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<NAME>John Latta</NAME>
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<FRONT>
<DIV1 TYPE="title page">
<PB REF="1" MS="y">
<P><HI>De Adoratione Dei ver&s;us Altare:</HI></P>
<P>OR That Pious and Devout CEREMONY OF BOWING TOWARDS The ATLAR Vindicated as Lawfull, Pious and Laudable.</P>
<P>BEING The Sub&s;tance of a <HI>Divinity Lecture</HI> made &s;ome years &s;ince at <HI>Cambridge</HI> in Latin.</P>
<P>By ELEAZAR DUNCON D. D. and Chaplain to his late mo&s;t Excellent MAJESTY.</P>
<P>Dedicated to the Right Reverend Father in God <HI>John</HI> Lord Bi&s;hop of <HI>Exeter.</HI></P>
<P><HI>LONDON</HI> Printed, and are to be &s;old by <HI>Timothy Garthwait</HI> at the little <HI>North</HI>-dore of St. <HI>Pauls.</HI></P>
</DIV1>
</FRONT>
<BODY>
<DIV1 TYPE="lecture">
<PB REF="2">
<PB N="1" REF="2">
<HEAD>Of Wor&s;hipping GOD Towards the <HI>ALTAR.</HI></HEAD>
<HEAD TYPE="sub"><HI>In the Name of</HI> GOD. Amen.</HEAD>
<P>_I Suppo&s;e it is not unknown unto you <HI>Learned Auditors,</HI> that there hath been &s;ome time &s;ince a frequent report, which hath reached the ears of all, that I propounded at the Commencement, a new and unheard of Que|&s;tion, <HI>viz.</HI> Of <HI>the bowing towards the Altar,</HI> whereby we &s;olemnly wor&s;hip God. I had not indeed then re&s;olved to Di&s;pute concerning that Particular, though I thinke I &s;hould have done well and de&s;ervedly, if I had vindicated that ancient Cu&s;tome of Bowing and Adoration,
<PB N="2" REF="3">from ye&s;terdaies opprobrious railing and ca|lumny, and had in that crowd of Learned Audi|tors a&s;&s;erted it to be both Godly and Religious; but as well my own inclination as the Command of Superiours did oblige me to the di&s;cu&s;&s;ion of graver Subjects. But being, In the Name of God, to make a Theologicall determination, I can find no Que&s;tion, either by rea&s;on of the time more convenient, according to my purpo&s;e more fit, or by rea&s;on of Novelty more de&s;ired, then this which &s;ome Bu&s;ie-bodies without my knowledge have obtruded upon me. Concer|ning <HI>Adoration or bowing.</HI> This therefore I have now purpo&s;ed to handle, le&s;t the forementioned Per&s;ons (who lie at the Catch) &s;hould proceed, and openly boa&s;t, That I refu&s;ed a Que&s;tion as it were propounded to me; nay, that we either cannot, dare not, or will not publickly defend, that which we con&s;ecrate for our daily practi&s;e.</P>
<P>The Que&s;tion therefore is,</P>
<P><HI>Whether that bowing towards the Altar, whereby we wor&s;hip God, at our ingre&s;&s;e into his hou&s;e, and likewi&s;e our egre&s;&s;e, and as oft as we &s;tand before the Altar for the performing of Divine &s;ervice with our humble and &s;uplicant veneration, be law|full, holy, and prai&s;e-worthy, conformable to the practice of the ancient Catholick
<PB N="3" REF="3">Church; and not with rea&s;on to be calum|niated by our up&s;tart Innovators.</HI></P>
<P>It is &s;ufficiently manife&s;t, that not onely the truth, but al&s;o my duty requires, that I &s;hould with the be&s;t arguments I can defend the affir|mative; and briefly and plainly an&s;wer the ad|ver&s;aries objections; which will be done more effectually, if fir&s;t tho&s;e things which in the que|&s;tion are but confu&s;ed &s;hall be exactly di&s;tingui|&s;hed; tho&s;e things which may &s;eem ob&s;cure plainly unfolded; and tho&s;e taken as granted which are conceded by mo&s;t as indubitably true. I &s;hall begin, if you plea&s;e, with the la&s;t of the&s;e.</P>
<P>In the fir&s;t place therefore it is to be Suppo&s;ed, <HI>that certain places de&s;ignd by the Church, as Chappels, Cathedrals, or Churches, for the publick wor&s;hip of God, the performance of Divine &s;ervices, and the ex|erci&s;e of Eccle&s;ia&s;ticall duties mu&s;t nece&s;&s;arily be ap|pointed.</HI> Which is &s;o true, that it &s;eems not one|ly written in the Dialect of Scripture and rea&s;on, but by the beams of the Sunne it &s;elf. Which he who &s;hall be &s;o &s;trangely mad as to deny, ut|terly overthrows Religion it &s;elfe, bani&s;hes piety and holine&s;s, and de&s;ies to his power both God and Chri&s;t.</P>
<P>The &s;econd &s;uppo&s;ition which ari&s;eth from this fir&s;t, may be this: <HI>All Chri&s;tians, if they will keep the Commandements of the Lord, and walk in his way, are obliged to come to tho&s;e places dedicated to God and holy u&s;es, that they may make their vows,
<PB N="4" REF="4">offer up their prayers and prai&s;es, and perform his due wor&s;hip and Adoration.</HI> The truth of this &s;up|po&s;ition is as cleare as the former. For therefore are the Courts of the Lord &s;eparated from the filth of prophanene&s;s; therefore are they &s;olemn|ly dedicated and con&s;ecrated: That in tho&s;e all Chri&s;tians flocking and a&s;&s;embling together with one accord, may reverence God in his own hou&s;e by their commune and publick duties and wor&s;hip. <HI>My Hou&s;e &s;hall be called a Hou&s;e of prayer to all people,</HI> &s;aith the Prophet <HI>Wor&s;hip God in the beauty of holine&s;s,</HI> &s;aith the P&s;almi&s;t.</P>
<P>Let this then be the third &s;uppo&s;ition deduced from the two precedent. <HI>That publick wor&s;hip to be performed to God by every one in the holy Church, ought not to be lame and imperfect; as if it required the &s;oule, and excluded the body; or did bind the body alone, with no tie upon the &s;oul; but it mu&s;t be compleat and perfect, both as to &s;oul and body, &s;trictly obliging the whole man, &amp; the whole of man to a due ob&s;ervance and diligence: fir&s;t the &s;oul, that the wor&s;hip may be &s;incere, proceeding from the bot|tome of the heart, not feined and &s;avouring of hypo|crifie; and al&s;o the body, that the wor&s;hip may be vi|&s;ible, exemplary, and expo&s;ed to witne&s;s; that it be as much as po&s;&s;ible humble and lowly, candidly ex|pre&s;&s;ing the inward reverence of the &s;oul, and won|derfully increa&s;ing and perfecting that reverence.</HI> This propo&s;ition of the friendly and nece&s;&s;ary harmony of the &s;oul and body in the perfor|mance of &s;acred duties, no man I conceive will think to want the help of Arguments to confirm
<PB N="5" REF="4">it, who hath fir&s;t granted, that God the Creator of all things hath made both our &s;oules and bo|dies, for the attendance of his Maje&s;ty and glory of his Name.</P>
<P>I proceed therefore to the fourth and la&s;t Sup|po&s;ition. <HI>That perfect wor&s;hip which contains the obedience both of &s;oul and body, con&s;i&s;ting both of ex|ternal and internal Adoration, publickly performed to God by Chri&s;tians meeting in the holy place, is without doubt lawful, pious and landable, as agreeable to the example of the Primitive Church; and there|fore ought to take away all occa&s;ion of calumny from the Tongues and Pens of Innovators.</HI> Nor doe I think any will deny his Vote to this, but he who hath made &s;hipwrack both of his Religion and Rea&s;on.</P>
<P>Thus briefly have I run over the four Suppo|&s;itions; to wit, <HI>Of the de&s;igning the Holy Place, Of the publick Convention or A&s;&s;embly there to be Cele|brated, Of the perfect Wor&s;hip there to be performed, Of the Piety, Religion, and Antiquity of that Wor&s;hip to be A&s;&s;erted.</HI></P>
<P>I come now to the &s;econd Particular propo&s;ed, <HI>viz.</HI> The Explanation of &s;ome things, which, though they are enough plain in them&s;elves, and &s;eparated from all appearance of evil, yet to tho&s;e who will be plea&s;ed with nothing, are matter of &s;candal and offence. And in the fir&s;t place, the very word <HI>Altar</HI> affords them matter of &s;u&s;pition, as if all who commonly u&s;e that word did likewi&s;e endeavour the Re&s;titution of the <HI>Popi&s;h Ma&s;&s;e,</HI> or <HI>Lateran Tran&s;ub&s;tantiation.</HI>
