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L'axamplaira filmA fut raproduit grica i la g4n4roai TINUiO"), or tho aymbol ▼ (moaning "INO"), Laa axampiairaa originaux dont la couvorturo an papiar aat imprimda sont filmis an common^ant par la pram i ar plat at an tarminant soit par la damMra paga qui comporto uno amprainta dimpraaaion ou dlNuatration. soit par la sacond plat, s alo n la eaa. Toua laa autraa axampiairaa originaux aont filmia an eommonoant par la pramMro paga qui comporto uno amprainta dimpraaaion Ou dlNuatration at an tarminant par la d amlAr a paga qui comporto uno toMo Un doa aymboloa suivanta appa'.aftra sur la damitra imaga da chaqua micrafieha, salon lo eaa: la aymbolo -» signifio "A SUiVRI". lo aymbolo ▼ signifio "FIN". Mapa. plataa. charta. ate., may ba filmad at diffarant reduction ratioe. Thoaa too large to ba entirely included in one expoeure ara filmad baginning In tho upper left hand comer, left to right and top to bottom, aa many f r a ma e m required. The following diagrame INuetrato t>e method: planchae. tableeux. etc.. pauvent Atra fllmde i dee taux da rMuetion diff^rents. Loraque lo doeument aat trap grand pour 4tre reproduit en un soul cHehd, II aat filmd A partir do Tangle s updrieur gauche, do gauche * droite. at do haut an bee. en prenant la nombre dimegee ndceeaaira. Laa diagrammee suivanta ilkiatront la mdthodo. 1 2 3 1 2 9 4 8 e THE ^qintiar Companion: IS IT A BOOK FOJl EVANGELICAL MEN ! WITH A FEW WORDS ON CAROLS AND PRAYER BOOKS. BY A SY^ODSMiN.]^. ** I will sing with the spirit, and I will sing with the understanding also." HUNTER, ROSE AND COMPANY. 1882. E oi w Be ai ti B P I a: (■ f n f( h V t f I 1 €t)e j^gmnal Companion, CAROLS AND PRAYER-BOOKS. As this Hymnal is, unfortunately, used in many professedly Evangelical churches, I offer the following remarks for the benefit of those of my brethren who have not time to examine the insidious work themselves, as well as for those who are in search of a sounder selection, merely adding that I have always been a lover of hymns, and fcr nearly the last score of years have made the subject a par- ticular study, and fully agree, therefore, with the remarks of the Rev. G. W. Butler, Rector of Broadmaynes, Dorchester, Eng. , who said of this Hymnal, in 1873, " Here also the ecclesiastical element prevails, and, under conspicuous headings, abound Hymns for Lent, Hymns for Passion Week, Hymns for Saints' Days Here are found the least satisfactory hymns of the soundest, and the 'most satisfactory ' of the least sound, among hymn writers. Roman Catholic and professedly High Church poets stand in equal favour with loved and venerated Evangelical fathers." Another of my friends, a Canon of our Church, said, when it first appeared, he feared it was toe Churchy, and since then many notes of disapproval have appeared in different papers. To simplify the matter, and rather than give my own opinion, I will compare this Hymnal with a few others, and principally with the Irish Church Hymnal (I. C. H.), Common Praise (C. P.), Hymns for the Service of the King (H. S. K.), and Kemble's New Church Hymn Book, published after the death of the late Prebendary in 1873. THE HYMNAL COMPANION. In referring to the hymns, followed by the objectionable expres- sions, I shall do it by the first lines, instead of the numbers, so that the hymns may be compared, if necessary, with other selections. 1. Abide with me. " Hold Thou Thy cross." This prayer to the Lord Jesus, entreating Him to assume the attitude of a B. 0. priest administering extreme unction, is altered in C. P. to "Be with me, then, when last I close mine eyes," and in the Dean of Toronto's S. S. Hymn Book, and in H. S. K. to " Reveal Thyself before my closing eyes." 2. Sweet Saviour bless us ere we go. " Sweet Saviour," '* Gentle Jesu." These are Romish forms of addressing the Lord Jesus by pet terms, thus leading the people to believe that He is still a help- less babe in the arms of, and obedient to the blessed Virgin, and making her therefore, all-important, but the Man Christ Jesus had attained the ripe age of thirty-three years before He died, and all His disciples called Him Lord. {Vide Nos. 29, 30 and III.) Written by Faber, the pervert, who was probably thinking of pur- gatory when he referred to "death's dark night," which cannot signify the valley through which we must all pass, for there is light there or there could be no shadow, and what is death to a Chris- tian ? Is it the entry into a doubtful state of purgation (a dark uight), whence, as some believe, there is no escape, if the requisite number of masses are not paid for, or is it to be with Christ ? The Latin form of our Lord's name " Jesu" occurs constantly in Hymns Ancient and Modern, and in this Hymnal, but only very seldom in the I. C. H. and C. P. In the American and Montreal Hymnals, Kemble and H. S. K., however, and also in the Ameri- can Prayer Book, the P. B. of the Revision Society and the Cana- dian Reformed Episcopal P. B. the English name alone is used. 3. Sweet the moments rich in blessing — ** Which before the cross I spend." . . . *' Low before His cross to lie." In H. S. K. this is rendered thus, " Which with thee O Lord I spend" and " Low before His feet to lie," and the verse, ' ' Here I'll sit for ever viewing, Mercy's streams in streams of blood, Precious drops my THE HYMNAL COMPANION. 5 soul bedewing, Plead and claim my peace with God," is altered in Kemble and" I. C. H. thus, " Here I find my hope of heaven, while upon the Lamb I gaze, Loving much and much forgiven. Let my heart o'erflow in praise." The second part of the third verse is " While I see divine compassion. Beaming in His languid eye." Those who form their opinions from idols — crucifixes, paintings of the crucifixion or the like — may still find the eyes languid, as they undoubtedly were 1800 years ago, when He, as a man, suffered on the cross. But that is past. Our loving Saviour is in heaven. Languid means weak, feeble or exhausted — and yet the term is applied to our Perfect God ! The whole of the third verse is omitted in Kemble, I. C. H. and C. P. 4. O come and mourn with me awhile. " Come take thy stand beneath the cross, So may the blood from out His side, fall gently on thee drop by drop." By Faber, the pervert. It is a well- known feature of the R. C. religion to love to dwell upon the physical details of the history of the sufferings of the Lord Jesus, and this materialistic verse is expunged in Kemble, C. P., I. C. H. H. S. K. and the American and Montreal Hymnals. It is only suited for those churches where a bleeding crucifix, depicted or sculptured, hangs over the so-called altar. Our Lord's wounds are not bleeding, neither is He hanging upon a cross. He is not ever- crucified as the Roman Church calls Him and this hymn teaches. He is not sacrificed every day in the mass, but Christ Jesus is in heaven sitting at the right hand of God. 5. Behold the Lamb of God who bore. " His pierced feet bedew with tears." Not in Kemble, C. P., L C. H. nor H. S. K. The fol- lowing appeared lately in the London Church Association Montjily : — " In the Romish doctrine the glorious mystery of His * tabernac- ling in the flesh,' and walking as perfect God in human shape among men, is hidden or frittered away in devotion to, and trust in, each several limb and bodily attribute, and the deification of the several parts of His corporal frame, and even of the instruments of His Human Passion, by perpetually holding Him up before the 6 THE HYMNAL COMPANION. people as a helpless infant, an obedient child, a suffering hero, or a lifeless corpse.'