Thou shalt not bow down to them, nor worship them: for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, and visit the. fins of the fathers upon the children, unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me; and fhew mercy unto thousands in them that love me, and keep my commandments.

III. Thou shalt not take the Name of the Lord thy God in vain for the Lord will not hold him guiltlefs, that taketh his Name in vain.

IV. Remember that thou keep holy the fabbath-day. Six days fhalt thou labour, and do all that thou haft to do; but the feventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God. In it thou fhalt do no manner of work, thou, and thy fon, and thy daughter, thy man-fervant, and thy maidfervant, thy cattle, and the ftranger that is within thy gates. For in fix days the Lord made heaven and earth, the fea, and all that in them is, and refted the seventh day: wherefore the Lord bleffed the feventh day, and hallowed it.

V. Honour thy father and thy mother, that thy days may be long in the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee. VI. Thou shalt do no murder.

VII. Thou shalt not commit adultery.

VIII. Thou shalt not fteal.

IX. Thou shalt not bear falfe witness against thy neigh bour.

X. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's houfe, thou fhalt not covet thy neighbour's wife, nor his fervant, nor his maid, nor his ox, nor his afs, nor any thing that is his. Quest. What doft thou chiefly learn by these commandments?

Anfw. I learn two things: my duty towards God, and my duty towards my Neighbour.

Quest. What is thy duty towards God?

Anfw. My duty towards God, is to believe in him, to fear him, and to love him with all my heart, with all my mind, with all my foul, and with all my strength; to worship him, to give him thanks, to put my whole trust in him, to call upon him, to honour his holy Name and his Word, and to serve him truly all the days of my life

Y

Quest. What is thy duty towards thy Neighbour? Anfw. My duty towards my Neighbour is, to love him as myself, and to do to all men as I would they fhould do unto me: To love, honour, and fuccour my father and mother: To honour and obey the King, and all that are put in authority under him: To fubmit myfelf to all my governors, teachers, fpiritual paftors and masters: To order myself lowly and reverently to all my betters: To hurt no body by word or deed: To be true and just in all my dealings: To bear no malice nor hatred in my heart: To keep my hands from picking and ftealing, and my tongue from evil-fpeaking, lying, and flandering: To keep my body in temperance, fobernefs, and chastity: Not to covet nor defire other men's goods; but to learn and labour truly to get mine own living, and to do my duty in that state of life, unto which it fhall pleafe God to call me.

Catechift. My good child, know this, that thou art not able to do these things of thyfelf, nor to walk in the Commandments of God, and to ferve him, without his fpecial grace; which thou must learn at all times to call for by diligent prayer. Let me hear therefore if thou canft fay the Lord's Prayer.

OUR

Anfwer.

UR Father, which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy Name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trefpaffes, As we forgive them that trefpafs against us. And lead us not into temptation; But deliver us from evil. Amen.

Quest. What defireft thou of God in this Prayer?

Anfw. I defire my Lord God, our heavenly Father, who is the giver of all goodnefs, to fend his grace unto me, and to all people; that we may worship him, ferve him, and obey him, as we ought to do. And I pray unto God, that he will fend us all things that be needful both for our fouls and bodies; and that he will be merciful unto us, and forgive us our fins; and that it will please him to fave and defend us in all dangers, ghoftly and bo dily; and that he will keep us from all fin and wicked. ness, and from our ghostly enemy, and from everlasting

death. And this I truft he will do of his mercy and goodness, through our Lord Jefus Chrift: and therefore 1 fay, Amen, So be it.

Question.

HOW many Sacraments hath Christ ordained in his

Church?

Anfw. Two only, as generally neceffary to falvation; that is to fay, Baptifm, and the Supper of the Lord. Queft. What meaneft thou by this word Sacrament? Anfw. I mean an outward and vifible fign of an inward and fpiritual grace given unto us, ordained by Christ himself, as a means whereby we receive the fame, and a pledge to affure us thereof.

Quest. How many parts are there in a Sacrament?

Anfw. Two; the outward vifible fign, and the inward fpiritual grace.

Quest. What is the outward vifible fign, or form in Baptifm?

Anfw. Water; wherein the perfon is baptized, In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Quest. What is the inward and spiritual grace?

Anfw. A death unto fin, and a new birth unto righteoufnefnefs: for being by nature born in fin, and the children of wrath, we are hereby made the children of grace. Quest. What is required of perfons to be baptized? Anfw. Repentance, whereby they forfake fin; and faith, whereby they ftedfaftly believe the promises of God made to them in that Sacrament.

Queft. Why then are Infants baptized, when by reason of their tender age they cannot perform them?

Anfw. Because they promise them both by their Şureties; which promife, when they come to age, themfelves are bound to perform.

