,transcriber's ,note3 ,the footnotes    
have been numbered and moved to  the end
 of the document4    ,this file was     
produced from images generously made    
available by  ,the ,internet            
,archive_/,american ,libraries4      ,a 
,,short ,,history ,,of ,,the ,,book ,,of
 ,,common ,,prayer    ,,together ,,with 
,,certain ,,papers ,,illustrative ,,of  
,,liturgical ,,revision #ahgh-ahib      
,,by        ,,william ,,reed            
,,huntington ,d4 ,d4 ,d4 ,c4 ,l4        
,rector of ,grace ,church ,new ,york    
,,new ,,york ,,thomas ,,whittaker    #b 
and #c ,bible ,house                    
,copyright1 #ahic1    by    ,,thomas    
,,whittaker1        ,,the ,,mershon     
,,company ,,press1 ,,rahway1 ,n4 ,j4    
,,contents      ,i4 ,a ,short ,history  
of the ,book of ,common ,prayer3    ,i4 
,origins1    ,,ii4 ,vicissitudes1       
,,ii4 ,revision of the ,american ,common
 ,prayer1    ,,iii4 ,the ,book ,annexed3
 ,its ,critics and its ,prospects1      
,appendix3    ,i4 ,permanent and        

,variable ,characteristics of the       
,prayer ,book--,a  ,sermon ,before      
,revision1 #ahgh    ,,ii4 ,the ,outcome 
of ,revision1 #ahib    ,,iii4 ,tabular  
,view of ,additions ,made at the        
,successive ,revisions1  #aeeb-ahib     
,,introductory ,,note4      ,the opening
 paper of this collection was originally
 read as a  lecture before a liturgical 
class1 and is now published for the     
first time4 ,the others have appeared in
 print from time to time  during the    
movement for revision4 ,if they have any
 permanent  value1 it is because of     
their showing1 so far as the writer's   
part  in the matter is concerned1 what  
things were attempted and what  things  
failed of accomplishment4 ,should they  
serve as contributory  to some future   
narrative of the revision1 the object of
 their  publication will have been      
accomplished4 ,so much has been said as 
to the poverty of our gains on the side 
of enrichment1 as  compared with what   
has been secured in the line of         

flexibility1  that it has seemed proper 
to append to the volume a ,comparative  
,table detailing the additions of       
liturgical matter made to the  ,common  
,prayer at the successive revisions4    
,w4 ,r4 ,h4 ,new ,york1 ,christmas1     
#ahib4        ,a ,,short ,,history ,,of 
,,the ,,book ,,of ,,common ,,prayer4    
,a ,,short ,,history ,,of ,,the ,,book  
,,of ,,common ,,prayer4      ,i4        
,,origins4      ,liturgical worship1    
understood in the largest sense the     
phrase can  bear1 means divine service  
rendered in accordance with an          
established  form4 ,of late years there 
has been an attempt made among purists  
to  confine the word liturgy to the     
office entitled in the ,prayer  ,book1  
,the ,order for the ,administration of  
the ,lord's ,supper or  ,holy           
,communion4    ,this restricted and     
specialized interpretation of a familiar
 word  may serve the purposes of        
technical scholarship1 for undoubtedly  
there is much to be said in favor of the

 narrowed signification as  we shall    
see2 but unless ,english literature can 
be rewritten1 plain  people who draw    
their vocabulary from standard authors  
will go on  calling service-books       
liturgies regardless of the fact that   
they  contain many things other than    
that one office which is entitled  to be
 named by eminence the ,liturgy4 ,this  
,convention1 write the  fathers of the  
,american ,episcopal ,church in the     
,ratification printed  on the fourth    
page of the ,prayer ,book1 having in    
their present  session set forth a ,book
 of ,common ,prayer and other rites and 
ceremonies of the ,church1 do hereby    
establish the said book2 and  they      
declare it to be the ,liturgy of this   
,church4    ,for the origin of liturgy  
thus broadly defined we have to go a    
long  way back2 beyond the ,prayer      
,book1 beyond the ,mass-book1 beyond the
  ancient ,sacramentaries1 yes1 beyond  
the synagogue worship1 beyond  the      
temple worship1 beyond the tabernacle   

worship2 in fact ,i am  disposed to     
think that1 logically1 we should be     
unable to stop  short until we had      
reached the very heart of man itself1   
that  dimly discerned groundwork we call
 human nature1 and had discovered  there
 those two instincts1 the one of worship
 and the other of  gregariousness1 from 
whence all forms of common prayer have  
sprung4  ,where three or two assemble   
for the purposes of supplication1 some  
form must necessarily be accepted if    
they are to pray in unison4  ,when the  
disciples came to ,jesus begging him    
that he would teach  them how to pray1  
he gave them1 not twelve several forms1 
though  doubtless ,james's special needs
 differed from ,john's and ,simon's     
from ,jude's--he gave them1 not twelve1 
but one4 ,when ye pray1  was his answer1
 say ,our ,father4 ,that was the        
beginning of  ,christian ,common        
,prayer4 ,because we are men we worship1
 because  we are fellow-men our worship 
must have form4    ,but waiving this    

last analysis of all which carries us   
across the  whole field of history at a 
leap1 it becomes necessary to seek  for 
liturgical beginnings by a more plodding
 process4    ,if we take that manual of 
worship with which as ,english-speaking 
,christians we are ourselves the most   
familiar1 the ,book of ,common  ,prayer1
 and allow it to fall naturally apart1  
as a bunch of  flowers would do if the  
string were cut1 we discover that in    
point of fact we have1 as in the case of
 the ,bible1 many books  in one4 ,we    
have scarcely turned the title-page1 for
 instance1  before we come upon a ritual
 of daily worship1 an order for         
,morning ,prayer and an order for       
,evening ,prayer1 consisting in  the    
main of ,psalms1 ,scripture ,lessons1   
,antiphonal ,versicles1  and ,collects4 
,appended to this we find a ,litany or  
,general  ,supplication and a collection
 of special prayers4    ,mark an        
interval here1 and note that we have    
completed the first  volume of our      

liturgical library4 ,next1 we have a    
sacramental  ritual1 entitled1 ,the     
,order for the ,administration of the   
,lord's  ,supper or ,holy ,communion1   
ingeniously interwoven by a system of   
appropriate prayers and ,new ,testament 
readings with the ,sundays  and holydays
 of the year4 ,this gives us our second 
volume4  ,then follow numerous offices  
which we shall find it convenient  to   
classify under two heads1 namely3 those 
which may be said by  a bishop or by a  
presbyter1 and those that may be said by
 a  bishop only4 ,under the former head 
come the baptismal offices1  the ,order 
for the ,burial of the ,dead1 and the   
like2 under the  latter1 the services of
 ,ordination and ,confirmation and the  
,form  of ,consecration of a ,church or 
,chapel4    ,in the ,church of ,england 
as it existed before the ,reformation1  
these four volumes1 as ,i have called   
them1 were distinct and  recognized     
realities4 ,each had its title and each 
its separate  use4 ,the name of the book

 of daily services was ,the ,breviary4  
,the name of the book used in the       
celebration of the ,holy ,communion  was
 ,the ,missal4 ,the name of the book of 
,special ,offices was  ,the ,ritual4    
,the name of the book of such offices as
 could be  used by a bishop only was    
,the ,pontifical4 ,it was one of the    
greatest of the achievements of the     
,english reformers that they  succeeded 
in condensing1 after a practical        
fashion1 these four  books1 or1 to speak
 more accurately1 the first three of    
them1  ,breviary1 ,missal1 and ,ritual1 
into one4 ,the ,pontifical1 or          
,ordinal1 they continued as a separate  
book1 although it soon for  the sake of 
convenience became customary in         
,england1 as it has  always been        
customary here1 for ,prayer ,book and   
,ordinal to be  stitched together by the
 binders into a single volume4          
,popularly  speaking the ,prayer ,book  
is the entire volume one purchases under
  that name from the bookseller1 but    

accurately speaking the ,book  of       
,common ,prayer ends where ,the ,form   
and ,manner of ,making1  ,ordaining1 and
 ,consecrating ,bishops1 ,priests1 and  
,deacons  begins4 ,finis should be      
written after the ,psalter1 as indeed   
from the ,prayer ,book's ,table of      
,contents plainly appears4    ,setting  
aside now1 for the present1 that portion
 of the formularies  which corresponds  
to the ,ritual and ,pontifical of the   
mediaeval  ,church1 ,i proceed to speak 
rapidly of the antecedents of ,breviary 
and ,missal4 ,whence came they8 ,and how
 are we to account for  their being     
sundered so distinctly as they are8     
,they came1 so some of the most         
thoughtful of liturgical students  are  
agreed1 from a source no less remote    
than the ,temple of  ,solomon1 and they 
are severed1 to speak figuratively1 by a
 valley  not unlike that which in our   
thoughts divides the ,mount of          
,beatitudes from the ,hill of ,calvary4 
,in that memorable building to which    

reference was just made1  influential   
over the destinies of our race as no    
other house of  man's making ever was1  
there went on from day to day these two 
things1 psalmody and sacrifice4         
,peace-offering1 burnt-offering1        
sin-offering1 the morning oblation1 and 
the evening oblation--these  with other 
ceremonies of a like character went to  
make what we  know as the sacrificial   
ritual of the temple4    ,but this was  
not all4 ,it would appear that there    
were other  services in the temple over 
and above those that could strictly  be 
called sacrificial4 ,the ,hebrew        
,psalter1 the hymn-book of that  early  
day1 contains much that was evidently   
intended by the  writers for temple use1
 and even more that could be easily     
adapted to such use4 ,and although there
 is no direct evidence  that in         
,solomon's time forms of prayer other   
than those associated  with sacrificial 
rites were in use1 yet when we find     
mention in  the ,new ,testament of      

people going up to the temple of those  
later  days at the hour of prayer1 it   
seems reasonable to infer that  the     
custom was an ancient one1 and that from
 the beginning of the  temple's history 
forms of worship not strictly speaking  
sacrificial  had been a stated feature  
of the ritual4 ,but whether in the      
temple  or not1 certainly in the        
synagogues1 which after the return from 
the captivity sprang up all over the    
,jewish world1 services  composed of    
prayers1 of psalms1 and of readings from
 the law and  the prophets were of      
continual occurrence4 ,therefore we may 
safely  say that with these two forms of
 divine service1 the sacrificial  and   
the simply devotional and didactic1 the 
apostles1 the founders  of the          
,christian ,church1 had been familiar   
from their childhood4  ,they were at    
home in both synagogue and temple4 ,they
 knew by sight  the ritual of the altar1
 and by ear the ritual of the choir4    
,they  were accustomed to the spectacle 

of the priest offering the victim2  they
 were used to hearing the singers chant 
the psalms4    ,we see thus why it is   
that the public worship of the ,church  
should  have come down to us in two     
great lines1 why there should be a      
tradition of eucharistic worship and1   
parallel to this1 a tradition  of daily 
prayer2 for as the one usage links      
itself1 in a sense1  to the sacrificial 
system of ,god's ancient people and has 
in it a  suggestion of the temple       
worship1 so the other seems to show a   
continuity with what went on in those   
less pretentious sanctuaries  which had 
place in all the cities and villages of 
,judea1 and indeed  wherever1 throughout
 the ,roman world1 ,jewish colonists    
were to be  found4 ,the earliest        
,christian disciples having been        
themselves  ,hebrews1 nothing could have
 been more natural than their moulding  
the worship of the new ,church in       
general accordance with the  models that
 had stood before their eyes from       

childhood in the  old4 ,the ,psalms were
 sung in the synagogues according to a  
settled  principle4 ,we cannot wonder1  
then1 that the ,psalter should have     
continued to be what in fact it had     
always been1 the hymn-book of  the      
,church4 ,moreover1 they had in the     
synagogue besides their  psalmody a     
system of ,bible readings1 confined1 of 
course1 to the  ,old ,testament         
,scriptures4 ,this is noted in the      
observation that  fell from ,simon      
,peter1 at the first ,council of the    
,church1 ,moses  of old time hath in    
every city them that preach him1 being  
read in  the synagogue every ,sabbath   
day4 ,scripture lessons1 therefore1     
would be no novelty4    ,we gather also 
from the ,new ,testament1 not to speak  
of other  authorities1 that in the      
apostolic days people were familiar with
  what were known as hours of prayer4   
,there were particular times  in the    
day1 that is to say1 which were held to 
be especially  appropriate for worship4 

,peter and ,john went up together into  
the temple at the hour of prayer1 being 
the ninth hour4 ,again1  at ,joppa1 we  
find the former of these two apostles   
going up upon  the house-top to pray at 
the sixth hour4 ,long before this ,david
  had mentioned morning and evening and 
noon as fitting hours of  prayer1 and   
one psalmist1 in his enthusiasm1 had    
even gone so far  as to declare seven   
times a day to be not too often for     
giving  ,god thanks4 ,there was also the
 precedent of ,daniel opening his       
windows toward ,jerusalem three times a 
day4 ,as the love for order  and system 
grew year by year stronger in the       
,christian ,church1  the laws that      
govern ritual would be likely to become 
more  stringent1 and so very probably it
 came to pass4 ,for aught we  know to   
the contrary1 the observance of fixed   
hours of prayer  was a matter of        
voluntary action with the ,christians of
 the first  age4 ,there was1 as we say1 
no shall about it4 ,but when the        

founders of the monastic orders came    
upon the scene a fixed rule  took the   
place of simple custom1 and what had    
been optional  became mandatory4 ,by the
 time we reach the mediaeval period     
evolution has had its perfect work1 and 
we find in existence  a scheme of daily 
service curiously and painfully         
elaborate4  ,the mediaeval theologians  
were very fond of classifying things  by
 sevens4 ,in the symbolism of ,holy     
,scripture seven appears as  the number 
of perfection1 it being the aggregate of
 three1 the  number of ,deity1 and four1
 the number of the earth4 ,accordingly  
we find in the theology of those times  
seven sacraments1 seven  deadly sins1   
seven contrary virtues1 seven works of  
mercy1 and  also seven hours of prayer4 
,these seven hours were known as        
,matins1 ,prime1 ,tierce1 ,sext1 ,nones1
 ,vespers1 and ,complene4 ,the  theory  
of the hours of prayer was that at each 
one of them a  special office of        
devotion was to be said4 ,beginning     

before  sunrise with matins there was to
 be daily a round of services at  stated
 intervals culminating at bedtime in    
that which1 as its  name indicated1     
filled out the series1 ,complene4 ,to   
what extent  this ideal scheme of       
devotion was ever carried out in        
practice it  is difficult positively to 
say4    ,probably in the monastic and   
conventual life of the severer orders   
there was an approximation to a punctual
 observance of the hours  as they       
successively arrived4 ,possibly the     
modern mind fails to  do full justice to
 the conception of worship on which this
 system  was based4 ,those principles of
 devotion of which the rosary is the    
visible symbol do not easily commend    
themselves to us4 ,they have  about them
 a suggestion of mechanism4 ,they remind
 us of the  ,buddhist praying wheel1 and
 seem to put the ,church in the attitude
  of expecting to be heard for her much 
speaking4    ,doubtless many a pure1    
courageous spirit fought the good fight 

of faith successfully in spite of all   
this weight of outward  observances2 but
 in the judgment of the wiser heads     
among ,english  churchmen1 the time had 
come1 by the middle of the sixteenth    
century1 when this complicated armor    
must either be greatly  lightened or    
else run the risk of being cast aside   
altogether4  ,let ,cranmer tell his own 
story4 ,this is what he says in the     
,preface to the ,first ,book of ,edward 
,,vi4 as to the ritual grievances  of   
the times4 ,the passage is worth        
listening to if only for the  quaintness
 of its strong and wholesome ,english3  
,there was never anything by the wit of 
man so well devised or so  surely       
established which1 in continuance of    
time1 hath not been  corrupted1 as1     
among other things1 it may plainly      
appear by the  common prayer1 in the    
,church1 commonly called divine service4
 ,the  first original and ground        
whereof1 if a man would search out by   
the ancient fathers1 he shall find that 

the same was not ordained  but of a good
 purpose1 and for a great advancement of
 godliness1 for  they so ordered the    
matter that all the whole ,bible1 or the
 greatest  part thereof1 should be read 
over once in the year 4 4 4 ,but these  
many years past this godly and decent   
order of the ancient fathers  hath been 
so altered1 broken1 and neglected by    
planting in  uncertain stories1 legends1
 responds1 verses1 vain repetitions1    
commemorations1 and synodals that       
commonly1 when any book of the  ,bible  
was begun1 before three or four chapters
 were read out all  the rest were       
unread4 ,and in this sort the ,book of  
,esaie was begun  in ,advent1 and the   
,book of ,genesis in ,septuagesima1 but 
they were  only begun and never read    
through 4 4 4 ,and moreover1 whereas    
,st4  ,paul would have such language    
spoken to the people in the ,church  as 
they might understand and have profit by
 hearing the same1 the  service in this 
,church of ,england 7these many years7  

hath been  read in ,latin to the people1
 which they understood not1 so that     
they have heard with their ears only1   
and their hearts1 spirit1  and mind have
 not been edified thereby 4 4 4         
,moreover1 the number  and hardness of  
the rules called the ,pie1 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 it was
 to read  it when it was found out4     
,these inconveniences therefore         
considered1  here is set forth such an  
order whereby the same shall be         
redressed4    ,as an illustration of    
what ,cranmer meant by his curious      
phrase1  planting in uncertain stories1 
take the following ,lessons quoted  by  
,dr4 ,neale in his ,essays on           
,liturgiology3    ,besides the          
commemoration of saints1 writes this    
distinguished  antiquarian1 there are in
 certain local calenders notices of     

national events connected with the      
well-being of the ,church4 ,thus1  in   
the ,parisian ,breviary1 we have on the 
eighteenth of ,august a  commemoration  
of the victory of ,philip the ,fair in  
,flanders1 ,a4,d4  #acjd4 ,here is the  
fourth of the appointed lessons3 ,philip
 the  ,fair1 ,king of the ,french1 in   
the year #acjd1 about the feast of ,st4 
,mary ,magdalene1 having set forth with 
his brothers ,charles and  ,louis and a 
large army into ,flanders1 pitched his  
tent near ,mons1  where was a camp of   
the rebel ,flemings4 ,but when1 on the  
eighteenth  of ,august1 which was the   
,tuesday after the ,assumption of ,st4  
,mary1  the ,french had from morning    
till evening stood on the defence1 and  
were resting themselves at nightfall1   
the enemy1 by a sudden  attack1 rushed  
on the camp with such fury that the     
body-guard had  scarce time to defend   
him4    ,response4 ,come from ,lebanon1 
my spouse2 come1 and thou shalt be      
crowned1 ,the odor of thy sweet         

ointments is above all perfumes4        
,versicle4 ,the righteous judge shall   
give a crown of righteousness4    ,then1
 after this short interlude of snatches 
from ,holy ,scripture1  there follows   
the ,fifth ,lesson3 ,at the beginning of
 the fight the  life of the king was in 
great danger1 but shortly after1 his    
troops crowding together from all       
quarters to his tent1 where the  battle 
was sharpest1 obtained an illustrious   
victory over the  enemy--and more of    
this sort until all of a sudden we come 
upon  the ,song of ,solomon again4 ,v4  
,thou art all fair1 my love2 come  from 
,lebanon4 ,r4 ,they that have not       
defiled their garments1  they shall walk
 with me in white1 for they are worthy4 
,is not ,cranmer's contemptuous mention 
of these uncertain legends  and vain    
repetitions amply justified8 ,and can we
 be too thankful  to the sturdy         
champions of the ,reformation1 who in   
the face of no  little opposition and by
 efforts scarcely appreciated to-day1   

cut  us loose from all responsibility   
for such solemn nonsense8    ,there are 
some who feel aggrieved that chapters   
from the ,apocrypha  should have found  
admission to our new lectionary1 and    
there are  even those who think that of 
the canonical ,scriptures1 passages     
more edifying than certain of those     
appointed to be read might  have been   
chosen1 but what would they think if    
they were compelled  to hear the        
minister at the lecturn say3 ,here      
beginneth the first  chapter of the     
,adventures of ,philip the ,fair8       
,but the reformers1 happily1 were not   
discouraged by the portentous  front of 
wood1 hay1 and stubble which the        
liturgical edifice of  their day        
presented to the eye4 ,they felt        
convinced that there  were also to be   
found mixed in with the building        
material gold1  silver1 and precious    
stones1 and for these they determined to
 make  diligent search1 resolved most of
 all that the foundation laid  should be

 ,jesus ,christ4 ,this system of        
canonical hours1 they  argued1 this     
seven-fold office of daily prayer is all
 very  beautiful in theory1 but it never
 can be made what in fact it  never in  
the past has been1 a practicable thing4 
,let us be content  if we can do so much
 as win people to their devotions at    
morning  and at night4 ,with this object
 in view ,cranmer and his associates    
subjected the services of the hours to a
 process of combination  and            
condensation4 ,the ,offices for the     
first three hours they  compressed into 
,an ,order for ,daily ,morning ,prayer1 
or1 as it was  called in ,edward's first
 ,book1 ,an ,order for ,matins1 and the 
,offices for the last two hours1 namely1
 ,vespers and ,complene1  they made over
 into ,an ,order for ,daily ,evening    
,prayer1 or1 as  it was named in        
,edward's first ,book1 ,an ,order for   
,evensong4    ,these two formularies1   
the ,order for ,matins and the ,order   
for  ,evensong1 make the core and       

substance of our present daily  offices4
 ,but the tradition of daily prayer is  
only one of the  two great devotional   
heritages of the ,church4 ,with the     
destruction  of the temple by the ,roman
 soldiery1 the sacrificial ritual of    
the ,jewish ,church came to a sudden    
end2 but it was not ,god's  purpose that
 the memory of sacrifice should fade out
 of men's  minds or that the thought of 
sacrifice should be banished from  the  
field of worship4 ,years before the day 
when the legionaries  of ,titus marched 
amid flame and smoke1 into the falling  
sanctuary  of an out-worn faith1 one who
 was presently to die upon a cross  had 
taken bread1 had blessed it and broken  
it1 and giving it to  certain followers 
gathered about him1 had said1 ,take1    
eat2 this  is my body1 which is given   
for you3 this do in remembrance of me4  
,likewise also he had taken the cup     
after supper1 saying1 ,this cup  is the 
,new ,testament in my blood which is    
shed for you4    ,certainly there must  

be a relation of cause and effect       
between this  scene and the fact1 which 
is a fact1 that the most ancient        
fragments of primitive ,christian       
worship now discoverable are  forms for 
the due commemoration of the sacrifice  
of the death of  ,christ4    ,these     
venerable monuments seem to exclaim as  
we decipher them3  ,even so1 ,lord1 it  
is done as thou didst say4 ,thy name1 ,o
 ,lord1  endureth forever and so doth   
thy memorial from generation to         
generation4 ,of the references to       
,christian worship discoverable  in     
documents later than the ,new ,testament
 ,scriptures there are  three that stand
 out with peculiar prominence1 namely1  
the lately  discovered ,teaching of the 
,twelve ,apostles1 placed by some       
authorities as early as the first half  
of the second century2  the famous      
letter of ,pliny to the ,emperor        
,trajan1 a writing of  the same period2 
and the ,apology or ,defence addressed  
by ,justin  ,martyr to ,antoninus ,pius 

about the year #adj after ,christ4 ,the 
noteworthy fact in connection with these
 passages is that of the  three1 two    
certainly1 and probably the third also1 
refer directly  to the ,holy ,communion4
 ,in the ,teaching we have a distinct   
sketch  of a eucharistic service with   
three of the prescribed prayers         
apparently given in full4 ,in ,justin   
,martyr's account1 the evidence  of a   
definitely established liturgical form  
is perhaps less plain1  but nothing that
 he says would appear to be             
irreconcilable with  the existence of a 
more or less elastic ritual order4      
,whether he  does or does not intend to 
describe extemporaneous prayer as       
forming one feature of the eucharistic  
worship of the ,christians  of his time 
depends upon the translation we give to 
a single word  in his narrative4 ,later 
on in the life of the ,church1 though by
  just how much later is a difficult    
point of scholarship1 we are  brought in
 contact with a number of formularies1  

all of them  framed for the uses of     
eucharistical worship1 all of them1 that
  is to say1 designed to perpetuate the 
commandment1 ,this do in  remembrance of
 me1 and all of them preserving1 no     
matter in what  part of the world they  
may be found1 a certain structural      
uniformity4 ,these are the primitive    
liturgies1 as they are  called1 the     
study of which has in late years        
attained almost to  the dignity of a    
science4 ,as to the exact measure of    
antiquity  that ought to be accorded to 
these venerable documents the           
authorities differ and probably will    
always differ4 ,dr4 ,neale's  enthusiasm
 carried him so far that he was         
persuaded and sought  to persuade others
 of the existence of liturgical         
quotations in  the writings of ,st4     
,paul4 ,this hypothesis is at the       
present time  generally rejected by     
sober-minded scholars4 ,perhaps the     
personal  equation enters equally into  
the conclusions of those who assign  a  

very late origin to the liturgies1      
pushing them along as far as  the sixth 
or seventh century4 ,if one happens to  
have a rooted  dislike for prescribed   
forms of worship1 and believes them in  
his  heart to be both unscriptural and  
unspiritual1 it will be the  most       
natural thing in the world for him to   
disparage whatever  evidence makes in   
favor of the early origin of liturgies4 
,hammond  is sensible when he says in   
the ,preface to his valuable work       
entitled ,liturgies ,eastern and        
,western1 ,i have assumed an            
intermediate position between the views 
of those on the one hand  who hold that 
the liturgies had assumed a recognized  
and fixed  form so early as to be quoted
 in the ,epistles to the ,corinthians   
and ,hebrews 4 4 4 and of those1 on the 
other1 who because there are  some      
palpable interpolations and marks of    
comparatively late date  in some of the 
texts1 assert broadly that they are all 
untrustworthy  and valueless as         

evidence4 ,this view ,i venture to      
think1 he adds1  equally uncritical and 
groundless with the former4    ,to sum  
up1 the argument in behalf of an        
apostolic origin for the  ,christian    
,liturgy may be compactly stated thus3  
,the very earliest  monuments of        
,christian worship that we possess are  
rituals of  thanksgiving1 having direct 
reference to the sacrifice of the  death
 of ,christ4 ,going back from these to  
the ,new ,testament we  find there the  
narrative of the institution of the     
,holy ,communion  by ,christ himself1   
and in connection with it the command1  
,this  do in remembrance of me4 ,it is1 
,i submit1 a reasonable inference  that 
the liturgies in the main fairly        
represent what it was in  the mind of   
the apostle to recognize and establish  
as proper  ,christian worship4 ,i do not
 call it demonstration1 ,i call it      
reasonable inference4 ,there is a       
striking parallelism between the        
argument for liturgical worship and the 

argument for episcopacy4  ,in both cases
 we take the ground that continuity     
existed between  the life of the ,church
 as we find it a hundred years after the
  last of the apostles had gone to his  
rest and the life of the  ,church as it 
is pictured in the ,new ,testament4     
,that there were many changes during the
 interval must no doubt be  granted1 but
 we say that if those changes were      
serious ones  affecting great principles
 of belief or order1 those who maintain 
that such a hidden revolution took place
 are bound to bring  positive evidence  
to the fact4 ,this history of the       
,church during  the second century has  
been likened with more of ingenuity than
  of poetical beauty to the passing of a
 train through a railway  tunnel4    ,we
 see the train enter1 we see it emerge1 
but its movement while  inside the      
tunnel is concealed from us4 ,similarly 
we may say that  we see with comparative
 distinctness the ,christian ,church of 
the  ,apostolic ,age1 and we see with   

comparative distinctness the ,church  of
 the ,age of ,cyprian and ,origen1 but  
with respect to the interval  separating
 the two periods we are not indeed      
wholly1 but1 we are1  it must be        
confessed1 very largely ignorant4 ,and  
yet as in the  case of the tunnel we    
confidently affirm an identity between  
what  we saw go in and what we see      
coming out1 so with the doctrine1       
discipline1 and worship of the ,church1 
the usages of the third  century1 we    
argue1 are probably in their leading    
features what the  usages of the first  
century were4 ,if reason to the contrary
 can  be given1 well and good2 but in   
the absence of countervailing  testimony
 we abide by our inference1 holding it  
to be sound4    ,i am far from wishing  
to maintain that these considerations   
bind  liturgical worship upon the       
,christian ,church as a matter of       
obligation for all time4 ,it might be   
argued1 and ,i think with  great force1 
that liturgical worship having been     

universal  throughout the ancient world1
 heathen as well as ,jewish1 the        
apostles and fathers of the ,christian  
,church judged it unwise  to make any   
departure at the outset from a custom so
 invariable1  trusting it to the spirit 
of the new religion to work out freer   
and  less formal methods of approaching 
,god through ,christ in the times  to   
come4 ,this1 ,i confess1 strikes me as a
 perfectly legitimate line  of reasoning
 and one which is strengthened rather   
than weakened by  what we have seen     
happen in ,christendom since the        
sixteenth  century4 ,great bodies of    
,christians have for a period of some   
three hundred years been worshipping    
,almighty ,god in non-liturgical  ways1 
and have not been left without witness  
that their service  was acceptable to   
the ,divine ,majesty4 ,moreover1 the    
fact that  absolute rigidity in         
liturgical use never was insisted upon  
in  any age of the ,church until the    
,english passed their ,act of           

,uniformity1 makes in the same          
direction4 ,and yet even after these    
allowances have been made1 there remains
 a considerable amount  of solid        
satisfaction for those who do adhere to 
the liturgical  method1 in the thought  
that they are in the line which is      
apparently  the line of continuity1 and 
that their interpretation of the        
apostolic purpose with respect to       
worship is the interpretation  that has 
been generally received in ,christendom 
as far back as we  can go4              
,,ii4    ,,vicissitudes4      ,certain  
of the necromancers of the far ,east are
 said to have the  power of causing a   
tree to spring up1 spread its branches1 
blossom1  and bear fruit before the eyes
 of the lookers-on within the space  of 
a few moments4    ,modern liturgies have
 sometimes been brought into being by a 
process  as extemporaneous as this1 but 
not such was the genesis of the  ,book  
of ,common ,prayer4    ,there are at    
least eight forms under which the       

,prayer ,book has  been from time to    
time authoritatively set forth--five    
,english1  one ,scottish1 one ,irish1   
and one ,american2 so that1 if we would 
be accurate1 we are bound to specify1   
when we speak of ,the ,prayer  ,book1   
which of several ,prayer ,books we have 
in mind4    ,the truth is1 there exists 
in connection with everything that      
grows1  whether it be plant1 animal1 or 
building1 a certain mystery like  that  
which attaches to what1 in the case of a
 man1 we call personal  identity4 ,which
 is the true1 the actual ,napoleon8 ,is 
it the  ,napoleon of the ,directory1 or 
the ,napoleon of the ,consulate1 or the 
,napoleon of the ,empire8 ,at each epoch
 we discern a different phase  of the   
man's character1 and yet we are         
compelled to acknowledge1  in the face  
of all the variations1 that we have to  
do with one and  the same man4    ,but  
just as a ship acquires1 as we may say1 
her personal identity  when she is      
launched and named1 even though there   

may be a great  deal yet to be done in  
the way of finishing and furnishing     
before  she can be pronounced seaworthy1
 so it is with a book that is  destined 
to undergo repeated revision and        
reconstruction1 it does  acquire1 on the
 day when it is first published1 and    
first given a  distinctive title1 a     
certain character the losing of which   
would be  the loss of personal identity4
 ,there is many an old cathedral that   
might properly enough be called a       
re-edited book in stone4 ,norman        
architecture1 ,early ,english1          
,decorated1 and ,perpendicular1 all are 
there1 and yet one dominant thought     
pervades the building4  ,notwithstanding
 the many times it has been retouched1  
the fabric  still expresses to the eye  
the original creative purpose of the    
designer2 there is no possibility of our
 mistaking ,salisbury for  ,york or     
,peterborough for ,london4    ,the first
 ,book of ,common ,prayer was built up  
of blocks that for the  most part had   

been previously used in other buildings1
 but the  resulting structure exhibited1
 from the very moment it received a     
name1 such distinct and unmistakable    
characteristics as have  guaranteed it  
personal identity through more than     
three hundred  years4 ,hence1 while it  
is in one sense true that there are no  
fewer than eight ,books of ,common      
,prayer1 it is in another sense  equally
 true that the ,book of ,common ,prayer 
is one4    ,an identity of purpose1 of  
scope1 and of spirit shows itself  in   
all its various forms under which the   
book exists1 so that  whether we are    
speaking of the ,first ,prayer ,book of 
,king ,edward  the ,sixth1 or of the    
book adopted by the ,church of ,ireland 
after  its disestablishment1 or of the  
,american ,book of ,common ,prayer1     
what we have in mind is1 in a very real 
and deep sense1 one and  the same thing4
    ,let us proceed now to a rapid      
survey of the facts connected with  the 
first issue of the ,common ,prayer4     

,for a period long anterior to the      
,reformation there had been in  use     
among the ,english brief books of       
devotion known as primers1  written in  
the language of the people4 ,the fact   
that the public  services of the ,church
 were invariably conducted in the ,latin
  tongue made a resort to such          
expedients as this necessary1 unless    
religion was to be reserved as the      
private property of ecclesiastics4      
,by a curious process of evolution the  
primer1 from having been  in mediaeval  
times a book wholly religious and       
devotional1 has  come to be in our day a
 book wholly secular and educational4   
,we  associate it with ,noah ,webster   
and the ,harper ,brothers4 ,the ,new    
,england ,primer of the ,puritans1 with 
its odd jumble of piety and  the three  
,r's1 marks a point of transition from  
the ancient to the  modern type4    ,but
 this by the way4 ,the primer we are now
 concerned with is the  devotional      
primer of the times just previous to the

 ,reformation4  ,this1 as a rule1       
contained prayers1 the ,belief1 the ,ave
 ,maria1 a  litany of some sort1 the    
,ten ,commandments1 and whatever else   
there  might be that in the mind of the 
compiler came under the head of  things 
which a ,christian ought to know4 ,there
 were three of  these primers set forth 
during the reign of ,henry the ,eighth1 
one  in #aece1 one in #aeci1 and one in 
#aede4 ,during the space that           
intervened between the publication of   
the second and that of the  third of    
these primers1 appeared ,the ,litany and
 ,suffrages1 a  formulary compiled1 as  
is generally believed1 by ,cranmer1 the 
then  ,archbishop of ,canterbury1 and in
 substance identical with the ,litany   
we use to-day4 ,this ,litany of #aedd   
has been properly described as  the     
precursor and first instalment of the   
,english ,book of ,common  ,prayer4 ,it 
was the nucleus or centre of            
crystallization about  which the other  
constituent portions of our manual of   

worship  were destined to be grouped4 ,a
 quaint exhortation was prefixed to     
this ,litany1 in which it was said to   
have been set forth because  the not    
understanding the prayers and suffrages 
formerly used  caused that the people   
came but slackly to the processions4    
,besides the primers and the ,litany1   
there were printed in ,henry's  reign   
various editions of a book of ,epistles 
and ,gospels in ,english4  ,there was   
also published a ,psalter in ,latin and 
,english4    ,all this looked rather to 
the edification of individual           
,christians  in their private devotional
 life than to the public worship of the 
,church1 but we are not to suppose that 
meanwhile the larger  interests of the  
whole body were forgotten4 ,so early as 
in the  year #aedb1 ,convocation1 which 
according to the ,anglican theory       
stands toward the ,church in the same   
attitude that ,parliament holds  to the 
,state1 appointed a ,committee of ,eight
 to review and correct  the existing    

service-books4 ,we know very little as  
to the proceedings  of this committee1  
but that something was done1 and a real 
impulse  given to liturgical revision1  
is evidenced by the fact that at a      
meeting of ,convocation held soon after 
,king ,henry's death a  resolution      
prevailed ,that the books of the        
,bishops and others who  by the command 
of the ,convocation have labored in     
examining1  reforming1 and publishing   
the divine service1 may be produced  and
 laid before the examination of this    
house4    ,the next important step in   
the process we are studying was the     
publication by authority in the early   
spring of #aedh1 of an ,order  of the   
,communion1 as it was called1 a         
formulary prepared by ,cranmer  to      
enable the priest1 after having         
consecrated the elements in  the usual  
manner1 to distribute them to the people
 with the  sentences of delivery spoken 
in ,english4 ,the priest1 that is to    
say1 was to proceed with the service of 

the ,mass as usual in the  ,latin       
tongue1 but after he had himself        
received the bread and  the wine1 he was
 to proceed to a service of ,communion  
for the  people in a speech they could  
understand4    ,almost everything in    
this tentative document1 as we may call 
it1  was subsequently incorporated in   
the ,office of the ,holy ,communion  as 
we are using it to-day4    ,we have1    
then1 as an abiding result of the       
liturgical experiments  made in         
anticipation of the actual setting forth
 of an authoritative  ,prayer ,book1 the
 ,litany and this ,order of the         
,communion4    ,the time was now ripe   
for something better and more complete2 
a  new king was upon the throne1 and one
 whose counsellors were  better disposed
 toward change than ever ,henry had     
been4 ,the great  movement we know under
 the name of the ,reformation touched   
the  life of the ,christian ,church in  
every one of its three great            
departments--doctrine1 discipline1 and  

worship4 ,in ,henry's mind1  however1   
the question appears to have been almost
 exclusively one  of discipline or      
polity4 ,his quarrel was not with the   
accepted  theological errors of his day1
 for as ,defender of the ,faith he      
covered some of the worst of them with  
his shield4 ,neither was  he            
ill-disposed toward the methods and     
usages of public worship  so far as we  
can judge4 ,his quarrel first1 last1 and
 always was  with a certain rival       
claimant of power1 whose pretended      
authority  he was determined to drive   
out of the realm1 to wit1 the ,pope4    
,but while it was thus with ,henry1 it  
was far otherwise with many  of the more
 thoughtful and devout among his        
theologians1 and  when the restraint    
that had been laid on them was removed  
by  the king's death1 they welcomed the 
opportunity to apply to  doctrine and   
worship the same reforming touch that   
had already  remoulded polity4    ,an   
enlarged ,committee of ,convocation sat 

at ,windsor in the summer  of #aedh1 and
 as a result there was finally set      
forth1 and ordered  to be put into use  
on ,whitsunday1 #aedi1 what has become  
known in  history as the ,first ,prayer 
,book of ,edward ,,vi4    ,to dwell on  
those features of the ,first ,book that 
have remained  unaltered to the present 
day would be superfluous2 ,i shall      
therefore1 in speaking of it1 confine   
myself to the distinctive  and          
characteristic points in which it       
differs from the ,prayer  ,books that   
have succeeded it4    ,it is worthy of  
note that in the title page of the      
,first ,book  there is a clear          
distinction drawn between the ,church   
,universal1  or what we call in the ,te 
,deum the holy ,church throughout all   
the world1 and that particular ,church  
to which ,king ,edward's  subjects1 in  
virtue of their being ,englishmen1      
belonged4 ,the book  is said to be the  
,book of the ,common ,prayer and        
administration of  the ,sacraments and  

other ,rites and ,ceremonies of ,the    
,church1  after the use of the ,church  
of ,england4 ,the ,church is  recognized
 as being a larger and1 perhaps1 older  
thing than the  ,church of ,england1    
while at the same time it is intimated  
that  only through such use of these    
same prayers and sacraments as the      
,english ,church ordains and authorizes 
can ,english folk come into  communion  
with the great family of believers      
spread over the whole  earth4    ,the   
,preface is a singularly racy piece of  
,english1 in which with  the utmost     
plainness of speech the compilers give  
their reasons  for having dealt with the
 old services as they have done4 ,this  
reappears in the ,english ,prayer ,book 
of the present day under the  title     
,concerning the ,service of ,the        
,church1 and so described is  placed    
after the ,preface written in #affb by  
the ,revisers of the  ,restoration4     
,the ,order for ,daily ,morning ,prayer1
 as we name it1 is called in  ,edward's 

,first ,book ,an ,order for ,matins     
daily through the year4  ,similarly1    
what we call the ,order for ,daily      
,evening ,prayer was  styled ,an ,order 
for ,evensong4 ,these beautiful names1  
,matins  and ,evensong1 which it is a   
great pity to have lost1 for surely     
there is nothing superstitious about    
them1 disappeared from the  book as     
subsequently revised1 and save in the   
,lectionary of the  ,church of ,england 
have no present recognition4 ,one of    
them1  however1 ,evensong1 seems to be  
coming very generally into colloquial   
use4 ,the ,order for ,matins began with 
the ,lord's ,prayer4 ,then1 after  the  
familiar versicles still in use1        
including two that have no  place in our
 ,american book1 ,o ,god1 make speed to 
save me4 ,o ,lord1  make haste to help  
me1 there followed in full the #ieth    
,psalm1 a  portion of which is known to 
us as the ,venite4 ,from this point  the
 service proceeded1 as in the ,english  
,prayer ,book of to-day1  through the   

,collect for ,grace1 where it came to an
 end4 ,the  structure of ,evensong was  
similar1 beginning with the ,lord's     
,prayer and ending1 as our shortened    
,evening ,prayer now does1 with  the    
,collect for ,aid against ,perils4 ,then
 followed the ,athanasian  ,creed1 and  
immediately afterward came the          
,introits1 ,collects1  ,epistles1 and   
,gospels4    ,these ,introits1          
so-called1 were psalms appointed to be  
sung when  the priest was about to begin
 the ,holy ,communion4 ,they had been   
an ancient feature of divine service1   
but were dropped from the  subsequent   
books as a required feature of the      
,church's worship4    ,the title of the 
,communion ,service in ,edward's ,first 
,book is as  follows3 ,the ,supper of   
the ,lord and the ,holy ,communion      
commonly  called the ,mass4 ,immediately
 after the ,prayer for ,purity--i4  e41 
in the place where we have the ,ten     
,commandments1 comes the  ,gloria in    
,excelsis4 ,the service then proceeds   

very much as with  us1 except that the  
,prayer for the ,church ,militant and   
the  ,consecration ,prayer are welded   
into one1 and the ,prayer of ,humble    
,access given a place immediately before
 the reception of the  elements4 ,i     
note1 in passing1 certain phrases and   
sentences that  are peculiar to the     
,communion ,office of the ,first ,book1 
as1 for  instance1 this from the ,prayer
 for the whole state of ,christ's       
,church3 ,and here we do give unto thee 
most high praise and hearty  thanks for 
the wonderful grace and virtue declared 
in all thy  saints from the beginning of
 the world1 and chiefly in the most     
glorious and blessed ,virgin ,mary1     
,mother of thy ,son ,jesus ,christ  our 
,lord and ,god1 and in the holy         
patriarchs1 prophets1 apostles1  and    
martyrs1 whose examples1 ,o ,lord1 and  
steadfastness in thy  faith and keeping 
thy holy commandments grant us to       
follow4 ,we  commend unto thy mercy1 ,o 
,lord1 all other thy servants which are 

departed hence from us with the sign of 
faith and do now rest in  the sleep of  
peace4 ,grant unto them1 we beseech     
thee1 thy mercy and  everlasting peace1 
and that at the day of the general      
resurrection  we and all they which be  
of the mystical body of thy ,son may    
altogether be set on his right hand4    
,and this from the closing portion of   
the ,consecration3 ,yet we  beseech thee
 to accept this our bounden duty and    
service1 and  command these our prayers 
and supplications by the ministry of thy
  holy angels to be brought up into thy 
holy tabernacle before the  sight of thy
 divine majesty4    ,following close    
upon the ,communion ,service came the   
,litany1 differing  very little from    
what we have to-day1 save in the        
memorable petition1  ,from the tyranny  
of the ,bishop of ,rome and all his     
detestable  enormities1 good ,lord      
deliver us4    ,the ,baptismal ,offices 
of the ,first ,book contain certain     
unique  features4 ,the sign of the cross

 is ordered to be made on the child's   
breast as well as on his forehead4      
,there is a form of exorcism said  over 
the infant in which the unclean spirit  
is commanded to come  out and to depart4
 ,there is also the giving of the       
,crisome or  white vesture as a symbol  
of innocence4 ,take this white vesture  
for a token of the innocency which by   
,god's grace in this holy  sacrament of 
,baptism is given unto thee1 and for a  
sign whereby  thou art admonished1 so   
long as thou livest1 to give thyself to 
innocency of living1 that after this    
transitory life thou mayest  be partaker
 of the life everlasting4    ,the       
,catechism in ,edward ,,vi4 ,first      
,book1 as in the subsequent books  down 
to #affb1 is made a part of the         
,confirmation ,office1 although  it does
 not clearly appear that the children   
were expected to say  it as a           
preliminary to the service4    ,the     
,office for the ,visitation of the ,sick
 contains provision for  private        

confession and absolution1 and also     
directs that the priest  shall anoint   
the sick man with oil if he be desired  
to do so4    ,the ,office for the       
,communion of the ,sick allows the      
practice of what  is called the         
reservation of the elements1 but        
contains also1 be it  observed1 that    
rubric which has held its place through 
all the  changes the ,prayer ,book has  
undergone1 where we are taught that if  
the sick man by any just impediment fail
 to receive the sacrament  of ,christ's 
body and blood1 the curate shall        
instruct him that if  he do truly repent
 him of his sins and steadfastly believe
 that  ,jesus ,christ hath suffered     
death upon the cross for him 4 4 4 he   
doth eat and drink the body and blood of
 our ,saviour ,christ1  profitably to   
his soul's health although he do not    
receive the  sacrament with his mouth4  
,the ,burial ,office contains a         
recognition of prayer for the dead1  but
 except in the matter of the arrangement

 of the parts differs  but little from  
the service still in use4 ,a special    
,introit1  ,collect1 ,epistle1 and      
,gospel are appointed for the           
,celebration of  the ,holy ,communion   
when there is a ,burial of the ,dead4   
,a ,commination ,office for             
,ash-,wednesday1 substantially identical
  with that still in use in the ,church 
of ,england1 concludes the book4    ,the
 ,first ,prayer ,book of ,king ,edward  
the ,sixth1 memorable as it was         
destined to become1 proved1 so far as   
actual use was concerned1 but           
short-lived4 ,it became operative1 as we
 have seen1 on ,whitsunday1  #aedi1 but 
it was soon evident that while the new  
services went too  far in the direction 
of reform to please the friends of the  
ancient  order of things1 they did not  
go far enough to meet the wishes of  the
 reforming party4    ,before the year   
was out no fewer than three translations
 of the  ,liturgy into ,latin had been  
undertaken with a view to informing  the

 ,protestant divines of the ,continent  
as to what their ,english  colleagues   
were doing4 ,there was already within   
the ,church 7of  ,england71 writes      
,cardwell1 in his comparison of         
,edward's two books1  a party1 though   
probably not numerous1 which espoused   
the peculiar  sentiments of ,calvin2    
there were others1 and ,cranmer1 it     
appears1  had recently been one of them1
 adhering strictly to the opinions  of  
,luther2 there were many1 and those     
among the most active and the  most     
learned1 who adopted the views of       
,bullinger and the theologians  of      
,zurich2 there was a still larger body  
anxious to combine all  classes of      
,protestants under one general          
confession1 and all these1  though with 
distinct objects and different degrees  
of impatience1  looked forward to a     
revision of the ,liturgy1 to bring it   
more  completely into accordance with   
their own sentiments4    ,as a result of
 the agitation thus vividly pictured by 

