TO THE POOR INHABITANTS WITHIN THE DIOCESE OF BATH AND WELLS, THOMAS, THEIR UNWORTHY BISHOP, WISHETH THE KNOWLEDGE AND THE LOVE OF GOD.

THE Catechism truly teaches all Christians, that they are "not able of themselves to do those things" they have vowed in their baptism to do, namely,

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to walk in the commandments of God, and to serve him," without his special grace, or favourable assistance; and this "they are to learn at all times to call upon God for, by diligent prayer."

Alas,

How good and seasonable this advice is, you will all see, if you consider what helpless and needy creatures the very best of men are. our weakness is very great, our wants are very many, our dependence on God for all things, all our lives long, is entire, and absolute, and necessary, and there is no way in the world to gain help and supplies from God, but by prayer; so that it is as easy and as possible to preserve a natural life without daily bread, as a Christian life without daily prayer.

It was for this reason that our Saviour himself took a particular care to teach "his disciples to pray;"32 and it is for the same reason, and in imitation of our heavenly Master, that I have joined these directions for prayer to the Catechism.

Sure I am, the zeal I ought to have for your salvation can suggest to me nothing more conducing to the good of your souls, than to exhort and beseech you all, of either sex, to learn how to pray.

This is the first general request I shall make to you; and I am the more earnest in it, because my own sad experience has taught me, how strangely ignorant common people usually are of this duty; insomuch that some never pray at all, pretending they were never taught, or that their memories are bad, or that they are not book-learned, or that they want money to buy a book; and by this means, they live and die rather like beasts than men; nay, their condition is much worse than that of beasts, for the misery of a beast doth end at death, but the misery of a wicked man does then begin, and will endure to all eternity.

To prevent, then, as much as lies in me, the damnation of those souls which God has committed to my care, and to cure that lamentable ignorance and forgetfulness of God, which is the cause of the damnation of so very many, I do not only incessantly pray for you myself, but I beg of you all to pray for yourselves, and I beseech you to read the following instructions; or if you cannot read yourselves, to get some honest charitable neighbours to read them often to you, that you may remember them; and God of his great mercy reward the charity of such neighbours.

32 Luke xi. 1.

If any of you, either by your own negligence, or by the negligence of your parents, or for want of catechising in your parish, are wholly ignorant of your duty, though it be a most shameful and dangerous thing for one who calls himself a Christian to know nothing of Christ or Christianity,yet, if you are willing to learn, and beg pardon of God for your wilful ignorance hitherto, and will sincerely do your endeavour to get saving knowledge, and heartily pray to God to assist you, you shall find, that the very entrance of God's word giveth light, "that it giveth understanding unto the simple."33

I must warn you beforehand, that corrupt nature will be very busy in hindering the learning of your duty, and thoughts will arise in your mind, that the task will be too hard and too tedious for you to undertake; but I faithfully promise you, to impose no hard or tedious task on you, but such as you yourselves shall confess to be very complying with your infirmities; for our most compassionate Saviour teaches me to say no more to you than " you can bear."34

All I shall exhort you to, is to learn your Catechism, which you may do by degrees; if you learn but a line or two in a day, you will, by God's blessing, in a very short time learn it all over; and you will rejoice, and thank God, for the sudden and happy progress you have made.

God forbid you should ever think yourselves too old to learn to serve God, and to be saved, both which are taught in the Catechism, and therefore the Catechism is of necessity is to be learned; for how can you go to heaven, if you never learned

the way thither? How can you be saved, if you do not know your Saviour?

It is a great error to think that the Catechism was made for children only; for all Christians are equally concerned in those saving truths which are there taught; and the doctrine delivered in the Catechism is as proper for the study, and as necessary for the salvation, of a great doctor, as of a weak Christian, or a young child.

But you will be the more encouraged to learn your Catechism, when you see how excellent a help it will be to prayer; for it will at the same time further your knowledge, and your devotion, both together; and the prayers I intend to commend to you, are chiefly the very answers in the Catechism, which being daily repeated, will be the better fixed in your memory; and you cannot imagine any advice for prayer can be more easy and familiar than that which directs you to turn your very Catechism into prayers.

You are by this time, I hope, satisfied that the duty to which I exhort you is no hard task; and yet I will endeavour, by God's assistance, to make it more easy, by putting you into an easy method to attain it.

If you are wholly ignorant of your Catechism, let it be your first care to learn such ejaculations, such short prayers, as these, and say them often and heartily :

"Lord, have mercy upon me.

Christ, have mercy upon me.

Lord, have mercy upon me.

Lord, pardon all my wilful ignorance, and gross carelessness of my duty, for the sake of Jesus my Saviour. Amen."

"O my God, assist me in the learning of my

duty.

Lord, help me to know and to love thee.

Lord, pity me; Lord, save me; Father, forgive me.

Glory be to thee, O Lord, who hast hitherto spared me.

O, that I might at last learn to glorify, and love, and serve thee!"

Such short prayers as these you may easily get by heart; and the method in which I advise you to proceed, is that in which children are commonly taught, in regard I am now to look on you as a child; for there are two sorts of children-there are children in age, and children in understanding;3 and in this latter respect you are children; and the same method for the most part is proper for you, which is proper for those that are children in age.

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you

I must therefore feed you with milk, before can be capable of strong meat;36 and I must look on you as lambs of my flock, which I am to use tenderly and these following directions, which I give to parents, for the training up their children in piety, I do equally design for the training up of you. God, of his infinite goodness, bless them to you both.

I exhort all you who are parents to instil good things into your children as soon as ever they begin to speak; let the first words they utter, if it be possible, be these, "Glory be to God;" accustom them to repeat these words on their knees as soon as they rise, and when they go to bed, and ofttimes in the day; and let them not eat or drink without saying, "Glory be to God."