* 6. O Sacred Head once wounded. Omitted in I. C. H., C. P., H. S. K., Kemble and the Montreal Hymnal. 7. There is a blessed home. " O joy all joys beyond, To , . . count each sacred wound In hands and feet and side." Is this to be the chief joy of heaven ? There are some who seem to believe not only that our blessed Lord preserved the accursed tree on which He was tortured unto death, but also that He is t, .liting for us in Hea- ven holding forth that cross and showing His wounds ! In facty boasting of what He suffered for us ! To satisfy poor doubting Thomas the Messiah showed him His hands and His side, but He also said, " Because thou hast seen thou hast believed ; blessed are they who have not seen, and yet have believed." This verse is omitted in H. S . K. , and the hymn itself is omitted in C. P. It wasSt.Paul himself who called thecross the emblem of the curse. He gloried in the doctrine of the cross, but despised the shameful instrument. 8. Great God what do I see and hear. " Low at His cross I view the day." Altered in H. S. K. to "Low at His feet." O God fill my heart with fear of Thee, not with the fear of tor- ment, but with the holy, child-like fear of offending so kind a Father, so gracious and merciful a Saviour. 9. Bread of heaven on Thee we feed. " This blest cup of sacri- fice." It is not a sacrifice, but a remembrance only of the last sacri- fice made for us, once for all, on the shameful cross. " To Thy cross we look and live." Even if the cross of wood was not the emblem of the curse, as St. Paul says it was, why should we desire anything to intervene between ourselves and the Saviour ? Did our Lord say, " Gome unto My cross all ye that labour," or did He say, " Come unte Me ? " Can a single authority for honouring the material cross be found in the New Testament ? Is our faith so weak that we can- not believe without the use of an image ? THE HYMNAL COMPANION. 7 0. My God and is Thy table spread. " Rich banquet of His flesh and blood." Altered in England, years since, in the Bishop of London's book, to '* Memorial of." 11. Rock of Ages. " Simply to Thy cross." Altered in H. S. K. to " Simply to Thyself I cling." • ** " Not to Thy cross, but to Thyself, My living Saviour, would I cling ; 'Twas Thou, and not Thy cross, didst bear My soul's dark guilt— sin's deadly sting." — H. S. K. 12. Thou who didst on Calvary bleed. "To Thy cross I fly.' Should not this be also changed to "To Thyself? " 13. Lord as to Thy dear cross we fly. Would it not be better, "As to Thy dear Self?" 14. In token that thou shalt not fear. " We print the cross upon thy brow." The Puritans, so styled because they adhered to the pure Word of God, apart from tradition, objected to the use of the cross in baptism at the time of the Revision of our Charles the Second Prayer Book, but were overruled by the King's tools. In the Revised Prayer Book of the P. B. Revision Society, all reference to this sign is expunged. Omitted in H. S. K. and C. P. 15. Stand soldier of the cross. " Receive imprinted on thy brow," etc. Why should the innocent babes alone be branded with the sign of the accursed tree, when it is banished from every other part of the Prayer Book ? Omitted in H. S. K. , C. P. and I. C. H. 16. O Thou the contrite sinner's friend. " When Satan . . . strives from Thy cross to loose my hold." Alter to " strives from Thyself." If. we hold fast to Christ Himself, believing only in the doctrine of the cross, and cheerfully bearing our own cross, Satan will assuredly flee from us. " Wily his snares the Tempter lays To turn us from Thyself away ; Knowing our life is all in Thee — Thyself alone the sinner's stay." -H. S. K. T d THE HYMNAL COMPANION. 17. The year begins with Thee. Another materialistic hymn for the Circumcision, at least the third verse, which I prefer not to copy. In none of the other hymn Looks herein referred to have they ventured to include this hymn. (Vide No. 5.) 18. We sinj? the praise of Him who died. " The Cross ! It takes our guilt away. It holds . ... It cheers • . . . It makes . ... It takec. " Is it the Roman gibbet that takes away our guilt, o* the blessed Saviour who died for us on that ac- cursed tree ? Omitted in H. S. K. and C. P. 19. Brightest and best of the sons of the morning. This is a hymn to a star, being an imaginary address of the Magi to the Star of Bethlehem. Omitted in H. S. K. 20. The voice that breathed o'er Eden. In this hymn occurs the word * * altar," although it is not to be found in *.he P. B. There are no altars in Evangelical churches, as there is no literal sacrifice to offer. Unfortunately, however, too many of our tables look like sham altars, although the Privy Council decided that the table was a table in the ordinary sense of the word (L e. , on legs, and not boxed up like an aUtir), and the Canons of the Irish Church agree therewith that it shall be " a moveable table of wood." The Canons of the R. E. Church in Canada likewise forbid the use of ** any altar or Communion table constructed in the form of an altar." {Vide Nos. 35, 1. II, and IV.) Omitted in H. S. K. Verse omitted in C. P. and I. C. H. 21. Brother thou art gone before us. This is an address to a corpse. In verse 4 are the words ** solemn priest." Our minis- ters are not priests, but what St. Peter called himself presbyter, fellow-elder, {^ide No. 34.) Omitted in H. S. K. and C. P. 22. The church's one foundation. " And mystic sweet communion with these whose rest v> won." This verse is expunged in C. P. and I. C. U., and the hymn itself is omitted in Kemble and H. S. K. 23. Lead kindly Light. Is it seemly to address our blessed Lord as ** Light." If so may we not also pray to Him as Door or Vine ? This was the last hymn written by Cardinal Newman before he T THE HYMNAL COMPANION. 9 joined the Church of Rome. Omitted in C. P., H. S. K. and Kemble. 