__________________________________________________________________ Title: Studies in the Book of Common Prayer Creator(s): Luckock, Herbert Mortimer, 1833-1909 Print Basis: Longmans, Green, and Co., 1900 Rights: Public Domain LC Call no: BX5145.A7 L8 1900 LC Subjects: Christian Denominations Protestantism Post-Reformation Anglican Communion Church of England Liturgy and ritual __________________________________________________________________ STUDIES IN THE HISTORY OF THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER The Anglican Reform The Puritan Innovations The Elizabethan Reaction The Caroline Settlement WITH APPENDICES BY HERBERT MORTIMER LUCKOCK, D.D. DEAN OF LICHFIELD NEW AND CHEAPER EDITION (1896) NEW IMPRESSION LONGMANS, GREEN, AND CO. 39 PATERNOSTER ROW, LONDON NEW YORK AND BOMBAY 1900 __________________________________________________________________ DISCIPULIS : E : COLEGIO : THEOLOGIAE : ELIENSI : TUM : HODIERNIS : TUM : HESTERNIS : QUIBUS : SPIE : TIMORISQUE : PARTICEPS : FUI : STUDIORUM : AC : LABORIS : FAUTOR : VITAE : RELIGIONISQUE : EXEMPLAR : INDIGNIUS : HOC : POUSCULUM : SUSCEPTUM : AD : FIDEM ; CATHOLICAM : MAGIS : STABILIENDAM : DECIO. __________________________________________________________________ Preface It often happens that many things in a book are intelligible only to those who are familiar with the mind and character of the author. An. expression or phrase, which may ordinarily be passed over as unimportant, becomes instinct with meaning and suggestiveness, when read by one who has the advantage of an intimate acquaintance with the writer by whom it was used. And if this be true in regard to the chief leaders of thought in the present day, it is truer still when the reader and writer find themselves separated from each other by a long distance of time. Now the realisation of this has often made me feel that a much fuller apprehension of the real teaching of the Book of Common Prayer would be attained, if more light could be thrown upon the views and characters of the different men who compiled and revised it. Many summaries of the history of the Book have been given to the world at divers times, but the authors have for the most part been satisfied with little more than the bare enumeration of the names of men who were charged with a work unequalled in importance for the influence which it has exercised on the worship of the Church. In a few instances, e.g. Cranmer or Ridley or Cosin, there was no necessity to do anything more, but Day and Thirlby and Morley (to select at haphazard), except to the real student of Ecclesiastical History, have been names, and names only. Perhaps it would be impossible to illustrate more forcibly the advantages of such a plan as I proposed to myself than by a reference to the Council of Nicaea. Its history has often been written, and the names of the leading Bishops who took part in it have been familiar enough; but what a world of fresh interest aatliered into that Council-chamber by the Bithynian Lake, when Stanley seized the dry bones, and clothed them with flesh and blood, and stampt its own individuality upon every form! However much men may dissent from his conclusions, no one can deny that by the portraits of the disputants which he has drawn, from Constantine and Athanasius to Spiridion and Paphnutius, he has imparted a reality to the scene, as refreshing as it is instructive. The materials upon which I have drawn for what I have written in the following pages are so scattered and various that anything like a full acknowledgment is impracticable. Much of course has been found in such standard histories as those of Collier, Fuller, Peter Heylin, and Strype in earlier times; or in Hook's Lives of the Archbishops, and Froude's History of England, and Dr. Stoughton's series of works on Ecclesiastical History in later times. Separate Biographies, Diaries, Histories of individual Colleges at the two Universities, Athenoe Oxonienses and Annales Cantabrigienses, have supplied sufficient matter for forming a fair estimate of the opinions of the Bishops and Divines who were most concerned with the growth and development of the Prayer-book. Dr. Stoughton's Histories have had an especial interest, as putting forth far more ably and attractively than ever before the views of Nonconformists upon those critical times. But while according him much praise for the general tone, the vivacity and the clearness of his writings, it is impossible not to see that he has failed to recognise the real standpoint of the Church. For instance, he speaks without any reserve in condemnation of the ejection of the ministers in 1662 A.D., and tries to enlist our sympathies with the sufferings which they had to undergo, because they were too conscientious to conform to the Church of the Restoration, ignoring the fact that, twenty years before, their opponents had suffered equally, and that too at the hands of men who had usurped the government. If the Nonconformists had their "black Bartholomew," the Bishops and the Established clergy had theirs also ; indeed, not a few of the ministers who made such a grievance of being cast out in 1662 A.D. were actually holding benefices from which the orthodox incumbents had been ousted during the Commonwealth. It only remains for me now to perform the pleasant task of expressing my grateful acknowledgments to those who have aided me in the work which this publication has entailed. These are due especially to the Bishop of the Diocese, for help directly and indirectly given, as well for suggestions before its commencement, as for criticism of the results when the work was concluded. Doubts and perplexities were certain to arise, where the right understanding of a book, second in importance only to the Bible, was the object in view.On such occasions I have found myself not infrequently appealing to his counsel and judgment, and rarely without seeing the prospect cleared, and the difficulties made easier to contend with. Next I would tender my thanks to the Rev. CANON VENABLES, Precentor of Lincoln, for having kindly examined the printed pages, and suggested some useful alterations. Also I gratefully acknowledge the help in revising and correcting the proof-sheets, which I have received from the Rev. W. B. TREVELYAN, my colleague in the Ely Theological College. And lastly, I may not forget that a fairly exhaustive Index--that part of a work on which much of its usefulness so frequently depends, but which nevertheless the author is so ready to neglect--is the acceptable contribution of a member of my own family. And now in sending forth this humble treatise, I would express an earnest prayer that He, with Whose worship well-nigh every page of it is concerned, will bless its influence for an ever-increasing love, and a more intelligent and reverential use of those Forms of Prayer and Ceremonial observances, for which such brave battle was done in more troublous times. H. M. L. The Feast of St Michael and All Angels, 1881, COLLEGE, ELY. __________________________________________________________________ Preface of the Second Edition. In sending forth the Second Edition I cannot forbear to express my thanks to numerous correspondents, especially to not a few of the Bishops of the Church and their Examining Chaplains, tor their kindly recognition of this effort to infuse fresh life into a too much neglected subject. The careful criticisms and suggestions of Canon Bright have led me to modify a few passages, as well as to supply some additional matter, chiefly in connection with the Scotch Liturgy. Many recommendations, though valuable in themselves, I have been obliged to disregard, inasmuch as to have carried them out would have altered too largely the character of the book, and brouht it into undesirable competition with others. H. M. L. The Feast of the Annunication, 1882. COLLEGE, ELY. __________________________________________________________________ Introductory Chapter. It may help the reader to a better understanding of the subject which we have endeavoured to illustrate in this book if we notice briefly the conditions of Public Worship in the country before we arrive at the great epochs with which the Book of Common Prayer is more immediately concerned. Notices of the Early British Church. The materials from which the historian is able to draw for a description of the Church and everything connected with it among the Britons are so scanty that much uncertainty must necessarily prevail. Tertullian, [1] in the second century, says that "even those parts of Britain hitherto inaccessible to Roman arms had been subdued by the gospel of Christ;" and Origen, [2] half a century later, testifies that "the power of God our Saviour is even with those in Britain who are divided from our world." At the beginning of the fourth century we find the British Christians governed by Bishops. In 314 A.D., at the Council of Aries in Gaul, among the signatures to the Canons then passed occur the names of Eborius, Bishop of York, Restitutus of London, and Adelphus of Lincoln (or perhaps, Caerleon). Again, British Bishops are associated with the Councils of Sardica in Illyria, 343-4 A.D., and Ariminum in Italy, 359 A.D. Though not actually present at the former, they assented to its decrees, while, in connection with the latter, it is worthy of notice, as bearing upon the poverty-stricken condition of the Church in this land, that, when the Emperor offered to defray the expenses of the Bishops who attended, the offer was declined except by those from Britain, who were too poor to refuse. The source from which they drew their Liturgy. In 429 A.D. an event occurred which in all probability had an important influence upon the after-worship of the Church. The Britons, finding themselves unable to oppose the spread of Pelagianism, sent to Gaul for some learned men to come over to help them. A Gallic Synod was called, and Germanus, Bishop of Auxerre, and Lupus of Troyes, were sent as a deputation, and after completely refuting the errors of the heretics, whom they met in controversy at Verulam, they returned home, but only to be reinvited to establish the Britons in the Faith, and build them up in the doctrines of the Catholic Church. It is to the second visit of Germanus, 447 A.D., accompanied on this occasion by Severus, a disciple of his, former companion, that the introduction of the Gallican Liturgy and Ritual is most probably to be attributed. The mission of St. Augustine. And from this date, passing over a dark and obscure page in the Ecclesiastical history of the country, we come to the Mission of St. Augustine. It is on his arrival with his forty companions, April 14, 597 AD, that for the first time we have any definite mention of the existence of particular Forms of Worship in the British Church. The Gallican Liturgy was then in use in St. Martin's Church, Canterbury, where Queen Bertha worshipped, and Bishop Luidhard ministered: not perhaps in all points in its original shape, for variations were common in the Primitive Liturgies, arising from a multiplicity of causes, such as the peculiarities of a people, their habits and tastes, or the wishes of the Bishop of the Diocese. One thing however is certain, that when St. Augustine landed in England, he found a congregation of Christian people using for their highest Act of Public Worship a Service which they had derived from Gaul. We are almost surprised that he should have expressed so much anxiety to supersede it by the Roman. Had it been a Liturgy of the Oriental type, the variations from that to which he was accustomed would have been so numerous that his desire to substitute his own would have been quite intelligible: but between the Roman and the Gallican there were so many points of resemblance [3] that he might well have been satisfied to leave the existing Forms undisturbed. But he was impatient of any divergence, and inquired of Pope Gregory "why one custom of Masses should be observed in the holy Roman Church, and another in the Gallican"? He hoped no doubt that he would receive authority to impose the Roman in all cases without hesitation, but he was doomed to disappointment. The Pope, in his reply, showed him that there was no obligation to insist upon the Roman.Gregory's reply to his question. "You know," he writes, "the custom of the Roman Church in which you remember you were bred up. But it pleases me that if you have found anything either in the Roman or the Gallican or any other Church, which may be more acceptable to Almighty GOD, you carefully make choice of the same, and sedulously teach the Church of the English, which as yet is new in the faith, whatsoever you can gather from the several churches. For things are not to be loved for the sake of places, but places for the sake of good things. Choose, therefore, from every Church those things that are pious, religious, and upright, and when you have, as it were, made them up into one body, let the minds of the English be accustomed thereto." [4] How far the advice was followed is a disputed question. Perhaps the most probable explanation of the different views is to be found in the supposition that the two Forms of Liturgical practice continued side by side for a time: those Churches which owed their origin to the missionary adopting that of their founder, while such as used the Gallican before his arrival continued their worship unchanged. Such divergence, however, ceased in the eighth century, when by a decree of the Council of Cloves-hoo, [5] 747 A.D., it was decreed that the Roman Missal should be adopted throughout England. But in addition to the Worship of the Altar with which alone the rare notices hitherto have been concerned, we now meet with daily worship and more frequent services. During that stage of Church history which reaches from the Mission of St. Augustine to the Conquest, all our interest gathers round the Monasteries. The rise and spread of monasteries in England. These had existed before in different parts, to which the numerous "Bangors" [6] are said to testify. At Bangor Iscoed, at Bangor Wydrin (or Glastonbury), and "the great Bangor over Conway," and in other places, Monastic Colleges were built and formed centres of religious study and worship; but the system took no real hold of the country till the beginning of the seventh century. From this time forward it spread with marvellous rapidity. It was the monks who converted the heathen. The austerity and stern duties which marked their manner of life seemed to be possessed of attractions for the rude Anglo-Saxon; and when the thanes and nobles with their crowds of retainers were drawn in, and then finally Kings and Queens lavished their treasure upon the Monastic Houses, the country became literally overspread by them. All the most beautiful spots in the land were assigned for their settlement, and in "every rich valley, and by the side of every clear stream, arose a Benedictine Abbey." England became "a nation of monks." The Benedictine Rule of Life. A consideration of the Benedictine Rule of Life will enable us to realise what an impulse the worship of God received from the extension of the Monastic system. The day was divided between "opus Dei, labor et lectio:" or the service of GOD and manual and intellectual work. For the regulation of the first, the day was divided mto what were called "Canonical Hours" The Hours.There is some variety, but the ordinary