For Sainct John the Euangelistys day: the Gospell accordyng unto Sainct John, Chaptre xxi.

Svys moy. Et Piere se retourna, etc.
Exortation upon the same Gospell.

Oure Gospell sayeth, that oure Lord Jesuchrist, after hys resurrextion after the greate taking of fysohes, and that he had sensibly eatyn before his apostels, and gaue unto theym of the same meate to eate, he sayd unto Sainct Peter, Simon, sonne of Jona, louest thou me better theff these here? and Peter aunsweryd hym and saydYee, and that he knewe hit well ynough; and thre tymes he demandyd of hym yf he loued hym; wherby he gaue us to understond, that he asketh nothyng of us but loue, ye, (plurhis,) that is to saye, more then all other thyngs, though that they be to be louyd as were his holly apostelles; which loue cannot be, without bauyng fayth and hope in hym more then in all other, and without beyng redy to bere the crosse of Jesuchrist, (notwithstondyng y' this old man wyll noone of hit and dooth refuse it,) as he declared unto Peter, shewyng unto hym with what death he shuld glorifie hym, and that he shuld folowe hym. For that thyng pleasith unto God, and the spirit, which displeasyth the flesche, and that the flesch doubtith and flieth. And Peter, after the wourdes of Jesuchrist, retournyd, and seyng John, which was beloued of God, and which, in the supper-tyme, dyd reste in the bosom of oure Lord Jesuchrist, and secretely demandyd hym, Sir, who is he that shall deliuer the? Peter then seyng hym enquiryd diligently of oure Lord what shuld happyn unto John, and oure Lord answeryd hym, that yf hit were hys pleasure that he shuld tary in this world unto his commyng that he had nought to do with hit, teachyng us that we ought not to be inquisitiue for to knowe the secretes of God, nor his wylls, touching thyngs to comme; yt ys ynough for God to knowe theym, and that his will be fulfillyd, and hit dooth not becomme us for to enquyer any farther. I ought not then to care how God dooth dispose of Sainct Peter, Saint John, Sainet Paul, and of all the other, and what glorye, gyftes, and pre-eminencis he hath geuen unto theym-It is ynough that we followe Jesuchrist, For he hymself sayd and aunsweryd unto Peter, Thou followe me, and by this aunswere of oure Lord, the disciples were of the oppinion, that John shuld not dye, and that he shuld be reseruyd until the daye of dome: And John dooth aunswer, that he dooth not saye, that he shuld not dye, but that he sayd, Yf 1 wyll that he tary untyll I comme, what haste thou to do with hit? Wherby he teachyth us, that we ought to beleue symply the wourd of God, accordyng to the understondyng of the spirit of God, and not after oure owne; and we ought not for to adde unto it owre understandynge, and thereof to make folishe oppinions: and to thend that we doubte not of this, he tellyth us moreover hymself, that it ys he the whiche geuyth wittenesse of these things, and that he hath writtyn theym to thentent that in nowise we shuld doubte of hit, and that it dooth help oure fayth for to loue oure Lord Jesuchrist more then all other thyngs, to haue oure trust in hym aboue al thyngs, not to be curious nor inquisitiue of the wourks of God to comme, and to beleue simply the woorde of God according to the spirit, and not accordyng to the presumption of oure understondyng.

For the furst Sonday of Lent: the Pistil in the second pistil unto the Corinthians, Chapitre vi.

Et nous besongnans avec luy; etc.

Exhortation upon the same pistill.

