Class JEUU&A Book 75 B5 Copyright U?_ COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT. THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER ITS ORIGIN AND GROWTH BY J. H. BENTON, LL.D. 'AS THE LIGHT OF THE SUN IS TO THE EYE OF THE BODY SO IS PRAIER TO THE SOUL' BOSTON PRIVATELY PRINTED 1910 COPYRIGHT, 19 10, BY J. H. BENTON ^X^ 6 ^10 D. B. UPDIKE, THE MERRYMOUNT PRESS, BOSTON (£CI.A268251 THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER THE gradual collection of Books of Common Prayerand other books related thereto has been one of the avocations of a busy professional life. I am sometimes asked : " But why collect Prayer-Books ? ' ' This sketch is my answer to that question. The English Book of Common Prayer is one of the most interesting and instructive subjects of de- votional and historical study. It is the first book, com- prising all the offices of the Church and also forms of private devotion, which was established as a com- plete liturgy by the a6l of the state. All previous forms of worship had been promulgated by ecclesi- astical authority alone, and had no binding force in the law of the state; but this book was enafted as the only legal form of public worship by a Parlia- ment of the Commons and Lords Spiritual and Tem- poral and the Crown. Although it was first prepared by the clergy, it was necessarily so framed as to stand the test of legislative debate and meet the approval of the people by their representatives in Parliament; and the legal validity of its use rests solely upon the authority of the aft of Parliament. It was also the first complete book of devotions for the clergy and the worshippers in the language of the people, so that it might "be understanded by the people. " It was a compromise between conflicting opinions as to re- ligious doCtrine and as to forms of worship. This was its strength ; for this made it a liturgy established by the consent and authority of the people, for the use of the people, in the common language of the people. [iii] THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER It has been twice proscribed by law, all copies of it ordered to be destroyed, and its use in public or private devotions made a crime. But it has, with few substantial alterations, remained unchanged in its original form for three hundred and fifty years. The a6l of Parliament establishing the Book of Common Prayer was passed January 21 , 1549. The book was at once printed, and its use began in the following June. The a6l was entitled " An Aft for Uniformity of Service and Administration of the Sa^ craments throughout the Realm/' It recited the di- versity of forms of worship then existing. It stated that a book entitled "The Book of Common Prayer, and Administration of the Sacraments, and other rites and ceremonies of the Church, after the Use of the Church of England,"had been prepared by the Arch- bishop of Canterbury and certain of the most learned and discreet bishops, and other learned men of the realm, and declared that all the ministers in the King's dominions should "after the Feast of Pente- cost next coming QJune 9, 1549], be bounden to say and use the Mattens, Evensong, Celebration of the Lord's Supper, commonly called the Mass, and ad- ministration of each of the Sacraments, and all their common and open Prayer in such order and form as is mentioned in the same book, and none other or otherwise." A great priest of the Church has said of it: "As the earth's shadow has kept sweeping slowly round the globe, under the two advancing lines of twilight and dawn, wherever the English tongue is spoken, the daily sacrifice of our morning and evening prayer [ ™ ] THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER has ' bowed down successive crowds of worshippers upon their knees;' so that, perhaps, there has not been an hour of day or night, since that month, in the second year of Edward's reign, when, from some high temple, or lowly chapel, or family group, or chamber of sickness, or dying bed, or closet whose door was shut, these immortal confessions and supplications and praises have not been ascend- ing!" The history of the Book of Common Prayer has been the study of the most acute and vigorous minds, not only of ecclesiastics, but of lawyers, statesmen and scholars. A body of literature has been created as to its sources, meaning and purposes which for learning, reasoning and style is unsurpassed. Those who know it best love it most, and the very earnest- ness of their discussions as to its origin and meaning attests their devotion to it. It has profoundly influ- enced not only the moral, but also the intellectual and political life of England and of the world. The arbitrary reforms and the vacillating but effective rule of Henry VIII ; the weak government and wide- spread insurrections of the reign of Edward VI ; the cruel persecutions under Mary and the persis- tent oppression of those who adhered to the Roman faith under Elizabeth; the childish and ineffective rule of James I ; the civil wars in the time of Charles I, his execution and the able but arbitrary rule of Crom- well; the riotous reign of the dissolute Charles II, and all the subsequent political history of England are a part of the story of the Book of Common Prayer. It has affefted English and Continental di- [v] THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER plomacy and statesmanship, and it is not too much to say that its existence and use have caused wars to be waged and colonies to be established beyond the seas. It has not only gone where the English language has gone, but it has been translated into nearly all the written languages of the world. Its history is a part of the warp and woof of the history of the English people and nation which no one can fully understand who does not know its story. Of course, such a book was not an accident or a new creation. It was an adaptation of rites, of cere- monies and of forms of devotion which had their origin in the earliest times, and came down gradu- ally modified by use in different parts of the Chris- tian world for more than fifteen centuries. There was always in England an independent Church, called, in distinction from the Church of Rome, in the sta- tutes, records and rolls of Parliament, the "Church of England"or " Holy Church of England." The en- tire separation of that Church from the Roman See by the A61 of Supremacy in 1534, which made the King the "only Supreme Head in earth of the Church of England," necessarily resulted in a separate form of liturgical worship in England. Immediately there- after the Bible was ordered by the King to be set up for convenient use in every church, and all curates and heads of congregations were required to read the Epistle and Gospel of every holy-day out of the English Bible, plainly and distinctly. This was probably to be done after the Latin version had been read, as was the custom at that time in Germany, and is said to have been the custom in the primitive [vi] THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER Church, when in Rome the Gospel and Epistle were read aloud both in Greek and in Latin. On February 21, 1543, Cranmer, Archbishop of Canterbury, informed the Convocation that it was the wish of his majesty that all service-books in the Church of England should be "newly examined, corrected, reformed, and castigated, from all man- ner of mention of the Bishop of Rome's name, from all apocryphas, feigned legends, superstitions, ora- tions, collects, versicles, and responses; that the names and memories of all saints which be not men- tioned in the Scripture or authentic doctors should be abolished, and put out of the same books and calendars, and that the service should be made out of the Scripture and other authentic doctors." In 1 544 the King directed Cranmer to prepare a general supplication "in our native English tongue/' to be "continually from henceforth said and sung in all churches of our realm with such reverence and devotion as appertained!," etc. Upon this instruction Cranmer prepared the first Litany in English which was put forth by order of the King. This was the first authoritative act introducing the English tongue into the public services of the Church. This Litany, which was included in the King's Primer of 1545, left out the petitions to various saints, all mentioned by name, which were in the Latin service-books, but retained clauses calling for the prayers of the Blessed Virgin, of the angels, and of the patriarchs, prophets and apostles. There remained,itwillbe seen, but little, ex- cept to frame the Eucharistic Office, in order to have complete materials for the compilation of a Book of [ vii] THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER Common Prayer. This Office was supplied by the " Order of the Communion," which was prepared and passed Convocation* and received the civil san6lion of Parliament requiring its use March 8, 1548. The origin and establishment of the first Book of Common Prayer,and the manner in which it has been from time to time revised, are now to be stated and explained in as simple and concise a manner as is practicable. 11 Christianity arose in the East. Its earliest forms of worship are Oriental, and though their intellectual purpose may be said to be Greek, and their ad- ministrative development Roman, Oriental influences gave them a colour and a beauty which have in no small degree contributed to their permanent influ- ence upon the minds of men. The origin of all the liturgies of the Christian Church is uncertain, tradi- tional and obscured by the mists of a profound an- tiquity. But they may perhaps be divided into four principal or primary groups, named according to their supposed sources, as follows: The Liturgy of St. James, in Syria and Jerusalem, sometimes called the Clementine Liturgy; the Liturgy of St. Mark, in Egypt, Alexandria and Abyssinia, including the Greek, Coptic and Ethiopic forms; the Liturgy of St. Peter, or the Roman Liturgy, supposed to be the # The term "Convocation" as here used is an assembly of bishops and clergy summoned by command of the Crown to a£l only in such civil matters as the Crown directs in its summons, but with no power to change the law of the land. The directions to Convocation are called "Letters of business." [ viii 1 THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER form of worship of the first Christians at Rome, although as they were Greek their Liturgy was doubtless in that tongue, and was perhaps derived from the primitive Liturgy of St. James;* and lastly, the Liturgy of St. John, in Spain, France and north- ern Italy, sometimes called the Ephesine Liturgy, from Ephesus, as the residence of St. John. This last group included the Mozarabic, or national Liturgy of Spain, until the close of the eleventh century, when it was superseded by the Roman Liturgy; the Gallican or ancient Liturgy of France until the close of the ninth century, when it was also super- seded by the Roman Liturgy; the Liturgy of Milan, sometimes called the Ambrosian Liturgy, and which is, perhaps, but a branch of the Roman Liturgy ; and finally, the Celtic Liturgy, which was in use in the British Islands before the Anglo-Saxon Conquest, and in Ireland, Scotland, Wales and Cornwall for varying periods of time thereafter. The forms of these liturgies were, however, to a large degree common, indicating clearly that they all had their origin in one primitive liturgy of the early Christian Church. The history of the Book of Common Prayer is, of course, most direftly concerned with the Chris- tian liturgies which preceded it in the British Islands. The first of these was the Celtic, but all the Chris- * The first seven General Councils of the Church conducted their de- bates and wrote their decrees in Greek. "The early Roman Church was but a colony of Greek Christians or Grecised Jews. The early fathers of the Roman Church wrote in Greek and the early Popes were not Italians, but Greeks. Pope is not Latin, but Greek, and is now the title of every pastor in the Eastern Church." Stanley's Eastern Church, p. 14 et seq. [ix] THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER tian churches, with their books of worship, were destroyed by the Anglo-Saxon conquerors prior to 600 a.d., and the Celtic forms of Christian devo- tion remained only in the outskirts of England and in Scotland, Ireland and Wales. After this and before the Norman Conquest, the liturgy of the Celtic Church was gradually restored in some parts of England, but the use of the Liturgy of Rome was so far introduced and extended by the Roman mission- aries that the Anglo-Saxon Liturgy, so called,— that is, the liturgy generally prevailing in England before the Norman Conquest, — may properly be termed the Roman Liturgy. After the Norman Conquest, how- ever, this liturgy itself was modified by Norman influences, so that the English Liturgy assumed a distin<5t character of its own. In 1085 a.d. this was embodied in a service-book called "The Missal ac- cording to the use of Sarum," which, with certain variations of form in the different dioceses, such as Hereford, York, Bangor, London and others, prac- tically became the English Liturgy. The liturgical books in which the forms or uses of worship in the different dioceses were contained were, however, for the use of the priests alone, and not for the