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child-birth, this woman, thy servant, who desireth now to offer her praises and thanksgivings unto thee. Grant, we beseech thee, most merciful Father, that she, through thy help, may both faithfully live and walk according to thy will in this life present, and also may be partaker of everlasting glory in the life to come, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

"For a Recovery from Sickness:

"O God, who art the giver of life, of health, and of safety; we bless thy name, that thou hast been pleased to deliver from his bodily sickness this thy servant, who now desireth to return thanks unto thee, in the presence of all thy people. Gracious art thou, O LORD, and full of compassion to the children of men. May his heart be duly impressed with a sense of thy merciful goodness, and may he devote the residue of his days to an humble, holy, and obedient walking before thee, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

"For a safe Return from Sea :

"Most gracious Lord, whose mercy is over all thy works: we praise thy holy name that thou hast been pleased to conduct in safety, through the perils of the great deep, this thy servant, who now desireth to return his thanks unto thee, in thy holy Church: May he be duly sensible of thy merciful providence towards him, and ever express his thankfulness by a holy trust in thee, and obedience to thy laws, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen."

Having thus reviewed the alterations made in the Daily Service, and in that part of the Communion Service which is to be said when there is no administration of the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper, I now proceed to consider the remaining part of this latter office. Only it may be right here to observe, as will be seen by considering what has been before said, that the two Prayers for the King immediately before the Collect of the day are entirely omitted; as also that the Nicene Creed is not here to be repeated, when either it, or the Apostles' Creed, has been said immediately before in the Morning Service. The Publication of the Banns of Marriage also here takes place with the other Notices immediately before the Sermon; a practice which is also enjoined by our own Rubric, which has been departed from only by the Authority of the Marriage Act of George II. And surely this place is much more convenient than after the Second Lesson, where it comes in very unnecessarily, and, in my humble opinion, causes considerable interruption to the Service. If at any time a convenient opportunity occurs to the heads of our Church, I sincerely hope they will endeavour to restore to us the old custom once again, and not let our thoughts be diverted from their appropriate channel in the very midst of our devotions by a long list of names, which too often are calculated to excite any ideas rather than those in consonance with the work of public worship. It will be seen also that the Prayer for the Church Militant is not said when there is no Communion; a practice into which our own Church has almost universally fallen, although enjoined by the Rubric. The Collects, however, placed at the end of the Communion Service, to be said at the discretion of the minister, as the conclusion immediately before the Blessing, are retained; only that the one beginning, "O Almighty Lord and everlasting God, vouchsafe, we beseech

thee," &c. having already occurred after the reading of the Ten Commandments, is here omitted; and also the word "direct" is substituted for the word "prevent," in the Collect beginning "Prevent us, O Lord, in all our doings."

The two Exhortations, to be said by the Minister when he giveth warning for the celebration of the Holy Communion, or to urge their receiving of it, if he shall find the people negligent, are retained without alteration. Instead, however, of reading the whole of the first, he is allowed to read only "so much thereof, as, in his discretion, he may think convenient;" a practice which, like the one just alluded to, is almost universally adopted by our own Clergy, although without any express authority.

The whole office for the administration of the Holy Communion, beginning with the sentences at the Offertory, down to the Prayer of Consecration, is precisely the same as our own, with the following very few exceptions.

In the Prayer for the Church Militant:-"We beseech thee also so to direct and dispose the hearts of all Christian rulers, that they may truly and impartially administer justice, to the punishment of wickedness and vice, and to the maintenance of thy true religion and virtue."

In the first Exhortation "For as the benefit is great, if with a true penitent heart and lively faith, we receive that holy sacrament; so is the danger great, if we receive the same unworthily. Judge therefore yourselves, brethren, that ye be not judged of the Lord." On comparing these words with our own service, it will be seen that there is a considerable omission, which, I think, will be generally admitted to be a very judicious improvement upon our own.

In the second Exhortation :-" Devoutly kneeling," is substituted for the words "meekly kneeling upon your knees." Surely this is a very doubtful alteration, even as a mere matter of taste, setting aside all higher considerations.

The Proper Prefaces :-after the Proper Form for Trinity Sunday, occur the following Rubric and Preface: "Or else this may be said, the words [Holy Father] being retained in the introductory address."