arrangement gave seven in addition to the midnight Service viz., Matins, or Lauds, at day-break; Prime, at six A.M.; Tierce, at nine A.M.; Sext, at noon, Nones, at three P.M.; Vespers, before sunset; and Compline, at bed-time. In the "Excerpta" of Ecgbright, [7] we read, "These seven synaxes or assemblings we ought daily to offer to GOD with great concern for ourselves and for all Christian people." Divers conjectures have been made as to the grounds upon which they have severally been observed. The night-services probably originated in times of persecution. Prime and Vespers, at sunrise and sunset, would naturally suggest themselves in connection with the Sun of Righteousness. The observance of the three "Lesser Hours," which received their names from the third, sixth, and ninth hours with which three of the four divisions of the day terminated, was probably regarded as a continuance of the Jewish custom. Compline, from Completorium, was the gathering up of the day's devotions, the Service in which the worshipper fully commended himself to God's care for the coming night. These services combined Were called "Divinum Officium." The Reforms of Pope Grepory VII. The next epoch opens with the Reforms of Gregory VII. and Bishop Osmund of Sarum. The former, who occupied the Papal Chair from 1073 to 1086 A.D., re-arranged and abbreviated the Divine Services which had been used at "the Hours," and brought them out under the title of, "The Breviary," which was generally imposed to the exclusion of the existing Forms. It consisted of four parts, for Winter, Spring, Summer, and Autumn respectively, and each part had four or five subdivisions, viz. :--1. Kalendarium; 2. Psalterium; 3. Commune Sanctorum; 4. Proprium de Tempore; 5. Proprium Sanctorum. Sometimes the second and third of these were combined, as containing those parts which did not vary with days or seasons. In England the favourite title for the Book was Portiforium, which in its English form had many equivalents,--portfory, portuisse, and poituary. The Reforms of Bishop Osmund. The other reformer of Service-books was Osmund. After the Conquest the Anglo-Saxon clergy were in some cases forcibly ousted, in many succeeded at their deaths by men of Norman blood. Among these was a Count of some distinction as a statesman, who was consecrated to the See of Salisbury [8] on the death of Herman, 1087 A.D. He at once set himself to put an end to the great diversities of Rites and Ceremonies, which prevailed in different parts of the country, and even in different parts of the same Diocese. He revised the Service-books, and set forth a reformed Breviary, Missal, and Manual for adoption in all the Churches and chapels over which he had jurisdiction. These, which constituted what was known as "the Sarum Use," became generally popular, and were introduced into many parts of England, and held their ground down to the Reformation. Religion confined in the main to the Monasteries. So far we have looked at the worship of GOD mainly as it was offered in the Monasteries, but it would have been almost useless to look elsewhere, for nearly all the religion of the country was gathered within their walls. The people who derived so much benefit from them would naturally be drawn into sympathy with their religious life. The Benedictine monks were the chief missionaries, for as they spread over the land they associated the work of evangelisation with the labours of agriculture, and while they were turning uncultivated wastes into productive and luxuriant farms, and bringing plenty to the homes of the people, they superseded ignorance and blind Paganism by the blessed knowledge of the Gospel of Christ. Results of the rivalry between the secular and regular Clergy. But in lapse of time their popularity waned, and a rivalry grew up between the secular clergy and the monks. And inasmuch as the former wore in the main idle and incompetent, religion flagged, and in the Church, outside the Religious Houses, the worship of GOD was suffered to fall into neglect. There was a brief resuscitation in the thirteenth century, when the country clergy were roused from their apathy by the enthusiasm with which the preaching Friars carried on their mission. But the good influence was only short-lived: the mercenary spirit of the Roman religion, so rife at that era, was infused into the new Orders, and the preaching of indulgences supplanted the preaching of the Gospel. In the Monasteries, as soon as they openly repudiated the authority of the English Bishops, the door was opened for the admission of endless innovations, and the Service-books became more and more tainted with Roman errors. The fourteenth and fifteenth centuries were so notoriously evil that for them as well as for the ninth and tenth the dark ages has been regarded as the most fitting designation. This period has been described in these striking terms, "the epoch was an eclipse--a very Egyptian darkness; worse than chaos or Erebus--black as the thick praeternatural night, under cover of which our Lord was crucified." [9] State of Public Worship in the Cathedrals in the 14th and 15th centuries. And though all this refers to the general condition of the Church, the decay of Public Worship was one of the most marked of its features. If we may judge from what we read of the Mother Churches, then we may well doubt if it was ever nearer to total extinction. As a single illustration, in the great Metropolitan Cathedral, at the close of the fourteenth century, where there was every facility from rich endowment and benefactions to maintain the beauty of holy worship in her services and ritual, we are quite appalled at the revelations of history. Where the worship of the Altar and the Daily Services had been for many generations offered with becoming dignity and splendour, the sacred vessels and ornaments were pilfered or sold, and the building profaned "by foul and abominable acts." The House of GOD became a place of merchandise; and while the Services were suspended or driven into obscure corners, men and women, not on common days merely, but especially on the Festivals of the Church, exposed their wares, buying and selling with no thought whatever for the sanctity of the place. [10] Then if we leap over a gap of a hundred years we find scarcely any improvement, and we realize to the full the appropriateness of the title which those centuries have received. When Dean Colet in 1505 A.D. found himself the guardian of St. Paul's, with all his religion he made hardly a visible eeffort to purge the Church of the profane uses to which it had been abandoned. The degeneracy of the times was such that it may well be doubted whether he could have reinstated the worship of GOD; but a brighter era was about to dawn, and with it the shadows of the past were to flee away. In the following pages we have endeavoured to show how the interest of the Reformation centred round the re-establishment of a pure worship with the Service-books revised and the Ritual regulated with a due regard to the edification of the worshippers. __________________________________________________________________ [1] Adv. Judoeos, vii. [2] Hom. vi. in Luc., also iv, in Ezech. But in his commentary in St. Matthew, he speaks of "very many" as not yet having received the Gospel, iv. 271. [3] Cf. HAMMOND'S Liturgies, Eastern and Western, xxiii-iv. [4] Cf. BEDE'S Eccles. Hist. i. xxvii. [5] The place of meeting has been much disputed. Cliffe-at-Hoo, Abingdon, and Tewkesbury, have each had their advocates. For the Decree cf. WiLKINS'S Concilia, i. 97. [6] For particulars cf. BRIGHT'S Eccles. Hist. 29. [7] C. 28 [8] The date has been variously given at 1085 and 1087 A.D. [9] Dublin. Review, xliv. 49, cited by HOOK, Lives of the Archbishops, vol. iii. 58. [10] Cf. MILMAN'S Hist., of St. Paul's, 82. __________________________________________________________________ CHAPTER I. THE ANGLICAN REFORM The Pre-Reformation Service-book. The chief Service-books [11] in use in the English Church at the time of the Reformation were these: The Breviary, containing a series of daily services for the Canonical Hours, which were eight in number. The Missal, or Order of Celebration of the Holy Communion. The Manual, for the Baptismal and other occasional offices, which might be performed by a priest. The Pontifical, for such as the Bishop alone administered. In all of these severally, while the outline and structure were the same, there was considerable variety in detail, and different editions, if we may so speak of them, had become generally accepted in different localities. The different "Uses." York, for example, Lincoln, Hereford, and Bangor, had each its own "Use," marked off by some peculiarity, while the remaining Dioceses united in the adoption of that entitled "the Sarum," which the Bishop of Salisbury [12] had compiled with so much care in the eleventh century. Three things in particular contributed to call for a revision of these Service-books about the middle of the sixteenth century. The Dissolution of the Monasteries [13] made a complete reconstruction of the Breviary an imperative necessity. Frequent worship an essential feature of the Monasitc life. In Religious Houses, where it was of the very essence of their constitution that the worship of GOD should enter largely into the routine of daily life, it was an easy matter to subordinate all other occupations to that which was held to be of primary importance, and seven [14] times during the twenty-four hours the Bell of the Monastery summoned its inmates to assemble in the Chapel for Divine Service. When Henry VIII realised that the Monastic Orders remained unshaken in their loyalty to the Papacy, and that the title of "Supreme Head of the Church," which he had assumed, could be little more than nominal, if such formidable opponents were left to foster seditious counsels, nothing remained for him but to dissolve their constitutions and appropriate their revenues to other purposes. With this abolition of the Religious Orders, the offering of frequent worship became wholly impracticable. It disappeared at their dissolution Up to the time of the Dissolution, the daily service had not attracted the bulk of the People. [15] A certain number, no doubt, wherever there was a Monastery in the neighbourhood, would be drawn to some extent into a participation of its worship, but generally the people must have felt themselves precluded by their occupations from taking any part therein. Now, however, that the Monasteries had been swept away, men realised that if the daily homage of the crearture was to continue to be paid, such changes were, called for as should make the payment compatible with their secular duties. How this was effected we shall see presently. A second demand for revision arose out of the revival of learning. The New Learning the Universities. The close of the fifteenth century witnessed the beginning of what was designated "the New Learning." The Universities claimed the honour of its birthplace. Erasmus, of whom it has been said that he was the first "man of letters" who had appeared in Europe since the fall of the Roman Empire, worked a complete revolution in the education of the country. The Greek language, long known but most imperfectly, and studied only in the books of authors wholly unworthy to represent its genius and its true value, seemed suddenly endowed with new attractions, and under the aegis of Erasmus regained its place in the two great seats of learning and education. He determined to break down the ignorant hostility to classical literature which reigned in the colleges and monasteries; but how difficult a task it was, and how long it took for scholars to shake off the fetters of a barbarous age, a study of Erasmus himself will abundantly testify. With all his appreciation of the beauties of Cicero, notwithstanding the spontaneity and naturalness of his Latin, which give it all the charms of a living and spoken tongue, he is still far removed from the purity and grace of the classical models. The importance of the study of Scripture recongnised But that for which we are most deeply indebted to him is the impulse which he gave to the study of the New Testament in the original language. [16] The "ever memorable" Dean Colet, [17] foremost among his friends, substituted lectures on Scripture at Oxford for the customary disquisition, on Scotus and Aquinas; while at the sister university George Stafford discarded the glosses of the Schoolmen altogether, and taught his classes to study the text; and not a few of the Reformers [18] sat at his feet. One of the most immediate results of this reaction, which rapidly affected the community at large, was to make them dissatisfied with the part they had hitherto been contented to take in public worship. Longings for a more rational kind of worship. Men awoke to the realisation of the privileges which attached to "the priesthood of the laity," [19] and they determined to claim a portion in that intelligent aud rational service, which the Clerics had monopolised all too long. The first step towards the attainment of this was the introduction of the vernacular in place of a dead unspoken tongue in the Public Forms--the supersession of Latin by the language of the country. The third, and by many considered to be the chief call for revision, came from the pressing necessity for purifying the Service-books from error, and clearing away the accretions of superstitious usage which had accumulated upon them in mediaeval times. Such then being the chief causes which contributed to make a revision necessary, it remains for us to examine the authority by which it was undertaken and carried out, with a view to estimating how far the work is entitled to the confidence of the Church. The authority upon which revison was undertaken There are few greater mistakes than to accept as correct the loose statement so frequently made, that the Committee of Revision were appointed by the Crown. Long before it ever entered into tho head of Henry VIII. to touch our services, a reformed edition [20] of the Sarum Breviary had been issued: and it is worth while observing that it followed the very lines which the Commissioners laid down for themselves in Edward VI.'s reign. [21] This again was succeeded a few years later by a somewhat similar revision of the Sarum Missal. Now both of these were undertaken before the King had assumed the title of "Supreme Head of the Church," [22] and when as yet he took no such interest in ecclesiastical matters as to justify us in believing that the work was in any way dictated by his advice or direction. The King's reluctance to move Indeed we find him at this time most unwilling to meddle with Church Reform of any kind: as unwilling as Convocation was the reverse. He rejected a petition presented to him by the Convocation of Canterbury for an authorised version of the Bible in English for general circulation. It is true that a few years later he was induced to reconsider his decision, but we point to his hesitation in the matter as an indication of his indifference to reform, and as affording a strong presumption that whatever was done was sanctioned by Convocation, the idea of independent action being quite untenable. But when at length the King was persuaded to interest himself in Liturgical improvement, his first step was to commission the Archbishop to acquaint the Houses of Convocation