,cardwell1  there came forth in #aeeb   
the book known as the ,second ,prayer   
,book  of ,king ,edward ,,vi41 a work of
 the very greatest interest1 for the    
reason that it was destined to become   
the basis of all future  revisions4     
,whitsunday1 #aedi1 was the day when the
 ,first ,book began  to be used4 ,the   
,feast of ,all ,saints1 #aeeb1 was the  
date officially  appointed for the      
introduction of the ,second ,book4      
,presently ,king  ,edward died1 and by  
an act of ,mary passed in ,october1     
#aeec1 the use  of his ,book became     
illegal on and after ,december #bjth of 
that year4  ,it thus appears that the   
,first ,book was in use for two years   
and  about four months1 and the ,second 
,book one year and about two  months4 ,a
 memorable three years and a half for   
the ,english-speaking  peoples of all   
time to come1 for it is not too much to 
say that  while the language of ,tyndale
 and of ,cranmer continues to be heard  
on earth1 the devotions then put into   

form will keep on moulding  the         
religious thought and firing the        
spiritual imagination of this  race4    
,the points in which the second of ,king
 ,edward's two books differs  from the  
first are of such serious moment and the
 general complexion  of the later work  
has in it such an access of ,protestant 
coloring1  that high ,anglican writers  
have been in the habit of attributing   
the  main features of the revision to   
the interference of the ,continental    
,reformers4 ,if it had not been for the 
impertinent meddling1 they  have been   
accustomed to say1 of such foreigners as
 ,bucer1 ,peter  ,martyr1 and ,john     
a-,lasco1 we might have been enjoying at
 the present  day the admirable and     
truly ,catholic devotions set forth in  
the  fresh morning of the ,reformation1 
before the earth-born vapors of         
theological controversy and             
ecclesiastical partisanship had         
beclouded an otherwise fair sky4 ,but it
 does not appear that there  is any     

solid foundation in fact for these      
complaints4    ,the natural spread of   
the spirit of reform among the people of
 the  realm1 taken in connection with   
the changes of opinion which the  swift 
movement of the times necessarily       
engendered in the minds of  the leading 
divines1 are of themselves quite        
sufficient to account  for what took    
place4 ,certainly1 if the ,english of   
that day were at  all like their        
descendants in our time1 it is in the   
highest degree  unlikely that they would
 have allowed a handful of learned      
refugees  to force upon them changes    
which their own sober judgment did not  
approve4    ,the truth is1 very little  
is certainly known as to the details of 
what was done in the making of ,edward's
 ,second ,book4 ,even the names  of the 
members of the committee intrusted with 
the revision are  matter of conjecture1 
and of the proceedings of that body no  
authentic record survives4 ,what we do  
possess and are in a position  to       

criticise is the book itself1 and to a  
brief review of the  points in which it 
differs from its predecessor we will now
 pass4    ,upon taking up the ,second   
,book after laying down the ,first1 one 
is  struck immediately with the changed 
look of ,morning ,prayer4 ,this  is no  
longer called ,matins1 and no longer    
begins as before with the  ,lord's      
,prayer4 ,an ,introduction has been     
prefixed to the office  consisting of a 
collection of sentences from ,holy      
,scripture1 all of  them of a           
penitential character1 and besides these
 of an ,exhortation1  a ,confession1 and
 an ,absolution4 ,there can be little   
doubt that this  opportunity for making 
public acknowledgment of sin and hearing
  the declaration of ,god's willingness 
to forgive1 was meant to  counterbalance
 the removal from the book of all       
reference1 save  in one instance1 to    
private confession and absolution4 ,the 
,church  of ,england has always retained
 in her ,visitation ,office a permission

  to the priest to pronounce absolution 
privately to the sick man4  ,this was a 
feature of the ,first ,book that was not
 disturbed in the  ,second4 ,but        
wherever else they found anything that  
seemed to look  toward the continuance  
of the system familiarly known to us    
under  the name of the ,confessional1   
they expunged it4 ,between the          
,exhortation and the ,confession there  
is1 in point of literary merit1  a      
noticeable contrast1 and it is scarcely 
to be believed that both  formularies   
can have proceeded from one and the same
 pen4 ,another  step in the ,protestant 
direction was the prohibition of certain
  vestments that in the ,first ,book had
 been allowed1 as the alb and  cope4    
,the ,introit ,psalms were taken away4  
,the word table was  everywhere         
substituted for the word altar4 ,the    
changes in the  ,office of the ,holy    
,communion were numerous and            
significant4 ,the  ,ten ,commandments1  
for instance1 were inserted in the place

 where  we now have them4 ,the ,gloria  
in ,excelsis was transferred from  the  
beginning of the service to the end4    
,the ,exhortations were  re-written4    
,the supplication for the dead was taken
 out of the  ,prayer for the whole state
 of ,christ's ,church1 and the words    
militant here on earth were added to the
 title with a view to  confining the    
scope of the intercession to the circle 
of people  still alive4 ,the            
,confession1 ,absolution1 ,comfortable  
,words1 and  ,prayer of ,humble ,access 
were placed before the ,consecration    
instead  of after it4 ,most important of
 all was the change of the words        
appointed to be said in delivering the  
elements to the communicants4  ,in the  
,first ,book these had been1 ,the body  
of our ,lord ,jesus ,christ  which was  
given for thee1 preserve thy body and   
soul unto everlasting  life1 and in the 
case of the cup1 ,the blood of our ,lord
 ,jesus  ,christ1 which was shed for    
thee1 preserve thy body and soul unto   

everlasting life4 ,for these were now   
substituted in the one  instance the    
words1 ,take and eat this in remembrance
 that ,christ  died for thee1 and feed  
on him in thy heart by faith1 with      
thanksgiving1 and in the other1 ,drink  
this in remembrance that  ,christ's     
blood was shed for thee1 and be         
thankful4    ,from the ,office for the  
,communion of the ,sick the direction to
  reserve the elements was omitted1 as  
was also the permission to  anoint the  
sick man with oil4 ,the ,service of     
,baptism was no longer  suffered to     
retain the exorcism of the evil spirit1 
or the white  vesture1 or the unction2  
and there were other items of less      
important change4 ,those mentioned      
reveal plainly enough what was  the     
animus of the revisers4 ,most evidently 
the intention was to  produce a liturgy 
more thoroughly reformed1 more in       
harmony with  the new tone and temper   
which the religious thought of the times
  was taking on4    ,we come to the     

,third ,book of ,common ,prayer4 ,bloody
 ,mary was dead1  and ,elizabeth had    
succeeded to the throne4    ,during the 
,roman reaction proclamation had been   
made that all the  ,reformed            
service-books should be given up to the 
ecclesiastical  authorities within      
fifteen days to be burned4 ,this is     
doubtless  the reason why copies of the 
liturgical books of ,edward's reign  are
 now so exceedingly rare4 ,reprints of  
them abound1 but the  originals exist   
only as costly curiosities4    ,soon    
after ,elizabeth's accession a committee
 of divines assembled  under her        
authority for the purpose of again      
revising the  formularies4    ,the queen
 was personally a ,high-,churchwoman1   
and her own judgment  is said to have   
been favorable to taking the first of   
,edward's two  books as the basis of the
 revision1 but a contrary preference    
swayed the committee1 and the lines     
followed were those of #aeeb  and not   
those of #aedi4    ,the new features    

distinctive of the ,prayer ,book of     
,elizabeth1  otherwise known as the     
,prayer ,book of #aeei1 are not         
numerous4  ,a table of ,proper ,lessons 
for ,sundays was introduced4 ,the old   
vestments recognized in the earlier part
 of ,king ,edward's reign  were again   
legalized4 ,the petition for deliverance
 from the tyranny  of the ,pope was     
struck out of the ,litany1 and by a     
compromise  peculiarly ,english in its  
character1 and1 as experience has shown1
  exceedingly well judged1 the two forms
 of words that had been used  in the    
delivery of the elements in the ,holy   
,communion were welded  together into   
the shape in which we have them still4  
,queen ,elizabeth's ,prayer ,book       
continued in use for five-and-forty     
years4 ,nothing was more natural than   
that when she died there should  come   
with the accession of a new dynasty a   
demand for fresh revision4  ,king       
,james1 who was not afflicted with any  
want of confidence in  his own judgment1

 invited certain representatives of the 
disaffected  party to meet1 under his   
presidency1 the ,churchmen in council   
with  a view to the settlement of       
differences4 ,the ,puritans had been    
gaining in strength during ,elizabeth's 
reign1 and they felt that  they were now
 in position to demand a larger measure 
of liturgical  reform than that monarch 
and her advisers had been willing to    
concede to them4    ,king ,james        
convened his conference at ,hampton     
,court1 near ,london1  and he himself   
was good enough to preside4 ,very little
 came of the  debate4 ,the ,puritans had
 demanded the discontinuance of the sign
 of  the cross in ,baptism1 of bowing at
 the name of ,jesus1 of the ring  in    
marriage1 and of the rite of            
confirmation4 ,the words priest  and    
absolution they sought to have expunged 
from the ,prayer ,book1  and they       
desired that the wearing of the surplice
 should be made  optional4    ,almost   
nothing was conceded to them4 ,the words

 or ,remission of  ,sins were added to  
the title of the ,absolution1 certain   
,prayers  and ,thanksgivings were       
introduced1 and that portion of the     
,catechism  which deals with the        
,sacraments was for the first time set  
forth4  ,and thus the ,english ,prayer  
,book started out upon its fourth lease 
of life destined in this form to endure 
unchanged1 though by no  means          
unassailed1 for more than half a        
century4    ,a stirring half century it 
was4 ,the ,puritan defeat at ,hampton   
,court  was redressed at ,naseby4 ,with 
the coming in of the ,long ,parliament  
the ,book of ,common ,prayer went out1  
and to all appearances the  triumph of  
the ,commonwealth meant the final       
extinction of the usage  of liturgical  
worship on ,english soil4 ,the book1    
under its various  forms1 had lasted    
just a hundred years when he who        
,nothing common did or mean    ,upon    
that memorable scene    suffered at     
,whitehall4    ,they buried him in ,st4 

,george's ,chapel1 ,windsor1 and no     
single word  of the ,prayer ,book he had
 loved and for which he had fought was  
said over his grave4    ,on ,january #c1
 #afde1 ,parliament repealed the        
statutes of ,edward ,,vi4  and of       
,elizabeth that had enjoined the use of 
the ,book of ,common  ,prayer1 and took 
order that thereafter only such divine  
service  should be lawful as accorded   
with what was called the ,directory1  a 
manual of suggestions with respect to   
public worship adopted by  the          
,presbyterian party as a substitute for 
the ancient liturgy4    ,with the       
restoration of the ,stuarts in #affj    
came naturally the  restoration of the  
,prayer ,book1 and with equal           
naturalness a  revision of it4 ,but of  
what sort should the revision be1 and   
under  whose auspices conducted8 ,this  
was an anxious question for the         
advisers1 civil and ecclesiastical1 of  
the restored king4 ,should  the second  
,charles take up the book just as it had

 fallen from the  hands of the first    
,charles1 unchanged in line or letter1  
or should  he seek by judicious         
alterations and timely concessions to   
win  back for the national ,church the  
good-will and loyalty of those  who1    
eighteen years before1 had broken down  
her hedge8 ,the situation  may be       
described as triangular4    ,the king's 
secret and personal sympathies were     
probably all along  with the ,roman     
,church2 his official allegiance was    
plainly due to  the ,church of ,england2
 and yet1 at the same time1 he owed much
  to the forbearance of the men who had 
been dominant under the  ,commonwealth4 
,the mind of the nation had1 indeed1    
reacted toward  monarchy1 but not with  
such an absolute and hardy renunciation 
of  the doctrines of popular sovereignty
 as to make it safe for the  returning  
king to do precisely as he chose4 ,the  
glorious ,revolution  that was destined 
so soon to follow upon the heels of the 
gracious  ,restoration gave evidence1   

when it came1 that there were some      
things the people of ,england prized    
even more highly than an  hereditary    
throne4 ,misgivings as to the amount    
there might still  be of this sort of   
electricity in the atmosphere suggested 
to the  king and his counsellors the    
expediency of holding a conference1  at 
which the leaders on either side might  
bring forward their strong  reasons in  
favor of this or that method of dealing 
with the  ecclesiastical question in    
general1 and more especially with the   
vexed problem of worship4               
,accordingly1 early in the spring of    
#affa the ,king issued a  royal warrant 
summoning to meet at the ,savoy ,palace 
in the  ,strand an equal number of      
representatives of both parties--namely1
  one-and-twenty ,churchmen and         
one-and-twenty ,presbyterians4    ,the  
,episcopal deputation consisted of      
twelve bishops and nine other  divines  
called coadjutors4 ,the ,presbyterians  
had also their twelve  principal men and

 their nine coadjutors4    ,conspicuous 
among the ,episcopalians for weight of  
learning were  ,bishops ,sanderson1     
,cosin1 and ,walton1 and ,doctors       
,pearson1 ,sparrow1  and ,heylin4       
,baxter1 ,reynolds1 ,calamy1 and        
,lightfoot were the most  notable of the
 ,presbyterians4    ,the conference1    
which has ever since been known from its
 place of  meeting 7an old palace of the
 ,piedmontese ,ambassadors7 as the      
,savoy  ,conference1 convened on ,april 
#ae1 #affa4 ,for various reasons1 it    
was evident from the outset that the    
,churchmen were in a position  of great 
advantage4 ,in the first place1 signs   
and tokens of a  renewed confidence in  
monarchy and of a revived attachment to 
the  reigning ,house were becoming daily
 more numerous4    ,before he had had a 
chance to test the strength of the      
existing  political parties and to know 
how things really stood1 ,charles had   
borne himself very discreetly toward the
 ,presbyterians1 and had  held out hopes

 to them which1 as the event proved1    
were destined  never to be realized4 ,in
 a declaration put forth in the autumn  
of  #affj1 after he had been for some   
months on ,english soil1 he had even    
gone so far as to say3 ,when we were in 
,holland we were attended  by many grave
 and learned ministers from hence1 who  
were looked  upon as the most able and  
principal asserters of the ,presbyterian
  opinions2 with whom we had as much    
conference as the multitude of  affairs 
which were then upon us would permit us 
to have1 and to  our great satisfaction 
and comfort found them persons full of  
affection to us1 of zeal for the peace  
of the ,church and ,state1 and  neither 
enemies1 as they have been given out to 
be1 to episcopacy  or liturgy1 but      
modestly to desire such alterations in  
either1  as without shaking foundations 
might best allay the present            
distempers4    ,by the time the         
conference met it had become evident1   
from votes  taken in ,parliament and    

otherwise1 that the ,churchmen could    
sustain  toward their opponents a       
somewhat stiffer attitude than this     
without  imperilling their cause4       
,another great advantage enjoyed by the 
,episcopalians grew out of the fact that
 they were the party in  possession4    
,they had only to profess themselves    
satisfied with the  ,prayer ,book as it 
stood1 in order to throw the            
,presbyterians into  the position of    
assailants1 and defense is always easier
 than  attack4 ,sheldon1 the ,bishop of 
,london1 was not slow to perceive  this4
 ,at the very first meeting of the      
conference1 he is reported  to have said
 that as the ,non-conformists1 and not  
the bishops1 had  sought for the        
conference1 nothing could be done till  
the former  had delivered their         
exceptions in writing1 together with the
  additional forms and alterations which
 they desired4 ,upon which  ,bishop     
,burnet in his ,history of his own      
,times remarks3 ,sheldon  saw well what 

the effect would be of putting them to  
make all their  demands at once4 ,the   
number of them raised a mighty outcry   
against  them1 as people that could     
never be satisfied4    ,the             
,presbyterians1 however1 took up the    
challenge1 set to work at  formulating  
their objections1 and appointed ,richard
 ,baxter1 the most  famous of their     
number1 to show what could be done in   
the way of  making a better manual of   
worship than the ,book of ,common       
,prayer4    ,baxter1 a truly great man  
and wise in a way1 though scarcely in   
the  liturgical way1 was guilty of the  
incredible folly of undertaking  to     
construct a ,prayer ,book within a      
fortnight4    ,of this liturgy it is    
probably safe to say that no            
denomination of  ,christians1 however   
anti-prelatical or eccentric1 would for 
a  moment dream of adopting it1 if1     
indeed1 there be a single local         
congregation anywhere that could be     
persuaded to employ it4 ,the            

characteristic of the devotions is      
lengthiness4 ,the opening sentence  of  
the prayer with which the book begins   
contains by actual count  eighty-three  
words4 ,it is probable that ,baxter by  
his rash act did  more to injure the    
cause of intelligent and reverential    
liturgical  revision than any ten men   
have done before or since4 ,in every    
discussion of the subject he is almost  
sure to be brought forward  as the awful
 example4    ,a document much more to   
the point than ,baxter's ,liturgy was   
the  formal catalogue of faults and     
blemishes alleged against the ,prayer   
,book1 which the ,puritan members of the
 conference in due time  brought in4    
,this indictment1 for it may fairly be  
called such1  since it was drawn up in  
separate counts1 is very interesting    
reading4 ,of the exceptions against the 
,book of ,common ,prayer1  as the       
,puritans named their list of liturgical
 grievances1 some  must strike almost   
any reader of the present day as trivial

 and  unworthy4 ,others again there are 
that draw a sympathetic ,amen from  many
 quarters to-day4 ,to an ,american      
,episcopalian the catalogue  is chiefly 
interesting as showing how ready and    
even eager were  our colonial ancestors 
of a hundred years ago to remove out of 
the  way such known rocks of offence as 
they could4 ,an attentive student  of   
the ,american ,prayer ,book cannot fail 
to be struck with the number  of        
instances in which the text gives       
evidence of the influence  exerted over 
the minds of our revisers by what had   
been urged1 more  than a hundred years  
before1 by the ,puritan members of the  
,savoy  ,conference4 ,the defeat of     
#affa was1 in a measure at least1       
avenged  in #aghi4 ,it is encouraging to
 those who cast their bread upon        
liturgical waters to notice after how   
many days the return may come4  ,but the
 conference1 to all outward seeming1 was
 a failure4 ,baxter's  unhappy ,prayer  
,book was its own sufficient refutation1

 and as for  the list of special        
grievances it was met by the bishops    
with an  ,answer that was full of hard  
raps and conceded almost nothing4    ,a 
few detached paragraphs may serve to    
illustrate the general tone  of this    
reply4 ,here1 for instance1 is the      
comment of the bishops  upon the request
 of the ,puritans to be allowed         
occasionally to  substitute             
extemporaneous for liturgical devotions4
 ,the gift or  rather spirit of prayer  
consists in the inward graces of the    
spirit1  not in extempore expressions   
which any man of natural parts having  a
 voluble tongue and audacity may attain 
to without any special  gift4 ,nothing  
very conciliatory in that4 ,to the      
complaint that  the ,collects are too   
short1 the bishops reply that they      
cannot  for that reason be accounted    
faulty1 being like those short but      
prevalent prayers in ,scripture1 ,lord1 
be merciful to me a sinner4  ,lord1     
increase our faith4 ,the ,puritans had  

objected to the  antiphonal element in  
the ,prayer-,book services1 and desired 
to  have nothing of a responsive        
character allowed beyond the single     
word ,amen4 ,but1 rejoin the bishops1   
they directly practise the  contrary in 
one of their principal parts of worship1
 singing of  psalms1 where the people   
bear as great a part as the minister4   
,if  this way be done in ,hopkin's why  
not in ,david's ,psalms2 if in metre1   
why not in prose2 if in a psalm1 why not
 in a litany8 ,sharp1 but  not winning4 
,the ,puritans had objected to the      
people's kneeling while the             
,commandments were read on the score    
that ignorant worshippers  might mistake
 the ,decalogue for a form of prayer4   
,with some asperity  the bishops reply  
that why ,christian people should not   
upon their  knees ask their pardon for  
their life forfeited for the breach of  
every commandment and pray for grace to 
keep them for the time to  come they    
must be more than 'ignorant' that can   

scruple4    ,the time during which the  
conference at the ,savoy should continue
  its sessions had been limited to four 
months4 ,this period expired  on ,july  
#bd1 #affa1 and the apparently fruitless
 disputation was at  an end4 ,meanwhile1
 however1 ,convocation1 the recognized  
legislature  of the ,church of ,england1
 had begun to sit1 and the bishops had  
undertaken a revision of the ,prayer    
,book after their own mind1 and  with   
slight regard to what they had been     
hearing from their critics  at the      
,savoy4 ,the bulk of their work1 which  
included1 it is said1  more than six    
hundred alterations1 most of them of a  
verbal  character and of no great       
importance1 was accomplished within the 
compass of a single month4 ,it is       
consoling to those who within our  own  
memory have been charged with indecent  
haste for seeking to  effect a revision 
of the ,american ,book of ,common       
,prayer within a  period of nine years1 
to find this precedent in ecclesiastical

  history for their so great rashness4  
,since ,charles the ,second's day there 
has been no formal revision of  the     
,prayer ,book of the ,church of ,england
 by the ,church of ,england4    ,some   
slight relaxations of liturgical use on 
,sundays have been made  legal by ,act  
of ,parliament1 but in all important    
respects the ,prayer  ,book of ,victoria
 is identical with the book set forth by
 ,convocation  and sanctioned by        
,parliament shortly after the collapse  
of the ,savoy  ,conference4 ,under no   
previous lease of life did the book     
enjoy  anything like so long a period of
 continued existence4 ,elizabeth's  book
 was the longest lived of all that      
preceded the ,restoration1  but that    
only continued in use five-and-forty    
years4 ,but the ,prayer  ,book of #affa 
has now held its own in ,england for two
 centuries and  a quarter4 ,when1       
therefore1 we are asked to accept the   
first  ,edwardian ,book as the only just
 exponent of the religious mind of      

,england1 it is open to us to reply1    
,why should we1 seeing that  the        
,caroline ,book has served as the       
vehicle of ,english devotion for  a     
period seventy-five times as long8 ,the 
most voluminous of the  additions made  
to the ,prayer ,book1 in #affa1 were the
 ,office for the  ,baptism of ,adults   
and the ,forms of ,prayer to be used at 
,sea4 ,the  wide diffusion1 under the   
,commonwealth1 of what were then called 
,anabaptist opinions1 had brought it to 
pass that throughout the  kingdom there 
were thousands of men and women who had 
grown up  unbaptized4 ,at the time of   
the ,reformation such a thing as an     
unchristened ,christendom seems not to  
have been thought possible4  ,at any    
rate no provision was made for the      
contingency4 ,but upon  the spread of   
liberty of religious thought there      
followed1 logically  enough1 the spread 
of liberty of religious action1 and it  
was not  strange that after a whole     
generation had spent its life in        

controversy of the warmest sort over    
this very point of ,baptism1  there were
 found to be in ,england multitudes of  
the unbaptized4    ,another reason      
assigned in the ,preface of the ,english
 ,prayer ,book  for the addition of this
 office was that it might be used for   
the  baptizing of natives in the        
plantations and other converts4 ,this   
is the first hint of any awakening of   
the conscience of the ,english  ,church 
to a sense of duty toward those         
strangers and foreigners who  in the    
,greater ,britain of these later days   
fill so large a place4  ,the composition
 of the office1 which differs very      
little1 perhaps  scarcely enough1 from  
that appointed for the ,baptism of      
,infants1 is  attributed to ,griffith1  
the ,bishop of ,st4 ,asaph4 ,the        
compiler of  the ,forms of ,prayer to be
 used at ,sea was ,bishop ,sanderson1   
famous  among ,english theologians as an
 authority on casuistry4 ,he must have  
found it rather a nice case of          

conscience to decide whether a ,stuart  
divine in preparing forms of prayer for 
a navy that had been the  creation of   
,oliver ,cromwell ought wholly to omit  
an acknowledgment  of the nation's      
obligation to that stout-hearted1 if    
non-,episcopal  ,christian4 ,other      
additions of importance made at this    
revision were  the ,general             
,thanksgiving1 in all probability the   
work of ,reynolds1  a conforming        
,presbyterian divine1 the ,collect1     
,epistle1 and ,gospel  for the ,sixth   
,sunday after the ,epiphany1 the ,prayer
 for ,parliament1  upon the lines of    
which our own ,prayer for ,congress was 
afterward  modelled1 and the ,prayer for
 ,all ,sorts and ,conditions of ,men4   
,in  the ,litany the words rebellion and
 schism were introduced into  one of the
 suffrages1 becoming tide-marks of the  
havoc wrought in  ,church and ,state by 
what the revisers1 doubtless1 looked    
back upon  as the flood of the ungodly4 
,the words ,bishops1 ,priests1 and      

,deacons were substituted for ,bishops1 
,pastors1 and ,ministers of  the        
,church4 ,new ,collects were appointed  
for the ,third ,sunday in  ,advent and  
for ,st4 ,stephen's ,day4 ,both of these
 are distinct gains1  albeit had the    
opinion then prevailed that to introduce
 into the  ,prayer ,book anything from  
the pen of a living writer is an        
impiety1  we should have gained neither 
of them4    ,another important change   
made in #affb was the adoption for the  
,sentences1 ,epistles and ,gospels of   
the language of ,king ,james's  ,bible  
in place of that of earlier versions4   
,this principle was not  applied to the 
,psalter1 to the ,decalogue1 or1 in     
fact1 to any of  the portions of        
,scripture contained in the ,communion  
,service4    ,it is also interesting to 
note that the ,confession in the ,holy  
,communion1 which the earlier rubric had
 directed should be said  by one of the 
congregation1 or else by one of the     
ministers1 or  by the priest himself1   

was now made general and enjoined upon  
all  the worshippers4    ,most          
suggestive of all1 however1 was the     
reinsertion at the end of  the          
,communion ,service of a certain        
,declaration about the significance  of 
the act of kneeling at the reception of 
the elements1 which had1  as some say1  
irregularly and without proper          
authority1 found its way  into the      
,second ,book of ,edward ,,vi41 but had 
been omitted from all  subsequent books 
till now4 ,this ,declaration1 which from
 its not  being printed in red ink is   
known to those who dislike it under the 
name of the black rubric1 was           
undoubtedly intended to ease the        
consciences of those who scrupled to    
kneel at the altar-rail for  fear of    
seeming to countenance that             
superstitious adoration of the  elements
 known to and stigmatized by the        
,reformers as host-worship4  ,the       
language of the black rubric as it stood
 in ,edward's ,second  ,book was as     

follows3 ,although no order can be so   
perfectly devised  but it may be of     
some1 either for their ignorance and    
infirmity1  or else of malice and       
obstinacy1 misconstrued1 depraved1 and  
interpreted in a wrong part2 and yet    
because brotherly charity  willeth that 
so much as conveniently may be offences 
should be  taken away2 therefore we     
willing to do the same3 whereas1 it is  
ordained in the ,book of ,common        
,prayer1 in the ,administration of  the 
,lord's ,supper1 that the communicants  
kneeling should receive the  ,holy      
,communion1 which thing being well meant
 for a signification  of the humble and 
grateful acknowledging of the benefits  
of ,christ  given unto the worthy       
receiver1 and to avoid the profanation  
and  disorder1 which about the ,holy    
,communion might else ensue1 lest  yet  
the same kneeling might be thought or   
taken otherwise2 we do  declare that it 
is not meant thereby1 that any adoration
 is done  or ought to be done1 either   

unto the sacramental bread or wine      
there bodily received or unto any real  
and essential presence there  being of  
,christ's natural flesh and blood4 ,for 
as concerning the  sacramental bread and
 wine they remain still in their very   
natural  substances1 and therefore may  
not be adored1 for that were idolatry   
to be abhorred of all faithful          
,christians3 and as concerning the      
natural body and blood of our ,saviour  
,christ1 they are in heaven  and not    
here1 for it is against the truth of    
,christ's true natural  body to be in   
more places than in one at one time4    
,in restoring this significant          
,declaration1 the revisers of #affb     
substituted the words corporal presence 
for the words real and  substantial     
presence1 but probably with no intention
 other than  that of making the original
 meaning more plain4 ,the fact that in  
the teeth and eyes of the black rubric  
the practice known as  ,eucharistical   
adoration has become widely prevalent in

 the ,church  of ,england1 only shows   
how little dependence can be placed on  
forms  of words to keep even excellent  
and religious people from doing  the    
things they have a mind to do4    ,in   
taking leave of the ,caroline revision1 
it may be permitted to  dwell for a     
moment upon the serious character of the
 conclusion  reached by the             
ecclesiastical leaders of that day4 ,an 
opportunity  was given them to          
conciliate dissent4 ,without going all  
lengths1  without in any measure        
imperilling the great foundation        
principles  of ,anglican religion1 they 
might1 it would seem1 have won back to  
the national church thousands of those  
whom their sternness not  only repelled 
but permanently embittered4 ,but it was 
the hour of  victory with the           
,churchmen1 and ,woe to the conquered   
seems to  have been their cry4 ,they set
 their faces as a flint against         
concession2 they passed their iron-clad 
act of uniformity1 and  now for more    

than two hundred years religion in      
,great ,britain has  been a household   
divided against itself4 ,perhaps nothing
 that the  men of the ,restoration could
 have done would have made it otherwise4
  ,perhaps the familiar question of the 
cynical ,dean of ,st4 ,patrick's1  ,what
 imports it how large a gate you open1  
if there be always left  a number who   
place a pride and a merit in refusing to
 enter8 was  a fair question1 and fatal 
to any dream of unity4 ,and yet one may 
be pardoned for believing that had a    
little of the oil of brotherly  kindness
 been poured upon those troubled waters 
we whom the waves  still buffet might   
to-day be sailing a smoother sea4    ,as
 stated above1 the ,convocation of #affb
 gave to the ,prayer ,book of  the      
,church of ,england the form it has ever
 since retained4 ,but it  must not be   
supposed that no efforts have been made 
meanwhile to  bring changes to pass4    
,the books written upon the subject form
 a  literature by themselves4    ,the   

one really serious attempt to           
reconstruct the ,liturgy in             
post-,caroline times was that which grew
 naturally enough out of the            
,revolution of #afhh4 ,in every previous
 crisis of political change1  the       
,prayer ,book had felt the tremor along 
with the statute-book4    ,church and   
,state1 like heart and brain1 are       
sympathetically  responsive to one      
another2 revisions of rubrics go        
naturally  along with revisions of      
codes4 ,it was only what might have been
  anticipated1 therefore1 that when     
,william and ,mary came to the  throne a
 ,commission should issue for a new     
review4 ,if ,elizabeth  had found it    
necessary to revise the book1 if ,james 
had found it  necessary1 if ,charles had
 found it necessary1 why should not the 
strong hand of ,william of ,orange be   
laid upon the pages8 ,but this  time the
 rule was destined to find its          
exception4 ,the work of review  was1    
indeed1 undertaken by a ,royal          

,commission1 including among its        
members the great names of              
,stillingfleet1 ,tillotson1 and         
,beveridge1  but nothing came of their  
work4 ,convocation again showed itself  
unfriendly to anything like concessive  
measures1 and so complete  was the      
obscurity into which the doings of the  
,commission fell1  that even as late as 
#ahdi1 ,cardwell1 in the third edition  
of  his ,history of ,conferences1 speaks
 as if he knew nothing of  the          
whereabouts of the record4 ,in #ahed the
 manuscript minutes  of the             
,commission's proceedings were          
discovered in the ,library  of ,lambeth 
,palace1 and by order of ,parliament    
printed as a  ,blue-book4 ,the same     
document has also been published in a   
more  readable form by ,bagster4 ,one   
rises from the perusal of this ,broad   
,church ,prayer ,book--for such1        
perhaps1 ,tillotson's attempt may not   
unfairly be called--profoundly thankful 
that the promoters of it  were not      

suffered to succeed4 ,the ,preface to   
our ,american ,book of  ,common ,prayer 
refers to this attempted review of #afhi
 as a great  and good work4 ,but the    
greatness and the goodness must have    
lain  in the motive1 for one fails to   
discern them either in the matter  or in
 the manner of what was recommended4    
,even ,macaulay1 ,whig that he is1 fails
 not to put on record his  condemnation 
of the literary violence which the      
,prayer ,book so  narrowly escaped at   
the hands of the ,royal ,commission of  
#afhi4  ,terseness was not the special  
excellency of ,macaulay's own style1    
yet even he resented ,bishop ,patrick's 
notion that the ,collects  could be     
improved by amplification4 ,one of the  
few really good  suggestions made by the
 ,commissioners was that of using the   
,beatitudes in the ,office of the ,holy 
,communion as an alternate  for the     
,decalogue4 ,there are certain festivals
 of the ,christian  year when such a    
substitution would be most timely and   

refreshing4    ,we make a leap now of   
just a hundred years4 ,from #afhi we    
pass to  #aghi1 and find ourselves in   
the city of ,philadelphia1 at a         
convention assembled for the purpose of 
framing a constitution  and setting     
forth a liturgy for a body of           
,christians destined to  be known as the
 ,protestant ,episcopal ,church in the  
,united ,states  of ,america4 ,during   
the interval between the issue of the   
,declaration  of ,independence and the  
,ratification of the ,constitution of   
the  ,united ,states1 the people in this
 country who had been brought  up in the
 communion of the ,church of ,england   
found themselves  ecclesiastically in a 
very delicate position indeed4 ,as      
colonists  they had been canonically    
under the spiritual jurisdiction of the 
,bishop of ,london1 a somewhat remote   
diocesan4 ,but with this  ,episcopal    
bond broken and no new one formed1 they 
seemed to be  in a peculiar sense       
adrift4 ,it does not fall to me to      

narrate  the steps that led to the final
 establishment of the episcopacy  upon a
 sure foundation1 nor yet to trace the  
process through which  the ,church's    
legislative system came gradually to its
 completion4  ,our interest is a        
liturgical one1 and our subject matter  
the  evolution of the ,prayer ,book4 ,i 
say nothing1 therefore1 of other        
matters that were debated in the        
,convention of #aghi1 but shall  propose
 instead that we confine ourselves to   
what was said and  done about the       
,prayer ,book4 ,in order1 however1 fully
 to appreciate  the situation we must go
 back a little4 ,in a half-formal and   
half-informal fashion there had come    
into existence1 four years  before this 
,convention of #aghi assembled1 an      
,american ,liturgy now  known by the    
name of ,the ,proposed ,book4 ,it had   
been compiled on  the basis of the      
,english ,prayer ,book by a ,committee  
of three  eminent clergymen1 ,dr4 ,white
 of ,pennsylvania1 ,dr4 ,william ,smith 

of ,maryland1 and ,dr4 ,wharton of      
,delaware4 ,precisely what measure  of  
acceptance this book enjoyed1 or to what
 extent it came actually  into use1 are 
difficult1 perhaps hopeless questions4  
,what we know for certain is that the   
public opinion of the greater  number of
 ,churchmen rejected it as inadequate   
and unsatisfactory4  ,in the ,convention
 of #aghi ,the ,proposed ,book does not 
seem to have  been seriously considered 
in open debate at all1 though doubtless 
there was much talk about it1 much      
controversy over its merits and         
demerits at ,philadelphia dinner-tables 
and elsewhere while the  session was in 
progress4    ,the truth is1 the changes 
set forth in ,the ,proposed ,book were  
too sweeping to commend themselves to   
the sober second-thought of  men whose  
blood still showed the tincture of      
,english conservatism4  ,possibly also  
some old flames of ,tory resentment were
 rekindled1  here and there1 by the     
prominence given in the book to a form  

of  public thanksgiving for the ,fourth 
of ,july4 ,there were ,churchmen        
doubtless at that day who failed duly to
 appreciate what were called  in the    
title of the office1 the inestimable    
blessings of ,religious  and ,civil     
,liberty4 ,others again may have been   
offended by the  treatment measured out 
to the ,psalter1 which was portioned    
into  thirty selections of two parts    
each1 with the ,benedicite added  at the
 end1 to be used1 if desired1 on the    
thirty-first day of any  month4 ,another
 somewhat crude and unliturgical device 
was the  running together without break 
of the ,morning ,prayer and the         
,litany4    ,i speak of blemishes1 but  
,the ,proposed ,book had its excellences
  also4 ,just at present it is the      
fashion in ,anglican circles to heap    
ridicule and contempt on ,the ,proposed 
,book out of all proportion  to its real
 demerits4 ,somehow it is thought to    
compromise us with  the ,english by     
showing up our ecclesiastical ancestors 

in an  unfavorable light as unlearned   
and ignorant men4 ,it is treated  as    
people will sometimes treat an old      
family portrait of a forebear1  who in  
his day was under a cloud1 mismanaged   
trust funds1 or made  money in the slave
 trade4 ,thus a grave historiographer by
 way of  speaking comfortably on this   
score1 assures us that the volume       
speedily sunk into obscurity1 becoming  
one of the rarest of the  books         
illustrative of our ecclesiastical      
annals4    ,and yet1 curiously enough1  
,the ,proposed ,book was in some points 
more churchly1 using the word in a sense
 expressive of liturgical  accuracy1    
than the book finally adopted4 ,in the  
,morning ,prayer it  has the ,venite in 
full and not abridged4 ,the ,benedictus 
it also  gives entire4 ,a single form of
 ,absolution is supplied4 ,the versicles
  following upon the ,creed are more    
numerous than ours4 ,in the ,evening    
,prayer the great ,gospel ,hymns1 the   
,magnificat and the ,nunc  dimittis1    

stand in the places to which we with    
tardy justice have  only just restored  
them4    ,again1 if we consider those   
features of ,the ,proposed ,book that   
were retained and made part of the      
,liturgy in #aghi1 we shall have        
further reason to refrain from wholesale
 condemnation of this  tentative work4  
,for example1 we owe the two opening    
sentences of  ,morning ,prayer1 ,the    
,lord is in his holy temple and ,from   
the  rising of the sun1 to ,the         
,proposed ,book1 and also the special   
form for ,thanksgiving ,day4 ,and yet1  
on the whole1 the ,convention  of #aghi 
acted most wisely in determining that it
 would make the  ,prayer ,book of the   
,church of ,england1 rather than ,the   
,proposed  ,book1 the real basis of     
revision4 ,it did so1 and as a result we
  have what has served us so well during
 the first century of our  national     
life--the ,book of ,common ,prayer and  
,administration of  the ,sacraments and 
other rites and ceremonies of the       

,church  according to the use of the    
,protestant ,episcopal ,church in the   
,united ,states of ,america4 ,the points
 wherein the ,american ,prayer  ,book   
differs from the ,prayer ,book of the   
,church of ,england are too  numerous to
 be catalogued in full4 ,they will      
appear1 says the  ,preface 7a           
composition borrowed1 by the way1 almost
 wholly from  ,the ,proposed ,book71    
and1 it is to be hoped1 the reasons of  
them  also1 upon a comparison of this   
with the ,book of ,common ,prayer of    
the ,church of ,england4    ,the most   
important differences are the following3
 ,the permissive  use of ,selections of 
,psalms in place of the ,psalms         
appointed for  the day of the month4    
,this was doubtless suggested by the    
wholesale  transformation of the        
,psalter in ,the ,proposed ,book into a 
series  of selections4    ,the permitted
 shortening of the ,litany is an        
,american feature4    ,a number of the  
special prayers1 as1 for example1 the   

prayer for a  sick person1 that for     
persons going to sea1 the thanksgivings 
for a  recovery and for a safe return1  
all these are peculiar to the  ,american
 use4 ,extensive alterations were made  
in the ,marriage  ,service and certain  
greatly needed ones in the ,burial      
,office4  ,the two most noteworthy      
differences1 however1 are the omission  
from our ,prayer ,book of the so-called 
,athanasian ,creed1 and the  insertion  
in it of that part of the ,consecration 
,prayer in the  ,communion ,office known
 as the ,invocation4 ,the engrafting of 
this  latter feature we owe to the      
influence of ,bishop ,seabury1 who by   
this addition not only assimilated the  
language of our liturgy more  closely to
 that of the ancient formularies of the 
,oriental ,church1  but also insured our
 being kept reminded of the truly       
spiritual  character of ,holy           
,communion4 ,it is the spirit that      
quickeneth1  this ,invocation seems to  
say2 the flesh profiteth nothing4 ,quite

  in line with this was the alteration  
made at the same time in the  language  
of the ,catechism4 ,the ,body and ,blood
 of ,christ1 says the  ,english ,book1  
which are verily and indeed taken and   
received by  the faithful in the ,lord's
 ,supper4    ,the ,body and ,blood of   
,christ1 says the ,american ,book1 which
 are  spiritually taken and received by 
the faithful in the ,lord's  ,supper4   
,many verbal changes are to be found    
scattered here and there  through the   
book1 some of them for the better1 some1
 perhaps1  for the worse4 ,the          
prevailing purpose seems to have been to
  expunge all obsolete words and phrases
 while dealing tenderly  with           
obsolescent ones4 ,in this course1      
however1 the revisers  were by no means 
always and everywhere consistent4       
,prevent1 in the sense of anticipate1 is
 altered in some places  but left       
unchanged in others4 ,in the ,visitation
 of ,prisoners1 an  office borrowed from
 the ,irish ,prayer ,book1 the          

thoroughly obsolete  expression1 ,as you
 tender1 in the sense of as you value1  
the  salvation of your soul1 is         
retained4    ,from the ,psalter has     
disappeared in the ,american ,book ,thou
 tellest  my ,sittings1 although why    
this particular archaism should have    
been selected for banishment and a      
hundred others spared1 it is  not easy  
to understand4    ,perhaps some sudden  
impatience seized the reviser1 like that
 which  moved ,bishop ,wren1 while      
annotating his ,prayer ,book1 to write  
on  the margin of the calendar for      
,august1 ,out with 'dog days' from      
among the saints4    ,considering what a
 bond of unity the ,lord's ,prayer      
appears to be  becoming among all       
,english-speaking worshippers1 it is1   
perhaps1  to be regretted that our      
revisers changed the wording of it in   
two  or three places4 ,the excision of  
,lighten our darkness must  probably be 
attributed to the prosaic matter-of-fact
 temper which  had possession of        

everybody and everything during the last
 quarter  of the eighteenth century4    
,the ,ordinal1 the ,articles1 the       
,consecration of ,churches1 and the     
,institution of ,ministers made no part 
of the ,prayer ,book as it was  set     
forth in #aghi2 nor do they1 even now1  
strictly speaking1 make  a part of it1  
although in the matter of binding force 
and legal  authority they are on the    
same footing4    ,the ,ordinal and      
,articles are substantially identical   
with the  ,english ,ordinal and         
,articles1 save in the matter of a      
reference  to the ,athanasian ,creed and
 several references to the connection of
  ,church and ,state4 ,the ,consecration
 of ,churches and the ,institution  of  
,ministers are offices distinctively    
,american4 ,if ,i add that the          
,american ,book drops out of the        
,visitation of the ,sick a form  of     
private absolution1 and greatly modifies
 the service for  ,ash-,wednesday1 we   
shall have made our survey of           

differences  tolerably1 though by no    
means exhaustively complete4    ,and now
 what is the lesson taught us by the    
history of the ,prayer  ,book8          
,homiletical as the question sounds1 it 
is worth asking4    ,we have reviewed   
rapidly1 but not carelessly1 the        
vicissitudes of  the book's wonderful   
career1 and we ought to be in a position
 to  draw some sort of instructive      
inference from it all4 ,well1 one  thing
 taught us is this1 the singular power  
of survival that lives  in gracious     
words4 ,they wondered at the gracious   
words which  proceeded out of ,his      
mouth1 and because they wondered at them
  they treasured them up4    ,kind      
words1 says the child's hymn1 can never 
die2 neither can  kindly words1 and     
kindly in the deepest sense are many1   
many of  the words of the ,common       
,prayer2 they touch that which is most  
catholic in us1 that which strongly     
links us to our kind4 ,there  is that in
 some of the ,collects which as it has  

lasted since the  days when ,roman      
emperors were sitting on their thrones1 
so will  it last while man continues    
what he is1 a praying creature4         
,another thing taught us by the ,prayer 
,book's history is the duty  of being   
forever on our guard in the religious   
life against the  falsehood of extremes4
    ,the emancipated thinkers who       
account all standards of belief to  be  
no better than dungeon walls1 scoff at  
this feature of the  ,anglican character
 with much bitterness4 ,your ,church is 
a ,church  of compromises1 they say1 and
 your boasted ,via media only a         
coward's path1 the poor refuge of the   
man who dares not walk in  the open4    
,but when we see this ,prayer ,book     
condemned for being  what it is by      
,bloody ,mary1 and then again condemned 
for being what  it is by the ,long      
,parliament1 the thought occurs to us   
that  possibly there is enshrined in    
this much-persecuted volume a truth     
larger than the ,romanist is willing to 

tolerate1 or the ,puritan  generous     
enough to apprehend4    ,a third        
important lesson is that we are not to  
confound revision  with ruin1 or to     
suppose that because a book is          
marvellously good  it cannot conceivably
 be bettered4 ,each accomplished        
revision of  the ,book of ,common       
,prayer has been a distinct step in     
advance4 ,if  ,god in his wise          
providence suffered an excellent growth 
of devotion  to spring up out of the    
soil of ,england in the days of ,edward 
the ,sixth1 and1 after many years1      
determined that like a vine  out of     
,egypt it should be brought across the  
sea and given root  on these shores1 we 
need not fear that we are about to lose 
utterly our pleasant plant if we notice 
that the twigs and leaves  are adapting 
themselves to the climate and the       
atmosphere of the  new dwelling-place4  
,the life within the vine remains what  
it always  was4 ,the growth means       
health4 ,the power of adaptation is the 

guarantee of a perpetual youth4         
,,revision ,,of ,,the ,,american        
,,common ,,prayer4          ,,ii4       
,,revision ,,of ,,the ,,american        
,,common ,,prayer4#a    ,the revision of
 long established formularies of public 
worship is1  as it ought to be1 a matter
 compassed about with obstacles many and
  great4 ,a wise doubtfulness prompts   
conservative minds to throw every  mover
 for change upon the defensive1 when    
liturgical interests  are at stake4 ,so 
many men are born into the world with a 
native  disposition to tamper with and  
tinker all settled things1 and so  many 
more become persuaded1 as time goes on1 
of a personal mission  to pull down and 
remake whatever has been once built up1 
esteeming  life a failure unless they   
have contrived to build each his own    
monument upon a clearing1 that lovers of
 the old ways are sometimes  compelled  
in sheer self-defence to put on the     
appearance of being  more obstinately   
set against change than they really are4

