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devotion of the best to God's service-is not relied upon in vain. Nor was the care and cost bestowed upon the Material limited to the foundation of the Vestments or Hangings; embroidery of all kinds was abundantly displayed in pattern or powdering, whether in Silk or Gold (not seldom in the much valued Gold of Venice), so that the Sacred Name, the Crucifix, the Cross, Crowns, Angels, Imagery, Eagles, Herons, Lions, Dolphins, Swans, the Sun and Moon, Stars, Wheat-sheaves, Grapes, Flowers, and the like, adorned the Fabrics of which the Vestures were made; or composed the rich Orphreys, which were rendered all the more beautiful and costly by Pearls and Precious Stones; as though the donors desired to attain in the adornments of the Sanctuary to somewhat of the fulness of meaning contained in the Psalmist's words, "The king's daughter is all glorious within: her clothing is of wrought gold. She shall be brought unto the king in raiment of needlework." [Ps. xlv. 13, 14.]

So, again, as to [b] Colour: the Inventories now under examination show it to have been chiefly of six kinds, viz., White, Red, Blue, Green, Yellow, and Black; besides various combinations of all these. The proportions in which they existed are shown in the following Table of Vestments which were in the five churches at the date of the Inventories :—

COLOURS AND NAMES OF THE VESTMENTS.

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It may be as well to remark here that all the Green Vestments in this List belonged to the two Cathedral churches, except one Chasuble, Dalmatic, and Tunicle, which were in St. Martin, Outwich.

Green occurs much less frequently than other colours: it was an Exeter colour, and is also found in Lists of Vestments belonging to the Northern Province; but there seems very little to indicate with any certainty when it was used, though perhaps it served for ordinary week-days, especially in Trinity-tide.

So, again, with regard to Blue: while it appears to have been a much more usual colour, it is often very uncertain what kind of Blue is meant, whether Cerulean or some darker shade; frequently indeed the latter is indicated by the words "blodium" and "indicus," which mean a sort of hyacinthine and darker blue; but these must not be confounded with purple, which is also found in the same or other Lists. The occasions, however, on which Blue or Purple was employed are somewhat conjectural, though there is more to guide: light Blue seems sometimes to have been used in Commemorations of the Blessed Virgin Mary, and a somewhat darker shade is to be seen in Illuminations of about the fifteenth Century, in Copes used at Funerals.

A similar variety is found, both as to material and colour, in the Coverings and Hangings used for the Altars and Chancels: the annexed list exhibits their Colours:

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Besides the colours already enumerated, others are sometimes mentioned, such as Brown, Tawney, Murrey, Pink, and Cheyney; also combinations of colours, viz., Red and Green, Paly of White and Green, Red and White, Blue and White, Blue and Yellow, White and Red chequered. These different colours, or mixtures of colours, are to be found alike in Vestments of the Ministers, or of the Altars, no less than in the Hangings of the Churches.

It is worth noticing that the more usual Ecclesiastical colours are those which may be especially accounted the Colours of England-Red, White, and Blue-being combined in the National Flag, and designating the Admirals of this Country's Fleets: possibly the close, though curious and apparently untraceable, relations which have for several centuries subsisted between the Church and the Navy', in the Admiralty and Ecclesiastical Courts, may have tended to perpetuate this correspondence.

1 Dyer (Modern Europe, p. 189) mentions that in Spain Philip II. brought naval matters before the Inquisition, and that

Don Pedro, Archbishop of Toledo, was High Admiral or Castile "by a then not uncommon union of offices."

Further, it may be mentioned, as probably indicating the effect which Ecclesiastical customs produced or helped to perpetuate, that Red, Violet, and Black are mentioned, as colours worn on the Judicial Bench, according to the Term, in some Regulations made by the Judges in 1635. [See Gentleman's Magazine, Oct. 1768.] Green, also, appears to have been at one time a favourite colour with them.

Moreover, the retention of Red, Purple, and Green-and especially the prevalence of Red-in the rich and decent, no less than (as was once too common) in the miserable and dirty coverings of handsome or unsightly Altar-tables in the churches, are in all likelihood the traditional use of these same colours which formerly were more commonly and more variously employed in the Services of the Church of England, and that, too, not without regard to some written or unwritten rule as to the Services and Seasons at which they should be used.