that it was his pleasure that the Service-books should be revised: "that all mass-books, antiphoners, portuisses, in the Church of England should be newly examined, corrected, and reformed;" and Convocation ordered that the The first Committee of revison appointed.work be intrusted to the Bishops of Sarum and Ely, [23] with three assessors [24] each from the Lower House. Matters had been made somewhat easier by an enactment of the previous year that one uniform service should be adopted throughout the Province of Canterbury. [25] But there was one fatal obstacle to any real reform. Impediments to all real reform. So long as the Statute-book [26] imposed death by burning as the penalty for denying the doctrine of Transubstantiation, and hanging as a common felon for disapproval of Communion in one kind, or of the perpetual obligation of vows of chastity, or of the necessity of auricular confession, we can easily understand that the Revisionists felt themselves clogged and hampered at every step. The memory of the terrible scenes enacted in the torture-room where Ann Askew so heroically endured the rack, or of the fires of Smithfield, in which, in company with others, she suffered martyrdom for her belief, must have hung like a sword of Damocles over their Council Chamber. Indeed, Capon's predecessor in the See of Sarum, Nicholas Shaxton, had been condemned to the stake on the self-same charge, but had purchased his life by recantation; and the recollection of this must have haunted him like a spectre till the Statute was repealed. The first object aimed at was the acceptance of the principle that it was lawful for the laity to communicate in both kinds. Convocation accepted this principle on the 30th of November 1547, during the progress of a bill to authorise it through the House of Lords, and before it was introduced into the Commons. [27] The Act ordained simply that the primitive custom of administering in both kinds should be observed, but no set form of words was prescribed. Parliament was prorogued on December 24th, and did not reassemble till the close of the next year. Convocation was also prorogued; but in the spring "The Order of Communion" was drawn up, and issued by the King, for administering in both kinds, and it was wholly in English. [28] The Proclamation [29] speaks of the advice received from the Protector, and other of the Privy Council, and orilered that the Blessed Sacrament should be ministered unto our people only after such form and manner. [30] After this the Committee was enlarged and proceeded with the revision of the Prayer-book. Conventional pictures of this assembly of divines, which most probably held some of its sessions in the Council-room at Windsor, [31] have placed Archbishop Cranmer in the chair. He is supported on either side by three bishops: while the six members chosen from the Lower House of Convocation occupy a cross-bench facing the Primate. The Members fo the Committee of revision who assembled at Windsor Castle. The Bishops were Goodrich of Ely, Holbeach of Lincoln, Skip of Hereford, Day of Chichester, Thirlby of Westminster, Ridley of Rochester. The remaining six members were : Cox, May, Taylor, Haines, Robertson, and Redmayn: the same no doubt who had sat as assessors to Capon and Goodrich in the Committee of 1542 A.D. [32] Which of the bishops was placed on the right, which on the left of the Primate's chair; which again of these places was the post of special honour, we need not stay to dispute, as Rome has so vehemently disputed in reference to another and still more momentous assembly [33] in her eagerness to claim the foremost place for her representative. In all probability Goodrich, as the most eminent Bishop of the old Committee, and the senior Bishop, occupied the two highest seats, while Ridley as junior, and Thirlby as Bishop of the latest constituted see, that of Westminster, occupied the two lowest. Now let me call your attention to the great care which appears to have been taken to make it a truly representative Committee. We shall see how successfully the selection was made, for no interest with any claim to have a voice in the revision was neglected. The representative character fo the Committee. Convocation claimed the whole number as members of one or other of its two Houses. The Crown had its advocate in Cranmer, than whom none could be more attached to the king personally or more tenacious of his rights and prerogative. The Universities appeared in the Heads of their chief Colleges, Cox being Dean of Christ Church, and Redmayn, Master of Trinity. Two of the different "Uses" were represented directly: Lincoln by Holbeach and Taylor; Hereford by Skip: two, York and Bangor, indirectly, as we shall see, while the Archbishop and the other Bishops watched the interests of the Sarum "Use" which was adopted in all their dioceses. It is proposed now to draw the portraits of the chief of these Commissioners in as few lines as is practicable, but in such a manner that the reader may be able to conjecture their part in the work, possibly also to imagine on which side their votes would be given on the debated questions, which they were called upon to decide. The Primate's character and opinions. Of Cranmer many pictures have been given to the world, but probably in the case of no other person have the representations varied so materially from each other. This variation is due not so much to the bias of the painter, as to the fact that his character did change in many of its features at different periods of his history. As he is seen seated in the chair at Windsor, he bears distinctly many of the qualifications which fit him pre-eminently for the post. He had in a marked degree the first requisite for an efficient chairman, viz., a perfect control over his temper. He was by no means a man of great genius, or an original thinker, likely to strike out something fresh, but he possessed a good judgment, which would enable him to discriminate between what was new and what was old; what was purely Roman, and what was Catholic. He had a profound reverence for the Holy Scriptures upon which he based his doctrinal views, not however according to his private judgment, but as the great Fathers of the Catholic Church had interpreted them in primitive times. [34] Again and again, his loyalty to Catholic antiquity manifested itself. His views on the Holy Eucharist were already, it is true, declining from the Catholic standard, but still very different from those which he maintained eventually. He was orthodox in holding the commemorative [35] rather than the propitiatory sacrifice: the representation or pleading of that which was once offered upon the Cross, rather than the repetition of it, which some few so persistently maintained. This was an important point which Cranmer was determined not to yield, and it was probably this determination which induced him to decline the offer of Calvin, who was opposed to any sacrificial view of the Holy Eucharist, to aid in the revision. Unless moreover he had felt very strong in his position he would hardly have acted as he did, for Calvin was at this time in the very zenith of his reputation, and many would have welcomed his assistance as the best guarantee for real reform. Next in point of interest to the Primate is unquestionably Goodrich, Bishop of Ely. Bishop Goodrich. Now there are many circumstances in Goodrich's life which we are concerned in hearing of. When a Fellow of Jesus College, Cambridge, he like his more famous companion on the same Foundation [36] rose into Royal favour by his judgment on the crucial question of the Divorce of Queen Catherine. He had. been selected by the University from his legal knowledge to be on the Committee for drawing up an answer to the King's application respecting the legality of the separation. There is no difficulty in discovering which view he took, for he was made a royal chaplain shortly after, and within a few years nominated to one of the most enviable posts, the then-wealthy and dignified Bishopric of Ely. [37] The Author of the first part of the Catechism It is more than probable that the part Church Catechism [38] was his composition, and when in the year 1552 A.D. he built the Long Gallery attached to the Palace, side by side with the armorial bearings of the See and his own initials, he engraved on two tablets that which he desired to be associated with his name before anything else, "our Duty to GOD," and "our Duty to our neighbour." His eagerness for reform led him to inaugurate his episcopate by a series of Injunctions, having for their object the overthrow of Papal influence, and the erasure from the Service-books of the name of the Pope, and the demolition of shrines which were frequented by idolatrous worshippers. But that he was in no sense a fanatic or disposed to condemn any usage or thing simply because it had been abused, his monument in Ely Cathedral, upon which he is represented with the full pontifical habit, bears evidence. He is further said to have endeared himself to the King by his singular wisdom, and to have won the affections of the people by his integrity and moderation. Bishop Thirlby: his Roman tendencies. Next after Goodrich comes Thirlby, whose appointment on the Commission is the best proof of the impartiality with which the selection was made. Although admitted to the privy councils of Henry VIII. and Edward VI. he never sympathised with their in their desire to shake off their allegiance to the Papal See, but continued throughout a staunch Roman; and at Queen Mary's accession he was singled out as the fittest ambassador she could send to tender to time Pope her assurances of loyal obedience. He was chosen too in the same reign, for a task from which, under other circumstances, he would have shrunk back, the degradation of Cranmer before he was sent to the stake. And if further and yet more decisive proof of his opinions is needed, it may be found in his refusal to accept the reforms of Queen Elizabeth and his consequent consignment to prison in the Tower. One honour he enjoyed which has been shared by no one else. He was the first and last Bishop of Westminster, having exercised the episcopate therein from the creation of the See till its dissolution. [39] As Bishop of Ely, he was a great benefactor, especially to the Foundation of Jesus College, Cambridge, which owes to him much of its ecclesiastical patronage, and also to his cathedral, which received from him the endowment of its eight prebendal stalls. Bishop Day of Chichester, a firm and resolute adherent of mediaeval use. Of Day less is known, but enough to make it certain that his hand would be held up and his voice raised against all changes involving any real departure from mediaeval usage. He was more courageous in holding his opinions than his brother of Westminster, as we shall see when we come to the close of the sittings. [40] When the King issued letters for the conversion of altars into tables, he refused to enforce the order in his diocese, and when threatened with deprivation, he pleaded vigorously for the rights of conscience; but finding his efforts to be unsuccessful, he expressed his final decision in terms which command our respect: "he accounted it a less evil to suffer the body to perish than to destroy the soul," and "he would rather lose all that he ever had in the world than condemn his conscience." He was committed to the Fleet Prison, [41] and his bishopric sequestrated. Bishops Ridley of London, and Holbeach of Lincoln. The character of Ridley is too well known to need description, while of Holbeach, who assumed that name on becoming a monk of Croyland in place of his patronymic Rands, so little is left on record that it would be difficult to form an accurate estimate of the influence which he exercised upon the proceedings of the Commission. Of the members of the Lower House, the most distinguished on the whole was Cox. He stands out in many ways as the very counterpart of Thirlby, and no one who reads their history can fail to be struck with the fairness of a Commission which admitted men of such opposing views. Cox : his shameless rapacity. When a Fellow at Oxford, Cox becmne enamoured of Lutheran Theology, and amid all die, changes of those ever-varying times, he remained a consistent Protestant to the end. After he came into the notice of Edward VI., honours were thickly heaped upon him, and it fills one with wonder at the small sense of responsibility which such a man must have had, to bear of his being simultaneously Rector of Harrow, Archdeason of Ely, Canon of Ely, Canon of Windsor, Dean of Christ Church, Oxford, and Dean of Westminster, and Bishop nominate of Southwell ; not to mention the offices of Tutor and Almoner to the king, and the Chancellorship of his University. His biographer writes quite incidentally, that it has been thought by some that "he had more rebard to his private advantage than to the true interests of the Church," and without any notice of these frightful pluralities, proceeds to vindicate him from the imputation touching the alienation of the episcopal estates. History has certainly recorded one instance of his determination to maintain the property of the See of Ely, though unsuccessfully.His resistance to the Queen's unreasonable demands. Sir Christopher Hatton, one of the Queen's favourites, cast an envious eye upon the beautiful Palace and garden in Holborn ; and to gratify his desire she commanded the Bishop to transfer a portion of it to him without delay. Whatever his feelings may have been on other occasions, he had strength enough to resist this iniquitous claim, but only to call forth the ever memorable rejoinder from the imperious Queen, "Proud Prelate, you know well what you were afore I made you what you are. If you do not immediately comply with my request I will unfrock you, by GOD." And the property was alienated, as the name "Hatton Garden" still indicates. Considering their value, we can hardly be surprised that his benefices were speedily seized and that he himself was lodged in the Tower when the Protestant King was no longer able to befriend him. Proofs of his Protestant opinions. Two circumstances may be here mentioned as testifying to his doctrinal opinions. At Oxford he issued a Commission for the discovery of books which encouraged Papal pretensions or Roman doctrine, and in the spirit of a true iconoclast ordered whole Libraries to be destroyed, without any respect to their historical value or antiquarian interest. Again, when his brother Revisionist, Day of Chichester, had stirred up the people of Sussex to resist the removal of their altars, he was selected by the King's Council as the fittest person they could find, counteract his influence by a preaching campaign in support of the Protestant Faith. Dean May: his eagerness for reform. In May, the Dean of St. Paul's, Cox found an entirely kindred spirit, as the following episode in his life will sufficiently indicate. On the publication of an edict by the Privy Council for the destruction of all images in churches, the work of demolition was not only sanctioned, but even encouraged by the appointed guardian of that Cathedral. The Rood, and the attendant figures of St. Mary and St. John, were roughly thrown down, and the wealth of sacred treasure in plate and jewels and vestments which had accumulated out of the offerings of the faithful to an almost incalculable