"For the precious death and merits of thy Son Jesus Christ our Lord, and for the sending to us of the Holy Ghost, the Comforter; who are one with thee in thy eternal Godhead: Therefore with Angels," &c. I have always thought that the absence of some form of preface for those days when no proper one was appointed, from our own Prayer Book, must have been originally the effect of accident, as between the introductory address and the concluding words, "Therefore with angels," &c. some special subject of thanksgiving is wanted as the ground of that ascription of praise; such ground for the concluding words is found in the proper Prefaces, but on ordinary occasions I must confess there does appear an hiatus, and I cannot but wonder that in these alterations the American Church did not attempt to remedy this want. This omission is the more remarkable, as the Old Rituals, from which our Prefaces are almost literally translated, contained such a form for ordinary occasions.

The Prayer of Consecration is so different from that in use among

ourselves, that I shall here transcribe it, and the forms immediately following, at full length.

"All glory be to thee, Almighty God, our heavenly Father, for that thou, of thy tender mercy, didst give thine only Son Jesus Christ to suffer death upon the cross for our redemption; who made there (by his one oblation of himself once offered) a full, perfect, and sufficient sacrifice, oblation, and satisfaction, for the sins of the whole world; and did institute, and in his holy gospel command us to continue, a perpetual memory of that his precious death and sacrifice until his coming again : for in the night in which he was betrayed, [here the Priest is to take the paten into his hands,] he took bread; and when he had given thanks, [and here to break the bread,] he brake it, and gave it to his disciples, saying, Take, eat, [and here to lay his hand upon all the bread,] this is my Body, which is given for you; do this in remembrance of me. Likewise, after supper [here he is to take the cup into his hand,] he took the cup; and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them, saying, Drink ye all of this, for [and here he is to lay his hand upon every vessel, in which there is any wine to be consecrated,] this is my Blood, of the new testament, which is shed for you, and for many, for the remission of sins; do this as oft as ye shall drink it, in remembrance of me.

"Wherefore O Lord and heavenly Father, according to the institution of thy dearly beloved Son our Saviour Jesus Christ, we, thy humble servants, do celebrate and make here before thy Divine majesty, with these thy holy gifts, which we now offer unto thee, the memorial thy Son hath commanded us to make; having in remembrance his blessed passion and precious death, his mighty resurrection and glorious ascension; rendering unto thee most hearty thanks, for the innumerable benefits procured unto us by the same. And we most humbly beseech thee, O merciful Father, to hear us; and, of thy almighty goodness, vouchsafe to bless and sanctify, with thy Word and Holy Spirit, these thy gifts and creatures of bread and wine; that we, receiving them according to thy Son our Saviour Jesus Christ's holy institution, in remembrance of his death and passion, may be partakers of his most blessed body and blood. And we earnestly desire thy fatherly goodness, mercifully to accept this our sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving; most humbly beseeching thee to grant, that by the merits and death of thy Son Jesus Christ, and through faith in his blood, we, and all thy whole Church, may obtain remission of our sins, and all other benefits of his passion. And here we offer and present unto thee, O Lord, ourselves, our souls, and bodies, to be a reasonable, holy, and living sacrifice unto thee; humbly beseeching thee, that we, and all others who shall be partakers of this Holy Communion, may worthily receive the most precious body and blood of thy Son Jesus Christ, be filled with thy grace and heavenly benediction, and made one body with him, that he may dwell in them, and they in him. And although we are unworthy, through our manifold sins, to offer unto thee any sacrifice; yet we beseech thee to accept this our bounden duty and service, not weighing our merits, but pardoning our offences; through Jesus Christ our Lord; by whom, and with whom, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, all honour and glory be unto thee, O Father Almighty, world without end. Amen.”

"The body of our Lord Jesus Christ, which was given for thee, preserve thy body and soul unto everlasting life: Take and eat this in remembrance that Christ died for thee, and feed on him in thy heart by faith, with thanksgiving."

"The blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, which was shed for thee, preserve thy body and soul unto everlasting life: Drink this in remembrance that Christ's blood was shed for thee, and be thankful."

"Our Father, who art in heaven," &c.