<PB N="6" REF="5">Oh charitable Soules! Are they ignorant that all the Ancient Fathers both in the Ea&s;t and We&s;t Churches, all, I &s;ay, from <HI>Ignatius</HI> him&s;elf down to St. <HI>Bernard,</HI> have often made u&s;e of that Name or Appellation? what is more fre|quent among the Greeks, than <GAP DESC="foreign">, which in Latine are no le&s;&s;e frequently &s;ignified by <HI>Sacerdos, Sacrificium, Altare, Prie&s;t, Sacrifice, and Altar?</HI> what imprudence is this to give it no wor&s;e title) of accu&s;ing the holy Fathers and Doctors, as if they laid the fir&s;t <HI>Foundations</HI> of the Popi&s;h Doctrine? the Sea of <HI>Rome</HI> indeed hath no &s;touter Defenders nor propitious Patrons, then &s;uch weak and witle&s;s enemies. <HI>Altar, Prie&s;t, and Sacrifice</HI> are relatives, and the Argument will be good from one to the other; and from the granting of tho&s;e three, is not any &s;eeming con|&s;equence of <HI>Tran&s;ub&s;tantiation.</HI> Take away <HI>Tran|&s;ub&s;tantiation,</HI> &s;aith the Right Reverend <HI>Bi&s;hop of Winche&s;ter,</HI> of happy memory, to the Je&s;uits, and we &s;hall have no long Controver&s;ie concerning the Sacrifice: <HI>we have an Altar,</HI> &s;aith St. <HI>Paul,</HI> let us therefore, with their good leave, imitate the Apo&s;tles and Fathers of the Primitive Church; let us, I &s;ay, therefore in the &s;ame wordes and phra&s;es as he did (&s;ince in &s;itter we cannot) &s;e|curely and freely expre&s;&s;e the &s;ame Catholicke &s;en&s;e. After they have &s;ufficiently puni&s;hed this word, they endeavour highly and injuriou&s;ly to vex the Subject it &s;elf. For though they cannot but acknowledge if they would candidly inter|pret things, that we performe that <HI>wor&s;hip</HI> before
<PB N="7" REF="5">the <HI>Altar</HI> only and always to God alone; yet &s;uch itch have they after calumny and &s;candall, that they accu&s;e us of Sacriledge and Idolatry (the mo&s;t execrable crimes) I verily believe again&s;t the &s;en&s;e of their own con&s;ciences: affirming that this Adoration is voluntarily and on &s;et pur|po&s;e offered by us to the <HI>Altar</HI> it &s;elf, which is ei|ther Wood or Stone. <HI>Vexat cen&s;ura Columbas.</HI> Inno|cence &s;hall not want a cen&s;ure. Truly there needs no Apology to wipe off this their manife&s;t and notorious calumny, of which their con&s;ciences mu&s;t tell them they them&s;elves are the Authors. The &s;ame Dart's poi&s;oned with the &s;ame Venom did the Heathens of Old throw again&s;t the inno|cent heads of the Primitive Chri&s;tians, to wit, <HI>that they Adored the Sun,</HI> becau&s;e they wor&s;hip'd God towards the Ea&s;t. <HI>They wor&s;hip,</HI> &s;aith one, <HI>I know what Ononochrytes, with the murder of In|fants:</HI> And after; <HI>They drinke humane gore, and proceed to promi&s;cuous copulation.</HI> Away with the&s;e reproaches, breathing out bla&s;phemy and wic|kedne&s;&s;e, which yet are ea&s;ily flighted, as pro|ceeding from a mouth which confe&s;s'd not Chri&s;t; but unworthy, unworthy utterly it is that we &s;hould &s;o hainou&s;ly, &s;o unde&s;ervedly be accu&s;ed of &s;o great a wickedne&s;&s;e, by our Bre|thren, who have been wa&s;hed in the &s;ame Font with us, pouring out the &s;ame Prayers daily, and hoping for the &s;ame Heaven and Happine&s;&s;e: If their Charity was but warmed with that zeale they pretend, they would not certainly accu&s;e us thus unju&s;tly of High Trea&s;on again&s;t the Ma|je&s;ty
<PB N="8" REF="6">of Heaven; nor &s;hould we rightly and de&s;ervedly pronounce them the manife&s;t Viola|tors of Peace and Charity. When we pray, if it may be we look upon the Heavens and Stars and lift up our eyes and hands, yet who is &s;o &s;otti&s;h as to thinke that we therefore wor&s;hip the Skies or the roofe of the Church? Entring into the Hou&s;e of God at the very Thre&s;hold we uncover our Heads, Do we therefore Adore the &s;anctified Stones? Coming into our Pewes, we bend our Knees, Do we therefore fall downe to the Wood and Seats? In our private retire|ments, perhaps, though not in the Church, we fall down in humility on our faces and wor&s;hip; do we therefore with <HI>Ve&s;ta</HI>'s <HI>Prie&s;ts</HI> venerate the Earth? Away with the&s;e unju&s;t and childi&s;h reproaches, prop'd I cannot &s;ay with Rea&s;on but Reeds rather. If it were lawful to add, like for like, how ea&s;ily might one &s;tab them with their own Daggers! coming into the Church, &s;tanding upright on their feet; mumbling over, perhaps, &s;ome &s;hort prayers, they cover their faces with their hats; O good men! what do they adore their hats of the wool they are made of? by the weak|ne&s;s of the &s;ame con&s;equence wich they acknow|ledge, it is manife&s;t that their Argument is alike infirm. But under our Hats, &s;ay they, we wor&s;hip God, lea&s;t external Objects &s;hould divert our minds: a new invention never hard of by the An|cients; if we had no &s;tronger Arguments then this for our Bowing towards the <HI>Altar,</HI> we &s;hould not certainly ea&s;ily make u&s;e of that Wor&s;hip, nor
<PB N="9" REF="6">now defend the u&s;e of it as pious and lauda|ble.</P>
<P>But I come to the third Part of my Ta&s;ke and the fir&s;t Propo&s;ition; wherein &s;ome Di&s;tinctions for Explication are briefly to be rehear&s;ed.</P>
<P>Adoration, according to the common accepta|tion of the Schoole-men, is compared of three Acts; Fir&s;t, <HI>Of the Act of the &V;nder&s;tanding;</HI> which is the knowledge of the Supreme and di|vine Excellency; then, <HI>of the Act of the VVill;</HI> which is a free &s;ubmi&s;&s;ion of our &s;elves, and all things in our power, performed and made to this divine Excellency; which is the formal Rea&s;on of <HI>Wor&s;hip;</HI> and la&s;tly, <HI>of the external Act of the Body;</HI> which is the Effect of the former Actions, and Expre&s;&s;es the under&s;tandings knowledge of the divine Excellency, and not onely manife&s;ts the &s;ubmi&s;&s;ion of the will to it, but increa&s;es, perfects, and crowns it.</P>
<P>The&s;e three Acts mu&s;t nece&s;&s;arily concur, to make up the true and proper integrity of our Wor&s;hip: he who takes away one of the&s;e, doth make his &s;ervice to God imperfect in it &s;elfe, unworthy of God, and unprofitable to him&s;elf: if you take away the Fir&s;t, you open a gate to ig|norance, and &s;uper&s;tition, that ma&s;&s;e of evil; nay, with the <HI>Athenians,</HI> you erect an Altar <GAP DESC="foreign">, <HI>To the unknown God.</HI> If you ca&s;t out the Se|cond, you bani&s;h Religion, and Reverence it &s;elf introducing into the Church vizards, ma&s;ks and hypocrites, as &s;o many Stage-players on the Theater: If you forego the Third, (which vice
<PB N="10" REF="7">is now adaies too common, (your ca&s;e is &s;till in the &s;ame predicament; Reverence, Fear, and Hu|mility are fir&s;t &s;ent packing, and Religion, Piety, and Devotion mu&s;t follow after; which there|fore God and Nature, and their Di&s;ciples, Chri&s;tians and Heathens, have always and every where conjoyned; and let no Man part them a&s;under, unle&s;&s;e he will by &s;ome means contemn the Oracles of God, and violate the Dictates of Nature it &s;elf.</P>
<P>That third Act which performs the obedience of the Body, being the common effect and wit|ne&s;&s;e of the former Acts, and doth (if Deceit be ab&s;ent) imply or &s;uppo&s;e them, doth by con&s;ent of mo&s;t properly claim the title of Adoration: and of this the School-men mention Four kinds or manners, and with tho&s;e the Writers of Ca&s;es of Con&s;cience, <HI>viz. To &V;ncover the Head, Bow the Body, Bend the Knees, and pro&s;trate the Body on the ground;</HI> which the <HI>Greeks</HI> call <GAP DESC="foreign">. That the Reve|rence and Religion of the &s;oul as well among the Heathens as Jews and Chri&s;tians, were in former times to be te&s;tified both to God and Man, is &s;o palpable that it needs not the help of te&s;timonies; this therefore may be taken for granted, and come into the Number of our fir&s;t Suppo&s;i|tions.</P>