extent was despoiled without even a show of resistance on the part of the Dean ; and there is good reason to believe that it was done, at his own instigation. If this be true we cannot but admire him for his consistency, for much that lie encouraged entailed grievous loss upon, if it did not actually impoverish, both himself and the Chapter which he represented. He was what we may call an advanced Reformer, and a strong, advocate of Liturgical revision. Taylor. Of Taylor's views we are not altogether ignorant; on one important question, which all the Revisionists were called upon to answer in writing, viz., "what is the oblation and sacrifice of Christ in the mass?" it is recorded that he, in company with Cox, took the lowest ground, asserting it to "mean nothing more than prayer, thanksgiving , and the remembrance of our Saviour's Passion." This was a strange reaction from the opinions which he had put forward in the previous reign, when he preached a sermon upon Transubstantiation, which led to the martyrdom of Barnes. It is worthy of notice also that he was selected for promotion by King Edward VI. just at the time when his Majesty was most especially under ultra-Protestant influence. [42] Of Haynes there is little to be said, save that like Haynesthe members of the Lower House already described he had a strong leaning towards radical change. The two that remain were men of a very different type. Both Robertson and Redmayn were more Catholic-minded. Robertson and Redmayn. Both too were widely renowned for their great learning, the former having earned a reputation as a grammarian unsurpassed in his generation, and the latter holding one of the highest positions in the University of Cambridge. The fact that Robertson obtained preferment [43] from Queen Mary, and that Redmayn tried to draw back from the sanction, which he had reluctantly given by his signature to the Reformed Service-book, are adequate proof of the line which they must have taken in the deliberations at Windsor. Such, briefly drawn, are some of the characteristic features of the individual members of that famous Committee to whom the Catholic Church of England owes so much. But we must not fail to mention that even these men, so learned, so well qualified in many ways, and so thoroughly impartial as a body, were not held to be competent by their own unaided counsels to accomplish the work of Revision. The enlargement of the Committee to increase the public confidence. It was considered desirable to enlarge the Committee, so as to make it if possible still more representative, and to give all parts of the country and every one who had any interest at stake a voice in the proceedings. A large body of assessors [44] were added. They were not admitted to the Council Chamber, as their numbers would have made them unwieldy as a working Committee, but a series of questions bearing upon the most crucial matters under dispute were submitted to them, and their replies were duly weighed, and doubtless had no little influence upon the deliberations. Among these, whose opinions were thus invited, were the Archbishop of York and the Bishop of Sarum, representing directly the "Uses" of their Sees, while the Bishop of St. Asaph was appointed for the guardianship of the Bangor worship. The first and most important change was in the language. In the Preface to the First Prayer-book we read, The changes introduced Adoption of the English language. "The service in the Church of England (these many years) hath been read in Latin to the people, which they understood not; so that they have heard with their ears only: and their hearts, spirit, and mind have not been edified thereby." So long as Rome was the centre of European society, and Latin was generally spoken, there was no inconsistency in maintaining it as the vehicle of Western worship, but long after Rome had lost this pre-eminence, and her language had ceased to be intelligible to the common mind, "the once living outpourings of devotion" were suffered to continue only "fossilised into cold and lifeless forms." The arguments in defence of the continuance Roman arguments for a dead language. which the mediaeval Church set up were very plausible. It was urged that "the majesty of religion would suffer and grow cheap if the most solemn and mysterious parts of the service should be understood by the audience;" or that there were obvious advantages for the protection of the Faith in embalming her Forms in a language which is beyond the reach of change; or once more, that it served as an abiding witness to the unity of the Church throughout Catholic Christendom, that every branch of it should offer up their prayers and praises in one and the same tongue. These reasons were plausible enough, but the majority of the Revisionists saw that there were reasons for change which far outweighed them. The edification of the worshipper ought always to be amatter of primary importance. Not scriptural nor primitive.St. Paul [45] had clearly so regarded it, when he declared that he would "rather speak five words in the Church" in such a manner as to teach others, "than ten thousand words in an unknown tongue." And the principle was upheld by the Primitive Church, which clothed its Liturgies in Greek, or Latin, or Syriac, or Coptic, according to the language of the people who used them. It wasenforced, moreover, by the sayings of the Fathers; [46] and the Law, both civil and canonical, contained the plainest injunctions for its maintenance. The Code of Justinian [47] provided "that all priests should celebrate the sacred oblation" in such a manner that "thereby the minds of the hearers might be raised up with greater devotion to set forth the praises of GOD, according to the Apostle's teaching; " and that this was interpreted as enjoining a language "understanded of the people" is shown by the attempts of those who violated the practice to erase the enactment from the Statute-book. Again the Canon Law [48] by the authority of Pope Innocent and the Lateran Council, 1215 A.D., enforced "the celebration of Divine Service according to the diversity of ceremonies and languages." When then the Windsor Assembly were called upon to deal with this question, they knew that they should be fully supported if they abandoned the Latin tongue. What strengthened the public yearning for the vernacular in worship. We stated before some of the causes which created a yearning on the part of the people for a more intelligent worship; and it was quite obvious that the use of the English Litany, [49] put forth a row years before, and the reading of portions of the Communion office in their own language, had greatly intensified their desire, and the Revisionists felt that they could best satisfy the wants of the nation by giving then a complete English Prayer-book. And while commending them for giving us a Service-book in our own language, we are constrained to go further, and express an additional obligation to them for having clothed it in English, the beauty of which has rarely been equalled, and never surpassed, even in the best age of literary excellence. [50] To whatever part of it we turn, whether hymns, or prayers, or exhortations, the style is such that it cannot be improved. "The essential qualities of devotion and eloquence," as Macaulay says, [51] "conciseness, majestic simplicity, pathetic earnestness of supplication, sobered by a profound reverence, are common between the translations and the originals. But in the subordinate graces of diction the originals must be allowed to be far inferior to the translations. . . . The diction of our Book of Common Prayer has directly or indirectly contributed to form the diction of almost every great English writer, and has extorted the admiration of the most accomplished infidels, and of the most accomplished Nonconformists, of such men as David Hume and Robert Hall." As an illustration of this high praise, we have only to mention the very noblest of our Liturgical hymns, the Te Deum. In point of accuracy and exactness of rendering there [52] is in parts no doubt something to be desired, but in rhythm, in vigour of arrangement, and in its solemn grandeur, it is incomparably superior to the original Latin. From the Collects. And if we turn to the Collects, the same expression of unfeigned praise is equally due. Take one or two specimens--first, of a simple translation; and that we may not appear to be making a careful selection to support our opinion, we will quote the most familiar perhaps of all. "Prevent us, O Lord, in all our doings with Thy most gracious favour, and further us with Thy continual help; that in all our works begun, continued, and ended in Thee, we may glorify Thy holy Name: and finally, by Thy mercy obtain everlasting life," etc. Now this, as it happens, is one of the most beautiful of the ancient Latin, Collects:--Actiones nostras, quaesumus, Domine, et aspirando praeveni et adjuvando prosequere; ut cuncta nostra operatio et a te incipiat et per te coepta finiatur, per Jesum, etc. But beautiful as it is, we are sure that no competent critic would venture to say that it has lost one particle of its peculiar grace by being clothed in an English dress. Then take a sample of the original compositions. These were chiefly introduced to supersede the corrupt forms in use for the Festivals of Saints and Martyrs. [53] Again, avoiding selection, let us quote the Collect for All Saints' Day, which is oftenest on our lips. "O Almighty GOD, who hast knit together Thine elect in one communion and fellowship in the mystical body of Thy Son Christ our LORD: grant us grace so to follow Thy blessed saints in all virtuous and godly living that we may come to those unspeakable joys, which Thou hast prepared for them that unfeignedly love Thee, through," etc. But it is invidious to single out any special portion for commendation; "the whole book," it has been well said, "is a very casket of treasures." A larger us of Scripture in public worship. The second alteration in order of utility was the increased value set upon the public reading of Holy Scripture. During mediaeval times the consecutive reading of this had been greatly interrupted by "the planting in uncertain stories and legends with a multitude of Responds." [54] Those last came to be regarded of such consequence that they were made long and elaborate, while the passages from Scripture were proportionably curtailed: in short, the Lessons and the Responds exchanged places. The result of this was that the primary conception of the latter, which was to be simply illustrative, was entirely obscured, and the Respond became an independent anthem, confusing instead of unfolding the meaning of what was read. Furthermore, the Legendary stories and acts of the Saints, especially at their commemorations, which were exceedingly numerous, wore generally chosen as the Lessons for the day in preference to the Life of our LORD, and the sayings of His immediate followers. The merit of initiating a reform in this is claimed by a Cardinal of the Roman Church, [55] who reinstated the Word of GOD in its rightful place, and showed how much store he set by the change, by inscribing on the title of his Revised Breviary the motto, "Search the Scriptures." This Breviary was put into, the hands of the Revisionists as likely to prove a valuable aid in their work, and there is every reason to believe that not only in this but upon other important points it carried considerable weight. In largely expanding the passages of Scripture, and in drawing both from the Old and New Testaments, the Revisionists illustrated their determination to recover primitive usage wherever it seemed expedient. In the description of the early services found in the Apostolical Constitutions [56] it would seem that as many as four Lessons of considerable length were read, two from either Testament; and in the middle of the second century Justin Martyr [57] says, "that the memoirs of the Apostles or the writings of the Prophets are read as long as time permits." This latter, however, is only noted of Sunday. To adapt the principle to the week-days was a most judicious step, and finds ample justification in its propriety. The Calendar and its perplexities. The third change was in the Calendar or Pie. The directions for the variable parts of the services in the old uses were complicated in the extreme. Perhaps the best idea of the minuteness of detail may be gathered from the fact that there is extant in the library of York Minster a volume, the entire contents of which are regulations of the Pie! [58] Indeed so involved were the rules to be observed that the title by which the body of directions was designated has become a very symbol of perplexity and confusion. Nothing could have been happier than the language in which Cranmer expressed the feelings of the Revisionists on the subject. "The number," he says, "and hardness of the rules called the Pie, and the manifold changings of the service, was the cause, that to turn the book only was so hard and intricate a matter that many times there was more business to find out what should be read than to read it when it was found out." All these difficulties were cleared away and a simp1e Calendar was substituted containing the order of Lessons, and preceded by a Table of Psalms, arranged for Matins and Evensong for a month. The consolidation of services. A fourth change rendered necessary by the abolition of the Religious Houses was the union of the three Service-books, Breviary, Manual, and Missal, in one volume, and the curtailment of the number of separate services. The claims of the people to the privilege of worship recognised. The Revisionists determined to recover, for the mass of the people, a participation in public worship, which they had well-nigh lost through the establishment of the Monastic or Canonical "Hours." The multiplication of services had led them to regard worship as an impossibility for men engaged in the ordinary occupations of secular life; and instead of selecting opportunities from the greater number, they came to look upon it as a luxury for the occupants of Religious houses, and left it almost entirely to them. Recognising the fact that these were properly the exceptions only, and that what might have been appropriate enough for the few was ill-adapted to the majority, the Committee resolved at once upon a reduction of the services. They went back to the early ages for guidance as to their number, but they must have been perplexed by the evidence. Some writers [59] spoke of three, others of two only. The Revisionists very wisely decided to adopt the latter, and thus restore the principle which had existed all through the history of the elder dispensation, and offer the voice of praise and thanksgiving like the Incense of the Altar and the daily Sacrifice in the morning and at even. The Seven "Hours," for all of which there were special offices in the Breviary, were condensed into Matins and Evensong--the ancient Nocturns, Lauds and Prime becoming amalgamated in the former, Vespers and Compline in the latter. The remaining three, Tierce, Sext, and None, or the Lesser Hours, were set aside altogether, because they had long fallen into disuse except in the monasteries; and as these were now dissolved, it would have served no purpose to have retained what specially belonged to them. To suit the fresh adaptation, the Psalms, which