an undiscerning judgment may easily mistake for the holy fervours of Devotions; they find themselves strangely heated in the Prayer, and upon that immediately conclude, that they are wonderfully devout, without ever enquiring, whether it be the matter, or the phrase and expression that heats them; and so from those transports of passion, which are meerly the effects of new and surprising words, striking briskly on their fancies, they many times take occasion to flatter themselves into a great opinion of their Piety and Godliness, whereas many of these persons are notoriously immoral in their lives, and utterly disaffected to the matter they pray for with so much seeming earnestness and affection; which is a plain argument, that their affection is not to the matter, but meerly to the words and expressions; and in all probability the same surprisingness of expression would have as much affected them at a Play, as it doth at a Prayer: thus for instance, when they hear God or Christ spoken of, and their goodness and perfections represented in a new and surprising strain of expressions, their fancy many times is strangely smitten with it, and this makes their spirits flow in a sweet and placid torrent to their heart; and by their frisking about it, to sooth and tickle it into great complacency and pleasure, till at last it opens and dilates it orifices, and the grateful flood breaks in, and drowns it in delight and ravishment; and yet all this many times, instead of being a real complacency of their souls in God, is only a complacency of their fancies in the phrase by which he is described and represented, and had they heard the Hero of Play describ'd in the same phrase, they might probably have been moved to the same affection to him, as they are now to God and their Saviour; for the same kind of influence that new and surprising expressions have upon mens fancies in Prayer, they will have when applied to other matters; And if we will believe Plutarch, it was an ordinary thing with the Greek Sophists, by their honied words, surprising phrases, singing tones, and effeminate accents, to excite their Auditors into a kind of Bacchical Enthusiasm; and no doubt but those hearers, of whom he there speaks, who were wont to applaud their Orators at the end of their Declamations with a foreign, divinely, heavenly, unimitably spoken; found themselves as much moved, as many a man doth at an extempore Prayer, who yet verily believes, that it is not meerly a movement of his fancy, but of his sincere and true devotion. This therefore is a great disadvantage of extempore Prayer in publick, that meerly by amusing the fancies of the people with the surprising novelty of its expressions, it puts them into fits of counterfeit devotion, and makes them many times imagin that they are heartily affected with the matter of the Prayers, when 'tis meerly the phrase of it that by striking on their fancies, moves their sensitive affection. But whether this movement of affection be fancy, or devotion, a man may much more easily distinguish when he joyns with a Form, than when he joyns with an extempore Prayer; for he being acquainted aforehand with the phrases and expressions of the Form, it is not to be supposed, that they should much surprise and amuse his fancy, and therefore if notwithstanding that, he finds himself heartily affected in the Prayer, he may much more securely conclude, that it is the matter, and not meerly the words that moves and affects him. And thus, with all plainness and sincerity, I have indeavoured to represent those peculiar advantages which Forms of Prayer have above extempore ones, as to the quickening and improving the Devotions of the People: I might have given other Instances of it, but these I think are sufficient to determin the case in debate, and to convince any unprejudic'd man, that pious and well composed Forms, are so far from deadening the publick Devotions, that they contribute sundry great advantages to it. And indeed if publick Forms do deaden the Peoples Devotion, it must be either as they always confine the Devotions of the People to the same set of words, which, as I have proved at large, is a great advantage to their Devotion; or as they do pro tempore confine them to a certain set of words; in which sense the Ministers extempore Prayer is a Form to the People, and doth as much confine their Devotions to a certain set of words, pro tempore, as any stated Form whatsoever.
And now, if after all this, it be objected by our Brethren, that they find by Experience, which is the best Argument, that Forms do actually deaden their Devotion, I would beseech them seriously to consider, whether this experience of theirs be not founded in an unreasonable prejudice; and if it be, whether it's fit that their unreasonable prejudice should prescribe to the whole Church? it's certain, that there are other men as truly pious and devout as they, who find by experience, that joyning with the publick Forms is a great advantage to their Devotion; so that here is experience against experience; and certainly where there are two contrary experiences of the same thing, they cannot both proceed from the nature of the thing; but one, or t'other must necessarily arise from the disposition and temper of those who are conversant about it: Now I have shew'd that Forms of Prayer are in themselves real advantages to publick Devotion, and that they are so, there are many thousands of good Christians can attest by their own experience; and therefore if our Brethren do not experience the same, the fault must lie in their own prejudice, or temper, and there is no doubt to be made, but would they heartily indeavour to cure their own prejudice, and to dispossess their minds of those groundless Piques they have entertain'd against our Liturgy; would they but peruse it with impartial eyes; consider the contents, and labour to affect their minds with the sense and matter of it; they would quickly find the same experience of its advantageousness to publick Devotion, as those blessed Martyrs did who compos'd it, us'd, and at last died for it, and valued every Leaf of it as an inestimable treasure; and as we should consent in our experience, so we should also in our communion, and with one heart and one mouth glorifie our Father together.
FINIS.
End of the text · John Scott, Concerning the Lawfulness of Joining with Forms of Prayer Part 1 (1683)