 ,it ought  not to be absolutely        
impossible to alter a national hand-book
 of  worship 7which is what any manual  
calling itself a ,common ,prayer  must  
aspire to become71 but it is well that  
it should be all but  impossible to do  
so4 ,logically it might seem as if the  
possession  of a power to make involved 
a continuance of power to remake2 and   
so it does1 to a certain extent1 but    
only to a certain extent4  ,living      
organisms cannot be remodelled with the 
same freedom as dead  matter4 ,a        
solemnity hangs about the moment of     
birth that attaches  to no other crisis 
in a man's life until death comes4      
,similarly  there are certain features  
which the founders of institutions1 the 
first makers of organic law1 imprint    
lastingly upon their work4 ,we  may     
destroy the living thing so brought to  
birth2 to kill is always  possible2 but 
only by very gradual and plastic methods
 can we hope  in any measure to         
reconstruct the actual embodiment of    

life once  achieved4 ,the men of #aghi  
had us in their power1 even as the men  
of #aedi had had both them and us4 ,in  
every creative epoch many  things are   
settled by which unborn generations will
 be bound4#b    ,it may be urged that   
this is an argument against adopting    
liturgies  in the first instance as     
vehicles of worship2 and such           
undoubtedly  it is in so far forth as   
immobility ought in such matters to be  
reckoned a disadvantage4 ,but we are    
bound to take into account the  gain    
which comes with immobility as well as  
the drawbacks4 ,we must  consider how   
large a proportion of the reverence     
which the great  institutes of human    
life exact from us is due to the fixity 
of the  things themselves4 ,mont ,blanc 
loses nothing of its hold upon our      
admiration because we always find it in 
the same place4    ,men like to feel    
that there is something in the world    
stronger  than the individual will1     
stronger simply because it expresses    

the settled common-sense of many as to  
what is fitting and right  in contrast  
with the whim of one4 ,lawyers1 as a    
class1 are almost  as conservative as   
ecclesiastics1 and for the very reason  
that  they also are charged with the    
custody of established forms which  it  
is important that men should reverence4 
,laws affecting the tenure  of property1
 the binding force of contracts1 the    
stability of the  marriage relation1 not
 only cannot be lightly altered1 the    
very  phraseology in which they are     
couched must be carefully handled1  for 
fear lest with the passing away of the  
form something of the  substance go     
also4    ,moreover1 the affections of   
men fasten themselves very tenaciously  
to such a trellis as a liturgy affords4 
,the love for the old words  and the old
 tunes against which all innovators in  
hymnody1 however  deserving1 have to do 
battle1 asserts itself under the form of
  love for the old prayers with ten-fold
 vehemence4 ,an immense fund  of latent 

heat smoulders beneath the maxim1 ,let  
the ancient customs  prevail2 and few of
 the victories achieved by the papacy   
are so  startling as those that have    
resulted in the displacement of the     
liturgical uses of local ,churches1 that
 of ,paris1 for example1 by  the ,roman 
rite4    ,but true principles1 as we are
 often reminded1 become falsehoods  when
 shoved across the line of proper       
measure4 ,the very cycles of  the       
astronomers have an end1 and the        
clock-work of the most ancient  heavens1
 or at least our reading of it1 calls1  
from time to time1  for readjustment4   
,so long as man continues fallible his  
best  intended workmanship will         
occasionally demand such alteration for 
the better as1 within the limits already
 pointed out1 may be  possible4    ,many
 signs of the times suggest that the    
hour for a fresh review  of the         
,anglican formularies of worship is nigh
 at hand4 ,some of  these tokens are    
written on a sky broad enough to cover  

the whole  ,english-speaking race1      
others of them are visible chiefly      
within  our own national horizon4 ,with 
respect to the ,english book1 ,cardwell 
#c writing in #ahdj and ,freeman#d in   
#ahee1 considered revision1  however    
desirable in the abstract1 to be a thing
 utterly out of  reach1 not within the  
circle1 as the parliamentary phrase now 
runs1  of practical politics4    ,but it
 may be fairly questioned whether these 
high authorities1  were they living     
to-day1 would not concur in the judgment
 of a more  recent writer when he       
says--in language which1 mutatis        
mutandis1  applies to our own case3 ,the
 most weighty plea in favor of timely   
inquiry into the subject is that the    
process of revision is actually  going  
on piecemeal1 and with no very          
intelligent survey of the  bearings as a
 preliminary to any one instalment4 ,the
 ,new ,lectionary  of #ahga1 the        
,shortened ,services ,act1 the debates  
in the ,convocation  of ,canterbury on  

rubrical amendments1 none of them marked
 by any  sufficient care or knowledge1  
and all fraught with at least the       
possibility of serious consequence1 are 
examples of formal and  recognized      
inroads on the ,act of ,uniformity2     
while such practical  though            
unauthorized additions to the scanty    
group of ,anglican  formularies as the  
,three ,hours' ,devotion1 ,harvest      
,thanksgivings1  ,public ,institution of
 ,incumbents1 ,ordination of ,readers   
and  ,deaconesses1 and ,children's      
,services prove incontestably that  the 
narrow limits of the ,common ,prayer    
,book are no longer adequate  for the   
spiritual needs of the ,church of       
,england 4 4 4    ,it is evident1 then1 
that contented acquiescence with the old
 state  of things already belongs to the
 past1 and that a return to it is       
impossible4 ,we must perforce advance1  
for good or ill1 in the path  of        
revision1 and cannot even materially    
slacken the pace nor defer  the crisis4 

,one choice1 however1 is left in our    
power1 and that is  the most important  
of all1 namely1 the direction which     
revision  shall take--that of           
conservative and recuperative addition1 
or that  of further evisceration1       
ceremonial or devotional4 #e    ,a      
measure looking in the direction towards
 which this reviewer  points was        
actually passed by the ,general         
,convention of our own  ,church at its  
late session in ,october1 #ahhj4    ,the
 wording of the ,resolution referred to 
was as follows3    ,resolved3 ,that a   
,joint ,committee1 to consist of seven  
bishops1  seven presbyters1 and seven   
laymen be appointed to consider and     
report to the next ,general ,convention 
whether1 in view of the fact  that this 
,church is soon to enter upon the second
 century of its  organized existence in 
this country1 the changed conditions of 
the  national life do not demand certain
 alterations in the ,book of  ,common   
,prayer in the direction of liturgical  

enrichment and  increased flexibility of
 use4#f    ,in the present article the  
writer proposes to inquire1 in          
connection  with this measure3    7#a7  
,what motives may fairly be supposed to 
have actuated the  ,convention in       
allowing so important an initiatory step
 to be taken8    7#b7 ,what measure of  
authority was conferred on and what     
scope given  to the ,joint ,committee   
then constituted8    7#c7 ,what reasons 
exist for considering the present a     
happy moment  to attempt liturgical     
revision1 within certain limits1 should 
such  a thing be determined upon8       
7#d7 ,what serious difficulties and     
obstacles are likely to be  encountered 
in ,committee1 in ,convention1 and in   
the ,church at large8    7#e7 ,what     
particular improvements and adjustments 
of our existing  system would be1 in    
point of fact1 best worth the effort    
necessary  to secure them8    ,i4 ,the  
interpretation of motives1 difficult    
enough in the case of  individuals1     

becomes mere guess-work when the action 
under analysis  is that of a large body 
of men4 ,which one of many              
considerations  urged upon the          
,convention carried with it the supreme 
weight of  persuasion in this particular
 instance it is impossible to say4  ,two
 or three arguments1 however1 from their
 frequent reappearance  in the debate   
may fairly be judged to have exercised a
 controlling  influence4 ,one of these  
was hinted at in the language of the    
resolution itself1 namely1 the call for 
revision that has grown  out of the     
changed conditions of the national life4
 ,shrewd and  far-seeing as were        
,william ,white and his coadjutors in   
their  forecast of nineteenth century   
needs made from the standpoint of  the  
,peace of ,versailles1 they would have  
been more than human had  they succeeded
 in anticipating all the civil and      
ecclesiastical  consequences destined to
 flow from that memorable event4        
,certainly  it ought not to be held     

strange that this new ,america of ours1 
with its enormously multiplied          
territory1 its conglomerate of races1   
its novel forms of association1 its     
multiplicity of industries not  dreamed 
of a generation ago1 should have demands
 to make in respect  to a better        
adaptation of ancient formularies to    
present wants1 such  as thoughtful      
people count both reasonable and cogent4
 ,that a ,prayer  ,book revised         
primarily for the use of a              
half-proscribed ,church  planted here   
and there along a sparsely inhabited    
sea-coast1 should  serve as amply as it 
does the purposes of a population now   
swollen  from four millions to fifty1   
and covering the whole breadth of the   
continent1 is marvel enough2 to assert  
for the book entire adequacy  to meet   
these altered circumstances is a        
mistake4 ,new time1 new  favors1 and new
 joys1 so a familiar hymn affirms1 do a 
new song  require4 ,we have conceded the
 principle so far as psalmody is        

concerned1 why not apply it to the      
service of prayer as well as  to that of
 praise1 and in addition to our new     
hymns secure also such  new             
intercessions and new thanksgivings as  
the needs of to-day  suggest8 ,the      
reference in the resolution to the      
approaching  completion of the century  
has since been playfully characterized  
as a bit of sentimentalism4#g ,the      
criticism would be entirely  just if the
 mere recurrence of the centennial      
anniversary were the  point chiefly     
emphasized4 ,but when a century closes  
as this one of  ours has done with a    
great social revolution whereby all     
estates  of men have been more or less  
affected1 the proposal to signalize     
entrance upon a fresh stretch of        
national life by making devotional      
preparation for it is something better  
than a pretty conceit2 there  is a      
serious reasonableness in it4#h         
,every revision of the ,common ,prayer  
of the ,church of ,england1 and  there  

have been four of them since ,edward's  
,first ,book was put in  print1 has     
taken place at some important era of    
transition in the  national life3 and   
conversely it may be said that every    
civil  crisis1 with a single exception1 
has left its mark upon the  formularies4
    ,to one who argues that because we  
in this country are evidently  entering 
upon a new phase of the national life we
 ought similarly  to re-enforce and     
readjust our service-book1 it is no     
sufficient  reply to urge the severance 
effected here between ,church and       
,state4  ,the fact that ours is a       
non-established ,church does not make   
her  wholly unresponsive to the shocks  
of change that touch the civil  fabric4 
,in so far as a political renewal alters
 the social grading  of society1        
bringing in education1 for instance1    
where before it  was not1 or suddenly   
developing new forms of industrial      
activity1  the ,church1 whether         
established or not1 is in duty bound to 

take  cognizance of the fresh field of  
duty thus suddenly thrust upon her1  and
 to prepare herself accordingly4    ,in 
the ,preface added to the ,english      
,prayer ,book at the ,restoration1  and 
commonly attributed to ,sanderson1 that 
staid and well weighed  man1 as ,hammond
 called him1 there occurs a sentence    
which1 both  on account of its embodying
 in a few words the whole philosophy of 
liturgical revision and because of a    
certain practical bearing  presently to 
be pointed out1 it is worth while1 in   
spite of its  familiarity1 to quote3    
,the particular forms of ,divine        
worship1 and the rites and ceremonies   
appointed to be used therein1 being     
things in their own nature  indifferent 
and alterable and so acknowledged1 it is
 but reasonable1  that upon weighty and 
important considerations1 according to  
the  various exigency of times and      
occasions1 such changes and alterations 
should be made therein1 as to those that
 are in place of authority  should from 

time to time seem either necessary or   
expedient4    ,contemporaneously with   
this utterance there came into the      
,prayer  ,book1 as a direct consequence 
of the enormous enlargement of the      
naval and commercial marine that had    
taken place under the  ,commonwealth1   
the ,forms of ,prayer to be used at     
,sea4 ,here was a  wise and right-minded
 recognition of a new want that had     
sprung up  with a new time1 a want which
 jealousy of the ,puritans who had built
  up the naval supremacy did not prevent
 the ,caroline bishops from  meeting4   
,but the change that passed on ,england 
during five years of  ,cromwell was as  
nothing compared with the transformation
 of ,america  under ninety-five years of
 the federal constitution4 ,take a      
single  illustration4 ,the year #aghi1  
the date of the ,ratification of the    
,american ,prayer ,book1 saw sea-island 
cotton first planted in the  ,united    
,states1 and it was about that time that
 upland cotton also  began to be        

cultivated for home and foreign use4 ,as
 the effect of  this scarcely noticed   
experiment there straightway sprang up  
an  industry1 ,north and ,south1 which  
has been to our country almost  what her
 shipping interest is to ,great         
,britain4 ,bishop ,white and  his       
associates were not to blame for failure
 to provide bread that  all this        
unanticipated multitude of toilers      
should eat4 ,and yet a  failure there   
has been4 ,no one who has not labored at
 the task of  trying to commend the     
,church of the ,prayer ,book to the     
working  class1 as it is represented in 
our large manufacturing towns1 can  know
 how lamentable that failure is4 ,we    
gather in the rich and the  poor1 but   
the great middle class that makes the   
staple and the  strength of ,american   
society stands aloof4    ,nowhere in    
this country1 for instance1 has the     
,church had a better  opportunity to    
show what it could do for ,american     
people than in  the city of ,lowell1    

where cotton spinning had its first     
large  development4 ,it was a virgin    
soil3 the ,episcopal ,church1 as rarely 
happens1 was earliest on the ground3 and
 not only so1 but it enjoyed  for some  
years the friendly protection of the    
proprietors of the  new settlement1     
almost a religious monopoly--was1 in    
fact1 an  ecclesiastical preserve4      
,moreover1 this beginning antedated the 
,irish occupation by many years1 at     
least so far as skilled labor  was      
concerned1 for during a considerable    
period the operatives in  the mills were
 of native ,new ,england stock1 the best
 possible  material to be made over into
 churchmen and churchwomen4 ,and yet    
notwithstanding all this1 and           
notwithstanding the patient and         
unintermitted toil through more than    
fifty years of perhaps the  most        
laborious parish priest on the ,american
 clergy list1 the  ,episcopal ,church   
has to-day but a comparatively slender  
hold upon  the affections and loyalty of

 the people of this largest of the      
manufacturing cities of ,new ,england4  
,a similar failure to reach the masses  
betrays itself in ,worcester  and ,fall 
,river1 the two cities of like character
 that come next in  order of population1
 for in the former of these last named  
places  only about two per cent1 of the 
inhabitants have affiliations of  any   
sort with the ,episcopal ,church4    ,it
 was considerations of this sort1 backed
 perhaps by memories of  the ringing    
appeal sounded three years before at    
,boston by the  ,bishop of ,connecticut1
 that moved the ,convention to interpret
 as  something better than a bit of     
sentimentalism the invitation to  look  
the times in the face1 and give the new 
century its infant  baptism4    ,but    
besides all this there pressed upon the 
mind of bishops and  deputies a         
cumulative argument of a wholly         
different sort4 ,the  demand for        
revision seemed to be closing in upon   
the ,church on  converging lines4 ,it   

was plain that1 before long1 hands of   
change  must necessarily be laid upon   
certain semi-detached portions of  the  
,prayer ,book4 ,there was the ,new      
,lectionary1 for example1 that  would   
presently be knocking for hospitable    
reception within the  covers1 and the   
old ,easter ,tables1 as they now stand1 
could not1 it  was observed1 last very  
much longer4 ,a new book1 in the        
publisher's  sense of that term1 would  
soon have to be made4 ,the sanctity of  
stereotype plates must be disturbed4    
,moreover1 here was an admirable        
opportunity to settle the wrangle1 now  
of nine years' standing1 over  the best 
way of bringing to pass shortened       
services for week-day  use4 ,add to this
 the fact that the intrinsic weakness of
 the driblet  method of revision#i had  
been made so abundantly plain that even 
its former friends wisely refrained from
 all attempt to urge it1  and our       
summing up of probable motives becomes  
approximately  complete4    ,,ii4 ,as to

 the measure of authority conferred on1 
and scope allowed  to the ,committee of 
,twenty-one1 it is possible to speak    
with more  definiteness4    ,a precisian
 might of course1 were he so disposed1  
take up the ground  that the report of  
the ,committee when made ought to be    
monosyllabic1  ,yes or ,no4 ,the wording
 of the resolution admits of such a     
construction beyond a doubt2 the ,joint 
,committee was requested to  consider   
and report whether1 etc41 etc4 ,but no  
one who listened to  the debate on the  
resolution could have been left in      
uncertainty  as to the real animus of   
the measure4 ,the thing intended to be  
authorized was an experimental review1  
with implied reference to a  limited    
revision at some time future1 in case   
the fruits of the  review should commend
 themselves to the mind of the ,church4 
,a distinction must be drawn between    
revision and review4 ,revision  implies 
review as an antecedent step1 but review
 is by no means  necessarily followed by

 revision4 ,the ,english book was       
reviewed and  revised in #affb2 it was  
reviewed but not revised in #afhi4      
,review is  tentative and advisory2     
revision is authoritative and final4 ,in
 the  present instance not an atom of   
power to effect binding change has  been
 conveyed4 ,no authority has been given 
to anybody to touch a  line or a letter 
of the ,prayer ,book save in the way of 
suggestion  and recommendation4         
,responsible action has been held wholly
 in  reserve4    ,moreover1 even the    
pathway of review was most scrupulously 
hedged4  ,applying to the resolution the
 legal maxim1 expressio unius est       
exclusio alterius1 one sees at a glance 
that doctrinal change is a  matter left 
wholly on one side4 ,the two points to  
which the  ,committee is instructed to  
bend all its studies are liturgical     
enrichment and increased flexibility of 
use4 ,whatsoever is  more than these is 
irrelevant4 ,accurate distinguishment   
between  such enrichments as have and   

such as have not a doctrinal bearing    
is1 no doubt1 a delicate point1 and must
 be set down among the  difficulties to 
be encountered4 ,as such it will be     
considered  further on4 ,for the present
 the fact to be noted is that the       
authorized reviewers are both in honor  
and in duty bound to keep  themselves   
absolutely clear of controversial bias4 
,the movement  is not a movement to     
alter in any slightest respect the      
dogmatic  teaching of the ,church1 not a
 movement to unsettle foundations1  not 
a movement toward disowning or          
repudiating our past1 but simply  and   
only an endeavor to make the ,common    
,prayer1 if possible 7and  we are far   
from being sure1 as yet1 that it is     
possible71 a better  thing of its kind1 
more comprehensive1 more elastic1 more  
readily  responsive to the demands of   
all occasions and the needs of all      
sorts and conditions of men4 ,some who  
are deeply persuaded that  only by      
doctrinal revision in one direction or  

another can the  ,prayer ,book be made  
thoroughly to commend itself to the     
heart and  mind of the ,american people 
will esteem the measure of change  above
 indicated not worth the effort         
indispensable to the attainment  of it4 
,be it so2 other some there are who do  
think the attempt  well advised and who 
are willing to waive their own pet      
notions  as to possible doctrinal       
improvements of the book for the sake of
  securing a consensus upon certain     
great practical improvements  which come
 within the range of things attainable4 
,certain it is that any attempt of a    
body of reviewers like this to  disturb1
 even by shadowed hint1 the existing    
doctrinal settlement  under which we are
 living together1 would be resented by  
the whole  ,church4    ,there are       
divines among us who in the interest of 
a more sharply  defined orthodoxy are   
conscientiously bent upon securing the  
reintroduction among our formularies of 
the so-called ,athanasian  ,creed4      

,there are others who consider that a   
more damaging blow at the  catholicity  
of our dogmatic position as a ,church   
could scarcely  be dealt4    ,again1    
there are theologians who account the   
,prayer ,book to be  so thoroughly      
saturated in all its parts with the     
sacramental  idea1 that they would      
account it not only a piece of          
far-seeing  statesmanship1 but also a   
perfectly safe procedure to allow those 
who chose to do so to thank ,god after a
 child's baptism for the  simple fact   
that he had thereby been grafted into   
the body of  ,christ's ,church4    ,but 
over against these stand a much larger  
number who think  nothing of the sort1  
and who would put up with the liturgical
  shortcomings of the ,prayer ,book1 go 
without enrichments for  a thousand     
years1 rather than see the single word  
regenerate  dropped out of the          
post-baptismal office4    ,sensible men 
not a few are to be found who hold that 
the incoming  tide of host-worship with 

which1 as they conceive1 our reformed   
,church is threatened can never be      
stayed unless some carefully  contrived 
definition inserted in the ,prayer ,book
 shall make  impossible this subtile and
 refined species of idolatry4 ,but  men 
no whit less sensible laugh them in the 
face1 pointing to  the black rubric and 
its history as evidence that between the
  admitted doctrine of the real presence
 and the disallowed tenet  of           
transubstantiation no impervious barrier
 of words can possibly  be run4         
,these illustrations of probable        
divergence in opinion1 in case  the     
field of doctrine were once entered1    
might be multiplied4 ,the  retranslation
 of the ,nicene ,creed and the more     
accurate punctuation  of its sentences2 
the rendering of the word ,sabbath in   
the ,fourth  ,commandment into its      
,english equivalent of ,rest2 the       
abolition of  the curious misnomer under
 which we go on calling ,,xxxviii       
,articles  ,,xxxix2 the removal from the

 ,catechism1 or else the conversion into
  mother ,english of that sad crux      
infantum1 the answer to the  question1  
,what desirest thou of ,god in this     
prayer8 are a few  examples of less     
importance than those previously cited2 
and yet1  in the case of the least of   
them1 it is most unlikely that the      
advocates of change would have the show 
of hands in their favor1  so sensitive  
is the mind of the ,church to anything  
that looks in  the least degree like    
tampering with the standards of weight  
and  measure1 the shekels of the        
sanctuary4    ,on the other hand1 there 
are certain manifest and palpable       
instances  of inaccuracy and1 more      
rarely1 infelicity of diction which the 
reviewers might very properly take      
occasion to amend even though  such     
alterations could not be classified by a
 strict constructionist  under either of
 the two heads enrichment and           
flexibility4 ,in the  masterly ,report  
of the ,rev4 ,dr4 ,t4 ,w4 ,coit to the  

,joint ,committee  appointed by the     
,convention of #ahda to prepare a       
,standard ,prayer  ,book1#aj a document 
of classical rank1 there is more than   
one  intimation of the hope that future 
reviewers would be given a larger       
liberty in this direction than he had   
himself enjoyed4 ,he chafed1  and       
naturally enough1 under the necessity of
 reprinting in a  standard book1 evident
 and acknowledged solecisms and         
blunders4  ,we wanted1 he says1 to      
correct one ungrammatical clause in the 
,consecration ,prayer of the ,communion 
,service4 ,it is in the last  sentence  
but one1 at its close4 ,it should be1   
not that he may dwell  in them and they 
in him2 but1 that he may dwell in us and
 we in him4  ,the prayer is made up out 
of two or three others2 and anyone who  
will examine the parts put together will
 easily see how the thing  was          
overlooked4 ,a much greater error was   
overlooked elsewhere1  showing that our 
,american compilers were not            

sufficiently aware of  the necessity    
which requires that the ,prayer ,book   
should always be  consistent with       
itself4 ,i allude to something in the   
office for the  ,private ,baptism of    
,children4 ,suppose a clergyman to avail
 himself of  the license given in the   
,rubric after the certification4 ,he    
will then  be made to talk thus3 ',as   
the ,holy ,gospel doth witness to our   
comfort1 on this wise--,dost thou in the
 name of this child1' etc4#aa    ,other 
cases of evident inaccuracy1 besides    
those referred to by  this eminent      
critic1 might be cited1 even from the   
latest ,standard  ,prayer ,book1 that of
 #ahga4 ,it is hard1 for instance1 to   
imagine even  the veriest martinet in   
such matters objecting to the redress of
 a  great wrong done on page #cf of the 
volume mentioned1 where the  prayer to  
be used at the meetings of ,convention  
is entered under  the general heading1  
,for malefactors after condemnation4    
,our  ecclesiastical legislators have   

doubtless1 like the rest of us1  erred  
and strayed more than once1 but to deal 
out to them such  harsh measure as this 
is cruel4    ,a strange uncertainty     
would seem from the ,rubric to exist    
with  reference to the limits of the    
,litany4 ,on page #eed of the ,standard 
,prayer ,book1 the words1 ,here endeth  
the ,litany1 occur immediately  after   
the prayer1 ,we humbly beseech thee1 ,o 
,father1 while on page  #ca the same    
statement is placed immediately after   
the minor  benediction4    ,these are   
not faults for which it could ever be   
worth while to  revise a ,prayer ,book1 
but they are blemishes of which the     
revisers  of a ,prayer ,book ought to   
take note4    ,it is a graver matter to 
speak of infelicities of diction in a   
book  so justly famous as the ,prayer   
,book for its pure and wholesome        
,english4 ,wordsworth's curse on        
,one who would peep and botanize        
,upon his mother's grave    seems1 in   
the judgment of many1 fairly earned by  

the critic1 whoever  he may be1 who     
ventures to suggest that in any         
slightest instance  the language of the 
formularies might have been more happily
  phrased4 ,but there are spots on the  
sun4 ,in the prayer already  referred   
to1 that for use at the meetings of     
,convention1 the  petition1 ,we beseech 
thee to be present with the council of  
thy  ,church here assembled in thy name 
and presence does seem open  to the     
charge of tautology if nothing worse4   
,it would be well if wherever the word  
occurs in the ,prayer ,book  in         
connection with ,deity the              
anthropomorphic plural ears could  be   
replaced by the symbolic singular ear4  
,considering also the great evil of     
having in a formulary of worship  too   
many things that have to be laboriously 
explained1 it might be  well if in the  
,litany the adjective sudden1 which ever
 since  ,hooker's day has given         
perpetual occasion for cavil1 were to   
yield  to untimely1 or some like word   

more suggestive than sudden of  the     
thought clumsily expressed in the       
,chapel ,liturgy by the  awkward phrase1
 death unprepared for4#ab    ,it must be
 again remarked that these are not      
points for the sake  of which           
word-fanciers would be justified in     
disturbing an existing  order of things2
 they are simply instances of lesser    
improvements  that might very properly  
accompany larger ones1 should larger    
ones  ever be seriously undertaken4     
,with so many pegs upon which           
controversies might be hung staring  us 
in the face1 can we think of it as at   
all likely that any  considerable number
 of ,churchmen assembled in committee   
7to say  nothing of ,convention7 will be
 able to agree upon a common line  of   
action with reference to an amendment of
 the formularies8    ,that is the very  
point at issue1 and how it is to be     
decided only  the event can show4       
,certainly in the roll of the victories 
of  charity1 a favorable result1 were it

 achieved1 would stand exceeding  high4 
,this reflection naturally leads up to  
the inquiry whether there is  any       
special reason to consider the present a
 happy moment to  attempt within the    
limits already defined a revision of the
 ,prayer  ,book4    ,,iii4 ,the argument
 for timeliness has been1 in part1      
already stated4  ,a revision will be    
timely1 if the times imperatively demand
 it2  and the main reasons for thinking 
that they do are before the  reader4    
,something1 however1 is still left to be
 said in evidence  that the movement now
 begun is opportune--not rudely thrust  
upon  the ,church4 ,to everything1 saith
 the preacher1 there is a season1  and a
 time to every purpose under heaven1 and
 among the categories  that follow this 
statement we find reckoned what answers 
to  liturgical enrichment1 for there is1
 he observes1 a time to  build up4      
,fifty years ago a persuasive argument  
against attempting to amend  the ,prayer
 ,book1 either in text or rubrics1 might

 have been based  upon the lack of hands
 competent to undertake so delicate a   
task4  ,raw material1 well adapted to   
edification1 was lying about in  blocks1
 but skilled workmen were scarce4 ,this 
can hardly be said  to-day4             
,simultaneously with the beginning of   
the ,oxford movement1  there naturally  
sprang up a fresh interest in liturgical
 studies1  an interest which has gone on
 deepening and widening until in volume 
and momentum the stream has now probably
 reached its outer limit4  ,the         
convincing citation1 ,there were giants 
in those days1 with  which a late bishop
 of one of the ,new ,england dioceses   
used to  enforce his major premise that 
wisdom died with ,cranmer and his       
colleagues1 no longer satisfies4        
,probably no period of corresponding    
length in the whole range of ,english   
,church history has shown itself  so    
rich in the fruits of liturgical study  
as the fifty years that  have elapsed   
since the introduction into the ,english

 ,parliament of  the first ,reform      
,bill4#ac ,this particular historical   
landmark is  mentioned on account of the
 close connection of cause and effect   
between it and the remarkable movement  
set on foot by ,newman1 ,pusey1  ,keble1
 and ,froude4 ,to be sure1 one of the   
earliest utterances in  the ,tracts ran 
in these words3 ,attempts are making to 
get the  ,liturgy altered4 ,my dear     
brethren1 ,i beseech you consider with  
me  whether you ought not resist the    
alteration of even one jot or  tittle of
 it4#ad    ,and yet1 notwithstanding    
this disclaimer1 one of the main        
impulses  that lay behind the whole     
movement represented by the ,tracts was 
an  earnest desire to quicken the life  
of the ,church of ,england in the       
region of worship4 ,in the ,table of the
 ,tracts1 showing their  arrangement    
according to ,subjects1 the ,liturgical 
section comes  first4    ,the present   
writer acknowledges but a very limited  
sympathy with  the doctrinal motives and

 aims of either the earlier or the later
  ,tractarians4 ,but let us1 above all  
things1 be fair4 ,with whatever         
prepossessions one looks back upon it1  
the ground traversed by the  ,church of 
,england during the past fifty years    
cannot be otherwise  regarded than as a 
field sown with mingled tares and wheat4
  ,individuals will differ in judgment  
as to the proportion in which  these two
 products of a common soil have         
coexisted1 but even those  who have most
 stoutly opposed themselves to the      
,oxford movement1  as a whole1 are fain 
to credit it with1 at least1 this one   
good  result1 the rescue of the usages  
of worship from slovenliness and        
torpor1 and the establishment of a      
better standard of what is  seemly1     
reverent1 and beautiful in the public   
service of ,almighty  ,god4 ,not that   
there have not been1 even in this       
respect1 grave  errors in the direction 
of excess2 the statement ventured is    
simply  this1 that1 up to a certain     

point1 all ,churchmen agree in admitting
  a genuine and wholesome improvement in
 the popular estimate of what  public   
worship1 as such1 ought to be4 ,an      
immense amount of devout  study has been
 given1 during the period mentioned1 by 
many able men  to liturgical subjects1  
and it would be strange indeed if fifty 
years of searching criticism had not    
resulted in the detection of  some few  
points in which formularies originally  
compiled to meet  the needs of the      
sixteenth century might be better       
adapted to the  requirements of the     
twentieth4 ,or1 to put the same point in
 another  way1 has not all this         
searching into the mines of buried      
treasure1  all this getting together of 
quarried stone 7with possibly a certain 
surplusage of stubble7 been so much     
labor lost1 if there is never to  come  
the recognition of a ripe moment for the
 ,church to avail itself  of the results
 achieved8 ,are the studious toils of a 
,palmer1 a  ,maskell1 a ,neale1 a       

,scudamore1 and a ,bright to go for     
nothing  except in so far as they have  
been contributory to our fund of        
ecclesiological lore8 ,if so1 the       
contempt often expressed for ritual  and
 liturgical studies by students busy    
with other lines of research  would seem
 to be not wholly undeserved4    ,a good
 opportunity is now before the ,church  
to give answer as to  whether this form 
of investigation is or is not anything  
better  than a species of sacred        
antiquarianism4 ,liturgiology as an     
aspirant  for recognition among the     
useful sciences may be said at the      
present  moment to be waiting for the   
verdict4 ,to be sure1 it can be asserted
  for liturgiology that to those who    
love it it is a study that proves       
itself1 like poetry1 its own exceeding  
great reward4 ,it is not  worth while to
 dispute this point4 ,liturgiology      
pursued for its own  sake may not be the
 loftiest of studies1 but this1 at      
least1 can be  said for it1 that it is a

 not less respectable object of pursuit 
than many another specialty the devotees
 of which look down upon the            
liturgiologist with self-complacent     
scorn as a mere chiffonier4 ,the  forms 
which ,christian worship has taken on in
 successive generations  and among      
peoples of various blood are certainly  
as well worthy of  analysis and         
classification as are the flora and     
fauna of ,patagonia  or ,new ,zealand4  
,but while the ,patagonian naturalist   
secures  recognition and is decorated1  
every jaunty man of letters feels  at   
liberty to scoff at the liturgiologist  
as a laborious trifler4    ,moreover1   
remembering that in favorite studies1 as
 in crops1 there  rules a principle of  
rotation1 fashion affecting even staid  
divines  with its subtle influence1 we  
may look to see presently a decline  of 
interest in this particular department  
of inquiry4 ,especially  may serious men
 be expected to turn their attention in 
other  directions1 should it be found   

that a ,non possumus awaits every       
effort to make the fruits of their labor
 available for the  nourishment of the  
,church's daily life4 ,so then1 instead 
of  deferring action until liturgical   
knowledge shall have become  more widely
 spread1 and available liturgical       
material more abundant1  we shall1 if we
 are wise1 perceive that only by moving 
promptly  will it be possible in this   
case to take the tide at the full4      
,never again will opportunity be more   
ripe4    ,another evidence of timeliness
 is supplied by the present pacific     
condition of the ,church4 ,previous     
movements toward liturgical  revision   
have been of a more or less partisan and
 acrimonious  temper4 ,now for the first
 time we seem to be taking up this      
subject  without the expression of a    
fear from any quarter that if changes   
are made this or that party will get the
 advantage of some other4  ,the peculiar
 conditions that ensure this unwonted   
truce of ,god are  not likely to last   

forever1 nor is it perhaps wholly       
desirable that  they should do so2 what 
is desirable1 and very desirable1 is    
that  we should avail ourselves of the  
lull to accomplish certain changes  for 
the better1 which in ordinary times the 
prevalent heat of  friction makes       
impossible4 ,the ,joint ,committee of   
,twenty-one is  confidently believed to 
contain within itself every shade of    
color  known to belong to the ,anglican 
spectrum2 if white light should be      
found to emerge1 three years hence1 as a
 result of the ,committee's  labors1 it 
will be said1 and truly1 that never     
before in our history  could such a     
blending of the rays possibly have taken
 place4    ,still another consideration 
properly included under the general     
head of timeliness is said to have been 
urged with much force in  the ,house of 
,bishops when the enrichment resolution 
was under  discussion4    ,up to the    
present time the ,episcopal ,church of  
this country has  stood easily at the   

head in the matter of providing for the 
people  a dignified and beautiful order 
of divine service4 ,in fact1 there  has 
been1 until lately1 no one to compete4  
,but all this is changing4  ,ours are no
 longer the only congregations in which 
common prayer is  to be found4 ,it is   
true that thus far the attempts at      
imitation  have been rather grotesque   
than formidable1 but such1 until        
recently1 have also been1 in the        
judgment of foreign critics1  all of our
 ,american endeavors after art4 ,we are 
to consider what  apt learners our      
quick-witted countrymen have shown      
themselves to  be1 in so much that even 
,christmas ,day1 once the bete noire of 
,puritan legislators1 has come to be    
accounted almost a national  festival1  
and we shall be convinced that our      
primacy in the field  of liturgies is   
not an absolutely assured position4     
,this argument  is open to the criticism
 that it seems to lower and cheapen the 
whole subject by representing ,anglican 

religion in a mendicant  attitude       
bidding for the favor of the great      
,american public1  and vexed that       
others1 fellow-suppliants1 have stolen a
 good  formula of appeal4 ,nevertheless 
there is a certain amount of            
reasonableness in this way of putting   
the thing4 ,certainly with  those who   
reckon the liturgical mode of worship   
among the notes  of the ,church1 the    
argument is one that ought to have      
marked  influence2 while with those who1
 not so persuaded1 nevertheless  view   
with pleased interest the general spread
 of a liturgical  taste among the people
 of this country1 seeing in it a token  
of better things to come1 a harbinger of
 larger agreements  than we have yet    
attained to1 and of an approaching      
consolation  of ,israel once not thought
 possible--even with such the argument  
ought not to be wholly powerless4#ae    
,the fact that the ,convocations of     
,canterbury and ,york have taken  in    
hand and carried through a revision of  

the rubrics of the ,prayer  ,book will  
seem to those who hold that our ,church 
ought to advance  pari passu with the   
,church of ,england1 and no faster1     
another  evidence of the timeliness of  
the ,american movement4 ,under the      
title of ,the ,convocation ,prayer ,book
 there has lately appeared  in ,england 
an edition of the ,prayer ,book so      
printed as to show how  the book would  
read were the recommendations of ,york  
and ,canterbury  to go into effect4 ,it 
is true that the consent of ,parliament 
must  be secured before the altered     
rubrics can have the force of law2  but 
whatever may come of the rubrics        
recommended1 the existence of  the book 
containing them is evidence enough of a 
wide-spread  conviction among the       
,english clergy that change is needed4  
,indeed never has this point been more  
powerfully put in the fewest  possible  
words than by the brilliant1 and no less
 logical than  brilliant ,bishop of     
,peterborough in a recent speech in the 

,upper  ,house of ,convocation4#af ,if  
the ,church of ,england wants absolute  
peace1 she should have definite rubrics4
    ,it is true he goes on to say that  
in his judgment the dangers of  carrying
 the question of rubrical revision into 
,parliament  are greater than the evil  
of letting it alone1 but it is to be    
remembered that we in this country are  
hampered with no ,parliamentary         
entanglements and are free to do of our 
own motion1 and in a quiet1  orderly    
way1 that which the ,church of ,england 
can only do at the  risk of something   
very like revolution4    ,but this      
matter of the rubrics and their         
susceptibility of  improvement will come
 up later on4 ,it seemed proper to refer
  to it1 if no more1 under the head of  
timeliness4 ,if nothing else  in the way
 of change be opportune at the present  
moment1 it is an  easy task to show that
 the rubrics1 as they stand1 cry aloud  
for  a revision4    ,,iv4 ,the obstacles
 to be encountered by any ,committee    

undertaking  so to carry forward a      
review of the ,prayer ,book that        
revision may  eventually result1 are of 
two sorts2 there are the inherent       
difficulties of the work itself1 such1  
for instance1 as that of  matching the  
literary style of the sixteenth century 
writers1 and  there is the wholesome    
dread of a change for the worse which   
is sure to assert itself in many        
quarters the moment definite            
propositions shall have reached a point 
at which the yeas and  nays are likely  
to be called4    ,beginning1 then1 with 
the inherent difficulties1 and taking   
them  in the inverse order of           
arduousness1 we see at once how hard it 
must be to secure unity and             
self-consistency in the revision of a   
book so complicated as the ,common      
,prayer4 ,it is like remodelling  an old
 house4 ,we think it a very easy matter1
 something that can  be done in one's   
head1 but the mistake is discovered when
 the new  door designed to give symmetry

 to this room is found to have spoiled  
the looks of that1 when the enlargement 
of the library turns out  to have       
overtaxed the heating energy of the     
fireplace1 and the  ingenious staircase1
 instead of ending where it was expected
 to  end1 brings up against an          
intractable brick wall4 ,just such      
perils  as these will beset anybody who 
ventures to disturb the adjustments  of 
the ,prayer ,book as it is and to       
introduce desirable additions4  ,but    
domestic architecture is not given up on
 account of the patient  carefulness the
 practice of it demands1 neither need   
,liturgical  ,revision be despaired of  
because it requires of the men who      
undertake it a like wisdom in looking   
before and after4    ,the really        
formidable barrier to revision1 so far  
as what have been  called the inherent  
difficulties are concerned1 is reached  
when  we touch style4 ,how to handle    
without harming the sentences in which  
,english religion phrased itself when   

,english language was fresher  and more 
fluent than it can ever be again is a   
serious question4  ,the hands that seek 
to enrich may well be cautioned to take 
heed  lest they despoil4 ,it is to be   
remembered1 however1 in the way of      
reassurance that the alterations most   
likely to find favor with the  reviewers
 are such as will enrich by restoring   
lost excellencies1  rather than by      
introducing forms fashioned on a modern 
anvil4    ,the most sensitive critic    
could not1 on the score of taste1 find  
fault with the replacement in the       
,evening ,prayer of the ,magnificat  and
 the ,nunc dimittis1 nor of bringing    
back a few of the ,versicles  that in   
the ,english book follow the ,lord's    
,prayer1 nor yet of our  being allowed  
to say1 ,lighten our darkness1 we       
beseech thee1 ,lord1  rather than ,o    
,lord1 our ,heavenly ,father1 by whose  
,almighty power  we have been preserved 
this day4 ,objections to these          
alterations  may be readily imagined1   

but it would be necessary to base them  
on  other grounds than those of literary
 fastidiousness4 ,in the case of        
enrichments like these no one could     
raise the cry that the faultless        
,english of the ,prayer ,book had been  
marred4    ,but what shall be said of   
the composition of entirely new services
  and offices1 if it should be judged   
expedient to give admission to  any     
such8 ,how can we be sure that such     
modern additions to the  edifice would  
be sufficiently in keeping with the     
general tone of  the elder architecture8
 ,it might be held to be an adequate    
answer  to these questions to reply that
 if the living ,church cannot now  trust
 herself to speak out through her       
formularies in her natural  voice as she
 did venture to do in the seventeenth   
century and the  eighteenth1 it must be 
that she has fallen into that stage of  
decrepitude where the natural voice is  
uncertain4    ,but1 really1 what ought  
to be said is this--that if the same    

canons  of style that ruled the         
sixteenth century writers are studied   
and  obeyed1 there is no reason in the  
world why a result equally  satisfactory
 with the one then attained should not  
be reached now4  ,there is nothing      
supernatural about the ,english of the  
,prayer ,book4  ,cranmer and his        
associates were not inspired4 ,the prose
 style of  the nineteenth century may   
not be as good as that of the sixteenth1
  but1 at its best1 it is vastly        
superior to eighteenth century style1   
and of this last there are already no   
inconsiderable specimens in  the        
,american ,book of ,common ,prayer4 ,the
 ,office for the ,visitation of         
,prisoners1 for example1 is so redolent 
of the times of the ,georges1  when it  
was composed1 that it might be          
appropriately enough  interleaved with  
prints out of ,hogarth4 ,a bit of       
,palladian  architecture in a ,gothic   
church is not more easily recognized4   
,many worse things might happen to the  

,prayer ,book than that the  nineteenth 
century should leave its impress upon   
the pages4    ,in fact1 it is just as   
possible1 if men will only think so1 to 
use  our language with effect for any   
good purpose to-day as it was  three    
hundred years ago4 ,all that is         
necessary is a willingness  to submit to
 the same restrictions1 and those mostly
 moral1 that  controlled the old        
writers2 and our work1 though not       
identical  with theirs1 will have the   
proper similarity4 ,true1 a modern      
author  may not be able to reproduce1   
without a palpable betrayal of          
affectation and mannerism1 the precise  
characteristics of a bygone  style4     
,chattertons are not numerous4 ,it is   
easier to secure for  the brass andirons
 and mahogany dining chairs of our own  
manufacture  the look of those that     
belonged to our grandfathers than it is 
to  catch the tones of voices long dead2
 and just as good judgment  dictates the
 wisdom of repeating the honest and     

thorough workmanship  of the old        
cabinet-makers in place of slavishly    
imitating their  patterns1 so it will be
 well if the compilers of devotional    
forms  for modern use seek to say what  
they have to say with sixteenth  century
 simplicity rather than in sixteenth    
century speech4 ,in  letters1 as in     
conduct1 the supreme charm of style is  
the absence  of self-consciousness4 ,say
 in plain words the thing you mean1 and 
say it as if you meant it1 is good      
advice to any seeker after  rhetorical  
excellence1 be he young or old4 ,the    
,reformers1 that is  to say1 the men who
 ,englished the ,prayer ,book1 in       
seeking to meet  the devotional needs of
 the people of their own time do not    
seem  to have been at pains to tie      
themselves to the diction of a previous 
generation4 ,they dared to call a spade 
a spade whenever and  wherever the tool 
came into use1 and they have their      
reward in the  permanence of their work4
 ,sweetnesses and prettinesses they     

banished  altogether4 ,indeed1 in those 
days it seems not to have occurred  to  
people that such things had anything to 
do with religion4 ,it  was not that they
 did not know how to talk in the sweet  
way--never  has sentimentalism been more
 rife in general literature than then1  
but they would not talk in that way2 the
 stern traditions of ,holy  ,church     
throughout all the world forbade4       
,religion was a most  serious thing to  
their minds1 and they would speak of it 
most  seriously or not at all4    ,never
 since language began to be used have   
severity and tenderness  been more      
marvellously blended than in the older  
portions of the  ,english ,prayer ,book4
    ,this effect is largely due to an   
almost entire abstention on the  part of
 the writers from figurative language1  
or at least from all  imagery that is   
not readily recognized as ,scriptural4  
,bread and  beef are what men demand for
 a steady diet4 ,sweetmeats are well    
enough1 now and then1 but only now and  

then4    ,it is the failure to observe  
this plain canon of style that has  made
 shipwreck of many an attempt to        
construct liturgies de novo4  ,ambitious
 framers of forms of worship seem almost
 invariably to  forget that there may be
 such a thing as a too exquisite prayer1
  an altogether too eloquent address to 
the throne of grace4 ,the  longest and  
fullest supplicatory portion of the     
,prayer ,book1 the  ,litany1 does not   
contain1 from the first sentence to the 
last1#ag  one single figurative         
expression1 it is literally plain       
,english  from beginning to end2 but    
could language be framed more intense1  
more satisfying1 more likely to endure8 
,scriptural metaphor1 whether because it
 comes to us with the stamp  of         
authority or on account of some subtle  
intrinsic excellence1 it  may be        
difficult to say1 does not pall upon the
 taste4 ,and yet even  this is used     
sparingly in the ,prayer ,book1 some of 
the most striking  exceptions to the    

general rule being afforded by the      
collects for  the first and third       
,sundays in ,advent1 the collects for   
the ,epiphany  and ,easter ,even1 and   
the opening prayer in the ,baptismal    
,office4 ,all  these are instances of   
strictly ,scriptural metaphor1 and      
moreover  it is to be kept in mind that 
they are designed for occasional1 not   
constant use4 ,in the orders for daily  
,morning and ,evening ,prayer1  the lost
 sheep of the ,general ,confession and  
the dew of ,god's  blessing in the      
,collect for ,clergy and ,people are    
almost the sole1  if not the sole cases 
of evident metaphor1 and these again are
  ,scriptural4 ,when in ,jeremy         
,taylor's prayer1 introduced by the     
,american revisers into the ,order for  
the ,visitation of the ,sick1  we come  
upon the comparison of human life to a  
vale of misery we  feel that somehow we 
have struck a new current in the        
atmosphere2  for the moment it is the   
rhetorician who speaks1 and no longer   

the  earnest seeker after ,god4         
,besides this freedom from figures of   
speech1 we notice in the  style of      
,prayer ,book ,english a careful        
avoidance of whatever looks  like a     
metaphysical abstraction4 ,the aim is   
ever to present ,god  and divine things 
as realities rather than as mere        
concepts or  notions of the mind4 ,so   
far as the writer remembers1 not a      
single  prayer in the whole book begins 
with that formula so dear to the  makers
 of extemporary forms of devotion1 ,o   
,thou4 ,on the contrary1  the approach  
to the ,divine ,majesty is almost always
 made with a  reference to some         
attribute or characteristic that links  
,deity to  man and man's affairs2 it is 
,o ,god1 the ,protector of all that     
trust in thee1 or ,almighty and         
everlasting ,god who of thy tender  love
 toward mankind1 or ,lord of all power  
and might who art the  author and giver 
of all good things4    ,cardinal ,newman
 in one of his theological works written

 before  his departure from the ,church 
of ,england1 has a powerful passage     
bearing upon this point4 ,he is         
criticising the evangelicals for  their 
one-sided way of setting forth what it  
must mean to preach  the ,gospel4 ,no   
less a person than ,legh ,richmond is   
the object of  his strictures4    ,a    
remarkable contrast between our         
,church's and this false view of        
religion1 he says1 is afforded in the   
respective modes of treating  a         
death-bed in the ,visitation of the     
,sick1 and a popular modern  work1 the  
,dairyman's ,daughter4 ,the latter runs 
thus3 ,my dear friend1  do you not      
,,feel that you are supported8 ,the     
,lord deals very gently  with me1 she   
replied4 ,are not his promises very     
precious to you8  ,they are all yea and 
amen in ,christ ,jesus44 4 ,do you      
experience any  doubts or temptations on
 the subject of your eternal safety8    
,no1  sir2 the ,lord deals very gently  
with me and gives me peace4 ,what  are  

your views of the dark valley of death  
now that you are  passing through it8   
,it is not dark4 ,now1 if it be said    
that  such questions and answers are not
 only in their place innocent  but      
natural and beautiful1 ,i answer that   
this is not the point1  but this1 viz41 
they are evidently intended1 whatever   
their merits1  as a pattern of what     
death-bed examinations should be4 ,such 
is  the ,visitation of the ,sick in the 
nineteenth century4 ,now let us  listen 
to the nervous and stern tone of the    
sixteenth4 ,in the ,prayer  ,book the   
minister is instructed to say to the    
person visited3  ,forasmuch as after    
this life there is an account to be     
given to  the ,righteous ,judge 4 4 4 ,i
 require you to examine yourself and    
your estate both toward ,god and man4   
,therefore ,i shall rehearse to  you the
 ,articles of our ,faith1 that you may  
know whether you do  believe as a       
,christian man should or no 4 4 4 ',then
 shall the  minister examine whether he 

repent him truly of his sins1 and be  in
 charity with all the world3 exhorting  
him to forgive from the  bottom of his  
heart all persons who have offended him1
 and if he  hath offended any other to  
ask their forgiveness1 and where he     
hath done injury or wrong to any man    
that he make amends to the  utmost of   
his power4' 4 4 4 ,such is the contrast 
between the dreamy  talk of modern      
,protestantism1 and 'holy fear's stern  
glow' in the  ,church ,catholic4#ah     
,in this striking1 though perhaps       
somewhat unnecessarily harsh way1       
,newman brings out a point which is     
unquestionably true1 namely1  that the  
language of the ,prayer ,book is of the 
sort which it is  just now the fashion  
to call realistic1 that is1 a language  
conversant with great facts rather than 
with phases of feeling  and moods of    
mind2 which after all is only another   
way of saying  that it is a ,book of    
,common ,prayer and not a manual for the
  furtherance of spiritual              