<P>We have now to doe with the second of the&s;e, to wit; the Bending or Bowing of the Body indivine Wor&s;hip, which only, &s;eem both among&s;t mo&s;t ancient and modern Writers to be
<PB N="11" REF="7">&s;pecially called by the Name of Adoration. If we look upon the original of the Word, perhaps it neither preci&s;ely de&s;ignes or notes any incli|ning of the Body; &s;ince <HI>Adorare, to Adore,</HI> is nothing el&s;e, but <HI>Manum ad os admovere, to put ones Hand to ones mouth,</HI> as &s;ay the Criticks, and as we may gather out of <HI>Job, cap.</HI> 31.27. Out of <HI>Minutius Faelix</HI> and many other Writers; but together with that laying the Hand to the Mouth they were anciently wont, in te&s;timony of honour and reverence, to bow their bodies, and as it were to ca&s;t them down, whence from the conjunction of tho&s;e ge&s;tures, Adoration came to &s;ignifie, the bowing either of the Head or whole Body: Of Adoration therefore applied and re&s;tored to this outward Act, the following Di&s;cour&s;e &s;hall Treat.</P>
<P>But I will not multiply Controver&s;ies beyond nece&s;&s;ity; nor come into the Pit as if I were to combate with an Adver&s;ary whom I have fa|&s;hion'd and form'd to my owne fancy; and to whom I may &s;eem to have given as I plea&s;ed both &s;trength and weapons; which kind of fight (too much u&s;ed now adaies) I &s;hould think my &s;elf to have undertaken; if I &s;hould without oc|ca&s;ion indeavour the confirmation of this Propo|&s;ition, to wit, That the Adoration of God per|form'd by the bowing of the Body, is not onely lawful but pious and commendable, and &s;uch as all wil pre&s;ently cry out as that Orator when he blew the trumpet of <HI>Hercules</HI> prai&s;e, (<HI>Quis eum vi|tuperavit,</HI> Who hath found faul with it? Let it
<PB N="12" REF="8">therefore be taken for granted as a Corolary from the third Suppo&s;ition; That to Adore or wor&s;hip God with the bending of the Body, is a work of Piety and Religion, not unbecoming the Divine Maje&s;ty, nor contradictory to our Fear and Reverence. The truth of which Po|&s;ition the Lawes and Rites of all Nations have abundantly e&s;tabli&s;hed, as well the Ge&s;tures and Cu&s;tomes of the Jewes in Holy Duties, as the continued Practice and Cu&s;tome of the Chri&s;tians through the whole world in all Ages. Nor can out Adver&s;aries be &s;o impudent as to deny this. But that this Adoration, though in it &s;elfe lawfull and pious, as being free both from crime and &s;candall, &s;hould be performed towards the <HI>Altar,</HI> this is that which offends them, and which in &s;ome of them of finer wits and loo&s;er &s;pleens gives occa&s;ion for gibing and jeering, in others who&s;e hearts are overflowne with Gall, provokes anger and brawles, railing and reproaches. <HI>Here's the Point.</HI> We mu&s;t therefore prove, That this Adoration or Wor&s;hip is lawfully, pious, and mo&s;t fitly made towards the Altar.</P>
<P>The fir&s;t Argument may be thus &s;tated.</P>
<P><HI>That Wor&s;hip which &s;trictly and ab&s;olutely con&s;i|dered in it &s;elfe, is pious and humble, cannot any way be corrupted, much le&s;&s;e &s;lip into the gulfe of impiety and &s;uper&s;tition; from this Rea&s;on onely that it is cu&s;tomarily wont to be performed towards
<PB N="13" REF="8">this or that part of Heaven, towards this or that part of the Church (&s;uppo&s;e the</HI> Altar <HI>or the</HI> Font) unle&s;s either we will think that God hath bound and tyed up him&s;elfe in that place which is inju|rious to his Omnipre&s;ence and Greatne&s;&s;e; or will feign that God hath placed and &s;tuck up his benefits and gifts of grace as &s;o many Anathe|ma's in &s;uch a place, which doth violate his mercy and bounty, or el&s;e judge that &s;ome part of our Wor&s;hip is performed to that place or thing at lea&s;t tran&s;itively, or relatively or &s;ome other way; either that there is danger that it &s;hould be for&s;aken, or believed to be by &s;ome ju&s;tly and de&s;ervedly done; whereof one doth &s;eem to trench upon the divine Honour, the other to offend brotherly Charity. I conceive there is no other way by which dirt may be thrown on that un&s;potted Wor&s;hip.</P>
<P>I now make this A&s;&s;umption.</P>
<P><HI>The wor&s;hip of God, of which we &s;peak, if preci&s;ely con&s;idered in it &s;elfe, is a wor&s;hip humble and pious; therefore &s;o likewi&s;e doth it remain, if it be perfor|med by us to God towards the</HI> Altar.</P>
<P>The truth of the <HI>Minor</HI> is plain enough from our Suppo&s;itions, to wit, To adore God, that is as I &s;aid, to wor&s;hip with the bowing of the body, is a Wor&s;hip mo&s;t pious and humble, as te&s;tifying humane &s;ubjection, and a&s;&s;erting the Excellency of God; nor do I believe any body wil deny it, but he who is rapt with the <HI>Manichaean</HI> fury; and being &s;truck with the &s;ame &s;ting and bla&s;phemy, hath learned to deny our bodies to
<PB N="14" REF="9">God, the Creator of all things vi&s;ible and invi|&s;ible.</P>
<P>The <HI>Major,</HI> con&s;i&s;ting of a numbring of tho&s;e waies by which the divine <HI>wor&s;hip</HI> may become le&s;&s;e worthy of God, and excluding them all, and removing them from the pre&s;ent purpo&s;e, is be&s;t confirmed.</P>
<P>Whil&s;t therefore we wor&s;hip God towards the <HI>Altar,</HI> we are not, fir&s;t, &s;o forgetfull of God's Maje&s;ty and boundle&s;&s;e Nature, as to believe he can be confin'd in little Chancels, or that he doth only or more live in the Ea&s;t part of Heaven or the Temple. A ridiculous fanta&s;ie to all faithful ones who have but &s;uck'd in the rudi|ments of Chri&s;tianity.</P>
<P>Secondly, As we do not confine God him&s;elf, &s;o neither doe we his gifts and graces to this or that place, I &s;ay, we do not hang the gifts and benefits of God (everywhere &s;howring down on our heads) upon the <HI>Altar,</HI> but our Vowes and Prayers: for, <HI>on the</HI> Altar (&s;aith <HI>Optatus</HI> in his &s;ixth book) <HI>are laid the Members of Chri&s;t and Vows of the People.</HI></P>
<P>Thirdly, We attribute no particle of our Wor|&s;hip to the <HI>Altar,</HI> either tran&s;itively or relatively, or any other way; we onely reverence God be|fore or towards the <HI>Altar;</HI> and that for tho&s;e rea&s;ons which &s;hall follow anon.</P>
<P>Fourthly and la&s;tly. There is no danger or
<PB N="15" REF="9">&s;candal in this our Practice, whereby the ruder and ignorant &s;ort may with rea&s;on &s;uppo&s;e or accu&s;e us to be <HI>wor&s;hippers of the Altar.</HI></P>
<P>For fir&s;t, by the &s;ame rea&s;on and manner of arguing, they who enter into the Church (as they ought <HI>bare-headed</HI> may be called <HI>wor&s;hippers of Stones:</HI> Which kind of calumny I wip'd off in what went before.</P>
<P>Secondly, It mu&s;t be confe&s;&s;ed, that there is no rite or manner of divine Service, though in it &s;elfe the be&s;t and expo&s;ed to no danger, which yet hath not &s;ome time or other being made the &s;ubject of reproach and calumny, &s;coffes and jeers by &s;ome, and tho&s;e &s;uch as have covered them&s;elves with the Cloak of zeale and piety. 'Tis no news, that <HI>David</HI> him&s;elfe both a King &amp; Prophet, for dancing with joy before the Ark of God, was received with &s;coffes and jeers by his wife. Are not there &s;ome among&s;t us, which accu&s;e the Holy Liturgy of the Church, and the Divine Services we perform of vanity and &s;uper|&s;tition, and which is more and &s;avours &s;omething or bla&s;phemy, they mu&s;t in their Vote be guilty of tautologies, battologies, and horrid impieties with magical Sorceries! what therefore? &s;hall we frighted with the&s;e their Goblins immedi|ately &s;acrifice our Prayer books to the fire? &s;hall we renouncing the Holy Prayers formerly e&s;ta|bli&s;hed by the Church, pour out others made perhaps with an infirm mind &amp; babling tongue?