24. Hark the sound of holy voices. " Marching with Thy cross their banner. " Not in I. C.II. , C. P. , nor H. S. K. This is one of the hymns for Saints' Days. In Kemble there are a few hymns under this heading, not referring to any saint in particular, but in the Hymnal Companion there are stanzas for each one of the Apostles*. There are no hymns for Saints' Days in C. P. nor in H. S. K. , and can it be denied that vhey acted judiciously, for no one knows the true date of either the births or deaths of any of the Apostles. At the Reformation our Calendar was formed after the Roman, where the Saint's Days Had been inserted by different Popes between the fourth and thirteenth (."uturies, the last having only been placed there about A.D. 1256, when it pleased a Pope to decree that the 25th July was St. James' day, although the Greek Church says it was April 30, the Armenian Church, Deo. 28, and the Coptic Church, April 12. The Roman and English Churches (alas, there is too much in common between us) call April 25, St. Mark's day, while the Greek Church celebrate it on Jan. 11, and the Coptic Church on the 23rd Sept., and as St. Mark is said to have been martyred in Alex- andria, it would seem, if any are true, which is very doubtful, that the Coptic is the real date. The Puritans always complained about the Saints' Days, and, in 1662, ** for the charitable purpose of annoying them," as Isaac Tay- lor says, '^ the Bishops added a great many to the Calendar, among them being a few popes." The Puritans bucunic known by that name when Elizabeth came to the throne, and as the Queen, who was religionahj a Romanist, and only polif/icalhj Protestant, wished to unprotestantize the Prayer Book so as to make it suit both Roman Catholics and Pro- testants, they became dissatisiiod and their troubles soon com- menced. They were equivalent to the Low Church party of the present day. Many of their clergy were suspended, and others de- prived of their livings, and both they and their people were perse- 10 THE HYMNAL OOMPAKlON. cuted in the Biahop's Courts ; they were fined, whipped, pilloried, imprisoned, by the Courts of Star Chamber and High Commission ; they suffered barbarous mutilations, ear-croppings, nose-slittings, cutting off of hands and brandings ; they could enjoy no rest, until at last, as violence naturally engenders violence, the oppression pro- duced its bitter fruits — a vindictive spirit arose among the people. The Revolution took place. After the Restoration, the Bishops de- termined to revenge themselves for what they had suffered during Protectorate — and one result was our Book of Common Prayer — in which they endeavoured, as far as possible, to spite the Puritans. 25. O Saviour, may we never rest. " O may we gaze upon the cross." Not in C. P., I. C. H., nor H. S. K. Like No. 4, this is only suited for those churches where there is an image of the cross on or above the Communion table, or altar as it is called in such churches. The material cross, however, is an image for the use of reli- g.on, and, therefore, contrary to the second commandment, which forbids all likenesses for religious purposes. Even those who vear it as an ornament only cannot deny that they consider it a sacred emblem ; and is not a sacred emblem an idol ? Read Deut. ix. In that one chapter Moses warns us five times against similitudes . Our Saviour gave us three symbols, and only three — water in baptism, bread and wine, which are not likenesses of anything in heaven above or the earth beneath. " Not to Thy C1088 then would I cling, Which must have mouldered ages past ; But to Thyself who Throned above, Oiiu slu'lter me from every blast. " H. S. K. 2G. Hark, hark my soul ! Angelic voices are swelling. This Hymn to the Angels is omitted in Kemble, C. P. and H. S. K. It was written by Faber, the pervert, who was undoubtedly thinking of the following from the Monastic Breviary of our Most Holy Father Benedict : *' Monks and Nuns, amjelt' of Jesus ! singing mid THE HYMNAL COMPANION. 11 the night shades of earth, sing on, tire not. Your praise notes make Jesus smile, your Virgin songs heal the wounds of the Ever Cruci- fied, your wondrous adorations gather up His blood drops .... Virgin choirs, sing on, tire not. " Would the so-called Protestants who are so fond of asking angels to sing songs to them dare to pray on their knees in their closets in prose, to these *' Monks and Nuns, angels of Jesus," as they do in their churches in verse ? 27. Jesu my strength, my hope. " The consecrated cross." The entire verse is expunged in Kemble and I. C. H., and this part of the verse in C. P. In my own Hymnal this is altered (with a pen), to " Firm to maintain the doctrine of the cross." 28. Depth of mercy ! can there be. " Shows His wounds." Al- tered in C. P. to " Pleads His wounds " — but is even this correct 1 Our beloved Lord is ever interceding for us with a merciful Father, but is He also ever reminding either the Father or us of His suffer- ings, which the truly penitent sinner can n^ver forget. The above twenty-eight hymns are in the first edition, and have not been revised out o/the last. The following are among the new hymns : 29. Joy fills our inmost hearts to-day. " Shine on us. Holy Child." FideNos. 2 and 30. Not in Kemble, C. P., I. C. H., nor H. S. K. 30. Give heed my heart, lift up thine eyes. ** The blessed Christ-child." "Ah dearest Jesus, Holy Child." Like Nos. 2, 29 and III., this tends to Mariolatry, teaching us to look upon the Lord Jesus as a helpless infant subservient to His blessed mother. It i true our Lord is called " child" in Acts iv. 27, but that is not a correct translation. It should be "servant." He was Jehovah's servant. Not in I. C. H., H. S. K., C. P. nor Kemble. 31. Jesu to Thy table led. " While on thy dear cross we gaze." " When we taste the mystic wine." Not in Kemble nor H. S. K. The tirst is omitted in Common Praise, and it is a ([uestion why the second was not also expunged, for there is no mystery in the wino except to those who ignorantly believe that it is changed into blood. 12 THE HYMNAL COMPANION. " No mystic power these conceal — They are but bread and wine ; Thy Spirit, Lord, alone can give One spark of life divine.'' r— Hi S. K. 32. Lo He comes with clouds descending. *' Those dear tokens of His passion, Still His dazzling body bears With what rapture gaze we on those glorious scars." This verse (from Hymns Ancient and Modern) was expunged in the first edition of this Hymnal, but restored in the more advanced Revised and Enlarged Edition ! This verse is expunged (1) in I.C.H. published, be it remembered, By Permission of the General Synod of the Church of Ireland, (2) in C. P., published at the office of the Christian Book Society and the Prayer Book and Homily Society, (3) in the Montreal Hymnal, compiled and arranged by a committee appointed by the Bishop of Montreal, (4) in Kemble, by the late Rev. C. Kemble, Prebendary of Wells, (5) in the American Church Hymnal, (6) in H. S. K. , published in London, and (7) even in Church Hymns published by the Society for the Promotion of Chris- tion Knowledge.* It is also expunged in the new Hymnal of the Presbyterian Church in Canada, in Moody and Sankey and in many other Evangelical Hymn Books. 33. Come take by faith the body of your Lord. * ' And drink the holy blood." The corresponding clause in the Communion Service of the Revised P. B. is " Drink this {Wine) in remembrance," &c. The word Wine, being in a parenthesis. It is the same in the P. B. of the R. E. Church of England, but in that of the R. E. Church of Canada, it is " Drink this wine " &c., without the parenthesis. Thus in three truly Protestant Episcopal Prayer Books, the words are " Drink this wine "—and not this holy hlood ! This hymn * I cannot however, recommend this most pernicious selection which in- cluddB high sacramental teacliing and constant references to the table as an «' altar." Baptismal Regeneration is unblushingly taught and such Eomish terms as Son of Mury, and Mary rmdetiled, constantly occur. THE HYMNAL COMPANION. 13 which also includes the words, " By His dear cross " is omitted in Kerable, 1. C. H., C. P. and H. S. K. 34. Jesu with Thy church abide. **May her priests Thy people feed." It is true the word "priest'' is used in our Charles the Second Prayer Book, but before his revision the word was " pastor " which his bishops revised to " priest." {Vide No. 21.) 