That a desire has long existed, and increases, again to adopt a greater variety of colour in the Ornaments of the Church, and especially in the coverings of the Altar, is plain from what has been accomplished and is still doing: one object of this wished-for variety is the very useful one of distinguishing, and so teaching, by outward tokens, the changes of the Church Seasons and the occurrence of Ecclesiastical Holydays. For lack of any existing Rule on this subject in the Church of England, the Rule of the rest of the Western Church has not unnaturally been followed in many cases, especially as the ancient English rule or practice was either not at all known, or not easily to be collected, even by those who were aware that some leading points of it were to be found without much difficulty. As the need of some guide in this matter is becoming more general, it may not be without a really practical use to compare the old English rules with those of the Roman and the Eastern Churches: by doing this a somewhat uniform principle will probably be found, sufficient also to furnish a general rule for those who, while rightly wishing to be not out of harmony with the rest of Christendom, would with equal propriety prefer to follow any older practice of the Church of England which would afford a satisfactory direction in the absence of any definite rule authorized by living Ecclesiastical Authority.

The Roman rule is laid down with precision: the old English rule can in part be definitely ascertained, and the rest may be, with some probability, analogically conjectured from the Rubrics of the Sarum Missal compared with St. Osmund's Register and the Inventories of Church goods already noticed. The Eastern Church, as a learned Priest of it states (in reference to the Vestments of the Clergy), does not give "in her Ritual books" any such "minute rules with regard to the colours of the Vestments, as are to be found in the Western Ritual. The Church enjoins her ministers to care more for the simple purity and propriety of the vestments than for their richness. In those cases where means are at hand, she bids the ministers to wear richer vestments of any colour for the joyful seasons of the year, and Black or Red ones for the times of fasting and sorrow. Thus, in Passion week, and Great Lent, at Burials, &c., Black or Purple Vestments are worn. It is customary to wear White Silk Vestments (if possible) at Epiphany and Easter." In this description of the general and unspecific character of the Eastern rule, there is a considerable correspondence with the features of the Sarum rule just noticed. The following Table may be considered as furnishing a fairly reliable view of these three Rules; though, for the reasons above given, the Roman rule alone is the fullest and most explicit :

COMPARATIVE TABLE OF COLOURS ACCORDING TO THE SARUM, ROMAN, AND EASTERN USE.

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Having thus given some description of the Material and Colour of the "Ornaments of the Ministers," their [c] Form may be best shown by reference to the Illustrations and accompanying descriptions which will be found in the General Appendix to this volume: and some further remarks are made as to their use in the Communion Service at p. 159.

This, then, is a general outline of the Legal and Historical grounds on which may be rested the claim to use in the Church of England such principal Accessories of Divine Service as can be fairly considered to form part of the Ritual and Ceremonial heritage of the Church. The fact that the Anglican Communion is an integral portion of that Mystical Body-furnishes the most valid reason for not being indifferent to the aspect which she should present when viewed, as is essential to a right estimate of her position, in connexion with the rest of Christendom. And the further fact that the external features of her Public Services have come to be a subject of common and public discussion— renders it necessary that reliable information should be given to those whose opportunities of research are unavoidably, more or less, limited.

These are the considerations which have chiefly influenced the line of argument taken in this portion of the Ritual Introduction to a Volume which professes to deal more or less completely with all the various subjects contained in the Book of Common Prayer. It is hoped that what has been advanced will assist the reader in forming a satisfactory judgment on points which, it seems clear, are acquiring year by year an increasingly practical character. Much more might have been stated in explanation or proof of the several matters considered, but an essay of this kind must bear a reasonable proportion to the other contents of the Book, and moreover it cannot advantageously be very detailed or greatly antiquarian. Those who desire to investigate more fully and particularly the various points here discussed will find in the List of Authorities at the beginning of the Volume a reference to works which may be usefully consulted.