<PB N="16" REF="10">Certainly our Holy Mother the Church never taught her Children &s;o &s;trange uncon&s;tancy. What therefore hath &s;he Commanded us to do? why; that holy Duties and divine &s;ervices are the more carefully &amp; attentively to be performed by us, by how much the more unworthily &amp; ba&s;ely they are abu&s;ed by others; adding this likewi&s;e to our common Prayers, which we put up for the &s;alvation of all, that tho&s;e likewi&s;e may receive benefit by them, who &s;o unju&s;tly accu&s;e them of folly and impiety.</P>
<P>In the Third place therefore we affirm: That a manner or cu&s;tome of divine Wor&s;hip, which we have not invented of our own heads, but have received of our Predece&s;&s;ors in all Ages (as is this of which we &s;peak as &s;hall anon appear) is not pre&s;ently to be ca&s;t off, and bani&s;hed all Churches as wicked and prophane, becau&s;e that wor&s;hip doth &s;eem to &s;ome, who&s;e mindes are tickled with itching Novelty to approach too near to Super&s;tition and Idolatry, and not &s;uffici|ently accommodated to their owne un&s;eemly Ge&s;tures and Manners in God's Hou&s;e. For no part of the Wor&s;hip of God (not to mention the Canonicall rites and Ceremonies) none I &s;ay did ever e&s;cape &s;o untoucht and free, as that it hath not a hundred thou&s;and times, &s;uffer'd the fooli&s;h &s;coffes of prophane Per&s;ons, and the bitter rai|ling of Envious Detractors. If we reverently ri&s;e from our Seats to give Glory and prai&s;e to the Holy Trinity; the&s;e Delicate-con&s;cienc'd
<PB N="17" REF="10">Men &s;treight cry out, we obtrude upon them, they know not what things New and Unu&s;uall. When to reverence the name of our Saviour, we doe according to the precept of the Churches, &s;upplicantly bend our Knees and Bodies; they pre&s;ently cry out they have found the Idolaters, <GAP DESC="foreign"> in the very Act. From the&s;e I &s;ay and many others which I willingly pa&s;&s;e over, I &s;up|po&s;e it &s;ufficiently manife&s;t, that that &s;cruple of the danger of &s;candall which is by &s;ome rai&s;ed and induced upon our <HI>Bowing towards the Altar,</HI> is too weake, nay, altogether u&s;ele&s;&s;e, to cau&s;e the bani&s;hment or neglect of &s;o Antient a Wor&s;hip. For it will not be lawful for us to come and pray in the Hou&s;e of God, and to Wor&s;hip him there after any manner, either Adoration, bowing the Knee, or falling before him; it will not be law|full &s;ay, to pour out our prayers before compo&s;'d and written, or to Celebrate the Lords dayes and Fea&s;ts, or to ob&s;erve our Lents &amp; Fa&s;ts, or to give Almes to the Needy; and to &s;ay all in a word we &s;hall never do any work pious and accentable to God (as long as we remain in this wicked world) if we think we mu&s;t de&s;i&s;t from it, becau&s;e we fear to be Shot at and Wounded by the Tongues or Pens of &s;ome lunatick Railers.</P>
<P>Fourthly and la&s;tly, If there be yet any, who notwith&s;tanding what hath been &s;aid, doe not think this fear of &s;candall to be cau&s;ele&s;&s;e, and needle&s;&s;e, let them freely exerci&s;e that Charity, the zeal of which they &s;o boa&s;t of not as hitherto
<PB N="18" REF="11">they have done, in making Calumnies, and Preaching Reproaches by which they have en|deavoured to wound and Violate the good name of tho&s;e who thus Wor&s;hip God; but let them &s;pend their time in Admonition and In&s;tructions, teaching the people that we Wor&s;hip God him|&s;elf and not (as they unju&s;tly deemed) the <HI>Altar,</HI> nor God with the <HI>Altar,</HI> or <HI>through,</HI> or <HI>beyond,</HI> or <HI>above,</HI> or <HI>beneath,</HI> but only <HI>towards</HI> and <HI>before</HI> the <HI>Altar.</HI> And let them add if they plea&s;e, that the people &s;hould take heed, lea&s;t thus Wor&s;hipping God, they Attribute either purpo&s;ely or una|wares any part or portion of Divine Adoration to the Altar it &s;elfe, but performe it wholy and perpectly to God alone, piou&s;ly believing, that every one in that bowing, or ca&s;ting them&s;elves on the Ground do doe it with this intention and purpo&s;e, thereby humbly to VVor&s;hip and Re|verence God him&s;elf towards the <HI>Altar.</HI></P>
<P>The &s;econd Argument may be this. <HI>That Wor&s;hip which is lawful and pious if performed in the hou&s;e of God, will enjoy the &s;ame priviledges, if done towards the Altar. But Adoration (the matter in hand) is lawfully and piou&s;ly performed in the hou&s;e of God, and therefore towards the Altar likewi&s;e.</HI></P>
<P>The minor I conjecture will &s;carcely be de|nied by our neare&s;t Innovators, who&s;e worke and indeavour hath been to make us new Rites, new Wor&s;hip, and a new <HI>England.</HI> All will grant, even taught if need be by the very <HI>Barba|mans</HI> that it is a thing lawful and pious to Adore
<PB N="19" REF="11">God with the bowing of the body in the places &s;et apart for his VVor&s;hip. Something mu&s;t be &s;aid for confirmation of the <HI>Major.</HI></P>
<P>Fir&s;t then, This manner of VVor&s;hip perfor|med in the Church, &s;ince it is an Act of the Bo|dy, mu&s;t nece&s;&s;arily be done towards &s;ome part of the Church, either towards the Head, or Foot, the Roofe or Pavement, the Right or Left VValls.</P>
<P>Secondly, It would be a manife&s;t breach of the Apo&s;tles Command, <HI>That all things be done Decently and in Order;</HI> if it &s;hould be free for e|very one to make his Adoration towards what part of the Church he plea&s;es, for then this man would Wor&s;hip God towards the Clock, that towards the Pulpit, one towards the Font, and another towards the Altar, which would be a thing unbecomming an a&s;&s;embly of Chri&s;tians, to whom the God of Unity and Concord is Pre&s;i|dent, and to whom Armies of Angles attend and Admini&s;ter.</P>
<P>The third is, Well and wi&s;ely did the Fathers of the Primitive Church (to whom God gave the Spirit of VVi&s;dome and Prudence) who en|deavoured as much as in them lay to compo&s;e and prevent this difference for all of them, to|gether with the people induced to their exam|ples and precepts, did direct this their Wor&s;hip to one and the &s;ame place, and (as &s;hall be &s;hew|ed anon) did alwaies Wor&s;hip God towards the <HI>Altar.</HI></P>
<PB N="20" REF="12">
<P> La&s;tly, therfore was this Adoration fir&s;t appoin|ted towards the <HI>Altar,</HI> &amp; &s;o alwaies after perfor|med; becau&s;e (to omit at pre&s;ent other rea&s;ons) the <HI>Altar</HI> is the Be&s;t, Chiefe&s;t, and Holie&s;t part of all the Church Hou&s;hold-&s;tuffe. So &s;aid the Antient Fathers of Old, and therefore often gave it Titles of Honour and Sanctity; what is more frequent among the Greek Fathers, than <GAP DESC="foreign">: <HI>The Sacred Altar, the Holy Table?</HI> Search the Latine ones, and you find very often the&s;e Elogies of it, the <HI>Sacrum San|ctum, S. Sanctum, Reverendum Altare,</HI> the &s;acred Holy, Holy Holy, Reverend <HI>Altar,</HI> and the like. Hence is that compari&s;ons were wont to be made between the Chri&s;tian <HI>Altar,</HI> and the Holy of Ho|lies, among&s;t the <HI>Jewes,</HI> and the preheminence infinitely given to Ours. And hence came the Cu&s;tome, to fence the <HI>Altar</HI> with Railes, lea&s;t a|ny profane per&s;on &s;uddenly breaking in, &s;hould come nearer to the <HI>Altar,</HI> then was meet, you know St. <HI>Chry&s;o&s;tome</HI> and others affirme, that Quiers of Angles and Arch-Angels abiding to|gether with the Prie&s;ts within the Railes of the <HI>Altar</HI> do Mini&s;ter and offer to God, as if they likewi&s;e did performe divine &s;ervices with them. What need I mention all? you rather expect the rea&s;on of &s;uch Sanctity and Excellency; ye are not ignorant, that it is fetched, either altogether, or more e&s;pecially, from the offering and pre|&s;ence of the body and blood of our Lord on the <HI>Altar.</HI> So St. <HI>Optalus</HI> in his &s;ixth book, gives this dignity to the <HI>Altar,</HI> becau&s;e <HI>it is the Seat of the