35. Sabbath of the saints of old. *•' They who 'neath the altar sleep." {Vide No. 20.) An English writer (Marshall^ says ** What mean the three, and sometimes six, steps leading now in almost every one of the * restored ' edifices of the Church of England, up to what our church properly calls merely * the table,' * the Lord's table ' and 'the holy table ? ' They mean that the table is an * altar ' . . . . It has been covered with embroidered cloth to hide its legs, and to make a sham altar of it .... it can be approached only by steps. . ." In 1843-4 the Puseyite Organ, the " Ecclesiologist " gave the following advice about the chancel which it said ought to be '' raised a single step of six inches depth at the chancel-arch, and considerably eastward of this " must be " two other steps at least." This has boen the rule followed in the "restorations" above re- ferred to, and too many of our modern Evangelical churches have been constructed in accordance with these Ritualistic directions. 36. Praise to God, immortal praise. *' For the vine's exalted j aice. For the generous olive's use, . , . . Should the fig-tree " &c. In the south of Europe wine takes the place of tea and coffee with us, and oil, in a great measure, of butter, while in England or Canada where oil is only used for salads, some do not know what the olive is, for probably much of the so-called olive oil is made in France of American cotton seed oil. This very appropriate hymn for a northern clime, on wine, olives and figs, was sung here last Thanksgiving day. 37. My Saviour can it ever be. " Soft as the plumes of Jesus' Dove." Is not this most horrible blasphemy, to call the Holy Spirit a bird with featliem 'i {Vide No. I.) 14 THE HYMNAL COMPANION. 38. For ever here my rest shall be. " Close by Thy bleeding side . . . My dying Saviour. " Not in H. S. K. Our Lord's side is not bleeding, neither is He still dying, as the Eomanists would lead us to believe. Our Redeemer, who once only took upon Himself the nature of a man, and as a man once only bled and died for us, is now in Heaven, a Living Saviour sitting at the right hand of the Father and hold- ing out. His hands — not to show His cross nor point to the long- healed wounds, but to embrace us even as the prodigal's father em- braced his son. 4 his. come and mourn with me a while. This hymn has been already referred to, but the word "Lord" in the first edition (Jesus our Lord) is revised to *' Love." ** Jesus, our Love, is cruci- fied." Is this an improvement ? A man may call his wife " my love," but is it a proper term for our Divine Lord ? We are very careful to call our bishops lords, and although we would not dare to address our earthly parents as plain John or James, think nothing of styling our Heavenly Master '' Sweet," " Gentle," Holy Child, Holy Babe, or simply Jesus, although He Himself told us to call Him " Master." The beloved disciple, when leaning on His breast, called Him Lord, and Stephen, when dying, said "Lord — Lord Jesus " — the name once, the title twico. I might have pointed out more without incurring much risk of being accounted hypercritical, but the above thirty-eight are cor- rected (with a pen) in all my hymnals, for without such emenda- tions I would not dare to place the book in the hands of my children. My Prayer Book is likewise altered, or I could not use it, for if it was obligatory with me to read the whole, I should have left the Church long since, as I cannot read the Athanasian Creed, the damnatory clauses in which, as well as the Rubric obliging the minister to read it, are expunged in the Prayer Books of the Irish Church, the R. E. Church of England, and the Revision Society, while the entire creed is omitted in the American P. B. and the R. E. P. B. of Canada. In the Communion Service I have mad« THE HYMNAL COMPANION. 15 mine correspond with the Second Book of King Edward, and the Be vised and R. E. Prayer Books, according to which the elements are not consecrated, nor does the minister take up or place his hands upon them in that prayer. Our Saviour Himself did not consecrate. The very prayer we use says, " When He had given thanks "... He said ** Do this " — but we presume to improve upon our Lord's commands ! ! It is by this prayer of consecration that the Ritualists believe that the bread and wine are turned into the real body and blood. In the Baptism of Infants I do not believe they are thereby re- generated ; nor can I join in professing to believe in the Resurrec- tion of the flesh when St. Paul tells us there is a spiritual body, nor in praying that the water may be sanctified, as I do not believe in Holy Water. Neither in the Commination Service can I agree with the ministers in solemnly declaring that I believe the old Romish rite of castin,^ ashes upon penitents was a godly discipline, by which their souls might be saved in the day of the Lord, and that it is much to be wished that the rite may be restored again. This service is expunged in four of the above-named books. As regards the damnatory clauses in the Athanasian Creed, and the invocations in the Benedicite not only to inanimate things but also to Priests, Spirits and Souls and to three dead men, there are some who acknowledge that The Church gave them the P. B. , and if there is anything wrong in it The Church is responsible, and not themselves, others undoubtedly go through the whole as a matter of form, without reflection. There are some few who omit certain passages, and others, but how few, who conscientiously shut up their books that they may not be supposed to approve of such doc- trine. The Canticle is from the Apocrypha, which in the Articles is called uncanonical, and the rubric does not oblige the minister to give it out. There are some Ministers who value CHRIST 4and His Laws above The Chub'jH and her laws, and who therefore 16 THE HYMNAL COMPANION. never allow this Canticle to be sung in their churches. It is ex- punged in the Revised and in both the B. E. Prayer Books. But lukewarmness is the crying sin of the day. Say to one, your Burpliced choir is a part of the Ritualistic policy for their great aim the Ekvatiort of the Priesthood, and the reply from those who will not take warning from the past, and thinking only for themselves, care nothing for the young and thoughtless around them, is ** Oh, they can never carry it any farther in this church,^' as if there was no risk whatever of " this church " being held up as a precedent by others. It is true the surpliced choirs were never reformed out of the cathedrals, where they like ornate services (of which it has been well said *' The nearer we approach an ornate cathedral service the farther we depart from the simplicity of the gospel"), but they kept them there for three hundred years, and it is only within about the last thirty years that they have crept into the parish churches.