the sixth, but before the Order of Communion in 1548, and the Prymer of 1545, and even the altered Breviary of 1544. Certainly, the manuals of queen Mary's reign are almost word for word the same as were the earlier ones during K. Henry's time, and I have used two or three editions of 1554, and 1555, and corrected by them whatever seemed to be merely typographical errors in the text of 1543. I shall now give the full title and colophon of this edition.

Title. "Manuale ad usum percelebris ecclesiæ Sarisburiensis: Rothomagi recenter impressum, necnon multis mendis tersum atque emundatum, typis Nicolai Rufi, M. D. XLiij." Colophon. "Explicit Manuale ad usum insignis ecclesiæ Sarisburiensis, tam in cantu quam in litera diligentissime recognitum: et nusquam antehac elimatius impressum. In quo ea quæ servat ecclesiasticus ritus ordine congruo connectuntur. Excusum Rothomagi in ædibus Nicolai Rufi typographi. M. D. XLiij." 4to. The "tam in cantu" relates to the musical notation, which the volume contains, of many parts of the various offices: antiphons, psalms, &c. This I have omitted altogether.

The Offices of the Consecration of a Church; of a Church-yard; the Order of holding a Diocesan Synod; the Offices of Excommunication; of Absolution; and of receiving an Apostate, are edited from a magnificent manuscript Pontifical of the Use of Sarum, in the library of the University of Cambridge; and for the loan of which I have already expressed my obligations. This manuscript is a folio, upon vellum, of 287 leaves; the text written in double columns; having no illuminations except of initial letters; date, early in the xv th century.

This preliminary dissertation upon the occasional

offices has, like the one preceding, extended to a greater length than I had at first proposed: yet I have done scarcely more than selected a few illustrations from much larger collections which I have made, and have attempted the consideration of those circumstances only, of which I might suppose some explanation would not be unacceptable to the reader. I possibly may seem to have erred, in unnecessarily transcribing at length full extracts from the Concilia, and other authorities which have been cited: and it may be said that mere references would have been sufficient. Judging however of the usefulness of such a plan, by my own experience of its results, in the perusal of works otherwise most valuable, I cannot but contend that many good ends are lost, by giving references only. The trouble of searching out the authorities named is not slight, and few will undertake it; again, in spite of every care which may be bestowed, references are sometimes erroneous; and at other times, to various editions; and, lastly, to be of any benefit at all, the books referred to must be at the reader's command. In the present case, to mention only that great storehouse of the records of the Church of England, to which I have been so much indebted, viz. Wilkins' Concilia; even that is not so common, or so moderate in its price, as to be within the reach of hundreds to whom, more especially, I humbly hope that this present work will be of service: and other books from which extracts have been made, are not simply difficult to be procured at any cost, but are not even in our public libraries.

Dccasional Offices selected from the

Manual and Pontifical of the

Church of Salisbury.

Ordo ad faciendum Catechumenum.

N primis deferatur infans' ad valvas ecclesiæ, et inquirat sacerdos ab obstetrice, utrum sit infans masculus an femina. Deinde, si infans fuerit baptizatus domi: et quo nomine vocari debeat: licet enim baptizatus fuerit domi propter periculum mortis: tamen totum habeat subsequens servitium, præter immersionem aquæ et quo nomine debet

vocari.

Masculus autem statuetur a dextris sacerdotis: mulier vero a sinistris.3

2 In the Salisbury Pontifical, where "sacerdos" occurs in the text, we always find "episcopus." "Imprimis inquirat episcopus, ab obstetrice." &c. I must remind the reader that I do not in these notes purpose to mark every variety of reading which may be in the Pontificals before me, but those only which appear intrinsically important, or valuable for any reason.

The Pontificals to which I shall refer will be, chiefly a MS. of the use of Sarum, in the library of the University of Cambridge, of the xvth century; and another also

in the possession of the same University, formerly belonging to the Cathedral of S. Swithin, Winchester, of the xijth century; a third, the famous Bangor Pontifical, in the possession of the Dean and Chapter of that Cathedral, of which I have spoken in the Dissertation on Service Books, and in my work on the Ancient Liturgy; and lastly, that which is commonly called the Leofric Missal, in the Bodleian Library at Oxford. These three last, contain only those parts of the Offices which were mixed up (so to say) with the ceremonies of particular great occasions: and do not, as the Salisbury Pontifical first mentioned, contain them entire.

3 "Hic primo inquirat sacerdos nomen infantis." Rubr. Manual Ebor.