introspection4    ,these1 then1 are the 
characteristics of the ,prayer ,book    
style3  it is simple1 straightforward1  
unmetaphorical1 realistic4 ,seriously   
it looks almost like a studied insult   
alike to the scholarship and  to the    
religion of our day1 to say that these  
are excellencies  attainable no longer4 
,that revisers venturing upon additions 
to  the ,prayer ,book would be bound to 
set the face as a flint against  any    
slightest approach to sentimentality is 
true4 ,but why assume  that the men do  
not exist who are capable of such a     
measure of  self-control8 ,grant that   
there are whole volumes of devotional   
matter1 original and compiled1 which one
 may ransack without  finding a single  
form that is not either prolix1         
wishy-washy1 or  superstitious--it does 
not follow that if the ,prayer ,book is 
to  be enriched1 the enrichments must   
necessarily come from such  sources4    
,moreover it is to be remembered that   
there is another  vice of style to be   

shunned in liturgical composition quite 
as  carefully as sentimentality1 namely1
 jejuneness4 ,we cannot escape  being   
sentimental simply by being dull4       
,feeling must not be denied  its place  
in prayer for fear that it may not prove
 itself a duly  chastened feeling4      
,there ought to be a heart of fire      
underneath  the calm surface of every   
formulary of worship4 ,flame and smoke  
are out of place2 but a liturgy should  
glow throughout4 ,coldness1  pure and   
simple1 has no place in devotion4       
,over and above the intrinsic           
difficulties in the way of revision     
growing out of the delicate nature of   
the work itself1 obstacles  of a        
different sort are certain to be        
encountered4 ,in so large a  body of men
 as the ,joint ,committee of the two    
,houses1 entire and  cordial agreement  
is almost too much to be expected2 and  
then even  supposing a unanimous report 
submitted1 what is likely to follow8    
,why this--if the changes proposed are  

few1 the cry will be raised1  ,it surely
 is not worth while to alter the ,prayer
 ,book for the sake  of so insignificant
 a gain2 whereas if the changes proposed
 are  considerable1 the counter cry will
 be sounded1 ,this is revolution4       
,then there is the anxious question1    
,how will it look to the ,english8      
,what will be the effect on the         
,concordat if we touch the ,prayer      
,book8 ,to be sure1 the ,concordat does 
not seem to weigh very heavily  on the  
shoulders of the other party1 as indeed 
there is no reason  why it should4      
,convocation does not much disturb      
itself as to the  view ,general         
,convention is likely to take of its    
sayings and doings1  and even           
disestablishment might proceed without  
our being called  into consultation4    
,and yet the ,concordat difficulty will 
have to  be reckoned with2 and the dire 
spectre of a possible disowning of  us  
by our mother the ,church of ,england   
will have to be laid1 before  any       

alterations in the ,book of ,common     
,prayer will be accounted by  some among
 us perfectly safe4    ,but it is       
scarcely worth while to go on           
gratuitously suggesting  opposition     
arguments4 ,they will be sure to present
 themselves  unsolicited in due time4   
,for the present it is enough to add    
that  if the movement for liturgical    
revision has not in it enough  toughness
 of fibre to enable it to survive       
vigorous attack1 it  does not deserve   
success4    ,v4 ,under the head of      
liturgical enrichment ought to be       
classed  whatever alteration would      
really serve to enhance the beauty1     
majesty1 or fitness1 of accepted        
formularies of worship4 ,excision  may1 
under conceivable circumstances1 be     
enrichment4 ,james ,wyatt  undoubtedly  
imagined that he was improving the      
,english cathedrals  when he whitewashed
 their interiors1 added composition     
pinnacles  to the west towers of        
,durham1 and rearranged the ancient     

monuments  of ,salisbury2 but an        
important part of the enrichment        
accomplished  by our nineteenth century 
restorers has lain simply in the undoing
  of what ,wyatt did4    ,again1        
substitution may be enrichment1 as in   
the case where a  wooden spire built    
upon a stone tower is taken down to be  
replaced  by honest work4 ,it would be  
an enrichment if in ,st4 ,george's      
,chapel1  the central shrine of ,british
 royalty1 the sham insignia now         
overhanging the stalls of the knights of
 the garter were to give  room to       
genuine armor4 ,not merely then by      
addition1 but possibly1  in some        
instances1 by both subtraction and      
substitution1 we may  find the          
,prayer-book as it is open to           
improvement4    ,before1 however1       
entering upon any criticism of the      
formularies  in detail1 it is important 
to draw a distinction between two very  
different things1 namely1 the structure 
of a liturgical office and  the contents

 of it4 ,by structure should be         
understood the skeleton  or frame that  
makes the groundwork of any given       
office1 by contents  the actual         
liturgical material employed in filling 
out the office  to its proper contour4  
,the offices of the ,roman ,breviary1   
for example1 continue1 for the  most    
part1 identical in structure from day to
 day1 the year through2  but they vary  
in contents4 ,for an illustration nearer
 home take  our own ,order for ,daily   
,morning ,prayer4 ,the structure of it  
is as follows3 #a4 ,sentences1 #b4      
,exhortation1 #c4 ,confession1 #d4      
,absolution1 #e4 ,lord's ,prayer1 #f4   
,versicles1 #g4 ,invitatory ,psalm1  #h4
 ,the ,psalms for the day1 #i4 ,lection1
 #aj4 ,anthem or ,canticle1 #aa4        
,lection1 #ab4 ,anthem or ,canticle1    
#ac4 ,creed1 #ad4 ,versicles1  #ae4     
,collect for the day1 #af4 ,stated      
,collects and ,prayers1 #ag4            
,benediction4    ,now it is evident that
 without departing by a hair's breadth  

from  the lines of this framework1 an   
indefinite number of services might  by 
a process of substitution be put        
together1 each one of which  would in   
outward appearance differ widely from   
every other one4  ,the identical        
skeleton1 that is to say1 might be so   
variously  clothed upon that no two of  
its embodiments would be alike4 ,but  is
 it desirable to run very much after    
variety of such a sort in a  book of    
prayer designed for common use8 ,most   
assuredly1 ,no4 ,to  jeopard the supreme
 desideratum in a people's manual of    
worship1  simplicity3 to make it any    
harder than it now is for the average   
stranger in the ,church to find the     
places1 would be on the part  of        
revisionists an unpardonable blunder4   
,there are1 however1 a few points at    
which the ,morning ,prayer  might       
advantageously be enriched1 and no risk 
run4 ,it would  surely add nothing to   
the difficulty of finding the places if 
for one-half of the present opening     

sentences there were to be  substituted 
sentences appropriate to special days   
and seasons of  the ecclesiastical year4
 ,we should in this way be enabled to   
give the key-note of the morning's      
worship at the very outset4  ,having    
once departed1 as in the case of our    
first two sentences1  from the ,english 
precedent of putting only penitential   
verses of  ,scripture to this use1 there
 is no reason why we should not  carry  
out still more fully in our selection   
the principle of  appropriateness4 ,the 
sentences displaced need not be lost1   
for  they might still stand1 as now1 at 
the opening of the ,evening  ,prayer4   
,passing on to the declarations of      
absolution there is an opportunity  to  
simplify the arrangement by omitting the
 alternate form borrowed  from the      
,order for the ,administration of the   
,lord's ,supper1 where  only it properly
 belongs4 ,this1 however1 is a change   
likely to be  resisted on doctrinal     
grounds1 and need not be urged4         

,coming to the ,venite1 we find another 
opportunity to accentuate  the          
,christian ,year4 ,it may be said that  
the rubric1 as it is already  written1  
allows for the substitution of special  
anthems on the  greater festivals and   
fasts4 ,this is true2 but by giving the 
anthem  for ,easter a place of honor1   
while relegating anthems for the other  
great days to an unnoticed spot between 
the ,selections and the  ,psalter1 the  
,american compilers did practically     
discriminate in  favor of ,easter and   
against the rest4 ,the real needs of the
 case  would be more wisely met if the  
permission to omit ,venite now  attached
 to the nineteenth day of the month were
 to be extended  to ,ash-,wednesday and 
,good ,friday1 and special ,new         
,testament anthems  analagous to the    
,easter one were to be inserted along   
with the  respective ,collects1         
,epistles1 and ,gospels1 for            
,christmas-day and  ,whitsunday4    ,by 
this change we should put each of the   

three great festivals of  the year into 
possession of an invitatory anthem of   
its own2 and we  should obviate on the  
fasting days1 by the simple expedient of
  omission1 the futile efforts of       
choir-master and organist to  transform 
,venite from a cry of joy into a moan of
 grief4    ,this brings us to the       
,psalter4 ,here we have an opportunity  
to  correct the palpable blunder by     
which it has come about that the        
greatest of the penitential psalms1 the 
fifty-first1 has no place  assigned it  
among the proper psalms either for      
,ash-,wednesday or  for ,good           
,friday4#ai ,it would also be well to   
make optional1 if  not obligatory1 the  
use of proper psalms on days other than 
those  already provided with them2 e4   
g41 ,advent ,sunday1 the ,epiphany1     
,easter ,even1 ,trinity ,sunday1 and    
,all ,saints' ,day4#bj ,there would  be 
a still larger gain in the direction of 
flexibility of use1  as well as a great 
economy of valuable space1 if instead of

  reprinting some thirty of the ,psalms 
of ,david under the name of             
,selections1 we were to provide for     
allowing select psalms to be  announced 
by number in the same manner that proper
 psalms are  now announced4 ,instead of 
only the ten selections we now have1    
there might then be made available      
twenty or thirty groups of  psalms at   
absolutely no sacrifice of room4 ,it has
 been objected  to this proposal that   
the same difficulty which now attaches  
to  the finding of the proper psalms on 
great days would embarrass              
congregations whenever select psalms    
were given out2 but this  is fairly met 
by the counter consideration that if our
 people were  to be educated by the use 
of select psalms into a more facile     
handling of the ,psalter it would be    
just so much gained for days  when the  
proper psalms must of necessity be found
 and read4 ,the  services1 that is to   
say1 would run all the more smoothly on 
the  great days1 after congregations had

 become habituated1 on ordinary  days1  
to picking out the psalms by number4    
,another step in the line of            
simplification1 and one which it is  in 
order to mention here1 would be the     
removal from the ,morning  ,prayer of   
,gloria in ,excelsis1 seeing that it is 
never1 or almost  never1 sung at the end
 of the psalms unless at ,evening       
,prayer4 ,as  to the expediency of      
restoring what has been lost of         
,benedictus  after the second lesson1   
the present writer offers no opinion4   
,there are some who warmly advocate the 
replacement1 and there is1              
unquestionably1 much to be said in favor
 of it4 ,it is unlikely  that any       
doctrinal motive dictated the           
abbreviation4    ,pausing a moment at   
the ,creeds for the insertion of a      
better title  than ,or this before the  
confession of ,nicaea1 we pass to the   
versicles that follow4    ,here again it
 would be enrichment to restore the     
words of the  ,english book1 although   

the task of finding an equally melodious
  equivalent for ,o ,lord1 save the     
,queen might not be easy4    ,happily   
the other versicles are such as no civil
 revolution can  make obsolete4 ,it will
 never be amiss to pray1    ,endue thy  
ministers with righteousness4           
,answer4 ,and make thy chosen people    
joyful4    ,these are all the           
alterations for which the present       
,morning ,prayer  considered as a form  
of ,divine ,service for ,sundays would  
seem to  call4 ,it will be observed that
 they are far from being of a radical   
character1 that they affect the         
structure of the office not at  all1 and
 touch the contents of it but slightly4 
,the case is altered when we come to the
 ,order for ,evening ,prayer4  ,here    
there is a demand1 not indeed for any   
structural change1 but  for very decided
 enrichment by substitution4 ,the       
wording of the  office is altogether too
 exact an echo of what has been said    
only  a few hours before in ,morning    

,prayer4 ,it betokens a poverty of      
resources that does not really exist1   
when we allow ourselves thus  to exhort1
 confess1 absolve1 intercede1 and give  
thanks in the  very same phrases at     
three in the afternoon that were on our 
lips  at eleven in the morning4         
,doubtless liturgical worship owes a    
good measure of its charm to  the subtle
 power of repetition2 but the principle 
is one that must  be handled and applied
 with the most delicate tact1 or virtue 
goes  out of it4 ,we must distinguish   
between similarity and sameness4  ,the  
ordered recurrence of accents is what   
makes the rhythm of  verse2 but for all 
that1 there is a difference between     
poetry and  sing-song1 just as there is 
a difference between melody and         
monotony4  ,moreover1 the taste of      
mankind undergoes change as to the sorts
 of  repetition which it is disposed to 
tolerate4 ,no modern poet of  standing  
would venture1 for instance1 to employ  
identical epithets  to the extent that  

,homer does1 making ,aurora             
rosy-fingered  every time she appears   
upon the scene1 and ,juno as invariably 
ox-eyed4 ,people were pleased with it   
then1 they would not be  pleased with it
 now4 ,it is possible in liturgies so to
 employ  the principle of repetition    
that no wearying sense of sameness  will
 be conveyed1 and again it is possible  
so to mismanage it  as to transform     
worship into something little better    
than a  slow mechanic exercise4 ,mere   
iteration1 as such1 is barren  of       
spiritual power2 witness the endless    
sayings over of ,kyrie  ,eleison in the 
,oriental service-books1 a species of   
vain repetition  which a liturgical     
writer of high intelligence rightly     
characterizes  as unmeaning1 if not     
profane4#ba ,now the common popular     
criticism upon the ,evening ,prayer of  
the ,church is that it repeats  too     
slavishly the wording of the ,morning   
,prayer4 ,if this is an  unjust         
criticism we ought not to let ourselves 

be troubled by it4  ,on the other hand1 
if it is a just criticism it will be    
much wiser  of us to heed than to stifle
 the voice that tells us the truth4  ,it
 might seem to be straining a point were
 one to venture to explain  the present 
very noticeable disinclination of       
,churchmen to attend  a second service  
on ,sunday1 by connecting it with the   
particular  infelicity in question2 but 
that the excuse1 ,we have said all this 
once to-day2 why say it again8 may      
possibly have something1 even  if not   
much1 to do with the staying at home is 
certainly a fair  conjecture4           
,without altering at all the structure  
of the ,evening ,prayer1 it  would be   
perfectly possible so to refill or      
reclothe that formulary  as to give it  
the one thing needful which now it      
lacks--freshness4  ,in such a process   
the ,magnificat and the ,nunc dimittis  
would  play an important part2 as would 
also certain ancient collects  of which 
we have heard much of late4 ,failing    

this1 the next best  thing 7and the     
thing1 it may be added1 much more likely
 to be done1  considering what a tough  
resistant is old usage7 would be the    
provision of an alternate and optional  
form of ,evening ,prayer1 to  be used   
either in lieu of1 or as supplementary  
to the existing  office4 ,in the framing
 of such a ,later ,evensong a larger    
freedom  would be possible than in the  
refilling of a form the main lines  of  
which were already fixed4 ,still1 the   
first plan would be better1  if only it 
could be brought within the range of    
things possible4    ,next to ,evening   
,prayer in the order of the ,table of   
,contents comes  the ,litany4 ,here     
there is no call for enrichment1#bb     
though  increased flexibility of use    
might be secured for this venerable     
form of intercessory prayer by prefixing
 to it the following rubric  abridged   
from a similar one proposed in ,the     
,convocation ,prayer  ,book3    ,a      
,general ,supplication1 to be sung or   

said on ,sundays1 ,wednesdays1  and     
,fridays1 and on the ,rogation ,days1   
after the third collect at  ,morning or 
,evening ,prayer1 or before the         
,administration of the ,holy            
,communion2 or as a separate ,service4  
,,note4--,the ,litany may be omitted    
altogether on ,christmas ,day1  ,easter 
,day1 and ,whitsunday    ,in connection 
with the ,morning and ,evening ,service 
there is another  important question    
that imperatively demands discussion1   
namely1 a  week-day worship4 ,the       
movement for shortened services1        
so-called1  has shared the usual fate of
 all efforts at bettering the life of   
the ,church1 in being at the outset of  
its course widely and seriously         
misunderstood4 ,the impression has gone 
abroad1 and to-day holds  possession of 
many otherwise well-informed people1    
that a large  and growing party in the  
,episcopal ,church has openly declared  
itself wearied out with overmuch prayer 
and praise4 ,were such  indeed the fact1

 the scandal would be grave2 but the    
real truth  about the matter is that the
 promoters of shortened services1       
instead of seeking to diminish1 are     
really eager to see multiplied  the     
amount of worship rendered in our       
churches4 ,shortened services  is a     
phrase of ,english1 not ,american       
origin1 and has won its way  here by    
dint of euphony rather than of fitness4 
,readjusted services1  though a more    
clumsy1 would be a less misdirecting    
term4 ,in the  matter of ,sunday        
worship1 the liberty now generally      
conceded of  using separately the       
,morning ,prayer1 the ,litany1 and the  
,holy  ,communion is all that need be   
asked4 ,whether these services1 or  at  
least two of them1 do not in themselves 
admit of a certain  measure of          
improvement is a point that has already 
been considered1  but there certainly is
 no need of shortening them1 whatever   
else  it may be thought well to do4     
,when what a ,boston worthy once termed 

a holy alacrity is observed1 on the part
 of both minister and  singers1 even the
 aggregated services of ,morning        
,prayer1 ,litany1  and ,ante-,communion1
 together with a sermon five-and-twenty 
minutes  long1 can easily be brought    
within the compass of an hour and a     
half--a measure of time not unreasonably
 large to be given to the  principal    
occasion of worship on the ,lord's ,day4
 ,as for the ,evening  ,prayer--there   
certainty ought to be no call for the   
shortening of  that on ,sundays2 for it 
would be scarcely decent or proper to   
devote  to such a service anything less 
than the half hour the existing  office 
demands4    ,what the advocates of      
shortened services really desire to see 
furthered is an increase in the         
frequency of opportunities for  worship 
during the week1 their conviction being 
that if the ,church  were to authorize  
brief services for morning and evening  
use1 such  as would not occupy much more
 time than family prayers ordinarily    

do1 the attendance might be secured of  
many who1 at present1 put  aside the    
whole question of going to church on    
week-days as  impracticable4 ,supposing 
it could be proved that such a provision
  would work to the discouragement of   
family prayer1 it would plainly  be     
wrong to advocate it2 no priesthood is  
more sacred than that  which comes with 
fatherhood4 ,but we must face the fact  
that in our  modern ,american life      
family prayer1 like sundry other        
wholesome  habits1 has fallen largely   
into disuse4 ,if the ,church can1 in any
  measure1 supplement the deficiencies  
of the household1 and help  to supply to
 individuals a blessing they would      
gladly enjoy at  their own homes1 if    
they might1 it is her plain duty to do  
so4  ,moreover1 many a minister who     
single-handed cannot now prudently      
undertake a daily service1 as that is   
commonly understood1 would  acknowledge 
himself equal to the less extended      
requirement4    ,not a few careful and  

friendly observers of the practical     
working  of ,anglican religion have been
 reluctantly led to consider the daily  
service1 as an institution1 only        
meagrely successful4 ,looking at  the   
matter historically we find no reason to
 wonder at such a  conclusion4    ,our  
existing usage 7or more correctly1      
perhaps1 non-user7 dates  from the      
,reformation period4 ,the ,english      
,church and nation of that  day had     
grown up familiar with the spectacle of 
a very large body  of clerics1 secular  
and regular1 whose daily occupation may 
be said  to have been the pursuit of    
religion4#bc ,the religion pursued      
consisted chiefly in the saying of      
prayers1 and very thoroughly1  so far at
 least as the consumption of time was   
concerned1 were the  prayers said4 ,what
 more natural than that1 under such     
circumstances1  and with such           
associations1 the compilers of a common 
,prayer ,book  for the people should    
have failed to see any good reason for  

discriminating between the amount of    
service proper to the ,lord's  ,day and 
the amount that might be reasonably     
expected on other days8  ,theoretically 
they were right1 all time belongs to    
,god and he is  as appropriately        
worshipped on ,tuesdays and ,thursdays  
as on ,sundays4  ,and yet as a result of
 their making no such discrimination1 we
 have  the daily service on our hands--a
 comparative1 even if not an utter      
failure4 ,we may lament the fact1 but a 
fact it is1 that ,in spite  of all its  
improved appliances for securing        
leisure1 the world is  busier than ever 
it was2 and there will always be those  
who will  insist that the command to    
labor on six days is as imperative as   
the injunction to rest upon the seventh4
 ,as a consequence of all  this         
accelerated business1 and of the        
diminution in the number of  persons    
officially set apart for prayer1 the    
unabridged service of  the ,church fails
 to command a week-day attendance4 ,we  

have no  clerks nowadays to fill the    
choir4 ,the only clerks known to modern 
times are busy at their desks4    ,it   
may be urged in reply to this that the  
practical working of the  daily service 
ought to be kept a secondary            
consideration1 and that  its main       
purpose is symbolical1 or               
representative2 the priest  kneeling in 
his place1 day by day1 as a witness that
 the people1  though unable personally  
to be present1 do1 in heart and mind1   
approve of a daily morning and evening  
sacrifice of prayer4 ,this  conception  
of the daily service as a vicarious     
thing has a certain  mystical beauty    
about it1 but if it is to be adopted as 
the ,church's  own let us1 at least1    
clear ourselves of inconsistency by     
striking  out the word common from      
before the word prayer in characterizing
  our book4    ,what is really needed   
for daily use in our parishes is a short
 form  of worship specially framed for  
the purpose4 ,if they could be  employed

 without offence to the ,protestant ear 
7and they are good  ,english            
,reformation words7 ,week-,day ,matins  
and ,week-,day ,evensong  would not be  
ill chosen names for such services4 ,the
 framework of  these ,lesser ,orders for
 ,morning and ,evening ,prayer1 as they 
might  also be called1 were the other   
titles found obnoxious1 ought to be     
modelled upon the lines of the existing 
daily offices1 though with  a careful   
avoidance of identity in contents4      
,there should be1 for  instance1 as     
unvarying elements1 the reading of the  
lessons for the  day1 the use of the    
collect for the day1 and the saying or  
singing  of the psalms for the day4     
,another constant would be the ,lord's  
,prayer2 but aside from these the       
,lesser ,order need have nothing  in    
common with the ,order as we have it    
now4 ,there might be1 for  example1     
after the manner of the old             
service-books1 an invitatory  opening   
with versicles and responses1 or if the 

present mode of  opening by sentences   
were preferred1 specially chosen        
sentences1  different from those with   
which the ,sunday worship has made us   
familiar1 could be employed4 ,moreover1 
the anthems or canticles  and the       
prayers1 with the exception of the two  
just mentioned1  ought also to be       
distinctive1 and1 in the technical sense
 of the  word1 proper to the week-day   
use4    ,again1 it would serve very     
powerfully and appropriately to         
emphasize  the pivot points in the      
ritual year if this same principle were 
to  be applied to saints' days1 and we  
were to have special ,holyday  ,matins  
and ,holy-day ,evensong1 there still    
being required1 on the  greater         
festivals and fasts1 the normal ,morning
 and ,evening ,prayer  proper to the    
,lord's ,day4#bd    ,the argument in    
favor of thus specializing the services 
for week-days  and holydays1 in         
preference to following the only method 
heretofore  thought possible1 namely1   

that of shortening the ,lord's ,day     
,order1  rests on two grounds4 ,in the  
first place permissions to skip and     
omit are of themselves objectionable in 
a book of devotions4 ,they  have an     
uncomely look4 ,our ,american ,common   
,prayer boasts too many  disfigurements 
of this sort already4    ,such a rubric 
as ,the minister may1 at his discretion1
 omit all  that follows to1 etc4 1 puts 
one in mind of the finger-post  pointing
 out a short cut to weary travellers4   
,it is inopportune  thus to hint at     
exhaustion as the probable concomitant  
of worship4  ,that each form should have
 an integrity of its own1 should as a   
separate whole be either said complete  
or left unsaid1 is better  liturgical   
philosophy than any shortened services  
act can show4    ,in the second place1 a
 certain amount of variety would be     
secured  by the proposed method which   
under the existing system we miss4      
,there is1 of course1 such a danger as  
that of providing too much  liturgical  

variety4 ,amateur makers of ,prayer     
,books almost invariably  fall into this
 slough4 ,hymn-books1 as is well known1 
often destroy  their own usefulness by  
including too many hymns2 and ,prayer   
,books  may do the same by having too   
many prayers4#be    ,to transgress in   
the compiling of formularies the line of
 average  memory1 to provide more       
material than the mind of an habitual   
worshipper is likely to assimilate1 is  
to misread human nature4  ,but here1 as 
elsewhere1 there is a just mean4        
,cranmer and his  colleagues in the work
 of revision jumped at one bound from a 
scheme which provided a distinctive set 
of services for every day  in the year  
to a scheme that assigned one           
stereotyped form to all  days4    ,now  
nothing could be more unwise than any   
attempt to restore the  methods of the  
,breviary1 with its complicated and     
artificial forms  of devotion2 but so   
far to imitate the ,breviary as to      
provide within  limits for a recognition

 of man's innate love of change would be
  wisdom4 ,by having a distinctive      
service for week-days1 and a            
distinctive service for holydays1 ,ave  
might add just that little  increment to
 the ,church's power of traction that in
 many instances  would avail to change  
,i cannot go to church this morning into
 ,i  cannot stay away4    ,it will be   
urged as a counter-argument to these    
considerations that  the thing is       
impossible1 that such a measure of      
enrichment is  entirely in excess of    
anything the ,church has expressed a    
wish  to have1 and that for reviewers to
 propose a plan so sweeping would  be   
suicide4 ,doubtless this might be a     
sufficient answer to anybody  who       
imagined that by a bare majority vote of
 two successive ,general  ,conventions  
new formularies of daily worship could  
be forced upon  the ,church4 ,but       
suppose such formularies were to be made
 optional2  suppose there were to be    
given to parishes the choice between    

these  three things1 viz43 7a7 the      
normal ,morning ,prayer2 7b7 a          
shortened form of the normal ,morning   
,prayer2 and 7c7 such a  special order  
as has been sketched--what then8 ,would 
the ,church's  liberty be impaired6 ,on 
the contrary1 would not the borders of  
that  liberty have been most wisely and 
safely widened by the steady hand  of   
law8    ,this is perhaps the right point
 at which to call attention to the      
present state of the shortened services 
controversy1 for wearisome  as the story
 has become by frequent repetition1 the 
nexus between  it and the subject in    
hand is too important to be left out of 
sight4    ,in the ,general ,convention  
of #ahgg1 where the topic under its     
,american aspects was for the first time
 thoroughly discussed1  the two ,houses 
came to a deadlock4 ,the deputies on the
 one hand1  almost to a man1 voted in   
favor of giving the desired relief by   
rubric1 thus postponing for three years'
 time the fruition of  their wish2 while

 the bishops with a unanimity understood
 to have  been equally striking insisted
 that a simple canon1 such as could  be 
passed at once1 would suffice4 ,and so  
the subject dropped4    ,at the late    
,convention of #ahhj an eirenicon was   
discovered4 ,the  quick eye of one of   
the legal members of the ,house of      
,deputies  detected on the fourth page  
of the ,prayer ,book1 just opposite the 
,preface1 a loophole of escape1 to wit1 
,the ,ratification of the  ,book of     
,common ,prayer4 ,here was the very     
tertium quid whereby  the common wish of
 both parties to the dispute might be   
effected  without injury to the         
sensibilities of either4    ,the        
,ratification certainly did not look    
like a canon2 neither  could anybody    
with his eyes open call it a rubric--why
 not amend  that1 and say no more about 
it8 ,the suggestion prevailed1 and by a 
vote of both ,houses1 the following     
extraordinary document is  hereafter to 
stand 7the next ,general ,convention    

consenting7 in  the very fore-front of  
the ,prayer ,book3      ,,the           
,,ratification ,,of ,,the ,,book ,,of   
,,common ,,prayer4   ,by the ,bishops1  
the ,clergy1 and the ,laity of the      
,protestant   ,episcopal ,church in     
,general ,convention assembled4    ,the 
,general ,convention of the ,church     
having heretofore1 to wit3  on the      
sixteenth day of ,october in the year   
,a4 ,d4 #aghi1 set forth  a ,book of    
,common ,prayer and ,administration of  
the ,sacraments and  other ,rites and   
,ceremonies of the ,church1 and thereby 
established  the said book1 and declared
 it to be the ,liturgy of said ,church1 
and required that it be received as such
 by all the members of the  same and be 
in use from and after the first day of  
,october in the  year of our ,lord      
#agij2 the same book is hereby ratified 
and  confirmed1 and ordered to be the   
use of this ,church from this  time     
forth4    ,but note1 however1 that on   
days other than ,sundays1               

,christmas-day1  the ,epiphany1         
,ash-,wednesday1 ,good ,friday1 and     
,ascension ,day1 it  shall suffice if   
the ,minister begins ,morning or        
,evening ,prayer at  the ,general       
,confession or the ,lord's ,prayer      
preceded by one or more  of the         
,sentences appointed at the beginning of
 ,morning and ,evening  ,prayer1 and end
 after the ,collect for ,grace or the   
,collect for ,aid  against ,perils1 with
 #b ,cor4 xiii4 #ad1 using so much of   
the ,lessons  appointed for the day and 
so much of the ,psalter as he shall     
judge  to be for edification4    ,and   
note also that on any day when ,morning 
and ,evening ,prayer shall  have been   
duly said or are to be said1 and on days
 other than those  first aforementioned1
 it shall suffice1 when need may        
require1 if  a sermon or lecture be     
preceded by at least the ,lord's ,prayer
 and  one or more ,collects found in    
this book1 provided that no prayers  not
 set forth in said book1 or otherwise   

authorized by this ,church1  shall be   
used before or after such sermon or     
lecture4#bf    ,and note further also   
that on any day the ,morning ,prayer1   
the  ,litany1 or the ,order for the     
,administration of the ,lord's ,supper  
may be used as a separate and           
independent service1 provided that  no  
one of these services shall be disused  
habitually4    ,it may seem harsh to    
characterize this act as the mutilation 
of a  monument2 but really it does seem 
to be little else4 ,the old             
,ratification of #aghi is an historic   
landmark2 it is the sign-manual  of the 
,church of ,white's and ,seabury's day1 
and ought never to be  disturbed or     
tampered with while the ,prayer ,book   
stands4 ,the year  #ahhi might very     
properly see a supplemental             
,ratification written  under it2 and    
testifying to the fact of ,revision2 but
 to write into  that venerable text     
special directions as to what may be    
done on  days other than                

,ash-,wednesday1 and what must not be   
done without  #b ,cor4 xiii4 #ad1 is    
very much as if the ,city ,government of
 ,cambridge  should cause to be cut upon
 the stone under the ,washington elm    
which  now records the fact that there  
the commander of the ,american armies   
first drew his sword1 divers and sundry 
additional items of  information1 such  
as the distance to ,watertown1 the      
shortest path  across the common1 etc41 
etc4    ,why the ,convention after      
having entrusted to a ,joint ,committee1
  by a decisive vote1 the task of       
devising means for securing for  the    
,prayer ,book increased flexibility of  
use1 should have thought  it necessary  
subsequently to take up with this       
compromise of a  compromise 7for such   
the proposal to amend the ,ratification 
really  is7 it is difficult to say4     
,perhaps it was with the determination  
to have1 at any rate1 something to fall 
back upon in case the larger  and more  
comprehensive measure should come to    

naught4    ,the rubric is confessedly   
the proper place for directions as to   
how to use the services1 and but for the
 very natural and defensible  objection 
on the part of some to touching the     
,prayer ,book at all1  there never would
 have been any question about it4#bg    
,this  objection having been at last    
waived1 a straight path is now open  to 
the end desired1 and it ought to be     
followed even at the cost  of three     
years more of delay4    ,returning to   
the general subject1 and still following
 the order of  the ,table of ,contents1 
we come to ,prayers and ,thanksgivings  
upon  several ,occasions4    ,here it   
would be well to note more intelligibly 
than is done by  the present rubric the 
proper places for the introduction of   
the  ,prayers and the ,thanksgivings1   
providing for the use of the former     
before1 and of the latter after the     
,general ,thanksgiving4    ,as to the   
deficiencies in this department let the 
late ,dr4 ,muhlenberg  speak4    ,the   

,prayer ,book1 he says1 is not          
undervalued as to its treasures  in     
asserting its wants4 ,the latter cannot 
be denied4 ,witness the  meagre amount  
of ,new ,testament prayer and praise for
 the round of  festivals and fasts2 the 
absence of any forms suited to the      
peculiar  circumstances of our own      
,church and country and to the times we 
live in2 or for our benevolent and      
educational institutions4 ,there  are no
 prayers for the increase of ,ministers1
 for ,missions1 or  ,missionaries1 for  
the ,christian teaching of the young2   
for sponsors  on occasions of ,baptism2 
for persons setting out on long journeys
  by land1 quite as perilous as voyages 
by sea2 for the sick desiring  the      
prayers of the ,church when there is no 
prospect of or desire  for recovery2 for
 the bereaved at funerals1 and many     
other occasions  for which there might  
as well be provision as for those few   
for  which we already have the          
occasional prayers4#bh    ,after the    

,prayers and ,thanksgivings come ,the   
,collects1 ,epistles1  and ,gospels 4   
,here again there is some room for      
enrichment4  ,distinctive collects for  
the first four days of ,holy ,week1 for 
,monday and ,tuesday in ,easter ,week1  
and for ,monday and ,tuesday in         
,whitsun ,week1 would add very          
materially to our liturgical wealth1    
while there would seem to be no reason  
whatever why they should  not be had4   
,it would also serve to enhance the     
symmetry of the  ,christian ,year if the
 old feast of the ,transfiguration#bi   
7,august  #f7 were to be restored to its
 place among the recognized holy days   
of the ,church and given its proper     
collect1 epistle1 and gospel4    ,there 
are some liturgists who desire the      
restoration of the introits  of the     
,first ,book of ,edward ,,vi4 ,the      
introit 7so called from being  the psalm
 sung when the priest goes within the   
altar-rails7 has  been in modern usage  
replaced by a metrical hymn4 ,a         

sufficient  reason for not printing the 
introit for each day in full1 just      
before the collect1 as was the mode in  
,edward's ,book1 is that to  do so would
 involve a costly sacrifice of room4 ,a 
compromise course  would be to insert   
between the title of each ,sunday or    
holyday and  the collect proper to it1 a
 simple numerical reference stating     
whereabouts in the ,psalter the introit 
for the day is to be found1  and adding 
perhaps the ,latin catchwords4 ,any     
attempt to make the  use of the introit 
obligatory in our times would meet with 
deserved  failure2 the metrical hymn has
 gained too firm a hold upon the        
affections of the ,church at large ever 
to be willingly surrendered4    ,coming1
 next1 to the orders for the            
administration of the two  sacraments1  
we find ourselves on delicate ground1   
where serious  change of any sort is out
 of the question4 ,permission1 under    
certain  circumstances1 still further to
 abbreviate the ,office of the          

,communion of the ,sick might1 however1 
be sought without giving  reasonable    
cause of alarm to any1 and general      
consent might perhaps  also be had for a
 provision with respect to the          
,exhortation1 ,dearly  beloved in the   
,lord1 that in ,churches where there is 
frequent  ,communion it shall suffice to
 read the ,exhortation above written    
once in a month on the ,lord's ,day4#cj 
,there are three liturgical features of 
the ,scottish ,communion  ,office which 
some have thought might be              
advantageously transferred  to our own  
service4 ,they are 7a7 the inserting    
after ,christ's  summary of the ,law a  
response1 ,lord1 have mercy upon us and 
write  these thy laws in our hearts1 we 
beseech thee2 7b7 the repeating  by the 
people1 after the reading of the        
,gospel1 of a formula of  thanks        
corresponding to the ,glory be to thee1 
,o ,lord1 that  precedes it2 and 7c7 the
 saying or singing of an ,offertory     
sentence at the presentation of the     

alms4 ,upon these suggested  enrichments
 the present writer offers no opinion4  
,in the ,order of ,confirmation a       
substitution for the present  preface#ca
 of a responsive opening1 in which the  
bishop should  charge the minister to   
present none but such as he has found by
  personal inquiry apt and meet for the 
reception of the rite would  be a marked
 improvement4    ,the remaining         
,occasional ,offices would seem to      
demand no change  either in structure or
 contents1 although in some1 perhaps in 
all  of them1 additional rubrics would  
be helpful to worshippers4    ,some     
addition to the number of ,occasional   
,offices would be a  real gain4 ,we     
need1 for instance1 a short ,office for 
the ,burial of  ,infants and ,young     
,children2 a ,daybreak ,office for      
,great ,festivals2  an ,office for      
,midday ,prayer2 an ,office of ,prayer  
in behalf of  ,missions and             
,missionaries2 an ,office for the       
,setting apart of a  ,layman as a       

,reader1 or as a ,missionary2 a ,form of
 ,prayer at  the ,laying of a           
,corner-stone2 and possibly some others4
 ,it is  evident that these new         
formularies might give opportunity for  
the introduction of hitherto unused     
collects1 anthems1 and  benedictions of 
a sort that would greatly enhance the   
general  usefulness of the ,prayer      
,book4    ,this completes the survey of 
the field of liturgical enrichment4  ,a 
full discussion of the allied topic1    
flexibility of use1 would  involve the  
examination in detail of all the rubrics
 of the ,prayer  ,book1 and for this    
there is no room4 ,it is enough to say  
that  unless the rubrics1 the hinges and
 joints of a service-book1 are  kept    
well oiled1 much creaking is a necessary
 result4 ,there are  turning-points in  
our public worship where congregations  
almost  invariably betray an awkward    
embarrassment1 simply because there  is 
nothing to tell them whether they are   
expected to stand or to  sit or to      

kneel4 ,it is easy to sneer at such     
points as trifles and  to make sport of 
those who call attention to them2 but if
 it  is worth our while to have ritual  
worship at all it is also worth  our    
while to make the directions as to how  
people are to behave  adequate1         
explicit1 plain4 ,a lofty contempt for  
detail is not the  token of good        
administration either in ,church or     
,state4 ,to the list  of defective      
rubrics add those that are confessedly  
obsolete and  such as are palpably      
contradictory and we have a bill of     
particulars  that would amply justify a 
rubrical revision of the ,prayer ,book  
even  if nothing more were to be        
attempted4    ,there is another reason4 
,far more rapidly than many people      
imagine1 we are drifting away from the  
position of a ,church that  worships by 
liturgy to that of a ,church worshipping
 by directory4  ,the multiplicity of    
uses that vexed the ,anglican ,reformers
 is  in our day multiplied four-fold4   

,to those who honestly consider a       
directory a better thing than a liturgy 
this process of relaxation  is most     
welcome1 but for others who hold that1  
until the binding  clauses of a ,book of
 ,common ,prayer have been formally     
rescinded1  they ought to be observed1  
the spectacle is the reverse of         
edifying4  ,they would much prefer      
seeing the channels of liberty opened at
 the  touch of law1 and this is one of  
their chief reasons for advocating      
revision4    ,two questions remain      
untouched1 both of them of great        
practical  importance4 ,could the       
,prayer ,book be enriched to the extent 
suggested in this paper without a       
serious and most undesirable  increase  
in its bulk as a volume8    ,even       
supposing this were possible1 is it at  
all likely that the  ,church could be   
persuaded to accept the amended book8   
,unless the first of these two eminently
 proper questions can be  met1 there is1
 or ought to be1 an end to all talk     

about revision4  ,the advantage to a    
,church of being able to keep all its   
authoritative  formularies of worship   
within the compass of a single volume is
  inestimable4 ,even the present        
enforced severance of the ,hymnal  from 
the ,prayer ,book is a misfortune4#cb   
,those were good days when ,bible and   
,prayer ,book was the ,churchman's  all 
sufficient formula so far as volumes    
were concerned4    ,rome boasts a much  
larger ritual variety than ours1 but she
 secures  it by multiplying books4 ,the 
,missal is in one volume1 the ,breviary 
in four1 the ,pontifical1 the ,ritual1  
and the ,ceremonial in one each1  making
 eight in all4#cc ,this is an evil1 and 
one from which we  ,anglicans have had a
 happy escape4 ,it was evidently with a 
great  groan of relief that the ,church 
of ,england shook herself free from  the
 whole host of service-books1 and       
established her one only  volume4 ,it   
behooves us to be watchful how we take a
 single step  towards becoming entangled

 in the old meshes4#cd    ,but need the 
enrichment of the ,prayer ,book--such   
enrichment as has  been described1      
necessarily involve an unwieldiness in  
the volume1  or1 what would be still    
worse1 an overflow into a supplement8   
,certainly not2 for by judicious        
management every change advocated  in   
this paper1 and more besides1 might be  
accomplished without  transgressing by  
so much as a page or a paragraph the    
limits of  the present standard book4   
,all the space needed could be secured  
by the simple expedient of omitting     
matter that has been found by  actual   
experience to be superfluous4           
,redundancy and unnecessary  repetition 
are to the discredit of a book that     
enjoys such an  unrivalled reputation as
 the ,common ,prayer4 ,they are         
blemishes  upon the face of its literary
 perfectness4 ,who has not marvelled  at
 the strange duplication of the ,litany 
and the ,office of the ,holy  ,communion
 in the ,ordinal1 when the special      

petitions proper to  those services when
 used in that connection might easily   
have been  printed by themselves with a 
direction that they be inserted in  the 
appointed place8    ,scholars1 of       
course1 know perfectly well how this    
came about4 ,the  ,ordinal does not     
belong to the ,prayer ,book proper1 but 
has a  separate identity of its own4    
,when printed as a book by itself  it is
 all very well that it should include   
the ,litany and the ,holy  ,communion in
 full1 but why allow these superfluous  
pages to crowd  out others that are     
really needed8#ce    ,it has already    
been explained how the room now occupied
 by the  ,selections might be           
economized1 and by the same simple      
device  the space engrossed by divers   
psalms here and there in the ,occasional
  ,offices1 e4 g41 ,psalm li in the     
,visitation of ,prisoners1 and  ,psalm  
cxxx in the ,visitation of the ,sick    
could be made available  for other use4 
,again1 why continue to devote a quarter

 of a page of precious  space to the    
,prayer for imprisoned debtors1 seeing  
that now1  for a long time past1 there  
has been no such thing in the ,united   
,states as imprisonment for debt8 ,by   
availing ourselves of only a  portion of
 these possible methods of garnering    
space1 all that is  desired might be    
accomplished1 without making the ,prayer
 ,book  bulkier by a single leaf than it
 is to-day4    ,but would a ,prayer     
,book thus enriched be accepted by the  
,church  at large8 ,is there any reason 
to think that the inertia which  inheres
 in all large bodies1 and to a          
singularly marked degree  in our own    
,communion1 could be overcome8 ,the     
,general ,convention  can give an       
approximate answer to these questions2  
it cannot settle  them decisively1 for  
it is a body which mirrors only to a    
certain  extent the real mind and temper
 of the constituencies represented  in  
it4 ,one thing is certain1 that only by 
allowing fullest possible  play to the  

principle of local option could any     
wholly new piece  of work on the part of
 revisionists1 however excellent it     
might be  in itself considered1 find    
acceptance4 ,to allow features          
introduced  into the body of an existing
 service to be accounted optional1      
would indeed be impossible1 without     
gendering the very wildest  confusion4  
,upon such points the ,church would have
 to decide  outright1 for or against1   
and stand by her decisions4 ,but as     
respects every additional and novel     
,office proposed1 the greatest  care    
ought to be taken to have the indefinite
 ,an rather than the  definite ,the     
prefixed to it4 ,before such new uses   
are made binding  on all1 they must have
 met and endured the test of thorough   
trial  by some4 ,this is only fair4     
,but there is a limit1 it must be       
remembered1 in the ,church's case  to   
the binding power of precedent and      
prescription4 ,the social  order        
changes1 and of these tides that ebb and

 flow it is our  bounden duty to take   
note4 ,had mere aversion to change1     
dogged  unwillingness to venture an     
experiment always carried the day1      
instead of having the ,prayer ,book as  
it is1 we should still be  drearily     
debating the rival merits of ,hereford  
and ,sarum4 ,the great  question to be  
settled is1 ,does an emergency exist    
serious enough  to warrant an attempt on
 our part to make better what we know   
already to be good8 ,is the ,republic   
expecting of us1 and reasonably         
expecting of us1 greater things than    
with our present equipment we  are quite
 able to accomplish8 ,there are eyes    
that think they see a  great future     
before this ,church--are they right1 or 
is it only  mirage8 ,at any rate ours is
 no return trip--we are outward bound4  
,the ship is cutting new and untried    
waters with her keel at every  moment4  
,there is no occasion to question the   
sufficiency of either  compass or helm1 
but in certain matters of a practical   

sort there  is a demand upon us to use  
judgment1 we are bound to give a place  
in our seamanship to present            
common-sense as well as to respect for  
ancient usage1 and along with it all to 
feel some confidence that  if the ship  
is what we think her to be1 the winds of
 ,god may be  trusted to bring her      
safely into port4          ,,the ,,book 
,,annexed3 ,,its ,,critics ,,and ,,its  
,,prospects4          ,,the ,,book      
,,annexed3 ,,its ,,critics ,,and ,,its  
,,prospects4#cf      ,first1 last1 and  
always this is to be said with respect  
to  the revision of the ,american       
,common ,prayer1 that unless we can     
accomplish it with hearty good feeling  
the attempt at improvement  ought to be 
abandoned altogether4    ,the day has   
gone by when new formularies of worship 
could be  imposed on an unwilling       
,church by edict1 and although under our
  carefully guarded system of           
ecclesiastical legislation there is     
little danger of either haste or        

unfairness1 we must bear it well  in    
mind that something more than a         
constitutional majority of both  houses 
is needful if we would see liturgical   
revision crowned with  real success4 ,of
 course1 absolute unanimity is not to be
 expected4  ,every improvement that the 
world has seen was greeted at its birth 
by a chorus of select voices sounding   
the familiar anthem1 ,the old  is       
better2 and the generation of those1    
who1 in the sturdy phrase  of ,king     
,james's revisers1 give liking unto     
nothing but what is  framed by          
themselves1 and hammered on their anvil1
 will be always  with us4 ,but          
substantial unanimity may exist1 even   
when absolute  unanimity is impossible1 
and if anything like as general a       
consent  can be secured for revision in 
#ahhf as was given to it in #ahhc1 the  
friends of the movement will have good  
reason to be satisfied4    ,that there  
has been1 since the publication of ,the 
,book ,annexed as  ,modified1 a certain 

measure of reaction against the spirit  
of  change must be evident to all who   
watch carefully the pulse of  public    
opinion in the ,church4 ,whether this   
reaction be as serious  as some imagine1
 whether it have good reasons to allege1
 and whether  it be not already giving  
tokens of spent force1 are points which 
in the present paper will be touched    
only incidentally1 for the  writer's    
purpose is rather irenic than polemical1
 and he is more  concerned to remove    
misapprehensions and allay fears than to
 seek  the fading leaf of a             
controversial victory4                  
,,limitations4    ,no estimate of the   
merits and demerits of ,the ,book       
,annexed can  be a just one that leaves 
out of account the limitations under    
which the framers of it did their work4 
,these limitations were not             
unreasonable ones4 ,it was right and    
proper that they should be  imposed4    
,there is no good ground for a belief   
that the time will  ever come when a    

blank cheque1 to borrow ,mr4 ,goschen's 
mercantile  figure1 will be given to any
 company of liturgical revisers to fill 
out as they may see fit4 ,but the       
moulders of forms1 in whatever          
department of plastic art their         
specialty lies1 when challenged to  show
 cause why their work is deficient in   
symmetry or completeness1  have an      
undoubted right to plead in reply the   
character of the  conditions under which
 they labored4 ,the present instance    
offers  no exception to the general     
rule4 ,in the first place1 a distinct   
pledge was given in the ,house of       
,deputies1 in #ahhj1 before consent  to 
the appointment of the ,joint ,committee
 was secured1 that in case  such        
permission to launch a movement in favor
 of revision as was  asked for were to  
be granted1 no attempt would be made    
seriously  to change the ,liturgy       
proper1 namely1 the ,office of the ,holy
  ,communion4    ,the question was      
distinctly asked by a clerical deputy   

from the  diocese of ,maryland1#cg ,do  
you desire to modify the ,office of  the
 ,holy ,communion8 and it was as        
distinctly answered by the mover  of the
 resolution under which the ,joint      
,committee was finally  appointed1 ,no1 
we do not4 ,it is true that such a      
pledge1 made by  a single member of one 
,house1 could only measurably control   
the  action of a ,joint ,committee in   
which both ,houses were to be           
represented2 but it is equally plain    
that the maker of the pledge  was in    
honor bound to do all in his power to   
secure the observance  of its terms4    
,let this historical fact be noted by   
those who are disposed to  complain that
 the ,joint ,committee did not pull to  
pieces and  entirely rearrange the      
,anglo-,scoto-,american ,office1 which  
now  for a long time1 and until quite   
recently1 we have been taught  to esteem
 the nearest possible approach to       
liturgical perfection4    ,under this   
same head of limitations must be set    

down the following  resolutions passed  
by the ,joint ,committee itself1 at its 
first  regular meeting3    ,resolved1   
,that this ,committee asserts1 at the   
outset1 its  conviction that no         
alteration should be made touching      
either  statements or standards of      
doctrine in the ,book of ,common        
,prayer4    ,resolved1 ,that this       
,committee1 in all its suggestions and  
acts1  be guided by those principles of 
liturgical construction and ritual  use 
which have guided the compilation and   
amendments of the ,book  of ,common     
,prayer1 and have made it what it is4   
,it was manifestly impossible1 under    
resolutions like these1 to  depart very 
widely from established precedent1 or in
 any serious  measure to disturb the    
foundations of things4    ,the first of 
them shut out wholly the consideration  
of such  questions as the reinstatement 
of the ,athanasian ,creed or the        
proposal to make optional the use of the
 word regenerate in  the ,baptismal     