use of the people, either in public or in private devotions. They were, of course, in manuscript, as printing was not introduced into England until as late as 1474 a.d., when Caxton printed his first book in London from movable types. They were also all in the Latin lan- guage, as all books of Christian worship had always been in the west of Europe and in England. Indeed, English, as a language common to the entire Eng- [-I THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER lish people, hardly existed at that time. It was not until after the complete fusion of the English with the Danes and the Normans had blended into one common language the different dialects which had previously prevailed in England that an English language was created capable of being used in an accurate literary form. A desire arose, however, among the people in the west of Europe, and especially in England, for some book by the use of which they could themselves take part in the public services of the Church ; and hence there came to be produced what was first called "The Book of Hours/' and later "The Prymer," or, as it has been well termed, "The Lay Folks Prayer- Book/'This book, like the missals and breviaries, and other service-books used by the priests, varied in form in the different dioceses, and was called "The Prymer after the use of Salisbury," or of York, or Bangor, etc., according to the diocese in which it was prepared and used. In comparatively early times these prymers were written in English, or in Eng- lish and in Latin. They contained invariably certain forms, — the office of the Blessed Virgin, the seven penitential Psalms, the gradual Psalms ( said to have been so called because it is supposed they were sung on the steps of the Temple ) , the Litany and the commendations or devotions of Psalm 119. Numer- ous prymers were printed, some by authority of the Church and others without it, prior to 1545, when a book called "The King's Primer" was issued under the authority of Henry VIII, and ordered to be used throughout all his dominions. This primer was printed [xi] THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER in English and in Latin in parallel columns, and, although it did not contain the Communion Office, was the nearest approach to a Book of Common Prayer which had then been reached in England. Upon this foundation of the primitive liturgies of the Christian Church and the Roman service-books, being those used by the priests, and also the Prym- ers, or Lay Folks Prayer-Book, of different uses or forms in the different dioceses of England, the Book of Common Prayer was formed and framed. So far as the forms of "the common prayer and adminis- tration of the sacraments and other rites and cere- monies of the Church" were concerned, the Prayer- Book was compiled and formed from these sources. As to its doclrine it was necessarily made to con- form to the faith of the English Church as then understood and established, with only a few slight alterations which were adopted to meet the views of those reformers who had separated from the Church of Rome. This faith ordoftrine of the English Church was expressed in articles and formularies which had been from time to time established and put forth by the King, as the head of the Church, on the advice of the Convocation or assembly of the bishops and clergy . in When the supremacy of the Roman See in mat- ters of faith was destroyed in England, and the su- premacy of the King established in such matters, it became necessary that articles of Christian belief should be promulgated by the head of the English [ «a ] THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER Church. Such articles were drawn up and adopted by the Convocation in July, 1536. They were then established by royal proclamation as " Articles de- vised to stablish Christian quietness and unity among us and to avoid contentious opinions/' They were entitled " The Articles of our Faith," and being ten in number were commonly known as the "Ten Arti- cles. " These were followed by royal injunctions pro- mulgated by the King without a6lion by the Convo- cation, requiring the bishops and the clergy to teach the doftrines of the articles to the people, and also to cause them to learn the Creed, the Lord's Prayer and the Ten Commandments in English. In 1539 the "Six Articles," so-called, were enafted. These required belief in the real presence in the Eucharist, declared against communion in both kinds, prohibited the marriage of the clergy, and commended private masses and auricular confession. Failure to conform to these articles was made an offence punishable by fines, imprisonment and death. In 1543 the rigour of these articles was relaxed by "A Necessary Doc- trine and Erudition for any Christian Man." This was a revision of "The Institution of a Christian Man," published by royal authority in 1537 and known as "The Bishops' Book. "This re vision, mainly prepared by Cranmer, was set forth by the King " with the ad- vice of his clergy," and was known as the "King's Book. "The doftrine of the English Church remained as set forth in the Ten Articles, the Six Articles and in the King's Book until 1552, when it was em- bodied in the Forty-Two Articles of Edward VI. These were also mainly prepared by Cranmer, were [ xiii ] THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER approved by Convocation and by the King in Coun- cil, and were published in English and in Latin. All these were suppressed during the reign of Mary ; but after Elizabeth came to the throne articles were framed in 1559 called the Eleven Articles. In 1562 a revision of the Forty-Two Articles was made by Convocation and approved by the Queen in Council. This revision superseded the Eleven Articles and reduced the number to thirty-nine. They have since been called the Thirty-Nine Articles, and have re- mained unchanged in England, Scotland and Ireland. These Articles of Faith are no part of the Prayer- Book and are not printed in the early editions. While Henry VIII lived and reigned, it was im- possible to frame a communion office essentially dif- ferent from that of the Roman ritual, for though he was determined to free England from the supremacy of Rome, all his predilections were in favour of its liturgy. While for political purposes he was willing to hear the views of the reformers, and to consider their arguments in favour of radical changes in the Roman system of Church government and in its forms of worship, such as communion in both kinds, the marriage of the clergy, and the disuse of private propitiatory masses, he yielded to none of them. Dur- ing his reign, however, the Church of England had become a distincSt body, with no allegiance to Rome; the Bible had been given to the people in English and declared to be " the only touchstone of true learn- ing;" the Litany and other parts of the public service, with many forms of private prayer, had been put forth by royal authority in English as well as in Latin, and [ xiv ] THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER commanded to be taught to all children in English. In short, the reform of the Church service had gradu- ally gone on in spite of the conservatism of the King, and at his death the people were ready for a new and complete liturgy. Henry died January 28, 1547, and on January 31 his son, Edward, then eight years old, became king as Edward VI, and fell immediately, so far as mat- ters concerning the Church were concerned, under the influence of Cranmer, Archbishop of Canterbury. At the first Parliament of Edward an aft was passed which had been approved by Convocation, requiring the public administration of the sacrament of the Lord's Supper under both kinds and in the English language. It was entitled " An Aft against such as shall unreverentlie speake against the Sacrament of the bodie and bloude of Christe commonlie called the Sacrament of the Altar, and for the receiving thereof in both kyndes," and was passed in December, 1 547. * By this aft the cup as well as the bread in commun- ion was for the first time legally given to the peo- ple in England. On March 8, 1548, the order of the communion service under the aft was issued, which supplied the proper service-book for the Sacrament. In the following year the King "appointed the Archbishop of Canterbury [Cranmer J, with other learned and discreet bishops and divines, to draw an order of divine worship, having respeft to the pure religion of Christ taught in the Scripture and to the praftice of the primitive Church/' In the meantime the ordinary services of the Church were continued * Statutes at Large (London, 1758), vol. ii. p. 192. [ "v ] THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER according to the old use of Salisbury, and in the Latin tongue. This commission prepared a Book of Com- mon Prayer which was submitted to Convocation, and there debated, revised, approved and laid before Parliament on the 9th of December, 1548. There it was debated at length both in the House of Lords and in the Commons, and finally the a6l establish- ing it was passed on the 21st of January, 1549. It was entitled " An A61 for Uniformity of Service and Administration of the Sacraments throughout the Realm." * Those who, in spite of the afts of supremacy, still adhered to the Church of Rome, and desired to use its ancient forms of worship, were bitterly opposed to the new Book of Common Prayer, and it was even more obnoxious to those who desired to do away with all the ancient forms and to have new forms of worship, and not merely a revision of old ones. Like most good work, the Prayer-Book was condemned because it did too much, and also be- cause it did not do enough. The calling in by royal command of all the old service-books to be destroyed in 1550, also came at a time when the people were in great distress from a depreciated currency, high prices and lack of employment, and was one of the causes of widespread insurrections against the gov- ernment. These were finally suppressed, but persis- tent attacks continued to be made upon the new form of worship, especially upon the Communion Office, by those who felt that by it the Roman mass had really not been abolished. * Statutes at Large, vol. ii. p. 212. [ xvi ] THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER It became evident that a revision of the Book of Common Prayer was necessary for the peace of the realm. Commissioners were accordingly appointed by the Crown and instructed to make such altera- tions in the Book as they might consider desirable. They completed their work before the end of the year 1551, and the revised Book was laid before Parliament, where it was under consideration and debate from March 19 to April 14, 1552, when a second aft was passed, establishing it as the only lawful form of worship.* This was entitled "An Ac\ for the Uniformity of Service and Administration of Sacraments throughout the Realm.' ' It referred to the first Book of Common Prayer "as a very Godly order set forth by authority of Parliament for Com- mon Prayer and administration of the Sacraments to be used in the mother tongue within this Church of England agreeable to the Word of God, and the primitive Church, very comfortable to all good peo- ple/' and declared that the revision was "because there hath risen in the use and exercise of the afore- said Common Service in the Church, heretofore set forth, divers doubts for the fashion and manner of the ministration of the same, rather by the curiosity of the Minister and mistakers, than of any other worthy cause." Wherefore the a6l declared that Parliament "hath caused the aforesaid order of Common Ser- vice, entitled 'The Book of Common Prayer/ to be faithfully and godly perused, explained, and made fully perfect." The aft then declared that if after November 1,1552, any person should " willingly and * Statutes at Large, vol. ii. p. 240. [ xvii ] THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER wittingly hear and be present at any other manner or form of Common Prayer, or Administration of the Sacraments, of making of Ministers in the Churches, or of any other rites contained in the book" he should for the first offence be imprisoned for six months, for the second for one year, and for the third offence for life. In this revision the Ordinal or form for making bishops, priests and deacons was first made part of the Prayer- Book. This was prepared and published early in -1550 as a companion to the Book of Common Prayer of 1549, and is therefore sometimes spoken of as the "Ordinal of 1549." It was, however, no part of the first Prayer-Book, but the Acl: of Uniformity of 1552 specifically added to the Book of Common Prayer, to be of like force and authority," A forme and maner of making and con- secrating of Archebisshops, Bisshops, Priestes and Deacos." An interesting matter connected with the second Prayer-Book of Edward VI is that relating to the "Black Rubric/' so-called. This rubric was not con- tained in the Prayer-Book which was adopted by Par- liament by the Acl: of Uniformity of April 15, 1552, and therefore never had the sanction of Parliament. But on October 27, only four days before the Book was required by the a 61 to be generally used, an or- der was passed by the King in Council requiring the rubric to be added to the Communion Office. It was printed in