and that we have only to set aside party feelings and prejudices, and receive as truth those points on which there was unanimous consent, and that then on all points of importance unity must prevail. Again, let us shew to an age proudly boasting of its (falsely) enlightened state, that we recur to antiquity that we may be enabled to point out the characters and dispositions of those holy men of old who were honoured with the commendation of our Saviour and his apostles; which dispositions must be ours also, if we would share in their bliss. With this view, let us disarm the sectarian of his pretensions to greater zeal than ourselves; let us no longer suffer our churches to stand still all the week long, and shut up, more like the tombs of a dead than the temples of a living religion; but let us on such days as are appointed by the church assemble our people together, that they may be made acquainted with the life and conversation of those saints of Christ who shew us the only true way to glory. When men shall

thus be brought to understand our views in returning to the old paths; when they shall see that where schism (like an ill-weed) has grown apace, unity may blossom; when they shall be acquainted with those provocatives to piety which cannot be sought in vain in God's sainted servants of old, by this time a general feeling of veneration for antiquity will have arisen, and men will naturally appreciate the comfort of embracing, not simply the doctrine and discipline, but even the very ceremonies, in the use of which so many of God's faithful servants both lived and died. I am, Sir, &c., W. B. H.

ON CHURCH SERVICE.

SIR,-May I be allowed to trouble you with the following short extracts, and the queries resulting from them?

"I will, by the help of the Lord, give faithful diligence always so to minister the doctrine and sacraments, and the discipline of Christ, as the Lord hath commanded, and as this church has received the same."-Ordination Service.

"I do willingly and ex animo subscribe that I myself will use the form prescribed in the Book of Common Prayer, and none other."36th Canon.

"It is to be noted that this office (for the burial of the dead) is not to be used for any that die unbaptized or excommunicate."-Rubric before Burial Service.

"If any offend their brethren, either by adultery, whoredom, &c., and wickedness of life, the churchwardens shall faithfully present the said offenders, to the intent that they may be punished by the severity of the laws, according to their deserts; and such notorious offenders shall not be admitted to the Holy Communion till they be reformed."-109th Canon.

QUERIES.

1. Are such to be excluded from the Holy Communion before sentence of excommunication has been passed upon them? For by

Canon 110, schismatics are also to be presented, who are, moreover, excommunicate, ipso facto, by 9th Canon.

2. If they are to be excluded from the holy communion, are they to be regarded as excommunicate persons in other respects?

3. Does continued and pertinacious absence from the holy communion constitute ipso facto excommunication?—Vide Bp. Wilson's Works, Sermon 75.

4. In cases coming under ipso facto excommunication, can the minister treat them as such before they have been so declared by the ordinary?

5. Is there anything which will authorize a minister in refusing to read the burial service in any cases, besides in those of persons unbaptized, or of suicides, where sentence of excommunication has not been formally pronounced by the ordinary ?

6. Is there anything which will authorize a minister in any case in making any alteration in the burial service as given in the Prayerbook?

Our bishops are already so much burdened with other serious and pressing matters that they should not be troubled with applications when unnecessary, or when information may be had from other sources already provided.

Should you therefore, or any of your correspondents, deem it worth while to answer the above queries, or to direct me to any book, or other such source, from whence sound information may be had on the subject of them, you will greatly oblige, yours, &c.

Ὑπηρέτης.

ON AN OMISSION IN THE MEMOIR OF MR. ROSE.