It should be mentioned in conclusion that, while from the nature of the case an account of Ritual Accessories belonging to the Book of Common Prayer now in use, could not merely be a notice of antiquated Ecclesiastical Usages, it is nevertheless not the object of this Section specially to advocate the restoration of what it has endeavoured to prove to be conformable to the law, and consistent with the character of the English Church. The reasons which must influence, and the conditions which must regulate, the revival of long disused, however lawful, Accessories of Divine Service, are so many and so varied as of themselves to relegate the question of their re-introduction to a sphere beyond the legitimate bounds of these pages. The purpose of this Introduction is fulfilled in the attempt to show what Accessories the Church of England apparently designed "to be retained." Where and when they may profitably "be in use" can only be determined by those who, being satisfied with the truth and reasonableness of what is here or elsewhere stated, are in a legitimate position to decide upon the practical application of information thus obtained.

THE BOOK

OF

Common-Prayer,

And Administration

Of the

SACRAMENTS,

AND OTHER

RITES AND CEREMONIES

Of the CHURCH,

According to the Use

Of the

CHURCH of ENGLAND;

Together with the

PSALTER or PSALMS

OF

DAVID,

Pointed as they are to be Sung or Said in CHURCHES:

AND THE

FORM OR MANNER

OF

Making, Ordaining, and Consecrating

OF

BISHOPS, PRIESTS,

AND

DEACONS.

THE TITLE OF THE PRAYER BOOK. Common Prayer] This familiar term seems first to have been used authoritatively in a rubric to the English Litany of 1544: "It is thought convenient in this Common Prayer of Procession to have it set forth and used in the Vulgar Tongue, for stirring the people to more devotion." It is again found in the Injunctions of Edward VI., issued in 1546-7. But it is a very ancient term, being found in use as far back as A.D. 252, in St. Cyprian's Treatise on the Lord's Prayer; of which he writes, " Publica est nobis et Communis Oratio."

Common Prayer and Public Prayer are not theologically identical, although the terms are used in the same legal sense in the respective titles of the two Acts of Uniformity. In an exact sense, Common Prayer is defined by the authoritative words of our Lord, "Where two or three are gathered together in My Name, there am I in the midst of them." [Matt. xviii. 20.] The Name of God is an expression used with great frequency in Holy Scripture to denote the authority of God; in the same manner as we say, that the official agents of the Sovereign act in the Name of the Sovereign, when they engage in the duties of their office. To be met together in the Name of Christ is to be met together under His authority, not as an accidental or promiscuous assembly; and officially, that is, in the presence and with the aid of His authorized agents.

Thus, true Common Prayer is that which is offered in Divine Service in the Church, by a Bishop or Priest (or a Deacon as locum tenens in some cases), in the presence and with the aid of three, or at least two other Christian persons. Such prayer presupposes a reverent assent to our Lord's application of the words, My House shall be called the house of prayer," and to those already quoted. To it also may be applied the words of St. Cyprian 2:- They continued with one accord in prayer, manifesting at the same time the instancy of their praying, and the agreement. Because God, who 'maketh men to be of one mind in an house,' admits into the house divine and eternal those only among whom is unanimous prayer."

-:

This kind of prayer is therefore the highest kind of all. Other prayer is exalted in kind, and probably in efficacy, in proportion as it connects itself with that which is Common; as it is offered in that sense in which we are taught to say Our Father; as it is offered under the conviction that Christian individuals stand not alone, each one for himself before God, but are parts of one Body whereof all the members are in communion one with another through the One Intercessor, of Whom the ministers of the Church are the earthly representatives.

and administration of the Sacraments] This does not exclude the Sacraments from Common Prayer. The corporate work of the Church is distinctly recognized in the administration of Baptism, and the Holy Communion is the root and apex of Common Prayer. But it puts forward prominently the idea of a never-ceasing round of Divine Service as distinguished from the occasional (however frequent) offering of the Holy Eucharist.

other rites and ceremonies of the Church] These words claim, as a matter of course, that the substance of the Prayer Book is in accordance with the theological and devotional system of the Catholic Church: and, in connexion with those which immediately follow, they plainly enunciate the principle set forth more at large in the Thirty-fourth Article of Religion, that while that system is binding on the whole Church, yet particular Churches have a right to carry it out in their own way, according to their own to detail and ceremonial 3.

To Kupiaków, Kyrke, Church, the house of the Lord. On the Lord's Prayer, iv.