,offices2 while the other forbade the   
introduction  of such sentimental and   
grotesque conceits as ,an ,office for   
the  ,blessing of ,candles1 ,an ,office 
for the ,benediction of a ,lifeboat1    
and ,an ,office for the ,reconciliation 
of a ,lapsed ,cleric4#ch    ,still      
another very serious limitation1 and one
 especially unfriendly  to that         
perfectness of contour which we         
naturally look to see  in a liturgical  
formulary1 grew out of the tender       
solicitude  of the ,committee for what  
may be called the vested rights of      
congregations4 ,there was a strong      
reluctance to the cutting  away even of 
what might seem to be dead wood1 lest   
there should  ensue1 or be thought to   
ensue1 the loss of something really     
valuable4    ,it was only as the result 
of much painstaking effort1 and only at 
some sacrifice of literary              
fastidiousness1 that the ,committee was 
enabled to report a book of which it    
could be said that1 while it  added much

 of possible enrichment1 it took away   
almost nothing that  had been in actual 
possession4#ci ,there could be no better
  illustration of this point than is    
afforded by certain of the  alterations 
proposed to be made in the ,order for   
,evening ,prayer4    ,the ,committee    
felt assured that upon no point was the 
judgment of  the ,church likely to be   
more unanimous than in approving the    
restoration to their time-honored home  
in the ,evening ,office of  ,magnificat 
and ,nunc dimittis1 and yet so unwilling
 were they  to displace ,bonum est      
confiteri and ,benedic anima mea from   
positions they have only occupied since 
#aghi that they authorized  the         
unquestionably clumsy expedient of      
printing three responds to  each        
,lesson4    ,probably a large majority  
of the ,committee would have preferred  
to  drop ,bonum est confiteri and       
,benedic anima mea altogether1          
retaining ,cantate ,domino and ,deus    
miser eatur as the sole  alternates to  

the two ,gospel canticles1 as in the    
,english ,book1  but rather than have a 
thousand voices cry out1 as it was      
believed  they would cry out1 ,you have 
robbed us1 the device of a second       
alternate was adopted1 to the sad       
defacement of the printed page4  ,in may
 be charged that1 in thus choosing1 the 
,committee betrayed  timidity1 and that 
a wise boldness would have been the     
better  course2 but if account be taken 
of the attitude consistently  maintained
 by ,general ,convention towards any    
proposition for the  change of so much  
as a comma in the ,prayer ,book1 during 
a period  of fifty years prior to the   
introduction of ,the ,book ,annexed1 it 
will perhaps be concluded that for the  
characterization of the  ,committee's   
policy timidity is scarcely so proper a 
word as caution4      ,,special         
,,criticisms4    7a7 ,foreign4    ,as   
there is reason to believe that opinion 
at home has been very  considerably     
affected by foreign criticism of ,the   

,book ,annexed1  it will be well at this
 point to give some attention to what   
has  been said in ,english journals in  
review of the work thus far             
accomplished4 ,the more noteworthy of   
the foreign criticisms are  those       
contained in ,the ,church ,quarterly    
,review1 ,the ,church  ,times1 and ,the 
,guardian4#dj    ,the ,church ,quarterly
 reviewer opens with an expression of   
deep  regret at the failure to take     
advantage of the opportunity for        
reinstating the ,athanasian ,creed4 ,as 
already observed1 no such  opportunity  
existed4 ,by formal vote the ,joint     
,committee debarred  itself from any    
proceeding of this sort1 and the        
,convention1 which  sat in judgment on  
its work1 was manifestly of opinion that
 in so  acting the ,committee had       
rightly interpreted its charter4    ,the
 reviewer1 who is in full sympathy with 
the movement for  enrichment as such1   
goes on to recommend1 as a more         
excellent  way than that followed in    

,the ,book ,annexed1 the compilation of 
,an ,appendix to the ,book of ,common   
,prayer to contain the much    needed   
,additional ,services for both ,sunday  
and other use in    churches1 in mission
 chapels1 and in religious communities1 
as    well as a full supply of          
,occasional ,prayers and ,thanksgivings 
for objects and purposes1 missionary and
 otherwise1 which are as    yet entirely
 unrepresented in our ,offices4         
,there are obvious reasons why this     
device should commend itself to  an     
,english ,churchman1 for it is unlikely 
that anything better than  this1 or1    
indeed1 anything one half so            
satisfactory1 could be  secured by ,act 
of ,parliament4    ,for something very  
much better than this1 however1 a       
self-governed  ,church1 like our own1   
has a right to look1 and1 in all        
probability1  will continue to look     
until the thing is found4 ,an ,appendix 
to a  manual of worship1 whether the    
manual be ,prayer ,book or ,hymnal1#da  

is and cannot but be1 from the very     
nature of things1 a blemish to  the eye1
 an embarrassment to the hand1 and a    
vexation to the spirit4  ,such addenda  
carry on their face the suggestion that 
they are  makeshifts1 postscripts1      
after-thoughts2 and in their lack of    
dignity1 as well as of convenience1     
pronounce their own condemnation4       
,moreover1 in our particular case1 no   
,appendix1 ,prymer1 or  ,authorized     
,vade-mecum could accomplish the ends   
that are most  of all desired4 ,fancy   
putting the ,magnificat1 the ,nunc      
dimittis1  the ,versicles that follow   
the ,creed1 and the ,lighten our        
darkness  into an ,appendix4 ,it would  
be the defeat of our main object4       
,then1 too1 this is to be remembered1   
that in order to secure a  fully        
authorized ,appendix1 we1 in this       
country1 should be obliged  to follow   
precisely the same legal process we     
follow in altering  the ,prayer ,book4  
,if an ,occasional ,office cannot pass  

the ordeal of  the criticism of two     
successive ,conventions1 it ought not to
 be set  forth at all2 if it can and    
does stand that test1 then it ought to  
be inserted in the ,prayer ,book in the 
particular place where it most          
appropriately belongs and may most      
readily be found4    ,moreover1 it      
should be remembered that one1 and by no
 means the  least efficient1 of the     
causes that brought the ,common ,prayer 
into  existence in the sixteenth century
 was disgust at the multiplication  of  
service-books4 ,we ,american ,churchmen 
have two already2 let us  beware of     
adding a third4    ,the critic of ,the  
,quarterly was probably unacquainted    
with the  fact that in the ,american    
,episcopal ,church the experimental     
setting  forth of ,offices for optional 
and discretional use is not possible    
under the terms of the ,constitution4   
,we either must adopt outright  and for 
permanent use1 or else peremptorily     
reject whatever is urged  upon us in the

 name of liturgical improvement4        
,entering next upon a detailed criticism
 of the contents of ,the ,book  ,annexed
 the writer proceeds to offer a number  
of suggestions1 some  of them of great  
value4 ,he pleads earnestly and with    
real force for  the restoration of the  
,lord's ,prayer to its place of honor   
between  the ,creed and the ,preces1    
showing1 in a passage of singular       
beauty1  how the whole daily office may 
be said to have grown out of1 or        
radiated from1 or been crystallized     
round the central ,pater  noster even as
 from the ,words of ,institution has    
grown the  ,christian ,liturgy4    ,the 
critic has only praise for the          
amendments in the ,office  for          
,thanksgiving ,day2 approves the        
selection of ,proper ,sentences  for the
 opening of ,morning and ,evening       
,prayer2 avers1 certainly  with truth1  
that the ,office of the ,beatitudes     
might be improved2  welcomes the very   
full repertory of special prayers2      

thinks  that the ,short ,office of      
,prayer for ,sundry ,occasions certainly
  supplies a want2 rejoices in the      
recognition of the ,feast of the        
,transfiguration2 and closes what is by 
far the most considerable1  and1 both as
 respects praise and blame1 the most    
valuable of all  the reviews that have  
been made of ,the ,book ,annexed whether
 at  home or abroad1 with these words3  
,on the whole1 we very heartily         
congratulate our ,transatlantic         
brothers on the labors of their ,joint  
,committee4 ,we hope their              
recommendations may be adopted1 and more
 in the same direction2  and that the   
two or three serious blemishes which we 
have felt  constrained to point out and 
to lament may be removed from the  book 
in the form finally adopted4    ,and    
further1 we very earnestly trust that   
this work1 which has  been very         
evidently so carefully and              
conscientiously done1 may  speedily1 by 
way of example and precedent1 bear fruit

 in a like  process of enrichment among 
ourselves4    ,commending these last    
words to the consideration of those who 
take alarm at the suggestion of touching
 the ,prayer ,book lest  we may hurt the
 susceptibilities of our kin beyond sea1
 and  unduly anticipate that joint      
action of both ,churches1 which1  at    
least until disestablishment comes1 must
 always remain a sheer  impossibility1  
we pass to a consideration of the six   
articles  contributed to the ,church    
,times in ,july and ,august last1 under 
the title1 ,the ,revised ,american      
,prayer ,book4 ,here we come upon  a    
writer who1 if not always edifying1 has 
the undoubted merit of  being never     
dull4 ,in fact1 so deliciously are      
logical inconsequence  and accidental   
humor mingled throughout his fifteen    
columns of  discursive criticism that a 
suspicion arises as to the writer's     
nationality4 ,it is doubtful whether    
anyone born on the ,english side  of the
 ,irish ,sea could possibly have        

suggested the establishment  of a       
,saint's ,day in honor of the late      
respected ,warden of ,racine  ,college1 
or seriously have proposed that ,messrs4
 ,oliver ,wendell  ,holmes1 ,russell    
,lowell1 ,henry ,james1 and ,w4 ,d4     
,howells be appointed  a jury of        
literary arbitrament to sit in judgment 
on the liturgical  language of ,the     
,book ,annexed2 and this out of respect 
to our  proper national pride4          
,doubtless it would add perceptibly to  
the  amused sense of the unfitness of   
things with which these eminent         
liberals must have seen themselves thus 
named1 if permission could  be given to 
the jury1 when empanelled1 to co-opt    
into its number  ,mr4 ,samuel ,clemens  
and ,mr4 ,dudley ,warner4#db    ,the    
general tenor of the writer in ,the     
,church ,times may fairly  be inferred  
from the following extract from the     
first article of  the series3    ,the   
judgment that must be pronounced on the 
work as a whole is  precisely that which

 has been passed on the ,revised ,new   
,testament1  that there are doubtless   
some few changes for the better1 so     
obvious  and so demanded beforehand by  
all educated opinion that to have       
neglected them would at once have       
stamped the revisers as blockheads  and 
dunces2 but that the set-off in the way 
of petty and meddlesome  changes for the
 worse1 neglect of really desirable     
improvements1  bad ,english1 failure in 
the very matter of pure scholarship just
  where it was least to be expected1 and
 general departure from  the terms of   
the ,commission assigned to them        
7notably by their  introduction of      
confusion instead of flexibility into   
the services1  so that the congregation 
can seldom know what is going to happen7
  has so entirely outweighed the merits 
of the work that it cannot  possibly be 
adopted by the ,church1 and must be     
dismissed as a dismal  fiasco1 to be    
dealt with anew in some more adequate   
fashion4    ,this paragraph is not      

reproduced for the purpose of           
discrediting  the writer of it as a     
judge of ,english prose1 for there are  
various  passages in the course of the  
six articles that would more readily    
lend themselves to such a use4 ,the     
object in quoting it is simply  to put  
the reader into possession1 in a compact
 form1 of the most  angry1 even if not  
the most formidable1 of the various     
indictments  yet brought against ,the   
,book ,annexed4    ,moreover1 the last  
words of the extract supply a good text 
for  certain didactic remarks that ought
 to be made1 with respect to  what is   
possible and what is not possible in the
 line of liturgical  revision in        
,america4    ,worthless as the result of
 the ,joint ,committee's labors has     
turned  out to be1 their motive1 we are 
assured1 was a good one4 ,the  critic's 
contention is not that the work they    
undertook is a work  that ought not to  
be done1 but rather that when done it   
should be  better done4 ,the revision as

 presented must be dismissed as a       
dismal fiasco1 but only dismissed in    
order to be dealt with anew  in some    
more adequate fashion4 ,but on what     
ground can we rest this  sanguine       
expectation of better things to come8   
,whence is to  originate and how is to  
be appointed the commission of experts  
which is to give us at last the ,ideal  
,liturgy8    ,cardinal ,newman in one of
 his lesser controversial tracts        
remarks3    ,if the ,english people     
lodge power in the many1 not in the few1
 what  wonder that its operation is     
roundabout1 clumsy1 slow1 intermittent1 
and disappointing8 ,you cannot eat your 
cake and have it2 you cannot  be at once
 a self-governing nation and have a     
strong government4#dc    ,similarly it  
may be said that1 however great the     
difficulties that  beset liturgical     
revision by legislative process at the  
hands of  some five hundred men1        
nevertheless the fact remains that the  
body  known in law as ,the ,protestant  

,episcopal ,church in the ,united       
,states  of ,america has provided in its
 ,constitution that change in its       
formularies shall be so effected and not
 otherwise4 ,it may turn  out that we   
must give up in despair the whole       
movement for a better  adaptation of our
 manual of worship to the needs of our  
land and  of our time2 it may be found  
that the obstacles in the way are       
absolutely insuperable2 but let us dream
 no dreams of seeing this  thing handed 
over1 with power1 to a commission of    
experts1 for  that is something which   
will never come to pass4    ,whether    
experts in liturgies are any more likely
 to furnish us  with good prayers than  
experts in prosody are likely to give us
  the best poetry is a tempting         
question1 but one that must be left1    
for the present1 on one side4 ,perhaps1 
if the inquiry were to be  pushed1 we   
might find ourselves shut up to the     
curious conclusion  that the framers of 
the very earliest liturgies1 the authors

 of  the old sacramentaries1 were either
 verbally inspired or else were  lacking
 in the qualifications which alone could
 fit them to do  worthily the work they 
worthily did1 for clearly experts they  
were not4    ,but the question that     
immediately concerns us is one of simple
  fact4 ,assuming the present laborious 
effort at betterment to have  been      
proved a fiasco1 how is the ,general    
,convention to set in  motion any more  
promising enginery of revision8 ,summon 
in1 say  our ,english advisers1         
competent scholars1 and give them carte 
blanche to do what they will4 ,but the  
,convention1 which is by  law the final 
arbiter1 has no power to invite to a    
share in its  councils men who have no  
constitutional right to a seat upon its 
floor4 ,how thankfully should we welcome
 as participants in our  debates and as 
allies in our legislation the eminent   
liturgical  scholars who give lustre to 
the clergy list of the ,church of       
,england2 but we are as powerless to    

make them members of the  ,general      
,convention as we should be to force    
them into the ,house  of ,commons4 ,the 
same holds true at home4 ,if the several
 dioceses  fail to discover their own   
inglorious ,miltons1 and will not send  
them up to ,general ,convention1        
,general ,convention may1 and doubtless 
does1 lament the blindness of the       
constituencies1 but it cannot  correct  
their blunder4 ,the dioceses in which   
the experts  canonically reside had had 
full warning that important liturgical  
interests were to be discussed and acted
 upon in the ,general  ,convention of   
#ahhc2 why were the experts left at     
home8 ,and if  they were not returned in
 #ahhc1 is there sufficient reason to   
believe that they will ever be returned 
in any coming year of  grace8 ,it must  
be either that the ,american ,church is 
bereft of  experts1 or else that the    
constituencies1 influenced possibly  by 
the hard sense of the laity1 have       
learned hopelessly to confound  the     

expert with the doctrinaire4    ,of     
expert testimony1 in the shape of the   
liturgical material  gathered1 mainly by
 ,english writers1 during the last fifty
 years1  the ,joint ,committee had no   
lack4 ,that this material was carefully 
sifted and conscientiously used1 ,the   
,book ,annexed will itself one  day be  
acknowledged to be the sufficient       
evidence4    ,there is still another    
point that must be taken into account in
  this connection1 to wit1 the attitude 
which the ,episcopate has a  right to   
take with respect to any proposed work  
of liturgical  revision4 ,bishops have  
probably become inured to the hard      
measure  habitually dealt out to them in
 the columns of the ,church ,times1  and
 are unlikely to allow charges of       
ignorance and incompetency so  far to   
disturb their composure as to make them 
afraid to prosecute  a work which1 from 
time immemorial1 has been held to lie   
peculiarly  within their province4 ,it  
may be affirmed1 with some confidence1  

that no revision of the ,american       
,offices will ever be ratified1 in  the 
conduct of which the ,bishops of the    
,church have not been allowed  the      
leadership which belongs to them of     
right4 ,then it is for the  ,general    
,convention carefully to consider       
whether any ,house of  ,bishops destined
 to be convened in our time is likely to
 have on  its roll the names of any     
prelates more competent1 whether on the 
score of learning or of practical       
experience1 to deal with a work  of     
liturgical revision than were the seven 
prelates elected by the  free voice of  
their brethren to represent the         
,episcopal ,order on  the ,joint        
,committee of ,twenty-one4    ,coming to
 details the reviewer of the ,church    
,times regrets1 first  of all1 the      
failure of the ,convention to change the
 name of the  ,church4 ,he goes on to   
express a disapproval1 more or less     
qualified1  of the discretionary power  
given to bishops to set forth forms of  

prayer for special occasions1 and of the
 continued permission to  use           
,selections of ,psalms instead of the   
psalms for the day4 ,it is  not quite   
clear whether he approves the expansion 
of the ,table of  ,proper ,psalms or    
not1 though he thinks it abstractedly   
desirable  that provision be made in    
this connection for ,corpus ,christi and
  ,all ,souls4    ,he condemns the      
latitude allowed in the choice of       
lessons under  the rules of the new     
lectionary1 fearing that a clergyman who
  happens to dislike any given chapter  
because of its contents may  be tempted 
habitually to suppress it by            
substituting another1 but  in the very  
next paragraph he gravely questions the 
expediency of  limiting congregations to
 such hymns as have been duly set forth 
and allowed by authority4 ,yet most     
observers1 at least on this  side of the
 water1 are of opinion that liberty of  
choice within  the limits of the ,bible 
is a far safer freedom1 so far as the   

breeding of heresy goes1 than liberty of
 choice beyond the limits  of the       
,hymnal has proved itself to be4 ,the   
reviewer is pleased with  the addition  
of the ,feast of the ,transfiguration to
 the ,calendar1  but desiderates more1  
and would gladly welcome the            
introduction  into the ,prayer ,book of 
commemorations of eminent saints1 from  
,ignatius down1#dd but of this1 mention 
has already been made1  and it is       
unnecessary to revert to it4    ,there  
follows next a protest against the      
selection of proper  ,sentences prefixed
 to ,morning and ,evening ,prayer4      
,the revisers seem to have a glimmering 
of what was the right  thing to do 4 4 4
 but they should have swept away the    
undevotional  and unliturgical plan of  
beginning with certain detached texts1  
which has no fitness whatever1 and has  
never even seemed to answer  any useful 
end4    ,this is stronger language than 
most of us are likely to approve4 ,a    
,church that directly takes issue with  

,rome1 as ours does1 with  respect to   
the true source of authority in religion
 has an excellent  reason for letting   
the voice of ,holy ,scripture sound the 
key-note  of her daily worship1 whether 
there be ancient precedent for such  a  
use or not4 ,at the same time1 the      
reviewer's averment that the  only      
proper opening is the ,invocation of the
 ,holy ,trinity is  entitled to         
attention2 and it is worth considering  
whether the  latter portion of the      
nineteenth verse of the twenty-eighth   
chapter  of ,st4 ,matthew's ,gospel     
might not be advantageously added to the
  list of opening ,sentences1 for       
optional use4    ,in speaking of the new
 alternate to the ,declaration of       
,absolution1  the reviewer suggests most
 happily that it would be well to revive
  the form of mutual confession of      
priest and people found in the old      
service-books4#de ,this proposal would  
probably not be entertained  in         
connection with the regular ,orders for 

,morning and ,evening  ,prayer1 but room
 for such a feature might perhaps be    
found in  some optional office4         
,after a grudging commendation of the   
steps taken in ,the ,book  ,annexed to  
restore the ,gospel ,canticles1 the     
reviewer next puts  in a strong plea for
 a larger allowance of versicles and    
responses  after the ,creed1 contending 
that this is just one of the places     
where enrichment1 much beyond that of   
replacing the ,english versicles  and   
responses now missing1 is feasible and  
easy1 to which the  answer is that we1  
who love these missing versicles1 shall 
think  ourselves fortunate if we succeed
 in regaining only so much as we  have  
lost4 ,even this will be accomplished   
with difficulty4 ,it is  most           
interesting1 however1 to notice that    
this stout defender of  all that is     
,english acknowledges the coupling      
together of the  versicle1 ,give peace  
in our time1 ,o ,lord1 and the response1
  ,because there is none other that     

fighteth for us1 but only thou1  ,o     
,god1 to be a very infelicitous         
non-sequitur4 ,for correcting  this     
palpable incongruity1 the authors of    
,the ,book ,annexed have  been sharply  
criticised here at home4 ,what were they
 that they  should have presumed to     
disturb ancient ,anglican precedent in  
such  a point8 ,if we could not         
understand why the ,god of battles1 as  
the ,god of battles1 should be implored 
to give peace in our time1  so much the 
worse for our intelligence4 ,but here   
comes the most  acrid of all our        
critics1 and shows how the collocation  
of sentences  in the ,english ,book has1
 from the beginning1 been due to a      
palpable  blunder in condensing an      
office of the ,sarum ,breviary4 ,of the 
,american substitute for this unhappy   
response the best he can  say1 however1 
is that it is well intentioned4    ,of  
the ,office of the ,beatitudes the      
reviewer declares that it  needs        
thorough recasting before it can stand1 

and in this we  agree with him1 as will 
hereafter appear1 though wholly unable  
to concur in his sweeping condemnation1 
in this connection1 of  one of the most 
beautiful of ,canon ,bright's liturgical
 compositions1  the ,collect beginning1 
,o ,god1 by whom the meek are guided in 
judgment and light riseth up in darkness
 for the godly4 ,of this  exquisite     
piece of idiomatic ,english1 the        
reviewer allows himself  to speak as    
being a very poor composition1 defective
 in rhythm4    ,the criticism of the    
eucharistic portions of ,the ,book      
,annexed is  mainly in the line of      
complaint that more has not been added  
in the  way of new collects and proper  
prefaces1 but upon this point it is     
unnecessary to dwell1 the reasons having
 been already given why  the ,joint     
,committee and the ,convention left the 
liturgy proper  almost untouched4       
,neither is there anything that         
specially calls  for notice or serious  
reply in what is said about the         

,occasional  ,offices4    ,the ,office  
for the ,burial of ,children is         
acknowledged to be a needed  addition1  
but as it stands is pitched in an       
entirely wrong key4 ,the  cognate       
offices in the ,rituale ,romanun and the
 ,priest's ,prayer  ,book ought to have 
shown the ,committee1 were it not for   
their  peculiar unteachableness1 a      
better way4 ,to one who can read between
  the lines1 this arraignment of the    
,americans for their lack of  docility  
to the teachings of the ,priest's       
,prayer ,book is not devoid  of         
drollery4    ,it will happily illustrate
 the peculiar difficulties that beset   
liturgical revision to close this resume
 of the censures of  ,the ,church ,times
 by printing1 side by side1 the         
reviewer's  estimate of the changes     
proposed in the ,confirmation ,office   
and  the independent judgment of a      
learned evangelical divine of our  own  
,church upon the same point4    ,the    
,confirmation ,service1 as one of the   

very poorest in the ,anglican  rites1   
stood particularly in need of amendment 
and enrichment1  especially by the      
removal of the ambiguous word confirm   
applied  to the acts of the candidates1 
whereby the erroneous opinion that  they
 came merely to confirm and ratify their
 baptismal promises1  and not to be     
confirmed and strengthened in virtue of 
something  bestowed upon them1 has      
gained currency4    ,thus far the       
,english ,ritualist4 ,here follows the  
,american  ,evangelical3    ,i still    
hope you will see your way clear to     
modify the present  draft of the        
proposed ,confirmation ,office1 as it   
gives a much  higher ,sacramentarian    
idea of it than the present1 a          
concession  which will greatly please   
the ,sacerdotalists1 to which they are  
by no means entitled4    ,the critic of 
,the ,guardian is a writer of different 
make1  and entitled every way to the    
most respectful attention4 ,his         
fault-finding1 which is invariably      

courteous1 is mainly confined  to the   
deficiencies of ,the ,book ,annexed4    
,he would have had more done rather than
 less2 but at the same  time clearly    
points out that under the restrictions  
which controlled  the ,committee more   
could not fairly have been expected4 ,he
 regrets  that in restoring the lost    
portions of ,venite and ,benedictus  the
 ,convention did not make the use of the
 complete form in every  case           
obligatory2 and of the eight concluding 
verses of the latter  canticle1 which   
under the rubric of ,the ,book ,annexed 
are only  obligatory during ,advent1 he 
says1 ,imagine their omission on        
,christmas ,day6    ,to this criticism  
there are several answers1 any one of   
which may  be held to be sufficient4 ,in
 the first place1 it should be          
remembered  that into the ,committee's  
plan of enrichment there entered the    
element of differentiation4 ,the closing
 portion of the ,venite  has a special  
appropriateness to ,lent2 the closing   

portion of the  ,benedictus a special   
appropriateness to ,advent4 ,moreover1  
if any  congregations desire the whole  
of these two canticles throughout  the  
year1 there is nothing in the rubrics of
 ,the ,book ,annexed to  forbid such an 
enjoyment of them4 ,they may be sung in 
full always2  but only in ,lent in the  
one case1 and in ,advent in the other1  
mast  they be so sung4 ,the revision    
,committee was informed1 on what was    
considered the highest authority1 that  
in the ,church of ,england  the         
,benedictus1 on account of its length1  
had been very generally  disused4 ,but1 
however this may be1 there can be little
 doubt that  the effort after           
restoration would have failed completely
 in the  late ,convention had the use of
 these two canticles in full been       
insisted upon by the promoters of       
revision4    ,there is less of verbal   
criticism in ,the ,guardian's review    
than  could have been wished1 for any   
suggestions with respect to             

inaccuracies of style or rhythmical     
shortcomings would have  been most      
welcome from the pen of so competent a  
censor4 ,attention  is called to the    
unmusical flow of language in the       
alternate  ,confession provided for the 
,evening ,office2 the figurative        
features  of the proposed ,collect for  
,maundy-,thursday are characterized as  
infelicitous2 and the ,collect provided 
for the ,feast of the  ,transfiguration 
is declared to be inferior to the       
corresponding  one in the ,sarum        
,breviary4    ,of this sort of          
criticism1 at the hands of men who know 
their  craft1 ,the ,book ,annexed cannot
 have too much4 ,in fact1 of such       
immeasurable importance is good ,english
 in this connection1 that  it would be  
no hardship were every separate clause  
of whatever  formulary it may be        
proposed to engraft upon the ,prayer    
,book to  be subjected to the most      
searching tests4    ,let an epoch be    
agreed upon1 if necessary1 that shall   

serve as  the criterion of admissibility
 for words and phrases4 ,let it  be     
decided1 for instance1 that no word that
 cannot prove an  ,elizabethan          
parentage1 or1 if this be too severe a  
standard1  then no word of              
post-,caroline origin1 shall be admitted
 within  the sacred precincts4 ,probably
 there are words in ,the ,book  ,annexed
 which such a canon would eject2 but let
 us have them  pointed out1 and their   
merits and demerits discussed4 ,such    
criticism would be of infinitely more   
value to the real interests  of revision
 than those vague and general charges of
 crudeness  and want of finish which it 
is always so easy to make and  sometimes
 so difficult to illustrate4    ,the    
writer in ,the ,guardian closes an only 
too brief commentary  upon what the     
,convention has laid before the ,church 
with the  following words3    ,many of  
the proposals now in question are       
excellent2 but others  will be improved 
by reconsideration in the light of      

fuller ritual  study1 such as will be   
seen to produce a more exact and        
cultured  ritual aesthesis1 perhaps we  
may1 without offence1 add1 a more       
delicate appreciation of rhythm4 ,what  
,the ,book ,annexed presents  to us in  
the way of emendation is1 on the whole1 
good2 but1 if  subjected to a deliberate
 recension1 it would1 we predict1 become
  still better4 ,if thus improved by the
 ,convention of #ahhf1 it might  be     
finally adopted by the ,convention of   
#ahhi4    ,this conspectus of ,english  
critical opinion would be incomplete    
were no account to be made of the       
utterances of the various writers  and  
speakers who dealt with the general     
subject of liturgical  revision at the  
recent ,church ,congress at ,portsmouth4
    ,the ,book ,annexed could scarcely  
ask a more complete justification  than 
is supplied by these testimonies of men 
who at least may be  supposed to be     
acquainted with the needs of the ,church
 of ,england4    ,the following catena1 

made up from three of the four          
,papers#df  read upon the ,prayer ,book1
 gives a fair notion of the general tone
  of the discussion4 ,it will be worth  
anyone's while to collate it  with the  
thirty ,resolutions that make up the    
,notification to the  ,dioceses4    ,can
 it be seriously doubted that there are 
requirements of this  age which are not 
satisfied by the provision for public   
worship  made in the sixteenth century8 
,can any really suppose that the        
compilers of that brief manual1 the     
,prayer ,book1 however proud  we may    
rightly be of their work1 were so gifted
 with inspired  foresight as to save the
 ,church of future ages the             
responsibilities  of considering and    
supplying the devotional wants of       
successive  generations8    ,who has not
 felt the scantiness of holy association
 in our ,sunday  and week-day worship8 4
 4 4 ,much1 ,i know1 has been supplied  
by our  hymnology1 which has progressed 
nobly in proportion as the meagreness   

of our liturgical provision has been    
realized4 ,but beyond hymns we  need    
actual forms of service1 which shall    
strike the ear and touch  the heart by  
fresh and vivid adaptations of ,god's   
,word to the great  mysteries of the    
,gospel faith 4 4 4 ,after-services on  
,sunday evenings  have of late grown    
common2 for them we need also the aid of
 regular  and elastic forms4    ,most   
deplorably have we felt the need of     
intercessory services  for ,home and    
,foreign ,missions2 and1 though there   
are beautiful  metrical litanies which  
bear directly on these and other        
objects1  yet these are not sufficient1 
and of course are limited to times  when
 a good and strong choir can be secured2
 4 4 4 and further we  want very simple 
forms of prayer to accompany addresses  
given in  homes and mission rooms4#dg   
,i declare it as my conviction1 after   
many years of 7,i hope7 a not  indolent 
ministry1 and of many opportunities of  
observation and  experiment1 that the   

,church stands in pressing and immediate
  need of a few rearrangements and      
adaptations of some of her  ,offices2   
also of an enormous number of           
supplementary ,offices or               
services--some for frequent use1 others 
for occasional purposes  within the     
consecrated buildings2 and that besides 
these there is  need of a supply of     
special ,offices for the use of a       
recognized  lay agency outside of the   
church edifices4    ,why limit our      
introductory sentences to seven         
deprecatory texts8 4 4 4  ,why can we   
not introduce the anthem used on        
,easter-day1 instead  of the ,venite1   
throughout the ,octave2 or at least on  
,easter ,monday  and ,tuesday8 ,would   
not spiritual life be deepened and      
intensified1  and1 best of all1 be      
strengthened1 by the use in the same    
manner of  a suitable anthem instead of 
the ,venite on ,advent ,sundays1 on     
,christmas-day1 at ,epiphany1 on        
,ash-,wednesday1 on ,good ,friday1      

during ,rogation days1 at               
,ascension-tide1 and on harvest         
festivals  and the special annual       
,church festival of the year8    ,i     
submit that an enrichment of the ,book  
of ,common ,prayer is also  required4   
,for although1 as already suggested1    
this may be provided  to some extent by 
a ,collect for occasional use before the
 final  prayer of ,morning ,prayer or   
,evensong1 the needs of the ,church will
  not be fully supplied without some    
complete additional offices4  ,certainly
 an additional service for ,sunday      
afternoon and evening 4 4 4  ,the times 
are very solemn1 and we must wait no    
longer 4 4 4 ,we have  talked for nearly
 twenty-five years--not vainly1 ,i      
believe--but  let us go and do not a    
little in the next five years 4 4 4     
,prove  yourself to be of the ,church of
 ,god by doing all the work of the      
,church1 and in the proper way4         
,proclaim before our ,god by your       
actions and your activities1 and by     

providing all that is needed1  not only 
for ,churchmen1 but for earnest         
,christians who are not  ,churchmen1 and
 for the poor1 weary sinners who are    
living as if  there were neither ,church
 nor ,saviour1 such services for the    
one1  and such means for drawing the    
others to ,christ1 that they all may    
become one in him4 ,and for all this you
 must have 7as ,i think73    #a4        
,possibly a small rearrangement of      
existing services4    #b4 ,variety and  
additions in some of these services4    
#c4 ,enrichment by many services        
supplementary4    #d4 ,services for use 
by laymen4    ,i wish to alarm none1 but
 ,i wish we were all astir1 for there is
  no time to wait4#dh    ,i should like 
to suggest1 if it seems desirable1 as it
 does to me1  to make any further       
variation from the original arrangement 
of  ,morning ,prayer1 that on such days 
as ,easter-day1 ,whitsunday1 and        
,ascension-day we should begin in a     
little different fashion than  we do    

now4    ,is it always needful to begin  
on such great days of rejoicing for     
,christians with the same sentences and 
the same ,exhortation and  ,confession1 
and have to wait1 so to speak1 to give  
vent to our  feelings till we reach the 
special psalms for the day8 ,might we   
not on such days accept the glorious    
facts1 and begin with some  special and 
appropriate psalm or anthem8 4 4 4 ,thus
 we should at  once get the great       
doctrine of the day1 and be let to      
rejoice in  it at the very outset1 and  
then go on to the ,lord's ,prayer and   
the  rest as we have it now4 ,confession
 of sin and absolution are not  left out
 in the services of the day1 as1 of     
course1 they occur in  the ,holy        
,communion2 but leaving them out in the 
ordinary services1  and beginning in the
 way suggested1 would at one and the    
same time  mark the day more clearly1   
and give opportunity for ,christian     
gladness to show itself 4 4 4 ,only one 
other alteration would1 ,i  think1 be   

needed1 namely1 that a good selection of
 psalms be made1  and used1 as in the   
,american ,church1 at the discretion of 
the  minister4 ,i think all must feel   
that for one reason or another all  the 
psalms are not adapted for the ordinary 
worship of a mixed  congregation2 and   
this plan would ease the minds of many  
clergy  and laity4 ,also copying the    
,american ,church1 it would be well to  
omit the ,litany on ,christmas-day1     
,easter-day1 and ,whitsunday4#di    ,in 
the light of this summary of ,anglican  
desiderata1 compiled by  wholly friendly
 hands1 it is plain that whatever we may
 do in this  country in the line of     
liturgical revision1 always supposing it
  to be gravely and carefully done1     
instead of harming1 ought  marvellously 
to help the real interests of the       
,church of ,england4  ,certain          
principles of polity adopted in our own 
,church a century  ago1 and notably     
among them those affecting the          
legislative rights  of the laity in     

matters ecclesiastical1 are beginning to
 find tardy  recognition in the ,england
 of the present4 ,possibly a hundred    
years  hence1 or sooner1 a like change  
of mind may bring ,english ,churchmen   
to the approval of liturgical methods   
which1 even if not wholly  consonant to 
the temper of the ,act of ,uniformity1  
have nevertheless  been found useful and
 effective in the work of bringing the  
truth  and the power of ,god to bear    
upon the common life of a great nation4 
,the ,church of ,england is to-day      
moving on toward changes and chances  of
 which she sees enough already to alarm 
and not yet enough to  reassure her4    
,the dimness of uncertainty covers what 
may yet turn  out to be the ,mount of   
her ,transfiguration1 and she fears as  
she  enters into the cloud4 ,how shall  
we best and most wisely show our        
sympathy8 ,by passing resolutions of    
condolence8 ,by childish  commiseration1
 the utterance of feigned lips1 upon the
 approaching  sorrows of                

disestablishment8 ,not thus at all1 but 
rather by a  courageous and             
well-considered pioneering work1 which  
shall have  it for its purpose to feel  
the ground and blaze the path which     
presently she and we may find ourselves 
treading in company4 ,tied  as she is1  
for her an undertaking of this sort is  
impossible4 ,we  can show her no greater
 kindness than by entering upon it of   
our  own motion and alone4    7b7       
,american4    ,criticism at home has    
been abundant2 much of it intelligent   
and  helpful1 and by no means so much of
 it as might have been expected         
captious4 ,of what may be called        
official reviews there have been  three1
 one from the ,diocese of ,central ,new 
,york1 one from the  ,diocese of        
,wisconsin1 and one from the ,diocese of
 ,easton4 ,the  subject has also been   
dealt with in carefully prepared essays 
published from time to time in ,the     
,church ,review and ,the ,church        
,eclectic1 while in the case of the     

weekly journals the treatment  of the   
topic has been so frequent and so full  
that a mere catalogue  of the editorial 
articles and contributed communications 
in ,which1  during the two years last   
past1 liturgical revision has been      
discussed would overtax the limits of   
the present paper4    ,the only         
practicable means of dealing with this  
mass of criticism  is to adopt the      
inductive method1 and to seek to draw   
out from the  utterances of these many  
voices the four or five distinct        
concepts  that severally lie behind     
them4    ,in limine however1 let this be
 said1 that the broadest generalization 
of all is one to which the very         
discordance of the critics bears  the   
best possible witness4 ,of a scheme of  
re vision against which  is pressed1 in 
,virginia1#ej the charge of ,mariolatry2
 in ,ohio1#ea  the charge of            
,latitudinarianism2 and in ,wisconsin#eb
 the charge of  ,puritanic pravity1 this
 much may at least be said1 that it     

possesses  the note of fairness4 ,from  
henceforth suggestions of partisan bias 
are clearly out of order4    ,the       
,anglo-,catholic censures of ,the ,book 
,annexed are substantially  summed up in
 the assertion that due regard is not   
had1 in the  changes proposed1 to the   
structural principles of liturgical     
science4 ,in the exceedingly well       
written1 if somewhat one-sided          
document1 already referred to as the    
,wisconsin ,report1 this is1            
throughout1 the burden of the complaint4
 ,the accomplished author  of the       
,report1 than whom no one of the critics
 at home or abroad  has shown a keener  
or a better cultivated liturgical       
instinct1 is  afraid that a free use of 
all the liberties permitted by the new  
rubrics of the daily offices would so   
revolutionize ,morning and  ,evening    
,prayer as practically to obliterate the
 line of their  descent from the old    
monastic forms4 ,if there were valid    
ground  for such an expectation the     

alarm might be justifiable2 but  is     
there8 ,the practical effect of the     
rubrics that make for  abbreviation will
 be to give us back1 on weekdays almost 
exactly1  and with measurable precision 
on ,sundays also1 the ,matins and       
,evensong of the ,first ,book of ,edward
 ,,vi4 ,surely this is not the          
destruction of continuity with the      
pre-,reformation ,church4    ,in his    
dislike of the provision for grafting   
the ,beatitudes upon  the ,evening      
,prayer1 the author of the ,wisconsin   
,report will have  many sympathizers1   
the present writer among them2 but in   
his fear  that in the introduction of   
the ,proem to the ,song of the ,three   
,children1 as a possible respond to the 
,first ,lesson1#ec there  lurks a covert
 design to dethrone the ,te ,deum1 he is
 likely to  find few to agree with him4 
,but after all1 may not this scrupulous 
regard for the precedents  set us in the
 old service-books be carried too far8  
,it is wholesome1  but there is a limit 

to the wholesomeness of it4 ,we remember
 who  it was that made war for the sake 
of a scientific frontier4 ,some  of the 
scientific frontiers in the region of   
liturgies are as  illusory as his was4  
,for example1 ,the ,book ,annexed may be
  unscientific in drawing as largely as 
it does on the language  of the         
,apocalypse for versicles and responses4
 ,there has certainly  been a departure 
from ,anglican precedent in this regard4
 ,and yet  it would scarcely seem that  
we could go far astray in borrowing     
from the liturgy of heaven1 whether     
there be earthly precedent or  not4     
,cranmer and his associates made a far  
bolder break with the old  office-books 
than ,the ,book ,annexed makes with the 
,standard ,common  ,prayer4 ,the        
statement of the ,wisconsin ,report1    
that ,the ,reformers  of the ,english   
,church did not venture to write new    
,offices of  ,prayer1 must be taken with
 qualifications4 ,they did not make     
offices absolutely de novo1 but they did

 condense and combine  old offices in a 
manner that practically made a new thing
 of them4  ,they took the monastic      
services and courageously remoulded them
  into a form suitable for the new era  
in which monasteries were to  exist no  
longer4    ,happily they were so        
thorough in their work that             
comparatively  little change is called  
for in adapting what they fitted to the 
needs of the sixteenth century to the   
more varied requirements of  the        
nineteenth4 ,still1 when they are quoted
 as conservatives1 and  we are referred 
for evidence of their dislike of change 
to that  particular paragraph of the    
,preface to the ,english ,prayer ,book  
entitled1 ,concerning the ,service of   
the ,church#ed it is worth  our while to
 follow up the reference and see what is
 actually  there said4 ,the ,wisconsin  
,committee use very soft words in       
speaking of the mediaeval perversions   
and corruptions of ,divine  ,service4   
,it was in the monasteries chiefly1 they

 tell us1  that these services received 
the embellishments and wonderful        
variety which we find in the later      
centuries4 ,but the following  is the   
cruel manner in which1 in the ,english  
,preface cited as  authority1 the       
embellishments and wonderful variety are
  characterized3    ,but these many     
years past1 this godly and ancient order
 of the  ancient fathers hath been so   
altered1 broken1 and neglected1  by     
planting in uncertain stories and       
legends1 with multitudes  of responds1  
verses1 vain repetitions1               
commemorations1 and  synodals1 that     
commonly when any book of the ,bible was
 begun1  after three or four chapters   
were read out1 all the rest were        
unread4    4 4 4 ,and furthermore1      
notwithstanding that the ancient fathers
  have divided the ,psalms into seven   
portions1 whereof every one was  called 
a ,nocturn1 now of late time a few of   
them have been daily  said and the rest 
utterly omitted 4 4 4 ,so that here you 

have an  ,order for ,prayer and for the 
,reading of the ,holy ,scripture much   
agreeable to the mind and purposes of   
the old fathers1 and a great  deal more 
profitable and commodious than that     
which of late was  used4    ,this is    
conservatism in the very best sense1 for
 the object aimed  at is plainly the    
conservation of purity1 simplicity1 and 
truth1  but surely it is not the        
conservatism of men with whom inaction  
is  the only wisdom and immobility the  
sole beatitude4    ,we change our sky   
completely in passing from              
,anglo-,catholic to  ,broad ,church     
criticism of ,the ,book ,annexed4 ,this 
last has1 in  the main1 addressed itself
 to the rubrical features of the        
proposed  revision4 ,you promised us    
'flexibility1' the accusation runs1  but
 what you are really giving us is simply
 rigidity under a new  form4 ,let things
 stay as they are1 and we will undertake
 to  find all the 'flexibility' we care 
to have1 without help from  legislation4

    ,this criticism has at least the    
merit of intelligibility1 for  it       
directly antagonizes what was1 without  
doubt1 one main purpose  with the       
revisers1 namely1 that of reviving      
respect for the  rubrics by making      
compliance with their terms a more      
practicable  thing4    ,evidently what  
,broad ,churchmen1 or at least a section
 of them1  would prefer is the          
prevalence of a general consent under   
which  it shall be taken for granted    
that rubrics are not literally binding  
on the minister1 but are to be stretched
 and adapted1 at the  discretion of the 
officiant1 as the exigencies of times   
and seasons  may suggest4 ,it is urged  
that such a common understanding already
  in great measure exists2 and that to  
enact new rubrics now1 or  to remodel   
old ones1 would look like an attempt to 
revivify a  principle of compliance     
which we have tacitly agreed to consider
  dead4    ,the answer to this argument 
is not far to seek4 ,if the ,church     

means to allow the ,common ,prayer1     
which hitherto has been regarded  as a  
liturgy1 to lapse into the status of a  
directory2 if1 in other  words1 she is  
content to see her manual of worship    
altered from a  book of instructions as 
to how ,divine ,service shall be        
performed  into a book of suggestions as
 to how it may be rendered1 the  change 
ought to be officially and definitely   
announced1 and not  left to individual  
inference or uncertain conjecture4 ,we  
are  rapidly slipping into a position   
scarcely consistent with either  the    
dignity or the honor of a great         
,church--that of seeming  to be what we 
are not4 ,to give it out to the public  
that we  are a law-respecting communion1
 and then to whisper it about  among    
ourselves that our laws bind only those 
who choose to be  bound by them1 may    
serve as a convenient device for tiding 
over  a present difficulty1 but is1 oh  
the whole1 a course of procedure  more  
likely to harden than to relieve tender 

consciences4    ,take1 by way of        
illustration1 the case of a city        
clergyman who  would gladly introduce   
into his parish the usage of daily      
service1  but who is convinced1 whether 
rightly or wrongly1 that to secure  even
 a fair attendance of worshippers he    
ought to have the liberty  of so far    
condensing the ,morning or the ,evening 
,office as to bring  it within the      
limits of a quarter of an hour4 ,he     
seeks relief  through the lawful channel
 of rubrical revision1 and is only      
laughed at for his pains4 ,in this busy 
nineteenth century it is  nonsense1 he  
is assured1 to spend a dozen years in   
besieging so  obdurate a fortress as the
 ,general ,convention4 ,the way to      
secure  shortened services is to shorten
 services4 ,this is easy logic1  and    
applicable in more directions than one4 
,only see how smoothly  it runs3 ,if you
 want hymns that are not in the ,hymnal1
 print them4  ,if you want a            
confessional-box1 set it up4 ,if you    

want a reserved  sacrament1 order the   
carpenter to make a tabernacle and the  
locksmith to provide a bolt4#ee ,this is
 a far less troublesome  method of      
securing the ends desired than the      
tedious and roundabout  process of      
proposing a change at one meeting of the
 ,general  ,convention1 having your     
proposal knocked about among some forty 
or fifty dioceses1 and brought up for   
final action three years later4    ,and 
yet1 superior as the former method may  
be to the latter in  point of celerity  
and directness1 the latter has certain  
advantages  over the former that ought  
to be evident to men who are not        
frightened by having their              
scrupulousness called scrupulosity4     
,moreover1 why should this whole matter 
be discussed1 as so commonly  it is     
discussed1 wholly from the clerical     
side8 ,have the laity no  rights in the 
liturgy which the clergy are bound to   
respect8 ,when  and where did the       
,protestant ,episcopal ,church confer on

 its  ministers a general dispensing    
power over the ordinances of  worship   
which it withheld from the body of the  
faithful8    ,heretofore it has been    
held that when a layman went to church  
he  had a right to expect certain things
 guaranteed him by the ,church's  law4  
,if all this has been changed1 then     
formal notice ought to be  served upon  
us by the ,general ,convention that such
 is the fact4      ,,the ,,motive ,,of  
,,the ,,effort ,,after ,,revision4      
,it is asked1 and with no little show of
 plausibility1 ,why--in  the face of    
such manifold hostility and such        
persistent opposition1  why press the   
movement for revision any further8 ,is  
it worth while  to divide public        
sentiment in the ,church upon a question
 that  looks to many to be scarcely more
 than a literary one8 ,why not  drop the
 whole thing1 and let it fall into the  
limbo1 where lie  already the ,proposed 
,book and the ,memorial ,papers8 ,for   
this  reason1 and it is sufficient3     

