"I, N, tak þe, N, to my weddyd wyf to haue & to holde from thys day forward, for bettere for werse, for fayrere for fowlere, for rychere for porere in syknesse & in helthe tyl dep us depart gyf holy cherche yt wole ordeyne. And therto y plyghte the my trewthe." The woman repeats the same, adding after the word helpe, "to be boneere & buxum in all lawfulle placys." The form at the giving of the ring is: "Wyth thys ring I pe wedde & ys gold & syluer I pe gefe & wyth my bodi the wourchepe and wyth all my worldli catell I the onore and endue." I do not say that these variations prove this to be certainly the Bangor Use, whilst joined with others they shew it to be, as I have already said, neither the York, nor Hereford, nor Sarum. Indeed, I rather mention them for the consideration of men better learned in the subject than myself, (with whom I should be at any time most happy to communicate,) and hope that it may at least lead to some inquiry into the matter. There are very probably uncollated and neglected Manuscripts in our public libraries, which may some day decide without doubt what the Bangor Use was. The whole question of the ancient English Uses is one upon which very little labour has yet been bestowed.100 A note in the handwriting of the age, at the end of the Calendar, fixes the Book to have belonged to a 100 There are unquestionably many imperfect MSS. and printed editions of Missals of various Uses in our public Libraries, which have been arranged (and therefore neglected) under the very convenient title of Roman Missal. An authentic reprint of the York or Hereford Missal, for example, would very probably lead to the discovery of other copies; and so we might hope also by inquiry, to discover even the lost Lincoln Use, or assure ourselves of the Bangor. Church in a part of the country where the Use of Bangor was probably observed. It is as follows: "This Booke was geuen to the hye Alter of the Paryshe Churche of Oswestry by Sr.101 Morys Griffith Prist, To pray for all Christen Soules, the yere of oure Lorde god a thowsande fyve hundred fyfty and foure." I suppose that it had been removed from the Church during the troubles of King Edward's time, been carefully preserved, and as soon as possible restored after Queen Mary's accession. There was anciently at Oswestry a Monastery, the Church of which was made the Parish Church, and is described by Leland in his Itinerary. 102 The present arrangement of part of the old service Books will very probably be followed perhaps by an edition of the Sarum Missal, perhaps by some of the occasional offices. The circumstances of the times seem to call for a more general knowledge of them: and the extreme rarity of the original editions puts them, as I have already said, completely out of the reach of most men who have not access to public libraries. That temper of mind we may trust is rapidly passing away, in which we have feared to come in contact as with unholy things, with the ancient Liturgies and Offices, (which are indeed the Monuments) of the English Church. Men have been accustomed to speak slightingly, and 101 Sir, was a common title given in those days to men of certain religious orders, from the Latin Dominus, which also being contracted into Domnus, became Dom or Dan. And hence Dan Chaucer, as he is styled by Spenser. This title after its serious use was lost, became ludicrous as for example, " Dan Cupid." 102 Leland says that the Church of S. Oswald at Oswestry was sometime a Monastery "caullid the White Minster. After turned to a Paroche Chirch, and the Personage impropriate to the Abbay of Shreusbyri." Itinerary. vol. v. 37. Edit. 1744. with harsh words also, of holy prayers which for a thousand years rose through the aisles of our Village, equally with our Cathedral Churches, and of solemn rites by which devotion was not only quickened, but directed also to its proper end. Very much of this must in charity be attributed to ignorance: passing by of course the few whom no argument will reach, and with whom Genevan prejudice is infallible. Let then the documents themselves be produced, and I cannot but believe that that extreme and injudicious, because indiscriminating, love of present observances will become temperate: and with a better knowledge, we shall seek to regain the good things which may have been taken from us, and speak plainly, and claim undoubtingly, and insist with all earnestness upon the privilege of still possessing, many means, as well of conveying as of receiving grace, which we cannot help acknowledging, we had almost lost. There certainly is daily, whether it be well advised or not, an increasing, though not as yet a loud demand for a convocation of the Church of England: a convocation, I mean, in fact, and not in mockery: a convocation which shall shew, by being permitted to deliberate and act, that the State to which the Church of England is bound, can protect as well as injure Her. When it does meet, the Book of Common Prayer will not fail to come before its notice: and upon the one side there will be members who, following the steps of their predecessors one hundred years ago, will attempt to bring in latitudinarian opinions, and infect with the heresies of Calvin and Zuingle and Luther, our established Forms: upon the other side there will be men advocating the restoration of serious errors of the Church of Rome, from which we have so long been free. Surely, then, there is cause for making every effort which shall smooth the path to that great source of Catholic Truth, Catholic Antiquity. To contend for matters in which the very essence of the means of Grace is to be found, will be very different from disputes about vestments and church ornaments, although in their due order they also are of great importance. Why do not some attempt to settle that dispute, so far as we are now concerned, by obeying the rubric which is so insisted on ? Where is the Minister of the Church of England at the present day, whatever his degree, who does obey it? and yet, all have sworn to observe it. Nay more: would obedience be passed over by our rulers with no more remark or token of dislike than disobedience has been? I would add that the book to which the above remarks have been prefixed is intended for the clergy, and from its title will be hardly one which will either attract the notice or fall into the hands of the laity. Hence, I have said, or rather have repeated, some things already often said by others in every age since Christianity was published, which, all-important as they are, in these times mere caution and the fear of being misunderstood would have reserved in general discourse, or in so called popular works. One word also as to the Notes which are added at the end of the volume. Any person who is at all conversant with the subject will at once see, that they cannot even pretend to being a shadow of a Commentary upon the text. A large library might be formed consisting only of books illustrating and explaining the ancient g |