<PB N="21" REF="12">Body and Bloud of Chri&s;t.</HI> So St. <HI>Chry&s;o&s;tome</HI> in his 20 <HI>Homily</HI> on 2 <HI>Cor.</HI> <GAP DESC="foreign">, <HI>thou, &s;aith he, honoure&s;t this Altar, becau&s;e there is received the body of Chri&s;t.</HI> 'Tis needle&s;s to heap up more Arguments for the clearing of this point. 'Tis manife&s;t, that nei|ther &s;o many nor &s;o great Encomiums of Holi|ne&s;&s;e, were ever by the Antients attributed to the Pulpit or Font, nor can be ju&s;tly attributed; though now a dayes Sermons are &s;o highly ex|tolled, that they have almo&s;t &s;wallow'd up and devoured, both the Liturgy and Sacraments, good works and all holy duties. But no man can be &s;o mad, as to compare the <HI>Pulpit</HI> with the <HI>Altar</HI> in point of Holine&s;&s;e. For neither is the Sermon there Preached the word of God, nor, this being &s;uppo&s;ed (though not granted, can the holy Gho&s;t be thought, to be &s;o &s;trictly con|joyned to the word of God, as the Sonne of God to the <HI>Ble&s;&s;ed Sacrament.</HI> Nor is it equall that the <HI>Font</HI> &s;hould contend with the <HI>Altar</HI> for Excellency and Sanctity, though &s;ome (to whom all Antient things, as &s;o, are Nau&s;eous and Offen|&s;ive) have not long &s;ince endeavoured to forme and cheri&s;h that opinion. All Children or Men, if they hinder not them&s;elves being wa&s;h'd in the holy <HI>Font,</HI> doe from thence obtaine remi&s;&s;ion of &s;ins, become Sons of God, and are made Heirs of Heaven, (which yet I know will hardly be gran|ted by tho&s;e who &s;o &s;toutly &s;tand for the prece|dence of the <HI>Font</HI>) large priviledges indeed, and &s;uch as beget Honour and Sanctity to the Holy
<PB N="22" REF="13"><HI>Font</HI> from which they flow. But as for the <HI>Altar</HI> farre greater and Diviner priviledges do Enno|ble it, for on it is Celebrated that Awful and mo&s;t Venerable Sacrifice; which our Lord him&s;elfe did in&s;titute of Old, for the Commemoration, Repre&s;entation, Application, and Exhibition, of that mo&s;t perfect Sacrifice, once made and offe|red on the <HI>Altar</HI> of the Cro&s;&s;e: on that is pre|pared the <HI>Sacrament</HI> (&s;hall I &s;ay) or <HI>Heavenly Ban|quet,</HI> in re&s;pect of which all the Dainties of the world are but Filth and Tra&s;h; where we Eat the Bread of Life it &s;elfe, and Drink the Cup of Eternall Salvation and Ble&s;&s;ing; yea indeed the body of our Lord and his pretious bloud, <GAP DESC="foreign">, <HI>The help to immortality, and pledge of our inheritance,</HI> as &s;ay the Greek Fathers; by whom this my&s;tery is wont to be called <GAP DESC="foreign"> or <HI>Finall</HI> that is the greate&s;t perfection and Con&s;ummation of the Chri&s;tian Religion; hence it is, that the <HI>Altar</HI> was by them alwaies placed, in the Highe&s;t, Holie&s;t, and mo&s;t Vi&s;ible part of the Church, whereas on the con|trary, the <HI>Font</HI> was placed fir&s;t in the Church|yard without the Dores of the Church (as is plain from the Antient Writers) afterwards neer the Entrance in the Church.</P>
<P>Out of the&s;e four thus preceeding propo&s;itions, to wit, 1. <HI>From the nece&s;&s;ity of performing Adorati|on &s;ome way,</HI> 2. <HI>From the decency of determining it towards one place,</HI> 3. <HI>From the cu&s;tome of doing it towards the Altar;</HI> of which hereafter; <HI>and</HI> 4. <HI>From the Sanctity and Excellency of the Altar, beyond all other things in the Church being known</HI> as I hope
<PB N="23" REF="13"><HI>and granted.</HI> I &s;uppo&s;e the truth of the Major propo&s;ition is plain and clear, <HI>viz.</HI> that that Adoration which being perfor|med to God in his Hou&s;e, is E&s;teemed pious and lawfull, is likewi&s;e &s;o, if it be done towards the <HI>Altar,</HI> for that it ought to be directed towards &s;ome part; that it ought to be directed towards one part, that it hath been u&s;ed to be directed to|wards the <HI>Altar;</HI> that it's meet it &s;hould be directed towards the be&s;t part, we have &s;hewed; It is therefore directed to|wards the be&s;t part, and &s;o lawfully and piou&s;ly according to the rules of rea&s;on and piety is performed towards the <HI>Altar.</HI> I will conclude the Argument according to the &s;entence of St. <HI>Hierome</HI> concern|ing the Lords day, &s;aith he; <HI>give us &s;ome greater then the Re&s;urrection of Chri&s;t, and then change the Lords day,</HI> &s;o &s;ay I of <HI>A|doration</HI> towards the <HI>Altar, &s;hew me &s;ome|thing in the Hou&s;e of God more Holy then the Alter and change the Cu&s;tome.</HI></P>
<P>The third Argument is thus. <HI>The Wor|&s;hipping of God towards the Ea&s;t is law|full
<PB N="24" REF="14">and holy; and therefore likewi&s;e Wor|&s;hipping towards the Altar is &s;o.</HI> The Antecedent of this Enthymeme, requires no other proofe, then an inartificial Ar|gument as they call, deduced from the common practi&s;e of the Catholick Church, and it's perpetual cu&s;tome, and he who &s;hall be &s;o bold as make oppo&s;iti|on again&s;t it St. <HI>Augu&s;tine</HI> adjudges guilty of no other crime then mo&s;t in&s;o|lent madne&s;&s;e. But that it hath been alwayes the cu&s;tome of the Primitive Church, and &s;o a lawfull and pious wor|&s;hip that men turning towards the <HI>Ea&s;t</HI> &s;hould bow to God, is plenarily te&s;tify|ed by the Writings and Monuments of the holy Fathers, out of which if I &s;hould cite any te&s;timonies, I &s;hould not onely be tedious to you, but al&s;o &s;eem to &s;up|po&s;e you ignorant in a thing &s;o manife&s;t. Le&s;t therefore I &s;hould touch on either rock omitting the repetition of words, I will only briefly tell you the places, from whence the Holy Fathers did begin this practice, deducing it from the Apo&s;tles them&s;elves.</P>
<PB N="25" REF="14">
<P> So in the fir&s;t place affirmes Saint <HI>ju&s;tin Martyr que&s;tion</HI> 118. <HI>Tertullian in Apolog c.</HI> 16. <HI>&amp; ad|ver&s;us Valent. c.</HI> 3. <HI>Orig. Homil.</HI> 51. <HI>in numeros, St. Gregory Ny&s;&s;en, lib. de Orat. Dom. Orat.</HI> 5. <HI>St. Athana&s;. quae&s;t. ad Antiochum</HI> 37. <HI>St. Clemens Alexandrinus &s;trom. lib.</HI> 7. <HI>St. Ba&s;il, lib. De Spiritu &s;ancto, c.</HI> 27. <HI>St. Epiphanius, lib.</HI> 1. <HI>adver&s;us haere&s;es</HI> 19. <HI>St. Augu&s;t. lib.</HI> 2. <HI>de &s;ermone Domini in monte.</HI> I might ea&s;ily adde the Te&s;timonies of the other Fathers; but there is no need of further proof for &s;o indubitable a Cu&s;tome, who&s;e Original Cau&s;es, and Founda|tions, I will dive no further into, &s;ince it is abun|dantly done by <HI>Joan. Dama&s;cenus in his Book of the Orthodox Faith, cap.</HI> 13. And after him by <HI>Thomas Aquinas</HI> and the <HI>Schoolmen.</HI> And after them all by <HI>Durantus Pamelius</HI> with many others who have written <HI>of the Monuments of the Antiquities of the Liturgies</HI> and <HI>Eccle&s;ia&s;tical Rites.</HI> The con&s;equence of the <HI>Enthymeme</HI> is proved fir&s;t from this, that in old time the greater <HI>Altars</HI> were alwayes erected and placed in the <HI>Ea&s;t</HI> part of the <HI>Church,</HI> and there|fore they who wor&s;hiped God towards the <HI>Ea&s;t,</HI> did at the &s;ame time wor&s;hip him towards the <HI>Altar.</HI> But that the <HI>Altars</HI> were Primitively placed in that part <HI>of the Hou&s;e of God</HI> which is to the <HI>Ea&s;t,</HI> may well gathered from the now forementioned Fathers, al|&s;o from <HI>Clemens Romanus</HI> or &s;ome others <HI>in the &s;e|cond Book of the Apo&s;tolical con&s;titutions, chap.</HI> 61. who &s;aith, <HI>that the holy Chappels ought to be made to|wards the Ea&s;t.</HI> To whom a&s;&s;ent <HI>Tertullian</HI> in his forementioned book again&s;t <HI>Valentinus,</HI> which man|ner of &s;cituation likewi&s;e have all the <HI>Temples</HI> and
