Chapter XLV: Act 46: , Parl. 3, Act 106, Parl. 7, Act 24, Parl. 11, King James VI., do (21)

LIBERTINES. A sect of Christian heretics, whose ringleaders were Quintin, a tailor of Picardy, and one Copin, who about 1525 divulged their errors in Holland and Brabant: they maintained that whatsoever was done by men, was done by the SPIRIT OF GOD; and from thence concluded there was no sin, but to those that thought it so, because all came from GOD: they added, that to live without any doubt or scruple, was to return to the state of innocency, and allowed their followers to call themselves either Catholics or Lutherans, according as the company they lighted amongst, were.

LIGHTS ON THE ALTAR. Among the ornaments of the Church enjoined by the laws, and sanctioned by the usage of the Church of England, are two lights upon the altar, to be a symbol to the people that CHRIST, in his two-fold nature, is the very true Light of the world.

The laws of the Church, to which we refer, are as follows:

The rubric immediately preceding “the Order for Morning and Evening Prayer daily throughout the Year” stands thus:—

“_And here it is to be noted that such ornaments of the Church and of the ministers thereof at all times of their ministration shall be retained and be in use, as were in this Church of England, by authority of parliament, in the second year of the reign of Edward VI._”

But the rubrics are a part of the laws of the Church, framed by convocation, and ratified by parliament; so that, if it appear that in the second year of King Edward VI. lights were used, as in this rubric is mentioned, no authority short of a convocation for the Church, and for the State an act of parliament, can reverse the authority on which lights are still used upon the altar.

Now, in the injunctions of King Edward VI., set forth in 1547, it is expressly ordered, “_that all deans, archdeacons, parsons, vicars, and other ecclesiastical persons, shall suffer, from henceforth, no torches nor candles, tapers, or images of wax, to be set before any image or picture_. BUT ONLY TWO LIGHTS UPON THE HIGH ALTAR, BEFORE THE SACRAMENT, WHICH, FOR THE SIGNIFICATION THAT CHRIST IS THE VERY TRUE LIGHT OF THE WORLD, THEY SHALL SUFFER TO REMAIN STILL.”

Some persons who are ignorant of the history of those times, object that this injunction is not to the purpose, because we have no high altar: the truth is, that it is the high altar alone which is left in our churches, all the rest being removed by authority, on account of the idolatrous and corrupt practices which were connected with them.

It is also objected by some, who would be above falling into so great and unhappy a mistake as to suppose that the high altar is removed from our churches, that “the sacrament” before which, on the altar, the lights were to remain, is taken away; for by this term, say they, was meant the consecrated wafer, suspended in a pyx on the altar. If, then, this is taken away, so also must the lights be taken away which were to burn before it. But even allowing that the sacrament, in this sense, is removed, yet the injunction gives another reason for lights, and may surely be allowed to speak its meaning better than those who must, to serve their turn, give to it an idolatrous meaning. The injunction does not say that the lights are to remain before the sacrament as an additional kind of adoration of the host, but _for the signification that_ CHRIST _is the very true light of the world_. It would be very illiberal to suppose that those who quarrel with the lights deny the truth which they are thus made by authority to symbolize; but it is really strange that they will overlook this sound reason given by the injunction, in order to set forth a questionable reason not given, by way of getting rid of the obnoxious lights.

But the injunction not only thus explains itself, but is interpreted by the custom of the Church to enjoin the use of lights for the signification that CHRIST is the very true light of the world, after the pyx had been removed; for, from the time of Edward, there seems never to have been a time when the lights were not retained in cathedral churches, and wherever we might look for an authoritative interpretation of the law. And to the present day the candles are to be seen on the altar of almost all the cathedrals. In collegiate churches, also, they are usually found; and so also in the chapels royal, and in the chapels of the several colleges in Oxford and Cambridge. The use of these ornaments in Oxford and Cambridge is a matter of special importance, for it serves to give a singular character to the objection which some, even of the clergy, make to the candles on the ground of novelty. Almost every clergyman must again and again have seen on the altar of his college chapel these appropriate and symbolical ornaments; and yet some clergymen, when they wish to condemn them elsewhere, so far forget what they have seen as to call them a novelty.

In how many parochial churches, or chapels of ancient chapelries, or private chapels, in this kingdom, candles on the altar have been retained since the times of the Puritans, we know not; in some they certainly have been: but surely the rule of the Church being express for their use, the custom of those whose ritual and furniture is most carefully maintained under the eye of persons best qualified to judge in such matters, and the guardians of the Church’s constitution, is sufficient, _at the very least_, to serve as a witness to the rule, and to make it clear that it is still _the_ rule, _the acknowledged_ rule, of the Church of England.

Thus, then, the custom of the Church is with those who use, and not with those who omit the use of, lights, although custom is an argument brought confidently against them. And here also we may note that all the commentators on the Prayer Book, whose judgment we would look to with respect, agree in declaring that it is the law and the custom of the Church of England to retain the two lights on the altar.

That their use has been, however, too much neglected, cannot be denied; but, in fact, the disuse of lights, where they have been disused, when it is traced to its real cause, tells almost as much in their favour as the continued use of them where they are retained. It was not our reformers who removed them from the altar; we have already proved that they deliberately commanded their use: it was the Puritans, who took their origin in the days of Queen Elizabeth, from the refugees in Holland and Geneva during the persecutions of the bloody Queen Mary. There they learned a less Scriptural ritual, which, working on the saturnine dispositions of some, led eventually to the greatest extremes of fanaticism, impiety, and crime. As some controversy has arisen on this subject, as stated in former editions of this work, the following observations are added on a point of very minor importance, but still one on which correct information is interesting.

