A FORM OF PRAYER WITH THANKSGIVING

TO ALMIGHTY GOD.

This Service is the only survivor of four STATE SERVICES.

(a) For the FIFTH OF NOVEMBER, appointed in 1605 in commemoration of the frustration of the Gunpowder Plot, revised in 1662, and in 1689 enlarged by commemoration of the landing on that day of William 111. in England.

(b) For the THIRTIETH OF JANUARY, appointed in 1662 as a "Form of Prayer with Fasting," in commemoration of "the martyrdom of King Charles the First," and altered in 1685 by authority of James II.

(c) For the TWENTY-NINTH OF MAY, appointed in 1662 for this day as the day of "His Majesty's Birth and happy return to his Kingdoms," and reappointed with the necessary alterations by James II. in 1685.

(d) For the DAY OF THE SOVEREIGN'S ACCESSION. The form still preserved dates, with slight modifications, from the accession of Queen Anne in 1704, being a modification of one issued at the accession of James 11. in 1685. There were, however, older forms of Service in the reigns of Elizabeth (1576) and Charles 1. (1626).

These four Services were at the beginning of each reign enjoined simply by Royal Proclamation, and (looking to the Act of Uniformity) were of doubtful legal obligation. They continued, however, in use till 1859, when, in accordance with petition of Convocation and of Parliament, the use of the first three was revoked. The petition for their disuse arose from a growing dislike of religious celebrations of political events, and a feeling that there had been introduced into these Services expressions of political opinion and extravagant loyalty, full of denunciations of "hellish malice,' ""Popish treachery," "bloodthirsty enemies," and the like, which were unseemly in the worship of God. The objection does not apply, or applies with great modification, to the last Service, which accordingly has been suffered to remain as before. But, although it contains much that is beautiful, especially the Prayer for Unity, yet a comparison of it with the proper Services of our Prayer Book shows its great inferiority in terseness, simplicity, freedom, and beauty.

Its chief features are

(a) The substitution for the Venite of one of the Composite Hymns, which we find in the later Services (as, for example, the Forms of Prayer to be used at Sea) made up entirely of various passages from the Psalms.

(b) The appointment of Proper Psalms and Lessons.

(c) The insertion of various Collects in the Morning Service, the Litany, and the Communion Service, partly of Thanksgiving, partly of Prayer.

(d) The appoinmtent of a Special Epistle and Gospel, dwelling on Christian duty towards temporal authority.

(e) The use of the beautiful Collect for Unity-an echo of Eph. iv. 4-6.

TO ALMIGHTY GOD;

To be used in all Churches and Chapels within this Realm, every Year, upon the Twentieth Day of June; being the Day on which Her Majesty began Her happy Reign.

The Service shall be the same with the usual Office for Holy-days in all things; except where it is in this Office otherwise appointed.

If this Day shall happen to be Sunday, this whole Office shall be used, as it followeth, entirely.

FORM OF PRAYER FOR THE TWENTIETH OF JUNE.

rect all her counsels and endeavours to BLESSED Lord, who hast called Chris

thy glory, and the welfare of her people; and give us grace to obey her cheerfully and willingly for, conscience sake; that neither our sinful passions, nor our private interests, may disappoint her cares for the publick good; let her always possess the hearts of her people, that they may never be wanting in honour to her Person, and dutiful submission to her Authority; let her Reign be long and prosperous, and crown her with immortality in the life to come; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

In the end of the Litany (which shall always be used upon this Day) after the Collect [We humbly beseech thee, O Father, &c.] shall the following Prayer, for the Queen and Royal Family, be used.

LORD our God, who upholdest and governest all things in heaven and earth; receive our humble prayers, with our hearty thanksgivings, for our Sovereign Lady VICTORIA, as on this day set over us by thy grace and providence to be our Queen; and so together with her bless Albert Edward Prince of Wales, the Princess of Wales, and all the Royal Family; that they all, ever trusting in thy goodness, protected by thy power, and crowned with thy gracious and endless favour, may continue before thee in health, peace, joy, and honour, and may live long and happy lives upon earth, and after death obtain everlasting life and glory in

the kingdom of heaven, by the Merits

and Mediation of Christ Jesus our Saviour, who with the Father and the Holy Spirit, liveth and reigneth ever one God, world without end. Amen.

Then shall follow this Collect, for God's protection of the Queen against all her enemies.

