in the business of religion; because, upon examination, they discover in themselves little or no acquaintance with those tumultuous heats, and ungoverned sallies of passion, upon which so great a stress is laid by these pretenders to such glorious frenzies and heavenly follies: and on the other, they harden the dissolute and unthinking part of mankind into an obstinate reluctance toward the very first efforts of reformation, by confirming them in a prejudice they are of themselves too willing to entertain against religion: that it is a rigorous impracticable service; a state of unnatural refinement, altogether incompatible with the common measures of human life. And this is no more than what the above-mentioned bishop had before asserted against the Romish devotions. He says, "This mystical divinity is not only unintelligible, but it leads persons into strange illusions of fancy; and this I take to be a very great injury, not only to those melancholy souls that are led through this valley of shades and darkness; but even to the christian religion itself, as though the way of perfection taught by it were a low, mean, contemptible thing, in comparison of these mystical flights."

In what the love of God consists.

"It is true, we are commanded often to love God with all our heart, but withal we are told, we must not fancy this love to be a mere languishing passion; no, the love of christians toward God is no fond amorous affection, but a due apprehension and esteem of the divine excellencies, a hearty sense of all his kindness to us, and a constant readiness of mind to do his will. And thus the beloved Son of God hath declared what he means by the love he expects from his disciples: If ye love me, says Christ, keep my commandments; and ye are my friends if ye do whatsoever I command you. And if, says St. John, any man say I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar ; for he that loveth not his brother, whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen? No man hath seen God at any time. If we love one another, God dwelleth in us, and his love is perfected in us. Thus the beloved disciple, who

understood the great niysteries of divine love, hath expressed

them to us.

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Here, you see, are no blind elevations of the will; no ecstatic nor luscious expression: no, it is very plain that all such mystical notions, and luscious metaphors and expressions, had another spring and a more impure fountain, than the christian doctrine.' For, as the said judicious prelate adds, "supposing that mystical way of perfection were possible, I could see no necessity at all of Christ's coming into the world, nor of any influence his death, or suffering, or doctrine, could have upon the bringing men to a state of happiness,"

For these reasons I thought it my duty, as a christian, to explode that fulsome and luscious method of the Old Week's Preparation, which has most scandalously put into the mouth of the devout reader such carnal expressions as are mentioned above: * and in their stead I have endeavoured to substitute such prayers and meditations, as may be warranted from the word of God, being thoroughly sensible how well grounded that complaint of the pious bishop Fleetwood is, "that the devotions of the ignorant are gene

"The two great errors into which a mistaken devotion may betray us, are enthusiasm and superstition. There is not a more melancholy object than a man who has his head turned with religious enthusiasm. A person that is crazed, though with pride or malice, is a sight very mortifying to human nature; but when the distemper arises from any indiscreet fervours of devotion, or too intense an ap plication of the mind to its mistaken duties, it deserves our compassion in a more particular manner. We may, however, learn this lesson from it, that since devotion itself (which one would be apt to think could not be too warm) may disorder the mind, unless its heats are tempered with caution and prudence, we should be particularly careful to keep our reason as cool as possible, and to guard ourselves, in all parts of life, against the influence of passion, imagination, and constitution."

"Devotion, when it does not lie under the check of reason, is very apt to degenerate into enthusiasm when the mind finds herself very much in amed with her devotions, she is too much inclined to think they are not of her own kindling, but blown up with something divine within her. If she indulges this thought too far, and humours the growing passion, she at last flings herself into imaginary raptures and ecstasies; and when once she fancies herself under the influence of a divine impulse, it is no wonder if she slights human ordinances, and refuses to comply with any established form of religion, as think ing herself directed by a much superior guide." ADDisou.

rally superstitious and gross, fixing themselves commonly on sensible objeets; whereas in true religion all is intelligible and divine,-and God, who should be the only object of their devotion, hath hardly any share therein."

Some account of this work.

As it has been my endeavour on the one hand not to flatter sinners; so, on the other, I have been careful not to fill the minds of any with unnecessary fears and scruples, with respect to a duty which ought to be the practice of their whole lives; as if nobody ought to go to this sacrament, but such as are as perfect as ever they can hope to be.