The ancient Church appears to have used lights, not only at those services which were performed at late hours, after sunset, or, as some have supposed, when the Christians assembled in caves of the earth, and in the catacombs at Rome, during the times of public persecution; but in token of public rejoicing, at festivals and other solemn occasions, during the day-time. St. Gregory Nazianzen speaks of lights as being carried at the funerals of pious Christians, probably of higher rank, as it occurs in his mention of the honours which were paid after death to the emperor Constantius.—_Orat._ iv. p. 118, ed. Morell. He also speaks of them as used at baptisms.—_Orat._ xl. p. 672. At the baptism of Theodosius the Younger, a little later than this, an early writer says that the crowd of noble persons bearing tapers made the earth appear as if spangled with stars.—_Marc. Diacon. Vit. Porphyr._ c. 7. It seems also to have been a practice at Church festivals, and solemn days kept in memory of saints and martyrs.—_S. Paulin. Nol. Carm._ vi. 35–37. _Greg. Nazianzen. Orat._ xxxix. and xlii.

Theodoret speaks of “the burning of incense and lights” as accompanying “the mystical sacrifice of the holy table.”—_Quæst. in Exod._ xxv.–xxviii. _Opp._ vol. i. p. 164, ed. Schulze. And St. Jerome, more distinctly, “In all the churches of the East, when the Gospel is about to be read, lights are kindled, though the sun may be shining bright, not to put the darkness to flight, but to show a sign of rejoicing.”—_Contr. Vigilantium_, tom. i. p. 394, ed. Vallars. It seems not at all improbable that Archbishop Theodore, coming as he did from Tarsus, may have introduced this custom of the Eastern Church among the Anglo-Saxons.

The mention of lamps and candlesticks among church furniture occurs in very early times. The passage referred to in a former edition of this work, may be found in Baluze, _Miscell._ tom. i. p. 22. The date of the acts there recited is said to be the year in which Diocletian was consul for the eighth time, and Maximian for the seventh, i. e. probably A. D. 296, a few years before the breaking out of the tenth persecution. The church furniture there said to be taken from the Christians of Cirta is set down as follows: “Two golden chalices, six silver chalices, six silver flagons or ewers, a silver round vessel, (_cucumellum_,) seven silver lamps, two candlestands, (_cereofala_,) seven short candlesticks with their lights, eleven brazen lamps with the chains on which they were hung,” and a quantity of male and female articles of clothing, which appear to have been kept in the church-stores for distribution to the poor. It seems not improbable that the two tall candlestands here mentioned, and the seven short candlesticks, each contained lights used at the reading of the Gospel; the former would be placed on the ground at a little distance in front of the holy table, the latter on the table itself. It was done, as Theodoret seems to show, in imitation of the solemnities in the temple service. The lamps would be for lighting the church after sunset.

Many records are found of the use of candlesticks and lamps in our national Church from the time of Bede to the Norman Conquest, particularly a remarkable list of church books and furniture, which is to be found in the will of Leofric, bishop of Exeter, in the time of Edward the Confessor.—For authorities see _Bishop Cosin_, _Wheatly_, _Bishop Mant_.

Though it might admit of a question, whether the very ancient and (at one time) universal custom of burning lights during the Communion Office, was ever abrogated by the permanent laws of our Church, still that custom, now plainly obsolete, is very different from retaining candlesticks on the altar, with tapers to be lighted when they are required. Queen Elizabeth, though opposed to superstition, yet had a crucifix, and “two candlesticks, and two tapers burning on the altar” of her chapel.—_Strype, Annals Ref._ 1559, p. 175; 1560, p. 200, fol. ed. And though objections were made both by the archbishop of Canterbury and Bishop Cox, still it would appear that these were rather directed to the use of the crucifix; and nothing is said of the illegality of candles. For their use on the holy table, we have the continuous sanction of cathedrals, royal chapels, and colleges, down to the time of the Rebellion; and it could be, and has been, very amply shown that the replacing these articles of ecclesiastical furniture at the Restoration was very frequent. As an instance out of many, Parry, bishop of Ossory, in 1677, left by will a pair of large silver candlesticks gilt to Christ Church, Dublin. Bishop Cosin, speaking of the manner in which the communion (not _ought to be_, but) “is celebrated in our churches,” says it “is after this manner: first of all, it is enjoined, that the table or altar should be spread over with a clean linen cloth, or other decent covering; upon which the Holy Bible, the Common Prayer Book, the plate and chalice, are to be placed; _two wax_ candles are to be set upon it.”—_Nicholls on the Common Prayer_, Add. Notes, p. 34. It is difficult to believe that, had this been unlawful, the practice should have been so largely sanctioned by the heads of the Church, _especially by those who revised the Prayer Book_.

After all, are candlesticks and lights mere ornaments? They are something more; though ornamental in themselves, and in the position they occupy, they are for use, and are properly church furniture; and therefore no more within the contemplation of the rubric respecting ornaments, than the stalls, desks, eagle, communion rails, organ, or any other part of the moveable or permanent furniture of the church. There appears no sound reason, why, when the church must of necessity be lit, the ancient custom of lighting the chancel by means of two candlesticks on the holy table, should not be kept up according to ancient and unbroken usage. But if no part of the ecclesiastical furniture is to stand in the church, except when actually in use, this rule would lead to moveable pulpits, organs, &c. And, indeed, would be in a great measure impracticable.—_Stephens’s Common Prayer Book._

In Christ Church cathedral in Dublin, within memory, two silver gilt candlesticks with large wax candles in them always stood on the holy table on Sundays and holy-days, and were lit when required at the evening service, then celebrated at a late hour.—_Jebb._

In the _Hiereugia Anglicana_ there are a great many detailed proofs adduced of the use of lights and candlesticks on the holy table in the English Church, from the Reformation downwards. The authorities are all given.