My Dear Sir, The readers of the Magazine must, I am sure, feel much indebted to the friend who, though not insensible to the difficulty of the task, has yet been willing, at the cost of private feeling, to contribute what time would allow towards a sketch of Mr. Rose's life. It may seem therefore almost ungracious to advert to a deficiency, where one ought rather to express obligation for what has been done; at all events, it may well be thought that such advertence ought to be restricted to the supply of facts which might not be within the recollection or the knowledge of the writer of the memoir. Amongst these I must ask permission to mention one which has been missed in that notice, but which must surely be regarded as claiming a place in any memorial of Mr. Rose, and of the permanent service which, in so many ways, he rendered to the best interests of all around him. The case I refer to especially is, his obtaining the establishment of a regular English chapel at Rome. Those who have been at Rome, or who know how the services of our church have too often been attended or performed abroad, and who know also what advantage is taken at Rome especially, of the conduct of the English in regard to the rites of their own church, and those which there attract their attention, will feel what an incalculable benefit was conVOL. XV.-April, 1839. 31

ferred by the arrangement which Mr. Rose's zeal and kindliness of feeling prompted him to make in behalf of his countrymen residing there. But, after all, I would mention this omission only as one of many instances, which will occur to those who knew anything of Mr. Rose's turn of mind, of that prospective care which stampt so peculiar a character and value upon his various exertions. The feeling of this is, perhaps, most strongly suggested by his work on German Rationalism; it will be found, however, to attach itself not less closely, I am well convinced, to what might seem, to a hasty view, lighter and more temporary works. Ever, my dear Sir, faithfully yours,

OBSERVANCE OF THE FESTIVALS IN LONDON CHURCHES. SIR,-Living a few miles out of town, and business having called me there this morning, I endeavoured to make such arrangements as would enable me to attend divine service in one of the London churches. With this view, I went to one of the largest and most public, where I found the doors open, and the beadle standing there, having his hat covered with black silk in the manner usual at funerals. Surprised at this, I inquired of him at what hour divine service would begin. He replied that there would be no service this morning, as no congregation had been present at eleven o'clock. At the time I was speaking to him, it was certainly not four minutes after eleven. I entered the church, wishing to ascertain if such really was the system pursued in this parish, and a person whom I found within returned the same answer to my inquiries respecting the service.

When I quitted the building, it was exactly five minutes past eleven, by the church clock. The bell was then tolling; and as I descended the steps, I observed a funeral procession approaching. This arrangement must, of course, have been made previously, and must have precluded the possibility of the performance of the service appointed for the day.

I submit these facts to your notice without any comment, earnestly hoping that this statement may meet the eyes of those who have the power of controlling such matters. I remain, Sir, your obedient H. B.*

servant,

Feast of St. John the Evangelist.

ON THE COPE.

MR. EDITOR,-In reply to the letter of a "Country Parish Priest," I shall endeavour to describe the form of the coPE, the use of which is enjoined in our 24th canon.

* The Editor is very sorry that this letter was mislaid. If he had had the least doubt of having sent it to the press for the February number, it would have been sent for that of March.

It was simply a cloak without sleeves, and having no opening except in front; it was placed over the shoulders, fastened across the breast by means of a clasp or ornamental band, and reached as low as the ancles, like the cloaks still worn by many poor women, only that, instead of a hood, it had a flat fringed cape falling over the shoulders, or the form of a cape embroidered on the back. The materials were always of some rich stuff, such as silk, or velvet, or cloth of gold, surrounded by an ornamental border. The following is the description given by Durandus:

"Est etiam alia vestis quæ PLUVIALE vel CAPPA vocatur, quæ fimbriis infigitur. Habet etiam caputium; prolixa est usque ad pedes; in anteriori partæ aperta est illam vero nonnisi in majoribus festivitatibus induimus. Quae Cappa rectè interius patula est, et (nisi Quæ solâ necessariâ fibulâ) inconsuta :-fimbriis etiam subornatur."-Rationale Divinorum Officiorum, Lugduni 1612. Lib. iii. c. 1, num. 3, fol. 65.

In the course of my reading, I have noticed several instances of the use of the cope since the Reformation. When Queen Elizabeth visited the University of Cambridge, in 1564, in the different services performed before her, the officiating ministers were dressed in richly embroidered copes. (Gent. Mag., Oct. 1772.)