had hitherto been divided into seven portions [60] for a weekly course, were so arranged as to be read through once in a month. The ancient lines followed in the changed services. Now it is worth while observing how, in carrying out this consolidation of services, they carefully adhered to the ancient lines, and preserved in all their integrity the distinctive features of public worship. The ideal Form of service has three component parts, though by no means in equal proportions. These are praise, instruction, and prayer. The primary conception gave by far the highest place to the first of these; indeed the other two are entirely subordinate. There is a beautiful legend told of St. Theresa which illustrates this view in a very striking manner. As she lay asleep, the vision of a strange and awful woman passed before her.The primary object of worship. In one hand she carried a pitcher of water, in the other a pan of flaming fire. And when the Saint asked in fear and trembling whither she was going with her mysterious burden, she replied, "I go to burn up heaven and to quench hell, that henceforth men may learn to worship GOD, not for any hope of future reward in the one, nor for fear of threatened torment in the other, but for what He is--for Himself alone." Praise, then, the ascription of honour to GOD, simply and solely because it is due unto His Name, is the dominant element of public worship, and that which blends our offering with the songs of angelic hosts. But subordinate to this there have always [61] been other considerations present to the mind of the worshipper, and in a confessedly imperfect state it could hardly have been otherwise. Meditation upon GOD'S Word, and the record of His works in Creation and Providence, exalts our conception of His greatness, and creates a desire to know more of His Will; and thus the consciousness of our own weakness is borne in upon us, and we pray to the Author of all power and might to help our infirmities and supply our needs. Thus it is that psalms or hymns, lections, prayers or intercessions, have been linked together by a threefold cord in common worship. From a comparison of the following Tables it will be seen at a glance that the first Revised Service-book preserved the characteristic features of the ancient offices, and while the sequence of each part was generally retained, due prominence, as of old, was given to the element of praise. [62] The Revisionists seem to have had the triple division in their mind when they placed in the forefront of their service the LORD'S Prayer and the "Venite." Both alike strike the key-note of all that is to follow. The first three clauses of the Paternoster [63] correspond to the Psalms and Songs of praise; the petition "Give us this day our daily bread" has a special application to the reception of knowledge through the reading of Scripture; and the rest represent all prayer and intercession. So with the "Venite." [64] No fitter prelude to worship could be found, since it embraced a triple call, in verses 1-5, to sing GOD'S praises; in 6 and 7, to fall down before Him in adoration and prayer; in 8-11, to hear His Word. CAPTION: TABLE OF SERVCIES. MORNING. CANONICAL HOURS IN THE SARUM BREVIARY. FIRST PRAYER-BOOK OF EDWARD VI. MATINS. LAUDS. PRIME. MATINS. In the Name . . . In the Name . . . Our Father . . . Our Father . . . Our Father . . . Ave Maria . . . O LORD, open . . . O LORD, open . . . O GOD, make speed . . . O GOD, make . . . O GOD, make . . . O GOD, make . . . Glory be the the Father . . . Glory be, etc. . . . Glory be, etc. . . . Glory be, etc. . . . Alleluia Alleluia Alleluia Praise ye the LORD. Invita tory. Hymn. Alleluia (from Easter to Trinity). Venite. 12 Psalms and Antiphons. 5 Psalms and Antiphons. 3 Psalms and Antiphons. Venite. 18 Psalms (Sundays). 9 Psalms (Sundays). Psalms in order, with Doxology. Benedictions. Jubilate (Sundays). Athanasian Creed. 1st Lesson, O. T. Lections with Responds. Canticle form the O.T. Te Deum or (in Lent ) Benedicite. Te Deum (Sundays). Benedicite (Sund.). 2d Lesson, N. T. Capitulum. Capitulum. Beneictus. Hymn. Lesser Litany. Lesser Litany. Creed. Benedictus. Our Father . . . Our Father. Suffrages. Suffrages. Suffrages. Collect for the Day. Confession. Collect for the Day. Absolution. " for Peace. " for Peace. Collect for Grace. " for Grace. Intercessions. Thanksgiving. CAPTION: TABLE OF SERVCIES. EVENING. CANONICAL HOURS IN THE SARUM BREVIARY. FIRST PRAYER-BOOK OF EDWARD VI. VESPERS. COMPLINE. EVENSONG. In the Name . . . In the Name . . . Our Father . . . Our Father . . . Our Father . . . Ave Maria Ave Maria O GOD, make . . . O GOD, make . . . O GOD, make . . . Glory be . . . Glory be . . . Glory be . . . Alluelia. Alluelia. Praise ye the Lord. 5 Psalms Capitulum. 4 Psalms. Alleluia. Hymn. Hymn. 1st Lesson, O. T. Magnificat. Nunc Dimittis. Magnificat. Collect for the Day. Our Father . . . Nunc Dimittis. Memoria of the B. V. Creed. Collect for the Day Confession. " for Peace. Absolution. " for Aid. Suffages. Collect for Peace. Intercessions. Thanksgivnig. The absence of Confession and Absolution One element alone of importance is wanting in the Revised Order, viz., Confession and Absolution. It is probable that they were omitted as being of late introduction into public services. There is doubt some testimony to the former in St. Basil, [65] who narrates how the congregation immediately on entering the house of prayer "confess to GOD," but the Council of Laodicea points to this confession as being made in silence. And in the Western Church there is an entire absence of allusion to the custom for many centuries. It finds no place in the "Benedictine Rule." [66] And what applies to Confession is of course equally applicable to Absolution. They stand or fall together. We shall see hereafter under what circumstances the judgment of Cranmer's Committee was revised. These were the changes upon which the Revisionists laid most stress, as we may gather from the Preface with which they introduced their reformed Service-book. In our present Prayer-book it is placed second, following that which was prefixed at the final revision. Many observances and ceremonies which they retained, wisely or unwisely, will be brought under our notice in future lectures.The general principles which guided the Revisionists.It may, however, be well at this stage to state their own account of the principle which guided them in their decisions: such ceremonies as were visibly superstitious and tended to darken the Gospel and prove cumbersome to religion they rejected, [67] while those were retained which guarded the worship of God from nakedness and contempt. But while we pass these by we feel that no review of a Prayer-book could be regarded as satisfactory, which failed to notice the relationship which it bore to the much disputed doctrines of the sacrificial aspect of, and the nature of the Presence of Christ in, the Holy Eucharist. Now it is quite obvious that the Revisionists provided more largely for the actual participation of the laity, and gave fuller recognition to the Communion aspect of the celebration, which had been obscured in mediaeva1 times especially by the frequency of solitary masses in which the priest alone communicated. Their jealour preservation of ancient features. But while doing this they were extremely careful to avoid bringing the sacrificial view into discredit: in proof of which I would appeal to the general adoption of the term "altar," and to the great prominence assigned to the Prayer of Oblation, in which it was said that "we do celebrate and make before Thy Divine Majesty, with these Thy holy gifts, the memorial which Thy Son hath willed us to make." But they were determined at the same time to re-establish completely the principle of general communion, by the long obscuration of which the ordinance had been deprived of so much of its power and efficacy. Then, touching the doctrine of the Real Presence, there can be no doubt that the Revisionists retained "the ancient belief from which no Apostolic branch of the Church had ever swerved," viz., that the conscerated elements were in some way the Body and Blood of Christ. [68] The words of administration used by them in either kind were the first part only of the formulas now in use, "The Body of our LORD, Jesus Christ. which was given for thee,"--and the "Blood of our LORD Jesus Christ which was shed for thee, preserve thy body and soul unto everlasting life," and they necessitate this view. It is strengthened moreover by the manifested anxiety of the ultra-Protestant divines to get rid of them, which clearly indicates how they were interpreted. Their wisdom in avoiding definitions of doubtful matters. But while they "affirmed in unequivocal language, and as the basis of all Eucharistic truth, what the consecrated elements were," with a wisdom which cannot be over-estimated, they made no show even of explaining the manner of Christ's Presence, but left it, as it ever should be left, a mystery impenetrable to finite intelligence. Prevalent errors concerning the character of the Revision The character of the work effected by the first revision of the Old Service-books has not unfrequently been misrepresented. There is an idea too widely prevalent, that a complete revolution in Church-worship was carried out at this time, whereas nothing could have been further from the thoughts and intentions of those who undertook the revision, as any one may see who will investigate the principles by which, as we have desired to show, they were really actuated. Their aim was restoration, and in the process of attaining to it, they exercised the most careful discrimination between the old and the new, and, while cutting away without hesitation the later overgrowths, preserved with scrupulous care the ancient landmarks. And the impartial critic will not hesitate to acknowledge that the conservative and reverent spirit which animated them is abundantly evidenced in the result of their efforts. The completion of their work. But we pass on to the close. The arduous labours of the Committee came to an end, and the report of their deliberations was drawn up and laid upon the table to be attested by the sign-manual of the individual members: and it is not a little remarkable that notwithstanding their diversity of opinions, and the warm discussions which many of the questions had provoked, the result which they had attained was held to be so satisfactory, that there was but one dissentient: Day of Chichester alone [69] protesting that his conscience compelled him to withhold his assent to the document. The next stop, of course, was to give it legal force. Convocation met in November, but though we have no records of what actually took place, we have the authority of the King for stating that it was agreed to by "the whole clergy . . . of this our realm in their synods and provincial convocations." [70] Then after being presented to the Crown if was laid before the nobility and commons assembled in parliament, and on January 15, 1549 A.D., an Act of Uniformity was passed enjoining the use of the Revised Prayer-book after Whitsuntide, in every parish of the King's dominions "throughout England, Wales, Calais, and the marches of the same." [71] The postponement of the operation of the Act appears to have heen unnecessarily long, but this particular time was selected by the Revisers for the purpose of specially dedicating their work to GOD on the Feast of the Holy Ghost, by Whose controlling influence they believed their counsels to have been guided throughout, and brought to a successful issue at last. [72] And now that all the legal formalities had been gone through, let us see how the Book was received. Some of the London Churches set the example of compliance with the law, and superseded the old. Service-books even before the term of respite had expired. [73] Throughout the country, not a few of the clergy, who were averse to any alteration, accepted it because the changes were less violent than they had been led to anticipate; many of the laity also welcomed it gladly, not so much for any modification in doctrine, as from the fact that being written in English, it made their worship more interesting, and converted what in too many cases had been merely a dumb show into a living intelligent transaction. But there were many exceptions. Some of the priests expressed an obstinate determination to resist the operation of the Act, and were contented to suffer for conscience sake. Others openly conformed to the obligation, but secretly continued to celebrate as of old, and, as this created considerable trouble and confusion, the Lords of the Council took violent measures to remedy the evil. This, however, was trifling, compared to other difficulties which arose among the laity, and plunged certain disaffected parts of the country into the miseries of civil war. Outbreaks of fanatical opposition. In these counties the proclamation of the Act was followed by insurrection. The first outbreak was in Devonshire and Cornwall. In the latter of these, one thing, which had especially recommended the Revised Book elsewhere, had little if any force at all. The change from Latin to English was no gain to the Cornishmen, to whom one was as unintelligible as the other. The primary cause of the rebellion is to be found not in any spontaneous outburst of religious feeling, or general aversion to the Reformed service on the part of the people themselves, but to the fanaticism of a few individuals who urged them on. Body, [74] one of the Royal Commissioners appointed to destroy idolatrous shrines, was stabbed to the heart by a misguided priest, who, to justify murder, called upon the people to imitate his zeal, and save their Churches from desecration. Other priests went about the country preaching what the Mahometans call "a Jehad," and invested the movement with all the character of a religious war; and when open hostilities broke out, they carried the Host on to the field of battle. Misguided views of the insurgents. A secondary cause was an infatuated conviction that in some way the Revisionists were associated with the abolition of the Common Lands. Many of the nobility to whom Abbey estates had been granted attempted to turn them to the best account, and made no scruple of enclosing commons, without any respect to the rights of the poor to pasturage. At Sampford Courtenay in Devonshire, the priest incharge professed his intention of acceding to the change of Liturgy on the appointed day, but had secretly instigated the people to stop him by force, and claim the Latin Mass. From this village the flames of discontent spread [75] rapidly, and within a few weeks no less than ten thousand men, mostly mechanics and deluded peasants, took the field in defence of the old Forms. They marched to Exeter, and from the outskirts of the city sent their demands into the King's camp, couched in insolent language, insisting on the restitution of their Service-books, a recognition of Transubstantiation, and, strangely enough, the re-enactment of the Bloody Statute of the Six Articles. The Exonians determined on resistance, and the straits to which they were subjected, through a prolonged siege, have rarely been equalled in the annals of history. We may form some conception of the miseries they endured, when we read that one of the citizens proclaimed in the market-place, that sooner than