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Of Acts of Uniformity.

In the 2nd year of Edward the Sixth a Prayer Book was established by Stat. 2 and 3 Edw. VI. c. 1. This act was not printed with the Prayer Book. The second Prayer Book of Edw. VI. was established by Stat. 5 and 6 Edw. VI. c. I, s. 5, in which the revision of the former book is announced, and ascribed rather to the curiosity of ministers and mistakers than to any other worthy cause; the Form of Making and Consecrating of Archbishops, Bishops, Priests and Deacons is added, and declared to be of the same force as the Book of Common Prayer. This act was printed with the edition of the Prayer Book in 1552. A Prayer Book was likewise established by Stat. 1 Eliz. C. 2. But the regulations made in the several acts of uniformity for the establishing of the several respective Books are enforced by Stat. 13 and 14 Car. II. c. 4, s. 24, by which it was enacted "that the several good laws and statutes of the realm, which have been formerly made and are now in force for the uniformity of prayer and administration of the sacraments, shall stand in full force and strength to all intents and purposes whatsoever, for the establishing and confirming of the said book hereintofore mentioned to be joined and annexed to this act, and shall be applied, practised, and put in use for the punishing of all offences contrary to the said laws with relation to the book aforesaid and no other." By the same statute a true printed copy of this Book of Common Prayer is to be procured for every parish church, chapelry, cathedral church, college and hall, at the cost of the parishioners, and a fine of £3 a month levied for neglect.

In Kemp v. Wilkes, Sir John Nichol gave this useful summary. The Book of

Common Prayer, and therefore the rubric contained in the Book of Common Prayer, has been confirmed by parliament. Anciently and before the Reformation various liturgies were used in this country, and it should seem as if each bishop might in his own particular diocese direct the form in which the public service was to be performed; but after the Reformation, in the reigns of Edward the Sixth and Queen Elizabeth, acts of uniformity passed, and those acts of uniformity established a particular liturgy to be used throughout the kingdom. King James the First made some alteration in the Liturgy, particularly, as it will be necessary to notice, in this matter of baptism. Immediately upon the Restoration, the Book of Common Prayer was revised. An attempt was then made to render it satisfactory both to the Church itself and to those who dissented from the Church, particularly to the Presbyterians; and for that purpose conferences were held in the Savoy: but the other party requiring an entire new liturgy on an entire new plan, the conference broke up without success. The Liturgy was then revised by the two houses of convocation: it was approved by the king; it was presented to the parliament, and an act was passed confirming it in the 13 and 14 Car. II., being the last act which was passed upon the subject; and so it stands confirmed to this day, except so far as any alteration may have been produced by the Toleration Act or by any subsequent statutes. The rubric then or the directions of the Book of Common Prayer form a part of the statute law of the land. STEPHENS' Laws relating to the Clergy, Vol. 11. 1079–80.

OF THE PREFACE, &c.

THIS Preface was prefixed in 1662; its composition is ascribed to Sanderson, Bishop of Lincoln.

Of the Revision Elizabeth ascended the throne on the 17th Nov. 1558. In the December following a committee was privately appointed to review the Edwardine Service Books and to prepare a new Book for the Queen's approval. The committee consisted of Bill, afterwards dn of Westminster, Parker, afterwards archbp of Canterbury, May, afterwards archbp elect of York. Cox, afterwards bp of Ely, Whitehead, who is said by Anthony

under Elizabeth.

Wood to have refused the archbishopric of Canterbury when it was offered to himn by Queen Elizabeth, Grindal, afterwards bp of London, and Pilkington, afterwards bp of Durham, with Sir Thos. Smith as President. In consequence of the illness of Parker, Guest, afterwards bp of Rochester, was called in. From a paper submitted by him to Sir Wm. Cecil, the Queen's Secretary, we gather that the committee not only gave the preference

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agreed upon by the Archbishops, and Bishops of both Provinces, and the whole Clergy in the Convocation holden at London, in the year of our Lord One thousand five hundred sixty-two, for the avoiding of diversities of Opinions, and for establishing of consent touching true Religion, is in these words following, viz.