LINCOLN. (See _Use_.)

LITANY. The term “Litany” is used by ancient writers in many different senses. At first it seems to have been applied as a general appellation for all prayers and supplications, whether public or private. In the fourth century it was given more especially to those solemn offices which were formed with processions of the clergy and people. _Public_ supplications and prayers to GOD, on occasions of especial urgency, were certainly prevalent in the Church during the fourth and fifth centuries. (See _Rogation Days_.) These supplications were called _Litanies_ in the Eastern Church, from whence the name passed to the West. Here they were known as _Rogations_ or supplications, until the name of _Litany_ became more prevalent than any other. The Church of England appears to have received the stated Rogation or Litany days of the Gallican Church at an early period; and, from that time to the present, she has reckoned them among her days of fasting. Formerly, in this Church, there were processions on all these days.

The Litany of the Church of England is not an exact transcript of any ancient form, though composed of materials of very ancient date. It differs essentially from the Romish Litanies by containing no invocations to angels and departed saints. Our invocations are made to the three persons of the sacred TRINITY, and to them alone, while the office of Mediator and Intercessor is throughout ascribed only to our LORD JESUS CHRIST.

In the original arrangement, the Litany formed a distinct service, not used at the time of the other services. But by later usage it has been united with the morning prayer, though still retaining its separate place in the Prayer Book. Formerly there was a rubric, requiring that, “after morning prayer, the people being called together by the ringing of a bell, and assembled in the church, the English Litany shall be said after the accustomed manner;” and it was also required by the 15th canon, that “every householder dwelling within half a mile of the church should come or send some one at the least of his household, fit to join with the minister in prayers.” The ordinary arrangement was to hold morning prayer at eight o’clock, the Litany and the Communion at ten. This practice is still observed in some of the English churches; and Bishop White, in his “Memoirs of the American Church,” remarks that when he was in England, being on a visit to the archbishop of Canterbury, he observed that on Wednesdays he, with the other bishops, retired to the chapel before dinner; and on accompanying them he found that their object was to use the Litany, in compliance with the original custom.

The Litany is usually considered as embracing four main divisions, viz. the INVOCATIONS, DEPRECATIONS, INTERCESSIONS, and SUPPLICATIONS.—See _Nicholls on the Common Prayer_.

The word Litany is used by the most ancient Greek writers for “an earnest supplication to the gods, made in time of adverse fortune:” and in the same sense it is used in the Christian Church for “a supplication and common intercession to God, when his wrath lies upon us.” Such a kind of supplication was the fifty-first Psalm, which begins with “Have mercy upon me,” &c., and may be called David’s Litany. Such was that Litany of GOD’S appointing (Joel ii. 17); where, in a general assembly, the priests were to say with tears, “Spare thy people, O LORD,” &c. And such was that Litany of our SAVIOUR, (Luke xxii. 42,) which kneeling he often repeated with strong crying and tears (Heb. v. 7); and St. Paul reckons up “supplications” among the kinds of Christian offices, which he enjoins shall be daily used (1 Tim. ii. 1); which supplications are generally expounded Litanies for removal of some great evil. As for the form in which they are now made, namely, in short requests by the priests, to which the people all answer, St. Chrysostom saith it is derived from the primitive age. And not only the Western, but the Eastern Church also, have ever since retained this way of praying. This was the form of the Christians’ prayers in Tertullian’s time, on the days of their stations, Wednesdays and Fridays, by which he tells us they removed drought. Thus, in St. Cyprian’s time, they requested God for deliverance from enemies, for obtaining rain, and for removing or moderating his judgments. And St. Ambrose hath left a form of Litany, which bears his name, agreeing in many things with this of ours. For when miraculous gifts ceased, they began to write down divers of those primitive forms, which were the original of our modern office: and about the year 400 these Litanies began to be used in procession, the people walking barefoot, and saying them with great devotion. And Mamertus, bishop of Vienna, did collect a Litany to be so used, by which his country was delivered from dreadful calamities, in the year 460. And soon after, Sidonius, bishop of Arverne, [Clermont in Auvergne,] upon the Gothic invasion, made use of the same office; and about the year 500, [511,] the Council of Orleans enjoined they should be used at one certain time of the year, in this public way of procession; and in the next century, Gregory the Great did, out of all the Litanies extant, compose that famous sevenfold Litany, by which Rome was delivered from a grievous mortality, which hath been a pattern to all Western Churches ever since; and ours comes nearer to it than that in the present Roman missal, wherein later popes had put in the invocation of saints, which our reformers have justly expunged. But by the way we may note, that the use of Litanies in procession about the fields, came up but in the time of Theodosius in the East, and in the days of Mamertus of Vienna, and Honoratus of Marseilles, namely, in the year 460, in the West; and it was later councils which did enjoin the use of it in Rogation Week; but the forms of earnest supplications were far more ancient and truly primitive. As for our own Litany, it is now enjoined on Wednesdays and Fridays, the two ancient fasting days of the Christians, in which they had of old more solemn prayers; and on Sundays, when there is the fullest assembly: and no Church in the world hath so complete a form, as the curious and comprehensive method of it will declare.—_Dean Comber._