* Say to anothf r, " You have a Ritualistic altar frontal. They have five so-called * canonical colours, and white, the first of their * se- quence,' is the sacred colour for Christmas," and the answer is, ' * Oh, but it don't mean anything /lere," or words to that effect, and probably a similar reply is given wherever their colours are first in- troduced. Sometimes at the beginning the colour may not be very decided, so that it may be denied that it is a Ritualistic colour, but why should the legs of the table ever be hidden by a frontal to make it resemble an altar ? But compromise, which is always at the expense of truth, is the order of the day, although, as Marshall says, " The Church of Christ has always lost by her compromises. She lost by her com- promise with Paganism in the sixth century, by her compromise with Popery in the sixteenfh century, and she is now losing by her compromise with Puseyism." We allow a choir to sing a beautiful Anthem while we stand up to admire the music, and call that worshipping God, and as we pass * The choir of the Toronto Cathedral do not wear siirpHceii. THE HYMNAL COMPANION. 17 e er out of Church ten voices are raised in praise of, or perhaps more frequently to criticize, the ".lovely voice " to one for the sermon. Truly, as the lady said on leaving a fashionable church in New York, they should alter the word "people," and sing " Let the CHOIR praise Thee." It is the same with the hymns. The tunes are often so difficult that the choir monopolize the singing, and even intelligent people are frequently at a loss to know what the words are, and the minis- ter needed not to have been surprised when he heard the old woman singing what he could not comprehend, especially the chorus — '' Jews, screws, de fi dum." She did not know what it meant, she said, but it was a good hymn for they sung it last Sunday. Then only he knew it was " Jews crucified Him." Besides our own, I have five other Prayer Books, viz. : (1.) The American, revised nearly a century ago, and a marked improve- ment upon ours, but still imperfect , (2) The Irish, published in Dublin in 1878, and the least satisfactory ; (3) Prayer Book of the P. B. Revision Society (Lord Ebury, President), used by the Free Church of England ; (4) P. B. of the Reformed Episcopal Church of England, and (5) P. B. of the R. E. Church of Canada which is almost the same as that of the R. E. Church of the U. S. With these as our guides, we ourselves ought to have a Revised Prayer Book very near perfection, for our present one is but a shadow of good things. It was less than two centuries after the death of our blessed Lord that TertuUian asks, why, in the face of St. PauVs language as to times and seasons, Pasch is celebrated ! This day, which is accounted the Queen of Feasts (!), is called the Feast of Easter, who was the Pagan Queen of Heaven. In Old and Anglo-Saxon she was called Eastre, Eostur, Ostara or Oster, in Nineveh Ishtar, and in the Bible Ashtaroth.* She was the same * (I And they foi^(tok the Ltirtl atid starved Batil rtnd AshtaJryih.^' Judg'eB 18 THE HYMNAL COMPANION, as the Syrian Astarte, the Roman Venus and the Egyptian Isis, and as the Pagans called their chief god Baal, or Lord, she was called Baalath or Beltis, Lady, and fires were lighted to her honour on the first of May even in England and Scotland, where they were called Beltane (Beltis' fire), and in Germany Oster fires, until within the present century, and perhaps the custom is still preserved in some remote places. Our P. B. says that all the moveable Feasts and Fasts depend upon Easter day, and yet Socrates, the ecclesiastical historian, who flour- ished in the fifth century, says, ** The Saviour and His Apostles have enjoined us by no law to keep this feast. . . . The Apostles had no thought of appointing festival days, but of promoting a life of blamelessness and piety. And it seems to me that this feast has been introduced into the Church from some old usage, just as many other customs have been established." When we reflect, therefore, upon the words of St. Paul, " Ye ob- serve days, and months, and times, and years," by which it would appear that the Galatians had either retained or restored some of their Pagan ceremonies (for they both feasted and fasted in their mysteries) — and of TertuUian and Socrates upon Easter itself, the latter even adding that it was probably derived from Paganism — is it going too far to ask if it is not time that the Church should ex- plain why the Church of England retained this feast when it was cast off by the Scotch Church and I believe nearly all the conti- nental Churches of the Reformation ? Is it not a part of that com- promise with Paganism up to about the sixth century, and with Po- pery in the sixteenth, referred to by Marshall in his Dangers and Defences of English Protestantism (London : 1881) ? i For myself, I believe firmly that the Bible is the sole rule of faith, and that we ourselves, like the people of Berea, should " search the Scriptures," and I can find no authority there* for ob- ii. 13. " The women . . . make cakes to the queen of heaven. " Jere. vii. 18. The cakes were offered to Easter, but probably eaten by the priests. * Tho word Easter in Acts xii. 4, is correctly translated in the litvised N. T. '7Pn«»<>ver."' I THE HYMNAL COMPANION. 19 t . serving this Feast of Queen Easter, who, as the Syrian Venus, was believed to have been h?\tched out of an egg, and her priests, the British Druids, wore a .'tificial eggs set in gold hung about their* necks, and we to this very day maintain h^r symboi, the Easter The question of the time of keeping Easter long agitated the Christian community. In Britain, bitter controversies were carried on between the old British Church and that founded by Augustine. It was only settled by The Church, i. e. the Council of Whitby, in 664, according? to the Roman method, " hecause,^^ as Bishop Short says, " both parties agreed that St. Peter kept the keys of heaven, and that he had used the Roman method of computing,^' The italics are mine ! Easter Day has been celebrated as early as March 22, and as late as the 14th calends of May. The Pagans made their fires to Beltis always on the first of May. The British Christians continued to extinguish their fires on Easter Day and light them afresh with fire obtained from the priests long after the Pagan and Chris- tian festivals were amalgamated ; and as late as 1557, there was a Paschal taper in Westminster Abbey which weighed 300 pounds, although the custom of exposing useless candles at noon-day was ridiculed by TertuUian a.d. 206, and about a century later Lactan- tius said, " They light up candles to God as if He lived in the dark ; and do not they deserve to pass for madmen who offer up lamps to the Author and Giver of Light ? " The Roman Church still relight their candles, and the Greek Church kindle the holy fire at Jerusalem on Easter Day. There are no less than fifty-six hymns for Lent, a Church season for which there is no authority in the New Testament. Our Lord never recommended us to fast, for although He said " When ye fast," He was at that time addressing the Jews, who were com- manded to fast by the Law, and even then He did not recommend ceremonial fasting. It is true He said also that His disciples would fast when He was taken away, but did He mean that they would 20 THE HYMNAL COMPANION. perform a mere bodily exercise, or that thej^ would feel like David when he said ^' My heart is smitten and withered like grass, so that .1 forget to eat my bread ? " Our Lord Himself