black, and, after a preamble stating the propriety of kneeling in the Communion, declared that "it is not meant thereby that any adoration is done or ought to be done either unto the sacramental [ xviii ] THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER bread and wine there bodily received, or unto any- real and essential presence there being of Christ's natural flesh and blood. For as concerning the sac- ramental bread and wine, they remain still in their very natural substances, and therefore may not be adored ; for that were idolatry to be abhorred of all faithful Christians; and as concerning the natural body and blood of our Saviour Christ, they are in heaven and not here; for it is against the truth of Christ's true natural body to be in more places than in one at one time/' This rubric was omitted from the Prayer-Book as established by the Act of Uni- formity of Elizabeth in 1559, because it was no part of the Prayer-Book of 1552 as enacted by Parlia- ment. It was included in the present Prayer-Book as established by the Act of 1662, but in a slightly modified form. Edward died July 6, 1553, and this revision of the Prayer-Book was in force only eight months, and therefore did not come into general use throughout the realm. The liturgy of the Church as comprised in the two books of Edward was the one admirable thing which his unhappy reign produced. The first Parliament in the reign of Mary as- sembled on October 24, and was dissolved on De- cember 6, 1553. The acts of the previous reign for communion in both kinds and establishing the Book of Common Prayer were repealed, and it was provided that after December 20, 1553, there should be no other kind of service nor administration of sacra- ments except such as were "most commonly used in England in the last year of Henry VIII." At the [ xix ] THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER next Parliament, between November 12, 1554, and January 16, of the next year, an a6l was passed "re- pealing all Articles and Provisions made against the See Apostolic of Rome since the 20th year of King Henry VIII. " The result of these a6ts was to restore the supremacy of Rome and the Roman mass, to take the cup from the laity, and to proscribe the use of the Book of Common Prayer. The reign of Mary lasted until November 17,1558, when Elizabeth came to the throne. She proceeded with great caution in matters of religion. She first caused a Litany to be prepared for use in the Chapel Royal, substantially the same as that found in the Prayer-Book of Edward VI, and by proclamation on December 27, 1558, forbade any preaching or teaching other than that of the Gospels and Epistles and the Ten Commandments in the English tongue, or the use of any manner of public prayer, rite or ceremony in the Church but that which was already used, and by law received, or the common litany used in her own chapel, and the Lord's Prayer, and the Creed in English, until further aftion by Parliament. The first Parliament of Elizabeth was opened on January 23, 1559, and closed May 8, 1559- On March 1 8 an aci was passed " to restore to the Crown the ancient jurisdiction over the estate ecclesiasti- cal and spiritual, and abolishing all foreign powers re- pugnant to the same." On April 28 Parliament passed " An A61 for the Uniformity of Common Prayer, and Service in the Church, and Administration of the Sac- raments/'* which had not, for obvious reasons, been # Statutes at Large, vol. ii. p. 317. [XX] THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER submitted to the Convocation, and against which all the Bishops present in the Lords voted. This a<5t re- cited that at the death of Edward "there remained one uniform order of common service and prayer, and of the administration of Sacraments, Rites and Ceremonies in the Church of England, which was set forth in one book, entitled : The Book of Common Prayer, etc., authorized by an A61 of Parliament, entitled An A61 for the Uniformity of Common Prayer, and administration of the Sacraments, the which was repealed, and taken away by A 61 of Par- liament, in the first year of the reign of Queen Mary, to the great decay of the due honour of God, and discomfort to the professors of the truth of Christ's religion/' The aft then provided that the repealing a6l of the reign of Mary should be void " from and after the Feast of the Nativity of S. John Baptist" (June 24, 1559), and that the said Book of Common Prayer, " with the alterations and additions therein added and appointed by this statute shall stand and be in full force and effecV' after said day. The a6l further required that after that time the ser- vice in all churches or other places in the Queen's dominions should be according to the Prayer-Book of Edward VI with said alterations. The only im- portant alteration in the Book of Common Prayer made by this aft was that with regard to the orna- ments of the church and of the ministers. The se- cond Prayer-Book of Edward VI forbade the use of Albe, Vestment or Cope, but the Elizabethan Prayer- Book provided that "such ornaments of the church and of the minister thereof shall be retained, and be [ xxi ] THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER used as was in this Church of England, by authority of Parliament, in the second year of the reign of King Edward VI until other order shall be therein taken by the authority of the Queen's Majesty/' This a 61, however, contained a new and important provision that " If there shall happen any contempt or irreverence, to be used in the Ceremonies or Rites of the Church, by the misusing of the Orders ap- pointed in this book, the Queen's Majesty may, by the like advice of the said Commissioners or Metro- politan, ordain and publish such further ceremonies or rites as may be most for the advancement of God's glory, the Edifying of his Church, and due reverence of Christ's Holy Mysteries and Sacraments." Under this authority, as well as in the exercise of the power of the Sovereign as the Supreme Head of the Church, the Queen issued the so-called "Injunctions " and "Advertisements," prescribing many things with re- gard to public worship which were not specifically provided for by the Book of Common Prayer. After Parliament in 1534 declared that the Eng- lish Sovereign was the only Supreme Head of the Church in England in matters spiritual as well as temporal, it became the practice for the sovereign to issue commands as to church services and other ec- clesiastical matters. These were sometimes issued by the advice of Convocation or of commissioners of the clergy appointed by the Crown, but they were fre- quently issued independent of such advice and in the usual form, that is, by advice of the Council. As early as 1536 the King issued instructions abolishing holy-days during the harvest season solely upon his [ xxii ] THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER own authority. These instructions were usually called injunctions, sometimes advertisements. Henry VIII issued injunctions at various times. Edward VI in 1547 issued injunctions which recited the injunctions of Henry VIII, reaffirmed them and added other in- junctions to them, by advice of the King's Council. In 1559 Elizabeth issued injunctions commanding many things with regard to church service and the conduct of the clergy. In 1564 she issued what are called" advertisements " as to matters of clerical vest- ments, church ornaments, etc. The supremacy of Rome which had been destroyed in the reign of Henry VIII, and restored in the reign of Mary, was again effectively destroyed, and all the power of the Church of Rome in England overthrown by Parliament in 1559- Speaking of this settlement of religious matters, Elizabeth wrote to the Catholic princes of Europe: "No new religion has been set up in England but that which was commanded by Our Saviour, practiced by the primitive Church, and approved by the fathers of the best antiquity." The Roman Church, however, did not quietly submit to this. The Pope issued a bull of excommunication against Elizabeth, reciting that she was "an heretic, a pretended Queen of England abandoned to all wickedness," who had " wickedly usurped to herself the supremacy over the whole Church of England," and "stri6tly prohibited the exercise of the true reli- gion (which Mary, the lawful Queen of famous me- mory, had by the assistance of this see restored after it has been lately suppressed by Henry VIII, an apostate therefrom);" that she had "abolished the [ xxiii ] THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER used as was in this Church of England, by authority of Parliament, in the second year of the reign of King Edward VI until other order shall be therein taken by the authority of the Queen's Majesty/' This aft, however, contained a new and important provision that " If there shall happen any contempt or irreverence, to be used in the Ceremonies or Rites of the Church, by the misusing of the Orders ap- pointed in this book, the Queen's Majesty may, by the like advice of the said Commissioners or Metro- politan, ordain and publish such further ceremonies or rites as may be most for the advancement of God's glory, the Edifying of his Church, and due reverence of Christ's Holy Mysteries and Sacraments." Under this authority, as well as in the exercise of the power of the Sovereign as the Supreme Head of the Church, the Queen issued the so-called "Injunctions " and "Advertisements," prescribing many things with re- gard to public worship which were not specifically provided for by the Book of Common Prayer. After Parliament in 1534 declared that the Eng- lish Sovereign was the only Supreme Head of the Church in England in matters spiritual as well as temporal, it became the practice for the sovereign to issue commands as to church services and other ec- clesiastical matters. These were sometimes issued by the advice of Convocation or of commissioners of the clergy appointed by the Crown, but they were fre- quently issued independent of such advice and in the usual form, that is, by advice of the Council. As early as 1536 the King issued instructions abolishing holy-days during the harvest season solely upon his [ xxii ] THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER own authority. These instructions were usually called injunctions, sometimes advertisements. Henry VIII issued injunctions at various times. Edward VI in 1547 issued injunctions which recited the injunctions of Henry VIII, reaffirmed them and added other in- junctions to them, by advice of the King's Council. In 1559 Elizabeth issued injunctions commanding many things with regard to church service and the conduct of the clergy. In 1564 she issued what are called" advertisements " as to matters of clerical vest- ments, church ornaments, etc. The supremacy of Rome which had been destroyed in the reign of Henry VIII, and restored in the reign of Mary, was again effe&ively destroyed, and all the power of the Church of Rome in England overthrown by Parliament in 1559. Speaking of this settlement of religious matters, Elizabeth wrote to the Catholic princes of Europe: "No new religion has been set up in England but that which was commanded by Our Saviour, practiced by the primitive Church, and approved by the fathers of the best antiquity/' The Roman Church, however, did not quietly submit to this. The Pope issued a bull of excommunication against Elizabeth, reciting that she was "an heretic, a pretended Queen of England abandoned to all wickedness," who had " wickedly usurped to herself the supremacy over the whole Church of England," and "stri6tly prohibited the exercise of the true reli- gion (which Mary, the lawful Queen of famous me- mory, had by the assistance of this see restored after it has been lately suppressed by Henry VIII, an apostate therefrom);" that she had "abolished the [ xxiii ] THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER sacrifice of the mass and the rites of the Catholic Church, and commanded books containing in them downright heresies to be published throughout the realm, and ordered impious rites and ceremonies to be observed by her subjects." Wherefore, the bull of excommunication declared Elizabeth to be deprived of her pretended title as Queen, and absolved all Her subjecis, and others who had taken an oath to her as Queen, from such oaths, and commanded them not to presume to obey her or her laws, and declared that those who should do so would be subject to like excommunication. Later another bull of excommunication of like ef- fecl was issued against the Queen, and finally, when the great Armada was about to be sent by Spain to conquer England, a final bull of excommunication was issued. This recited the previous bulls, stated that the Pope had " used great diligence with divers princes and especially with the mighty and Catholic King of Spain, to use force, that that woman may be deje<5ted from her degree and that the evil men and hurtful to mankind which adhere to her may be punished, and that kingdom be reduced to certain reformation and quietness/' Then the bull set forth at great length the wicked conducl of Elizabeth in abolishing the true Catholic religion and introducing heretical forms of worship, and again declared Eliz- abeth illegitimate and a true usurper of the kingdom of England, and absolved all her subjects from all duty of fidelity and obedience to her, and threatened them with excommunication if they continued to obey her. The Spanish Armada was specially de- [ xx i y ] THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER scribed in this bull, and all persons who took part in the invasion of England were granted plenary indulgence for anything they might do in carrying on the war against England.