Epiphanius referreth this order to the apostles. The Jews in their synagogues observed for their special days of assembling together those that dwelt in villages, Mondays and Thursdays besides the sabbath. The precedent of the Jews directed the Church not to do less than they did. They made choice of Mondays and Thursdays, in regard of some great calamities that befell their nation upon those days; and that they might not be three days together without doing some public service to GOD. The Church had the like reason of Wednesdays and Fridays, whereon our SAVIOUR was betrayed and crucified; the moral reason of once in three days, with a convenient distance from Sunday, concurring. The observance of these days for public assemblies was universal, and the practice of the oldest times.—_Bp. Cosin._

Next to the Morning and Evening Service in our Prayer Book stands the Litany, or more earnest supplication for averting GOD’S judgments, and procuring his mercy. This earnestness, it was thought, would be best excited and expressed by the people’s interposing frequently to repeat with their own mouths the solemn form of “beseeching” GOD to “deliver” and to “hear” them: in which however the minister is understood to join equally; as the congregation are in every particular specified by him. Such Litanies have been used in the Church at least 1400 years. And they were appointed first for Wednesdays and Fridays, these being appropriated to penitence and humiliation, and for other fasts; but not long after for Sundays also, there being then the largest congregation, and most solemn worship: and our Litany is further directed to be used at such other times as the ordinary shall think proper. Originally it was intended for a distinct service, to come after the Morning Prayer, as the rubric of our liturgy still directs, and before the office for the Communion, at a proper distance of time from each: of which custom a few churches preserve still, or did lately, some remains. But, in the rest, convenience or inclination hath prevailed to join them all three together, excepting that in some places there is a psalm or anthem between the first and second; and between the second and third, almost everywhere: besides that the latter part of the Morning Prayer is, most of it, ordered to be omitted, when the Litany is said with it. But still by this close conjunction many things may appear improper repetitions, which, if the offices were separate, would not. However, as it is, they who use extempore prayers in public have small right to reproach us on this head. For doth it not frequently happen that, during one assembly of theirs, different ministers praying successively, or the same minister in several prayers, or perhaps in one only, shall fall into as many repetitions, as are in the different parts of our liturgy, or more? But, be that as it will, to these last all persons would easily be reconciled, if an interval were placed, in their minds at least, between the services; and they would consider each, when it begins, as a new and independent one, just as if it were a fresh time of meeting together.

The Litany of our Church is not quite the same with any other, but differs very little from those of the Lutherans in Germany and Denmark. It is larger than the Greek, but shorter than the Roman, which is half filled up with the names of saints invoked; whereas we invoke, first, the three persons of the holy TRINITY, separately and jointly; then, in a more particular manner, our Redeemer and Mediator, “to whom all power is given in heaven and earth.” (Matt. xxviii. 18.)—_Abp. Secker._.

The posture in which the minister is to repeat the Litany, is not prescribed in any present rubric, except that, as it is now a part of the Morning Service for the days above mentioned, it is included in the rubric at the end of the suffrages after the second LORD’S Prayer, which orders “all to kneel” in that place, after which there is no direction for “standing.” And the injunctions of King Edward and Queen Elizabeth both appoint, that “the priests, with others of the choir, shall kneel in the midst of the church, and sing or say plainly and distinctly the Litany, which is set forth in English, with all the suffrages following, to the intent the people may hear and answer,” &c. As to the posture of the people, nothing needs to be said in relation to that, because, whenever the priest kneels, they are always to do the same.—_Wheatly._

If the Litany be, as certainly it is, our most fervent address to GOD, fit is it that it should be made in the most significant, that is, in the lowest, posture of supplication.—_L’Estrange._

The Litany hath been lately brought into that absolute perfection, both for matter and form, as not any Church besides can show the like, so complete and full;... so that needs must they be upbraided, either with error, or somewhat worse, whom in all parts this principal and excellent prayer doth not fully satisfy.—_Bishop Cosin._

The Litanies in the Roman and the English unreformed Church were said on Easter eve, St. Mark’s day, the three Rogation days, and Wednesdays and Fridays in Lent. The Litany of the Church of England is used on Wednesdays and Fridays, as was the Lenten practice of the West, and its Sunday use is in conformity to the prayers resembling it, which are found at the beginning of the directed communion offices.

In many choirs now, formerly in all, (as would appear from direct notice,) the Litany was sung, since the Reformation, by two ministers, (sometimes deacons,) at other times by laymen, at the faldstool in the centre of the choir. The singing by two laymen is a manifest abuse, reprehended by most of our ritualists; and seems to have arisen from a misconstruction of the ancient rules, which directed it to be sung by two of the choir: but the choir included priests and deacons, and clergy in orders, though of the _second form_.

As to the latter part of the Litany however, the rubric, added at the last review, is confirmatory of the ancient practice of the Church, which assigned the performance of this part to the priest, or superior minister. This is observed in many choirs. And at Oxford and Cambridge, on those days when the Litany is performed before the university, the vice-chancellor, if in orders, reads the LORD’S Prayer, and the remaining part.—_Jebb._

The Latin Litany is performed on certain days before the university at Oxford and Cambridge. Its musical arrangement, as retained at Oxford, contains the most solemn harmonies known to the Church.

