cutting off occasion" of cavil or quarrel. Of these, the second was far better secured than either the first or last. For, in fact, for purposes of conciliation and comprehension the Conference was rendered fruitless by unreasonable demands, involving a virtual reconstruction of the Liturgy on one side, and, on the other, not only an unwillingness to any concession whatever, but also a desire to make some alterations in the opposite direction.
The alterations actually made are then thus summarized:( a) Amendments of the Calendars and Rubrics, for the better direction of the officiating clergy( e.g., especially, in the Ritual Rubrics in the Service of the Holy Communion);( b) verbal alteration of ambiguous or obsolete terms;( c) the use of the Authorized Version for all Scriptural passages( except the Psalter, the Decalogue, and the Sentences in the Communion Service);( d) addition of some " Occasional" Prayers and Thanksgivings( e.g., the Prayer for Parliament, for All Conditions of Men, for the Ember Weeks, the General Thanksgiving, the Thanksgiving for the Restoration of Public Peace at home);( e) addition of the Office for those at Sea, and for the Public Baptism of Adults. Besides these, however, we have the alteration of the Ornaments Rubric, the addition of the last clause to the Church Militant Prayer, the re- insertion, with significant alteration, of the Rubric on kneeling at the Holy Communion, the addition to the Baptismal Service of the Rubric on the Salvation of Baptized Infants and the Note on the Sign of the Cross, and the addition of the Services for January 30th and May 29th.
Finally, the approval of the two Convocations is quoted( without any reference to Parliament), and the book commended to" the sober, peaceable, and truly conscientious sons of the Church of England."
CONCERNING THE SERVICE OF THE CHURCH.
This is the original Preface to the Prayer Book of 1549( with a few omissions), written, as is usually supposed, by Cranmer, and obviously suggested by the Preface to the reformed Breviary of Cardinal Quignonez, published by authority of Pope Clement VII. in 1535, which it follows in many places.
I. It is notable that it lays almost exclusive emphasis on the reading of Holy Scripture, and the singing( or saying) of the Psalms, in Divine Service( only referring incidentally or by implication to the offering of Prayer and the administration of the Sacraments); and dwells with approval on the provision made by the ancient Fathers for regularity and completeness in the use of both, alike by Ministers and by the people, as a means of at once securing knowledge and" inflaming love."
Of the continuous reading of Holy Scripture thus provided for, it complains that it had been broken in upon( a) by" planting in
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