* But the time had gone by when the thunders of the Vatican could shake the throne of England. Bur- leigh and Bacon were prudent and wise upon the land, Hawkins and Drake resistless upon the sea, and Elizabeth herself was more than a match for all the diplomats of Europe. The great Armada failed of its purpose, and when it was driven, shattered and broken, around the headlands of Scotland and Ire- land, the last real danger of a foreign invasion of * The papal bulls promulgated by the Bishop of Rome against Henry VIII and against Queen Elizabeth were as follows: Bull of damnation and excommunication, promulgated by Pope Paul III against Henry VIII and his partisans, dated at Rome, August 30, 1535. Latin text published in Bullarium privilegiorum ac diplomatum Ro- manorum pontijicum, torn. iv. pars 1, pp. 125-130 (Romae, 1745). Then follows (ibid., pp. 130-132) the executory bull, by the same pope, dated December 17, 1539. Bull of damnation and excommunication, promulgated by Pope Pius V against Queen Elizabeth and her followers, dated at Rome, February 25, 1569 [i.e. 1570]. An English translation of this is to be found in Cam- den's History, vol. 2, part 4, p. 427 (London, 1706). Latin text pub- lished in Bullarium privilegiorum ac diplomatum Romanorum pontificum, torn. iv. pars 3, pp. 98, 99 (Romae, 1746). This bull was renewed by Pope Gregory XIII (1 572-1 585) in his general bull, In nomine santtae et individuae Trinitatis (In the name of the sacred and undivided Trinity), — a bull against heretics, dated Rome, March 19, 1572; and, again, in 1577. Pope Sixtus V renewed the same bull of excommunication in 1588. An English translation of this is to be found in Purckas His Pilgrimes, vol. iv. p. 1895 (London, 1625). As a matter of fact an excommunicatory bull holds good until re- moved by a bull of absolution. A pope cannot excommunicate a person a second time, unless that person has been absolved by another bull. He can, however, affirm his predecessor's bull. This was done by Popes Gregory XIII and Sixtus V. [ xxv ] THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER England passed away. The sturdy English people continued to serve the Queen according to the laws of the realm, and to worship God according to the use of the Book of Common Prayer, during the long and able reign of Elizabeth, until her death in 1603. IV James I, son of the fickle Mary, Queen of Scots, and the imbecile Darnley, became king March 24 of that year. James was cautious, mean, loquacious and cowardly, but he had a low cunning and shrewdness which made him the wisest fool in Christendom. The reign of James continued from March 24, 1603, to March 22, 1625. No revision of the Prayer-Book was made by Parliament during that time. James, however, in 1604, called a conference of represen- tatives of the bishops and clergy of the Church and of the Puritans to consider whether changes should be made in the Book of Common Prayer. This was called the" Hampton Court Conference/' and the King with Scotch shrewdness himself presided at it, took part in its discussions, and shaped its conclusions. As the result of the Conference the King issued a pro- clamation on March 5, 1 604," for the authorizing and Uniformity of the Book of Common Prayer, to be used throughout the Realm/' and another proclama- tion on July 16, of the same year, for the same pur- pose. These proclamations recited the result of the Hampton Court Conference, declared that it appeared to the King and his Council " that there was no cause why any change should be made neither in the doc- [ xxvi ] THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER trine nor in the forms and rites of the Book of Com- mon Prayer," but that "some small things might rather be explained than changed, not that the same might not very well have been borne with by men who would have made a reasonable construction of them/' The proclamation then stated that for the purpose of making such explanation a commission had been issued to the Archbishop of Canterbury and others, " according to the Form which the Laws of this Realm in like case prescribe to be used, to make the said Explanation and to cause the whole Book of Common Prayer, with the same Explana- tions, to be newly printed/' This being done, the proclamation proceeds "to require and enjoin all men, as well Ecclesiastical as Temporal, to conform themselves unto it, and to the practice thereof, as the only public form of serving God, established and allowed to be in this Realm." The action of the King in this matter was objected to by the Puritans upon the ground that no altera- tion could be made in the Book of Common Prayer except by Parliament. But it is evident by the terms of the King's proclamation that he assumed to make these slight alterations under authority of the aft of Parliament which established the Prayer-Book in the time of Elizabeth. James claimed that the authority given by this act to the Queen to establish further rites and ceremonies was given to the Crown and inherited by him as the successor of Elizabeth. The most important result of the Hampton Court Confer- ence was an order by the King in response to the request of the Puritans for a uniform translation of [ xxvii ] THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER the Bible. This was completed in 1611, and is com- monly called the "King James Bible." Charles I became king March 27, 1625, and no revision of the Prayer-Book, nor any change in its language, except what is usual in all the reprints of books at that time, was made during his reign. In 1 637, however, a Prayer-Book was drawn up for use in Scotland, which was put in force by a royal pro- clamation December 20, 1636. This book was based upon the English Book of Common Prayer, but dif- fered from it in many respects. It was commonly called "Laud's Book" because it was said to have been prepared at the instance of Archbishop Laud. It was rejected by the clergy and the people of Scot- land. The Book of Common Prayer continued to be the lawful form of worship until January 3, 1644, when Parliament passed an ordinance "for the taking away of the Book of Common Prayer, and for the establish- ing and putting in execution of the Directory for the publique Worship of God."* This ordinance recited that "The Lords and Commons assembled in Parlia- ment, taking into serious consideration the manifold inconveniences that have arisen by the Book of Com- mon Prayer in this kingdom and resolving according to their Covenant, to reform religion according to the Word of God, and the example of the best reformed Churches; have consulted with the reverend, pious *The legislation with regard to the preparation and adoption of this ex- traordinary book will be found in the Journals of the House of Lords and of the House of Commons, as follows: Journals of the House of Lords, 1644, page 1 19; pages 121, 122; page 125; page 271 ; 1645, pages 551- 552. Journals of the House of Commons, 1 644, page 6 ; pages 9, 1 o ; page 10 ; pages 11, 12; page 77; 1645, page 114; 1745, page 251. [ xxviii ] THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER and learned Divines, called together for that pur- pose; and do judge it necessary that the said Book of Common Prayer be abolished, and the Directory for the Public Worship of God hereafter mentioned be established and observed, in all the Churches within this kingdom/' It was therefore ordained that the statutes of uniformity of Edward and Elizabeth establishing the Book of Common Prayer be repealed, and the Direc- tory used in all exercises of the Public Worship of God. In August of the same year it was ordered that all Common Prayer Books remaining in parish churches and chapels should be within one month taken away to be destroyed, and that if any person should at any time cause the Book of Common Prayer to be used in any church, chapel or place of worship, or in any private place or family within the kingdom of England, he should for the first offence pay a fine of =£5, for the second a fine of ^10, and for the third offence be imprisoned one whole year. The Directory w r as not a Prayer-Book at all. It consisted of prohibitions of liturgical worship and of directions to the ministers with regard to the con- duel: of such services as might be deemed discreet and expedient. Of its eighty-six small printed pages, eight are taken up with a preface; three contain directions as to the " Assembling of the Congrega- tion," two as to the "Public Reading of the Holy Scriptures;" thirteen and a half are given to direc- tions as to "Prayer before the Sermon," nine to the "Preaching of the Word," and three to the " Prayer after the Sermon." In the directions as to the Ad- [ xxix ] THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER ministration of the Sacraments nine pages are de- voted to Baptism, eight to the Lord's Supper, two to the Sanftification of the Lord's Day, seven to Mar- riage, eight to the Visitation of the Sick, one and a half to the Burial of the Dead, five and a half to Public Fasting, three and a half to Days of Public Thanksgiving, one to Singing of Psalms, and two to an Appendix touching Days and Places of Public Worship. Its character is indicated by its provision concerning the burial of the dead which was " When any person departeth this life, let the dead body, upon the day of Buriall, be decently attended from the house to the place appointed for publique Buriall, and there immediately interred without any Cere- mony. And because the customes of kneeling down, and praying by, or towards the dead Corps, and other such usages, in the place where it lies, before it be carried to Buriall, are Superstitious: and for that, praying, reading, and singing both in going to, and at the Grave, have been grosly abused, are no way beneficiall to the dead, and have proved many wayes hurtfull to the living, therefore let all such things be laid aside. Howbeit, we judge it very convenient, that the Christian friends which accompany the dead body to the place appointed for publique Buriall, doe apply themselves to meditations, and conferences suitable to the occasion : and, that the Minister, as up- on other occasions, so at this time, if he be present, may put them in remembrance of their Duty. That this shall not extend to deny any civill respefts or differences at the Buriall, suitable to the ranke and condition of the party deceased whiles he was living." [ XXX ] THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER Charles II came to the throne May 29, 1660, the use of the Directory ceased, and the Book of Com- mon Prayer, as it had been before established, was used from that time without change until it was re- vised by a commission of twelve bishops and twelve Presbyterian divines, with nine assistants on each side as substitutes for the principals when they should be absent, known as the " Savoy Conference/' This commission was called by a royal warrant on March 25, 1661. It opened on April 15, 1661, at the Bishop of London's lodgings in the Savoy, and closed on July 25, 1661. On June 29, 1661, a bill for the " Uniformity of Public Prayer and Administration of the Sacraments " was read for the first time in the House of Commons. The proceedings in the Com- mons showed the desire of the people to restore the old Book of Common Prayer without delay and sub- stantially unchanged. While the conference was sit- ting, the Commons appointed " a Committee to view the several laws for confirming the Liturgy of the Church of England, and to make search whether the original book of the Liturgy, annexed to the act passed in the fifth and sixth years of King Edward the Sixth, be yet extant; and to bring in a compen- dious bill to supply any defect in the former laws, and to provide for an effectual conformity to the Liturgy of the Church for the time to come/' On July 3, 1661 , the Bill for Uniformity was read the second time, and together with the printed Book of Common Prayer, then brought in, referred to a committee. It is interesting to note that no original Prayer-Book of Edward VI could then be found, [ xxxi ] THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER and therefore the book actually used by Parliament was one printed in 1604. On July 9 the Bill for Uniformity, with the Prayer-Book annexed, was passed by the Commons. On the next day the bill went to the House of Lords, which laid it aside, and soon after Parliament was prorogued until No- vember 30. On Oftober 10, 1661, the King directed the Can- terbury Convocation to make a review of the Book of Common Prayer, and present to him such alterations as they should see fit, and on November 22 the same direction was given to the York Convocation. They proceeded with their work, but not as rapidly as Parliament desired, for it appears that on Decem- ber 16 a message went from the Commons to the Lords to remind them of the Bill for Uniformity, and that on January 28, 1662, the Commons sent another message to the Lords requesting despatch for the Bill of Uniformity. The Lords were unable to pro- ceed in the matter because they were waiting for the amended Prayer-Book from the Convocations. Finally on the 25th of February, 1662, the amended book was brought into the House of Lords by the Lord Chancellor with the King's ratification. It was there considered on March 13, 14, 15, 17, and 18, and then accepted by the Lords, and an A6t for Uniformity, with the Book &s amended annexed, was passed and sent to the Commons. There the Bill and the Book as amended were considered and debated at great length until the Aft of Uniformity was passed on May 19, requiring the amended Book of Common Prayer to be used in all the churches of [ xxxii ] THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER England on August 24 following.