That the Book of Consecration of Archbishops, and Bishops, and Ordaining of Priests and Deacons, lately set forth in the time of King Edward the Sixth, and confirmed at the same time by Authority of Parliament, doth contain all things necessary to such Consecration and Ordaining, neither hath it any thing that of itself is superstitious and ungodly: And therefore whosoever are Consecrated or Ordered acsecond year of the af renamed King Edward unto the time, or hereafter shall be Consecr, ted or Ordered according to the same Rites, We decree all such to be rightly, orderly and lawfully Consecrated and Ordered.

by the Authority aforesaid, That the respective Deans and Chapters of every Cathedral or Collegiate Church within England and Wales shall at their proper costs and charges, before the twenty-fifth day of December One thousand six hundred sixty-two, obtain under the Great Seal of England a true and perfect printed Copy of this Act, and of the said Book annexed hereunto, to be by the said Deans and Chapters, and their Successors, kept and preserved in safety for ever, and to be also produced and shewed forth in any Court of Record, as often as they shall be thereunto lawfully required; And also there shall be delivered true and perfect Copies of this Act and of the same Book, into the respective Courts at Westminster, and into the Tower of London, to be kept and pre-cording to the Rites of that Book, since the served for ever among the Records of the said Courts, and the Records of the Tower, to be also produced and shewed forth in any Court, as needs shall require; which said Books so to be exemplified under the Great Seal of England, shall be examined by such persons as the King's Majesty shall appoint, under the Great Seal of England, for that purpose, and shall be compared with the Original Book hereunto annexed, and shall have power to correct and amend in writing any Error committed by the Printer in the printing of the same Book, or of any thing therein contained, and shall certify in writing under their Hands and Seals, or the Hands and Seals of any Three of them, at the end of the same Book, that they have examined and compared the same Book, and find it to be a true and perfect Copy; which said Books, and every one of them, so exemplified under the Great Seal of England as aforesaid, shall be deemed, taken, adjudged and expounded to be good and available in the Law, to all intents and purposes whatsoever, and shall be accounted as good Records as this Book itself hereunto annexed; Any Law or Custom to the contrary in any wise notwithstanding.

Provided also, That this Act or any thing therein contained shall not be prejudicial or hurtful unto the King's Frofessor of Law within the University of Oxford, for or concerning the Prebend of Shipton within the Cathedral Church of Sarum, united and annexed unto the place of the same King's Professor for the time being by the late King James of blessed memory.

Provided always, That whereas the Six and thirtieth Article of the Nine and thirty Articles

It be Enacted, and be it therefore Enacted by the Authority aforesaid, That all Subscrip tions hereafter to be had or made unto the said Articles by any Deacon, Priest or Ecclesiastical person, or other person whatsoever, who by this Act, or any other Law now in force, is required to Subscribe unto the said Articles, shall be construed, and taken to extend, and shall be applied (for and touching the said Six and thirtieth Article) unto the Book containing the form and manner of Making, Ordaining and Consecrating of Bishops, Priests and Deacons, in this Act mentioned, in such sort and manner as the same did heretofore extend unto the Book set forth in the time of King Edward the Sixth, mentioned in the said Six and thirtieth Article; anything in the said Article, or in any Statute, Act or Canon heretofore had or made, to the contrary thereof in any wise notwithstanding.

Provided also, That the Book of Common Prayer, and Administration of the Sacraments, and other Rites and Ceremonies of the Church of England, together with the form and manner of Ordaining and Consecrating Bishops, Priests and Deacons, heretofore in use, and respectively established by Act of Parliament in the First and Eighth years of Queen Elizabeth, shall be still used and observed in the Church of England, until the Feast of Saint Bartholomew, which shall be in the year of our Lord God One thousand six hundred sixty and two.