In the pistil of thys daye Sainct Paul dooth admonyshe us, that we shuld not take the grace of God in vain, in folowyng the carnall lyffe, the woordely and yerthely lyffe, but that we lyue with a spirituall lyffe, and accordyng to the spirit: Therefore Sainct Paul puttyth foorth unto the Corynthiens, and consequently unto all other trewe faythfull persones, that we ought nowe to leue oure carnall lyff, and to take the spirituall in these dayes here, which be helthfull dayes, dayes of penance, dayes of punishment of the flesche, in the whiche oure Saviour and Redemptor Jesuchrist hath wyllyd to punysche hys flesche in fasting by the space of fourty dayes and fourty nyghts without drynkyng or eatyng, not for hymself, but for us, and for to sanctefye our fastyngs. And trewly, my freendys, now yt is a time acceptable, now be dayes of saluation, in the whiche our Lord ys right nere unto us; Therfore, my bretheryn, lett us take pain for to serche oure Lord when oonne maye fynd hym, VOL. VII.-Feb. 1835.

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and to call hym when he ys nere unto us; But what must be doone for to serche hym well, and to fynd hym well, and to call hym well? He dooth shewe yt unto us by the prophete Esaye, whan he sayeth, that the synner shuld leue hys ivyll waye, and the wyckyd man hys evyll thoughts, and to retourne unto hys God, and for trewth, he shall haue pitie and mercy of him. And more ouer he sayeth unto us by the same prophete, In tyme acceptable, in thys tyme of grace of the lawe of the Gospel, (the which Jesuchrist hath brought into thys woorld here,) I am redy to exaulte you, and in thys tyme of saluation I am redy for to gyue you my ayde. The auncient lawe was a lawe of rygour, but the tyme of the lawe of grace of the lawe of the gospel is a tyme that Jesuchrist hath made agreable unto God, his father; it is a lawe of swetenesse and of mercy. Consequently Sainct Paul dooth shewe us greate difference betwene the lyffe of the flesche and the lyffe of the spirit, For he that lyueth after the spirit dooth not offende no personne, he shewyth hymself in al thing as a minister and seruant of God, in suche wyse that hys lyffe of hytself ys to be praysed, booth before God and before men, he ys pacient, he ys strong in tribulations, he hath suffisance in necessite, he is not surmontyd in labours, nor in watchyngs, nor fastyngs, he is clean in chastite, he hath knowlege booth of God and of hymself, he is meke, he dooth not tary on his spirit, but oonly to the spirite of God, he hath a trewe charite and without dissymulyng, he is true in his wourd, he dooth not truste in hys strenght, but only in the myght of God, not leuyng the harnesse of the justice of God, nother in prosperite nor in aduersite. All the diffamation of the world and the dishonnour dooth tourne him into glorye, that whiche the woorlde dooth repute for seduction, he dooth repute yt for treuth, that which the woorld dooth repute for ignorancy is, before God, science and knowlege, that whiche hit thinkyth death ys lyff, that whiche hit reputeth sorowe is ioye, that which it reputith indigence and pouuerte ys richesse, he which reputyth hymself to haue nothyng, he dooth possesse all by fayth. But the carnal liffe ys cleen contrary, for in all lyke maner and sorte that the spirituall lyffe, of asmoche as yt is of the spirit and not of men, it is all celestial and diuine, and dooth not feale but oonly the spirit; all in like maner the carnal lyffe, for asmoche as it ys but of the filesche, it dooth not feale, but of the flesche, the yerth, and the woorld. Lett us than leue the carnall lyffe, and lett us take the same whiche is accordyng unto the spirit, and by the same we shal be unyed unto the greate spirit of God, oure Lord Jesu Christ.

DEVOTIONAL.

SPECIMEN OF A COMMENTARY ON THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER.

BY A MEMBER OF THE SCOTS' EPISCOPAL CHURCH.

(Continued from vol. vi. p. 506.)

The Translation of the great English Bible, &c.-For a confutation of the old dissenting objections to the Prayer-book version of the Psalms, I refer the reader to former ritualists. What I shall here notice, is a ridiculous complaint brought forward by Mr. Riland,* in his late attempt at a revision of the Liturgy. This gentleman, (for he evidently sanctions the principle which prompted what he quotes,) in language which would do credit to the narrowest adherent of the conventicle, complains, that because the supplementary words in the Prayer-book version are not in italics, we are guilty of profanity, inasmuch as we put into the mouth of the Holy Ghost words which he did not use !!