* It was entitled "An Aft for the Uniformity of Publick Prayers, and Administration of Sacraments, and other Rites and Ceremonies : And for establishing the Form of Mak- ing, Ordaining and Consecrating Bishops, Priests and Deacons in the Church of England." The Book of Common Prayer was first printed and used in Ireland in 1551 in compliance with an injunction of Edward VI sent to the Lord Deputy in February of that year, but without any action of the Irish Parliament. The second Book of 1552 was never used in Ireland. No a6l was passed in Ireland to pro- hibit the use of the Prayer-Book during the reign of Mary, but it ceased to be openly used there after the death of Edward VI until the accession of Eliza- beth, when its use was resumed. In 1560 the Irish Parliament passed an aft of uniformity establishing the Book of Common Prayer as it was then esta- blished in England. The acl, however, provided that in every church or place where the common minister or priest had not the use or knowledge of the Eng- lish tongue, he might say and use all the common and open prayer in the Latin tongue in the order and form mentioned and set forth in the Book es- tablished by the acl. This provision seems to have as- sumed that priests who could not read English could translate it into Latin which they could read. The want of a Latin version was, however, supplied by a * Statutes at Large, vol. ii. p. 696. [ xxxiii 1 THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER translation of the English Book into Latin for use in the chapels of colleges, made by authority of Queen Elizabeth in 1 560. As prepared for this use this trans- lation did not contain all the occasional offices, but these were added in Latin, and the Book as thus com- pleted was sufficient for use in places in Ireland where the priest could read Latin, but not English. The Book was not printed in the Irish language until 1608.* In 1666, the Irish Parliament passed an aft of uni- 1 formity establishing the English Book of Common Prayer of 1 662 as the service of the Church of Ire- land, with the addition of a prayer for the Lord Lieu- tenant of Ireland. The Prayer-Book thus established . was entitled "The Book of Common Prayer, and Administration of the Sacraments and other Rites and Ceremonies of the Church, According to the Use of the Church of Ireland." This continued to be the title of the Book until the union of England and Ire- land under the aft of union of August 1 , 1800, which took effeft January 1, 1801. In 1800 the Churches of the two countries were united as "The United Church of England and Ireland." The title of the Book then became "The Book of Common Prayer," etc., "According to the Use of the United Church of England and Ireland," and so continued until the disestablishment of the Church in Ireland by aft of Parliament in 1869. The Prayer-Book was then re- vised and changed in some respefts by a Synod of the bishops and clergy in 1875, and printed in 1878 under the title of "The Book of Common Prayer," etc.," According to the Use of theChurch of Ireland." *It was printed in French in 1553 and in Welsh in 1567. [ xxxiv ] THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER The Book of Common Prayer was never esta- blished by law as the form of the church service in Scotland. James I, and afterwards Charles I, attempt- ed to merge the Scottish and English Churches and to establish the English Liturgy in Scotland. The attempt of Charles to force the use of the Book of Common Prayer in the form prepared by Arch- bishop Laud and others in 1637 led to the "great covenant/' which was signed throughout Scotland, binding the subscribers to support the reformed Church of Scotland. Finally in 1689 and 1690 the Church of Scotland was established by two statutes " Ratifying the Confession of Faith and settleing Presbyterian Church Government/' Later, in 1707, an a6l was passed "for securing the Protestant Re- ligion and Presbyterian Church Government/ ' This was ratified in the English aft "for an Union of the Two Kingdoms of England and Scotland" passed in 1707. VI The doftrine and ritual of the Church of England are established by A6ls of Parliament and can only be changed by Parliament. Any question with regard to either of them is a question as to the meaning of the statute law and can only be decided by the courts of law. In such cases the courts have no right to consider what the doftrine or the ritual ought to be, but only what the statute says it is. Any distinction between what is important and what appears to be trivial is precluded by the fa6l that the one is esta- blished by the statute as much as the other. The doc- [ XXXV ] THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER trine of the Church is declared in the Thirty-Nine Articles established by statute in 1571. The ritual is fixed by the A 61 of Uniformity of 1662, establishing the present Book of Common Prayer. Church orna- ments are prescribed by the Aft of Uniformity of 1 549, and clerical vestments by the Royal Advertise- ments of 1566, issued under the provisions of the A61 of Uniformity of 1559, and which so far as authorized by that statute have the force of an Aft of Parliament. The only changes in any of these matters since 1662 by A6ls of Parliament have been in 1871, 1872 and 1880, authorizing the use of a different table of lessons, of some shortened services, and a slight departure in some cases from the burial- service of the Prayer-Book. It must not, however, be assumed that absolute conformity to these rigid standards of do6trine and ritual, and of vestments and ornaments, has been always enforced. Much departure from them was allowed during the long reign of Elizabeth, and this continued to some extent during the reign of James I. An attempt was made by Archbishop Laud to enforce absolute conformity under Charles I, but with dis- astrous results. More or less departure from the established forms has ever since been allowed if not permitted by authority. Elasticity in forms of wor- ship has thus been gained, and the Book of Com- mon Prayer preserved from revision. This has been done by permitting much latitude of individual con- struction of the ornaments and vestments rubrics, and also by adding to the services of the Prayer- Book from time to time occasional forms of prayer [ xxxvi ] THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER and service promulgated in a few cases by A61 of Parliament, but generally by Royal Proclamation under the authority assumed to have been given the Crown by the Twenty-sixth Se6lion of the Aft of Uniformity of 1559, or under the authority of the Sovereign as the Supreme Head of the Church. More than three hundred of these forms have been used, and, when the reason which required them in each case has ceased, have been generally discon- tinued. A complete collection of them probably does not now exist, though nearly three hundred are pre- served in the British Museum. I refer to a few by way of illustration. In 1563, at the time of the great plague, a form was "set forth by the Queenes Maiesties speciall comaundement ... to be vsed in Common prayer twyse aweke, and also an order of publique fast, to be vsed euery Wednesday in the w r eeke, during this tyme of mortalitie, and other afflictions, wherwith the Realme at this present is visited/' In 1626, during the great Thirty Years' War, "A Forme of Prayer, Necessary to bee vsed in these dangerous times, of Warre and Pestilence, for the safety and preseruation of his Maiesty and his Realmes," was promulgated by Charles I. In 1665, "A Form of Common Prayer, with Thanksgiving, for the Late VicSlory by his Majesties Naval Forces" was set forth. This was during the war with the Dutch, and the victory was the defeat of the Dutch in the North Sea, June 3, 1665. At the time of the great fire in London, in 1666, "A Form of Common Pray er,To be used on Wednes- [ xxxvii ] THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER day the Tenth day of October next, throughout the whole Kingdom of England, and Dominion of Wales, being appointed by His Majesty a Day of Fasting and Humiliation, in Consideration of the late dread- ful Fire, which wasted the greater part of the city of London," was "set forth by His Majesties special Command/' In 1784, after the acknowledgement of the in- dependence of the United States, there was issued " A Form of Prayer, and Thanksgiving to Almighty God ; to be used in all Churches and Chapels through- out England, . . . , on Thursday, the Twenty-ninth of July, being the Day appointed by Proclamation for a General Thanksgiving to Almighty God, for put- ting an End to the late bloody, extended, and ex- pensive War in which we were engaged/' In 1789, "A form of Prayer and Thanksgiving" for the recovery of George III "from the severe illness with which he hath been afflicled" was "set forth by his Majesty's special command." In 1 798, A Form of Prayer and Thanksgiving was promulgated by royal proclamation "for the late glorious Vi6lory obtained by His Majesty's Ships of War, under the Command of Rear Admiral Lord Nelson of the Nile, over the French Fleet." "A Form of Prayer and Thanksgiving to Al- mighty God; for the Glorious Victory obtained over the French on Sunday the Eighteenth Day of June, at Waterloo by the Allied Armies under the Com- mand of . . . the . . . Duke of Wellington and . . . Prince Blucher. To be used . . . after the General Thanksgiving throughout the Cities of London and [ xxxviii ] THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER Westminster ... on Sunday the Second Day of July 1815; and in all Churches and Chapels throughout England and Wales on the Sunday after the Minis- ters thereof shall have received the same." In 1847, "A Form of Prayer to Almighty God; for relief from the dearth and scarcity now existing in parts of the United Kingdom, owing to the failure of some of the crops of the present year." In 1856, several forms of Prayer and Thanks- giving for success in the war against Russia. One was "Especially for the Capture of the Town of Sebas- topol ;" another," A Form ... for a General Thanks- giving to Almighty God ; for His great Goodness in putting an End to the War in which we were engaged against Russia." In 1 859, " A Form of Prayer and Thanksgiving to Almighty God ; for the Success granted to our Arms in suppressing the Rebellion and restoring Tranquil- ity in Her Majesty's Indian Dominions." In 1 866, " A Special Form of Prayer to Almighty God; to be read on Sunday the Twelfth Day of August, 1866, and whenever Divine Service is cele- brated, during the prevalence of the Cholera, and of Cattle Plague, in this Country." In 1887, "A Form of Thanksgiving and Prayer to Almighty God, upon the completion of fifty years of Her Majesty's reign." In addition to these general forms of prayer and special service to be used throughout the country, many forms have been locally issued in different dioceses, not only in England but in the colonies. In 1852, in Colombo a form was used "for receiv- [ xxxix ] THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER ing Romanists into the Communion of the English Church/' and similar forms were used in South Africa. Numerous forms for the consecrating of churches, chapels and church-yards have been prepared and used under authority of bishops of various dioceses. In some cases forms of service have been promulgated for the dedication of bells, for the opening of new bells and of new clocks, or for the opening of a new organ in a particular church or cathedral. In 1872 "A Special Form of Service" was authorized to be used in the diocese of London for "an increased supply of missionaries/' In 1898 a "Memorial Ser- vice for them that are fallen asleep in Christ" was approved by the Archbishop of Canterbury. Special forms have also been authorized for the reopening of restored churches, and for blessing upon the fields and fisheries and mines. Three special prayers were inserted in the Prayer- Book of 1662 which have since been discontinued, One was for the 30th of January, the anniversary of the execution of Charles I; one for the 29th of May, the anniversary of the restoration of Charles II ; and the other for the 5th of November, commemo- rating the deliverance from the Gunpowder Plot. These were all in use until 1 859, when they were re- moved by a royal warrant, being considered unde- sirable from a political point of view. [ *n THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER VII The English of the Prayer-Book is from