identified fasting with mourning when He said, " Can the children of the bridechamber mourn , . . but the days will come . . . and then shall (will) they /cwf." Two years later however, He promised that He would not leave them comfortless. . He Himself fasted, but it is only mentioned as a casual part of the Temptation on the Mount. No stress is ^aid upon it. In fact Mark does not even mention it. Was it a Jewish fast, or may it not have been part of the temptation, for it was only when He was weak from fasting that Satan made proposals to Him. It should not be forgotten that even in the Old Dispensation there was only one fast appointed by the Law of Moses, viz., the great fast of the Expiation, and that was a fast of one day only. All the other Jewish fasts were appointed by the authority of the State — in fact they were what might be called Church fasts. Both Alford and Tischendorf pointed out in 1869, that the word " fasting " in the New Testament was an interpolation in no less than four places, and the Revised Version agrees therewith. Let any one turn to his Concordance and note how constantly the words pray, prayer, and the like occur, as "Is any afflicted let him pray, pray to j^our Father which is in secret, watch and pray, pray without ceasing, we will give ourselves to prayer, the prayer of liiith, continuing instant in prayer, I exhort that prayer be made, praying always with all praj^er and supplication in the spirit, in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving." More than one hundred times will he find such words in the New Testament alone, and omitting the four interpolations, how many times are Christians directed to fast in that Holy Writ? The interpolations excepted, fasting is referred to seventeen times only, in the N. T., and as some are repetitions the number must be f r '« «» I THE HYMNAL COMPANION. 21 reduced to seven or eight, which all refer either to the Jewish fasts or to fasting in the sense of hunger (short of provisions), except two alone in Acts (xiii. 1, and xix. 23), where we read that they ministered and fasted and prayed, and prayed with fasting — but even here, may it not be asked whether this does not point to a season of prayer so earnest that it involved fasting as a consequence of it ? Are there not too many who forget St. Paul's words to the Corinthians, " I will pray with the understanding ? " Let us now direct attention to our Christmas Carols, several of which are highly objectionable. In a selection entitled ** Carols for use during Christmas and Epiphany in the Church and Sunday- school. Toronto, 1878," I find the following : — • I. I know, 1 know. " O'er the altar bright . . . the nest of the Holy Dove, For there broods He 'Mid every tree That grows at the Christmas tide." Here, firstly the children are taught to use the word " altar," and to look upon it as " bright," or lighted up ! (Vide No. 35 and II. And is it not at the least dangerously near the impardonable sin to teach the children that the Holy Ghost is a bird who broods in the Christmas trees ? {Vide No. 37.) It has been often and truly said that the Church of England was only half Reformed at the time of the blessed Reformation, when ' not only the Scotch Church, but I believe also all the Protestant Churches of the Continent gave up decking the Churches at the Nativity (or, as we still call it, Christ's Mass, although we pr^es's to have given up the Mass) and we alone retained this r,elre of Paganism which the Roman Church derived from old Rome, where the fir-tree was sacred at the very season of the winter solstice. It is a relic of the worship in groves so frequently condemned as early as the time of Moses, 22 THE HYMNAL COMPANION. Bishop Ryle (whom we follow when it suits our own fancies) said in his last chari;e, '* (jod's House is not meant to be an exhibition of 3,owers, corn, fruit, evergreens and ferns, but a place for prayer, praise and the preaching of the Word." There is one church in Toronto, one of the oldest of the twenty- four, where I am happy to say they have never introduced Christ- mas decorations, both pastor and people being in unison. Kext to Christmas decorations come Harvest Festivals. It was customary in England to have Harvest Homes, when the harvest men and servants were provided with a plentiful dinner or supper, and spent the rest of the night in dancing or singing ; but the pre- sent harvest festivals have only been introduced within a few years by the Ritualists, A remarkable German letter, first j^.iblished in English in the Union Review for 1867, enumerates harvest festivals among the other agencies for educating the people for " Catholic Practice," adding, **The service is generally a musical one ; the village church is sure to be decorated with flowers and fruit for the occasion." Hely Smith says, " It is well for the people of England to know that these apparently prp.ise worthy and very popular ser- vices were introduced for the express purpose of accustoming them to the ornate ritual of Rome." Are the flowers and fruit, evergreens and tawdry decorations intended for the honor of that God li'ho is not icorshipped by raeiCs Jiands, or for the admiration of that God ivho has not eyes of Jiejih and sees not as miserable man sees (Job x, 4) ? Jf not, why are they placed in houses dedicated to His service i II. Like silver lamps in a distant shrine. " For the Son of Mary was born to-ni^'ht ; . . For Mary'8 Hon is the Mighty One." The first lino is intended to teach the children not only that altars are fit and proper, but also that there should bo lights however, no prayers for these days have been published in England, although unfortunately the name was retained in the Calendar, and the idle custom of perambulating or beating the bounds of parishes was continued in some parts of Eng- land, but nas never been introduced on this continent ; but at the Provincial Swiod held at Montreal in ] 880, a prayer for Rogation Days was adi^co— -thus again fully recognising the successor of the Old Roman Terminal ia ! In England there is no established form for Consecration of Churches, those generally used having never been authorized. Many churchmen do not believe that God, who dwelleth not in temples made with hands, confers peculiar sanctity on mere material structures. There was, it is true, a temple \ihere the Shekinah was always present, but that passed away with the old dispensation. Our blessed Lord himself condemned it when speaking to the woman of Samaria. Archbishop Whately (the name is enough) never used a Consecration service. Canon Bell, of Cheltenham, says, ' ' I believe it to be antagonistic to the whole spirit of the Christian dispensation to suppose that God is nearer to us in one place than another, or to think He confers special sanctity on mere material structures." But still there are multitudes who, a? the Rev. Hely H. A. Smith says, think after a church is consecrated, " then as a matter of course God is bound to take up His especial abode in it ; but it can never be proved that God has given His consent to the transaction ; a place is not necessarily hallowed ground because man says it shall te." We have, however, a Consecration service, authorized by the Provincial Synod, and the Diocese