<PB N="26" REF="15"><HI>Chappels</HI> through the <HI>Ea&s;tern World;</HI> from which notwith&s;tanding &s;ome <HI>Chappels or Oratories</HI> doe &s;ometime deviate. Either becau&s;e the <HI>Palaces of Princes and Prelates,</HI> do not permit their <HI>Chappels</HI> to be built after the due form, either for &s;treight|ne&s;&s;e or <HI>Decorum;</HI> or becau&s;e &s;ome now a dayes do &s;eem to have built I know not what <HI>Religious places</HI> on &s;et purpo&s;e towards the <HI>Ea&s;t</HI> or <HI>North</HI> as marks of Novelty, le&s;t they &s;hould &s;eem to fol|low the Foot-&s;teps of the <HI>Primitive Church. Nice|phorus</HI> and <HI>Socrates</HI> indeed make mention of the two <HI>Altars</HI> placed in the <HI>We&s;t</HI> end of the <HI>Church,</HI> but they likewi&s;e timely admoni&s;h, that they were then accounted as very &s;trange, being directly contrary <HI>to the cu&s;tome of the Church.</HI> If any now &s;hall &s;earch for the cau&s;es of this Cu&s;tome, which was thus re|ceived <HI>through the whole Chri&s;tian world;</HI> I affirm, that the &s;ame rea&s;ons may confirm the &s;ite and placing the <HI>Altars</HI> in the <HI>Ea&s;t part of the Church,</HI> which per&s;wade <HI>adoration</HI> to be made towards the <HI>Ea&s;t,</HI> for which I remember <HI>the Fathers alledge</HI> five or &s;ix rea&s;ons, which being as I conceive unknown to none or but a few of you, I &s;hall omit as need|le&s;s. But we mu&s;t pa&s;&s;e in &s;ilence, that in tho&s;e <HI>Chappels</HI> or <HI>Churches</HI> (which yet were very few) where we read the <HI>Altars</HI> were placed in the <HI>We&s;t parts of the Church,</HI> adorations and bowing were ac|cu&s;tomed to be made towards the <HI>Altars,</HI> as is ma|nife&s;t <HI>out of the Rubricks of all the Greek Liturgies,</HI> which are a&s;cribed to Saint <HI>Ba&s;il,</HI> Saint <HI>Chry&s;o&s;tome</HI> and others of the Fathers. For they command <GAP DESC="foreign">;
<PB N="27" REF="15"><HI>That wor&s;hip be made towards the Altar or holy Table,</HI> in what part &s;oever it be placed, which therefore I mention the more willingly, le&s;t tho&s;e who have not their <HI>Chappels</HI> or <HI>Altars</HI> towards the <HI>Ea&s;t,</HI> &s;hould think them&s;elves therefore di&s;obliged from this wor&s;hip, as if from the contrary or various &s;ite <HI>of the ancient Churches;</HI> the argument will hold good for variety of ge&s;tures and manners.</P>
<P>In the &s;econd place, the Con&s;equence of the <HI>Enthymem</HI> is confirmed from the <HI>Analogy</HI> after this manner. If the fir&s;t <HI>Chri&s;tians</HI> of all, the elde&s;t &s;ons of the <HI>Catholick Church,</HI> did not onely without crime or danger of &s;candal, but al&s;o with prai&s;e and piety introduce into the <HI>Church</HI> that <HI>wor&s;hip of ado|ring God towards the Ea&s;t;</HI> and commended it dili|gently as delivered by the <HI>Apo&s;tles them&s;elves,</HI> e&s;pe|cially at that, when all the <HI>Jews</HI> did wor&s;hip God to|wards the <HI>We&s;t,</HI> and only the <HI>Heathens</HI> &amp; <HI>Gentiles</HI> did adore their Deities towards the <HI>Ea&s;t;</HI> then without doubt the &s;ame <HI>Chri&s;tians,</HI> by the &s;ame or &s;trong|er rea&s;ons, might lawfully and piou&s;ly in&s;titute, that <HI>Rite of wor&s;hiping God towards the Altar,</HI> which cu|&s;tome as well the <HI>Jewes</HI> in the wor&s;hip of the true, as the <HI>Gentiles</HI> in the &s;ervice of their fal&s;e gods, did alwayes and every where make u&s;e of. That all the <HI>Gentiles,</HI> both <HI>Greeks</HI> and <HI>Barbarians</HI> in&s;tructed only with the imperfect light of Nature, in the wor&s;hip of their Gods or Idols, did bow their bodies to the ground towards their <HI>Altars,</HI> all <HI>Hi&s;torians</HI> do te&s;ti|fie, more e&s;pecially the Poets, and among&s;t tho&s;e chiefly <HI>Virgil</HI> and <HI>Ovid.</HI> That the <HI>Jewes</HI> likewi&s;e admoni&s;hed by the <HI>Oracles of their Prophets and
<PB N="28" REF="16">Prie&s;ts,</HI> were accu&s;tomed to wor&s;hip the true and living God, with their bodies pro&s;trate on the ground, and their head bowed down <HI>to the pavement of the Temple, before the holy Altar,</HI> is plain from Te|&s;timonies of holy Scripture; out of 1 <HI>Kings c.</HI> 8. <HI>v.</HI> 22. and 2 <HI>Kings</HI> 18.22. where the mo&s;t pious King <HI>Hezekia</HI> &s;aith, <HI>Before this Altar bow your &s;elves.</HI> out of 2 <HI>Chron.</HI> 7.3. and again 2 <HI>Chron.</HI> 32.12. <HI>Be|fore one Altar &s;hall ye wor&s;hip.</HI></P>
<P>To &s;ay more in this kind were &s;uperfluous; when you all know it was a con&s;tant cu&s;tome among&s;t the <HI>Jewes,</HI> in the Temple, to wor&s;hip God towards the Altar and without the Temple towards the Temple, as is plain from the &s;peech which <HI>Solomon</HI> made at the dedication of the Temple; and the practi&s;e of <HI>Daniel</HI> in <HI>Babylon,</HI> who when he prayed, alwayes opened his window towards <HI>Judea:</HI> from hence therefore any one not wilfully blind, may ea&s;ily perceive, that the Primitive Chri&s;tians, ac|counting as well the manners &amp; in&s;titutes of the <HI>Gen|tiles, as the</HI> rites &amp; wor&s;hip of the <HI>Jews</HI> in celebrating <HI>Divine</HI> Services, might upon &s;tronger arguments and examples decree, that adoration ought to be made as well towards the <HI>Altar,</HI> as toward the <HI>Ea&s;t:</HI> and that they did in&s;titute the latter of the&s;e, or rather received it from the Apo&s;tles and u&s;ed it, is manife&s;t from the undeniable authority of all tho&s;e I even now mention'd: from w^c^h al&s;o is plainly gathered, that they might very fitly in&s;titute the fir&s;t; and that they did in&s;titute, will I hope &s;uffici|ently appear from the third and fourth arguments: but that is ju&s;tly to be accounted fir&s;t in weight
<PB N="29" REF="16">and force, though la&s;t in order and number.</P>
<P><HI>What was the cu&s;tom of old among&s;t the holy Fathers in the primitive Church, what they faithfully delivered to their po&s;terity, what hath indured through all Scenes of ages unto our times; that without doubt is lawfully and piou&s;ly performed in Divine wor&s;hip. But &s;uch is the Bowing towards the Altar, Ergo.</HI> The <HI>major,</HI> no man will deny but he who hath fir&s;t contemned the <HI>Rites</HI> and <HI>Cu&s;tomes</HI> of the Church, and therefore <HI>by the judgement of Saint Augu&s;tin</HI> de&s;erves to be accounted in&s;olent mad-man the <HI>minor</HI> will be con|firmed by the te&s;timony of the ancients, which I &s;hall now produce: give me leave I pray you for bre|vity and plainne&s;s, to cite the <HI>Latine tran&s;lation for the Greek Writers.</HI> Saint <HI>Gregory, Ny&s;&s;en</HI> in the pray&s;es of his &s;i&s;ter <HI>Gorgonia, Orat.</HI> 2. in &s;ome books 25th. doth e&s;pecially pray&s;e that <HI>religious Lady,</HI> becau&s;e being once taken with a di&s;ea&s;e, <HI>She to the Phy&s;ician of all mortals, and with Faith fell down before the Altar, wor&s;hiping him who was honoured upon it;</HI> af|ter <HI>&s;he moved her head to the Altar, and &s;o be&s;eeching God, did pre&s;ently obtain health and vigor.</HI> That <HI>Alexander the Bi&s;hop of Con&s;tantinople</HI> did the &s;ame; Doth <HI>Zozimus</HI> declare <HI>in the &s;econd Book of his Ec|cle&s;ia&s;tical Hi&s;tory, c.</HI> 28. That holy Prelate, preparing him&s;elf to pray, fir&s;t <HI>falls down at the foot of the Al|tar,</HI> and there <HI>lying pro&s;trate,</HI> earne&s;tly be&s;eeches God to de&s;troy the rage and indeavours of the <HI>Ar|rians,</HI> and the very next day <HI>Arrius</HI> him&s;elf, be|fore guilty of Bla&s;phemy, and then al&s;o of perjury, in health and &s;trength, while&s;t he ea&s;es nature, voids his entrails. So likewi&s;e affirms <HI>Socrates</HI> in his fir&s;t