surrender he would fight with one arm and feed upon the other! At last, when the Royal troops were sufficiently strong to advance against the rebels (and it was not till three merchant princes had come forward to reinforce the leader with large supplies of money, and a regiment of Italian archers [76] had been enlisted in the service), their fate was sealed. They suffered three successive defeats, and the rebellion was crushed. The revenge was severe. Arundel, Winslade, Berry, and Coffin, the ringleaders, were publicly executed at Tyburn: a multitude of others were unceremoniously hanged, among them the Mayor of Bodmin, and a number of priests; and in Exeter, Welsh, the Vicar of St. Thomas', was suspended from his own Church tower, where he hung in chains till "his Popish apparel" rotted away, and the carrion crows picked his bones. That was the most serious of the Rebellions. The rising in the Eastern Counties. We notice more briefly the rising in Norfolk, June 20, at Attleborough, for this, at least at the outset, was less than the other a protest against the Prayer-book. At first the enclosure of the commons was their cry of complaint, but as their numbers swelled new grievances were sought for, and we hear them expressing themselves in such terms as these: "The miseries of this world might be borne; but when the loss of our souls is the question, the ruin from that quarter must be prevented at the utmost hazard . . . the holy ceremonies of antiquity are abolished, and a new face and form of religion forced upon us." Again the Royal troops were unequal to the task of restoring order. Kett, [77] the rebel chief, established a mock court under the "Oak of Reformation," [78] and spread terror through the surrounding country. And here occurred an incident which nearly cost the great Reformer of Queen Elizabeth's reign his life. Parker, in despair at the failure of the sword, resolved to try the effect of peaceable measures. He made his way into the rebel camp, and, from a branch of the famous oak, endeavoured to recall the people to counsels of moderation. But they were in no mood to listen, and were about to tear him to pieces for his advice, when the Chaplain of the Rebel Forces, realising the imminence of the peril, called upon the people suddenly to sing the "Te Deum," and in the excitement and enthusiasm which it kindled the future Primate made good his escape. [79] At length, vigorous measures were taken by the government, and the mutiny was quelled. [80] Kett, on Norwich Castle,his brother on the steeple of Wymondham Church, and nine other rebels on as many branches of the "consecrated Oak," paid the penalty of their crime. The unimpeded spread of the Revised Worship. And with their deaths resistance to the Reformed Liturgy ceased; and it was introduced throughout the length and breadth of the land to the increased edification of the people and the greater glory of Almighty GOD. __________________________________________________________________ [11] BREVIARIUM: cf. Introductory Chapter. MISSALE was the title given probably in the eighth century, or a little later, to the volumes in which the following Office-books were united: LECTIONARIUS, for the lections from Scripture. Sometimes this was divided into Epistolarium, for the Epistles, and Evangelistarium, for the Gospels: ANTIPHONARIUM, or GRADUALE, for all that was sung at Mass: SACRAMENTARIUM, for all the fixed parts and the Collects. MANUALE was the title in the Salisbury and York "Uses" for the Book called elsewhere RITUALE. It comprised the offices for Baptism, Matrimony, Burial, and others of less importance. PONTIFICALE; the chief contents of this were the Ordination Services, Confirmation, Consecration of a Church and Burial ground, and sundry Episcopal benedictions. In addition to the above the PRIMERS deserve notice, though they were originally intended rather for private than public service. The Primer was not confined to any one definite set of prayers, but embraced several different collections according to the will of the compiler. Maskell's Primer, e.g. which has been assigned a date as early as 1400 A.D., contained Matins, Evensong, Compline, Litany, the Hours of the Virgin, the Penitential Psalms and Songs of Degrees, the Lord's Prayer, the Creed, and Ten Commandments. It was usual to print the book in English and Latin, sometimes in one of these languages only. A revised edition was brought out by Marshall in 1530 A.D., and another by Hilsey, Bishop of Rochester, in 1539 A.D., but all existing editions were superseded in 1545 A.D. by "The Primer set forth by the King's Majesty and his Clergy to be taught, learned, and read: and none other to be used throughout all his dominions." [12] It is considered highly probable that he was assisted by Lanfranc, who had already compiled a "Use" for the Benedictines. For the ifluence of Roman ritual upon that which was introduced into England in view of reconciling the clergy, which consisted of two rival races, cf. Preface to the SARUM MISSAL in English, pp. x.-xi. [13] The Lesser Monasteries, 376 in number, with incomes not exceeding -L-200 a year, were dissolved by Act of Parliament, 1536 A.D. The Larger Monasteries shared the same fate, but not so summarily. The Act which appropriated their revenues passed 1539 A.D. [14] In lapse of time the two early services came to be used continuously, and were regarded as one. [15] 1 Cf. FREEMAN'S Principles of Divine Service, i. 278. [16] Erasmus's Greek Testament, though of no critical value, made a deep and lasting impression. He had neither the MSS. to enable him to form a text, nor training to do it even if he had. To it, however, is due the first awakening to the fact that the Vulgate was a document not worthy of the confidence which the Church had placed in it. [17] Dean of St. Paul's, and founder of the School which bears that name. He commenced his Lectures on the Greek Testament in 1498 A.D. [18] Latimer, though at first bitterly opposed to him, became a convert to his teaching, and drew Ridley over to the same studies. [19] Maskell, in opposition to those who have aserted that daily service was never intended for the laity, appeals to the authority of the Fathers and decides that it is "a certain thing, that the Divine Office was not instituted solely for the clergy, but for all men who call themselves Christians." Cf. FREEMAN'S Principles of Divine Service, i. 277. The Scriptures teach plainly that in some sense all Christians are priests. St. Peter addressing his converts at large, writes, "Ye also as lively stones are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthiood," and again, "Ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthiood, a holy nation." 1 Ep. ii. 5, 9. St. JOHN also adopts similar language, "And hath made us kings and priests unto God." REV. i. 6. This teaching however has oftenbecn misunderstood and supposed to destroy the efficacy of ordination. Rightly interpreted, it enhances it greatly. It is evident that the Apostles had in their minds the language which God addressed to the Israelites, where speaking to all He said, "Ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests and an holy nation." EXOD. xix. 6. They knew well that though the universal priesthood of the nation was here acknowledged, God had set apart a special priesthood with special functions, and so hedged it in that for any one of "the kingdom of priests" to claim it, without being called, was an unpardonable sin. Unless the two cases had been analogous the Apostles would have been careful to avoid the language they used. It is worthy of notice how those Nonconforming bodies, which lay stress in this matter on the authority of St. Peter and St. John, have robbed the laity of their prerogative, and precluded them almost entirely from all part in the offering of public worship. A comparison of the ordinary service and the parts assigned to the congregation and the ministers as appointed in the Church and in any Dissenting Chapel will exhibit the contrast in a very marked manner. [20] In 1516 and 1531 A.D. Cf. FREEMAN'S Prinicples, etc., Introd. pt. II. sect. x. [21] This is especially observable in reference to the simplification of the directions for services, and to the extended reading of Holy Scripture. [22] The title of "sole protector and supreme head of the Church," which he proposed to assume, was much discussed in Convocation, and accepted with the limitation "quantum per Christi legem licet," first by Canterbury and shortly afterwards by York. An Act of Parliament was passed in 1534 A.D. declaring the King to be the "Supreme head on earth of the Church of England." [23] Capon and Thomas Goodrich. [24] 2 Cf. p. 13. [25] March 3, 1541 A.D. Cf. WILKINS' Concil. iii. 861, 862. [26] The Act passed in May 1539 A.D. The other enactments were on the efficacy of solitary masses and the celibacy of the priesthood. [27] Cf. Append. by Bishop Stubbs in Ecclesiastical Courts Commission Report, i, 142. [28] This "Order of Communion" was really an addition to the old Latin Mass of an English Form to be used when any of the laity communicated. Cf. Appendix II. [29] The Proclamation ran thus : "The most Blessed Sacrament of the Body and Blood of Christ our Saviour should from henceforth be commonly delivered and ministered to all persons within our realm of England and Ireland and other our dominions under both kings, that is to say, of bread and wine (except necessity of the wise require) lest every man phantasaying and devising a sundry way by himself, in the use of this most blessed Sacrament of unity, there might arise any unseemly or ungodly diversity." [30] In former editions, I spoke of, this Order of Cimmunion having received the sanction of Convocation. In this I have made alterations, being now satisfied that I was mstaken, and that I had its action in regard to the principle of conceding the cup to the laity with the Form of Service subsequently framed for administration. [31] There has been much dispute as to the actual place of session. They were unquestioruably in audience of the King it Windsor, but as the Court was residing at Oatlands during their deIiberations, it is said they usually met at Chertsey Abbey. Cf. Gasquet, p. 133, n. [32] Dixon implies that they were not formally appointed, only nominated. The original terms are obscure: "but this the Lower House released."--WILKINS, iii. 863. [33] The Council of Nicaea, 325 A.D. [34] "I protest and openly confess that in all my doctrine and preaching both of the Sacrament and of other my doctrine, whatsoever it be, not only I mean and judge those things as the Catholic Church and most holy Fathers of old with one accord have meant and judged, but also I would gladly use the same words that they used." Cf. Hook's Life of Cranmer, cap. iii. pp. 147-9. [35] For the right understanding of this we suggest a short explanation. Firstly, Christ was offered in sacrifice once for all, and that sacrifice made a full, perfect, and sufficient antonement for sin. Herein it was distinguished from the Jewish sacrifices, which being imperfect were necessarily repeated. But though Christ died once only, and in His Death all his sufferings ended, there is a sense in which His offering is continious. Look at the type. When the typical act of Atonement was about to be made on one day for the whole sins of the year, the sacrifices were offered in the outer court, and then the High Priest, taking the blood of the sacrifice, entered within the Veil, and presenting it before the Mercy Seat in the presence of God plealed for forgiveness by and through it. The sacrifice was not complete till it was presented and pleaded before God. Now see the antitype. Christ suffered without the camp, and then by His own blood entered the Holy Holies to complete His sacrifice by presenting and pleading it before God. This is still going on, as HEBREWS viii. 3 clearly teaches, and will be continuous till He comes again, when the pleading or representing the memorial of His Death will cease. Now let us see, secondly, how the Holy Eucharist is the counterpart on earth of Christ's presentation of His own sacrifice in heaven. He commanded time Apostles to offer this as His memorial sacrifice. The language he used would suggest as much to Jews. Anamnesis not a term familiar to them for a "memorial before men;" wherever it was used in the Greek Scriptures it was of a "memorial before God;" cl. NUMB. x. 10; LEVIT. xxiv. 7; HEBR. x. 3, compared with LEVIT. xvi. 17. poiein, though often used in another sense, admitted a sacrificial interpretation; cf. BISHOP HAMILTON'S Charge. Liddell and Scott give the meaning "sacrifice," poiein moschon, LXX. "Sacerdos vice Christi vere fungitur, qui id quod Christus fecit, imitator, et sacrificium verum et plenum tune offert."--St. CYPRIAN, Ep. 63. "As it is a commemoration and representnsent of Christ's Death, so it is a commemorative sacrifice." --JER. TAYLOR'S Life of Christ, Disc. xix. Cf. also St. CHRYSOST. Hom. xvii. ad Hebr.; BRAMHALL, Ep. de la Milletiere, Works, i. 54; BULL, Works, ii. 271 (Oxf.) ANDREWES'S Resp. ad Apolog. [36] Cranmer was twice Fellow: elected first in 1523 A.D. [37] When the Abbey of Ely was converted into a Bishopric in 1109 AD., the king directed that the estates shuould be divided in just proportion between the Bishop and the monks. The division, which was conducted entirely by Harvey, the first Bishop, and forced upon the monastery, was so far from being an equitable one, that a contemporary, William of Malmesbury, writes of it in these terms:--"You may judge of the value of the ancient possessions of the Church of Ely by this : that though many of them have been taken away and many are in the hands of intruders, yet he who now presides there receives annually -L-1040 into his own purse, besides what he expends on his own family in keeping up hospitality, but has scarcely allowed -L-300 to the monks."--Cf. BENTHAM'S Hist. of Ely Cath. p. l35. [38] This portion, extending to the paraphrase of the Lord's Prayer, has generally been ascribed to Nowell, afterwards Dean of St. Paul's, but it the time of this revision an assistant-master at Westminister School. There is a strong presumption against the probability of the revisers deputing such an important work to one in a position of so little dignity. It was far likely to be undertaken by one of their own body, such as Goodrich was. It is worthy of record that in 1540 A.D. he was appointed one of the translators of the Bible, and had the Gospel of St. John allotted to him. [39] The Abbey was dissolved and erected into an Episcopal See in December 1540 A.D., and Thirdly appointed first Bishop with jurisdiction over Middlesex. On March 29, 1550 A.D., he surrendered it into the king's hands, who thereupon dissolved it, reconciled Middlesex to London, and translated the Bishop to Norwich. [40] Cf. p. 48. Day, Thirlby, and Skip all protested at first, but the two latter had not the courage of their opinions when the final pressure came.