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to Edward's second book, but even advanced still farther in the new path, leaving it optional with the communicants to receive the elements either standing or kneeling. The sympathies of the Queen, however, were with Edward's First Book; and under her influence, as it is thought, the advance was stayed and even some steps were retraced. These alterations of Edward's Second Book, which will be found noted in their proper places, were probably made before the Book was submitted to Parliament; for the bill enforcing it passed rapidly through the two houses, having been read a first time in the Commons on the 18th April

Of the Revision

James succeeded Elizabeth on the 26th March 1603; and in the month of April received a petition from the Puritans, praying for further reforms in the Church. This petition, from the number of names attached to it, was called the Millenary petition. The king was willing to consider the prayer of the petitioners, and seems indeed to have welcomed such an opportunity for the display of his polemical powers. He published a proclamation on the 24th Oct., in which he announced that he had intended to hold a consultation respecting the state of the Church on the 1st of Nov., but was compelled by the prevalence of the plague to defer it till after Christmas. Accordingly he summoned representatives of the Church and of the Puritans to meet him at Hampton Court on the 14th Jan. 1604. The Church was represented by the archbp of Canterbury, the bps of Lon

Of the Revision

A few weeks after the restoration of Charles II. certain Presbyterian ministers presented an address to him, praying for a new form of Common Prayer, or at least a revision and effectual reform of the old form. The Church party, while contending for the preservation of the Prayer-book in its integrity, were willing to have it reviewed. Accordingly, on March 25th, 1661, a royal warrant was issued, appointing twelve bishops and twelve presbyterian divines, with nine other divines on each side as assistants, a Commission to advise upon and review the Book of Common Prayer. The Commission met for the first time on April 15th, at the Savoy, whence the title Savoy Conference, when the Presbyterians were called on to deliver in their exceptions to the book and to specify the additions which they desired. They did so at some length. They objected to the

1559, a second time on the 19th, and a third time on the 20th. On the 25th April it was sent to the Lords, where it was read a first time on the 26th, a second time on the 27th. On the 28th it was read a third time and passed, all the bps in the house voting against it. The act enjoined that the revised Book should come into use on the 24th June 1559. The 26th section of the Act authorized the Queen, under certain circumstances, to make additions to the Prayer-book. In the exercise of this power she put forth a new calendar in 1561 and made a few verbal alterations.

under James I.

don. Durham, Winchester, Worcester, St David's, Chichester, Carlisle, and Peterborough; the dn of the chapel royal and six other deans, with Drs Field and King. For the Puritans there appeared Drs Reinolds and Sparkes, and Messrs Knewstubs and Chaderton. The chief points objected to were confirmation, the cross in baptism, the surplice, private baptism, kneeling at the communion, reading of the Apocrypha, and subscription to the Prayer-book and Articles. The king took a very active part in the conference, and ruled, on the whole, against the Puritans. It was agreed, however, that a few alterations, or rather enlargements and explanations, should be made: and they were authorized by letters patent published the 9th Feb. 1604, as explanations, so bringing them, as it was supposed, within the scope of the 1st Eliz. c. 2, s. 26.

under Charles II.

baptismal office, to the use of the surplice, and to kneeling at the receiving of the holy communion. One of their proposals was that the Litany should be changed into one long solemn prayer, another that the minister should be allowed to omit part of the public prayer at his discretion, another that the repetitions and responsals of the clerk and people and the alternate reading of the psalms and hymns should be laid aside. They further proposed that the minister should have full power to admit or repel communicants. The self-sufficiency, not to say arrogance, which these objections and requirements manifest, marked the whole of their conduct. The consequence was just such as might have been expected. The fierce and captious spirit of the Presbyterians made the Church divines still more unyielding, so that the conference between them ended July 25th, 1661, without

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THE PREFACE.