of Montreal have, moreover, a Deconsecration service, authorized by the Diocesan Synod. Soon after the Montreal Provincial Synod of 1880 adjourned, the papers contained an account of the Deconsecration of a church by 28 TIxE HYMNAL COMPANION. Bishop Coxe, of Western New York, in performing which cere- mony he probably borrowed a service from the Church of Rome. Ill a pamphlet that appeared not long after, the opinion was ex- pressed that the next Synod would jump at this opportunity of adding still another ceremony to the already overstocked list ; and so it turned out, for at the Montreal Diocesan Synod of 1881, a form of service of Deconsecration of churches was adopted. What will be the next move ? Will they possibly adopt a form of Processions for the Rogation Days, or add " Saint" Wenzel to our Protestant Calendar, accompanied perhaps by " Saints " Caspar, Melchior and Balthazar ? The Reformed Episcopal Church are safe in this respect, for they have no Collects for Saints' Days nor the like, such as the Purification, which, as shown in a previous pamphlet,* was the old feast of Juno februata, or the Annuncia- tion, which was instituted in the seventh century, on a day sacred to Cybele. The early Christians did not e^ en commemorate the birth-day of our Lord, so that the true date is forever lost. Nei:her is there any evidence in the New Testament that Pasch (now called Easter), Pentecost (or Whitsunday) and Good-Friday existed at first as in- stitutions, although the latter was probably celebrated from the first age of Christianity. The Galatians, as I have already stated, observed too many holy days and were condemned by St. Paul for so doing, but the custom was not general until long after, as we learn from TertuUian (died A.D. 225), in whose time only three Holy-days besides the Lord's Day are mentioned, viz. , Good-Friday, Pasch, and Pentecost. The number is corroborated by Origen, who died in 254. Two centuries later, Jerome (who died in 420) protested against the multiplying of obligatory feasts. As regards Christmas, Clement, Bishop of Alexandria, who died about 220, is the first who makes mention of it, considering those * *' 'Vhii Book of Common Pniyer and the Revisionn hi England, Ireland and the United Statt'Si." Ifunter, Hose & Co., Toronto, m THE HYMNAL COMPANION. 29 overcurious who assign not only the day but the year, but he says there were some who celebrated the Nativity on the 20th of May, others on the 6th, and others on the 10th of January, and still others on the 21st and 22nd of April, conclusively proving that the day was not generally recognised in his time, and it was not until about the year 380, that the Romish Church enacted that the Na- tivity should be observed on the 25th December. These are facts and it is folly to ignore them. Every other Christian date but that of the Sabbath and of the Lord's Day have been lost, and why ? And why, and by whose appointment have those dates been always preserved ? We hear too much of the church and too little of CHRIST. It was THE CHURCH (?'. 6. the Council of Laodicea, about A.D. 372, followed by the equally unimportant Council of Lerida In. 54G — the Greeks called them Synods) that prohibited marriages in Lent ; probably to enhp.nce the power of the bishops by enabling them to grant dispej-isations, gratis if necessary, to curry favour with the great, and for the £. s. d. to others ; and this canon^ not of a General, but a provincial Synod, and that too of the " lukewarm " Church of Laodicea is still considered so valid that the Queen created much dissatisfaction among the Ritualists by allowing some of the royal marriages to be solemnized in Lent. Although Wheat- ley (not a Low Churchman) acknowledges " there is no canon nor custom of this reahn, that prohibits marriages to be solemnized at any time.'' The Latin Church gradually extended their prohibitions, and the Greek Church as well, so far indeed that although they are church Laws, they are not fit to he published, and these laws, if not all still binding in the Roman, are to this day enforced in the Greek Church, and there is no relief except by dispensation or absolution. It was THE church {i.e. Pope Leo the Great, A.D. 440-461) that established the Ember weeks, or Fasts of the Four Seasons. They were established in the Gallican Church about the time of the Coun- cil df Maintz, A.D. 813, and about the same time, or possibly earlier. 80 THE HYMNAL COMPANION. t in England, and we still consider them the only seasons for Ordi- nation because, forsooth, a Pope and his successors so decreed, and the Irish Church, still loth to throw off the yoke, retained them in her new Revision, ' 'In accordance (as they say in the Canons) with the ancient custom of the chubch ! " The American church, how- ever, eliminated these days, and the R. E. Church of England and Canada followed her example. It was THE CHURCH (i.e. the Council of Macon, in 585), that en- acted that if a layman on horseback met a mounted priest he should uncover his head ; if the priest was on foot the layman should dis- mount and salute him. It was THE CHURCH, who not satisfied with the decree of POpe Sergius, in 695, that the blessed Virgin was born on the 8th Sep- tember, for which there was not the slightest proof whatever, but which decree we still recognise by retaining '* Nativity of Virgin Mary," in our calendar, actually ventured about the middle of the twelfth century to add that she was conceived exactly nine months previous on the 8th December, and in this we also acquiesce by retaining " Conception of Virgin Mary," in our calendar, and does not that make us also assume the truth of the dogma of the Imma- culate Conception as it was solemnly affirmed by the rescript of Pope Pius IX. in 1854 ? It was THE CHURCH that made a Saint of Pontius Pilate ! His day, June 25 ! Yes, I repeat it, Pontius Pilate, because he said, " I am innocent of the blood of this just person." Should it be said this was only the Church of Abyssinia, my reply is the Abyssinian Church is like ourn^ church with bishops, and there- fore if an Abyssinian priest wished to become a presbyter of our church, he would, according to the Ordioal, have to be ad«Mt^6ed without any ceremony whatever, as having " had formerjy Epis- copal ordination," and therefore when we sing " For all the Saints," we pray not only for the Romish Saints of the Calendar, but also for St. Pontius Pilate. Under these Romish Saints is included the Roman god Bacchus under his Assyrian name, Dionysius 1 IP ! THK HYMNAL COMPANION. 