In Ely cathedral, on the monument of Dean Cæsar, who died in the year 1636, he is represented in a cope; and it is remarkable that a vestment of exactly the same pattern is still preserved in the sacristy: it is of green velvet, ornamented with flowers of gold, with a border and artificial cape of needle-work; the border is wrought with a series of saints, and the cape with the annunciation. When laid flat, it is in the form of a semicircle, the circumference of which went over the shoulders. In the Appendix to Miss Elstob's Saxon Homily, p. 38, she says, that "rich copes were then preserved and made use of by the Episteler and Gospeler in the Cathedral Church of Durham;" this was so late as the year 1709. It is, indeed, probable that the 24th canon was observed in all our English cathedrals up to the time of the great rebellion, though its revival may have been confined to Durham.

Purple velvet copes, bordered with gold lace and richly fringed, were worn by the four archbishops at the Queen's Coronation. Those worn by the dean and prebendaries of Westminster were chiefly violet and blue.

The copes worn occasionally by doctors of divinity at our universities are of scarlet cloth, with capes of ermine; but these must not be confounded with the scarlet gowns with sleeves, which they wear at

commencements.

The remark of your correspondent respecting the value of outward forms in religion is well deserving of attention. Everything approaching to theatrical display tends to mar the simplicity of the gospel, and no judicious member of our church would wish to see revived among us the pomp and ceremony, the rainbow tints and gaudy finery, which bedecked the clergy in the middle ages; we ought not, however, to

I

forget that, as man is at present constituted, even the appeals of religion must be directed to him through the avenue of the senses. have the honour to be, your obedient servant, RICHARD HART.

ON THE EVIL USE OF EXAGGERATED TERMS OF DISAPPROBATION.

SIR, Fully confiding in your expressed and manifested readiness to give facility in your pages for the expression of opinions by all parties, I venture to address you, acknowledging myself, in the outset, to differ in many respects from the generality of your correspondents, yet, I trust, in a spirit of meekness and brotherly kindness. The subject to which I would call attention is the increasing evil on the part of those who are called high-churchmen to affix terms of the greatest reproach to those amongst their brethren who are contra-distinguished as low-churchmen. As one of them, I feel deeply wounded by what I would fain hope to be the unintentional harshness of terms which I must apply to myself. I seek to deprecate the continuance of the practice. I frequently read complaints on the part of the so-called orthodox clergy of evil names being cast at them by the so-called evangelical. I lament that such should ever be the case; but, at the same time, I cannot but be astonished that those who so detect the mote in their brother's eye should not see the beam in their own. I will, for brevity's sake, knowing how valuable your space is, enumerate some of the heavy charges brought, as it were, to my own door by some of your correspondents and others, and, stating the action or the opinion so heavily denounced, leave others to judge whether it is a likely way to promote unity so utterly to condemn for such very trifling errors of judgment at most. I find myself stigmatized as "impious," "a heretic," "a blasphemer," and "a Socinian." The two first charges are contained in a letter with the signature, "A sworn Subject of the Church." It is written in such involved language as to be scarcely intelligible to me, though perhaps the fault is in my own dulness. The writer, however, plainly declares a minister to be "impious" who gives the benediction from the pulpit before the administration of the Lord's Supper. I have often done so. I do not mean to defend myself, for I may be wrong. But I am ignorant of any law, or rubric, or canon, to regulate our proceeding in this matter; at all events, I hold myself guiltless of impiety in so doing. The same writer declares any one a "heretic" for considering the hearing of a sermon an act of devotion. I deem every act devotional which brings the mind into communion with God; and can we doubt that "the reasoning of righteousness, temperance, and judgment to come," often does so ? At any events, if I so think and feel, what "heresy" can there be in such an error on my part? The third charge of "blasphemy" is laid against me by another correspondent, whose signature I forget, because I decline to give the Blessed Virgin the title of "Mother of God." I humbly desire to give to her all the praise, and glory, and honour, which the scriptures assign to her; but