various sources. The scriptural portions are from the first printed English translation of the Bible by Cover- dale in 1535, revised and published in England in 1539, and popularly called, because of its folio size, the "Great Bible/' This was followed by a revised version published under the approval of the bishops in 1568, and hence called "The Bishops' Bible," and in 1611 by the King James Version. The portions which were translated from the Latin breviary and the forms of the early Church were probably the production of Cranmer, who was per- haps the most effective master of English style in his time. The result was that not the least inter- esting feature of this wonderful Book is its fine liter- ary style. It is written in the best English, as the Roman service-books are written in the worst Latin. Shakespeare and Hooker wrote in the English of the Prayer-Book, but no great Latin writer ever wrote in the Latin of the Roman breviary and missal. The reason is obvious. The Latin language was not adopted for the services of the Christian Church until it was in its last stage of decay. But the Prayer-Book is of " English in all the vigour and suppleness of youth." A great scholar has said : "To the great Latin writers the noblest compositions of Ambrose and Gregory would have seemed to be not only bad writing, but senseless gibberish. The diction of the Book of Common Prayer, on the other hand, has di- rectly or indirectly contributed to form the diction of almost every great English writer." [ *li ] THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER Not the least of the benefits from the establish- ment of the Book of Common Prayer by authority of Parliament has been the protection against revi- sion which the a6ts of uniformity have given the language of the Book and of the Psalter. As the lan- guage of the Book of Common Prayer and of the Psalter could be changed only by A 61 of Parliament, the archaic but effective and stately diftion of the Coverdale translation of the Bible as contained in the Psalter,the beautiful style of the offices of the Prayer- Book, and the accuracy of the King James Version in the scriptural parts of the Book have been happily preserved. If one desires to see how valuable this protection has been to the Psalter and to the Prayer- Book, he has only to turn to the various special forms of prayer which from time to time have been put forth to be used in connection with the services re- quired by the Prayer-Book. Many of these are not only verbose, repetitious and inaccurate in style, but differ very little from those extemporaneous prayers in which full information is given to the Deity as to the condition of affairs which He is asked to remedy. Music, either vocal or instrumental, is recognized by the Prayer-Book only in the canticles at morning and evening prayer which form fixed parts of the services in the Prayer-Books of Edward VI and of Elizabeth, and by the direction in the present Prayer-Book of 1662 for an anthem "in choirs and places where they sing/' But singing was a part of the worship of the Church prior to the First Prayer- Book of 1549. There was also in that Book this di- rection in the order for matins: "And (to thende [ xlii ] THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER the people may the better heare) in such places where they doe syng, there shall the lessons be songe in a playne tune after the maner of distincle read- yng: and lykewyse the Epistle and Gospell." This direction was retained in the successive revisions of the Prayer-Book until 1662, when it was omitted and provision made for the use of anthems. This was probably because the practice of singing the lessons had been long before discontinued, and the use of anthems had become common. The Injunctions of Queen Elizabeth issued in 1 559, covering many mat- ters of worship not specifically provided for in the Prayer-Book, also permitted the continuance of sing- ing as follows: "Because in divers Collegiate, and also some Parish-Churches heretofore, there have been Livings appointed for the maintenance of men and children to use singing in the Church, by means whereof the laudable service of Musick hath been had in estimation, and preserved in knowledge: the Queens Majesty neither meaning in any wise the decay of any thing that might conveniently tend to the use and continuance of the said science, neither to have the same in any part so abused in the Church, that thereby the Common-prayer should be the worse understanded of the hearers, willeth and com- mandeth, that first no alterations be made of such assignments of Living, as heretofore hath been ap- pointed to the use of singing or Musick in the Church, but that the same so remain. And that there be a modest and distinct song so used in all parts of the Common-prayers in the Church, that the same may be as plainly understanded, as if it were read without [ xliii ] THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER singing, and yet nevertheless for the comforting of such that delight in Musick, it may be permitted, that in the beginning, or in the end of the Common- prayers, either at Morning or Evening, there may be sung an Hymn, or such like song to the praise of Almighty God in the best sort of melody and Musick that may be conveniently devised, having respecSt that the sentence of Hymn may be understanded and perceived/' This quaint injunction has never been withdrawn, and to it we owe the use of hymns, of metrical versions of the psalms and the modern an- them in church service. Metrical versions of the psalms, to be sung in the churches and elsewhere, were prepared and pub- lished and bound up with various editions of the Prayer-Book of the sixteenth and seventeenth centu- ries. The first was prepared by Thomas Sternholde, John Hopkins and others in 1562, and was known as the Sternholde and Hopkins Psalms. Another me- trical version was prepared in 1696, by Nicholas Tate and Nahum Brady, and was known as the "New Version" or as Tate and Brady's Psalms. The use of this version in church service was allowed by an order of the King in Council, December 3, 1696. Aside from this order and from the injunctions of Elizabeth, which have been claimed to allow it, the use of these metrical versions in church service had no civil or ecclesiastical authority, and it gradually ceased in connection with the use of the Book of Common Prayer. The last edition of the Prayer- Book that I have found in which the metrical psalms were bound up is one of 1828. Much of the singing [ xliv ] THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER now used in the service of the English Church is with- out any authority in the Book of Common Prayer, but the use of hymns has had judicial sanction, and music, both vocal and instrumental, as a part of the church service has been practised and accepted as lawful to such an extent that no court or other au- thority would now declare it illegal. The Psalter used in connection with the Prayer- Book was from the revised Coverdale translation of 1539, probably from an edition published in 1548 by Grafton, the King's printer, entitled "The Psalter or Psalms of David, after the translation of the Great Bible, pointed as it should be sung in Churches/' This edition contained besides the psalms several canticles and the Litany, and the psalms differed in some slight respects from those in the Great Bible. In 1 662 most of the scriptural parts of the Book of Common Prayer were revised to conform to the re- vision of 1611 ; but the Psalter, which was then for the first time made an authorized part of the Book of Common Prayer, was not thus revised, and was adopted in the form in which it was originally pre- pared from the Coverdale translation in 1548. The first Pray er-Book of Edward VI, and each succeeding Prayer-Book, contained " a table for the order of the Psalms to be said at matins and evensong/' and an order " how the Psalter is bound to be read." But the Psalter was no part of the Prayer-Book as established by Parliament in the various acts of uniformity until 1662. The original editions of the Book of 1 549 have no Psalter bound up with them. The first edition of the THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER Book of Common Prayer in which the Psalter was printed and bound up with the Prayer-Book was the quarto edition of the second Book of Edward VI, printed by Whitchurch in November, 1 552, and there it is found with a separate title-page following the Book of Common Prayer itself. In Merbecke 's " Book of Common Prayer Noted/' printed in 1550, the Psalter is not included. In the French translation of the Book of Common Prayer, made in 1553, the Psalter is not included. In the Latin translation of the Book of Common Prayer by Aless, made by direc- tion of Cranmer, and printed in Leipsic in 1551, the Psalter is not included. The first Prayer-Book of Elizabeth of 1559 did not contain the Psalter, nor was the same bound up with the first edition of the Book. But there is found bound with this edition the Ordinal or form and manner of making and conse- crating bishops, priests and deacons. The King James Prayer-Book, so-called, does not comprise, nor is there bound up with it in the first editions, either the Psalter or the Ordinal. The Prayer-Book prepared for the use of the Church of Scotland in 1637, under the reign of Charles I, commonly known as " Laud's Book," does not comprise, nor is there bound up with the first edition of it, either the Psalter or the Ordinal. The Book of Common Prayer, as established by the Aft of Uniformity of Charles II, in 1662, first included the Psalter as a part of the authorized Book. It was entitled in the a6t " The Book of Common Prayer and Administration of the Sacraments and other Rites and Ceremonies of the Church according to the use of the Church of England ; together with [ xlvi ] THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER the Psalter or Psalms of David, Pointed as they are to be sung or said in Churches; and the Form and manner of Making, Ordaining and Consecrating of Bishops, Priests and Deacons." In this Book, as has been stated, the scriptural parts of the Prayer-Book were made to conform to the King James Version of 161 1. But the Psalter was the same as that which was prepared from the Great Bible in 1548 and came into use with the Prayer-Book of 1549. The Coverdale Psalter was thus used in connection with the Book of Common Prayer, without its being made a part of the Book by authority of Parliament from 1549 to 1662. It was adopted as a part of the Book by the AcT: of Uniformity of 1662 and was also adopted as a part of the American Book of Common Prayer, in 1790, notwithstanding the vari- ous revisions of the psalms by other translators, and especially the King James revision in 1611. This shows that this form of the psalms must have had some peculiar quality which adapted it for use in church service, or which caused the people to be 'attached to it, so that they would not permit it to be changed. I am told by those competent to know that the reason this ancient form of the psalms has been retained in church worship is because it is better adapted to be sung or chanted than the subsequent versions. There may, however, I think, be still an- other reason in the fa6r that this version was better adapted to be committed to memory and repeated by those who could not read. The Psalter was in use before the Prayer-Book was made, and at that time and for many years after, most of the people who [ xlvii ] THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER used the psalms were probably unable to read them, and therefore learned them by rote so that they could sing or repeat them in service. What propor- tion of the people who worshipped in the English Church during the reign of Elizabeth could read, it is, of course, impossible to tell, but it was probably small. However, whatever may be the reason, the interesting fa6l remains that this original translation of the psalms by Goverdale has held its place against all revision for more than three hundred and fifty years, wherever the service of the Book of Common Prayer has been used. VIII One reason for making a Book of Common Prayer which should comprise all the devotional services of the Church was the large expense then required of each parish to provide a complete set of the books used in worship according to the Roman ritual. The service-books of the Church before the Prayer-Book were not only in Latin, but were numerous. The dif- ferent services were contained in different books. These books contained not only the language of the service to be used by the priest, which was written or printed in black, but also minute directions for the ceremonies according to which the words were to be used. These dire6tions were known as rubrics, as they were originally written or printed in red. There were also service-books for different saints' days, which were very numerous, and each of which had its own psalms, lessons, etc. The fully equipped [ xlviii ] THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER parish church required for all the services according to the Roman ritual a small library of service-books. The most important of them were the Missal, or Mass-book, being the Communion Office, the Brevi- ary, for the ordinary daily service of