Queft. Why was the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper ordained?

Anfw. For the continual remembrance of the facrifice of the death of Christ, and of the benefits which we receive thereby.

Queft. What is the outward part or fign of the Lord's Supper?

Anfw. Bread and Wine, which the Lord hath com

manded to be received.

Quest. What is the inward part, or thing fignified?

Anfw. The Body and Blood of Christ, which are verily and indeed taken and received by the faithful in the Lord's Supper.

Quest. What are the benefits whereof we are partakers thereby?

Anfw. The ftrengthening and refreshing of our fouls by the Body and Blood of Chrift, as our bodies are by the bread and wine.

Quest. What is required of them who come to the Lord's Supper?

Anfw. To examine themfelves, whether they repent them truly of their former fins, ftedfastly purpofing to lead a new life; have a lively faith in God's mercy through Christ, with a thankful remembrance of his death; and be in charity with all men.

The Curate of every Parifh fhall diligently upon Sundays and Holy-days, after the fecond Leffon at Evening Prayer,

The Curate &c.] The times now appointed for the catechifing of chil dren are Sundays and Holy-days. Though Bishop Cofin obferves, this is no injunction for doing it every Sunday and Holy-day, but only as often as need requires, according to the largenefs or number of children in the parish. And it is true, that by the firft book of King Edward VIth, it was not required to be done above once in fix weeks. But Bucer, obferving that this was too feldom, and that in several churches in Germany there was catechifing three times a week, urged, in his cenfure upon this rubrick, that the Minifter fhould be required to catechife on every Holy-day. Upon this exception indeed the rubrick was altered, but expreffed notwithftanding in indefinite terms: fo that Bishop Cofin was of the opinion, that no obligation could be urged from hence, that the Minifter should perform it on all Sundays and Holy-days. And indeed by the injunctions of Queen Elizabeth, it was only required upon every Holy-day and fecond Sunday (i. e. I fuppofe every other Sunday) in the year; though it is plainly the defign of the prefent rubrick, that it fhould be done as occafion requires, i. e. fo long as there are any in the parish who are capable of inftruction, and yet have not learned their Catechifm. And therefore, in many large parishes, where the inhabitants are numerous, the Minifter thinks himself obliged to catechize every Sunday; whilft in parishes lefs populous, a few Sundays in the year are fufficient to the purpofe; and therefore in fuch places the duty of Catechifm is referved till Lent, in imitation of an old cuftom in the primitive church, which had their more folema Catechifms during that feafon.-Wheatley.

openly in the Church inftruct and examine fo many Children of his Parish fent unto him, as he shall think convenient, in fome part of this Catechifm.

And all Fathers, Mothers, Mafters, and Dames, fhall caufe their Children, Servants, and Apprentices, (which have not learned their Catechifm) to come to the Church at the time appointed, and obediently to hear, and be ordered by the Curate, until fuch time as they have learned all that is here appointed for them to learn. ¶ So foon as Children are come to a competent age, and can fay in their Mother Tongue, the Creed, the Lord's Prayer, and the Ten Commandments; and alfo can answer to the other Questions of this flort Catechifm; they fhall be brought to the Bishop. And every one fhall have a Godfather or Godmother, as a Witness of their Confirmation.

And whenfoever the Bishop fhall give knowledge for Children to be brought unto him for their Confirmation, the Curate of every Parish fhall either bring or send in writing, with his hand subscribed thereunto, the Names of all fuch Perfons within his Parifi, as he shall think fit to be prefented to the Bishop to be confirmed. And if the Bishop approve of them, he fhall confirm them in the manner following.

In the Church] This public examination of children in the principles of their religion was formerly obferved with the utmoft ftrictness. During the interregnum in this country, in the feventeenth century, a laudable cuftom prevailed of infuring, by a written obligation, the bringing of children to the catechifin by their parents and fponfors. I have an extract from the regifter of Chrift-Church, in Hampshire, A. D. 1651, which eftablishes this fact. It is couched in thefe words: "We whofe names or marks are here fubfcribed, together with the names of our children bap tized, do folemnly proteft and promife, that if we and our children live together till they come to the age of nine years, we will bring or caufe our children to come to the congregation of Chrift-Church before our prefent minifter Mr. Warner, or his fucceffors; there to renew their Covenant made in baptifm, and to anfwer and give a reafon of their hope, by way of catechifm, to often as the faid Mr. Warner, or his fucceffors, fhall require us fo to do."

Part of this Catechifm] In Edward VIth's first book, the parenthesis was, (which are not yet confirmed;) but becaufe, at that time, many were confirmed young before they could understand the catechifm, this direction was, at the fuggeftion of Bucer, altered as it now ftands.