66 use as

• The phrase "Rites and Ceremonies" is not at all equivalent to our modern words Ritual and Ceremonial: but refers to the minor services of the Church, such as the Commination, or the Churching of Women. Archbishop Cranmer's fourth article of 1536 is a good illustration of the meaning intended: "IV. Of Rites and Ceremonies. As vestments in God's service; sprinkling holy water; giving holy bread; bearing candles on Candlemas Day; giving of ashes on Ash-Wednesday; bearing of palms on Palm

according to the use of the Church of England] This right was acted upon so freely in ancient days that there was a considerable variation in the details and ceremonial of Divine Service as it was celebrated in different parts of England. Each Prayer Book took its name from the place of its origin, and was thus called the "York use," the "Bangor use," the "Hereford use," the "Salisbury use," and so forth: but when uniformity of Common Prayer was established upon the basis of these old servicebooks, one "use" only retained its authority, that of the Church of England.

In modern prayer books the words "the United Church of England and Ireland" are substituted for the words "the Church of England," under an Order of Council, dated January 1, 1801; but this exercise of the Royal authority goes beyond that permitted by the Act of Uniformity; and is very misleading. The two Churches are, and always have been, in communion with each other, the interchange of friendly relations has always been very free, and they have been united in a common political bond since 1801. The formularies of the Church of England have also been adopted in the Church of Ireland, but a false gloss is put upon the real title of the Prayer Book when it is printed in the unjustifiable form referred to. The Church of England can alter

its own "use," and so can the Church of Ireland, but neither can control the customs of the other: and, in fact, there are some important variations in the Prayer Books of the two countries which make the expression "the use of the United Church of England and Ireland" a misnomer. The Prayer Book as it now exists is an adaptation of ancient formularies made by the Church of England alone. Its adoption by other Churches cannot alter the fact, and therefore cannot justly influence the title. However much it may be adopted therefore in Ireland, Scotland, and other possessions of the English crown, America, the Book of Common Prayer is still "according to the use of the Church of England." together with the Psalter] In the earlier Prayer Books the Psalter was printed with a separate Title-page, as distinct from the Services. The first of Bishop Cosin's "Directions to be given to the Printer," is also, "Set a fair Frontispiece at the beginning of the Book, and another before the Psalter; to be designed as the Archbishop shall direct, and after to be cut in brass.” Such an engraved Title-page is affixed to the Sealed Books, and a proof copy is bound up with Cosin's own volume: but that to the Psalter was not provided. The Ordinal was bound up with the Prayer Book for the first time in 1661.

The following Tables will illustrate some of the preceding remarks, and show at a glance what changes have been authorized. The table of the Contents of the Prayer Book is not in itself of much interest, but it has been so freely handled by modern printers that a work like the present cannot go forth without an accurate copy of the authorized form. The successive changes made in it have a certain interest, and they are therefore arranged in parallel columns in the following Table. There is thus given also a sort of bird's-eye view of the History of the Prayer Book.

Sunday; creeping to the Cross, and kissing it, and offering unto Christ before the same on Good Friday; setting up the sepulchre of Christ; hallowing the font, and other like exorcisms, and benedictions, and laudable customs that these are not to be condemned and cast away, but continued, to put us in remembrance of spiritual things. But that none of these ceremonies have power to refit sin."-Strype's Memorials of Cranmer, i. 89. Eccl. Hist. Soc. Ed.

A rubric at the end of the Elizabethan Prayer Books enjoins also that "every parishioner shall communicate at the least three times in the year, of which Easter to be one, and shall also receive the Sacraments and other Rites according to the order in this book appointed."

4 The Act of Uniformity empowers the Sovereign to alter the names of the King, Queen, and Royal Family, as occasion shall require; but to alter the name of the Church itself is a very different thing. In Marriage Licences, and in Letters of Orders, the old form is used: but in many documents the alteration has been adopted. It is right to add that in the titlepage of Edward VI.'s Injunctions he is called "in earth under Christ, of the Church of England and of Ireland the supreme head."

5 The distinctive title, "Church of England," is very ancient, being found in Magna Charta, where it appears to be used as a familiar phrase.

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