§. 26. This was our Norton! And we might have given yet a fuller Account of him, if we could have seen, the Diary, which he kept of his Daily Walk. However he was well known to be a Great Example of Holiness, Watchfulness; and Extraordinary Wisdom; and though he left no Children, yet he has a Better Name than that of Sons and of Daughters. Moreover, There was one Considerable part of Ministerial Work, wherein he not only went beyond most of his Age, but also proved a Leader unto many Followers. Though the Ministers of New-England counted it Unlawful for them, Ordinarily to perform their Ministerial Acts of Solemn and Public Prayer by Reading or Using any Forms of Prayer composed by other Persons for them; They Reckoned an Ability to express the Case of a Congregation in Prayer, to be a Ministerial Gift, which our Lord forbids His Ministers ⟨p. 37⟩to Neglect; They supposed that a Minister, who should only Read Forms of Sermons composed for him, would as Truly Discharge the Duty of Preaching, as One that should only Read such Forms of Prayers, would the Duty of Praying, in it: They could not find, that any Humane Forms of Prayer were much used in any part of the Church, until about Four Hundred years after Christ, nor any made for more than some Single Province, until Six Hundred years; nor any Imposed until Eight Hundred, when all manner of Ill-formed Things, began to be found in the Temple of God: Nevertheless very many of our Greatest Ministers, in our more Early times, did not use to Expatiate with such a Significant and Admirable Variety in their Prayers before their Sermons, as many of our Later Times have attained unto: Nor indeed Then did They, nor Still do We, count all Forms of Prayer Simply Unlawful. But the more General Improvements and Expressions of The Gift of Prayers, in our Ministers, have Since been the matter of Observation; and Particularly Mr. Norton, therein was truly Admirable! It even Transported the Souls of his Hearers, to accompany him in his Devotions, wherein his Graces would make Wonderful Sallies into the vast Field of Entertainments, and Acknowledgements, with which ⟨p. 38⟩we are furnished in the New-Covenant, for our Prayers. I have Heard of a Godly man in Ipswich, who after Mr. Nortons Going to Boston, would Ordinarily Travel on foot from Ipswich to Boston, which is about Thirty Miles, for nothing but the Weekly Lecture there;
§. 26. This was our Norton! And we might have given yet a fuller Account of him, if we could have seen, the Diary, which he kept of his Dayly Walk. However he was well known to be a Great Example of Holiness, Watchfulness; and Extraordinary Wisdom; and though he left no Children, yet he has a Better Name than that of Sons and of Daughters. Moreover, There was one Considerable part of Ministerial Work, wherein he not only went beyond most of his Age, but also proved a Leader unto many Followers. Though the Ministers of New-England counted it Unlawful for them, Ordinarily to perform their Ministerial Acts of Solemn and Publick Prayer by Reading or Using any Forms of Prayer composed by other Persons for them; They Reckoned an Ability to express the Case of a Congregation in Prayer, to be a Ministerial Gift, which our Lord forbids His Ministers ⟨p. 37⟩to Neglect; They supposed that a Minister, who should only Read Forms of Sermons composed for him, would as Truly Discharge the Duty of Preaching, as One that should only Read such Forms of Prayers, would the Duty of Praying, in it: They could not find, that any Humane Forms of Prayer were much used in any part of the Church, until about Four Hundred years after Christ, nor any made for more than some Single Province, until Six Hundred years; nor any Imposed until Eight Hundred, when all manner of Ill-formed Things, began to be found in the Temple of God: Nevertheless very many of our Greatest Ministers, in our more Early times, did not use to Expatiate with such a Significant and Admirable Variety in their Prayers before their Sermons, as many of our Later Times have attained unto: Nor indeed Then did They, nor Still do We, count all Forms of Prayer Simply Unlawful. But the more General Improvements and Expressions of The Gift of Prayers, in our Ministers, have Since been the matter of Observation; and Particularly Mr. Norton, therein was truly Admirable! It even Transported the Souls of his Hearers, to accompany him in his Devotions, wherein his Graces would make Wonderful Salleyes into the vast Field of Entertainments, and Acknowledgments, with which ⟨p. 38⟩we are furnished in the New-Covenant, for our Prayers. I have Heard of a Godly man in Ipswich, who after Mr. Nortons Going to Boston, would Ordinarily Travel on foot from Ipswich to Boston, which is about Thirty Miles, for nothing but the Weekly Lecture there;