Waiving the question of verbal inspiration, (although I will not scruple to assert that no clear-thinking and unprejudiced person will take the positive side of that question,)* it is clear that, on these principles, it was a sin ever to translate the Psalms at all. For any one that has ever taken a Hebrew Bible into his hand, knows that it is impossible to convey to an English reader, in many instances, an exact meaning of its contents. But the question between Mr. Riland and his mother, the church, may be thus briefly settled. It is well known that the Hebrews generally omit the substantive verb; now when David says, "the statutes of the Lord right," is it, or is it not, profane to adapt the clause to English ears by putting in are, and that not in italics? I think most of my readers will pretty quickly determine that the man who would answer it is, is fitter for a lunatic asylum than for a reading-desk.

The Order how the rest of Holy Scripture, &c.-The ancient practice had been to have but one course of reading the scriptures. Thus Isaiah was begun on the first Sunday of Advent, and on the Monday the next portion of it was read. Genesis was begun on Septuagesima, and read on through that and the following weeks. In short, there was no calendar of lessons beginning and ending with the civil year. This plan, as well as our own, had its advantages and disadvantages. Its advantages were, that all the lessons were made to suit the seasons at which they were read; whereas, with us, the second lesson for Monday or Tuesday in Holy Week may often chance to be an account of the resurrection, which suits not with the Passion-gospels of those days. Its great disadvantage was, that a considerable portion of the lessons must every year be omitted. For St. Paul's Epistles, for instance, being ordered to be read from Christmas to Septuagesima, and provisions being made for six Sundays and weeks after Epiphany, the consequence would be that, as there are seldom so many as six Sundays, more or fewer of the lessons must each year be omitted; and, when Septuagesima happened on the second or third Sunday after Epiphany, a great portion of them would not be read. So, as provision is made for four whole weeks in Advent, it must happen that, when Christmas falls early in the week, five or six lessons from Isaiah must be left unread. From these inconveniences our double table exempts us; but then it subjects us to others in their place. Two chapters of the Old Testament, as fixed in the calendar, are displaced every Sunday and festival; and, for a whole week, I mean from Wednesday in Holy Week to Easter Tuesday, nearly all the lessons being proper, the scripture of ordinary course is for all that time omitted. On the whole, I doubt whether our new plan is an improvement; for, though the old one occasioned the omission of a continuous quantity of scripture at one time, yet we see, in the instance just mentioned, that our's does this in a less degree, and subjects us, besides, to perpetual interruptions of the ordinary course.

How can words be inspired? Inspiration can, surely, be predicated only of the inspired mind. Language must ever be an imperfect medium for the communication of thought.

The Old Testament is appointed, &c.-It is evident from this passage,' compared with the rubrics at morning and evening prayer, that the compilers and reviewers of our liturgy reckoned the apocryphal books as part of "the Old Testament," a consideration which, one would think, might be sufficient to induce certain clerical complainants, on this score, to be silent. The only difference the church seems to recognise between those parts of the Apocrypha which she reads and the rest of the old Testament is, that, as is expressed in the sixth article, she "doth not apply" the former "to establish any doctrine.” The homilies, in more places than one, when quoting the Apocrypha, call it "the word of God."

The next thing to be remarked here is, the difference between the number of lessons in the Latin and reformed arrangements. In the former, three was the number appointed at the matins (and no other office had lessons at all, but merely capitula, that is, long or short verses of scripture) of ordinary week-days and festivals of the lowest grade. Sundays and other festivals had nine lessons, three to each nocturn of psalms. Of these nine, the first three were from scripture, the next three from some father or ecclesiastical writer, and the last three part of a homily on the gospel of the day.

And to know, &c.-look, &c.-except.. the immoveable [feasts]where there is a blank left, &c.-There is one exception to the truth of this direction. The feast of St. Michael and all angels has no blank in the place of the second lessons; but, on turning to the table, we find it to have proper second lessons, as well as first. The fact is, the second lessons were added at the last review; and I suppose the reviewers did not like to erase the ordinary ones from the calendar, as it might look as if they had been omitted from design, and would, at all events, break the regularity of the succession of lessons.