LITERÆ FORMATÆ. According to the rules and practice of the ancient Church, no Christian could travel without taking letters of credence with him from his own bishop, if he meant to communicate with the Church in a foreign country. These letters were of several kinds, according to the different occasions, or quality of the person who carried them. They are generally reduced to three kinds, _commendatory_, _communicatory_, and _dimissory_. The first were such as were granted only to persons of quality, or to persons whose reputation had been called in question, or to the clergy who had occasion to travel in foreign countries. The second sort were granted to all who were in peace and communion of the Church, whence they were also called _pacifical_ and _ecclesiastical_, and sometimes _canonical_. The third sort were given only to the clergy, when they were removing from one church to settle in another, and they were to testify that the bearer had the bishop’s leave to depart, whence they were called _dimissory_. All these went under the general name of _formed letters_, because they were written in a particular form, with particular marks and characters, whereby they might be distinguished from counterfeits.—_Bingham._

LITURGIUM. (_Gr._) The name of a book, in the Greek Church, containing the three liturgies of St. Basil, St. Chrysostom, and that of the _Presanctified_, said to be composed by Pope Gregory, called _Dialogus_.

In celebrating these three liturgies, the Greeks observe the following order. The liturgy of St. Basil, as appears by the introduction, is sung over ten times in the year; namely, on the eve of Christmas day, on the feast of St. Basil, on the eve of the feast of Lights, on the Sundays of Lent, excepting Palm Sunday, on the festival of the Virgin, and on the Great Sabbath. The liturgy of the _Presanctified_ is repeated every day in Lent, the forementioned days excepted. The rest of the year is appropriated to the liturgy of St. Chrysostom. (See _Liturgy_.)

LITURGY. (See _Common Prayer_, _Formulary_, and _Public Worship_.) From the Greek word λειτουργία, _a public act_ or _duty_. This term was originally used to denote the service or form employed in the celebration of the eucharist. In the Eastern Churches, that service was frequently called the “Divine” or “mystical” liturgy; while in the West, though the term “liturgy” was used, yet the name of “missa” was more common. At the present day, the word is employed to designate the ordinary prescribed service of the Church, either with or without the Communion Office. (See article on _Formularies_, where the general question of forms of prayer is treated.) The history of liturgies may thus be briefly stated.

When the Christians were no longer in fear of the violence and persecutions of the heathens, and in that age when the Church came to be settled, (that is, from the time of Constantine to that of St. Augustine,) we find there was a liturgy in the Eastern Church.

The first Cyril of Jerusalem mentions some parts of an ancient liturgy used in that place, both in respect to the form of baptism, and the celebration of the eucharist.

St. Basil composed a liturgy himself, which is to be seen in the _Bibliotheca Patrum_, and in his book _De_ SPIRITU SANCTO; and he tells us how the service of the Church was directed by rules and rubrics.

In St. Chrysostom’s time, _Omnes unam eandemque precem concipiēbant_, and this was not only a public prayer, but a public form; for in that collection of his works set forth by Sir Henry Saville, we find a liturgy of his own making, which was translated out of the Syriac by Masius, and used generally throughout all the Greek churches.

Now, if it should be granted that premeditated prayers are not required by GOD in our private addresses to him, yet it is plain from those instances already mentioned, such prayers were always held necessary in the public services of the Church; and this further appears by the form prescribed by our SAVIOUR himself, who, when we pray, commanded us to say, “Our FATHER,” &c.; and St. Matthew tells us, that he went away again, and prayed the third time, saying the _same words_.

The Apostolical Canons mention some set forms of prayer, both before and after the communion; and St. Basil and St. Chrysostom, before mentioned, not only composed set forms themselves, but they describe set liturgies as having been composed by St. Mark and St. James; and the adversaries to such forms have no other plausible pretence to deny these authorities than by alleging these liturgies to be supposititious, which is an answer that may serve upon any occasion to evade an argument, which cannot otherwise be answered.

St. Ambrose and Prosper tell us, there were set forms of prayers used in the Church in their time; and they give the reason for it, _ne in diversum intellectum nostro evagemur arbitrio_: and St. Hilary hath this expression on the 66th Psalm, viz. Let those without the Church hear the voice of the people praying within. Now the word _praying of the people_ must signify something more than the bare suffrage _Amen_; it must import their joint concurrence in the actual performance of the whole duty, which cannot be done but where the prayers are in a set form.

And these are the prayers which Isidore tells us were used in the ancient congregations of the Christians; and it is most certain that such were in use in that great apostate Julian’s time; for Nazianzen informs us, that he endeavoured to establish the heathen ceremonies in imitation of the Christian services, by appointing, not only certain times, but set forms of prayer.

It is true, that many of the ancient liturgies were destroyed by the persecuting heathens, yet some fragments of them still remain in the writings of the Fathers, and are such as are used in our Church at this day; as the words before and after the consecration of the sacrament are to be found in St. Ambrose: the question demanded of the godfathers in the sacrament of baptism, viz. “Whether they do, in the name of the infant, renounce the devil and all his works, and the pomps and vanities of this wicked world,” are to be found in the same St. Ambrose, and in Tertullian; the _Gloria Patri_, of which more hereafter, is in Sozomen; and the supplement to that doxology, viz. “As it was in the beginning,” &c., is to be found in Irenæus.