MOST gracious God, who hast set thy

Servant VICTORIA our Queen upon the Throne of her Ancestors, we most humbly beseech thee to protect her on the same from all the dangers to which she may be exposed; Hide her from the gathering together of the froward, and from the insurrection of wicked doers; Do thou weaken the hands, blast the designs, and defeat the enterprizes of all her enemies, that no secret, conspiracies, nor open violences, may disquiet her Reign; but that, being safely kept under the shadow of thy wing, and supported by thy power, she may triumph over all opposition; that so the world may acknowledge thee to be her defender and mighty deliverer in all difficulties and adversities; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

tian Princes to the defence of thy Faith, and hast made it their duty to promote the spiritual welfare, together with the temporal interest of their people; We acknowledge with humble and thankful hearts thy great goodness to us, in setting thy Servant our most gracious Queen over this Church and Nation; Give her, we beseech thee, all those heavenly graces that are requisite for so high a trust; Let the work of thee her God prosper in her hands; Let her eyes behold the success of her designs for the service of tby true Religion established amongst us; And make her a blessed instrument of protecting and advancing thy Truth, wherever it is persecuted and oppressed; Let Hypocrisy and Profaneness, Supersti tion and Idolatry, fly before her face; Let not Heresies and false Doctrines disturb the peace of the Church, nor Schisms and causeless Divisions weaken it; But grant us to be of one heart and one mind in serving thee our God, and obeying her according to thy will: And that these blessings may be continued to after-ages, let there never be one wanting in her house to succeed her in the government of this United Kingdom, that our posterity may see her children's children, and peace upon Israel. So we that are thy people, and sheep of thy pasture, shall give thee thanks for ever, and will always be shewing forth thy praise from generation to generation. Amen.

The Epistle. 1 St. Pet. ii. 11.

strangers and pilgrims, abstain from

EARLY beloved, I beseech you as

fleshly lusts, which war against the soul; having your conversation honest among the Gentiles: that, whereas they speak against you as evil-doers, they may, by your good works which they shall behold, glorify God in the day of visitation. Submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord's sake; whether it be to the King, as supreme; or unto governours, as unto them that are sent by him for the punishment of evil-doers, and for the praise of them that do well. For so is the will of God, that with well-doing ye may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men: as free, and not using your liberty for a cloke of maliciousness, but as the servants of God. Honour all men. Love 1 the brotherhood. Fear God. Honour the King.

The Gospel. St. Matth. xxii. 16.

AND they sent out unto him their disA ciples, with the Herodians, saying, Master, we know that thou art true, and teachest the way of God in truth, neither carest thou for any man: for thou regardest not the person of men. Tell us therefore, What thinkest thou? Is it lawful to

Then the Prayer for the High Court of give tribute unto Cæsar, or not? But Je

Parliament (if sitting).

In the Communion Service, immediately before the reading of the Epistle, instead of the Collect for the Queen, and that of the Day, shall be used this Prayer for the Queen, as Supreme Governour of this Church.

sus perceived their wickedness, and said, Why tempt ye me, ye hypocrites: shew me the tribute-money. And they brought unto him a penny. And he saith unto them, Whose is this image and superscription? They say unto him, Cesar's Then saith he unto them. Render therefore unte

GOD the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, our only Saviour, the Prince of Peace; Give us grace seriously to lay to heart the great dangers we are in by our unhappy divisions. Take away all hatred and prejudice, and whatsoever else may hinder us from godly Union and Concord: that, as there is but one Body, and one Spirit, and one Hope of our Calling, one Lokohe Faith, one Baptism, one God and Father of us all, so we may henceforth be all of one heart, and of one soul, united in one holy bond of Truth and Peace, of Faith and Charity, and may with one mind and one mouth glorify thee; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

"VICTORIA R.

ALMIGHTY God, the fountain of all wisdom, who knowest our necessities before we ask, and our ignorance in asking: We beseech thee to have compassion upon our infirmities; and those things, which for our unworthiness we dare not, and for our blindness we cannot ask, vouchsafe to give us for the worthiness of thy Son Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

THE peace of God which passeth all

understanding, keep your hearts and minds in the knowledge and love of God, and of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord: And the blessing of God Almighty, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, be amongst you, and remain with you always. Amen.