matins, lauds, evensong, etc., and also in many cases the service known as the "Hours of the Dead/' "Hours of the Blessed Virgin/' etc. Then there was the Manual, containing the occasional offices, such as those for baptism, visitation of the sick, marriage, burial of the dead, benedictions of water, candles, etc., extreme unftion, and in some cases portions of the mass for special occasions. There was also a book called the Gradual, for use at the mass, containing the musical part of the Communion service. The Psalterium was another book, which contained the psalms. The Le- genda was a book containing readings from the lives of the Saints and from the Fathers, as well as from the Scripture. The Antiphonarium was a book con- taining the musical notation for antiphons sung at the services of the hours and for mass, invitatory psalms, responses, etc. There were other books for the Gospels and Epistles at mass, and an Ordinale or "Pie," said to have been so called from the spotted appearance of its tables, to enable one to find the proper office appointed for any particular day. Then there was the Pontijicale, containing offices that could be performed only by a bishop, such as those of ordi- nation, consecration, etc. ; and then the Processionale, containing directions for the ordering of processions, etc. The service-books had become so numerous, and the manner of their use so complicated, that, as [ xlix ] THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER the preface of the Prayer- Book states, "many times there was more business to find out what should be done, than to read it when it was found out." The preface to the first Prayer-Book also said: "Curates shall need no other books for their public service but this book and the Bible, by the means whereof the people shall not be at so great charge for books as in time past they have been." To ensure this it was commanded by royal proclamation that no person should sell the book of 1549 above the price of two shillings and twopence, and if bound not above the price of four shillings apiece. The price of the book of 1552 was fixed in the same way at two shillings sixpence unbound, bound in parchment at three shillings and fourpence,and bound in leather at four shillings. But it was provided that if the printer, after the first impression, left out the form of making and consecrating archbishops, bishops, priests and deacons, he should sell the book unbound for two shillings, bound for two shillings eightpence, and bound in leather for three shillings and four- pence, and "not above." There does not appear, however, to have been any proclamation regulating the price of the Prayer-Books of Elizabeth and of Charles II. The Book of Common Prayer as prepared and presented to Parliament in 1 549 was of course in manuscript, for it was drawn up as an original work. But the subsequent a6ls of uniformity establishing the successive revisions of the Prayer-Book all annexed the Book which was revised. The A 61 of 1 552 speaks of "forme of prayer and other rites contained in [i] THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER the Book annexed to this A6t." The A61 of 1559 refers to the Book of 1552 as altered and added to, and it is known that a copy of it was a schedule of the act. The " Directory for the Publick Worship of God in the Three Kingdoms/' of 1645, was annexed to the Ordinance for taking away the Book of Com- mon Prayer and establishing the Directory. The Aft of 1662 speaks of the " Book annexed hereto/' The original book used in the preparation of the Prayer- Book of 1 662 was a black-letter edition of 1 636, upon the margin of which the changes were written, and from the text of which those portions omitted were struck out. From this Book thus revised a manuscript book was written out and signed by Convocation, December 20, 1661, and annexed to the A 61 of Uni- formity of 1662. This book was for many years sup- posed to be lost, but was finally discovered in 1867 in a disused closet in the library of the House of Lords, and with it was found the printed book of 1636, the existence of which up to that time was un- known. A facsimile copy of the printed book, with an introduction by Dean Stanley of Westminster, was made in 1 871 , and a facsimile of the manuscript book in 1899, both by authority of the government. Repeated attempts have been made to revise the Book of Common Prayer since 1662. In 1668 a re- vision was recommended by Charles II in a speech from the throne, but the Commons would have none of it. In 1673 and 1675 further attempts were made to that effect. In 1681 the Bishop of Worcester pro- posed changes to allow greater freedom in the mat- ter of vestments and in the Communion and other [Hi THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER offices, but without effe6t. In 1689 Parliament re- quested the King to summon a Convocation "to be advised with in ecclesiastical matters/' He accord- ingly appointed a commission of ten bishops and twenty clerics to prepare alterations of the liturgy and canons, and the commissioners made an elabo- rate series of alterations in the Book of Common Prayer. The opposition of Convocation to these alter- ations was so obvious, however, that they were never submitted to it. In 1879 changes with regard to orna- ments and vestments were drawn up by Convocation and presented to the Queen with a draft bill, but no further aftion was taken thereunder. In 1904 a royal commission was appointed by Edward VII to inquire into the conduct of divine service in the Church of England and as to the ornaments and fittings of churches, and make recommendations. This commis- sion made an elaborate report in 1906, recommend- ing that letters of business should be issued to the Convocations to consider the preparation of a new rubric relating to ornaments, "with a view to the ena6tment by Parliament of such modifications in the existing law relating to the conduct of divine ser- vice and to the ornaments and fittings of churches as may tend to secure the greater elasticity which a rea- sonable recognition of the comprehensiveness of the Church of England, and of its present needs, seems to demand." Upon this report no a6lion has been taken. Indeed, a revision of the Book of Common Prayer, even if desirable, — which may well be doubted, — seems almost impossible. It can be altered only by an a 61 of Parliament. Parliament would probably not a 61 [lii] THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER without previous a6lion by Convocation. The differ- ences between the different parties within the Church itself are such that it is quite improbable Convoca- tion would agree upon any material alteration. But if it did, the alterations would still have to be passed by the Commons, the members of which are of all religious views, and some of them with no special religious views. It would then have to pass the Lords, where, in respeft to alterations of the liturgy, the Lords Spiritual would probably have effective if not constructive influence. IX All the English colonies were assumed to be a part of the Diocese of London. The Bishop of that Diocese administered the affairs of the Church in the colonies by Commissaries,* who supplied to some ex- tent the office of a bishop, although they could not ad- minister the rite of confirmation, or ordain or depose priests or deacons. No person could be confirmed in the Anglican or Episcopal Church in America until after the consecration of Bishop Seabury in 1784. If a person desired confirmation, or if the ordination of a priest or deacon was required, it could be ac- complished only by crossing the ocean to a bishop in England. This caused many of the clergy to omit that part of the baptismal service which required the sponsors to take the baptized child to the Bishop for confirmation at a suitable age. * The first Commissary appointed in the United States was James Blair of Virginia, who was appointed in 1689, and served for fifty-three years. Hawkes's Contributions, p. 73. r mi i THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER Prior to the Revolution the English Book of Com- mon Prayer was used in the Episcopal churches in the colonies, as it was used in the English churches in England. Only one edition of it in English is known to have been published in America, and that was printed by William Bradford in 1710 under the auspices of Trinity Church, New York. Five years later a portion of the Prayer-Book, containing Morn- ing and Evening Prayer, the Litany, Church Cate- chism, etc., was translated into the Mohawk lan- guage, published in New York, and known as the First Mohawk Prayer-Book. Following this there were several adaptations of portions of the Prayer- Book to devotional purposes, notably an Abridge- ment of the Book of Common Prayer, by Benjamin Franklin and Sir Francis Dashwood, printed in 1 773 ; a Communion Office prepared by Samuel Seabury, Bishop of Connecticut, in 1 786 ; a manual reproduced from the Scottish Liturgy of 1764; and the A, B, C, Church of En gland Catechism and Prayers, published in Philadelphia by the Academy of the Protestant Episcopal Church. The "Seabury Communion Of- fice, " so-called, was prepared from the Scottish Com- munion Office, being in fa6l almost identical with that of the Office of 1764, with certain private devotions added to it. It was prepared by Bishop Seabury in pursuance of an understanding which he had with the Scotch Bishops when he was consecrated that he would endeavour to introduce the Scottish Com- munion Office into the services of the Church in America. Worship according to the Book of Common Prayer Lliv] THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER was very objectionable to most of the first settlers of New England. Many of the early New England ministers had been driven out of England because they were unwilling to accept the use of the Prayer- Book when Archbishop Laud sought to compel uni- versal conformity in matters of public worship. In New York, Maryland, Virginia, and other colonies to the south, a different feeling prevailed, and as persons were punished by law in New England for worshipping according to the Book of Common Prayer, so they were punished in Virginia for wor- shipping in any other way. The use of that form of worship, however, had gained ground even in the northern colonies, and at the time of the Revolution there were churches worshipping according to the Book of Common Prayer in all the colonies. After the Declaration of Independence, however, it was impossible for the priests to use the prayers for the King and the Royal family with loyalty to the new government, or even with safety to themselves. Such prayers were, therefore, omitted in most churches, and the use of the Prayer-Book made to conform to the new conditions as well as might be. When the independence of the colonies was acknowledged by England it became necessary to have the Book of Common Prayer modified to suit the new order of things, and it also became necessary to have bishops chosen and consecrated for an Episcopal Church in the United States. To preserve the apostolic succes- sion it was thought by many that these bishops should be consecrated by the English bishops, but this could not be done without an a<5t of Parliament permitting [It] THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER such bishops to be consecrated without taking the oath of allegiance to the English Crown. The Scotch bishops, however, had no such difficulty in their way, and the Reverend Samuel Seabury, having been re- commended by the clergy of Connecticut, was conse- crated as bishop by three Scotch bishops in Aberdeen, November 14, 1784. In OcStober of the following year a convention of sixteen clergymen and twenty-six lay deputies met in Philadelphia and prepared a Book of Common Prayer to be proposed for adoption by the Episcopal Church in the United States. Hence this book was known as "The Proposed Book/' The book made many important changes in the established Book of Common Prayer. It omitted the Nicene and Atha- nasian Creeds entirely, and also omitted from the Apostles' Creed the words " He descended into hell/' etc. It contained a special form of prayer and thanks- giving to be used on the Fourth of July. This form was so framed that it could have been used but by few of the clergy without subjecting them to ridicule and censure, for most of them had opposed the Decla- ration of Independence and adhered to the Crown during the Revolution. The Proposed Book was not well received, and was used in only a few places and for a short time. It was never, I think, used in New England. It was not even used as the basis of the Book of Common Prayer which was subsequently adopted by the Church in the United States. It is now very rare and only important as an incident in the history of the American Church. The Proposed Book was reprinted [ *vi ] THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER in England, and submitted to the English bishops for their examination in connection with the proceedings then on foot for the consecration of bishops in the United States. They disapproved the book because it omitted the Nicene and Athanasian Creeds, changed the Apostles' Creed, and contained a form of service to be used on the Fourth of July, and for other reasons. In the meantime Parliament