,there has arisen in ,america a         
movement toward ,christian unity1 the   
like of which has not been  seen since  
the country was settled4 ,it is the     
confident belief  of many that the key  
to the situation lies with that ,church 
which  more truly than any other may be 
said to represent the historical        
,christianity of the peoples of ,english
 stock4 ,one of the elements  in this   
larger movement is the question of the  
form of worship4  ,the chief            
significance of ,the ,book ,annexed lies
 in the claim made  for it by its       
friends1 that more adequately than the  
present  ,standard it supplies what may 
fairly be demanded as their manual  of  
worship by a people circumstanced like  
ours4 ,while1 in one  sense1 more       
,english than the present book in that  
it restores  liturgical treasures lost  
at the ,revolution1 it is also more     
thoroughly ,american1 in that it        
recognizes and allows for many  needs   
which the newly enfranchised colonists  

of #aghi could not  have been expected  
to foresee4    ,the question is1 ,shall 
we turn a cold shoulder on the movement 
churchward of our non-,anglican brethren
 of the reformed faith1  doing our best 
to chill their approaches with a hard   
,non possumus1  or shall we go out to   
meet them with words of welcome on our  
lips8  ,union under the ,latin obedience
 is impossible4 ,for us1 in the face  of
 the decrees of #ahgj1 there can be no  
peace with ,rome4 ,the  ,greeks are a   
good way off4 ,our true solidarity1 if  
solidarity  is to be achieved at all1 is
 not with ,celts1 but with our own kith 
and kin1 the children of the            
,reformation4 ,is it wise of us to say  
to these fellow ,christians of ours1    
adherents of the ,catholic ,faith  as   
well as we1 ,nay1 but the nearer you    
draw to us the farther we  mean to draw 
away from you2 the more closely you     
approximate to  ,anglican religion1 the 
more closely shall we1 for the sake of  
differencing ourselves from you1        

approximate to ,vatican religion8    ,in
 better harmony with the apostolic      
temper1 in truer continuity  with the   
early churchmanship1 should we be found1
 were we to join  voices thus3    ,v4   
,come ye1 and let us walk in the light  
of the ,lord4    ,r4 ,and he will teach 
us of his ways1 and we will walk in his 
paths4          ,,ii4    ,the ,book     
,annexed may be said to hold to the     
possible standard  ,common ,prayer of   
#ahij a relation not unlike that of a   
clay model  to the statue which is to   
be4 ,the material is still in condition 
to be moulded2 the end is not yet4 ,it  
was in anticipation of this  state of   
things that the friends of revision in  
#ahhc were anxious  to carry through the
 preliminary stage of acceptance as many
 of  their propositions as possible4 ,to
 revert to our parable1 the  modeller1  
in treating the face of his provisional 
image1 must  be careful to lay on clay  
enough1 or he may find himself barred   
at the last moment from giving the      

features just that finishing  touch     
which is to make them ready for the     
marble4 ,all the skill in  the world    
will not enable him to secure for the   
face precisely the  expression he would 
have it wear1 if the materia be         
insufficient4  ,looked at in this light1
 the suggestion made by the ,joint      
,committee  in the ,house of ,deputies  
at an early stage of the session of     
#ahhc1  that the entire ,book ,annexed1 
in precisely the form in which it had   
been submitted1 should be passed1 and   
sent down to the dioceses  for          
consideration1 instead of being the     
arbitrary and unreasonable  demand it   
was reckoned by those who lifted their  
eyebrows at the  very mention of such a 
thing1 was really a sensible proposition
  which the ,convention would have done 
well to heed4    ,few1 if any1 critics  
of ,the ,book ,annexed as ,modified have
  pronounced it an improvement to ,the  
,book ,annexed as presented4  ,the ,book
 came out of the ,convention less       

admirable than it went  in4 ,as a school
 of ,liturgies1 the long debate at      
,philadelphia was  doubtless salutary   
and helpful1 but whether the immediate  
results1  as shown in the emendation of 
the ,joint ,committee's work1 were      
equally deserving of praise is another  
question4    ,nevertheless1 as was      
argued in the paper of which this one is
 the  continuation1 we must take things 
as we find them1 not as we wish  they   
were2 and since there is no other method
 of liturgical revision  known to our   
laws than revision by popular debate1 to
 revision by  popular debate we must    
reconcile ourselves as best we may4     
,regrets are idle4 ,let us be thankful  
that the amicable struggle  at          
,philadelphia had for its outcome so    
large rather than so small  a mass of   
workable material1 and instead of       
accounting ,the ,book  ,annexed to be   
what one of the signers of the ,joint   
,committee's  ,report has lately called 
it1 a melancholy production1 recognize  

in it the germ of something exceedingly 
to be desired4 ,from  the first1 there  
has never been any disposition on the   
part of  sober-minded friends of        
,revision to carry through their scheme 
with a rush2 the delay that is likely to
 better things they will  welcome2 the  
only delay they deprecate is the delay  
that kills4    ,the changes enumerated  
in the ,notification to the ,dioceses1  
and  illustrated to the eye in ,the     
,book ,annexed as ,modified1 may be     
broadly classified under the following  
heads3    7a7 ,clearly desirable        
alterations1 with respect to which there
  is practically unanimous consent1 and 
for which there is immediate  demand1 e4
 g41 shortened offices of week-day      
prayer4    7b7 ,alterations desirable in
 the main1 but likely to be more        
cordially acquiesced in1 could still    
further improvement be  secured1 e4 g41 
the new versicles introduced into       
,evening  ,prayer after the ,creed4     
7c7 ,alterations generally accounted    

undesirable on any terms1  e4 g41 the   
permissive rubrics with respect to the  
reading of  certain psalms during ,lent1
 instead of the regular responds to  the
 ,first and ,second ,lessons of the     
,evening ,prayer4    ,the question      
arises1 ,is any course of action        
possible that will  give us without     
delay the changes which for some fifteen
 years the  whole ,church has been      
laboring to secure2 that will give us1  
with  a reasonable delay of three years 
longer1 the confessed improvements  a   
little more improved2 while at the same 
time we are kept from  becoming involved
 in the wretched confusion sure to      
result from  putting into circulation1  
within a brief period1 two authorized   
but diverse books of ,common ,prayer8   
,this threefold question it is  proposed
 to meet with a threefold affirmative4  
,,the ,,standard ,,prayer ,,book ,,of   
#ahij4    ,the end we ought to have in  
view is the publication1 in the year    
#ahij1 of a standard ,book of ,common   

,prayer1 such as shall embody  the ripe 
results of what will then have been a   
period of ten years  of continuous labor
 in the work of liturgical revision4 ,to
 this  reckoning of ten years should    
properly be added the seventeen years   
that intervened between the presentation
 of ,the ,memorial in #ahec  and the    
passing of the ,enrichment ,resolutions 
in #ahhj3 so that  really our ,revision 
would look back for its historical      
beginnings1  not across a decade merely1
 but over almost the lifetime of a      
generation4 ,no single one of the       
various revisions of the ,english  ,book
 has observed anything like so leisurely
 a movement4    ,but by what methods of 
legislative procedure could such a      
result  as the one indicated be reached8
 ,the precedent of the last century     
does not help us very much4 ,the        
,american ,book of ,common ,prayer was  
set forth on the sixteenth day of       
,october in the year of our ,lord       
#aghi2 but with an express statutory    

provision that the use of  the book1 as 
so set forth1 should not become         
obligatory till the  first day of       
,october1 #agij4 ,we cannot copy this   
line of procedure1  for the simple      
reason that no such undertaking as that 
of #aghi is  in hand4 ,it is not now    
proposed to legislate into existence a  
new  ,liturgy4 ,the task before us is   
the far humbler one of passing  judgment
 upon certain propositions of change1   
almost every one  of which admits of    
segregation1 has an independent identity
 of its  own1 and may be accepted or    
rejected wholly without reference to    
what is likely to happen to the other   
propositions that accompany  it4    ,the
 ,book ,annexed as ,modified is in no   
proper sense a ,proposed  ,book1 nor can
 it without misrepresentation be called 
such2 it is  simply a sample            
publication#ef illustrative of what the 
,book of  ,common ,prayer would be1 were
 all the ,resolutions of ,revision that 
passed their first stage of approval in 

#ahhc carried into final  effect2 a     
result most unlikely to occur4          
,,the ,,means ,,to ,,the ,,end4    ,the 
most expeditious and every way          
satisfactory means to the end  that has 
now been defined would be the           
appointment1 at an early  stage of the  
session in ,october1 of a ,joint        
,committee of ,conference4  ,to this    
committee should be referred3    7a7    
,the question3 ,how many of the         
,resolutions of #ahhc1 or of  the       
several recommendations therein         
contained1 is it either  practicable or 
desirable to approve at once8    7b7    
,the question3 ,how may such of the     
,resolutions of #ahhc as  are too good  
to be lost1 but not in their present    
form good enough  to satisfy the        
,church1 be so remoulded as to make     
their adoption  probable in #ahhi8      
7c7 ,all new propositions of improvement
 that may from time to  time during the 
session be brought to the notice of the 
,convention1  either by individual      

members or by memorials from ,diocesan  
,conventions4 ,such a ,committee of     
,conference1 holding daily  sessions of 
three or four hours each1 would be able 
in due  time to report a carefully      
digested scheme which could then be     
intelligently discussed4 ,by this method
 a flood of frivolous and  aimless talk 
would be cut off without in the         
slightest degree  infringing or limiting
 the real liberty of debate4    ,but    
even if the ,convention were to show    
itself reluctant to give  to a select   
committee so large a power as this of   
preparing an  agenda paper1 it still    
would be possible to refer to such a    
committee the subject-matter of so many 
of the resolutions as  might chance1    
when put upon their passage1 to fail by 
a narrow vote4    ,it is to be          
remembered that the various             
recommendations contained  in the       
resolutions of #ahhc are to be voted    
upon in ipsissimis  verbis4 ,there will 
be no opportunity for the familiar cry3 

,mr4  ,president1 ,i rise to propose an 
amendment4 ,the resolution1 or the      
section of a resolution1 as the case may
 be1 will either be approved  just as it
 stands or condemned just as it stands4 
,in this respect  there will be an      
immense saving of time4 ,most of the    
tediousness  of debate grows out of the 
natural disposition of legislators to   
try each his own hand at bettering the  
thing proposed2 hence  amendments1      
amendments to amendments1 and           
substitutes for the  amendment to the   
amendment4 ,even the makers of          
parliamentary law  7much enduring       
creatures7 lose their patience at this  
point1 and  peremptorily lay it down    
that confusion shall no further go4     
,but to return to the supposed case of a
 proposition lost because  of some      
slight defect1 which1 if only our       
,medo-,persian law had  permitted an    
amendment1 could easily have been       
remedied4 ,surely  the sensible course  
in such a case as that would be to refer

 the  subject-matter of the lost        
resolution to the ,committee of         
,conference1  with instructions to      
report a new resolution to be finally   
acted  upon three years hence4 ,so then1
 whether there be given to the          
,committee of ,conference either the    
large power to recommend a  carefully   
thought out way of dealing with all the 
material en  bloc1 or the lesser        
function of sitting in judgment on new  
propositions1 and of remoulding rejected
 ones1 in either case  there could      
scarcely fail to result from the        
appointment of such  a committee large  
and substantial gains4                  
,,improvements4    ,it follows1 from    
what has been said1 that if there are   
features  that admit of improvement in  
the proposals which the ,convention  has
 laid before the ,church for scrutiny1  
now is emphatically the  time for       
suggesting the better thing that might  
be done4 ,even the  bitterest opponents 
of ,the ,book ,annexed can scarcely be  

so  sanguine as to imagine that nothing 
at all is coming from this  labored     
movement for revision4 ,a measure which 
was so far forth  acceptable to the     
accredited representatives of the       
,church1 in  council assembled1 as to   
pass its first stage three years ago    
almost by acclamation1 is not destined  
to experience total collapse4  ,the law 
of probabilities forbids the            
supposition4 ,the personal  make-up of  
the next ,general ,convention will be to
 a great extent  identical with that of 
the last1 and of the one before the     
last4  ,sober-minded men familiar with  
the work of legislation are not         
accustomed to reverse their own well    
considered decisions without  weighty   
cause4 ,the strong probability is that  
something in the  line of emendation1   
precisely how much or how little no one 
can  say1 will1 as a matter of fact1 be 
done4 ,in view of this likelihood1      
would not those who are dissatisfied    
with ,the ,book ,annexed as  it stands  

be taking the wiser course were they to 
substitute  co-operative for            
vituperative criticism8 ,so far as the  
present  writer is in any sense         
authorized to speak for the friends of  
revision1 he can assure the dissidents  
that such co-operation  would be most   
welcome4    ,a4 ,b41 a scholar          
thoroughly familiar1 we will suppose1   
with the  sources of liturgical         
material1 is dissatisfied with the      
collects  proposed for the successive   
days of ,holy ,week4 ,very well1 he has 
a perfect right to his dissatisfaction  
and to the expression of  it in the     
strongest terms at his command4 ,he does
 only his plain  duty in seeking to     
exclude from the ,prayer ,book anything 
that  seems to him unworthy of a place  
in it4 ,but seeing that he must  needs1 
as a liturgical expert1 acknowledge that
 the deficiency  which the ,joint       
,committee sought to make good is a real
 and not  a merely fancied deficiency1  
would not ,a4 ,b4 approve himself a     

more judicious counsellor if1 instead of
 bending all his energy  to the         
disparagement of the collects proposed1 
he should devote a  portion of it to the
 discovery and suggestion of prayers    
more  happily worded8    ,and this      
remark holds good with reference to     
whatever new feature  is to be found    
between the covers of ,the ,book        
,annexed4 ,if  betterment be possible1  
these six months now lying before us    
afford the time of all times in which to
 show how1 with the least  of loss and  
most of gain1 it may be brought about4  
,the ,diocese of ,maryland is first in  
the field with an adequate  contribution
 of this sort4 ,a thoroughly competent  
committee1  appointed in ,october1      
#ahhd1 has recently printed its ,report1
 and  whether the ,diocesan ,convention 
adopt1 amend1 or reject what is         
presented to it1 there can be little    
doubt that the mind of the  ,church at  
large will be perceptibly affected by   
what these  representative men of       

,maryland have said4#eg ,apart from a   
certain aroma of omniscience pervading  
it 7with which1 by the  way1 sundry     
infelicities of language in the text of 
the ,report1  only indifferently        
consort71 the document1 is a forcible   
one1 and  of great practical value4     
,the ,committee have gone over the      
entire field covered by the             
,notification to the ,dioceses1 taking  
up the ,resolutions one  by one1 and not
 only noting in connection with each    
whatever is  in itself objectionable1   
but also 7a far more difficult task7    
suggesting in what respect this or that 
proposition might be  better put4 ,the  
apparatus criticus thus provided1 while 
not  infallible1 is eminently helpful1  
sets a wholesome pattern1 and  if       
supplemented by others of like tenor and
 scope1 will go far  to lighten the     
labor of whatever committee may have the
 final  recension of the whole work put 
into its hands4#eh    ,it would be a    
poor self-conceit in the framers of ,the

 ,book  ,annexed1 that should prompt    
them to resent as intrusive any         
criticism whatsoever4 ,what we all have 
at heart is the bringing  of our manual 
of worship as nearly as possible to such
 a pitch  of perfectness as the nature  
of things human will allow4 ,the thing  
we seek is a ,liturgy which shall draw  
to itself everything that  is best and  
most devout within our national borders1
 a ,common  ,prayer suited to the common
 wants of all ,americans4 ,whatever     
truly makes for this end1 it will be our
 wisdom to welcome1 whether  those who  
bring it forward are popularly labelled 
as belonging  to this1 that1 or the     
other school of ,churchmanship4 ,to     
allow  party jealousies to mar the      
symmetry and fulness of a work in which 
all ,churchmen ought to have an equal   
inheritance would be the worst  of      
blunders4 ,by all means let the raiment 
of needlework and the  clothing of      
wrought gold be what they should be for 
such sacred  uses as hers who is the    

daughter of the great ,king1 but let us 
not  fall to wrangling about the vats in
 which the thread was dyed or  the river
 bed from which the gold was gathered4  
,in a later paper the present writer    
intends to venture upon a task  similar 
to that undertaken by the ,maryland     
,committee4 ,he will do  this largely in
 the hope of encouraging by example     
other and more  competent critics to    
busy themselves in the same way4        
,meanwhile a  few observations may not  
be amiss with respect to the sources of 
liturgical material1 and the methods by 
which they can be drawn  upon to the    
best advantage4    ,there has been1     
first and last1 a deal of ill considered
 talk  about the boundlessness of the   
liturgical treasures lying unused  in   
the pre-,reformation formularies of the 
,english ,church1 as well  as in the old
 sacramentaries and office-books of the 
,east and the  ,west4 ,wonder is        
expressed that with such limitless      
wealth at its  command1 an ,enrichment  

,committee should have brought in so    
poverty-stricken a ,report4 ,have we not
 ,muratori and ,mabillon8 it  is asked3 
,daniel and ,assemani1 ,renaudot and    
,goar8 ,are there not  ,missals ,roman1 
,ambrosian1 and ,mozarabic8 ,breviaries 
,anglican1  ,gallican1 and ,quignonian8 
,has ,maskell delved and ,neale         
translated  and ,littledale compiled in 
vain8 ,to all of which there are two    
replies1 namely3 first1 ,it is          
inexpedient to overload a ,prayer       
,book1 even if the material be of the   
best2 and secondly1 ,this best  material
 is by no means so abundant as the      
volume of our resources  would seem to  
suggest4 ,it was for the very purpose of
 escaping  redundancy and getting rid of
 surplusage that the ,anglican          
,reformers  condensed ,missal1          
,breviary1 and ,rituale into the one    
small and  handy volume known as the    
,first ,prayer ,book of ,edward ,,vi4   
,it was  a bold stroke1 doubtless       
denounced as perilously radical at the  

time2 but experience has justified      
,cranmer and his friends4 ,in the  whole
 history of liturgies there is no record
 of a wiser step4 ,it  is scarcely      
possible so grievously to sin against a 
people's ,prayer  ,book as by making it 
more complicated in arrangement and more
 bulky  in volume than need actually    
requires4 ,it was ground of justifiable 
pride with the ,enrichment ,committee   
that the ,book which they  brought in1  
despite the many additions it contained1
 was no thicker  by a single page than  
the ,prayer ,book as it is4 ,to be sure1
 the  ,general ,convention spoiled all  
this by insisting on retaining  certain 
duplicated formularies which the        
,committee had very properly  dropped in
 order to find room for fresh material4 
,but of the ,book  as first presented1  
it was possible to say that in no degree
 was  it more cumbrous than that to     
which the people were already           
accustomed4 ,doubtless it would have    
been still more to the  ,committee's    

credit could they have brought in an    
enriched ,book  smaller by a third than 
the ,book in use2 but this their        
conservatism  forbade4    ,of even      
greater moment is the other point1 which
 concerns the  quality of the available 
material4 ,it is the greatest mistake in
  the world to suppose that simply      
because a given prayer exists1  say in  
an ,oriental liturgy1 and has been      
translated into ,english  by an eminent 
scholar1 it is therefore proper material
 to be worked  into our services4 ,as a 
matter of fact1 a great deal of         
devotional  language of which the       
,oriental liturgies is made up is prolix
 and  tedious to a degree simply        
insufferable4 ,moreover in the case of  
prayers in themselves admirable in the  
original tongue in which  they were     
composed1 all is often lost through lack
 of a verbal  felicity in the           
translation4 ,if anyone questions this  
judgment1  let him toil through ,neale's
 and ,littledale's ,translations of  the

 ,primitive ,liturgies and see whether  
he can find six1 nay1  three1           
consecutive lines which he would be     
willing to see introduced  into our own 
,communion ,office4 ,or1 as respects    
translations  from the ,latin           
office-books of the ,church of ,england1
 let him  scrupulously search the pages 
of the ,sarum ,hours1 as done  into the 
vernacular by the ,recorder of          
,salisbury1 and see how  many of the    
,collects strike him as good enough to  
be transplanted  into the ,book of      
,common ,prayer4 ,the result of this    
latter voyage  of discovery will be an  
increased wonder at the affluence of the
  mediaeval devotions1 combined with    
amazement at the poverty and            
unsatisfactoriness of the existing      
translations4 ,it is with a ,latin      
collect as with a ,greek ode or an      
,italian sonnet3 no matter how          
wonderful the diction1 the charm of it  
is as a locked secret until  the thing  
has been ,englished by genius akin to   

his who first made  it out of his own   
heart4 ,of others besides the many brave
 men who  lived before ,agamemnon might 
it be written3        sed omnes         
illacrumabiles    ,urgentur1 ignotique  
larga    ,nocte1 carent quia vate sacro4
    ,it was the peculiar felicity of    
,schiller that he had ,coleridge for  a 
translator1 and the shades of ,gregory  
and ,leo owe it to a living  ,anglican  
divine that we ,english-speaking        
,christians can think their  thoughts   
after them1 and pray their prayers4     
,such being the facts in the case1 it is
 evident that the range of  choice open 
to ,american revisers is far narrower   
than half-informed  persons imagine it  
to be4    ,the very best sources of     
liturgical material are the following3  
7a7 ,king ,james's ,bible1 including the
 ,apocrypha1 and supplemented  by the   
,prayer ,book version of the ,psalms2   
7b7 ,the old ,sacramentaries1 ,leonine1 
,gregorian1 and ,gelasian1  chiefly as  
illustrated by the genius of ,dr4       

,bright2    7c7 ,the ,breviary in its   
various forms2    7d7 ,the ,primers and 
other like fragmenta of the era of the  
,english ,reformation2#ei    7e7 ,the   
devotional writings of the great        
,anglican divines of the  school of     
,andrews1 ,ken1 and ,taylor2#fj and last
 and least1    7f7 ,the various manuals 
of prayer1 of which the past twenty     
years  have shown themselves so         
prolific4#fa    ,of the ,anglican       
writers1 ,jeremy ,taylor would be by far
 the most  helpful1 were it not for the 
efflorescence of his style4 ,as it is1  
the best use that can be made of his    
exuberant devotions is to cull  from    
them here and there a telling phrase or 
a musical cadence4  ,the ,general       
,intercession1 for example1 on page #ej 
of ,the ,book  ,annexed1 is a cento to  
which ,taylor is the chief contributor4 
,that the ,enrichment ,committee made   
the best possible use of the  various   
quarries to which they had access is    
unlikely4 ,even if they  credited       

themselves with having done so1 it would
 be immodest of  them to say it4 ,better
 material than any that their researches
  brought to light may still be lying   
near the surface1 somewhere  close at   
hand1 waiting to be unearthed4          
,certainly this paper will  not have    
been written in vain if it serves the   
purpose of provoking  to the good work  
of discovery some of those who on the   
score both  of quality and of quantity  
account what has been thus far done in  
the line of revision inadequate and     
meagre4          ,,iii4      ,it is next
 proposed to take up the ,philadelphia  
,resolutions of  ,revision 7#ahhc7 one  
by one1 and to consider in what measure1
 if  in any1 the subject-matter of each 
of them lies open to improvement4       
,should the method of procedure         
recommended in the previous  paper1 or  
any method resembling it1 find favor at 
the approaching  ,convention1 and a     
,conference ,committee of the two       
,houses be  appointed to remould the    

work with reference to final action     
three years hence1 criticism of this    
sort1 even though inadequate1  can      
scarcely fail of being in some measure  
helpful4      ,,resolution ,i4      ,the
 ,title-page 4    ,the proposals under  
this head are two in number3 7a 7 that  
the  words1 together with the ,psalter  
or ,psalms of ,david1 be dropped  from  
the title-page as superfluous1 and 7b 7 
that a general title1  ,,the ,,book ,,of
 ,,common ,,prayer1 be printed on the   
first page of the  leaf preceding the   
title-page4    ,neither of these        
suggestions is of any great importance1 
and the  interest attaching to them is  
mainly bibliographical4 ,whenever any   
addition has been made to the ,prayer   
,book of the ,church of ,england1  the  
rule has been to note it invariably in  
the ,table of ,contents1  and sometimes 
also on the title-page4    ,until #affb 
the ,psalter formed no part of the      
,prayer ,book2 it was  a volume by      
itself1 and was cited as such4 ,in fact1

 it was a sort  of ,hymnal ,companion to
 the ,book of ,common ,prayer4 ,in the  
revision  of #affb the ,psalter was     
incorporated1 and immediately there     
appeared  upon the title-page of the    
,common ,prayer1 in addition to what had
  been there before1 the words1 together
 with the ,psalter or ,psalms  of ,david
 printed as they are to be sung or read 
in the churches4  ,the present          
title-page of the ,english ,book has a  
singularly crowded  and awkward look1   
contrasting most unfavorably in this    
regard with  those of #aeei1 #aeeb1 and 
#aedi4fb ,but if the needless mention of
  the ,psalter on our present title-page
 gives pleasure to any  considerable    
number of people1 it would be foolish to
 press the  suggestion of a change4 ,let
 it pass4    ,of a more serious         
character would be the omission1 which  
some  urge1 of the words ,protestant    
,episcopal from the title-page4  ,should
 anything of this sort be done1 which is
 most unlikely1 ,dr4  ,egar's suggestion

 to drop the words1 of the ,protestant  
,episcopal  ,church1 leaving it to read1
 according to the use in the ,united    
,states of ,america1 would carry the    
better note of catholicity4    ,but1    
after all1 the remonstrants have only to
 turn the page to  find the obnoxious   
,protestant ,episcopal so fast riveted  
into  the ,ratification that nothing    
short of an act of violence done  to    
history could accomplish the excision of
 it4#fc      ,,resolution ,,ii4         
,the ,introductory ,portion4    7a7     
,table of ,contents4--,the suggestion#fd
 that all entries  after ,the ,psalter  
should be printed in italics1 is a good 
one4    7b7 ,concerning the ,service of 
the ,church4--,this substitute for  the 
present ,order how the ,psalter is      
appointed to be read and  ,order how the
 rest of the ,holy ,scripture is        
appointed to be read  is largely based  
on the provisions of the so-called      
,shortened  ,services ,act of #ahgb4    
,the second paragraph relating to the   

use  of the ,litany appears to be       
superfluous4    ,the enlarged ,table of 
,proper ,psalms and the ,table of       
,selections of  ,psalms1 which come     
under this same general heading1 would  
be a very  great gain4 ,why the         
,maryland ,committee should have        
pronounced the  latter ,table           
practically useless1 since the psalms   
are not to be  printed1 it is hard1 in  
the face of the existing usage with     
respect to ,proper ,psalms1 to          
understand2 nor is there any special    
felicity in the proposal emanating from 
the same source that the  number of the 
,selections be cut down to three1 one   
for feasts and  one for fasts and one   
for an extra service on ,sunday nights4 
,on the other hand1 the ,maryland       
,committee does well in recommending    
that permission be given to the minister
 to shorten the ,lessons at  his        
discretion1 though the hard and fast    
condition1 provided he  read not less   
than fifteen consecutive verses1 apart  

from the  questionable ,english in which
 it is phrased1 smacks more of the      
drill-room than of the sanctuary4 ,far  
better would it be 7if the  suggestion  
may be ventured7 to allow no liberty of 
abridgment  whatever in the case of     
,proper ,lessons1 while giving entire   
freedom  of choice on all occasions for 
which no proper lessons have been       
appointed4 ,so far as ferial days are   
concerned1 it would be much  wiser to   
let the ,table of ,lessons be regarded  
as suggestive and  not mandatory4 ,the  
half-way recognition of this principle  
in the  new ,lectionary1 in which such a
 freedom is allowed1 provided the       
,lesson taken be one of those appointed 
for some day in the same  week1 seems   
open to a suspicion of childishness4    
,the rubrical direction entitled ,hymns 
and ,anthems requires  verbal           
correction1 but embodies a wholesome    
principle4    ,under this same general  
head of ,the ,introductory ,portion come
 the  new ,lectionary and the new       

,tables for finding ,easter4 ,of these1 
the  former is law already1 except so   
far as respects the ,lessons  appointed 
for the proposed ,feast of the          
,transfiguration4 ,the ,easter  ,tables 
are a monument to the erudition and     
accuracy of the late  ,dr4 ,francis     
,harison4 ,the ,tables in our present   
,standard run to the  year #ahii4       
,perhaps a wholesome conservatism ought 
to discover a  tincture of impiety in   
any proposal to disturb them before the 
century has expired4                    
,,resolution ,,iii4      ,the ,morning  
,prayer4    7a7 ,the ,first             
,rubric4--,the ,maryland ,committee is  
quite right  in remarking that the      
language of this important rubric1 as   
set  forth by the ,convention of #ahhc1 
is inelegant and inaccurate1  but       
another diocese has called attention to 
the fact that the  substitute which     
,maryland offers would1 if adopted1     
enable any  rector who might be so      
minded to withhold entirely from the    

non-communicating portion of his flock  
all opportunity for public  confession  
and absolution from year's end to year's
 end4 ,it is not  for a moment to be    
supposed that there was any covert      
intention  here1 but the incident       
illustrates the value to rubric-makers  
of  the ,horatian warning--,brevis esse 
labor o1 obscurus fio4    ,passing by   
the ,proper ,sentences for special ,days
 and ,seasons1  against which no serious
 complaint has been entered1#fe we come 
to the proposed short alternative for   
the ,declaration of ,absolution4  ,as it
 stood in the ,sarum ,use this          
,absolution ran as follows3    ,the     
,almighty and ,merciful ,lord grant you 
,absolution and ,remission  of all your 
sins1 space for true penitence1         
amendment of life1 and  the grace and   
consolation of the ,holy ,spirit4       
,amen4#ff    ,with the single change of 
the word penitence to repentance this   
is the form in which the ,absolution    
stood in the original ,book  ,annexed4  

,the ,convention thought that it        
detected a ,romanizing  germ in the     
place assigned to penitence1 and an     
archaism in the  temporal sense assigned
 to space1 and accordingly rearranged   
the  whole sentence4 ,but in their      
effort to mend the language1 our        
legislators assuredly marred the        
music4#fg    7e7 ,the ,benedictus es1   
,domine4--,the insertion of this        
,canticle  as an alternate to the ,te   
,deum was in the interest of shortened  
services for week-day use1 as has been  
already explained4 ,the same  purpose   
could be served equally well1 and the   
always objectionable  expedient of a    
second alternate avoided1 by spacing off
 the last  six verses of the            
,benedicite1 which have an integrity of 
their  own1 and prefixing a rubric      
similar to those that stand before the  
,venite and the ,benedictus in ,the     
,book ,annexed2 e4 g43    ,on week-days1
 it shall suffice if only the latter    
portion of  this ,canticle be said or   

sung4    7n7 ,the ,benedictus4--,with   
reference to the restoration of the     
last portion of this ,hymn1 it has been 
very properly remarked by  one of the   
critics of ,the ,book ,annexed1 that the
 line of division  between the required 
and the optional portions would more    
properly  come after the eighth than    
after the fourth verse4 ,this would make
  the portion reserved for ,advent begin
 with the reference to ,john  the       
,baptist1 as undoubtedly it ought to do3
 ,and thou1 child1 shalt  be called the 
,prophet of the ,highest4    7o7 ,de    
,profundis4--,there will probably be    
general consent to the  omission of this
 alternate1 as being what the ,maryland 
,committee  naively call it1 too        
mournful a psalm for this purpose4#fh   
,,resolution ,,iv4      ,daily ,evening 
,prayer4    7c7 ,the proposed words1    
,let us humbly confess our sins unto    
,almighty ,god1 are justly thought by   
many to be inferior both  in rhythm and 
in dignity to ,let us make humble       

confession to  ,almighty ,god4          
7i7-7l7 ,there seems to be absolute     
unanimity in the judgment that          
,magnificat and ,nunc ,dimittis ought1  
as ,gospel ,hymns1 to have  the prior   
places after the ,lessons which they    
follow4 ,in the  interest of simplicity 
of arrangement a like general consent to
  omit altogether ,bonum est confiteri  
and ,benedic anima mea would  be most   
fortunate1 but this point has been      
already enlarged upon  in a previous    
paper4#fi    ,the ,notes1 permitting the
 use of ,psalms xlii4 and xliii4 after  
the ,lessons during ,lent1 seem to have 
found no favor in any quarter1  and     
ought undoubtedly to be dropped4    7n7 
,if the lost versicles are to be        
restored after the ,creed1 as  all who  
have learned to love them in the service
 of the ,church of  ,england must       
earnestly desire1 some better substitute
 for ,god save  the queen1 than ,o      
,lord1 save our rulers1 ought surely to 
be  found4#gj ,moreover1 the order of   

the versicles1 as ,prof4 ,gold  has     
clearly pointed out1#ga is open to      
improvement4          ,,resolution ,v4  
,the ,beatitudes of the ,gospel4        
,this is the one feature of ,the ,book  
,annexed against which the  fire of     
hostile criticism has been the most     
persistently directed4  ,whether the    
strictures passed upon the ,office have 
been in all  cases as intelligent as    
they have been severe1 may be open to   
question1 but there can be no doubt     
whatever that1 in its present  form1    
,resolution ,v4 would1 if put to the    
vote1 be rejected4    ,passing by the   
more violent utterances of those whose  
language  almost suggests that they find
 something objectionable in the  very   
,,beatitudes themselves1#gb it will     
suffice to consider  and weigh what has 
been said in various quarters1 first1   
about  the unprecedented character of   
the ,office1 and secondly1 concerning   
the infelicity of the appointed         
response1 ,lord1 have mercy upon  us1   

and be it unto thy servants according to
 thy word4    ,so far as concerns       
precedent1 it ought to be enough to say 
that  the words are our ,lord's words1  
and that they were thrown by him  into a
 form which readily lends itself to     
antiphonal use4 ,the very  same         
characteristics of parallelism and      
antithesis1 that make the  ,psalms so   
amenable to the purposes of worship1 are
 conspicuous in  the ,,beatitudes4 ,if  
the ,church of ,england1 for three      
hundred years1  has been willing to give
 place in her devotions to the ,curses  
of  the ,old ,testament1#gc we of       
,america need not to be afraid1         
precedent or no precedent1 to make room 
among our formularies for  the          
,blessings of the ,new4    ,those who   
allow themselves to characterize the    
liturgical use of  these memorable      
sayings of the ,son of ,man as fancy    
ritual and  sentimentalism may well     
pause to ask themselves what manner of  
spirit they are of4 ,the ,,beatitudes   

are the charter of the kingdom  of      
heaven4 ,if they are sentimental1 the   
kingdom is sentimental2  but if1 on the 
other hand1 they constitute the organic 
law of the  ,people of ,god1 they have  
at least as fair a right as the ,ten    
,commandments to be published from the  
altar1 and answered by the  great       
congregation4    ,but is the complaint  
of no precedent a valid one1 even       
supposing  considerations of intrinsic  
fitness to have been ruled out8    ,the 
,liturgy of ,st4 ,chrysostom provides   
that the ,beatitudes shall  be sung on  
,sundays in room of the third           
antiphon4#gd    ,the learned ,bishop of 
,haiti1 in a paper warmly commending the
  liturgical use of the ,,beatitudes1#ge
 calls attention to the  further fact   
that the ,eight ,sayings have a place in
 some of the  service-books of the      
,eastern ,church in the ,office for the 
,sixth and  ,ninth ,hours1 and notes the
 suggestive and touching circumstances  
that1 as there used1 they have for a    

response the words of the  penitent     
thief upon the cross4 ,we might all of  
us well pray to be  remembered in that  
kingdom to which these ,blessings give  
the law4    ,in ,the ,primer set forth  
by the ,king's ,majesty and his ,clergy 
in  #aede1 a sort of stepping-stone to  
the later ,book of ,common ,prayer1  we 
find the ,,beatitudes very ingeniously  
worked into the ,office of  ,the ,hours1
 as anthems2 beginning with ,prime and  
ending with  ,evensong4 ,appropriate    
,collects are interwoven1 some of them  
so  beautiful as to be well worth       
preserving4#gf    ,but the most         
interesting precedent of all remains    
still to be  studied4 ,in the first year
 of the reign of ,william and ,mary1 a  
,royal ,commission was appointed to     
revise the ,book of ,common ,prayer4    
,the most eminent ,anglican divines of  
the day1 including ,tillotson1          
,stillingfleet1 ,patrick1 and           
,beveridge1 were among the members4 ,to 
all outward appearance the movement came

 to naught2 for the proposed  revision  
was not even put into print1 until in   
#ahed1 the ,house of  ,commons1 in      
response to a motion of ,mr4 ,heywood1  
ordered it to be  published as a        
,blue-book4 ,and yet in some way our    
,american revisers  of #aghi must have  
found access to the original volume as  
it lay  hidden in the archbishop's      
library at ,lambeth2 for not only does  
their work show probable evidence of    
such consultation1 but in their         
,preface they distinctly refer to the   
effort of ,king ,william's  ,commission 
as a great and good work1#gg a thing    
they would  scarcely have done had they 
possessed no real knowledge of the      
facts4 ,macaulay's sneering reference to
 the work of the ,commission  is well   
known1 but1 strangely enough1 the       
justice which a ,whig  reviewer         
withholds1 a high ,anglican divine      
concedes1 for no less  exacting a critic
 than ,dr4 ,neale1 while manifesting1 as
 was to be  expected1 a general dislike 

of the ,commissioners of #afhi1 and of  
their work1 does yet find something to  
praise in what they  recommended4#gh    
,among the real improvements suggested  
by the ,commission was the  liturgical  
use of the ,,beatitudes1 and this in two
 places1 once in  ,the ,order for the   
,administration of the ,lord's ,supper1 
as an  alternate to the ,ten            
,commandments2 and again in the         
,commination  ,office as a proper       
balance to the ,anathemas of the ,law4  
,but the ,commission1 like the late     
,joint ,committee on the ,book of       
,common ,prayer1 was unfortunate in its 
choice of a response2 and no  wonder1   
for the task of finding the proper one  
is difficult4#gi    ,a ,beatitude       
differs from a ,commandment in that     
while the latter  enjoins the former    
only declares4 ,the one therefore simply
 calls  for assent1 or1 at most1 assent 
coupled with petition1 while the  other 
peremptorily demands a cry for mercy4   
,the immemorial form of  the cry for    

mercy in the devotions of ,christendom  
is the ,kyrie  eleison1 ,lord1 have     
mercy upon us2 the immemorial form of   
assent  the word ,amen4 ,can we do      
better1 therefore1 in adapting the      
,,beatitudes to liturgical use than to  
treat them precisely as the  ,curses are
 treated in the ,commination ,office of 
the ,church of  ,england1 namely1 by    
inserting after each one of them a plain
  ,amen4    ,this recommendation has the
 great merit of simplicity4 ,two or     
three  strikingly ingenious schemes for 
supplying each of the ,eight ,sayings   
with a proper response of its own have  
been suggested2#hj but the  objection to
 them is that1 beautiful though they    
are1 their  complexity would embarrass  
and distress the kneeling worshipper4   
,in these matters1 practical drawbacks  
have to be taken into account  as well  
as abstract excellencies1 and no matter 
how felicitous the  antiphonal          
responses1 they would be worse than     
useless were a  puzzled congregation to 

refuse to join in them4    ,there will  
be found appended to this ,paper a plan 
for recasting  the ,office of the       
,,beatitudes in such a way as to make it
 coincide  structurally1 as far as it   
goes1 with the introductory portion  of 
the ,holy ,communion4#ha ,were the      
,office to be thus set forth1  it would 
be possible on week-days1 and with      
singular appropriateness  on ,saints'   
,days1 to substitute the ,,beatitudes   
for the ,commandments1  without         
encumbering the ,communion ,office with 
an alternate4 ,should  this suggestion  
find acceptance1 the two ,collects in   
the present  ,office of ,,beatitudes1   
which are far too good to be lost1 one  
of  them being the modified form of a   
,leonine original1 and the other  one of
 the very best of ,canon ,bright's own  
compositions1 might be  transferred to a
 place among the ,occasional ,prayers4  
,,resolution ,,vi4      ,the ,litany4   
,the rubrics prefixed to the ,litany are
 a gain1 but except by the  addition of 

the two new suffrages1 the one for the  
,president and  the other for the       
increase of the ministry1 it will       
probably be  best to leave the text of  
this formulary untouched4 ,even in the  
case of the new petitions it would be   
well if they could be  grafted upon     
suffrages already existing1 a thing that
 might easily  be done4#hb    ,it would 
be a liturgical improvement if the      
,litany1 in its shortened  form1 were to
 end at the ,christe1 audi1 and the     
minister  directed to return1 at this   
point1 to the ,general ,thanksgiving  in
 the ,morning ,prayer4 ,this would      
divide the ,litany symmetrically1       
instead of arbitrarily1 as is now done1 
and would remove the ,general           
,thanksgiving from a place to which it  
has little claim either by  historical  
precedent or natural congruity4    ,the 
greatest improvement of all would be the
 restoration of the  august and massive 
words of invocation which of old stood  
at the  beginning of the ,litany4 ,the  

modern invocations have a dignity of    
their own1 but they are not to be       
compared for devotional power and       
simple majesty with the more ancient    
ones4 ,but for an enrichment  so good as
 this1 it is too much to hope4          
,,resolution ,,vii4      ,prayers and   
,thanksgivings4    ,the ,maryland       
,committee#hc have much to say in       
criticism of this  section1 and offer   
many valuable suggestions1 the best of  
them being  a recommendation to print   
the ,prayer entitled1 ,for ,grace to    
speak  the ,truth in ,love1 in ,canon   
,bright's own words4 ,some of their     
comments1 on the other hand1 suggest    
canons of criticism which1  if applied  
to ,the ,prayer ,book as it is1 would   
make havoc of its  choicest             
treasures4#hd    ,the ,committee of     
,central ,new ,york#he go much further  
in the line  of destructive criticism   
than their brethren of ,maryland1 and   
after  excepting four of the proposed   
prayers1 condemn all the rest to        

dismissal4    ,possibly this is just    
judgment1 but those who have searched   
diligently the storehouses of devotional
 ,english1 will think  twice before they
 consent to it4 ,no doubt the           
phraseology of some  of the proposed    
prayers might be improved4 ,in view of  
the searching  criticism to which for   
three years it has been exposed1 it     
would  be strange indeed if such were   
not found to be the case4 ,but the      
collection as a whole1 instead of       
suffering loss1 ought to receive        
increment4 ,at least three or four more 
prayers for the work of  missions in its
 various aspects ought to be added1 also
 a ,prayer  for the furtherance of      
,christian ,education in ,schools and   
,colleges4  ,as ,br4 ,dowden shrewdly   
asks1 in speaking of spiritual needs    
which  we postpone expressing for lack  
of language sufficiently artistic  in   
form1 ,what is the measure of our faith 
in the efficacy of united  prayer1 when 
we are content to go on1 year after     

year1 and never  come together to ask   
,god to supply those needs8#hf    ,there
 is one consideration connected with    
this supply of special  prayers too     
frequently lost out of sight4 ,while it 
is perfectly  true that the ,book of    
,common ,prayer was never designed to be
 a  ,treasury of ,devotion for          
individuals1 it is equally true that    
for thousands and hundreds of thousands 
of our fellow-countrymen  who live      
remote from ,church book-stores1 or lack
 the means of  patronizing them1 the    
,prayer ,book is1 as a matter of fact1  
their  only devotional help4 ,in        
countless households1 moreover1 many of 
them beyond ,protestant ,episcopal      
borders altogether1 the ,prayer  ,book  
is doing a work only less beneficent    
than it might do1 were we  to concede a 
very little more to that outwardly      
illogical but  spiritually              
self-consistent policy which1 breaking  
away1 a century  ago1 from the chain of 
precedent1 inserted in the ,american    

,book  ,the ,forms of ,prayer to be used
 in ,families4          ,,resolution    
,,viii4      ,penitential ,office for   
,ash-,wednesday4    ,this is the        
,english ,commination ,office1 with the 
introductory  portion omitted4 ,it would
 add to the merit of the formulary1     
especially when used as a separate      
office1 were it to be prefaced  by the  
versicle and response1 similarly        
employed in the ,hereford  ,breviary3   
,v4 ,let us confess unto the ,lord1 for 
he is gracious4    ,r4 ,and his mercy   
endureth forever4    ,in view of the    
great length of the ,morning ,service on
 ,ash-,wednesday1  and the close        
similarity between the closing portion  
of the ,litany  and the intermediate    
portion of this ,office1 the following  
emendation  of the first ,rubric is     
suggested1 a change which would carry   
with  it the omission of the ,rubric    
after psalm li4 a little further on4    
,on the ,first ,day of ,lent1 at        
,morning ,prayer1 the ,office  ensuing  

shall be read immediately after the     
words1 ,have mercy  upon us1 in the     
,litany1 and in place of what there     
followeth4    ,in the third ,rubric it  
might be well to add to shall be said   
the words1 or sung4    ,the blessing at 
the end of the office should stand1 as  
in the  ,english ,book1 in the precatory
 form2 otherwise we might have the      
anomaly of a benediction pronounced     
before the end of the service4          
,,resolution ,,ix4                      
,thanksgiving-day or ,harvest-home4     
,the only alteration needed in this     
office is the restoration of  the       
beautiful prayer for unity to its own   
proper wording as given  in the         
so-called ,accession ,service appended  
to the ,english ,prayer  ,book4 ,as it  
stands in ,the ,book ,annexed the       
language of the prayer  is possibly     
ungrammatical and certainly redundant4  
,a critic1  already more than once      
quoted1#hg protests against the         
prominence  given to this office in ,the

 ,book ,annexed1 ascribing it to        
influences born of the associations of  
,new ,england4 ,but although  the motive
 of the revisers might have had a worse 
origin than that  of which the reviewer 
complains1 the actual fact is that the  
formulary was placed where it is purely 
in consideration of the  liturgical     
fitness of things2 it having been held  
that the proper  position for an ,office
 of ,thanksgiving must be in immediate  
sequence  to an ,office of ,penitence4  
,it is with sincere diffidence that the 
present writer differs  with ,the       
,seminarian1 on a point of historical   
precedent1 but  he ventures to suggest  
that to find the prototype of           
,harvest-home  we must go back far      
beyond ,new ,england1 and for that      
matter far  beyond ,old ,england1 nay1  
beyond the ,christian era itself1 even  
to the day when it was said1 ,thou shalt
 observe the ,feast of  ,tabernacles1   
seven days1 after that thou hast        
gathered in thy corn  and thy wine4     