Then follows the Prayer, "Almighty and everliving God, we most heartily thank thee," &c.; the Gloria in Excelsis; and the Blessing. I before observed that this Prayer of Consecration was the only evidence I could trace in these alterations of an attempt to bring the Book of Common Prayer into a nearer resemblance to the ancient Liturgies; which conformity to ancient Liturgies seems to me the only principle likely to lead to a satisfactory solution of many of the points involved in such reforms. If our American brethren had any such design in view in this prayer, it is evident that they chiefly regarded the oriental Liturgies; for it bears a much nearer resemblance to them than to the more simple forms of the Western Church. Yet I am inclined to think they had no such design, for the three following reasons. First they have kept the Lord's Prayer separated from the Consecration by the act of the administration of the elements; whereas, in every ancient Liturgy, without exception, it always formed a part of the prayer itself, being either interwoven into it, or forming its conclusion. Secondly they have still left the form-" We do not presume to come to this thy table," standing before the Prayer of Consecration ; whereas it evidently should (in conformity with ancient practice,) have succeeded it, and immediately preceded the act of administration; for the Preface, with its Sanctus, always itself formed the immediate introduction to the Prayer of Consecration. Our own Reformers probably placed the words above alluded to before this prayer, lest it should have been construed into a belief in transubstantiation, on account of its peculiar phraseology of eating and drinking the body and blood of Christ. As there is little fear of such a construction being put upon these words in the present day, should any alteration hereafter be thought advisable, I should hope to see it transferred to its proper position. Thirdly they have prescribed the same actions of breaking the bread, &c. during the Consecration with the English Ritual; whereas, (with the single exception of the Ethiopic Liturgy, where the bread is broken only half-through, and then immediately joined together again) none of the ancient Liturgies prescribed any actions at all: the bread was not broken, nor the wine poured forth, till after the Prayer of Institution was ended; and then for the purpose of distribution, rather than for any emblematic signification, further than was implied in such necessary division. Perhaps I might add a fourth circumstance; that they have not restored the mingled cup of water and wine: this was retained in the first Liturgy of King Edward; and there is the most decisive evidence of its being a primitive rite of the very purest and earliest ages of the Church universal. And here I cannot help mentioning the singular advice of Dr. Adam Clarke, in his Commentary on the New Testament, which, as coming from a Dissenter, is little less

than marvellous; he wishes us to restore in the Administration of the Sacrament the use of unleavened bread. The Doctor, however, was probably ignorant that this is a well known innovation of the Church of Rome, and goes back very few centuries. The use of unleavened bread

is as clearly a modern invention of the Church of Rome as the mingled cup is a genuine relic of the most primitive times.

Among the alterations above reviewed, it is somewhat perhaps unexpected that the Americans did not permit some alteration for the sake of convenience in the forms of words used at the distribution of the elements, either allowing them to be shortened, or at least not requiring them to be separately repeated to each single communicant. I utterly disapprove of such a practice in our own Church, being, as it is, quite contrary to the Rubric; but when they made so many other alterations, it might certainly have been expected that they would have done something in this respect. Where the congregation is large, and only a single minister, to say the least, some inconvenience does arise from the length of these forms for the distribution of the elements.

On one point, I must confess, I do not clearly understand the usage of the American Ritual. They prescribe clearly enough the manner of consecration for both elements, if a second consecration be required; but they do not prescribe how one only is to be consecrated if only one is wanted. The practice of the early churches in this respect, (and such second consecration must have been sometimes necessary,) is a point on which I can find no satisfactory explanation. The custom of reserving the elements early crept into the Church, and would of course obliterate all traces of the more primitive rite, as it would render such second consecration unnecessary; as is the case among the Papists of the present day.

I am, Sir,

Your obedient Servant,

G. C.

WRITTEN DURING ILLNESS.

SUNDAY again! Another week has flown,
And still I linger on this couch of care.
Another week! nor to the house of prayer

My steps, as erst, have turned. The sun shines on-
Beneath his fostering beams the flowers have blown,
And the green earth looks beautiful and fair,
But not for me;-and the soft fragrant air
Reviving all-comes not to me alone.
And yet are these no days of useless pain,
Each has its own appropriate duty; past,
As days of sickness should be, in a train
Of pious thought, and the whole spirit cast
In posture of devotion; so in vain

This chastisement shall not be found at last!

L.

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