T hath been the wisdom of the Church of England, ever since the first compiling of her publick Liturgy, to keep the mean between the two extremes, of too much stiffness in refusing, and of too much easiness in admitting any variation from it. For, as on the one side common experience sheweth, that where a change hath been made of things advisedly established (no evident necessity so requiring) sundry inconveniences have thereupon ensued: and those many times more and greater than the evils, that were intended to be remedied by such change: So on the other side, the particular forms of Divine worship, and the Rites and Ceremonies appointed to be used therein, being things in their own nature indifferent, and alterable, and so acknowledged; it is but reasonable, that upon weighty and important considerations, according to the various exigency of times and occasions, such changes and alterations should be made therein, as to those that are in place of Authority should from time to time seem either necessary or expedient. Accordingly we find, that in the reigns of several Princes of blessed memory since the Reformation, the Church, upon just and weighty considerations her thereunto moving, hath yielded to make such alterations in some particulars, as in their respective times were thought convenient: yet so, as that the main body and essentials of it (as well in the chiefest materials, as in the frame and order thereof) have still continued the same unto this day, and do yet stand firm and unshaken, notwithstanding all the vain attempts and impetuous assaults made against it, by such men as are given to change, and have always discovered a greater regard to their own private fancies and interests, than to that duty they owe to the publick

By what undue means, and for what mischievous purposes the use of the Liturgy (though enjoined by the laws of the land, and those laws never yet repealed) came, during the late unhappy confusions, to be discontinued, is too well known to the world, and we are not willing here to remember. But when, upon His Majesty's happy restoration, it seemed probable, that, amongst other things, the use of the Liturgy also would return of course (the same having never been legally abolished) unless some timely means were used to prevent it; those men who under the late usurped powers had made it a great part of their business to render the people disaffected thereunto, saw themselves in point of reputation and interest concerned (unless they would freely acknowledge theinselves to have erred, which such men are very hardly brought to do) with their utmost endeavours to hinder the restitution thereof. In order whereunto divers pamphlets were published against the Book of Common Prayer, the old objections mustered up, with the addition of some new ones, more than formerly had been made, to make the number swell. In fine; great importunities were used to His Sacred

Majesty, that the said Book might be revised, and such alterations therein, and widtions thereunto made, as should be thought requisite for the ease of tender consciences: whereunto His Majesty, out of his pious inclination to give satisfaction (so far as could be reasonably expected) to all his subjects of what persuasion soever, did graciously condescend.

In which review we have endeavoured to observe the like moderation, as we find to have been used in the like case in former times. And therefore of the sundry alterations proposed unto us, we have rejected all such as were either of dangerous consequence (as secretly striking at some established doctrine, or laudable practice of the Church of England, or indeed of the whole Catholick Church of Christ) or else of no consequence at all, but utterly frivolous and vain. But such alterations as were tendered to us, (by what persons, under what pretences, or to what purpose soever so tendered) as seemed to us in any degree requisite or expedient, we have willingly, and of our own accord assented unto: not enforced so to do by any strength of argument, convincing us of the necessity of making the said alterations: for we are fully persuaded in our judgements (and we here profess it to the world) that the Book, as it stood before established by law, doth not contain in it any thing contrary to the Word of God, or to sound doctrine, or which a godly man may not with a good conscience use and submit unto, or which is not fairly defensible against any that shall oppose the same; if it shall be allowed such just and favourable construction as in common equity ought to be allowed to all human writings, especially such as are set forth by authority, and even to the very best translations of the holy Scripture itself.

Our general aim therefore in this undertaking was, not to gratify this or that party in any their unreasonable demands; but to do that, which to our best understandings we conceived might most tend to the preservation of peace and unity in the Church; the procuring of reverence, and exciting of piety and devotion in the publick worship of God; and the cutting off occasion from them that seek occasion of cavil or quarrel against the Liturgy of the Church. And as to the several variations from the former Book, whether by alteration, addition, or otherwise, it shall suffice to give this general account, That most of the alterations were made, either first, for the better direction of them that are to officiate in any part of Divine Service; which is chiefly done in the Calendars and Rubricks: Or secondly, for the more proper expressing of some words or phrases of ancient usage in terms more suitable to the language of the present times, and the clearer explanation of some other words and phrases, that were either of doubtful signification, or otherwise liable to misconstruction: Or thirdly, for a more perfect rendering of such portions of

any accommodation," the commissioners agreeing to report to the King: "That the Church's welfare, that unity and peace, and his majesty's satisfaction, were ends, upon which they were all agreed; but as to the means they could not come to any harmony.'