In the sacrament of the LORD’S supper, the words pronounced by the priest, viz. “Lift up your hearts,” and the answer, “We lift them up; it is meet and right for us so to do,” are to be found in St. Augustine and St. Chrysostom; and so are these words, viz. “The LORD be with you, And with thy spirit;” and, lastly, Isidore mentions the usual conclusion of all our collects, viz. “Through JESUS CHRIST our LORD,” &c.

In the Western Church, St. Cyprian tells us there was a liturgy, viz. in the Church of Africa, which is usually accounted amongst the Churches of the West; and we find some pieces of such liturgies in St. Augustine; and not only approved by him, but by all the Fathers of that Church assembled in a synod, as it appears by the canons which they made, and which are mentioned both by Balsamon and Zonaras, viz. that prayers be performed by all, and not any to be said in public, but only such as have been composed by wise and understanding men, lest anything should be vented against the faith, either through ignorance or want of meditation.

Tertullian mentions a liturgy used in Rome, which was probably begun by St. Peter, for it bears his name; and Platina tells us, that several additions were made to it by St. Basil in his time; and in some things this author is very particular, as that Celestine added the _Introitus_, Gregory added the _Kyrie Eleison_, Telesphorus the _Gloria in Excelsis_, Sixtus the First added “Holy, holy, holy, LORD GOD of Hosts,” which is called the _Trisagion_; Gelasius the Collects, St. Jerome the Epistles and Gospels.

The _Gloria Patri_, which has been mentioned before, was not only appointed by the Council of Nice to encounter the Arian heresy, but it was used long before that council, even by the apostles themselves, who were commanded by their Master to baptize in the name of the FATHER, and of the SON, and of the HOLY GHOST.

This is found in the writings of all those ancient fathers who lived near the time of the apostles, as in Clemens, who was their scholar, and in Dionysius of Alexandria; but the following words, which make up the whole form of the doxology, viz. “As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end,” were not brought into the Church till the Arian heresy began to spread, and this was about the time of the Council of Nice.

It is true this began first in the Eastern Church, and from thence it came to the West, where Pope Damasus [A. D. 366–384] was the first who appointed it to be used at the end of the psalms, which made up the greatest part of the public liturgy of that Church. The Churches of France, Spain, and England had the like liturgies, though not exactly the same.

Although we have no certain account what rites or forms were used here among the Britons, yet Bede, in his ecclesiastical history, tells us, that as soon as the gospel was planted here, there was a liturgy formed out of the rituals of the most flourishing Churches then in the world. For Pope Gregory advised St. Augustine not to follow the Roman office strictly, but to take what he should approve in any Church, and prescribe the same to the English, which he did; and this liturgy of St. Augustine continued for some ages, till Osmond, bishop of Sarum, [A. D. 1078,] finding that new prayers and offices abounded everywhere, reduced them all to one form, and from thence it was called _secundum usum Sarum_.

The liturgy of the Irish Church, according to Mr. Palmer, was, during the first ages, probably the same as that of Britain. The ancient Irish liturgy still extant differs considerably from the Roman. It seems, he adds, that in later times there were great varieties in the mode of celebrating Divine worship in Ireland, which were mentioned by Gillebert, bishop of Limerick, A. D. 1090. And which appear to have been removed by the Synod of Arles, A. D. 1152, when the Roman rites were established.

By the seventh statute of the Synod, or rather Council, of Cashel, 1172, the regulations of the Irish Church were assimilated to those of England. The use of Sarum was adopted; though it has been supposed that the Irish use lingered for a considerable time in parts of the more distant provinces.

As to the liturgy now used amongst us, it was reformed at the time of the Reformation: for the offices of the Church before that time consisting in missals, breviaries, psalteries, graduals, and pontificals, and every religious order having peculiar rites observed among themselves, it was thought proper that the worship of GOD should be brought under a set form; and moreover, that nothing should be changed merely out of an affectation of novelty, or because it had been used in times of Popery, so as it had been practised in the primitive times. (See next article.)

LITURGY OF THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND. (See _Common Prayer_ and _Formulary_.) This book is entitled _The Book of Common Prayer and Administration of the Sacraments, and other Rites and Ceremonies of the Church, according to the use of the United Church of England and Ireland_.

Before the Reformation, our liturgy was only in Latin, being a collection of prayers, made up partly of some ancient forms used in the primitive Church, and partly of some others of later original. But when the nation, in King Henry VIII.’s time, was disposed to a reformation, it was thought necessary both to have the service in the English or vulgar tongue, and to correct and amend the liturgy, by purging it of those gross corruptions which had gradually crept into it.

And, first, the convocation appointed a committee, A. D. 1537, to compose a book, which was entitled “_The godly and pious Institution of a Christian Man_, containing a declaration of the _Lord’s Prayer_, the _Ave Maria_, the _Creed_, the _Ten Commandments_, and the _Seven Sacraments_, &c.” This book was again published in 1539, with corrections and alterations. In 1543 appeared another Primer, in substance the same as the former, under the title of “_A necessary doctrine and Erudition for any Chrysten Man_.” In the same year, a committee of bishops and other divines was appointed by King Henry VIII., to reform the rituals and offices of the Church; and the next year the king and clergy ordered the prayers for processions and litanies to be put into English, and to be publicly used. The English Litany accordingly, not much differing from that now in use, was publicly adopted in 1544. Afterwards, in 1545, came out the King’s Primer, containing the whole Morning and Evening Prayer in English, not very different from what is in our present Common Prayer. Thus far the reformation of our liturgy was carried in the reign of Henry VIII.

