IX and heads of congregations, religious and other, CHAP privileged and other, shall every holy-day read the gospel and epistle of that day out of the English A.D. 1542 Bible, plainly and distinctly: and they that have grace shall make some declaration either of the one or of both (if the time may serve) every holy-day ;3 and there can be little doubt that this had also become the custom in the Southern Province. So that a very decided advance had been made in the direction of the Prayer Book system. 4 3 Book Com mittee In the same session, a committee was appointed First Appointment for the revision of the ancient service books on a of Prayer more extended plan than had been adopted in the editions of 1516, 1531, and 1541. The President informed the Convocation that it was the wish of his Majesty― "That all Mass-books, Antiphoners, Portuises, in the Church of England should be newly examined, corrected, reformed, 3 Injunctions in Burnet, vol. iii. part ii. p. 182, ed. 1816. 4 It is most likely that the Gospels and Epistles, &c., were read in Latin first and then in English. There is an interesting anonymous letter to the Duke of Norfolk, which shows that Cranmer had become acquainted with this plan in Germany:-"Although I had a chaplain yet could I not be suffered to have him sing Mass, but was constrained to hear their Mass, which is but one in a Church, and that is celebrated in form following. The Priest, in vestments after our manner, singeth everything in Latin, as we use, omitting suffrages. The Epistle he readeth in Latin. In the mean time the sub-deacon goeth into the pulpit and readeth to the people the epistle in their vulgar; after they peruse other things as our priests do. Then the Priest readeth softly the Gospel in Latin. In the mean space the Deacon goeth into IX CHAP and castigated from all manner of mention of the Bishop of Rome's name, from all apocryphas, feigned legends, superstiA.D. 1543 tions, orations, collects, versicles, and responses; that the names and memories of all saints which be not mentioned in the Scripture or authentical doctors should be abolished and put out of the same books and calendars, and that the service should be made out of the Scripture and other authentic doctors." 5 The English Litany Convoca tion and pro The Convocation at once set to work on the business thus formally placed before them by the Crown; and so important was it considered, that no member was allowed to absent himself from their meetings without special leave of absence. A committee was appointed for carrying out the revised by details of this work, which consisted originally of the Bishops of Salisbury and Ely (Shaxton and Goodrich, the former being ex officio Precentor of the Province of Canterbury) and six members of the Lower House: but there is reason to think that this arrangement was not adhered to at the time, the whole body of Convocation taking the work in hand. The immediate result of their labours appeared in the English Litany, which received the final sanction of Convocation in March 1543-4,6 and was promulgated by the Crown on June 11, 1544. It was the service best known to and best liked by the people, and had been in the primers in their own tongue for at least a century and a half, though not exactly in the form now set forth. Hence, perhaps, the reason why this was chosen as the first instalment of the new Service Books. Other "Processions" or Litanies were also prepared translated from the ancient Processionals of the Church of England, and were sent to the King by 7 Ibid., 870. mulgated by the Crown Other English litanies 5 Wilkins' Concil., iii, 863, "Ibid., 868. 8 IX Archbishop Cranmer on October 7th of the same CHAP year, but they were never published, and the MS. of them does not appear to have come down to our A.D. 1544 time. VIII hin But with the Litany in English the change of the Further services from Latin to the vernacular tongue ceased steps in as long as Henry lived. A committee of divines Henry continued the work of translation and adaptation, but their labours appear to have been in some way hindered by Henry, as he had contrived to hinder the Convocation in their translation of the Bible some years previously. It was not, therefore, until the accession of Edward VI. that their work was brought to light again: and the manner in which it then developed into the Book of Common Prayer must be narrated in a future chapter. It seems almost certain, from the evidence extant, that the Prayer Book was substantially arranged in the reign of Henry, and that little remained to be done when his death made it possible again to bring it forward. of devo reign of VIII To sum up in a few words the amount of refor- Summary mation which took place in the devotional system of tional the Church in this reign, it may be said that three changes in points were thoroughly established. It was deter- Henry mined [1] That the Church had authority to settle her own mode of divine worship: [2] That many changes were necessary in the devotional habits and customs of the country: and [3] That it was expedient, in future, to have divine service in the vulgar tongue. The progress made in carrying out these principles was very considerable. Many superstitious usages were abolished; the Scriptures used in divine 8 Jenkyns' Cranmer, i. 315. IX CHAP service were read to the people in English; the Litany was used entirely in English, almost exactly as we now use it; and the material was prepared for the formation of our Prayer Book system. Had it not been for the strong prejudices of Henry the Eighth's later years, it is most probable that the "First Prayer Book of Edward the Sixth”—that of 1549-would have been in use for some years before that young prince ascended his father's throne. In which case it would undoubtedly have gained a stronger hold upon the country than it did in the midst of the miserable religious divisions that characterized Edward the Sixth's reign, CHAPTER X THEI THE AUTHORIZED VERSION OF THE BIBLE [A. D. 1535-A. D. 1542] X HERE has been much wild and foolish writing CHAP about the scarcity of the Bible in the ages preceding the Reformation. It has been taken for granted that Holy Scripture was almost a sealed book to clergy and laity, until it was printed in English by Tyndale and Coverdale, and that the only real source of knowledge respecting it before then was the translation made by Wickliffe. of Holy The facts are that the clergy and monks were Medieval daily reading large portions of the Bible, and had knowledge them stored up in their memory by constant recita- Scripture tion: that they made very free use of Holy Scripture in preaching, so that even a modern Biblereader is astonished at the number of quotations and references contained in medieval sermons: that countless copies of the Bible were written out by the surprising industry of cloistered scribes that many glosses or commentaries were written which are still seen to be full of pious and wise thoughts: and that all laymen who could read were, as a rule, provided with their gospels, their psalter, or other devotional |