<PB N="30" REF="17">book, chapter 25. <HI>Alexander</HI> coming to the <HI>Altar, falls down on his face to the ground before the holy Ta|ble,</HI> be&s;eeching God with tears, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> The &s;ame relation do <HI>Epiphanius, Ca&s;siodorus, Nicephorus,</HI> and many others make. I mention the&s;e Examples ra|ther then others, becau&s;e they te&s;tifie that God did with miraculous benefits, render illu&s;trious and to be imitated by all pious men, the piety and reve|rence of tho&s;e who did wor&s;hip him towards the <HI>Al|tar.</HI> Saint <HI>Gregory Ny&s;&s;en, on his Oration of Chri&s;ts Bapti&s;me,</HI> hath the following Expre&s;&s;ions. <HI>This holy</HI> Altar <HI>to which we a&s;si&s;t, is naturally a common &s;tone, but becau&s;e it is con&s;ecrated and dedicated to the wor&s;hip of Son, and hath received a ble&s;sing; It is an holy Table, an undefiled</HI> Altar; <HI>No more to be touched by all, but by the Prie&s;ts alone, and tho&s;e that wor&s;hip.</HI> Saint <HI>Chry&s;o&s;tome in his twentieth Homilie, to the</HI> 2 Corinth. <HI>Thou honoure&s;t this</HI> Altar, <HI>becau&s;e it receives the body of Chri&s;t.</HI> John Dama&s;cen <HI>in his fourth book of the Orthodox faith,</HI> and before him <HI>Saint</HI> Ju|&s;tin Martyr and others have given many rea&s;ons of this adoration. <HI>Although,</HI> &s;ay they, <HI>we &s;tand upon the Lords-Dayes, and from Ea&s;ter to Whit&s;ontide (which now by neglect is aboli&s;hed) that we might prote&s;t our Faith in Chri&s;t ri&s;en from the dead; that we might al&s;o &s;hew our confidence of obtaining eternal life by the merits and re&s;urrection of Chri&s;t, yet we fall down &s;ometimes and pro&s;trate our &s;elves on the earth, to con|fe&s;&s;e with Father</HI> Abraham, <HI>that we are but du&s;t and a&s;hes, men as it were already dead, and &s;lipt into the earth on which we &s;tand, unworthy to &s;tand upright in Gods Hou&s;e before his lawful Maje&s;ty, and for our &s;ins
<PB N="31" REF="17">(if God were not infinitely merciful) to be ca&s;t imme|diately into hell fire:</HI> and therefore Saint <HI>Chry&s;o&s;tome,</HI> Saint <HI>Ba&s;il</HI> and other Fathers do inform us, that both <HI>Prie&s;ts</HI> and <HI>Deacons,</HI> while&s;t they performed &s;a|cred Duties, and made the&s;e adorations and bow|ings towards the <HI>Altar,</HI> were accu&s;tomed very of|ten as it were &s;ilently, to repeat <GAP DESC="foreign">, <HI>Lord have mercy,</HI> &amp;c. and in greater <HI>adorations,</HI> when they fell pro&s;trate on the ground, that <HI>of the humble pub|lican,</HI> <GAP DESC="foreign">, <HI>Lord be merci|ful (or favourable) to me a &s;inner.</HI></P>
<P>And hence it is that the modern <HI>Greeks</HI> do in the&s;e daies call tho&s;e adorations which the antients named <GAP DESC="foreign"> <HI>venerations,</HI> <GAP DESC="foreign"> <HI>repent|ings,</HI> either becau&s;e &s;uch ge&s;tures were e&s;pecially and mo&s;t frequently u&s;ed by <HI>penitents,</HI> or becau&s;e for the mo&s;t part in their &s;o wor&s;hiping God they u&s;ed the words of <HI>penitent per&s;ons, Lord take pity,</HI> or <HI>Lord be merciful to me a &s;inner;</HI> and that they multiplied tho&s;e &s;hort prayers, or others, according to the number of their bowings, is manife&s;t out of <HI>Theodor.</HI> who relating the hi&s;tory of Saint <HI>Simeon Styles,</HI> that miracle <HI>of Chri&s;tian piety and patience</HI> after our Lord and Saviour, affirmes, <HI>that &s;ome Spectators from afar off beholding the bowing of the holy man, did al&s;o by their number, count the prayers which he con&s;tantly poured forth to be two hundred fourty and foure.</HI> Oh rare piety <HI>conjoyned with reve|rence and humility; which if the froward Criticks of our dayes had beheld, they would without delay have accu&s;ed of &s;uper&s;tition, Idolatry, and madne&s;s.</HI></P>
<P>Nor do the <HI>Latine</HI> Fathers much differ from the
<PB N="32" REF="18"><HI>Greeks</HI> in this matter. <HI>Tertullian of Penitents,</HI> &s;aith, <HI>that they were wont, to joyn them&s;elves to the Presbyters and Kneele down before the Altars of God.</HI> I know that <HI>Renanius Pamelius</HI> and others do read in&s;tead of <HI>Aris Dei</HI> the <HI>Altars</HI> of God, <HI>Charis Dei</HI> the Dear Ones of God; but then I &s;uppo&s;e the Father, according to the <HI>Africans</HI> manner of &s;peaking, as Saint <HI>Cyprian,</HI> Saint <HI>Au&s;tin,</HI> &amp;c. Would have &s;aid <HI>Charis Deo</HI> Dear to God, and not <HI>Charis Dei.</HI></P>
<P>But <HI>Pamelius</HI> Objects, <HI>That it was not lawful for penitents to enter into the Church, much le&s;s to ap|proach and fall down before the</HI> Altar <HI>of God.</HI></P>
<P>I <HI>an&s;wer,</HI> That Penitents at the fir&s;t beginning of their Repentance, were excluded from the Church and A&s;&s;embly of the Faithfull, but not &s;o, when they had performed their Repentance to the pre&s;cribed dayes, when they came to the Prie&s;ts to obtain ab&s;olution, then might they like|wi&s;e <HI>Kneel before the Altars.</HI> But we have occa|&s;ion to contend about a Text Dubious and Ob|&s;cure, e&s;pecially, when <HI>Tertullian</HI> a&s;&s;erts almo&s;t the &s;ame thing in many places. <HI>In his bookes of the Lords prayer. Bowing with mode&s;ty and humility, we do the better Commend our prayers to God.</HI> Second Book to his Wife. <HI>Faithfull Wives doe pray, rowle, and likewi&s;e fa&s;t together in the Church of God.</HI> That Rowling together of Faithfull Wives in the Church of God, was nothing el&s;e but <HI>bowing,</HI> or rather <HI>pro&s;trating them&s;elves before the Altar,</HI> as is
<PB N="33" REF="18">manife&s;t from the u&s;ual cu&s;tome. Saint <HI>Hierome in his</HI> 48. <HI>Epi&s;tle to Sabinianus, the Deacon who had &s;o|licited a Virgin to Whoredome. Thou,</HI> &s;aith he, <HI>upon the Dores of the Lords Crib, now the</HI> Altar, <HI>did&s;t &s;tick up Love Letters, which afterwards the poore crea|ture coming to wor&s;hip with bended knees might find and read.</HI></P>
<P>I believe nothing can be &s;aid more plainly, for that manner of <HI>wor&s;hiping</HI> God at the very Railes of the Altar. <HI>Ruffinus</HI> in his &s;econd Book, Chap|ter 16. &s;aith that Saint <HI>Ambro&s;e,</HI> when he &s;ought the Defence of God for him&s;elf and the Church again&s;t the Furies of <HI>Ju&s;tina, Did fly an humble &s;upplicant to the</HI> Altar, <HI>yea, fell down on the ground, and lying before the</HI> Altar <HI>implored the Divine help with his Prayers.</HI></P>
<P>Salvian <HI>In his &s;eventh Book of Providence,</HI> &s;aith, concerning the Chri&s;tians of his time, <HI>We run to the Lords Hou&s;e. We ca&s;t our bodies on the ground, and with Tears mixt with Joy, we make our Suppli|cations.</HI></P>
<P>Some perhaps will be ready to an&s;wer, that the te&s;timonies produced, might &s;o be under&s;tood of that adoration which is a ge&s;ture of the body, as I may &s;o call it, con&s;tant and permanent, and &s;o de&s;igning either kneeling or pro&s;tration: but not of this &s;udden and momentary wor&s;hip, which either entring, mini&s;tring or going our of the hou&s;e of God, we are wont to perform, by bowing our bodies a little, not pro&s;trating them; nor, to &s;peak properly, with bended knees. But, in the fir&s;t place, this being &s;uppo&s;ed but not granted, doth