In the year 1547, the first of King Edward VI., the convocation unanimously declared, that the communion ought to be administered in both kinds; whereupon an act of parliament was made, ordering it to be administered. Then a committee of bishops and other learned divines was appointed, to compose _An uniform order of communion, according to the rules of Scripture, and the use of the primitive Church_. The committee accordingly met in Windsor Castle, and drew up such a form. This order of the communion was appointed for general use, by royal proclamation, in 1548. This made way for a new commission, empowering the same persons to finish the whole liturgy, by drawing up public offices for Sundays and holy-days, for baptism, confirmation, matrimony, burial, and other special occasions.

The committee appointed to compose this liturgy were—

1. Thomas Cranmer, archbishop of Canterbury.

2. Thomas Goodrich, bishop of Ely.

3. Henry Holbech, bishop of Lincoln.

4. George Day, bishop of Chichester.

5. John Skip, bishop of Hereford.

6. Thomas Thirlby, bishop of Westminster.

7. Nicholas Ridley, bishop of Rochester, and afterwards of London.

8. Dr. William May, dean of St. Paul’s.

9. Dr. John Taylor, dean, afterwards bishop, of Lincoln.

10. Dr. Simon Haynes, dean of Exeter, and master of Queen’s College, Cambridge.

11. Dr. John Redman, prebendary of Westminster, and master of Trinity College, Cambridge.

12. Dr. Richard Cox, dean of Christ Church, Oxon., and Westminster; afterwards bishop of Ely.

13. Mr. Thomas Robertson, archdeacon of Leicester; afterwards dean of Durham.

Our excellent liturgy, thus compiled, was revised and approved by the archbishops, bishops, and clergy of both provinces of Canterbury and York, and then confirmed by the king and three estates in parliament, A. D. 1548, second and third of Edward VI. ch. 1. In 1549, an act passed for appointing six bishops and six other learned men, to draw up a form for consecrating bishops, priests, and deacons. Heylin conjectures that these were the same as those above mentioned, with the exception of Bishop Day, who had refused to subscribe the liturgy.

But, about the end of the year 1550, exceptions were taken against some parts of this book, and Archbishop Cranmer proposed a new review. The principal alterations occasioned by this second review were the addition of the _Sentences_, _Exhortation_, _Confession_, and _Absolution_, at the beginning of the morning and evening services, which in the first Common Prayer Book began with the LORD’S Prayer; the addition of the _Commandments_ at the beginning of the Communion Office; the removing of some rites and ceremonies retained in the former book, such as the use of oil in confirmation, the unction of the sick, prayers for departed souls, the invocation of the HOLY GHOST at the consecration of the eucharist, and the prayer of oblation that used to follow it; the omitting the rubric that ordered water to be mixed with the wine, with several other less material variations, The habits, likewise, which were prescribed in the former book were in this laid aside; and, lastly, a rubric was added at the end of the Communion Office, to explain the reason of kneeling at the sacrament. The liturgy, thus revised and altered, was again confirmed by parliament, A. D. 1551, with this declaration, that the alterations made in it proceeded from _curiosity rather that any worthy cause_. But both this and the former act in 1548 were repealed in the first year of Queen Mary.

Upon the accession of Queen Elizabeth, the act of repeal was set aside, and several learned divines appointed to take another review of King Edward’s liturgies. These (according to Camden and Strype) were—

1. Dr. Matthew Parker, afterwards archbishop of Canterbury.

2. Dr. Richard Cox, afterwards bishop of Ely; one of the original compilers.

3. Dr. William May; one of the original compilers.

4. Dr. William Bill, afterwards dean of Westminster.

5. Dr. James Pilkington, afterwards bishop of Durham.

6. Sir Thomas Smith.

7. Mr. David Whitehead.

8. Mr. Edmund Grindal, afterwards bishop of London, and archbishop of York and Canterbury.

To these were afterwards added,

9. Dr. Edwyn Sandys, afterwards bishop of Worcester.

10. Mr. Edmund Guest, afterwards bishop of Rochester and Salisbury.

It was debated, at first, which of the two books of King Edward should be received. At length the second was pitched upon, and confirmed by parliament, which commanded it to be used, with one alteration or addition of certain lessons to be used on every Sunday in the year, and the form of the Litany altered and corrected, and two sentences added in the delivery of the sacrament to the communicants, and none other or otherwise.

The alteration in the Litany here mentioned was the leaving out the deprecation, “from the tyranny of the bishop of Rome and all his detestable enormities,” and adding these words to the petition for the sovereign, “strengthen in the true worshipping of thee, in righteousness and holiness of life.” The two sentences added in the delivery of the sacrament, were, “The body of our LORD JESUS CHRIST,” &c., and “The blood of our LORD JESUS CHRIST,” &c., which were taken out of King Edward’s First Book; whereas, in the Second Book, these sentences were left out, and in the room of them were used, “Take, eat, or drink, this,” with what follows; but now, in Queen Elizabeth’s book, both these forms were united.

There are some other variations in this book from the Second of King Edward. The first rubric, concerning the situation of the chancel, and the proper place of reading Divine service, was altered; the habits, enjoined by the First Book of King Edward, and forbidden by the Second, were now restored; at the end of the Litany was added a prayer for the sovereign, and another for the clergy. Lastly, the rubric, that was added at the end of the Communion Office, in King Edward’s Second Book, against our SAVIOUR’S corporeal presence in the sacrament, was left out in this. This was done, that the aforesaid notion might remain as a speculative opinion, not determined; it being the queen’s design to unite the nation, as near as possible, in one faith.

