lived faithfully together, fo thefe perfons may furely perform and keep the vow and covenant betwixt them made, (whereof this ring given and received is a token and pledge) and may ever remain in perfect love and peace together, and live according to thy law, through Jefus Chrift our Lord. Amen.

Then fhall the Priest join their right hands to. gether, and fay:

Thole whom God hath joined together, içt no man put alunder.

Then thall the Prieft fpeak unto the people:

Foralmuch as Luther and Kate have confented. together in holy wedlock, and have witneffed the fame before God and this company, and thereto have given and pledged their troth either to other, and have declared the fame by giving and receiving of a ring, and by joining of hands; pronounce that they be man and wife together, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.

And the Priest shall add this bleffing:"

God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Ghoft, blefs, preferve and keep you; the Lord mercifully with favour look upon you, and fo fill you with fpiritual benediction and grace, that you may fo live together in this life, that in the world to come ye may have life everlafting.

Amen.

We have seen by pledge, joining of hands, proteflation and vows of the parties, the "Prielt alling in thefe fupernumeraries, or articles,

the outward and vifible fign; and, by the prayers, power, and authority of the Priesthood received from Jefus Chrift, the inward and fpiritual grace, which forms and compleats the facrament. For as Baptifm fanctifies and changes children of wrath into children of grace, fo the facrament of marriage fanctifies and changes, the malediction pronounced against the ufe of each other, without marriage, into a pure, lawful, and fanctified action and ftate, as your Apoftle obferves, The bed pure and undefiled.

Priest.

O God, who, by thy mighty power, haft made all things of nothing, who alfo (after other things fet in order, didft appoint that out of man created after thy own image and fimilitude) woman fhould take her beginning; and knitting them together, didft teach that it fhould never be lawful to put afunder thofe whom thou by matrimoby hadit made one: O God, who hast confe crated the ftate of matrimony to fuch an excellent myftery, that in it is fignified and reprefented the fpiritual marriage and unity betwixt Chrift and his Church: look mercifully upon thefe thy. fervants, that both this man may love his wife, according to thy word (as Chrift did love his fpoufe the Church who gave himself for it, loving and cherishing, it even as his own flesh) and alfo that this woman may be loving and amiable, faithful and obedient to her husband, and in all quietnefs, fobriety and peace, be a follower of holy and godly matrons, O Lord, blefs them

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both,

both, and grant them to inherit thy everlasting kingdom, through. Jefus Chrift our Lord,

Amen.

Then shall the Priest say:

Almighty God, who at the beginning did create our firit parents, Adam and Eve, and did landlify and join them together in marriage; pour upon you the riches of his grace, fanétify and bless you, that ye may please him both in body and foul, and live together in holy love unto your life's end. Amen.

Priest goes on.

All ye that are married, or that intend to take, the holy eftate of matrimony upon you, hear what the holy Scripture doth fay as touching the duty of hulbands towards their wives, and wives towards their hufbands. Saint Paul, in his Epiftle, gtly chapter to the Ephefians, doth give this commandment to all married men, Hufbands love your wives, even as Chrift alfo loved the Church, and gave himself for it, that he might fanctify and cleanse it with the wafhing of water, by the word; that he might present it to himself a glorious Church, not having fpot or wrinkle, or any fuch thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish. So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies: he that loveth his wife loveth himself for no man ever yet hated his own flesh, but nourisheth, and cherifheth it, even as the Lord the Church: for we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones. For this caufe fhall a man leave his father and

mother,

mother, and fhall be joined to his wife, and they two fhall be one flesh. This is a great mystery; but I speak concerning Chrift and his Church. Nevertheless, let every one of you in particular fo love his wife, even as himself.

It is to be noted, that the Catholic or Chrif tian Church have, with the Apoftle, held mar. riage one of their facraments.

Hear alfo what Saint Peter the Apostle of Chrift, who was a married man, faith unto them that are married, Ye hufbands dwell with your wives according to knowledge. giving honour unto the wife, as unto the weaker veffel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life, that your prayers be not hindered.

Hitherto ye have heard the duty of the huf band towards the wife, now likewife, ye wives, hear and learn your duty towards your huf bands, even as it is plainly fet forth in holy Scripture.

Saint Paul, in the afore-named epiftle to the Ephefians, teacheth you thus: Wives, fubmit yourselves unto your own hnfbands, as unto the Lord. For the hufband is head of the wife, even as Chrift is head of the Church: and he is the Saviour of the body. Therefore, as the Church is fubje&t to Chrift, fo let the wives be to their own husbands in every thing. And again he faith, let the wife fee that fhe reverence her husband.

It is convenient, that the new married per fons fhould receive the holy communion, at the

time of their marriage; or at the firft opportu nity after their marriage.

I have felected thus much out of much more evidence contained in the form or folemnization of the marriage-contract, as by law established in the Church of England, and fet forth in your Common Prayer-Book, to prove the facrament of marriage. Reverend Sir, I hope you will approve my impartial reasoning, as I have neither fcot or lot in your Chriftianity, but purely to remove inconfiftency, and place you on the firm ground, a reasonable creature ought to fix himself.

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Luth. I am truly happy, that Providence have thrown you, fo great a Divine, in my teeth; I make no doubt but I fhall grind you to powder, and separate the chaff from the wheat. I confefs the wound smarts while the, furgeon operates; but when the onset is paft, fucceeds the happy lenitive; fo you, my Reverend Scribe, have felt the fword of the spirit from the impetuofity and violence of my zeal, fo that I have turned you topfy-turvy, difpelled your mist, and opened to you the treasures of my Bishopric.

Boy, Extreme Union comes next, which concludes and finishes our investigation of the feven Chriftian facraments. This laft facrament of Extreme Unction is fo clearly ftated and marked out by the Scripture, that it requires no difcuffion, or farther exemplification. The General Epifle of James the Apoftle, chap. v. Is any man fick among you, let him

bring