31 ■ ' (Denys, Oct. 9). Archbishop Grindall licensed Scotch Presbyterian ministers,* but this " Episcopal clause " was added by Archbishop Sheldon and his clique, to keep out the Puritans, so that while we can receive with open arms a half savage Abyssinian priest, who might in due course become a bishop of our Church, had the late Norman MacLeod, the Queen's preacher applied, he would have had to have been re -ordained ! The Queen, who is by law an Episcopalian in England is by law a Presbyterian in Scotland. I speak with all due respect, but is Her Majesty therefore a Dissenter ? Archbishop Grindall would not have considered her one. It was THE CHURCH (i.e. the ConvTocalion holden in London, in 1562), and I am sorry to say it, but why should the truth be forever concealed, that in Article VIII. defends the Athanasian Creed, which confines salvation to those who hold the Catholic faith ; in Art. XX. says the church has authority in controversies of faith, which is hardly consistent with the Protestant right of private judgment ; and, in Art. XXXIII., says an excommunicated person should not be received into the Church until he be reconciled by PENANCE, which means, I presume, making a pilgrimage to Rome, not in Pullman cars and first-class staterooms, but in the good old- fashioned way, on foot, with peas in his shoes. It was THE CHURCH {i.e. the Convocation held in London in 1604) who made a canon enjoining that ministers should only wear "plain night-caps," etc., and — (was it to save the useless trouble and ex- pense of washing ?) — ' ' that they wear not any light-coloured stockings." ^a^ It was THE CHURCH (i.e. the Mnntrgal Synod of 1880) that^t^;^ adopted a Prayer for Rogation Days, thus as I have already stated again restoring to notice the old R. C. and Pagan ceremony, which had almost pass&d into oblivion. * "Book of Common Prayer, and the Revisions in Enf,'land, Ireland and the United iStates," Hunteii, Kose & Co, Toronto. 32 THE HYMNAL COMPANION. It was THE CHURCH (i.e. the Montreal Synod of 1881) that adopted a service for the Deconsecration of churches, although in England there is not even an authorized service of Consecration, much less of Deconsecration. Is it surprising that " the Church " and " too churchy " have almost become by-words ! But to conclude — in a fourth Carol (and there are only ten in this series) we have once more the language of the Church of Rome Christns imtus hodie (twice) and Ex Maria Virgine (twice) repeated at the end of each verse. Our Carol writers are evidently endeavouring to accustom the children to that " unknown tongue," although at the Reformation all the Reformed churches laid aside the Latin Service-books, and in England it was ordered that, according to the precept of St. Paul, the service should be in the English tongue. A little unne- cessary Latin was accidentally left in the P. B., but in the Ameri- can R. E. P. B. they have discarded the First Line Latin headings in the Psalter. In this P. B. they have also changed the word "mystery" in the Communion Service to Holy Supper, for the bread and wine undergoes no mysterious change, but is a memorial only of the one sacrifice offered once for all. In our Service the Minister in one case is obliged to use the word " mystery," but at the end it is optional with him which of the two prayers he uses, and many never read the second prayer. Of what advantage is what is called ** a sound Protestant ser- mon," which many, especially the children, will forget in a few hours, when carols like these are put into their hands— short rhymes which they cannot but remember, especially when accom- panied by beautiful tunes so that they will constantly sing or hum over to themselves *' Like distant lamps in a silver shrine," ** Sleep Holy Babe," '* Mary's Son is the Holy One," '* Ex Maria Virgine." Brethren, how long shall these things be ? postscript. ?> To show how the Prayer Book was sometimes tampered with, let me add the following : In 1559 The Church (i.e., Queen Elizabeth in the 52nd Injunc- tion) enjoined that due reverence should be made at the name of viie Lord Jesus J but this regulation was not long nor generally obeyed, and half a century later The Church (i.e., the Convocation of 1603 — the same which passed a Canon on night-caps and stockings) — by Canon 18 confirmed the Injunction. Prior to 1638, in the Epistle for the Sunday next before Easter, was " in the name of Jesus every knee should bow," signifying that our prayers should be offered up in His name, but in that year the word in was altered to "at " — in all probability to countenance the superstitious notion that it is our duty to bow the head every time the name of the Lord Jesus is read or spoken, although such reverence is not shown to either of the other persons in the Holy Trinity. Now I presume no one will allow that the English divines were less learned than the Hollanders, and in the Dutch Testament, published one year prior to this Prayer Book change (1637), the Greek preposition en. is translated "in." Moreover, both Cover- dale's Bible (1538), and the translation in use before the present authorized version of 1611, have "in." It was therefore not through ignoranqe that the change was made, and when we retlect how bitterly the Puritans were persecuted, especially for not bow- ing in the Creed, for the Recorder of Abingdon was cited before the Privy Council because he countenancett the Nonconformists and re- fused to punish those ivho did not how at the name of Jesiis^ does it not seem as if not only the translation in the Testament, but also the alteration in the Prayer Book was made to make both agree with the Laws of The Church ? Bishop Short, when referring to the alteration in the P. B. , says : " a change which, ivhether right or wrong, is sanctioned by the authorized and Geneva translations." 34 POSTSCRIPT. The Bishop must have understood Greek aftd hieiv therefore that it was ivrong, but like legions even now, he probably thought it was worse even than high treason to confess that there could be any- thing wrong in the P.B. It is a wondei* that he even ventured to hint at it. As for his quoting the authorized version, I have shown it is in this case a questionable sanction, and with regard to the other, the Geneva New Testament, published in' 1557, was the work of English exiles at Geneva, who were possibly, if not probably, guided in some manner by the French translation, in which the words are ** au nom de Jesus." If so, as they may not have been perfect French scholars, the mistake may be accounted for, 'as the word au generally signifies " at the," and only occasion- ally *' in." In a similar expression, however, it means " in " most unquestionably — Au nom du Roi, In the King's name ; and it is hard to conceive how, in the authorized version, they could have gone back to " at," except for the reason I have offered, when it was correctly translated, not only in the two English versions already mentioned, but also in the Rheims New Testament of 1582. It must be noted that the Convention of 1603 was presided over by Archbishop Bancroft, who ivas notorious for his severity against the Puritans, and he was also the principal supervisor of the author- ized version ! Mountfield {Church and Puritans) calls him a ' »:ory and ambitious prelate, whose little mind was inoxicated by schemes of ecclesiastical aggrandizement," and quaint old Fuller said *' he spake most politely when he was not in a passion." The P. B. change was made when Laud was Archbishop, but I believe he denied being the author of it. Extract from the London '* Rock,'' Jan. 13, 1882. " The necessity for liturgical revision is evidently attracting attention among both the clergy and laity of the Church, in proof of which we note that sixty new members have just joined the P. B. Revision Society within two months." [at [as jy- Ito jve [to he lot in lot ;ed • m- ost is ive it jna 82. ver 'nst or- ory by aid 'he ve ^ty ith lat ty