Note also, that the Collect, Epistle, &c.-The exception in this note makes it the clergyman's duty, when the Annunciation happens on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday, in Holy Week, to read its collect, even though he should read the epistle and gospel of the Monday, &c., those days having no proper collect. This discrepancy cannot occur on Easter Monday or Tuesday, the collect of the resurrection being again printed as the proper collect of those days.*

This seems the proper place for adverting to the difficulty which occurs when festivals happen on Sundays, or moveable feasts on immoveable. The rubrics of the unreformed churches are very full on these cases, and leave nothing to the discretion of the minister; and I cannot help thinking that our reformers, in their study of simplicity, were much too lax. As matters now stand, nothing prevents an ignorant or self-willed clergyman from mixing the services in a most unedifying manner, from reading, for instance, the Annunciation epistle and Gospel on Good Friday, when the two fall together. I do not see what we have gained by abolishing translations of festivals when they occurred on more solemn days. The Latin practice in

The case here supposed occurred this last year, the Annunciation happening on the Tuesday in Holy Week.

this respect, generally speaking, is this: whenever an immoveable festival occurs on the Sundays of Advent, on those from Septuagesima to the first after Easter, on Ash Wednesday, on any day in the Holy, and Easter weeks, on the Ascension, on Whit Sunday, or in the week following, or on Trinity Sunday, such immoveable festival is transferred, i. e., its office is said, not on the day for which it stands in the calendar, but on the next vacant day. Other and ordinary Sundays yield to most festivals; but then the Sunday office is not transferred, but a small part of it, as the collect, for instance, inserted with the festival. As, however, there is no authority for such translations with us, nor even, whatever the practice may be, for adding, by way of insertion, the collect of the neglected office, it seems desirable to have a rule for the guidance of the clergy in such cases. After much

study and consideration of the subject, and attention both to the spirit of the church herself, and to what history and the usage of other churches supply, (as far as their rules are applicable to us,) the fol-, lowing is humbly offered to such of the clergy as a useful guide till the want of rubrics shall be supplied :

When St. Andrew's and St. Thomas's days occur on the first and fourth Sundays in Advent, let the first lessons be of the Sundays, and the collect, epistle and gospel of the festival, with the insertion,* as the church herself directs in this instance, of the collect-"Almighty God, give us grace that we may cast away," &c.

When St. Stephen's or St. John's day occurs on the first Sunday after Christmas, let the first lessons be of the Sunday, and all else of the festival.

When the Innocents' day occurs on this Sunday, let the morning, first lesson be of the festival, but the evening first lesson of the Sunday, all else of the festival. [The reader will see that my principle here is this: where the first lesson has a special reference to the subject of the festival, it seems proper to read it; when it is merely of general instruction, and taken from the Sapiential books, the Sunday lessons, which are in a regular course, have the preference.]

When the Circumcision or Epiphany falls on a Sunday, the office should be entirely of the festival.

When the Conversion of St. Paul or the Purification falls on a Sunday, the first lessons of the Sunday, all else of the festival.

When St. Matthias falls on a Sunday, the rule is the same; if it be in Lent, the collect-"Almighty and everlasting God, who hatest" — must be added. If this feast fall on Ash Wednesday, the same rule may hold as respects the collects; but it seems proper to read nothing else of St. Mathias, except the first lessons and Athanasian Creed.

When the Annunciation occurs on any of the first five Sundays in Lent, the first lessons alone of the Sunday. When on Palm Sunday, nothing of the festival. When on Monday or Tuesday in Holy Week, the collect and first lessons alone of the Annunciation. When

• I would recommend that the Communion office alone should ever have more than one collect for the day; the church seeming to forbid the same in morning and evening prayer, by calling the constant collects for those offices the second and third.