had passed an Acl authorizing the English bishops to consecrate " per- sons being subjects or citizens of countries outside of his Majesty's dominions bishops" without their taking the oath of allegiance, and on Sunday the fourth day of February, 1 787, in the chapel of Lam- beth Palace, London, the Reverend William White was consecrated as Bishop of Pennsylvania, and the Reverend Samuel Provoost as Bishop of New York. Each of them had been "elected to the office of a bishop" by a convention in the state for which he was consecrated as bishop, and the certificates of their consecration expressly state this fa<5t. The con- secration was by the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Archbishop of York, the Bishops of Bath and Wells and of Peterborough assisting. On July 28, 1789, a new convention of the Epis- copal Church met at Philadelphia to endeavour to prepare a new Prayer-Book. The result of their work was a Book which was a revision of the Book of Common Prayer of 1662, and was published in 1790, to be in use from and after Oftober 1st of that year. It was printed in Philadelphia by Hall and Sellers, and its title was "The Book of Common THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER Prayer, and Administration of the Sacraments, and other Rites and Ceremonies of the Church, accord- ing to the Use of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America : Together with the Psalter or Psalms of David." There was also printed and bound up with it the "Tate and Brady" metrical version of the Psalms and thirty-seven hymns, which were required to be used before and after Morning and Evening Prayer, and before and after sermons at the discretion of the minister. The whole of this metrical version of the Psalms was printed with the Book of Common Prayer in its successive revisions from 1790 to 1835. From 1835 to 1871 only selec- tions were thus printed, and in 1871 the General Convention authorized the new Hymnal; and the "selections from the Psalms of David" ceased to be printed with the Prayer-Book. This American Book of Common Prayer had no civil sanction like the English Book, but was wholly the work of the clergy and the laity in convention. It has ever since been and is now subject to altera- tion to any extent by the aftion of both the clergy and the laity in two successive General Conventions of the Church in the United States. During the first cen- tury of its existence it has been revised seven times. These various revisions are called "Standard Prayer- Books." The Book of 1789 is the first Standard. The second Standard was made in 1 793 ; the third in 1822; the fourth in 1832; the fifth in 1838; the sixth in 1845 and the seventh in 1871. The eighth, which is the present Standard Book, was authorized by the General Convention in O&ober, 1892, after [ lviii ] THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER the report of a committee appointed by it in 1880, who worked upon the matter for twelve years. No General Convention of the Church meets with- out some proposal to revise and improve the Book of Common Prayer. It is needless to say that no book subject to such perpetual attack and such constant, although perhaps in the main unimportant, altera- tions is likely to gain such a permanent hold upon the Church as a book which is practically unrevisable, like the English Book of Common Prayer. It is an interesting fact, however, that the various changes which have been made in the American Book of Common Prayer as first framed have, on the whole, caused it to conform more and more to the Prayer- Book of Edward VI. For illustration, in the Morning Prayer the final verses of the Benedidlus, which were left out of the first American Prayer-Book, have been restored. In the Evening Prayer the Magnificat and the Nunc Dimittis have been restored and the full number of versicles placed after the Creed. In the Communion Office permission has been given to omit the Decalogue except once on Sunday, which is an approximation to the First Book of Edward VI, which did not have the Decalogue at all. The pro- visions which have been adopted for shortening Morning and Evening Prayer are also a partial return to these services as set forth in the First Prayer- Book. I feel that I cannot better conclude this brief sketch of the history of the Book of Common Prayer than by quoting the words of Stanley, Dean of West- minster: "The Prayer-book as it stands is a long [ lix ] THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER gallery of Ecclesiastical History, which, to be under- stood and enjoyed thoroughly, absolutely compels a knowledge of the greatest events and names of all periods of the Christian Church. To Ambrose we owe the present form of our Te Deum; Charlemagne breaks the silence of our Ordination prayers by the Veni Creator Spiritus. The Persecutions have given us one creed, and the Empire another. The name of the first great Patriarch of the Byzantine Church closes our daily service; the Litany is the bequest of the first great Patriarch of the Latin Church, amidst the terrors of the Roman pestilence. Our collects are the joint productions of the Fathers, the Popes, and the Reformers. Our Communion Service bears the traces of every fluctuation of the Reformation, through the two extremes of the reign of Edward to the conciliating policy of Elizabeth, and the re- actionary zeal of the Restoration. The more com- prehensive, the more free, the more impartial, is our study of any or every branch of Ecclesiastical His- tory, the more will it be in accordance with the spirit and with the letter of the Church of England." [lx ] CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE 1085 The Missal of the Use of Sarum 1534 A& of Supremacy of Henry VIII 1536 The Ten Articles of our Faith 1539 The Six Articles 1540 The "Great Bible" set up in churches as the "authorized version" 1543 Committee of Convocation commissioned to revise service-books 1543 " A Necessary Doctrine and Erudition for any Christian Man," published 1544 First English Litany prepared by Cranmer and ordered for use in churches 1545 Primer of Henry the Eighth 1547, Jan. 31. Accession of King Edward VI 1548, March 8. English Order of the Communion added to the Latin Mass 1549, Jan. 21. The Book of Common Prayer: First Book of Edward VI adopted . 1550 The English Ordinal prepared and published 1552, April 75. The Book of Common Prayer: Se- cond Book of Edward VI receives royal assent 1552 The Forty-Two Articles of Edward VI 1558, Nov. 17. Accession of Queen Elizabeth 1558 Act of Supremacy of Queen Elizabeth 1559 The Eleven Articles 1559, April 28. Elizabethan Book of Common Prayer receives royal assent 1562 The Thirty-Nine Articles 1603, May 7. Accession of James I 1604 The Hampton Court Conference 1637 The Scottish Service-book 1644 The Directory for the public worship of God replaces the Book of Common Prayer 1660 The use of the Book of Common Prayer revived [ lxiii ] Page X vi xiii xiii vi vii xiii vii vii, xi, xii XV vii, viii, xv iii, xv, xvi xviii xv-xvii xiii, xiv XX XX xiv xx, xxi xiv xxvi xxvi xviii xxviii xxxi CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE 1662, May ip. A& of Uniformity for the present English Book of Common Prayer xxxii, xxxiii 1666 The Irish Acl: of Uniformity xxxiv 1786 The "Proposed Book" of the Protestant Epis- copal Church in the United States of America Ivi 1789 The first of the eight Standard Editions of the Book of Common Prayer according to the Use of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America lvii, lviii [ lxiv ] INDEX INDEX "Advertisements" of Queen Elizabeth, xxii, xxiii, xxxvi. Ambrosian liturgy, see Milan, Liturgy of. American Book of Common Prayer, lvii-lix. Anglo-Saxon liturgy, x. Articles of faith, xii-xiv. Bishops' Bible, xli ; bishops' book, xiii. " Black-Rubric," so-called, xviii. "Book annexed," meaning of the, 1, li. Book of Common Prayer: Ad- aptation of early rites, cere- monies and forms of devotion, v, xii; general characteriza- tion of, iii-v, xli. — English : First book established as a complete liturgy by the a& of the state, iii, xv ; objected to by many, xvi ; revised book of 1552, xvii ; its use pro- scribed by Queen Mary's A£te, xix, xx ; Elizabethan revision, xx-xxii; Hampton Court Conference andresults, xxvi, xxvii; proscribed by Par- liament in 1644, xxviii, xxix; revision of 1661-62, xxxi- xxxiii, li ; sources of the Book of Common Prayer, xli; lan- guage and style, xiii; selling price of first and second Prayer-Book of Edward, 1 ; at- tempted revisions after 1662, li-liii ; the Prayer-Book in the American colonies, liii-lv ; for use in Scotland, xxviii, xxxv; for use in Ireland, xxxiii, xxxiv. — According to the Use of the Church of Ireland, xxxiv, xxxv. — According to the Use of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America, lviii, lix. Book of Hours, see Primer. (keltic liturgy, ix. Charles I., xxvii. Charles II., xxxi. Clementine liturgy, see James, St., Liturgy of. Commissaries in the American colonies, liii. Convocation, meaning of the term, viii, note. Coverdale's translation of the Bible, xli; retained in the Psalter of the present Prayer- Book, xlii, xlv-xlviii. Cranmer, Archbishop of Canter- bury and his work on the English liturgy, vii, xiii, xv, xli. .Directory for the publique Worship of God, xxviii-xxx. Edward VI., xv-xix. Eleven Articles, the, of 1559, xiv. Elizabeth, Queen, xx-xxxvi; excommunicated, xxii-xxv. Ephesine liturgy, see John, St., Liturgy of. r orms of Common Prayer, general and local, xxxvi-xl; [ lxvii ] INDEX character of their language and style, xlii. Forty-Two Articles,the,xiii, xiv. Cjallican liturgy, ix. "Great Bible," the, xli; set up in churches as the authorized version, vi, xiv. Hampton Court Conference, xxvi. Henry VIII, attitude toward reformation of church and liturgy, xiv, xv; primer of, vii, xi, xii. Injunctions of Queen Eliza- beth, xxii, xxiii, xliii, xliv. "Institution of a Christian Man," of 1537, xiii. Ireland and the Prayer-Book, xxxiii, xxxiv. James, St., Liturgy of, viii, fx. James I, xxvi-xxviii. John, St., Liturgy of, ix. K.ING Henry's primer, see Pri- mer. King James' Bible,xxvii, xxviii; used in the revision of 1661- 62, xlii, xlvii. King's book, the, see "Neces- sary Doctrine, A, and Erudi- tion for any Christian Man." King's primer, see Primer. Latin the language of pre- reformation service-books, x, xi, xlviii; character of lan- guage, xli. Laud's Book, see Prayer-Book for the Use in Scotland. Lay Folks Prayer-Book, see Primer. Litany in English, prepared by Cranmer, vii, xiv. JMark, St., Liturgy of, viii. Mary, Queen, proscribes Book of Common Prayer and re- stores supremacy of Rome and the Roman mass, xix, xx. Merbecke's " Book of Common Prayer" noted, xlvi. Metrical versions of the Psalms, xliv, lviii. Milan, Liturgy of, ix. Missal, xlix; according to the Use of Sarum, x. Mozarabic liturgy, ix. Music authorized and encour- aged by the directions of the Prayer-Book, xlii, xliii. "Necessary Doctrine, A, and Erudition for any Christian Man," 1543, xiii. Occasional forms of prayer, see Forms of Common Prayer. "Order of the Communion, The," vii, viii, xv. Ordinal, of 1550, added to re- vised book of 1552, xviii; of 1559, xiv. Ornaments rubric the only im- portant alteration in the Eliza- bethan Book of Common Prayer, xxi, xxii. iapal bulls excommunicating Queen Elizabeth, xxiii-xxv. Parliament and the Book of Common Prayer, iii, xxxv, xxxvi, lii, liii; and the Direc- tory for the public worship of God, xxviii, xxix. Peter, St., Liturgy of, viii, ix. [ lxviii ] INDEX Prayer-Book for the Use in Scot- land, 1637, xxviii-xxxv, xlvi. Pre-re formation church in Eng- land, vi. Pre-reformation service-books, Committee of Convocation appointed for revision of, vii; numerous and expensive, xlviii-1; without binding force in the law of the state, iii. Primer, the, xi; King Henry's, vii, xi, xii. Primitive forms of worship, viii, xii. "Proposed Book" of 1785-86, Ivi. Psalter of the Prayer-Book, xlii, xlv-xlviii. JKoman liturgy, see Peter, St., Liturgy of. Royal prerogative in ecclesiasti- cal affairs, xxii, xxxvi, xxxvii. Rubrics of service-books, xlviii. Salisbury (Sarum) liturgy, x; primer, xi. Savoy Conference, xxxi. Scottish Service-Book, 1637, xxviii-xxxv, xlvi. "Seabury Communion Office," liv. Six Articles, the, of 1539, xiii. Spanish Armada and its fate, xxiv-xxvi. Standard editions of the Ame- rican Book of Common Prayer, lviii. State services of the Prayer- Book of 1662, xl. Sternholde and Hopkins Psalms, xliv. Supremacy Acl: of 1 5 34, vi, xxii ; of 1558, xx, xxii. Supremacy of Rome, restored by Queen Mary, xix, xx; ef- fectively destroyed in 1559, xxiii. 1 ate and Brady's Psalms, xliv, lviii. Ten Articles, the, of 1536, xii, xiii. Thirty-Nine Articles, the, xiv, xxxvi. Translations of the Book of Common Prayer, xxxiii, xxxiv, lvi. Uniformity, Ads of, iv, xvi, xvii, xx, xxxii, xxxiv; pro- tect the Book of Common Prayer against useless revi- sion, xlii. United Church of England and Ireland, xxxiv. ii icin LE Ja II THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER ITS ORIGIN AND GROWTH BY J. H. BENTON, LL.D. r Deacidified using the Bookkeeper proce Neutralizing agent: Magnesium Oxide Treatment Date: March 2006 PreservationTechnologi A WORLD LEADER IN PAPER PRESERVAT 111 Thomson Park Drive Cranberry Township, PA 16066 (724)779-2111