In this state the liturgy continued, without further alteration, till the first year of King James I.; when a conference was held at Hampton Court between that prince, with Archbishop Whitgift and other bishops and divines, on the one side, and Dr. Reynolds, with some other Puritans, on the other: the result of which was, the adding some forms of thanksgiving at the end of the Litany, and an addition to the catechism in relation to the sacraments. Likewise, in the rubric at the beginning of the Office for Private Baptism, the words “lawful minister” were inserted to prevent midwives and laymen from presuming to baptize, with one or two more small alterations.

But, immediately after the Restoration, King Charles II., at the request of several of the Presbyterian ministers, issued out a commission for a new review of the liturgy, empowering twelve of the bishops and twelve Presbyterian divines to make such reasonable and necessary alterations as they should jointly agree upon. Nine coadjutors were added on each side, to supply the place of any of the twelve principal who should happen to be absent. Their names are these:

_On the Episcopalian side._

Principals.

1. Dr. Frewen, archbishop of York.

2. Dr. Sheldon, bishop of London.

3. Dr. Cosin, bishop of Durham.

4. Dr. Warner, bishop of Rochester.

5. Dr. King, bishop of Chichester.

6. Dr. Henchman, bishop of Salisbury.

7. Dr. Morley, bishop of Worcester.

8. Dr. Sanderson, bishop of Lincoln.

9. Dr. Laney, bishop of Peterborough.

10. Dr. Walton, bishop of Chester.

11. Dr. Stern, bishop of Carlisle.

12. Dr. Gauden, bishop of Exeter.

Coadjutors.

1. Dr. John Erle, dean of Westminster, afterwards bishop of
Worcester.

2. Dr. Peter Heylyn, prebendary of Westminster.

3. Dr. John Hackett, archdeacon of Bedford, afterwards bishop of
Lichfield.

4. Dr. John Barwick, successively dean of Durham and St. Paul’s.

5. Dr. Peter Gunning, successively master of Corpus and St. John’s,
Cambridge, afterwards bishop of Chichester.

6. Dr. John Pearson, successively master of Jesus and Trinity
College, Cambridge, afterwards bishop of Chester.

7. Dr. Pierce.

8. Dr. Anthony Sparrow, archdeacon of Sudbury, afterwards bishop of
Norwich.

9. Mr. Hubert Thorndike, prebendary of Westminster.

_On the Presbyterian side._

Principals.

1. Dr. Reynolds.

2. Dr. Tuckney.

3. Dr. Conant.

4. Dr. Spurstow.

5. Dr. Wallis.

6. Dr. Manton.

7. Dr. Calamy.

8. Mr. Baxter.

9. Mr. Jackson.

10. Mr. Case.

11. Mr. Clark.

12. Mr. Newcomen.

Coadjutors.

1. Dr. Horton.

2. Dr. Jacob.

3. Mr. Bates.

4. Mr. Rawlinson.

5. Mr. Cooper.

6. Dr. Lightfoot.

7. Dr. Collins.

8. Dr. Woodbridge.

9. Mr. Drake.

These commissioners had several meetings at the Savoy, but to very little purpose; the Presbyterians reviving all the old scruples of the Puritans against the liturgy, and adding several new ones of their own. Baxter had the assurance to affirm, that our liturgy was too bad to be mended, and confidently proposed to compose a new one, which he had the insolence to offer to the bishops. Upon this the conference broke up, without anything being done, except that some particular alterations were proposed by the episcopal divines; which, the May following, were considered and agreed to by the whole clergy in convocation. The principal of these alterations were, that several lessons in the calendar were changed for others more proper for the days; the prayers for particular occasions were disjoined from the Litany, and the two prayers to be used in the Ember weeks, the prayer for the parliament, that for all conditions of men, and the general thanksgiving, were added. Several of the collects were altered; the Epistles and Gospels were taken out of the last translation of the Bible, being read before according to the old translation. The Office for Baptism of those of Riper Years, and the Forms of Prayer to be used at Sea, were added. In a word, the whole liturgy was then brought to the state in which it now stands, and was unanimously subscribed by both houses of convocation of both provinces, on Friday, Dec. 20, 1661. And being brought to the House of Lords the March following, both Houses very readily passed an act for its establishment; and the Earl of Clarendon, then lord chancellor, was ordered to return the thanks of the lords to the bishops and clergy, for their care and industry shown in the review of it.

The English liturgy was adopted in Ireland shortly after the Reformation in England. In 1551, Edward VI. issued an injunction to Sir Anthony St. Leger, the lord deputy there, to have the English Common Prayer Book read in the Irish churches. The lord deputy accordingly summoned the whole clergy, and after opposition from the primate and some of the bishops, a proclamation was issued, and the English Prayer Book publicly used in Christ Church, on Easter Sunday that year: having been printed in Dublin, with these words on the title page, _After the use of the Church of England_. No order is extant for the adoption of King Edward’s Second Book; nor does it appear that any act was passed in Queen Mary’s reign prohibiting the use of the First. In 1560, an Act of Uniformity, copied from the English act, was passed, enjoining the Book of Common Prayer as then revised in England: this act was passed with the consent of seventeen out of nineteen prelates, that is, of the spiritual estate, as the Irish Church was then constituted. In 1662 the English revised liturgy was referred for consideration to the Irish bishops; on their approval it was passed by convocation; and nearly four years after, the Act of Uniformity was enacted by parliament.—See _Stephens’s Introduction to the Irish Book of Common Prayer_.