,doubtless there is a joy greater than  
the joy of  harvest1 and to this we give
 expression in the ,eucharist2 but      
doubtless also the joy of harvest is in 
itself a proper joy and  one which finds
 fitting utterance in such forms of     
prayer and  praise as this4             
,,resolution ,,xi4      ,collects1      
,epistles1 and ,gospels4    ,no         
department of liturgical revision calls 
for a nicer touch than  that which      
includes the ,collects4 ,that new       
collects for certain  unsupplied feasts 
and fasts would be a genuine enrichment 
of ,the  ,book of ,common ,prayer1 has  
long been generally acknowledged among  
,anglican scholars4 ,the most weighty   
fault to be found with the  collects    
added by the revisers is that in too    
large proportion  they are addressed to 
the second and third ,persons of the    
,holy  ,trinity4 ,the ,eucharist itself1
 as a whole1 is properly conceived  of  
as addressed to the ,eternal ,father4   
,the ,collects1 as forming  part of the 

,eucharistic ,office1 ought1 strictly   
speaking1 to be  also so addressed4 ,it 
is true that there are exceptions to    
this  rule1 and they are found1 some of 
them1 in the ,prayer ,book as it  is4   
,but the revisers ought not to have     
altered the proportion so  markedly as  
they have done1 for whereas in our      
present ,book the  collects addressed to
 the ,father are as eighty-three to     
three  compared with those not so       
addressed1 the ratio in ,the ,book      
,annexed is that of eleven to three4    
,moreover1 there would seem to be no    
good reason for reverting to  the usage 
of the ,first ,book of ,edward ,,vi41   
which provides a second  ,collect1      
,epistle1 and ,gospel for the two great 
feasts of ,christmas  and ,easter4 ,a   
better way would be to take these       
additional collects1  which are among   
the most beautiful in the language1 and 
assign them  respectively to the ,sunday
 after ,christmas1 and the ,monday in   
,easter-week4          ,,resolution     

,,xii4      ,the ,holy ,communion4      
,to the few changes proposed in this    
,office1 comparatively slight  exception
 has been taken in any quarter4 ,it will
 probably be  wise to leave the language
 of the ,prayer of ,consecration wholly 
untouched1 notwithstanding the alleged  
grammatical error near the  end of it4  
,the ,rubric which it has been proposed 
to append to the ,office1  touching the 
number of communicants without which it 
shall not be  lawful to administer the  
,sacrament1 being of a disciplinary     
rather  than of a liturgical character1 
ought not to be urged4 ,the proposal  to
 transfer the ,prayer of ,humble ,access
 to a place immediately  before the     
,communion appears to be very generally 
acceptable4    ,it would relieve many   
worshippers who scruple as ,christians  
at  responding to the ,fourth           
,commandment on the score of its ,judaic
  character1 if the language of the     
rubric prefixed to the ,decalogue  could
 contain1 as did the corresponding      

rubric in ,laud's ,book for  ,scotland1 
a clause indicative of the mystical and 
spiritual sense  in which the ,law      
should be interpreted by those who live 
under the  ,gospel4 ,but such a proposal
 would probably be accounted of         
doctrine1 and so be self-condemned4     
,of the desirability of allowing a      
week-day use of the ,,beatitudes  in the
 room of the ,,commandments enough has  
been already said4          ,,resolution
 ,,xvi4      ,confirmation4    ,the     
permission to use a form of presentation
 instead of1 or in  addition to1 the    
,preface is likely to be widely         
welcomed4 ,the  other addenda to this   
office1 being apparently distasteful    
7for  unlike reasons7 to all the schools
 of thoughts in the ,church1  are likely
 to fail of acceptance2 and on the whole
 may easily be  spared4                 
,,resolution ,,xviii4    ,visitation of 
the ,sick4    ,the proposed             
,commendatory ,prayer1 though in some of
 its features  strikingly felicitous1 is

 open to formal improvement4 ,the       
addition  of a short ,litany of the     
,dying would be appreciated by those    
whose ministry is largely exercised     
among the sick4          ,,resolution   
,,xx4      ,burial of the ,dead4    ,by 
far the most important section of this  
,resolution is the one  providing for   
the insertion of special features when  
the office  is used at the burial of    
children4 ,the provision1 or at least   
the  suggestion1 of a more appropriate  
,lesson would be wise1 but for  the     
rest1 the office is almost all that     
could be wished4    ,a recent critic#hh 
raises the question1 ,why single out    
infants  alone for a special service8   
,why not forms for rich men and poor    
men--old men and maidens--widows and    
orphans8 ,and yet our ,lord  ,jesus     
,christ did single out little children  
in a very striking and  wonderful       
manner1 and drew a distinction between  
them and us which  may well justify our 
treating their obsequies with a peculiar

  tenderness4 ,even ,rome1 ,mater dura  
infantum as she has been  sometimes     
thought1 is studious to consult in this 
point the natural  affections of the    
bereaved1 and appoints a funeral mass   
distinct  from that appointed for the   
dead in general4    ,bishop ,seabury    
felt the need of a rite of this sort and
 prepared  one1 but whether it was ever 
in actual use among the clergy of       
,connecticut the writer is not informed4
 ,many1 very many1 since  ,seabury's    
day1 have felt the same need1 and it is 
safe to say that  no one feature of ,the
 ,book ,annexed has enjoyed so universal
 a  welcome as this rightful concession 
to the demands of the parental  heart4  
,,conclusion4      ,the survey of       
corrigenda is now complete4 ,the list   
looks like a  long one1 but really the  
points noted are few compared with those
  which have passed unchallenged4 ,here 
and there in the ,resolutions  that have
 not been considered are words or       
phrases that admit of  improvement1 and 

which in an actual and authorized       
re-review by  a ,committee of           
,conference would undoubtedly be        
improved4    ,the bulk of the work has1 
for a period of three years1 stood the  
incessant fire of a not always friendly 
criticism far better than  could have   
been anticipated by those who in the    
first instance  gave it shape4 ,the     
difficulties of the task have been      
immense4 ,that  they have not all of    
them been successfully overcome is clear
  enough1 but that they were faced with 
an honest purpose to be  just and fair1 
and that this purpose was clung to      
persistently  throughout1 is a credit   
which ,churchmen of the next generation 
will not withhold from those who sought 
to be of service to them4    ,it remains
 to be seen whether the representatives 
of the ,church  will take up this work  
and perfect it2 or per contra in        
response  to the demand for a           
,commission of ,experts1 or the specious
 but  utterly impracticable#hi proposal 

of concerted action with the  ,church of
 ,england1 will decide to postpone the  
whole affair to the  ,greek ,kalends4   
,one thing is certain1 to wit1 that the 
death of this  movement will mean       
inaction for at least a quarter of a    
century4  ,the men do not live who will 
have the courage to embark on a fresh   
enterprise of the like purport while the
 shipwreck of this one is  before their 
eyes4 ,there are many who1 out of a     
conscientious fear  of disturbing what  
they like to think of as permanently    
settled1  would view such a conclusion  
of the whole matter with profound       
gratitude to ,god4 ,but there are many  
more to whom such a confession  of the  
,church's inability to appreciate and   
unwillingness to meet  the spiritual    
needs of a civilization wonderfully     
unlike anything  that has preceded it   
would be most disheartening4 ,least of  
all is  there valid ground for hope in  
the case of those who fancy that if     
they can only annihilate this project1  

the day will speedily  come when they   
can revise the ,prayer ,book in a manner
 perfectly  conformable to their own    
conception of the ,ideal ,liturgy1 and  
after a fashion which the most ardent   
,anglo-,catholic must fain  approve4    
,the ,american ,book of ,common ,prayer 
bears the impress to-day of  two        
controlling minds1 the mind of ,seabury 
and the mind of ,white4  ,doubtless it  
stood written in the councils of the    
,divine ,providence  that so it should  
be4 ,the two men represented            
respectively the two  modes of          
apprehending spiritual truth which have 
always been allowed  counterplay and    
interaction in the history of ,english  
religion1 and  which always will be     
allowed such counterplay and interaction
 while  ,english religion remains the   
comprehensive thing it is4 ,no scheme   
of liturgical revision1 no matter how   
scientifically constructed1  will ever  
find acceptance with the people of this 
,church which does  not do even-handed  

justice to both of the great historic   
growths  which find their common root in
 ,anglican soil4    ,when the spirit of 
,seabury shall have completely exorcised
 the  spirit of ,white1 or the spirit of
 ,white shall have completely  exorcised
 the spirit of ,seabury from the ,church
 and from the ,prayer  ,book1 logic will
 have triumphed1 as sixteen years ago it
 triumphed  under the dome of ,st4      
,peter's--logical consistency will have 
triumphed1 but catholicity will have    
fled4          ,,note4      ,,the       
,,beatitudes ,,of ,,the ,,gospel4       
,on ,christmas-day1 ,easter-day1 and    
,whitsunday1 and on any  week-day save  
,ash-,wednesday and ,good ,friday1 this 
,office may  be used in lieu of so much 
of ,the ,order for the ,administration  
of the ,lord's ,supper as precedeth the 
,epistle for the ,day4    ,this ,office 
may also be used separately on occasions
 for which  no proper ,order hath been  
provided4    ,the ,minister standing up 
shall say the ,lord's ,prayer and the   

,collect following1 the ,people         
kneeling1 but the ,lord's ,prayer may   
be omitted if it hath been said         
immediately before4    ,our ,father1 who
 art in heaven1 ,hallowed be thy ,name4 
,thy kingdom  come4 ,thy will be done on
 earth1 ,as it is in heaven4 ,give us   
this  day our daily bread4 ,and forgive 
us our trespasses1 ,as we forgive  those
 who trespass against us4 ,and lead us  
not into temptation2 ,but  deliver us   
from evil4 ,amen4    ,the ,collect4     
,almighty ,god1 unto whom all hearts are
 open1 all desires known1 and  from whom
 no secrets are hid2 ,cleanse the       
thoughts of our hearts by  the          
inspiration of thy ,holy ,spirit1 that  
we may perfectly love thee1  and        
worthily magnify thy holy ,name2 through
 ,christ our ,lord4 ,amen4    ,then     
shall the ,minister1 turning to the     
,people1 rehearse the ,eight  ,sayings  
of our ,lord commonly called ,,the      
,,beatitudes2 and the  ,people1 still   
kneeling1 shall after every one of them 

reverently  say ,amen4    ,minister4    
,jesus went up into a mountain2 and his 
disciples came unto him4 ,and  he opened
 his mouth and taught them1 saying3     
,blessed are the poor  in spirit2 for   
theirs is the kingdom of heaven4        
,answer4 ,amen4    ,minister4 ,blessed  
are they that mourn2 for they shall be  
comforted4    ,answer4 ,amen4           
,minister4 ,blessed are the meek2 for   
they shall inherit the earth4           
,answer4 ,amen4    ,minister4 ,blessed  
are they which do hunger and thirst     
after  righteousness2 for they shall be 
filled4    ,answer4 ,amen4    ,minister4
 ,blessed are the pure in heart2 for    
they shall see ,god4    ,answer4 ,amen4 
,minister4 ,blessed are the             
peace-makers2 for they shall be called  
the children of ,god4    ,answer4 ,amen4
    ,minister4 ,blessed are they which  
are persecuted for righteousness'  sake2
 for theirs is the kingdom of heaven4   
,answer4 ,amen4    ,minister4    ,hear  
also what the voice from heaven saith4  

,blessed are the dead  who die in the   
,lord4    ,answer4    ,even so1 saith   
the ,spirit1 for they rest from their   
labors4    ,minister4    ,let us pray4  
,almighty and ,eternal ,god1 to whom is 
never any prayer made without  hope of  
mercy2 ,bow thine ear1 we beseech thee1 
to our supplications1  and in the       
country of peace and rest cause us to be
 made partners  with thy holy servants2 
through ,jesus ,christ our ,lord4       
,amen4#ij    ,then shall be said the    
,collect for the ,day and1 unless the   
,holy  ,communion is immediately to     
follow1 such other prayer or prayers1   
taken out of this ,book1 as the         
,minister shall think proper4           
,,appendix3      ,,sermons ,,before     
,,and ,,after4        ,,appendix4       
,,permanent ,,and ,,variable            
,,characteristics ,,op ,,the ,,prayer   
,,book4    ,a ,,sermon ,,preached ,,in  
,,st4 ,,stephen',s ,,church1            
,,philadelphia1 ,,on ,,the              
,,anniversary ,,of ,,the ,,bishop       

,,white ,,prayer ,,book ,,society1      
,,sunday1  ,,november #bd1 #ahgh4       
,one generation passeth away2 and       
another generation cometh4--,eccles4    
i4#d4    ,against the background of this
 sombre fact of change1 whatever  there 
is in life that is stable stands out    
with a sharpness that  compels notice4  
,just because the world is so full of   
variableness1  our hearts' affections   
fasten with the tighter grip upon       
anything  that seems to have the        
guarantees of permanence4 ,the ,book of 
,common  ,prayer appeals to us on this  
score1 precisely as the ,bible1 in its  
larger measure1 does3 it is the book of 
many generations1 not of  one1 and there
 is the hiding of its power4 ,we have   
received the  ,prayer ,book from the    
generations that are gone2 we purpose   
handing  it on when another generation  
cometh2 we hold it for the use and      
blessing of the generation which now is4
    ,our thoughts about the book1       
therefore1 if we would have the         

thinking rightly done1 must take hold   
upon the past1 the present1  and the    
future1 a breadth of topic covered well 
enough perhaps by  this phrase1 ,the    
,permanent and the ,variable            
,characteristics of the  ,prayer ,book4 
,i make no apology for asking you to    
take up the subject in so grave  a      
temper4 ,now1 for more than three       
hundred years1 the ,common ,prayer  has 
been the manual of worship in use with  
the greater number of  the people of    
that race which1 meanwhile1 in the      
providence of ,god1  has been growing up
 to be the leading power on earth4      
,everywhere  the ,english language seems
 to be going forth conquering and to    
conquer1 and whithersoever it penetrates
 it carries with it the  letters and the
 social traditions of a people whose    
character has  been largely moulded by  
the influences of the ,prayer ,book4    
,africans1  ,indians1 ,hindoos are      
to-day1 even in their heathenism1       
feeling the  effects of waves of        

movement which throb from this centre4  
,men in  authority1 the world over1 are 
living out1 with more or less of        
consistency and thoroughness1 those     
convictions about our duty  toward ,god1
 and our duty toward our neighbor1 which
 were early  inwrought into their       
consciences through the instrumentality 
of  these venerable forms4 ,surely no   
one can afford to think or speak        
otherwise than most seriously and       
carefully with regard to a book  which  
has behind it a history so worthy1 so   
rich1 so pregnant with  promise for the 
future4    ,look first1 then1 at the    
power which the ,prayer ,book draws from
  its affiliations with the past4 ,it is
 a common remark1 so common  as to be   
commonplace1 that our liturgy owes its  
excellence to the  fact of its not      
having been the composition or          
compilation of any  one man4 ,so much is
 evident enough upon the face of it3 for
 a form  of worship devised off-hand by 
an individual1 or even put together  by 

a committee sitting around a table1     
could scarcely be wholly  satisfactory  
to any save the maker or the makers of  
it4 ,but it is  more to the purpose to  
observe that not only is the ,prayer    
,book  not the result of any one man's  
or any one committee's labors2 it  is   
not the work even of any one generation1
 or of any one age4    ,the men who     
gradually put the ,prayer ,book into    
what is substantially  its present      
shape1 in the days of ,edward ,,vi4 and 
of ,elizabeth1 were  no more the makers 
of the ,prayer ,book than were the men  
who1 in a  later reign1 set forth what  
we call the authorized version of the   
,holy ,scriptures1 the first translators
 of the ,bible4 ,in both cases  the work
 done was a work of review and revision4
 ,a much more severe  review1 a vastly  
more sweeping revision in the case of   
the ,prayer  ,book than in the case of  
the ,bible1 ,i grant2 but still1 mainly 
a work of review and revision after all4
 ,continuity1 that  characteristic so   

precious in the eye of modern science1  
continuity  marked the whole process4   
,the first ,prayer ,book of the         
,reformed ,church of ,england was a     
condensed1 simplified1 and purified     
combination of formularies  of worship  
already in use in the ,national ,church4
 ,a certain  amount of new material1    
some of it home-made1 some of it drawn  
from foreign sources1 was added2 but the
 great bulk of the  new service-book had
 been contained in one or other of the  
older manuals4 ,the ,reformers did but  
clip and prune1 with that  exquisite    
taste and judgment which belong by      
tradition to ,english  gardeners1 the   
overgrowth and rank luxuriance of a too 
long  neglected1 careless-ordered       
garden4 ,but whence came the earlier    
formularies themselves1 from which      
,cranmer and the rest quarried  the     
stone for the new building8--to change  
the metaphor as ,paul1  you remember1   
does so suddenly from husbandry to      
architecture4#ia  ,whence came ,missal1 

and ,breviary1 and ,book of             
,offices--the best  portions of which   
were merged in the ,english ,common     
,prayer8  ,from the far past2 the       
,missal from those primitive liturgies  
or  communion services1 some of which we
 trace back with certainty  to the later
 portion of the ante-,niceneage1 and by 
not unreasonable  conjecture to the edge
 of apostolic days2 the ,breviary or    
daily  prayers from the times when      
,christians first took up community     
life2 the ,offices from periods of      
uncertain date all along the  track of  
previous ,church history4 ,but what     
advantage1 asks someone  full of the    
modern spirit1 what advantage has the   
,common ,prayer  in that it can trace a 
genealogy running up through ages of    
such  uncertain reputation8 ,have we not
 been accustomed to regard those  times 
as hopelessly corrupt1 impenetrably     
dark1 universally  superstitious8 ,ought
 we not to be mortified1 rather than    
gratified1  to learn that from the pit  

of so mouldy a past our book of prayer  
was digged8 ,would not a brand-new      
liturgy1 modernized expressly  to meet  
the needs of nineteenth century culture1
 with all the old  ,english idioms      
displaced1 every rough corner smoothed  
and every  crooked place made           
straight--would not that be something   
far  worthier our respect1 better       
entitled to our allegiance1 than  this  
book full of far-away echoes1 and faint 
bell-notes from a  half-forgotten past8 
,yes1 if modern man were only modern man
 and nothing more1 such  reasoning would
 be extremely cogent4 ,but what if      
modern man be  really1 not the mere     
creature of the century in which he     
lives1  but the gathered sum and product
 of all that has preceded him in        
history8 ,what if you and ,i1 from the  
very fact that we are living  now1 have 
in the dim groundwork of our nature     
something that would  not have been     
there had we lived one1 three1 twelve   
hundred years  ago8 ,what if there be   

such a thing as cumulative acquirement  
for  the race of men1 so that a new     
generation starts with an available     
capital of associations and ideas of    
which the generation last  preceding it 
owned but a part8 ,take such words as   
feudalism1 the  ,crusades1 the          
,renaissance1 the printing press1       
consider how  much they mean to us1 and 
then remember that to a man of the third
  century they would have been empty    
sounds conveying absolutely no  meaning4
 ,what all this goes to show is that    
human nature is a map  which is         
continually unrolling4 ,to say that the 
entirety of it lies  between the two    
meridians that bound the particular     
tract in which  our own little life     
happens to be cast is stupid4 ,the whole
 great  past belongs to us--river and   
island1 ocean1 forest1 continent1 all   
are ours4 ,you and the man in armor1 you
 and the ,venetian merchant1  you and   
the cowled monk have something1 be it   
ever so little1  something in common4   

,that which was in the foreground of    
their life  is now in the background or 
in the middle distance of yours4 ,it has
  become a part of you4#ib    ,so1 then1
 if we would have a liturgy that shall  
speak to our whole  nature1 and not to a
 mere fraction of it1 it must be a      
liturgy full  of voices sounding out of 
the past4 ,there must be reminders and  
suggestions in it of all the great      
epochs of the ,church's story4  ,yes1   
echoes even from those very ages which  
we call dark 7perhaps  as much because  
we are in the dark about them as on     
account of any  special blackness       
attaching to the times themselves71 some
 echoes  even from them may have a      
rightful place in the worship which is  
to  call out responsively all that is in
 the heart of the most modern  of modern
 men4    ,as there were heroes before   
,agamemnon1 so were there holy and      
humble  men of heart before ,cranmer and
 ,luther1 yes1 and before ,jerome and   
,augustine4 ,if any cry that ever went  

up from any one of them out of  the     
depths of that nature which they share  
with us and we with them1  if any breath
 of supplication1 any moan of penitence1
 any shout of  victory that issued from 
their lips has made out to survive the  
noise and tumult of intervening times1  
it has earned by its very  persistency  
of tone a prima facie title to be put   
into the ,prayer  ,book of to-day4#ic   
,and this is why a prayer book may      
survive the  wreck of many systems of   
theology4 ,a prayer book holds the      
utterance  of our needs2 a theological  
system is the embodiment of our         
thoughts4    ,now our thoughts about    
things divine are painfully fallible and
  liable to change with change of times2
 but a want which is genuinely  and     
entirely human is a permanent fact2 the 
great needs of the soul  never grow     
obsolete1 and though the language in    
which the lips shall  clothe the heart's
 desire may alter1 as tastes alter1 yet 
the  substance of the prayer abides1 and

 in some happy instances the  form also 
abides4    ,to an eye that looks wisely 
and lovingly on such sights1 there is   
the same keen sense of enjoyment in     
finding here and there in the  ,prayer  
,book suggestions of forgotten customs1 
reminders of famous  persons and events1
 that there is in detecting in the      
masonry of  an old castle or minster    
tell-tale stones which betray the       
different  ages1 the sundry times and   
divers manners which the fabric         
represents4 ,who1 for instance1 that has
 traced the history of  that apostolic  
ordinance1 the kiss of peace1 down      
through the  liturgical changes and     
revolutions of eighteen hundred years1  
can  fail to be interested in finding in
 a single clause of one of the          
exhortations of our communion service   
that which corresponds to  the literal  
kiss of primitive times1 as well as to  
the petrified  symbol of the original   
reality1 the silver1 ivory1 or wooden   
osculatory of the mediaeval ,church8#id 

,so with ,ash-,wednesday1  a single     
syllable opens a whole chapter of       
,church history4 ,again1  the ,latin    
headings to the psalms of the ,psalter2 
with what an  impatient gesture can we  
imagine a spruce reviser brushing these 
away as so much trash6 ,they are not    
trash1 they are way marks that  tell of 
times when devout men loved those       
catchwords1 as we love  the first lines 
of our favorite hymns4 ,a few of the    
headings1  such as ,de ,profundis and   
,miserere1 still possess such           
associations for ourselves4 ,there was a
 time when very many more  of them meant
 to men now dead and gone as much as    
,rock of ,ages1  or ,sun of my ,soul1 or
 ,lead1 kindly ,light1 can mean to you  
or  me4#ie    ,then1 too1 the monuments 
of specially revered heroes of the faith
  that dot the paths of the ,common     
,prayer1 how precious they are6 ,we     
like to think of ,ambrose as speaking to
 us in the lofty sentences  of the ,te  
,deum4 ,it is pleasant to associate     

,chrysostom with the  prayer that bears 
his name1 and to know that he who swayed
 the  city's multitude still prized the 
,master's promise to the two or  three  
gathered together in his name4 ,so also1
 in our ,american ,book1  ,jeremy       
,taylor1 the modern ,chrysostom1 meets  
us in the ,office for  the ,visitation  
of the ,sick1 in that solemn prayer     
addressed to ,him  whose days are       
without end1 and whose mercies cannot be
 numbered4  ,all these things help to   
make the ,prayer ,book the              
large-hearted1  wide-minded book we all 
of us feel it to be1 so like a friend   
whom we revere because he is kindly in  
his tone1 generous in his  judgments1   
quick to understand us at every point4  
,so much for the past of the ,prayer    
,book4 ,we have touched it in no        
image-breaking mood1 but with reverence4
 ,one generation passeth  away1 another 
generation cometh1 and it has been the  
peculiar  felicity of this book to stand
      ,a link among the days1 to knit   

,the generations each to each4    ,we   
pass on to consider the present         
usefulness of the ,prayer ,book  and the
 possibility of extending that          
usefulness in the future4  ,and now ,i  
shall speak wholly as an ,american to   
,americans1 not  because the destinies  
of the ,prayer ,book in the ,new ,world 
are  the more important1 though such may
 in the end turn out to be  the fact1   
but simply because we are at home here  
and know our own  wants and wishes1 our 
own liabilities and opportunities1 far  
better  than we can possibly know those 
of other people4 ,as a ,church we  have 
always tied ourselves too slavishly to  
,english precedent4 ,our  vine is       
greatly in danger of continuing merely a
 potted ivy1 an  indoor exotic4 ,the    
past of the ,common ,prayer we cannot   
disconnect  from ,england1 but its      
present and its future belong in part at
  least to us1 and it is in this light  
that we are bound as ,american          
,churchmen to study them4 ,let us agree1

 then1 that the usefulness  of the book 
here and now lies largely in the        
moulding and formative  influence which 
it is quietly exerting1 not only on the 
religion  of those who use it1 but also 
largely on the religion of the far      
greater number who publicly use it not4 
,it has interested me1 as  it would     
interest almost anyone1 to learn how    
many prayer books  our booksellers      
supply to ,christian people who are not 
,churchmen4  ,evidently the book is in  
use as a private manual with thousands1 
who own no open allegiance to the       
,protestant ,episcopal ,church4 ,they   
keep it on the devotional shelf midway  
between ,thomas a ,kempis and  the      
,pilgrim's ,progress1 finding it a sort 
of interpreter of the  one to the other1
 and possessed of a certain flavor      
differencing  it from both4 ,this is a  
happy augury for the future4 ,much      
latent  heat is generating which shall  
yet warm up the dullness of the land4   
,the seed-grain of the ,common ,prayer  

will not lie unproductive in  those     
forgotten furrows4 ,the fitness of such 
a system of worship  as this to         
counteract some of the flagrant evils of
 our popular  religion can scarcely fail
 to commend it to the minds of those who
  thus unobserved and1 as it were in    
secret1 read and ponder4  ,much of our  
,american piety1 fervid as it is1 shows 
confessedly  a feverish1 intermittent   
character which needs just such a tonic 
as the ,prayer ,book provides in what   
,keble happily called its sober         
standard of feeling in matters of       
practical religion4    ,then1 too1 there
 is the constantly increasing interest  
which it  is such a pleasure to observe 
among ,christians of all names in  the  
order of the ritual year1 in ,christmas 
and ,easter1 ,lent and                  
,good-,friday--who can tell how much of 
this may not be due to the  leavening   
influence of the ,prayer ,book1 over and
 above what is  effected by the public  
services of the ,church8 ,i wonder1 said

  a famous revivalist to a friend1 a    
clergyman of our ,church1 ,i  wonder if 
you ,episcopalians know what a good     
thing you have in  that year of yours4  
,why don't you use it more8    ,and true
 enough1 why do we not8 ,that we might  
learn to do so was a  wish very near to 
the heart of that holy and true man who1
 if  anyone1 deserves the title of the  
saint among our priests1 the  late ,dr4 
,muhlenberg1 the man who twenty-five    
years ago headed the  not wholly        
abortive movement known as the          
,memorial4#if ,one  fruit of that       
movement is perhaps to be seen in the   
earnest desire  now prevalent throughout
 the ,church to see the scope of the    
,prayer  ,book's influence enlarged4 ,in
 ,general ,conventions and ,church      
,congresses nowadays no topic excites   
greater interest than the  question how 
better to adapt the services of the     
,church to  the present needs and       
special conditions of all classes of the
  population4 ,to be sure1 the apparent 

impotence of the governing  body to find
 or furnish any lawful way of relief is 
a little  discouraging1 but it is       
something to see an almost universal    
assent given in terms1 to the           
proposition that relief ought to  be    
had4 ,what we have to fear is that      
during the long delay  which puts off   
the only proper and regular method of   
giving more  elasticity to the services1
 there may spring up a generation of    
,churchmen from whose minds the idea of 
obligation to law in matters  of ritual 
observance will have faded out          
altogether4    ,there is a conservatism 
so conservative that it will stand by   
and  see a building tumble down rather  
than lay a sacrilegious hand on  a      
single stone1 will see dam and mill and 
village all swept away  sooner than lift
 the flash-boards that keep the         
superabundant water  from coming safely 
down4 ,it is among the things possible1 
that for  lack of readjustment and      
timely adaptation of the laws regulating

  worship1 just such a fate may befall  
our whole liturgical fabric4    ,the    
plausible theory of the rubric of common
 sense1 about which  we have heard so   
much1 a theory good within limitations1 
is  threatening1 by the wholesale       
application it receives1 presently  to  
annul all other rubrics whatsoever4     
,when1 by this process1  uniformity and 
even similarity shall have been utterly 
abolished1  when it shall have become   
impossible for one to know beforehand of
  a ,sunday whether he is going to mass1
 or to meeting1 or to church1  the      
inquiry will be in order1 ,what has     
conservatism of this sort  really       
conserved8    ,the personal liberty of  
the officiating clergyman1 ,i fear  will
 be the only answer2 certainly not1 ,the
 liberty of the  worshipping            
congregation4 ,the straight and only    
honest way out  of our embarrassment    
will1 some day or other1 be found1 ,i   
dare not  believe very soon1 in a       
careful1 loving1 fair-minded revision of

  the formularies2 a revision           
undertaken1 not for the purpose of      
giving victory to one theological party 
rather than to another1 or  of changing 
in any degree the doctrinal teaching of 
the ,church1  but solely and wholly with
 a view to enriching1 amplifying1 and   
making more available the liturgical    
treasures of the book4    ,one          
generation passeth away1 another        
generation cometh4 ,as we  have seen in 
these words an argument in favor of not 
breaking with  the past1 so let them    
also speak to us of our plain duty to   
the  present4 ,true1 the great needs    
are1 as ,i have said1 common alike  to  
all the generations1 to those that pass 
and those that come2 but  the lesser    
needs are variable1 and unless we are   
prepared to take  the ground that       
because lesser they maybe disregarded   
altogether1  we are bound1 with the     
changed times1 to provide for the new   
wants  new satisfactions4 ,take1 simply 
by way of illustration1 the need we     

stand in of an appropriate form of third
 service for use on ,sundays  in city   
churches1 when ,morning and ,evening    
,prayer have been already  said         
according to the prescribed order4      
,why have we no such service8    ,simply
 because no such need existed in our    
,american cities when the  ,prayer      
,book1 as we have it now1 was taking    
shape1 at the close of  the last        
century4 ,just as no form for the       
administration of ,adult  ,baptism was  
put into ,queen ,elizabeth's ,prayer    
,book1 simply because  the usage of     
,infant ,baptism was universal in that  
day1 and there  were no unbaptized      
adults2 but such service was inserted at
 the  ,restoration to meet the need that
 had sprung up under the ,puritan       
regime2 so was it unnecessary in ,bishop
 ,white's day to provide for  a form of 
service which has only become           
practicable and desirable  since modern 
discovery has enabled us to make the    
public streets  almost as safe at night 

as in the daytime1 and church-going as  
easy  by gaslight as by sunlight4       
,now it is perfectly possible1 of       
course1 under the present order of      
things1 and with no change in rubric or 
canon law1 for any clergyman  to provide
 an additional service1 to provide it in
 the form of a  mosaic made up of bits  
of the liturgy wrenched out of their    
proper  places1 and so irregularly put  
together that no stranger among the     
worshippers can possibly1 with the book 
in hand1 thread his way  among its      
intricacies4    ,but when we consider   
how many exquisite gems of devotional   
speech  there are still left outside the
 covers of the ,prayer ,book2 when we   
consider how delightful it would be to  
have back again the  ,magnificat 1 and  
the ,nunc ,dimittis 1 and some of the   
sweet  versicles of the ,evensong of the
 ,church of ,england2 when we consider  
the lamentable mistake already made in  
our existing formularies of  introducing
 into ,morning and ,evening ,prayer     

identically the same  opening sentences1
 the same ,general ,exhortation1 the    
same ,general  ,confession1 the same    
,declaration of ,absolution1 the same   
,prayer for  the ,president1 and the    
same ,general ,thanksgiving--is it not  
evident  that an additional1 or1 if you 
please1 an alternative service1         
composed of material not elsewhere      
employed1 would be for the  worshippers 
a very great gain8 ,the repetition which
 wearies is  only the repetition which  
we feel need not have been4 ,we never   
tire of the ,collect for ,peace any more
 than we tire of the sunset4  ,it is in 
its place1 and we always welcome it4 ,in
 a perfect liturgy  no form of words1   
except the ,creed1 the ,doxology1 and   
the ,lord's  ,prayer1 would at any time 
reappear1 but as in arabesque work every
  square inch of space differs from     
every other square1 so each clause  and 
sentence of the manual of worship would 
have a distinctive  beauty of its own1  
to be looked for precisely there and    

nowhere  else4    ,this is but one      
illustration of what may be called a    
possible  enrichment of our ,book of    
,common ,prayer4 ,impoverishment under  
the name of revision may very justly be 
deprecated1 but who shall  find any just
 fault with an enrichment that is really
 such8    ,we must remember that the men
 who gave us what we now have were1 in  
their day and generation1 the           
innovators1 advocates of what the  more 
timid spirits accounted dangerous       
change4 ,we cannot1 ,i think1           
sufficiently admire the courageous      
foresight of those ,reformers  who1 at a
 time when public worship was mainly    
associated in men's  minds with what    
went on among a number of ecclesiastics 
gathered  together at one end of a      
church1 dared to plant themselves firmly
  on the principle of common prayer1 and
 to say1 ,henceforth the  worship of the
 ,national ,church shall be the worship 
not of priests  alone1 but of priests   
and people too4 ,what a bold act it was6

 ,the  printing-press1 remember1        
although it had given the impulse to the
  ,reformation1 was far from being at   
that time the omnipresent thing  it is  
now2 books were scarce2 popular         
education1 as we understand  it1 was    
unknown2 there were no means of         
supplying service-books to  the poorer  
classes 7no ,prayer ,book ,societies1   
like this of yours71  nor could the     
books have been used had they been      
furnished4 ,and yet  in the face of     
these seemingly insuperable obstacles1  
the leaders  of religious thought in the
 ,england of that day had the sagacity  
to plan a system of worship which should
 involve participation by  the people in
 all the acts of divine service1        
including the  administration of the    
sacraments4    ,here was genuine        
statesmanship applied to the            
administration of  religion4 ,those men 
discerned wisely the signs of their own 
times4  ,they saw what the right        
principle was1 they foresaw what the art

  of printing was destined in time to   
accomplish1 and they did a  piece of    
work which has bravely stood the wear   
and tear of full  three hundred years4  
,no ,churchman questions the wisdom of  
their innovations now4 ,is it  hopeless 
to expect a like quickness of           
discernment in the leaders  of to-day8  
,surely they have eyes to see that a new
 world has been  born1 and that a       
thousand unexampled demands are pressing
 us on  every side4 ,if the ,prayer     
,book is not enriched with a view to    
meeting those demands1 it is not for    
lack of materials4 ,a ,saturday         
reviewer has tried to fasten on the     
,church of ,england the stigma  of being
 the ,church which for the space of two 
centuries has not  been able to evolve a
 fresh prayer4    ,if the reproach were 
just it would be stinging indeed2 but it
 is  most cruelly unjust4 ,in the       
devotional literature of the            
,anglicanism  of the last fifty years1  
to go no further back1 there may be     

found  prayers fully equal in compass of
 thought and depth of feeling to  any of
 those that are already in public use4  
,not to single out  too many instances1 
it may suffice to mention the prayers   
appended  to the book of ,ancient       
,collects edited a few years since by a 
distinguished ,oxford scholar4 ,the     
clergy are acquainted with them1  and   
know how beautiful they are4 ,why should
 not the whole ,church  enjoy the       
happiness of using them8#ig ,why is     
there not the same  propriety in our    
garnering the devotional harvest of the 
three  hundred years last past that     
there was in the ,reformers garnering   
the harvest of five times three hundred 
years8    ,one generation passeth away1 
another generation cometh4 ,i have      
spoken of the present and the past1 what
 now of the future8 ,we  know that all  
things come to an end4 ,what destiny    
awaits the book  to which our evening   
thoughts have been given8 ,that is a    
path not  open to our tread4 ,the cloudy

 curtain screens the threshold of it4   
,still we may listen and imagine that we
 hear sounds4 ,what if such  a voice as 
this were to come to us from the        
distance of a hundred  years hence--a   
voice tinged with sadness1 and carrying 
just the  least suggestion of reproach8 
,our fathers1 the voice says1  in the   
last quarter of the last century1       
forfeited a golden  opportunity4 ,it was
 a time of reconstruction in the ,state1
 social  life was taking on the form it 
was destined long to retain1 a great    
war had come to an end and its results  
were being registered1 all  things were 
fluent4 ,moreover1 there happened1 just 
then1 to be an  almost unparalleled lull
 in the strife of religious parties2 men
  were more disposed than usual to      
agree2 the interest in liturgical       
research was at its greatest1 and       
scholars knew and cared more  than they 
have ever done since about the history  
and the structure  of forms of prayer4  
,nevertheless1 timid councils prevailed2

 nothing  was done with a view to better
 adapting the system to the needs of    
society1 and the hope that the ,church  
might cease to wear the  dimensions of a
 sect1 and might become the chosen home 
of a great  people1 died unrealized4 ,we
 struggle on1 a half-hearted company1   
and try to live upon the high           
traditions1 the sweet memories of our   
past4    ,god forbid1 my friends1 that  
the dismal prophecy come true6 ,we will 
not believe it4 ,but what1 you ask1 is  
the pathway to any such  betterment as  
,i have ventured roughly to sketch      
to-night8 ,i will  not attempt to map   
it1 but ,i feel very confident which way
 it  does not run4 ,i am sure it does   
not run through the region of           
disaffection1 complaint1 threatening1   
restlessness1 petulance1  or secession4 
,mere fretfulness never carries its     
points4 ,no1 the  true way to better    
things is always to begin by holding on 
manfully  to that which we already are  
convinced is good4 ,the best restorers  

of old fabrics are those who work with  
affectionate loyalty as  nearly as      
possible on the lines of the first      
builders1 averse to  any change which is
 made merely for change's sake1 not so  
anxious  to modernize as to restore1 and
 yet always awake to the fact that  what
 they have been set to do is to make the
 building once more what  it was first  
meant to be1 a practicable shelter4     
,,the ,,outcome ,,of ,,revision--,a     
,,sermon#ih       4 4 4 ,we are the     
servants of the ,god of heaven and      
earth1 and  build the house that was    
builded these many years ago4--,ezra    
v4#aa4    ,this was the reply of the    
rebuilders of ,jerusalem to certain     
critical lookers-on who would fain be   
informed by what authority  a           
picturesque ruin was disturbed4 ,it is a
 serviceable answer still4  ,there are  
always those to whom the activity of the
 ,christian ,church  is a standing      
puzzle4 ,religion1 or at any rate       
revealed religion1  having1 as they     

think1 received its death-blow1 the     
unmistakable  signs of life which1 from 
time to time1 it manifests take on      
almost  the character of a personal     
affront4 ,they resent them4 ,what right 
have these ,christians to be showing    
such a lively interest in their         
vanquished faith8 they ask4 ,what       
business have they to be holding        
councils1 and laying plans1 and acting  
as if they had some high and  splendid  
effort in hand8 ,are they such fools as 
to imagine that  they can reconstruct   
what has so evidently tumbled into ruin8
    ,but the wonderful thing about this 
great building enterprise known  as the 
kingdom of ,god is that1 from the day   
when the corner-stone  was laid to this 
day1 the workmen on the walls have never
 seemed to  know what it meant to be    
discouraged4 ,in the face of taunt and  
rebuff and disappointment1 they have    
kept on saying to their  critics3 ,we   
are the servants of the ,god of heaven  
and earth1 and  build the house that was

 builded these many years ago4 ,this is 
just what the ,church ,council which has
 been holding its sessions  in          
,baltimore during the last three weeks  
has to say for itself4  ,its task has   
been an architectural task4 ,according  
to its lights1  it has been at work upon
 the walls of the city of ,god4 ,let me 
give  you1 as my habit has been under   
similar circumstances in the past1  some
 account of its doings4    ,the ,general
 ,convention of #ahib will be memorable 
in our ecclesiastical  annals for having
 closed one question of grave moment    
only to open  a kindred one of still    
larger reach4 ,the question closed was  
the  question of liturgical revision2   
the question opened is the question  of 
constitutional revision4 ,i should like 
to speak to you this  morning           
retrospectively of the one1 and         
prospectively of the other4    ,it is   
now about twenty years since the        
question of modifying1 to  some extent1 
the methods of our public worship began 

to be mooted4    ,while it was          
acknowledged that the need was greater  
in the mother  country than here1 many  
of the repetitions and superfluities of 
the  ,english ,church service having    
been set aside by ,bishop ,white and    
his compeers in the ,american ,revision 
of #aghi1 it was felt that  further     
improvements were still possible1 and   
that the time had  fully come for making
 them4 ,since the beginning of the      
so-called  tractarian movement in the   
,church of ,england a great deal of     
valuable liturgical material had been   
accumulating1 and it was  discerned that
 if ever the fruits of the scholarship  
of such men  as ,palmer and ,neale and  
,maskell and ,bright were to be garnered
  the harvest-day had arrived4 ,to the  
question often asked why  it would not  
have been wiser to wait until the       
,church of ,england  had led the way and
 set the pattern1 the answer is that the
  hands of the ,church of ,england were 
tied1 as they have been  tied these many

 years past1 and as they may continue to
 be tied1  for aught we know to the     
contrary1 for many years to come4 ,the  
,church of ,england cannot touch her own
 ,prayer ,book1 whether to  mend or to  
mar it1 except with the consent of that 
very mixed  body1 the ,house of         
,commons--a consent she is naturally and
 properly  most loth to ask4 ,immersed  
in a veritable ocean of accumulated     
liturgical material1 she is as helpless 
as ,tantalus to moisten  her lips with  
so much as a single drop4 ,it was seen  
that this  fact laid upon us ,american  
,churchmen a responsibility as urgent   
as it was unique1 viz41 the             
responsibility of doing what we could   
to meet the devotional needs of         
present-day ,christendom1 not only  for 
our own advantage1 but with a view to   
being ultimately of  service to our     
,anglican brethren across the sea4 ,an  
experiment  of the greatest interest1   
which for them was a sheer              
impossibility1  it lay open to us to    

try4 ,after various abortive attempts   
had  come to nought1 a beginning was at 
length made in the ,general  ,convention
 of #ahhj1 a joint committee of bishops 
and deputies  being then appointed to   
consider whether1 in view of the fact   
that this ,church was soon to enter upon
 the second century of  its organized   
existence in ,america1 the changed      
condition of  the national life did not 
demand certain alterations in the ,book 
of ,common ,prayer in the direction of  
liturgical enrichment and  increased    
flexibility of use4    ,few were of the 
opinion at the time that anything       
definite would  come of the             
deliberations of this committee1 and the
 fact1 never  before publicly stated    
till this moment1 that of the deputies  
appointed to serve upon it the greater  
number were men who had  not voted in   
favor of the measure1 makes it all the  
more interesting  to remember that the  
report1 when brought in at ,philadelphia
  three years later1 was signed by every

 member of the committee  then living4  
,this ,philadelphia report recommended  
very numerous  changes in the direction 
both of flexibility and enrichment1  and
 by far the greater number of the       
recommendations met with the  approval  
of the convention4 ,there is1 however1 a
 very wise provision  of our ,church    
constitution1 a provision strikingly    
characteristic  of the ,anglo-,saxon    
mind1 which1 by way of making allowance 
for  second thought1 requires that      
liturgical changes1 before being        
finally adopted1 shall run the gauntlet 
of two successive conventions4  ,much   
was accepted at ,philadelphia2 it       
remained to be seen how much  would pass
 the ordeal of its second reading at    
,chicago three years  later4    ,into   
the war of words waged over the subject 
during that interval  period1 ,i have   
neither the time nor the disposition to 
carry you4  ,the three years1 while they
 gave opportunity for reaction1 also    
allowed space for counter-reaction2 so  

that when1 at last1 the  question came  
once more before the ,church in council 
assembled  whether the work done at     
,philadelphia should be approved or     
disallowed1 men's minds had sufficiently
 recovered balance to  permit of their  
exercising discrimination4 ,accordingly 
in #ahhf  some things were rejected1    
some adopted1 and some remanded for     
further revision4 ,but why should ,i    
confuse your minds by an attempt  to    
tell in detail the whole story of the   
movement8 ,no matter how  clear ,i might
 make the narrative it would be         
difficult to follow  it1 for in the     
progress of the work there have been    
surprises many1  successes and reverses 
not a few2 enough that1 at last1 the    
long  labor is ended and in this        
,columbian year the ship comes into     
port4    ,as to results1 their number   
and their quality1 opinions will of     
course differ4 ,in connection with this1
 as with all similar  undertakings1     
there are many to cry3 ,who will show us

 any good8  ,certainly nothing that     
could be called a radical change has    
been  brought to pass2 but then1 is     
there any reason to suppose that        
radical changes were either sought or   
desired by those who have  been active  
in the movement8 ,certain distinct and  
indisputable  gains may be counted up4  
,the recovery of the great ,gospel hymns
  come under this head4 ,there are some 
of us who think that only to  have      
succeeded in replacing the ,magnificat  
and the ,nunc ,dimittis  in the ,evening
 ,prayer is of itself a sufficient      
reward for years  of effort1 but this is
 only a small part of our harvest4 ,the 
new  opening sentences for ,morning and 
,evening ,prayer1 which have so  adorned
 and beautified our observance of great 
festivals1 the  remodelling of the      
,ash-,wednesday service1 the recovered  
,feast of  the ,transfiguration1 the    
various provisions for adapting the     
,church's worship to the exigencies of  
times and seasons1 the  increased       

freedom in the use of the ,psalter1 all 
these go to make  up an aggregate of    
betterment the measure of which will be 
more  fully understood as time goes on4 
,parturiunt montes is an easy  verdict  
to pronounce2 it remains to be proved   
whether in this case  it is a just one  
to render4 ,if there are some 7as       
doubtless some  there are7 who hold that
 the sample book presented at           
,philadelphia  in #ahhc1 faulty as it   
confessedly was1 is still1 all things   
considered1 a better book for ,american 
needs than the standard  finally adopted
 at ,baltimore1 week before last1 if    
there are some  who deeply regret the   
failure to include among our special    
offices  one for the burial of little   
children1 and among our prayers         
intercessions for the country1 for the  
families of the land1 for  schools of   
good learning1 for employers and those  
whom they employ1  together with many   
other forms of supplication gathered    
from the  wide field of ,english        

liturgiology--if1 ,i say1 there arc some
 who  are of this mind they must comfort
 themselves with the reflection  that1  
after all1 they are a minority1 that the
 greater number of  those upon whom     
rested the responsibility of decision   
did not wish  for these additions1 and  
that the things which finally found     
acceptance were the things unanimously  
desired4 ,for1 when we think  of it1    
this is perhaps the very best feature of
 the whole thing1  looked at in its     
length and breadth1 that there is no    
defeated  party1 no body of people who  
feel that they have a right to fret  and
 sulk because unpalatable changes have  
been forced upon them by  narrow        
majorities4 ,it is a remarkable fact1   
that of the many scores  of alterations 
effected1 it can be truly said that1    
with rare1 very  rare exceptions1 they  
found1 when it came to the decisive     
vote1  what was practically a unanimous 
consent4 ,they were things that         
everybody wanted4    ,as to the         

annoyance and vexation experienced by   
worshippers  during the years the       
revision has been in progress1 perhaps  
the  very best thing that can be done1  
now that the end is so near at  hand1   
will be to forget all about it4 ,in a   
few months1 at the  furthest1 the       
,prayer ,book1 in its complete form1    
will be available  for purchase and use1
 and the hybrid copies which have been  
so  long in circulation1 to the scandal 
of people of fastidious taste1  will    
quickly vanish away4 ,meanwhile1 it is  
interesting to know  that all through   
this stretch of years while the ,prayer 
,book has  been in solution1 as some    
have been fond of phrasing it1 the      
,episcopal ,church has exhibited a rate 
of growth quite unparalleled  in its    
history4    ,of course nobody can say   
with certainty what has caused the      
increase4 ,but it is at least           
conceivable that among the accelerating 
forces has been this very work of       
liturgical revision4 ,people at  large  

have been made aware that this ,church  
was honestly endeavoring  to adapt its  
system of worship to the needs of our   
time and country2  and the mere fact of 
their seeing this to be the case has    
served to  allay prejudice and to foster
 a spirit of inquiry4 ,finding us       
disposed to relax something of our      
rigidity1 they1 on their part1  have    
been first attracted1 then conciliated1 
and finally completely  won4    ,i      
cannot leave this subject without paying
 a personal tribute  to a prelate but   
for whose aid in the ,house of which he 
is a  distinguished ornament1 liturgical
 revision would1 humanly speaking1  have
 long ago come to nought4 ,to the       
fearlessness1 the patience1 the  kindly 
temper1 and the resolute purpose of     
,william ,croswell ,doane1  ,bishop of  
,albany1 this ,church for these results 
stands deeply and  lastingly indebted4  
,when others' courage failed them1 he   
stood firm2  when friends and colleagues
 were counselling retreat1 and under    

their breath were whispering ,fiasco6   
and ,collapse6 his spirit  never        
faltered4 ,he has been true to a great  
purpose1 at the cost of  obloquy        
sometimes1 and to the detriment even of 
old friendships4  ,separated from him by
 a dozen shades of theological opinion  
and by  as many degrees of              
ecclesiastical bias1 ,i render him here 
and now  that homage of grateful        
appreciation which every ,churchman owes
 him4    ,so much for the ship that has 
dropped anchor4 ,i have left my self    
but a few moments in which to say       
,god-speed to the other craft which  is 
even now sliding down the ways1 ready   
for the great deep4 ,put  perhaps it is 
just as well4 ,history is always a safer
 line to enter  upon than prophecy2 and 
were ,i to say all that is in my mind   
and  heart as to the possibilities of   
this new venture of faith on the        
,church's part1 constitutional revision1
 ,i might be betrayed into  expressions 
of hopefulness which would strike most  

of you as  overwrought4    ,suffice it  
to say1 that never since the            
,reformation of ,religion  in the       
sixteenth century has a fairer prospect 
been opened to  the ,church of our      
affections than is opened to her to-day4
 ,no  interpretation of the divine      
purpose with respect to this broad  land
 we name ,america has one-half so much  
of likelihood as that  which makes our  
country the predestined building plot   
for the  ,church of the ,reconciliation4
    ,all signs point that way4 ,to us1  
if we have but the eyes to see it1      
there falls1 not through any merit of   
our own1 but by the accident1  if it be 
right to use that word1 by the accident 
of historical  association1 the         
opportunity of leadership4    ,it is    
possible for us1 at this crisis of our  
destiny1 so to mould  our organic law   
that we shall be brought into           
sympathetic contact  with hundreds of   
thousands of our fellow-countrymen who  
worship the  same ,god1 hold the same   

faith1 love the same ,christ4 ,on the   
other  hand1 it is possible for us so to
 fence ourselves off from this  huge    
family of our fellow-believers as to    
secure for our lasting  heritage only   
the cold privileges of a proud and      
selfish isolation4  ,there could be no  
real catholicity in such a choice as    
that4    ,we have the opportunity of    
growing into a great and comprehensive  
,church4 ,we have the opportunity of    
dwindling into a self-conscious1        
self-conceited1 and unsympathetic sect4 
,which shall it be8 ,with  those to     
whom1 under ,god1 the remoulding of our 
organic law has  been intrusted it      
largely rests to say4      ,,comparative
 ,,table ,,of ,,additions ,,made ,,to   
,,the ,,book ,,of ,,common ,,prayer ,,at
  ,,the ,,several ,,revisions ,,since   
#aedi4                                  
#aeeb   #aeei   #afjd   #affb   #aghi   
#ahib  ,scripture ,sentences       #aa  
#h     #ca  ,collects                   
#c      #a      #c  ,epistles           