--Cf. SOAMES'S Edward VI. p. 354. [41] Nov. 30, 1550 A.D. Cf. COLLIER'S Eccl. Hist. v. 424. He was afterwards treated with kindness and sent to reside with the Lord Chancellor. [42] He was consecrated Bishop of Lincoln in 1552 A.D. [43] The Deanery of Durham, which, however, he was compelled to resign in favour of Horne, its former holder, on the accession of Elizabeth. [44] The assessors were Holgate, Archbishop of York, Bonner, Bishop of London, Tonstal of Durham, Heath of Worcester, Repps of Norwich, Parfew of St. Asaph, Salcot of Sarum, Sampson of Coventry and Lichfield, Aldrich of Carlisle, Bush of Bristol, and Farrar of St. David's. Cf. CARDWELL's Two Litt. of Ed. VI.: Pref. xiii. [45] 1 COR. xiv. 19. [46] Cf. ORIGEN, Contra Celsum, viii. 37. St. CHRYSOST. Hom. xxxv. in 1 Cor. xiv. [47] Justinian's law enforcing this was afterwards erased from the Latin versions, but it is acknowledged by Bellarmine.--Cf. JER. TAYLOR'S Dissuasive of Popery, Pt. I. e. i. [48] Cf. JER. TAYLOR'S Dissuasive of Popery, Pt. I. c. i. [49] 1544 A.D. [50] Cf. Quarterly Review, No. 298, p. 416. [51] Hist. Of Engl. iii. 475. [52] The opening line is an unfortunate rendering and quite unjustifiable. It should be "We praise Thee as God." It is not at all improbable that this hymn was, in its original form, such an one as Pliny says the Christians used in his time, "carmen dicentes secum invicem Christo quasi Deo."--Ep. ad Traj. Eusebius also testifies to the custom of ascribing Divinity to Christ in hymns.--Eccl. Hist. v. 28, cf. also LIDDON'S Bamp. Lect. vii. Other inaccurate renderings are "goodly fellowship," for "praiseworthy number," "noble army" for "white-robed," (as in an old English version, "the white oost ;")--"When Thou tookest upon Thee," etc., for "When with a view to de1iverance Thou tookest upon Thee humanity."--"Make them to be numbered with thy saints in glory," for, "to be rewarded with glory:"--"numerari" was probably substituted by a clerical error for "munerari," and the "in" prefixed to "gloria" to complete the construction;--Possibly "Vouchsafe to keep us this day," for "that day," viz., the day of judgment, though isle is used mediaeevally for hic;--and perhaps "never be confounded," for "not to be confounded for ever," so an old version, "Be I not schent for ever," though here again "never" is so rendered in the Vulg.; cf. Ps. xv. (xiv.) 5; xxxi. (xxx.) 1." The rhythm is manifestly improved in verses 7, 8, 9. The original runs -- Te gloriosus Apostolorum chorus, Te Prophetarum laudabilis numerus, Te Martyrum candidatus laudat exercitus. [53] All the Saints' Days Collects were composed in 1549 A.D., except those for St. Bartholomew and the Conversion of St. Paul, which were only altered, and those for St. Andrew and St. Stephen, the former of which was written in 1552 A.D., the latter rewritten in 1661 AD. [54] Cf. Preface concerning the Service of the Church. Responsories or responds were short verses from Scripture originally intended to give the key-note of what was being read. It was usual to Introduce them after every three or four verses. [55] Cardinal Quignonez, a Spanish Bishop, revised the Breviary, and published it for the use of the clergy and monasteries, under the sanction of Clement VII. in 1536 A.D. The title of his edition was "Breviarium Romanae Curiae ex sacra et canonica Scriptura necnon sanctorum historiis summa vigilautia decerptis accurate digestum." It was suppressed in 1576 A.D. [56] Lib. ii. c. lvii. The date of their composition is uncertain: the first six books probably in the third century, the others a little later. [57] Apol. i. lxvii. Cf. St. CHRYSOST. Hom. xxiv. in Rom. "Tell me, what Prophet, what Apostle was read to us to-day?" It may be seen also from the Canons of the Councils of Ladicaea and Carthage that both the Old and New Testaments were read in Church. Cf. BINGHAM'S Antiq. xiv. iii. 2. [58] 2 The origin of the term Pie is a vexed question. It has been derived from the initial letter of IRTAT, a tablet, and from pica, a magpie. The allusion in the latter is to the party-coloured letters in which the directions were written. Before the 15th century these regulations were called Ordinale. [59] TERTULLIAN, 190 A.D., speaks of the third, sixth, and ninth hours as more solemn than the rest.--De Orat., c. 25. St. JEROME mentions the same as the times when, according to Ecclesiastical tradition, the knees are to be bent to GOD.--Comm. In Dan., vi. 10. The Apostolical Constitutions, on the other hand, testify to two services only. The Bishop is directed to exhort the people to attend Church constantly morning and evening every day, and the 63d Psalm is appointed for the former, the 141st for the latter.--Lib. ii. c. lix. EPIPHANIUS also, in giving an account of the customs of the Church, mentions morning hymns and evening prayers as constantly used, but makes no allusion to any other.--Exposit. Fidei, n. 23 (t. I. p. 1106). [60] The bulk of the Psalms were sung at Matins and Vespers, twelve at the former, five at the latter. The greater part of the 119th was divided between the Lesser Hours. The remainder were distributed between Lauds, Prime, and Compline. [61] In the passage of the Apotol. Constit. above cited, it is stated that the prophets and the account of the Resurrection were read, and prayers offered up afterwards.--Lib. ii. c. lix. [62] This was more largely provided for in the First Prayer-book than in any of the subsequent Revisions. In each and all of these the element of prayer has encroached upon that of praise. [63] Cf. FREEMAN'S Principles of Divine Service, vol. i. c. iv. s. 3. [64] The great antiquity of the use of this Invitation, dating certainly to the third century, as we know on the, authority of St. Athanasius, as well as its peculiar propriety, are sufficient reasons for not omitting it in the Shortened Form of Service sanctioned by the Act of Uniformity Amendment Act. It is true that discretion is given to the Minister to add, in its proper place, any canticle he may think fit, but in our judgment the "Venite" should have found a place in the necessary portion of the Service. [65] Ad Cleric. Neocoesarienses, ep. 207. [66] Its first mention is said to be in the Gemma Animoe, written In the eleventh century. [67] Cf. DODD'S Church History, quoted in COLLIER, v. 299, n. [68] Cf. FREEMAN'S Principles, Introd. pt. II., sect. xi. MASSINGBERD'S Eng. Ref., pp. 400-2. [69] Skip and Thirlby signed the Book, but protested against the Act of Uniformity.--SOAMES, p. 401. [70] The Acts of Convocation are lost, having perished in the Great Fire in 1666 AD., but the King states in answer to the Devonshire petition that the book was sanctioned by Convocation. The letter is preserved in Bonner's Register. Cf. LATHBURY'S Hist. of Convoc., p. 138, n.; and HARDWICK'S Ref, p. 213, ii. [71] It was allowed by the Act to use the Book, if it could be procured, as soon as Easter. It was used in divers London churches on Easter-day, which fell on the 21st of April, and most probably also in some of the Provinces; for, as the rising of the Devonshire rebels took place on the 10th of June, and Whitsunday was on the 9th, the Service must have become known before this Festival. Cf. LATHBURY, ibid. [72] Cf. The Act of Uniformity. [73] "After Easter beganne the service in English in divers churches, and at Whitsuntide at Pauls by the commandement of the dean."--by it, followed by others, as soon as books could be provided."--HEYLIN'S Eccles. Rest., 74, quoted by LATHBUBY, 139, n. [74] SOAMES'S Reformation, ill. 440. [75] The rebellion began on Whitsun Monday, June 10th. [76] Commanded by Baptista Spinola. They joined Lord Russell's forces and aided very materially in compelling the enemy to raise the siege. The city was relieved on the 6th of August.--Cf. HEYLIN'S Ed. VI. p. l59. FROUNE'S Hist. of. Eng. iv. 410, sm. ed. [77] Robert Kett, who had been a tanner, was possessed of considerable landed property at Wymondham, and, desiring to add to it, enclosed some of the public commons. His fences wore demolished by a number of insurgents, whom he was induced to join. [78] This was on Moushold-hill overlooking the city of Norwich. [79] Cf. HOOK'S Life of Parker, 99. [80] The Royal troops were commanded by the Marquess of Northampton, who failed, and was superseded by the Earl of Warwick, who fought a bloody battle at Dussingdale, defeating the rebels and leaving 2000 of them dead on the field,--Aug. 27. __________________________________________________________________ CHAPTER II THE PURITAN INNOVATIONS The causes which led to the further change. The Revised Prayer-book, after the opposition in Devonshire and Norfolk had subsided, received very general recognition. Of course there were some who, while grateful for the reforms which had been effected, could ill suppress their conviction that the hands of the Reformers had been stayed too soon. These, however, in England at least, were not a numerous body; and if no influence from without had been brought to bear upon them, they would probably have quietly acquiesced without taking any action in the matter. But there were many restless spirits on time Continent who watched the progress of reform in this country with the keenest interest, and whose hopes seemed to hang upon the English Church. All, they felt, would be safe if only they could indoctrinate England with a truly Protestant spirit, a genuine aversion to anything and everything which received the approval of Rome. The foreign Reformers. Foremost amongst these were Calvin, Melanchthon, John `a Lasco, Bucer, and Peter Martyr. Unfortunately they found in Cranmer, the Primate of the English Church, a too ready listener to their Proposals. All of them entered into correspondence with him upon ecclesiastical affairs; some of them came over in person, and were welcomed as guests in his Palace, and received much sympathy and encouragement at his hands. Calvin. Calvin, piqued by the manner in which the Archbishop had met his proposal [81] to take part in the first Revision, hesitated to risk a second rebuff by direct negotiations, but endeavoured first to ingratiate himself with the Protector, hoping through him ultimately to attain his object. He was considerate enough to express his general approval of set forms of prayer, but, with time self-sufficiency which asserts itself in all his letters, enters upon an elaborate criticism and censure of many of those which had so lately received the sanction of the English Convocation, the King, and the Parliament. After this he wrote to Edward VI. pleading for more extensive revision. Cranmer had no personal liking for Calvin, and if he had been the only discontented complainant, probably little notice would have been taken of his grievance, but a far more dangerous Reformer entered into the field of controversy in the person of Melanchthon. The connection between him and the Primate begun under most favourable circumstances. It would hardly be possible to find any other two men with such strong natural affinities to each other. The scheme for a general concordat. Now at this time Melanchthon was possessed by an intense desire to draw up a Concordat which should commend itself to the Protestant world at large, and act as a powerful engine against the Papacy. So long as this was attacked by the Churches singly he felt that it would always prove formidable, perhaps quite invincible, but if it could once be attacked by a combination of forces its downfall was secured. The possibility of the scheme had been suggested to him by the cordial reception of the Confession [82] which he had compiled throughout the Lutheran communities. It is characteristic, however, of Melanchthon's modesty, and strangely in contrast with the self-confidence of his brother Reformer, that he shrank back from all claim to take part even in drawing up the terms of agreement, and more than hinted at the imperfections of the document he had framed. Melanchthon refuses to come to England. The idea commended itself to Cranmer's judgment, and he lost no time in inviting its originator to settle in this country, but the invitation was not accepted. Again and again the Archbishop renewed his efforts, holding out every possible inducement, but Melanchthon persistently refused to leave his native land. The urgency of the invitations we may gather from the astonishment expressed in one of his letters, [83] in which he writes that `the English pressed hitting so hard that they took away his breath.' To any one who had interested himself in the work of Reform the union of all the Reformed Churches in such a coalition must in itself have appeared a grand conception; but past experience of such combinations ought to have suggested difficulty and danger. If the alliance was to be more than nominal it would entail many sacrifices before satisfactory terms could he mutually agreed upon. Of these it was inevitable that by far the larger share would be called for from England. Unhappily Cranmer had already begun to drift away from the principles which he so boldly advocated at the Windsor Revision [84] ; and the utter inconsistency of making the required concessions failed to deter him. There was certainly one most desirable object to be obtained by the project, and possibly this weighed largely with him. It would give back to the Lutheran and Calvinistic Churches the Episcopal government which they had lost. [85] But he never calculated how much was to be set over-against this one advantage in the surrender of other Catholic privileges. The Swiss Protestants, [86] for instance, were impatient of everything, either in doctrine or ritual, for which express direction was wanting in Holy Scripture. To conciliate them the authority of antiquity, the witness of tradition, the decrees of general Councils--all must be disregarded--and, in a word, the guiding principles of the First Revision completely reversed. Influences brough to bear upon Cranmer. Cranmer, unless he wilfully closed his eyes, must have seen all this at the outset; but he was egged on by the Privy Council and the King himself. The fiery Scotch Reformer, John Knox, already enrolled among the Royal Chaplains, [87] was actually proposed for a vacant Bishopric, the King expressing a hope that if raised to the Episcopal Bench he might prove "a whetstone to quicken and sharpen the Bishop of Canterbury, whereof he had need." But though the Utopian scheme of Melanchthon was soon relinquished as hopeless, the impulse in the direction of Protestantism which Cranmer had received lost little of its force. Indeed it gathered fresh energy from a new and unexpected cause. This produced ultimately such grave and unhappy results that we cannot pass on till we have traced its origin with care and attention. The second Diet of Spires. On March 15, 1529 A.D., a diet of the German Empire was ordered by Charles V. to Lake into consideration the state or religion in his dominions. A resolution was passed ratifying a previous condemnation of Luther, and pledging the members of the Conference to use their endeavours to stem the tide of innovation which was threatening to inundate the land. The Elector of Saxony, the Landgrave of Hesse, the Prince of Anhalt, the Dukes of Luenenburg, together with the Commissioners from fourteen Imperial cities, [88] made a manly defence for the rights of conscience, and solemnly protested against what they held to be an unjust decree, gaining from this circumstance the distinction of being the progenitors of all who have since borne the title of `Protestant.' The league of Smalcald. The league of Smalcald, [89] which followed not 1ong after, bound the Protestant States together for, mutual defence against all aggression upon their religious rights. The Emperor determined to leave no stone unturned to defeat their object, but it was