UR Will and Pleasure is, That these Four Forms of Prayer and Service, made "and the Twentieth of June, be forthwith printed and published, and annexed to the Book of Common Prayer and Liturgy of the United Church of England and Ireland, "to be used yearly on the said Days, in all Cathedral and Collegiate Churches and "Chapels; in all Chapels of Colleges and Halls within Our Universities of Oxford, "Cambridge, and Dublin, and of Our Colleges of Eton and Winchester, and in all "Parish Churches and Chapels within those parts of Our United Kingdom called "England and Ireland.

"Given at Our Court at Kensington the Twenty-first Day
"of June, 1837, in the First Year of Our Reign.
"By Her Majesty's Command,

"J. RUSSELL."

"VICTORIA R.

"OUR Will and Pleasure is, That so much of Our said Royal Warrant of the Twenty

first Day of June, One thousand eight hundred and thirty-seven, in the First "Year of Our Reign, as is hereinbefore recited, be revoked, and that the Use of the " said Forms of Prayer and Service made for the Fifth of November, the Thirtieth of "January, and the Twenty-ninth of May be henceforth discontinued in all Cathedral "and Collegiate Churches and Chapels, in all Chapels of Colleges and Halls within "Our Universities of Oxford, Cambridge, and Dublin, and of Our Colleges of Eton and "Winchester, and in all Parish Churches and Chapels within the Parts of Our United "Kingdom called England and Ireland, and that the said Forms of Prayer and "Service be not henceforth printed and published with or annexed to the Book of "Common Prayer and Liturgy of the United Church of England and Ireland.

"Given at Our Court at Saint James's, the Seventeenth Day of "January, 1859, in the Twenty-second Year of Our Reign. "By Her Majesty's Command,

"& H. WALPOLE,"

INTRODUCTION TO THE ARTICLES.

SECTION I.-HISTORY OF THE ARTICLES.

THE CONFESSIONS OF THE 16TH CENTURY.-The Articles of the Church of England form one of the many declarations on faith and discipline which were put forward in the 16th century by such religious bodies as had thrown off allegiance to Rome, and disowned at the same time many points of the religious and ecclesiastical system of the Mediæval Church. For this action of what is commonly termed " Protestantism" is, by the nature of the case, simply negative. It declares what is repudiated, not what is accepted. It may indicate true Reformation or entire Revolution in things religious. Hence-at a time when the unsettlement of the old Mediæval system gave occasion to much wild speculation and practice, and the repudiation of allegiance to Rome forced on men the necessity of ascertaining other bonds of Christian unity-it became necessary for the various Reformed bodies to declare positively what they held in faith, and what ecclesiastical constitution they recognised. The result was seen in a series of Confessions, of what the great Augsburg Confession was the chief.

THE AUGSBURG CONFESSION.-This Confession, afterwards enlarged and amended in 1552, and put forth as the "Wurtemburg Confession," has special interest to us, as having considerably affected our own Articles. It was drawn up chiefly by Melancthon, and approved by Luther, at a time when there seemed hope of reconciliation between the Roman Catholic and Lutheran bodies in Germany, and when the extravagances of ultra-Protestantism had so alarmed Luther himself as to suggest great care and moderation in framing authoritative statements of doctrine. The original Confession contains xxi. Articles of Faith, and vii. of Protest against Abuses. Of the former Articles it may be noted (a) that (as is the case in all Lutheran documents) they lay great stress on the reality and efficacy of Sacramental grace, while they insist strongly on the need of spiritual reception; and, in relation to the Holy Communion, declare expressly that "the Body and Blood of Christ are really present; (b) that they define the Church much as in our Articles, assert the authority of the Church to ordain rites and ceremonies, and claim for it "the preaching of the Word, the Power of the Keys, and the Administration of the Sacraments;" (c) that, while they truly set with great fulness and emphasis the doctrine of Justification by Faith, and the absolute need of God's prevenient grace, they abstain from all declarations on Predestination and Election; (d) that they maintain that nothing in the Lutheran system is alien from Holy Scripture and the primitive Church. The Abuses protested against are mainly the refusal of the Cup to the Laity, Compulsory Celibacy of the Clergy, Monastic Vows, Propitiatory Sacrifice of the Mass, Compulsory Confession, and Papal Supremacy. It will be seen at a glance that in general the Confession adopted much the same basis which was afterwards taken up in England; and indicated a desire, frustrated by unfortunate circumstances, to take the same line of Reformation, as distinct from Revolution.

This Confession was one of many. Not only did every Reformed boa, put out its own Confession, but even those who retained their obedience to Rome were obliged to define their position, as by the promulgation of the decrees of the Council of Trent, and the acceptance of the Creed of Pope Pius IV.