#b      #a      #c  ,gospels            
#a      #a      #c  ,offices            
#ac                    #h      #a       
#a  ,prayers                   #ae      
#b     #g     #ah     #ac      #i       
,proper ,psalms 7days7                  
#b            #aj  ,selections of       
,psalms                                 
#aj     #aj  ,canticles                 
#h      #b  ,versicles                  
#d                    #c            #aa 
,litany ,suffrages                   #a 
#a  ,catechetical ,questions            
#ab  ,exhortations               #c     
#b          ,,notes    ,notes for a     
,short ,history of the ,book of ,common 
,prayer    #a ,first printed in the     
,american ,church ,review1 ,april1      
#ahha4    #b ,much confusion of thought 
and speech in connection with our       
ecclesiastical legislation grows out of 
not keeping in mind the  fact that here 
in ,america the organic genetic law of  
the ,church1  as well as of the ,state1 
is in writing1 and compacted into       

definite  propositions4 ,we draw1 that  
is to say1 a far sharper distinction    
than it is possible to do in ,england   
between what is constitutional  and what
 is simply statutory4 ,there is no      
function of our ,general  ,convention   
that answers to the omnipotence of      
,parliament4 ,this  creative faculty was
 vacated once for all at the adoption of
 the  ,constitution4    #c ,conferences1
 p4 #dfa4    #d ,principles of ,divine  
,service1 vol4 i4 p4 #cij4    #e ,church
 ,quarterly ,review1 ,london1 ,october1 
#ahgf4    #f ,the votes of the ,house of
 ,bishops are not reported numerically4 
,in the ,house of ,clerical and ,lay    
,deputies the vote stood as  follows3   
,of the ,clergy there were #dc ,dioceses
 represented--,ayes1  #cc2 nays1 #i2    
divided1 #a4 ,of the ,laity there were  
#ce ,dioceses  represented--,ayes1 #bj2 
nays1 #aa2 divided1 #d4--;,journal of   
,convention of #ahhj1 p4 #aeb4    #g    
,church ,eclectic for ,november1 #ahhj4 
#h ,remembering the deluge of centennial

 rhetoric let loose  upon the country   
five years ago1 another critic may well 
feel  justified in finding in the       
language of the resolution what he      
considers an unnecessary raison d'etre4 
,but it is just possible  that          
centennial changes rest on a basis of   
genuine cause and effect  quite         
independent of the decimal system4 ,a   
century covers the range  of three      
generations1 and the generation is a    
natural1 not an  arbitrary division of  
time4 ,what the grandfather practises   
the son  criticises and the grandson    
amends4 ,this at least ought to commend 
itself to the consideration of the      
lovers of mystical numbers and  periodic
 laws4    #i ,the real argument against 
the driblet method 7by which is  meant  
the concession of improvement only as it
 is actually conquered  inch by inch7   
lies in what has been already said about
 the  undesirability of frequent changes
 in widely used formularies of  worship4
    ,it may be true1 as some allege1    

that a revision of the ,prayer ,book    
would shake the ,church1 but it is more 
likely that half a dozen  patchings at  
triennial intervals would shatter it4   
,after twenty  years of this sort of    
piecemeal revision1 a variorum edition  
of  the ,prayer ,book would be a        
requisite of every well furnished pew4  
,the late ,convention has been twitted  
with inconsistency on the  score of     
having negatived outright the proposal  
for a ,commission  to overhaul the      
,constitution of the ,church while      
consenting to  send the ,prayer ,book to
 a committee for review4 ,discernment   
would  be a better word than            
inconsistency1 for although on grounds  
of  pure theory the ,constitution and   
the ,prayer ,book seem to stand in      
corresponding attitudes as respects     
methods of amendment1 in  practice the  
difference between the two is very wide4
 ,triennial  changes in the letter of   
the ,constitution 7and these have often 
been made7 involve no inconvenience to  

anybody1 for the simple  reason that    
that document must of necessity be      
reprinted with every  fresh issue of the
 ,journal4 ,old copies do not continue  
in use1  except as books of reference1  
but old ,prayer ,books do hold their    
place in parish churches1 and the       
spectacle of congregations trying  to   
worship in unison with books some of    
which contained the reading  of #ahhj1  
others that of #ahhc1 and still others  
that of #ahhf would  scarcely edify4    
,theoretically1 let it be freely        
granted1 the  driblet method of         
amendment is the proper one for both    
,prayer  ,book and ,constitution1 but   
the fact that the ,convention had eyes  
to see that this was a case to which the
 maxims of pure mathematics  did not    
apply should be set down to its credit1 
rather than its  discredit4    #aj      
,reprinted together with a supplementary
 ,letter in the ,journal  of the        
,convention of #ahfh4    #aa ,dr4       
,coit's ,letter of #ahfh1 also reprinted

 in ,journal of that  year4    #ab ,see 
,book of ,common ,prayer according to   
the use of ,king's  ,chapel1 ,boston4   
,among the rhetorical crudities of this 
emasculated  ,prayer ,book 7from the    
title-page of which1 by the way1 the    
definite  article has been with         
praiseworthy truthfulness omitted7 few  
things  are worse than the following    
from the form for the ,burial of        
,children1 a piece of writing which in  
point of style would seem  to savor more
 of the ,lodge than of the ,church3 ,my 
brethren1 what  is our life8 ,it is as  
the early dew of morning that glittereth
 for  a short time1 and then is exhaled 
to heaven4 ,where is the beauty  of     
childhood8 ,where is sic the light of   
those eyes and the bloom  of that       
countenance8 4 4 4 ,who is young and who
 is old8 ,whither  are we going and what
 shall we become8 ,and yet the author of
  this mawkish verbiage probably fancied
 that he was improving upon  the stately
 ,english of the ,common ,prayer4 ,it is

 a warning to all  would-be enrichers4  
#ac ,a list of the more noticeable      
,anglican works on ,liturgies  published
 during the period named1 arranged in   
the order of their  appearance1 will    
serve to illustrate the accuracy of the 
statement  made above1 and may also be  
of value to the general reader for      
purposes of reference4    #ahcb4        
,origines ,liturgicae1 ,william ,palmer4
 #ahcc-da4 ,tracts for  the ,times4     
#ahdj4 ,conferences on the ,book of     
,common ,prayer1 ,edward  ,cardwell4    
#ahdc4 ,the ,choral ,service of the     
,churches of ,england and  ,ireland1    
,john ,jebb4 #ahdd4 ,the ,ancient       
,liturgy of the ,church of  ,england1   
,william ,maskell4 #ahde4 ,pickering's  
,reprints of the ,prayer  ,books of     
#aedi1 #aeeb1 #aeei1 #afjc1 and #affb4  
#ahdf4 ,monumenta  ,ritualia1 ,william  
,maskell4 #ahdg4 ,reliquiae ,liturgicae1
 ,peter  ,hall4 #ahdh4 ,fragmenta       
,liturgica1 ,peter ,hall4 #ahdi4 ,book  
of ,common  ,prayer with ,notes legal   

and historical1 ,a4 ,j4 ,stephens4      
,manuscript  ,book of ,common ,prayer   
for ,ireland1 ,a4 ,j4 ,stephens4        
,tetralogia  ,liturgica1 ,john ,mason   
,neale4 #ahec4 ,two ,liturgies of       
,edward ,,vi41  ,edward ,cardwell4      
#ahee4 ,principles of ,divine ,service1 
,philip  ,freeman4 ,history of the ,book
 of ,common ,prayer1 ,f4 ,proctor4      
#aheh4  ,history of the ,book of ,common
 ,prayer1 ,t4 ,lathbury4 #ahei4         
,directorium ,anglicanum1 ,j4 ,purchas4 
#ahfa4 ,ancient ,collects1  ,william    
,bright4 #ahfe4 ,liber ,precum          
,publicarum1 ,bright and ,medd4  #ahfe4 
,the ,priest's ,prayer ,book4 #ahfe4    
,history of the ,book of ,common        
,prayer1 ,r4 ,p4 ,blakeney4 #ahff4 ,the 
,prayer ,book ,interleaved1 ,campion    
and ,beaumont4 #ahff4 ,the ,annotated   
,book of ,common ,prayer1 ,j4 ,h4       
,blunt4 #ahgj4 ,the ,liturgy of the     
,church of ,sarum1 ,translated1         
,charles ,walker4 #ahgj4 ,the ,first    
,prayer ,book of ,edward ,,vi4 with  the

 ,ordinal1 ,walton and ,medd4 #ahgb4    
,psalms and ,litanies1 ,rowland         
,williams4 #ahgb4 ,notitia              
,eucharistica1 ,w4 ,e4 ,scudamore4      
#ahge-hj4  ,dictionary of ,christian    
,antiquities1 ,smith and ,cheetham4     
#ahgf4  ,first ,prayer ,book of ,edward 
,,vi41 compared with the successive     
,revisions1 ,james ,parker4 #ahgg4      
,introduction to the ,history of the    
successive ,revisions of the ,book of   
,common ,prayer1 ,james ,parker4  #ahgh4
 ,liturgies--,eastern and ,western1 ,c4 
,e4 ,hammond4 #ahhj4 ,the  ,convocation 
,prayer ,book4    #ad ,tract ,no4 #c4   
,thoughts respectfully addressed to the 
,clergy on  alterations in the ,liturgy4
    #ae ,one of the most curious        
illustrations of the spread of          
,anglican ideas about worship now in    
progress is to be found in  the         
upspringing in the very bosom of        
,scottish ,presbyterianism of  a        
,,church ,,service ,,society4 ,two of   
the publications of this ,society  have 

lately fallen in the present writer's   
way4 ,they bear the  imprint of ,wm4    
,blackwood  ,sons1 ,edinburgh1 and are  
entitled  respectively1 ,a ,book of     
,common ,order1 and ,home ,prayer4 ,with
  questionable good taste the compilers 
have given to the former  work a ,greek 
and to the latter a ,latin sub-title    
7,evxolioyiov  and ,suspiria            
,domestica74 ,both books have many      
admirable points1  although1 in view of 
the facts of history1 there is a        
ludicrous  side to this attempt to      
commend ,english viands to ,northern    
palates  under a thin garniture of      
,scottish herbs which probably has not  
wholly escaped the notice of the        
compilers themselves4    #af ,see ,the  
,guardian 7,london71 ,february #i1      
#ahha4    #ag ,unless finally to beat   
down ,satan under our feet1 be  reckoned
 an exception4    #ah ,lectures on      
,justification1 p #chj4    #ai ,the     
rationale of this curious lapse is      
simple4 ,the ,american  revisers1       

instead of transferring the ,commination
 ,office in toto  to the new book1      
wisely decided to engraft certain       
features of  it upon the ,morning       
,prayer for ,ash-,wednesday4 ,in the    
process1 the  fifty-first ,psalm1 which 
has a recognized place in the           
,commination1  dropped out1 instead of  
being transferred1 as it should have    
been1  to the proper psalms4    #bj ,see
 the ,convocation ,prayer ,book4    #ba 
,prayer ,book ,interleaved1 p4 #fe4     
#bb ,a curious illustration of the      
sensitiveness of the ,protestant        
,episcopal mind to anything that can be 
supposed even remotely to  endanger our 
doctrinal settlement was afforded at the
 late ,general  ,convention1 when the   
,house of ,deputies was thrown into     
something  very like a panic by a most  
harmless suggestion with reference to   
the opening sentences of the ,litany4 ,a
 venerable and thoroughly  conservative 
deputy from ,south ,carolina had        
ventured to say that  it would be       

doctrinally an improvement if the tenet 
of the double  procession of the ,holy  
,ghost were to be removed from the third
 of  the invocations1 and a devotional  
improvement if the language of  the     
fourth were to be phrased in words more 
literally ,scriptural  and less markedly
 theological than those at present in   
use4 ,eager  defenders of the faith     
instantly leaped to their feet in       
various  parts of the ,house1 persuaded 
that a deadly thrust had been aimed  at 
the doctrine of the ,trinity4 ,never was
 there a more gratuitous  misconception4
 ,the real intrenchment of the doctrine 
of the  ,trinity1 so far as the ,litany 
is concerned1 lies in the four  opening 
words of the second and the five opening
 words of the  third of the invocations1
 and these it had not been proposed to  
touch4 ,in confirmation of this view of 
the matter1 it is pertinent  to instance
 the ,book of ,family ,prayers lately   
put forth by a  ,committee of the ,upper
 ,house of the ,convocation of          

,canterbury4  ,this manual provides no  
fewer than six different ,litanies1 all 
of  them opening with addresses to the  
three ,persons of the adorable          
,trinity1 and yet in no one instance is 
the principle advocated by  the deputy  
from ,south ,carolina unrecognized4     
,every one of the six  ,litanies begins 
with language similar to that which he  
recommended4  ,see also in witness of   
the mediaeval use1 which partially bears
  out ,mr4 ,mc,crady's thought1 the     
ancient ,litany reprinted by ,maskell   
from ,the ,prymer in ,english4 ,mon4    
,hit4 ii4 p4 #ie4 ,if the ,upper  ,house
 of the ,convocation of ,canterbury1    
fondly supposed by us  ,anglicans to be 
the very citadel of sound doctrine1 be  
thus tainted  with heresy1 upon what can
 we depend8    ,polemical considerations
 aside1 probably even the most orthodox 
would allow that the invocations of the 
,litany might gain in  devotional power1
 while losing nothing in august majesty1
 were  the third to run--,o ,god the    

,holy ,ghost1 ,sanctifier of the        
faithful1 have mercy upon us miserable  
sinners4 ,and the fourth  as in ,bishop 
,heber's glorious hymn1 ,holy1 ,holy1   
,holy1 ,lord ,god  ,almighty1 have mercy
 upon us miserable sinners4 ,but all    
this is  doctrinal and plainly ultra    
vires4    #bc ,a very natural           
explanation1 by the way1 of the fact1   
often  noticed1 that there is no        
petition in the ,litany for an increase 
of the ministry4    #bd ,here1 i4 e41 in
 connection with ,saints' ,day services1
  would be an admirable opportunity for 
the introduction into  liturgical use of
 the ,beatitudes4 ,what could possibly  
be more  appropriate8 ,and yet these    
much loved words of ,christ have seldom 
been given the place in worship they    
deserve4    ,they do find recognition as
 an antiphon in the ,liturgy of ,st4    
,chrysostom4 ,to reassert a usage       
associated in the history of  liturgies 
with the name of this ,father of the    
,church and with his  name only1 would  

be to pay him better honor than we now  
show by  three times inserting in our   
,prayer ,book the collect conjecturally 
his--a thing the ,golden-mouthed        
himself1 when in the flesh1 would  not  
have dreamed of doing4 ,once1 he would  
have said1 is enough4    #be ,the       
,priest's ,prayer ,book has #fhh 7667   
mostly juiceless4      #bf ,in          
connection with this clause there sprang
 up an animated  and interesting debate 
in the ,house of ,deputies as to the    
wisdom  of thus seeming to cut off every
 opportunity for extemporary prayer  in 
our public services4 ,up to this time1  
it was alleged1 a liberty  had existed  
of using after sermon1 if the preacher  
were disposed to  do so1 the free prayer
 which before sermon it was confessedly 
not permitted him to have--why thus cut 
off peremptorily an  ancient privilege8 
why thus sharply annul a traditional if 
not a  chartered right8    ,at first    
sight this distinction between before   
and after sermon  looks both arbitrary  

and artificial1 but when examined there 
is  found to be a reason in it4 ,the    
sermon1 especially in the case of       
emotional preachers1 is a sort of bridge
 of transition from what  we may call   
the liturgical to the spontaneous mood  
of mind1 and if  the speaker has carried
 his listeners with him they are across 
the bridge at the same moment with      
himself4 ,the thing that would  have    
been incongruous before1 becomes natural
 after the minister  has been for some  
time speaking less in his priestly than 
in his  personal character4    ,the     
notion that the points at issue between 
the advocates of  liturgical and the    
advocates of extemporaneous worship can 
be  settled by a promiscuous jumbling   
together of the two modes1 is  a fond   
conceit1 as the ,reformed ,episcopalians
 will doubtless confess  when they shall
 have had time enough to make full trial
 of the  following rubrics in their     
,prayer-book3    ,then shall the        
,minister say the ,collects and ,prayers

 following in  whole or in part1 or     
others at his discretion4    ,here may  
be used any of the occasional ,prayers1 
or extemporaneous  ,prayer4    ,this is 
bad philosophy4 ,it need not be said    
that such directions  are               
undevotional--for doubtless they were   
piously meant2 but it  must be said that
 they are inartistic 7if the word may be
 allowed71  at variance with the fitness
 of things and counter to the instinct  
of purity4 ,formality and informality   
are two things that cannot  be mingled  
to advantage4 ,there is place and time  
for each4 ,the  secret of the power of  
liturgical worship is wrapped up with   
the  principle of order4 ,a certain     
majesty lies in the movement which  is  
without break4 ,on the other hand the   
charm of extemporaneous  devotion1 and  
it is sometimes a very real charm1 is   
traceable to our  natural interest in   
whatever is irregular1 fresh1 and       
spontaneous4    ,to suppose that we can 
secure at any given time the good       

effects of  both methods by some trick  
of combination is an error--as well     
attempt to arrange on the same plot of  
ground a ,french and an  ,english       
garden4 ,if indeed ,christian people    
could bring themselves  to acknowledge  
frankly the legitimacy of both methods  
and provide  amicably for their separate
 use1 a great step forward in the       
direction of ,church unity would have   
been achieved2 but for a  catholicity so
 catholic as this1 public opinion is not
 yet ripe1  and perhaps may not be ripe 
for centuries to come4 ,those who       
believe in the excellency of liturgies1 
while not believing in  them as jure    
divino1 would be well content in such a 
case to  wait the working of the        
principle of the survival of the        
fittest4    #bg ,the able and           
fair-minded jurist who first hit upon   
this  ingenious scheme for patching the 
,ratification has lately1 with          
characteristic frankness1 said          
substantially this under his own        

signature4    ,the proper place for the 
amendment1 he writes1 is at the end  of 
the first rubric preceding the sentences
 of ,scripture for both  ,morning and   
,evening ,prayer1 after the word        
,scripture1 as everyone  can see by     
looking4 ,he adds3 ,this1 however1 is   
only a question  of form1 and ought not 
to interfere with the adoption of the   
amendment at the next ,convention4 ,it  
is to be hoped that the  resolution for 
enrichment1 so called1 will present a   
variety of  additions out of which an   
acceptable selection can be made2 and   
when they are finally carried that the  
,book of ,common ,prayer will  be not   
only the standard book1 but a sealed    
book1 so to speak1 for  as many         
generations as have passed since the    
present book was  adopted4--,letter of  
the ,hon4 ,j4 ,b4 ,howe of ,indiana in  
,the  ,churchman for ,january #bi1      
#ahha4    #bh ,see page #egh of         
,evangelical ,catholic ,papers4 ,a      
collection  of ,essays1 ,letters1 and   

,tractates from ,writings of ,rev4 ,wm4 
,augustus ,muhlenberg1 ,d4 ,d4 during   
the last forty years4    ,the failure of
 this devout and venerated man to secure
 sundry  much desired liturgical        
improvements 7although it yet remains to
  be seen whether the failure has been  
total7 was perhaps due to a  certain    
vagueness inherent in his plans of      
reform4 ,a clear vision  of the very    
thing desired seems to have been        
lacking1 or at least  the gift of       
imparting it to others4 ,but even as no 
man has deserved  better of the         
,american ,episcopal ,church than he1 so
 it is no more  than right that his     
deeply cherished wishes should be had in
  careful remembrance4    #bi ,now a    
black-letter day in the ,english        
,calendar4    #cj ,the ,convocation     
,prayer ,book1 in loc4    #ca           
,originally only an explanatory rubric4 
,see ,procter1 p4 #cig4    #cb ,let us  
hope that before long there may be      
devised some better  way of providing   

relief for our ,widows and ,orphans than
 that of  the indirect taxation of the  
singers of hymns4    #cc ,the ,greek    
,office ,books1 it is said1 fill        
eighteen quartos4    #cd ,in that naive 
and racy bit of ,english 7omitted in our
  ,american book7 entitled ,concerning  
the ,service of the ,church1  one of the
 very choicest morsels is the following3
 ,moreover1  the number and hardness of 
the ,rules called the ,pie1 and the     
manifold changings of the ,service1 was 
the cause1 that to turn  the ,book only 
was so hard and intricate a matter1 that
 many times  there was more business to 
find out what should be read than to    
read it when it was found out4    #ce   
,it may be wise to buttress the position
 taken with a  quotation out of ,dr4    
,coit4    ,we really1 however1 do not   
see any necessity for either of  these  
,services in ,american ,books1 as with  
us the ,ordinal always1  now1 makes a   
part of the ,prayer ,book in all        
editions4 ,it would  be a saving to     

expunge them and no change would be     
necessary1  except the introduction of  
such a litanical petition and suffrage  
with the ,services for ,deacons and     
,priests1 as already exists in  the     
,service for ,bishops4 ,the ,church of  
,england retains the ,litany  in her    
,ordinal1 for that1 until latterly1 was 
printed in a separate  book1 and was not
 to be had unless ordered expressly4    
,and yet with  even such a practice she 
has but one ,communion ,service4 ,we    
study  cheapness and expedition in our  
day4 ,they can both be consulted  here1 
salvafide et salva ecclesia4--,report of
 #ahdd4    #cf ,first printed in ,the   
,church ,review1 #ahhf4    #cg ,the     
,rev4 ,dr4 ,orlando ,hutton4    #ch     
,priest's ,prayer ,book1 ,fifth edition1
 pp4 #bch1 #bdc1 #bha4    #ci ,the      
,prayer for ,imprisoned ,debtors is     
believed to be the  only formulary      
actually dropped4    #dj ,the ,church   
,quarterly ,review for ,april1 #ahhd1   
and ,july1  #ahhd4 ,the ,church ,times  

for ,august #bi1 #ahhd2 also ,july #ca1 
,august  #g1 #ad1 #ba1 #bh1 ,september  
#d1 #ahhe4 ,the ,guardian for ,july #bj1
 #ahhe4    #da ,recall the ,additional  
,hymns of #ahfh4    #db ,this proposal  
of arbitration has occasioned so much   
innocent  mirth that1 in justice to the 
maker of it1 attention should be  called
 to the ambiguity of the language in    
which it is couched4  ,the wording of   
the passage is vague4 ,it is just       
possible that by  the question which he 
would be content to submit to the       
judgment  of the four specified men of  
letters1 he means1 not1 as he has been  
understood to mean1 the whole           
subject-matter of ,the ,book ,annexed1  
but only the abstract question whether  
verbal variations from the  ,english    
original of the ,common ,prayer be or be
 not1 on grounds of  purity of style1   
desirable4 ,even if this be all that he 
means there  is perhaps still room for a
 smile1 but1 at all events1 he ought to 
have the benefit of the doubt4    #dc   

,discussions and ,arguments1 p4 #cda4   
#dd ,the list might be brought down as  
late as the authorities  pleased to     
bring it1 even to include1 if they      
chose1 such names  as ,john ,keble1     
,james ,de ,koven1 and ,ferdinand       
,ewer4--,the ,church  ,times for ,august
 #ad1 #ahhe4    #de ,this form of       
absolution suggested as an alternate in 
,the  ,book ,annexed is taken from the  
source mentioned4    #df ,the paper read
 by the ,dean of ,worcester dealt       
exclusively  with the legal aspects of  
the question as it concerns the ,church 
of ,england4    #dg ,the ,rev4 ,edgar   
,morris ,dumbleton 7,rector of ,st4     
,james's1  ,exeter74    #dh ,the ,rev4  
,george ,venables 7,hon4 ,canon of      
,norwich and ,vicar  of ,great          
,yarmouth74    #di ,the ,rev4 ,arthur   
,james ,robinson 7,rector of            
,whitechapel74    #ej ,see letter of ,j4
 ,l4 ,w4 in ,the ,southern ,churchman   
for  ,august #f1 #ahhe4    #ea ,see     
letter of ,ritualist in ,the ,standard  

of the ,cross  for ,july #b1 #ahhe4     
#eb ,see the ,report of the ,committee  
of the ,council of the  ,diocese of     
,wisconsin1 passim4    #ec ,the evident 
intention of the ,joint ,committee in   
the  introduction of this ,canticle was 
to make it possible to shorten  the     
,morning ,prayer on week-days1 without  
spoiling the structure  of the office1  
as is now often done1 by leaving out one
 of the  ,lessons4 ,it is certainly open
 to question whether a better  alternate
 might not have been provided1 but it is
 surprising to  find so well furnished a
 scholar as the ,wisconsin critic       
speaking  of the ,benedictus es ,domine 
as a liturgical novelty1 derived        
neither from the ,anglican or the more  
ancient service-hooks4 ,as  a matter of 
fact the ,benedictus es ,domine was sung
 daily in the  ,ambrosian ,rite at      
,matins1 and is found also in the       
,mozarabic  ,breviary4    #ed ,see      
,wisconsin ,report1 p4 #e4    #ee ,see  
the precautions recommended in ,the     

,living ,church ,annual  for #ahhf1 p4  
#acb1 art4 ,tabernacle4    #ef ,in this 
respect ,the ,book ,annexed may be      
compared to ,the  ,convocation ,prayer  
,book published by ,murray in #ahhj1 for
 the  purpose of showing what the       
,english ,book would be like if amended 
in conformity with the recommendations  
of the ,convocations of  ,canterbury and
 ,york1 contained in reports presented  
to her ,majesty  the ,queen in the year 
#ahgi4    #eg ,the ,report was adopted4 
#eh ,in addition to the ,maryland       
,report we have now a still more        
admirable one from ,central ,new ,york4 
#ei ,strangely enough the ,elizabethan  
period1 so rich in genius  of every     
other type1 seems to have been almost   
wholly barren of  liturgical power4 ,men
 had not ceased to write prayers1 as a  
stout  volume in the ,parker ,society's 
,library abundantly evidences2 but  they
 had ceased to write them with the      
terseness and melody that  give to the  
style of the great ,churchmen of the    

earlier reigns so  singular a charm4    
#fj ,the liturgical manuscripts of      
,sanderson and ,wren1 made  public only 
recently by the late ,bishop of         
,chester1 ought to be  included under   
this head4    #fa ,many of these        
,treasuries1 ,golden ,gates1 and the    
like1  have here and there something    
good1 but for the most part they  are   
disfigured by sins against that sober   
standard of feeling1  than which1 as a  
high authority assures us1 nothing      
except a sound  rule of faith is more   
important in matters of practical       
religion4 ,of all of them1 ,scudamore's 
unpretentious little  ,manual is1       
perhaps1 the best4    #fb ,for a        
conspectus of the various title-pages1  
see ,keeling's  ,litugiae ,britannicae1 
,london1 #ahdb4    #fc ,the question of 
a change in the name of the ,church is a
  constitutional1 and in no sense a     
liturgical question4 ,let it be         
considered at the proper time1 and in a 
proper way1 but why thrust  it          

precipitately into a discussion to which
 it is thoroughly  foreign8    #fd ,by  
the ,maryland ,committee4    #fe ,this  
paragraph was written before the author 
had been  privileged to read ,prof4     
,gold's interesting paper in ,the       
,seminarian4 ,it is only proper to say  
that this accomplished  writer and very 
competent critic does object            
emphatically to  the theory that the    
opening ,sentences are designed to give 
the  key-note of the ,service4 ,but here
 he differs with ,blunt1 as  elsewhere  
in the same paper he dissents from      
,freeman and from  ,littledale1         
admirably illustrating by his proper    
assertion of  an independent judgment1  
the difficulty of applying the          
,vicentian  rule in liturgical          
criticism4 ,such variations of opinion  
do1  indeed1 make against science1 but  
they favor good sense4    #ff           
,chambers's ,translation4    #fg ,this  
is not to be understood as an           
acknowledgment that  the doctrinal and  

philological objections to the formulary
 as  it originally stood were sound and 
sufficient4 ,on the lips of  a ,church  
which declares repentance to be an act  
whereby we  forsake sin1 a prayer for   
time does not seem wholly inappropriate1
  while as for this use of the word     
space of which complaint was  made1 it  
should be noticed that ,king ,james's   
,bible gives us  nineteen precedents for
 it2 and the ,prayer ,book itself one4  
#fh ,in ,the ,book ,annexed1 as         
originally presented1 there  stood in   
this place the beautiful and appropriate
 psalm1 ,levavi  oculos4 ,but the       
experts declared that this would never  
do1 since  from time immemorial ,levavi 
oculos had been a ,vesper ,psalm1 and   
it would be little less than sacrilege  
to insert it in a morning  service1     
however congruous to such a use the     
wording of it might1  to an unscientific
 mind1 appear4 ,accordingly the excision
 was made2  but upon inquiry it turned  
out that the monks had possessed a      

larger  measure of good sense1 as well  
as a better exegesis1 than the          
,convention had attributed to them1 for 
,levavi oculos1 it appears1  besides    
being a ,vesper psalm1 stood assigned1  
in the ,sarum ,breviary1  to ,prime as  
well2 the fact being that the psalm is  
alike adapted to  morning and to evening
 use1 and singularly appropriate both to
 the  going out and the coming in of the
 daily life of man4    #fi ,see p4 #f4  
#gj ,o ,lord1 bow thine ear1 has been   
suggested as a substitute4  ,it is in   
the words of ,holy ,scripture1 it is the
 precise metrical  equivalent of ,o     
,lord1 save the queen1 and it is        
directly  antiphonal to the versicle    
which follows4    ,there being no       
,established ,church in the ,united     
,states1 it is  doubtful whether any    
prayers for rulers are desirable1 over  
and  above those we already have4 ,and  
if this point be conceded1 the  other   
considerations mentioned may be allowed 
to have weight in  favor of ,o ,lord1   

bow thine ear4    #ga ,the ,seminarian1 
#ahhf1 pp4 #bi1 #cj4    #gb ,it may be  
well to throw1 into a foot-note a single
 illustration  of what might otherwise  
be thought an extravagant statement4    
,the  ,rev4 ,w4 ,c4 ,bishop1 writing in 
,the ,church ,eclectic for ,february1   
#ahhd1 says3    ,the service of the     
,beatitudes proposed by the ,committee  
is just  one of 'fancy-liturgy making1' 
which ought to be summarily rejected4   
,we have more than enough of this sort  
of thing already2 the  commandments1    
comfortable words1 et hoc genus omne1   
are anything  but 'unique glories' of   
our ,liturgy4 ,anything of which we have
  exclusive possession is nearly certain
 to be a 'unique blunder1'  instead of  
anything better1 because the chances are
 a thousand to  one that anything really
 beautiful or edifying would have been  
discovered by1 and have commended itself
 to1 some other ,christians  in the last
 two thousand years4 ,if such is to be  
the nomenclature  of our new science1   

,devotion may well stand aghast in the  
face  of ,liturgies4    #gc ,see the    
,commination ,office in the ,prayer     
,book of the ,church  of ,england4      
#gd ,daniel's ,codex ,liturgicus1 vol4  
iv4 p4 #cdc4 ,quoted in  ,dictionary of 
,christian ,antiquities4 ,the           
translation of makapismoi  has been     
doubted2 but ,dr4 ,neale and ,prof4     
,cheetham agree that the  reference is  
to the ,,beatitudes of the ,gospel4     
#ge ,church ,eclectic for ,april1 #ahhd4
    #gf ,the following will serve as an 
illustration3    ,the ,anthem2          
,blessed are the merciful1 for they     
shall get mercy2 blessed are the  clean 
in the heart1 for they shall see ,god4  
,the ,versicle3    ,lord hear my prayer4
    ,the ,answer3    ,and let my cry    
come to thee4    ,let us pray4    ,lord 
,jesu ,christ1 whose property is to be  
merciful1 which art alway  pure and     
clean without spot of sin2 ,grant us the
 grace to follow  thee in mercifulness  
toward our neighbors1 and always to bear

 a  pure heart and a clean conscience   
toward thee1 that we may after  this    
life see thee in thy everlasting glory1 
which livest and  reignest ,god1 world  
without end4 ,amen4    #gg ,it is       
interesting and suggestive to observe   
with how much  less frequency our       
attention is called to this paragraph of
 the  ,preface than to the later one    
which asserts historical continuity     
with the ,church of ,england4    #gh    
,essays on ,liturgiology1 p4 #bbf4      
#gi ,the response proposed by the       
,commissioners ran1 ,lord have  mercy   
upon us1 and make us partakers of this  
blessing1 a prayer  unobjectionable for 
substance1 but painfully pedestrian in  
style4    #hj ,notably one in which the 
responses are all taken from ,psalm li4 
#ha ,see ,note at the end of this       
,paper4    #hb ,e4 g43 ,that it may     
please thee to send forth laborers  into
 thy harvest1 and to have mercy upon all
 men4    #hc ,see ,report1 pp4 #f-i4    
#hd ,strike it out1 said the literalist 

of a certain committee  on hymnody1 many
 years ago1 as he and his colleagues    
were sitting  in judgment on ,watts's   
noble hymn1 ,there is a land of pure    
delight4  ,either strike out the whole  
hymn or alter that word1 'living4'      
',bright fields1 beyond the swelling    
flood1     ,stand dressed in living     
green4'    ,what sense is there in      
'living' green8 ,it is the grass that   
lives1 not the green4 ,happily the      
suggestion failed to find a  seconder4  
,but revisers1 whose work is to be      
passed upon by ballot1  may well be shy 
of idiomatic ,english4 ,take such a     
phrase as1  ,now for the comfortless    
trouble's sake of the needy2 ,lindley   
,murray1 were he consulted1 would have  
no mercy on it3 and yet a  more         
beautiful and touching combination of   
words is not to be  found anywhere in   
the ,psalter4 ,it is the utter lack of  
this  idiomatic characteristic that     
makes ,lambeth prayers proverbially  so 
insipid4    #he ,see ,report1 p4 #ab4   

#hf ,quoted in ,the ,church ,eclectic   
for ,august1 #ahhf4    #hg ,prof4 ,gold 
in ,the ,seminarian1 p4 #cd4    #hh ,the
 ,rev4 ,dr4 ,robert in ,the ,churchman  
for ,july #ag1 #ahhf1    #hi ,specious1 
because our continuity with the ,church 
life of  ,england is inestimably        
precious2 impracticable1 because there  
is  no representative body of the       
,english ,church authorized to treat    
with us4    #ij ,this ,prayer has been  
gathered from the ,dirige in ,the       
,primer set forth by the ,king's        
,majesty and his ,clergy1 #aede2 the    
same source 7it is interesting to note7 
to which we trace the  ,english form of 
the ,collect for ,purity at the         
beginning of the  office4    #ia #a     
,cor4 iii4 #i4    #ib ,born into        
life6--man grows    ,forth from his     
parents' stem1    ,and blends their     
bloods1 as those    ,of theirs are blent
 in them2    ,so each new man strikes   
root into a far foretime4    ,born into 
life6--we bring      ,a bias with us    

here1    ,and1 when here1 each new thing
    ,affects us we come near2    ,to    
tunes we did not call our being must    
keep chime4                             
,empedocles on ,etna4    #ic            
,parliaments1 prelates1 convocations1   
synods may order forms  of prayer4 ,they
 may get speeches to be spoken upward by
 people on  their knees4 ,they may      
obtain a juxtaposition in space of      
curiously  tessellated pieces of ,bible 
and ,prayer ,book4 ,but when ,i speak of
  the rareness and preciousness of      
prayers1 ,i mean such prayers as        
contain three conditions--permanence1   
capability jot being really  prayed1 and
 universality4 ,such prayers primates   
and senates can no  more command than   
they can order a new ,cologne ,cathedral
 or another  epic poem4--,the ,bishop of
 ,berry's ,hampton ,lectures1 lect iv4  
#id ,the following catena is curious3   
,salute one another with an holy        
kiss4--,rom4 xvi4 #aj4    ,greet ye one 
another with a kiss of charity4--#a     

,pet4 v4 #ad4    ,and let the bishop    
salute the church1 and say3 ,let the    
peace of  ,god be with you all4    ,and 
let the people answer1 ,and with thy    
spirit4    ,and let the deacon say to   
all1 ,salute one another with a holy    
kiss4    ,and let the clergy kiss the   
bishop2 and of the laity1 the men  the  
men1 and the women the women1 and let   
the children stand by  the ,bema4 --,the
 ,divine ,liturgy of ,st4 ,clement      
7,bretts's  ,translation1 corrected by  
,neale74    ,at ,solemn ,high ,mass1 the
 deacon kisses the altar at the same    
time with the celebrating priest1 by    
whom he is saluted with the  kiss of    
peace1 accompanied by these words1 ,,pax
 ,,tecum4--,rubric of  the ,roman       
,missal4    ,,pax ,,or ,,paxbrede4 ,a   
small plate of gold1 or silver1 or      
copper-gilt1  enamelled1 or piece of    
carved ivory or wood overlaid with      
metal1  carried round1 having been      
kissed by the priest1 after the ,agnus  
,dei in the ,mass1 to communicate the   

kiss of peace4--,pugin's  ,glossary4    
,st4 ,george's ,chapel1 ,windsor4 ,item1
 a fine ,,pax1 silver and gilt          
enamelled1 with an image of the         
crucifixion1 ,mary and ,john1 and       
having on the top three crosses1 with   
two shields hanging on either  side4    
,item1 a ferial ,,pax1 of plate of      
silver gilt1 with the image  of the     
,blessed ,virgin4--,dugdale's           
,monasticon quoted in above  ,glossary4 
,ye who do truly and earnestly repent   
you of your sins1 and are  in love and  
charity with your neighbors1 and intend 
to lead a new  life 4 4 4 ,draw near    
with faith1 and take this holy sacrament
 to your  comfort4--,shorter            
,exhortation in the ,communion ,office  
of the ,prayer  ,book4    #ie ,a friend 
who heard the sermon preached has kindly
 sent me the  following apt             
illustrations4 ,they do not1 indeed1    
come from history  technically          
so-called1 but they report the mind of  
one to whose eye  the whole life of the 

,middle ,ages was as an open book4      
,there was now a pause1 of which the    
abbot availed himself by  commanding the
 brotherhood to raise the solemn chant1 
,de profundis  clamavi--,the ,monastery1
 chap1 xxxvii4    ',to be a guest in the
 house where ,i should command8' said   
the  ,templar2 ',never6 ,chaplains1     
raise the psalm1 ,quare fremuerunt      
,gentes8 ,knights1 squires1 and         
followers of the ,holy ,temple1 prepare 
to follow the banner of                 
,beau-seant6'--,ivanhoe1 chap4 xliv4    
#if ,so many good things are washed oat 
of men's memory by the lapse  of even a 
quarter of a century that possibly some 
even of those who  knew all about the   
,memorial in #aheb may be willing to be 
reminded  what its scope and purpose    
were4    ,the petition was addressed to 
the bishops in council1 and  prayed for 
the appointment of a commission to      
report upon the  practicability of      
making this ,church a central bond of   
union  among the ,christian people of   

,america1 by providing for as much      
freedom in opinion1 discipline1 and     
worship as might be held to  be         
compatible with the essential faith and 
order of the ,gospel4    ,the desired   
commission was appointed1 ,bishops      
,otey1 ,doane1 ,a4  ,potter1 ,burgess1  
and ,williams being the members of it4  
,their  ,report1 subsequently edited in 
book form by ,bishop ,potter1 is one  of
 the most valuable documents of         
,american ,church history4 ,the         
following extract from ,bishop ,burgess'
 portion of the ,report will  be read   
with interest by all who ever learned to
 revere that  theologian for the        
largeness of his learning1 the calmness 
of his  judgment1 and the goodness of   
his heart4 ,he has been speaking of     
liturgical changes as contemplated and  
allowed for by the framers  of our      
ecclesiastical system4 ,then he says3   
,there would seem to be five            
contingencies in which the changes1     
thus made possible and thus permitted1  

become also wise and salutary4    ,the  
first is simply when it is evident that 
in any respect the  liturgy or its      
application may be rendered more        
perfect4 ,to hazard  for this result the
 safety or unity of the ,church may be  
inexcusable1  and the utmost certainty  
may be demanded before a change of  this
 kind shall be practically ventured4    
,but should it be once  established1    
beyond the smallest doubt1 that any     
addition or  alteration would increase  
the excellence or the excellent         
influence  of the liturgy in any degree 
sufficient to compensate or more than   
compensate for the inconveniences       
incident to all change1 it seems  as    
difficult to say that it should not be  
adopted by the ,church1  as to excuse   
any ,christian from adding to his       
virtues or his  usefulness4    ,the     
other 'contingencies' recognized are    
briefly these3    7#b7 ,when in process 
of time words or regulations have become
  obsolete or unsuitable4    7#c7 ,when 

civil or social changes require         
ecclesiastical changes4    7#d7 ,when   
the earnest desire of any respectable   
number of the  members of the ,church1  
or of persons who are without its       
communion1  is urged in behalf of some  
not wholly unreasonable proposal of     
alteration4    7#e7 ,when error or      
superstition has been introduced2 when  
that  which was at first good and       
healthful has been perverted to the     
nourishment of falsehood or wickedness2 
or when that which was  always evil has 
found utterance1 and is now revealed in 
its true  character4    ,the ,memorial  
failed for the reason that the promoters
 of it had not  a clearly defined notion
 in their own minds of what they        
wanted--the  secret of many failures4   
,out of its ashes there may yet rise1   
however1 some better thing that ,god has
 kept in store4    #ig ,ancient         
,collects and ,other ,prayers selected  
for ,devotional  ,use from ,various     
,rituals4 ,by ,william ,bright1 ,m4 ,a4 

,j4 ,h4  ,jas4  ,parker1 ,oxford and    
,london4    ,from the ,appendix ,i take 
the following illustrations of the      
statement ventured above3    ,for       
,guidance--,o ,god1 by whom the meek are
 guided in judgment1  and light riseth  
up in darkness for the godly2 grant us  
in all our  doubts and uncertainties the
 grace to ask what thou wouldest have   
us to do2 that the ,spirit of wisdom may
 save us from all false  choices1 and   
that in thy light we may see light1 and 
in thy straight  path may not stumble3  
through ,jesus ,christ our ,lord4       
,for those who live in sin4--,have      
mercy1 ,o compassionate ,father1  on all
 who are hardened through the           
deceitfulness of sin2 vouchsafe  them   
grace to come to themselves1 the will   
and power to return to  thee1 and the   
loving welcome of thy forgiveness       
through ,jesus ,christ  our ,lord4      
,for all who do the work of the         
,church4--,o ,lord1 without whom  our   
labor is but lost1 and with whom thy    

little ones go forth as the  mighty1 be 
present to all works in thy ,church     
which are undertaken  according to thy  
will1 and grant to thy laborers a pure  
intention1  patient faith1 sufficient   
success upon earth1 and the bliss of    
serving thee in heaven1 through ,jesus  
,christ our ,lord4    ,for grace to     
speak the ,truth in love4--,o ,lord and 
,saviour ,jesus  ,christ1 who earnest   
not to strive nor cry1 but to let thy   
words  fall as the drops that water the 
earth3 grant all who contend  for the   
faith once delivered1 never to injure it
 by clamor and  impatience1 but speaking
 thy precious truth in love1 so to      
present  it that it may be loved1 and   
that men may see in it thy goodness  and
 thy beauty3 who livest and reignest    
with the ,father and the  ,holy ,ghost1 
one ,god1 world without end4    ,both as
 regards devotional flavor and literary 
beauty these prayers  will1 ,i feel     
sure1 be judged worthy1 by such as will 
read them more  than once1 to stand by  

the side certainly of many of the       
collects  already in the ,prayer ,book4 
#ih ,preached in ,grace ,church1 ,n4    
,y41 on the ,twentieth ,sunday after    
,trinity1 that being the ,sunday next   
following the adjournment of the        
,general ,convention of #ahib4