not till some time had elapsed that he was able to take any decisive step. In 1548 A.D., by the aid of several divines, he drew up a system of Theology [90] for general adoption, but although it was written with most carefully studied dissimulation, and every artifice which language could provide was employed to conceal its real effect, it was soon discovered to be conformable in all but a few unimportant articles to the old Roman Religion. The document purported to be merely intended as a provisional arrangement, of force only till a general Council could be summoned, and it was designated accordingly `The Interim.' The tyranny of the Emperor. The Emperor was determined to bind the States to his will, and to coerce all who refused compliance. One prince after another suffered imprisonment, taking courage from the noble example of the Elector of Saxony, whom threats and promises alike failed to shake. "I cannot flow," he said, "in my old age abandon the principles for which I formerly contended; nor, in order to procure freedom during a few declining years, will I betray that good cause on account of which I have suffered so much, and am still willing to suffer. Better for me to enjoy in this solitude the esteem of virtuous men, together with the approbation of my own conscience, than to return unto the world, with the imputation and guilt of apostasy, and to disgrace and embitter the remainder of my days." The severity of his confinement was increased, and everything done to compel submission; but throughout Germany and in the Netherlands, there was an obstinate determination not to be drawn back again into the toils from which they had. extricated themselves, when Luther threw the Papal Bull into the flames at Wittenberg. The oppressed Foreigners take refuge in England. But in the midst of all this persecution it was not surprising that they looked abroad for a free country where they might hold and proclaim their opinions without molestation; and it was no less surprising that they turned instinctively to England to find what they desired. These were the circumstances which brought the bulk of the Foreign Protestants into this country. We have dwelt upon the history at length, at the risk of being tedious, because it was of such momentous consequence to the Church that it can hardly be too carefully considered. The leading Foreigners who took refuge with us were John `a Lasco, Peter Martyr, and Martin Bucer. As they affected for a time the whole character of Liturgical worship in England, we shall adopt the plan which we followed with the First Revisionists, and endeavour to draw out the leading features of their lives and work for the better understanding of the influence which they exercised. John `a Lasco. In May 1550 A.D., John `a Lasco came to settle in London. Though by birth a Pole, of noble blood, he had been living in the capital of Friesland [91] for some years, and taking a prominent part in all the Ecclesiastical controversies, which agitated the Netherlands, as well as the rest of the Continent. The Protestant cause made great progress in the province, and the Emperor, perhaps confounding its advocates to some extent with the turbulent Anabaptists, took the extreme measure of invoking the aid of the Spanish Inquisition to suppress them. [92] The fear of this, combined with the publication of "the Interim," [93] drove `a Lasco to find a refuge in England. His great influence. The wide-spread influence which he exercised over the Foreign Churches, which had formed or were forming congregations in London, is very remarkable, and stamps him as a man of no inconsiderable power. He succeeded without difficulty in gaining the ear of the Lords of the Council, Cecil and Choke, and through them of the Protector Somerset. He held out to him the advantages to trade, especially in the branch of weaving, which was their speciality, likely to accrue to our country if his followers were permitted to dwell unmolested. The king's concessions to him. And he gained even more than he asked. The King was so fascinated by his conversation, and touched by his story, that he actually granted part of the dissolved monastery of the Augustinian Friars as a chapel for his congregation, together with the unprecedented privilege of absolute security from interference, civil and ecclesiastical, in their forms of worship and discipline. This remarkable concession, [94] fraught with so much future trouble to the Church, was signed and sealed on July 24, 1550 A.D. It offered all that the restless spirits of the time could desire in the free exercise of religious worship, after other forms than those established by the law of the land. The home of `a Lasco became a rendezvous for persecuted foreigners of whatever denomination or doctrinal opinion, and he reigned like a second Pontiff over a multitude of communities, Dutch, German, Italian, Florentine, Belgian and French. His doctrinal views.In doctrine, on the crucial question of the day, the nature of the Sacraments, he advocated strongly Zuinglian principles, and condemned as idolatrous the practice of kneeling to receive the consecrated elements. His aversion to Rites and Ceremonies manifested itself in his eagerness to shake off the fetters of English usage; while in the Vestiarian controversy, which was creating such trouble and bitterness at this time, Hooper expressed his satisfaction that though many men of influence and position from whom he expected support held entirely aloof, `John `a Lasco stood by his side.' His piety was most marked, and his learning so profound, that Erasmus pronounced him to be "a man of such parts that he wished for no greater happiness than his single friendship," [95] and as an unmistakable mark of his esteem, he bequeathed to him in his will the then-priceless treasure of his Library. Now while `a Lasco was exercising his great influence in favour of Calvinistic doctrine and unrestrained liberty of private judgment in the metropolis, the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge were being brought under the training of foreign minds in many respects of no very different type. Peter Martyr.Peter Martyr was teaching at Oxford; Martin Bucer at Cambridge. Martyr, a man of high birth, spent his early years in a Florentine monastery, but was at last compelled, like so many of his contemporaries, to become an exile for conscience sake. Like `a Lasco he found a sanctuary in England. [96] Shortly after his arrival, mainly through the Primate's influence he superseded Dr. Richard Smith in the Chair of Divinity at Oxford. He became at once unpopular with the University authorities; his first offence was taking his wife to live with him in his Canonical lodgings at Christ Church, she being the first woman who had ventured to invade by her presence "the sanctity of College life." Dying shortly after, she was buried by the shrine of St. Frideswide in Christ Church Cathedral, but on the accession of Queen Mary the Celibates had their revenge, for her body was thrown out in scorn and buried in a dunghill without the precincts of the College. [97] In the earliest lectures that he delivered, ho took such a low view of the Sacraments as to assert that they were mere "figures of absent things," and the general tone of his Theology roused a spirit of strong opposition, so strong that on one occasion when the Schools were thronged by town as well as gown, he owed his preservation from personal violence to the timely interposition of the Vice-Chancellor and his attendants. [98] Again, on the Vestiarian controversy he took up a position directly opposed to all the traditional usage of the Catholic Church, and was heard to boast that although a Canon of the Cathedral "he had never worn a surplice at Oxford, even when present in the Choir," and his favourite designation for the Eucharistic vestments was "relics of the Amorites." [99] And these are things which we must not forget when we come to consider the changes which the Second Edwardian Prayer-book effected both in doctrine and ceremonial. Martin Bucer. We pass to the third of the distinguished Foreigners. His original name was Kuhhorn, but according to a pedantic fashion of the day [100] he changed it to Bucer, bous keras, or in English "Cowhorn." Much of his early life he spent at Heidelberg as a Dominican Friar, [101] but was at length tempted to abandon the cloister, and entered the married state: and in doing so he not only violated his own sacred promise, but induced another to do the same, for he selected a nun for his partner; and when in the plague which devastated the country in 1541 A.D., she and five of her thirteen sons were carried off, the enemies who professed the old Faith boasted that judgment had overtaken her at last for her broken vows. On coming to England at the same time as Martyr, Bucer was placed in the corresponding Chair of Divinity in the sister University, where he gave a fresh direction to the studies of the place. While his brother Professor at Oxford had been trained in the School of Calvin, he had sat at the feet of Luther. [102] His doctrinal views.He did not, it is true, accept his master's teaching on the subject of subjects; he nevertheless held Sacramental views many degrees removed from the bareness of Calvin's pupil. The vicious principle that the abuse of a thing is in itself a sufficient argument for its disuse had to much hold upon him, and it led him to oppose with fatal effect the Catholic practice of commending in prayer the faithful dead to the mercy of GOD. He did not hesitate to profess his cordial acceptance of the Revised Prayer-book, but inasmuch as in twenty-eight chapters of criticism of its contents, he finds abundant material for censure, it is difficult to acquit him of the charge of dissimulation, and certainly his views upon the utility of ceremonies, and "the circumstance" of religious worship, are utterly inconsistent with an unreserved approval of the principles oh the First Revision.His dislike of ceremonies. For instance, he confessed that the sign of the Cross in Holy Baptism, the symbolical act of investing with the Chrisom, [103] and "the sanctification of water to the mystical washing away of sin," were especially distasteful to him. Even the innocent practice of bell-ringing, except immediately before service, he denounced for reasons quite unintelligible. The separation of the Clergy from the Laity during Divine Service, he designated an "antichristian practice." The manual acts accompanying the words of Consecration in the Holy Eucharist he condemned as useless, and not only did he show an aversion to the Eucharistic vestments, but went so far as to object to wearing the Academic dress, though he shielded what we believe was a genuine detestation under the disguise of a quaint witticism, "that he could hardly be expected to wear a square cap, seeing that his head was round." [104] His personal goodness. But while we find so much with which we can feel little sympathy, we must not omit to bear testimony to his personal attractiveness and an amiability and sweetness of disposition towards those who differed from him, which often proved irresistible in winning them to his side. His residence at Cambridge was of short duration, but sufficiently long to endear him to men of every class, and shade of opinion, and he was followed to his grave by the whole body of the University. The learned ecclesiastic Redmayn, Master of Trinity, Cambridge, who delivered a panegyric upon his merits, confessed that his own high sacramental views might not improbably have undergone material modification had not the influence of the Professor's teaching been so prematurely closed. His labours in the Protestant cause were not forgotten when Queen Mary reigned, for his body was exhumed, and burnt in the market-place; but the dishonour was wiped out at a later date, when a special act of reparation was performed at St. Mary's, and the Church presented a spectacle unique in its history, the walls being covered with laudatory verses and tributes to his worth. It to the spell of these three men that Cranmer yielded himself up. Whether he actually utilised their direct aid and counsel, during the progress of the Second Revision, or not, is really a matter of indifference, or at least of secondary importance.Chranges in the opinions of Cranmer. When we contrast him with what he was when he sat in the Chair in the Windsor Assembly, no one can deny that a vast change had passed over him; and when we go on to consider how the change had taken place in the very direction of the teaching of certain influential men, with whom he had been living in close intimacy or correspondence, there is only one consistent conclusion to be drawn. In the alterations which mark the Revision under present consideration we see again and again such a significant coincidence between the proscription of forms or doctrine, and the peculiar tenets of one or other of these Foreign Reformers, that it is simple blindness to refuse to acknowledge the potency of this alien influence. Now, while Cranmer and the King had been drawn into such close bonds of sympathy with the Exiles, and strongly impelled, as we have seen, to conciliate them by further revision of our Service-books in view of a great Protestant Alliance, matters were brought to a crisis by the outbreak of the Vestiarian controversy. The Vestiarian dispute. The prominent figure throughout was John Hooper. On the passing of the "Bloody Statute" [105] he fled to Zurich, and there became thoroughly impregnated with Swiss theology, and enamoured of the bareness of Zwingli's forms of service. John Hooper. After his return home upon the accession of Edward VI., he was appointed to preach before the King and his Most Honourable Privy Council, and availed himself of the opportunity of advocating in several sermons a number of sweeping changes and most startling innovations. His first efforts were directed to the destruction of stone altars [106] and the substitution of wooden tables, which he deemed imperative, for the overthrow of the Sacrificial doctrine of the Holy Eucharist; and in this crusade Ridley went heartily with him. [107] As a necessary sequel it was followed up by an attack upon the Eucharistic Vestments, which he said were only "marks of Judaism" calculated to bring us back again to the Aaronic Priesthood. From this he went on to condemn the Academical habits, and the Convocation Robes of the Prelates especially as being of the colour which was held to identify the Papacy with the Babylonian harlot. But here the Bishop of London wisely quitted his side. Ho even contended so strongly for the mediaeval dress, that, Sooner than yield, he advised the imprisonment of his old colleague for his obstinate refusal to wear them. Hooper was committed to the Fleet. [108] It was one of those unguarded moves, which so often lead to consequences the very opposite to what is desired. Persecution endured for conscience sake not unfrequently terminates in favour of the persecuted. When the Prison door closed upon Hooper, the battle was won for his cause. No sanction from Convocation for fresh reforms. And, with this agitation, the combination of forces requisite to re-open the reform of Church worship was well-nigh complete. It only wanted the sanction of Convocation to insure recommencement and unimpeded progress afterwards. But, to the honour of the C