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Meanwhile the Convocation, which had assembled May 8th, 1661, was not idle. They drew up a form of prayer for the 29th of May, and also an office for the baptism of adults. After some adjournments Convocation reassembled on Nov. 21st, when, in obedience to the king's letters directing a revision of the Prayerbook, Cosin, bp of Durham, Wren, bp of Ely, Skinner, bp of Oxford, Warner, bp of Rochester, Henchman, bp of Salisbury, Morley, bp of Worcester, Sanderson, bp of Lincoln, and Nicholson, bp of Gloucester, were appointed a committee for that purpose. The work seems to have been already done; for on Nov. 23rd a portion of the corrected Prayerbook was delivered to the prolocutor:

and the whole business was completed by Dec. 20th, when the revised book was adopted and subscribed.

On Nov. 22nd the King wrote to the Archbishop of York, authorizing the northern Convocation to review the Prayer-book. His letter was sent the next day by the prelates of the northern province, who were then in London, to the prolocutor of York, with a request that proxies should be forthwith appointed to represent the lower house of the northern Convocation in the Convocation of Canterbury. Such proxies were appointed on Nov. 30th. They assented to the revised book. And the book, thus adopted by the bishops and the whole clergy, was presented to the King, who, having confirmed it under the great seal, sent it with a royal message to Parlia ment, Feb. 25th, 1662. The Act of Uniformity, enforcing its use, received the royal assent on the 19th May, 1662. The revised Book came into use on the 24th Aug. 1662.

CONCERNING THE SERVICE OF THE CHURCH. This matter was in 1549 and subsequent editions until 1662 styled The Preface. The substance of it is taken from the Preface to the Breviary of Cardinal Quignon, in which the same arguments for revision are used, reading of Scripture is commanded, and frequent interruption by Versicles, Responsories, &c. deprecated. A weekly arrangement of the Psalter is there given.

when it was abrogated by the Papal Bull prefixed to that Breviary, together with all other Breviaries which had been composed within the preceding two hundred years. The reform of Cardinal Quignon was not carried so far as to translate the Service into the vernacular language.

The Breviary of Cardinal Quignon was composed under the encouragement of Pope Clement VII. Lessons from Holy Scripture were introduced at such length that the greater part of the old and the whole of the New Testament were read in the course of the year, while the offices of ordinary and of feast days were nearly equalized in length; the arrangement of the psalms in the different hours was altered; the capitula and responsories or verses of Scripture, which had been introduced for the use of choral service, were omitted; and the office in honour of the Virgin was suppressed, together with many false legends of the Saints. This Breviary was published in 1536 and 1537 with a dedication to pope Paul III. whose Bull, permitting its use instead of the Roman and other Breviaries, on condition of obtaining special faculties from the Papal See, was prefixed. It went through many successive editions, and was extensively used in the Western Church till the publication of a new revision of the Roman Breviary, under the auspices of pope Pius V., in 1568,

The hours of Prayer received in the English and other western churches before the Reformation were seven in number, viz. matins, the 1st, 3rd, 6th, 9th hours, vespers, and compline.

Matins were originally divided into two parts, Nocturn and Matin lauds. Nocturnal service arose as a necessity in time of persecution; it was continued from choice. The midnight and early morning service were united and called Matins.

Prime or the 1st hour service was first appointed as an hour of prayer in the monastery of Bethlehem about the time of Cassian at the beginning of the 5th century.

The 3rd, 6th, and 9th hours are mentioned as times of prayer in the 2nd and 3rd centuries; but public worship appropriate to them does not seem to have been customary before the 5th century. Vespers or evening service is of the most primitive antiquity.

Compline or completorium was held late in the evening. It was first introduced by Benedict in the 6th century.

Although special services had been appointed for certain hours, the observation of the separate times of prayer was not

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