<PB N="34" REF="19">it not con&s;equently follow, that the Antient Fa|thers did piou&s;ly and lawfully wor&s;hip God towards the <HI>Altar,</HI> that is, either falling down on their knees, or on the ground, then is likwi&s;e lawful for us to wor&s;hip God towards the Altar, that is, to bow with our head or bodies. If they did piou&s;ly lye down in the hou&s;e of the Lord before the Holy table, &s;hall we be thought impious becau&s;e we reverence God before the &s;ame? If they did wor|&s;hip on their faces with their bodies laid on the ground, as &s;o many &s;tones, and fa&s;tned to the pave|ment, which is the highe&s;t degree of <HI>Adoration,</HI> &s;hall it not be lawful for us when we come before the &s;ame Maje&s;tie, to bend our bodies a little, which is but the lowe&s;t degree of <HI>wor&s;hip?</HI> Truly if we mu&s;t needs be found fault withal in this matter we have more cau&s;e to be accu&s;ed becau&s;e we fall not down and pro&s;trate our &s;elves, then becau&s;e we wor&s;hip with bowing of the bodie; &s;ince it mu&s;t be accounted a fault and di&s;honour to us, that we do not fully imitate the reverence of the Antients: but &s;omething prai&s;-worthy is it, that we indeavour in part at lea&s;t to compo&s;e our &s;elves to their piety and devotion; but there needs no con&s;equent in a thing &s;o apparent. For though I pa&s;&s;e over that the&s;e <HI>Adorations</HI> of which we treat, are fully and manife&s;tly intended, by the te&s;timonies we have cited, the very rubricks and rules, which we read in the bookes of Liturgies do &s;ufficiently ex|plain the &s;ence and mind of the Antient Fathers: and do tell us that they at their prayers, did not only kneel before the <HI>Altar,</HI> or pro&s;trate their bodies on the ground; but did likewi&s;e incline or bow their
<PB N="35" REF="19">heads and bodies forward, which is properly to adore or wor&s;hip. In that Liturgie, which is called Saint <HI>Chry&s;o&s;tomes,</HI> the Prie&s;t and the <HI>Deacon</HI> do command in the performance of Divine Service, <GAP DESC="foreign">, <HI>That bowings be made before the Holy Table,</HI> to the number of fourty at lea&s;t. That they are likwi&s;e commanded in every ancient Liturgie though not to &s;uch a number, is &s;o known that it requires no Certicfiate. But let no man object that they are not at all mentioned in our Liturgie, for they con|ceived it &s;uperfluous to command that rite which in tho&s;e dayes was &s;o u&s;ual and known to all. The &s;ame may be affirmed concerning the <HI>Organs, the Hymnes</HI> and <HI>P&s;almes, the breaking of the Bread, and pouring out the VVine in the holy Sacrament,</HI> while&s;t we attentively pronounce the very words of its In&s;titution and Con&s;ecration, and many other things, which are all of them carefully and piou&s;ly performed, and by the explicite command of the Church, from the onely Force and Virtue of Catholick cu&s;tome, which alwayes denotes the implicite Precept.</P>
<P>That this cu&s;tome of wor&s;hiping God towards the <HI>Altar,</HI> which had its ri&s;e from the very begin|nings of the Church, doth continue to the pre|&s;ent Time in our Liturgy, the Liturgical Rites doe Te&s;tifie, and &s;acred Formes to be ob&s;erved in the &s;olemne Coronation of our Kings, and hitherto alwayes Ob&s;erved; in which the <HI>King</HI> him|&s;elf once and again, and the <HI>Archbi&s;hop of Can|terbury</HI> very often, is commanded, <HI>Humbly
<PB N="36" REF="20">and &s;ubmi&s;sively to wor&s;hip and bow before the Al|tar.</HI></P>
<P>The &s;ame may be &s;een by the <HI>Illu&s;trious Knights of the Order of</HI> Saint <HI>George,</HI> who <HI>wor&s;hip God before the</HI> Altar, bowing their bodies twenty times or more, while&s;t tho&s;e &s;acred Solemnities are mag|nificently performed; For &s;o doe the Ancient Statutes command, who&s;e Ob&s;ervation they &s;in|cerely promi&s;e, That <HI>Adoration be made hum|bly, according to the manner of Eccle&s;ia&s;tical Per|&s;ons.</HI></P>
<P>The &s;ame is Te&s;tified by all the Cathedral and Collegiate Churches I have &s;een, in which &s;ome Canons greater and le&s;&s;er, doe wor&s;hip God, bow|ing them&s;elves after that manner.</P>
<P>If any de&s;ire further &s;atisfaction in this Ca&s;e, I remit him;</P>
<P>Fir&s;t, to all the Liturgies both <HI>Greek</HI> and <HI>La|tine.</HI></P>
<P>Secondly, to other Rites, which without that of which we &s;peak were never performed; to wit, <HI>Ki&s;sing the</HI> Altar, <HI>joyning ones hand and head to it, and flying to the</HI> Altar <HI>as to a Sanctuary,</HI> in all which at their approaching to the <HI>Altar,</HI> thus bowing them&s;elves, they wor&s;hiped him to whom it was Con&s;ecrated.</P>
<P>Thirdly, to the Decrees of the ancient <HI>Prelats</HI> and <HI>Bi&s;hops.</HI></P>
<P>Fourthly, to the Con&s;titutions of many Coun|cels, as well General as National.</P>
<P>Fifthly, to the Statutes of <HI>Churches</HI> and <HI>Col|ledges,</HI> even among&s;t us, in the&s;e words. <HI>Omnes
<PB REF="20">chorum ingredientes incurvent &s;e&s;e ver&s;us Altare.</HI> Let all entering into the Quire bow them&s;elves to|wards the <HI>Altar.</HI></P>
<P>Sixthly and la&s;tly, to the perpetuall Practice and Cu&s;tome of the Holy Catholick Church of Chri&s;t throughout the whole world.</P>
<P>If any will yet pertinaciou&s;ly Contradict all the&s;e (which I cannot now more largely ex|plain) yet I admoni&s;h him at lea&s;t to imitate, the Church Ble&s;&s;ed and Triumphant in Heaven, which we all pant after; There the Soules under the <HI>Altar,</HI> Cry with a loud Voyce, there much In|cence with the Prayers of the Saints is offered on a Golden <HI>Altar,</HI> There the Angel mea&s;ures the Temple and the <HI>Altar,</HI> and tho&s;e which wor&s;hip in it: There La&s;tly, (and all the&s;e from Saint <HI>John the Divine) Doe the four and twenty Elders fall down and wor&s;hip him who liveth for ever and ever.</HI></P>
<P><Q>Thy Will be done one Earth, as it is in Heaven, O Lord, that to tho&s;e Holy El|ders, We the younger &s;ort of thy Church at length being gathered, may with them for e|ver wor&s;hip God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Gho&s;t, falling down, bow|ing and pro&s;trating our &s;elves. God grant it through Je&s;us Chri&s;t our Lord and Saviour, To whom with the Father and Holy Gho&s;t, be all Honour, Pray&s;e, Glory, Thanke&s;giving now and for evermore, <HI>Amen.</HI></Q></P>
<PB N="38" REF="21">
<P> The mo&s;t great and good God ble&s;&s;e us, and <HI>His Holy Catholick Church,</HI> the mo&s;t Potent King CHARLES, the mo&s;t &s;erene Queen MARY, the mo&s;t Illu&s;trious Prince JAMES, Duke of <HI>Yorke,</HI> and the re&s;t of the <HI>Royall Progeny,</HI> the <HI>Clergy, Nobility, Gentry, &V;niver&s;ity</HI> and <HI>People</HI> in ge|nerall, Through Je&s;us Chri&s;t our Lord, <HI>Amen.</HI></P>
<P><HI>Glory be to God.</HI></P>
<TRAILER>FINIS.</TRAILER>
</DIV1>
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<BACK>
<DIV1 TYPE="errata">
<HEAD>Errata,</HEAD>
<P><HI>Page</HI> 10. <HI>line</HI> 8. <HI>&s;ome means</HI> read the &s;ame means, <HI>p.</HI> 23. <HI>l.</HI> 18. &s;ome read &s;omething. <HI>p.</HI> 24. <HI>l.</HI> 5. for they call, r. they call it. <HI>p.</HI> 25. <HI>l.</HI> 25. for may wel r. may well be. <HI>p.</HI> 26. <HI>l.</HI> 8. for Ea&s;t, r. South. <HI>p.</HI> 26. <HI>l.</HI> 24. for mu&s;t pa&s;s, r. mu&s;t not pa&s;s. <HI>p.</HI> 29. <HI>l.</HI> 14. for the Latin, r. an Engli&s;h. <HI>p.</HI> 30. <HI>l.</HI> 14. for of Son, r. of God. <HI>p.</HI> 30. <HI>l.</HI> 23. for Ea&s;ter, r. Good-friday. <HI>p.</HI> 32. <HI>l.</HI> 21. r. text not dubious</P>
</DIV1>
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</TEXT>
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