their blood:  and that no Minister was now thought godly that did not decry it, and at least pretend to make better prayers ex tempore:  and that they, and only they, that could do so, prayed by the Spirit, and were godly; though in their sermons they disputed, and evidently contradicted each other in their prayers.  And as he did dislike this, so he did most highly commend the Common Prayer of the Church, saying, “the Collects were the most passionate, proper, and most elegant expressions that any language ever afforded; and that there was in them such piety, and so interwoven with instructions, that they taught us to the power, the wisdom, the majesty, and mercy of God, and much of our duty both to him and our neighbour:  and that a congregation, behaving themselves reverently, and putting up to God these joint and known desires for pardon of sins, and praises for mercies received, could not but be more pleasing to God, than those raw, unpremeditated expressions, to which many of the hearers could not say, Amen.”

[Sidenote:  “The Treasury of Christian comfort”]

And he then commended to me the frequent use of the Psalter, or Psalms of David; speaking to this purpose:  “That they were the Treasury of Christian comfort, fitted for all persons and necessities; able to raise the soul from dejection by the frequent mention of God’s mercies to repentant sinners; to stir up holy desires:  to increase joy; to moderate sorrow; to nourish hope, and teach us patience, by waiting God’s leisure:  to beget a trust in the mercy, power, and providence of our Creator; and to cause a resignation of ourselves to his will; and then, and not till then, to believe ourselves happy.”  This, he said, the Liturgy and Psalms taught us; and that by the frequent use of the last, they would not only prove to be our soul’s comfort, but would become so habitual, as to transform them into the Image of his soul that composed them.  After this manner he expressed himself concerning the Liturgy and Psalms; and seemed to lament that this, which was the devotion of the more primitive times, should in common pulpits be turned into needless debates about Freewill, Election, and Reprobation, of which, and many like questions, we may be safely ignorant, because Almighty God intends not to lead us to Heaven by hard questions, but by meekness and charity, and a frequent practice of devotion.

[Sidenote:  Dangerous mistakes]

[Sidenote:  A year of Homilies]

And he seemed to lament very much, that, by the means of irregular and indiscreet preaching, the generality of the nation were possessed with such dangerous mistakes, as to think, “they might be religious first, and then just and merciful; that they might sell their consciences, and yet have something left that was worth keeping; that they might be sure they were elected, though their lives were visibly scandalous; that to be cunning was to be wise; that to be rich was to be