On the contrary; it is the judgment of the most orthodox divines, that (abstracting from particular circumstances) the receiving of the blessed sacrament, is the most divine and solemn act of our religion; and it ought to be the zealous endeavour of every true christian, by God's assistance, to prepare his soul with the most serious and most devout dispositions he possibly can, to approach the holy altar: a man cannot too often commemorate our Lord and his passion, nor too often return devout thanks and praises for the same, nor too often repeat his resolutions of amendment, nor too often renew his solemn engagements, nor too often receive pardon of sins, and fresh succours of divine grace: and if coming to the Lord's table (prepared or unprepared) were a sure and infallible way to answer those good and great ends, there could then be no question but that it would be both our wisdom and our duty to communicate as often as opportunities should invite, and health permit. But it is certain, on the other hand, that bare communicating is not the thing required, but communicating worthily. Here lies the main stress of all, not to ürge frequency of communion so far as to render this holy sacrament hurtful, or fruitless to parties concerned; neither yet to abate so far of the frequency, as to make a kind of dearth or famine of this so salutary and necessary food. For the clearer understanding of this matter, it may be necessary to take notice, that since it is allowed on all hands, that there can be no just bar to frequency of communion, but the want of preparation, which is only such a bar as men may themselves

remove, if they please; it concerns them highly to take off the impediment as soon as possible, and not to trust to the vain hopes of alleviating one fault by committing another. The danger of misperforming any religious duty, is an argument for fear and caution, but no excuse for neglect; God insists upon the doing it, and the doing it well also. It was no sufficient plea for the slothful servant, under the gospel, that he thought his master hard to please, and thereupon neglected his bounden duty: but on the contrary, the use he ought to have made of that consideration was, to have been so much the more wakeful and diligent in his master's service. Therefore, in the case of the holy communion, it is to very little purpose to plead the strictness of the self-examination or preparation by way of excuse either for a total, or for a frequent, or for a long neglect of it. A man may say, that he comes not to the Lord's table, because he is not prepared; and so far he assigns a good reason: but if he should be further asked, why he is not prepared, when he may; then he can only make some trifling, insufficient excuse, or remain speechless.

But to return: I have spared no pains to render these meditations and prayers as generally useful as can be expected in a book of this kind; yet, as the best performances have their imperfections, so this, to be sure, is not without some. However, I hope, there are none so material but what a christian may overlook for the sake of that good which is intended by it. Again: that all these meditations and prayers are entirely new, is by no means pretended no, there will be found among them several collected from other books; but then these being such only as have been allowed to be excellent in their kind, it may reasonably be expected that the whole will be the more acceptable on that account.

Upon a review, since the first publication of this Preparation, I have experienced that many communicants distract themselves with a multiplicity of private devotions, when in duty they should attend to the public service of the church; and further prompted thereto by the advice

of those whose peculiar charge is to inspect and promote the welfare of the christian worship, and for whose judg ment the world upon many occasions have expressed the greatest esteem; I have interwove in this present edition so much of the Communion as is sufficient to prevent that growing evil; in which I have followed the example of the bishop of Man, Mr. King, and several others; but with this difference, that I have not burdened the communicant with much of the office-no more than that part of it in which communicants only are concerned: and which is really necessary for their assistance during the solemnity; whereas the bishop of Man, and some others, have taken in the whole of that office from one end to the other; which I cannot approve of upon several accounts, too tedious to be related in so short a preface, and which I rather choose to conclude with the following quotation of the late pious, learned and orthodox Dr. Waterland, against the folly and danger of laying a fashionable stress upon an habitual preparation, and in favour of such Weekly Treatises of Preparation before receiving the Lord's supper.

The usefulness of actual preparation before receiving the Lord's supper.

“Our esteem or disesteem (of this holy sacrament) will best be seen by our preparing or not preparing for it as we ought.--There is something of a preparation of heart, mind, and ways, required for all religious offices, much more for this, which is the flower and perfection of all.

"As to the length of time to be taken in preparing, there is no one certain rule to be given, which can suit all cases or circumstances: only, when a man has competently adjusted his accounts with God (be it sooner or later) then he is fit to come, and not till then.

"There is an habitual, and there is an actual preparation. The habitual preparation is a good life; and the farther we are advanced in it, the less need there is of any actual preparation besides: but, because men are too apt