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This was not put forth without due consideration, and during the years which intervened between this publication and the publication of the First Book of Edward VI, this and kindred subjects were well discussed. Still in the Communion Service of that book we find the following:

We commend unto Thy mercy, O LORD, all other Thy servants, which are departed hence from us, with the sign of faith, and now do rest in the Grant unto them, we beseech Thee, Thy mercy and eversleep of peace. lasting peace, and that, at the day of the general resurrection we and all they which be of the mystical body of Thy Son may altogether be set on His right hand, and hear that His most joyful voice: Come unto me, O ye that be blessed of my Father, and possess the kingdom, which is prepared for you from the beginning of the world; grant this, O Father, for JESUS CHRIST's sake, our only Mediator and Advocate.

And in the Order for the Burial of the Dead, was the prayer:

We commend into Thy hands of mercy, most merciful Father, the soul of this our brother departed, and his body we commit to the earth, beseeching Thine infinite goodness, to give us grace to live in the fear and love, and to die in Thy favor; that when the judgment shall come which Thou hast committed to Thy well beloved Son, both this our brother, and we may be found acceptable in Thy sight, and receive that blessing which Thy well beloved Son shall then pronounce to all that love and fear Thee, saying: Come, ye blessed children of my Father; receive the kingdom prepared for you before the beginning of the world. Grant this, merciful Father, for the honor of JESUS CHRIST our only SAVIOUR, Mediator, and Advocate. Amen.

In the Second Book of Edward VI, prayer for the dead was omitted from the Communion Office, and the prayer in the Burial Office was changed to the following forms:

ALMIGHTY GOD, with whom do live the spirit of them that depart hence in the LORD, and in whom the souls of them that be elected, after they be delivered from the burden of the flesh; be in joy and felicity: We give Thee hearty thanks, for that it hath pleased Thee to deliver this N. our brother out of the miseries of this sinful world: beseeching Thee that it may please Thee of Thy gracious goodness, shortly to accomplish the number of Thine elect, and to haste Thy kingdom, that we, with our brother, and all other departed in the true Faith of the holy Name, may have our perfect consummation and bliss, both in body and soul, in Thy Eternal and everlasting glory. Amen.

From this we see that the doctrine of the Church had not changed in this point. This is further proved by a reference to the Act of Uniformity which established the

second book. That Act declared "that the first Prayer Book had contained nothing but what was agreeable to the Word of GOD and the primitive Church;" and that such doubts as had been raised in the use and exercise thereof proceeded rather from "the curiosity of the minister and mistakes than from any other worthy cause." [Proctor's History of the Prayer Book, p. 35.]

The Burial Service remained unaltered in the Prayer Book of Queen Elizabeth [1559], and the Primer published by her authority also contained prayer for the dead. [Private prayers but forth by authority, etc. Parker Society, p. 67.]

At the Hampton Court Conference, the Presbyterians objected to the clause in the prayer above referred to in the Burial Service, which expressed "assurance of the deceased party's happiness, which they did not think proper to be said indifferently over all that died." [Wheatley.] The clause was, therefore, dropped and the Prayer in the English Book reads at present, thus

We give Thee hearty thanks, for that it hath pleased Thee to deliver this our brother out of the miseries of this sinful world; beseeching Thee that it may please Thee; of Thy gracious goodness, shortly to accomplish the number of Thine elect, and to hasten Thy kingdom; that we, with all those that are departed in the true Faith of Thy holy Name, may have our perfect consummation and bliss, both in body and soul, in Thy eternal and everlasting glory.

Concerning the prayer as it stands at present, Wheatley very truly remarks:

Not but that the sentence, as it is still left standing, may well enough be understood to imply the dead as well as the living; for we pray (as it is now) that we, with all those that are departed in the true faith of GOD's Holy Name, may have our perfect consummation and bliss: which is not barely a supposition, that all those who are so departed will have their perfect consummation and bliss; but a prayer also that they may have it, viz: that we with them and they with us, may be made perfect together, both in body and soul, in the eternal and everlasting glory of God. [A Rational Illustration of the Book of Common Prayer. Bohn, p. 482.]

And Bishop Overal, who was a prominent figure at the Hampton Court Conference, thus speaks of it:

The Puritans think that here is prayer for the dead allowed and practised

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by the Church of England; and so think I: but we are not both in one mind for censuring the Church for so doing. They say it is popish and superstitious; I, for my part, esteem it pious and Christian. The body lies in the grave, but by CHRIST's power and GOD's goodness shall men be raised up again; and the benefit is so great that sure it is worth the praying for; for then we may pray for what we ourselves or our deceased brethren as yet have not, therefore doth the Church pray for the perfect consummation of bliss, both in body and soul, to be given to our brethren departed. We believe the resurrection; yet may pray for it as we do for GOD's Kingdom to come. Besides, prayer for the dead cannot be denied but to have been universally used of all Christians in the ancientest and purest state of the Church, and by the Greek Fathers, who never admitted any Purgatory, no more than we do, and yet pray for the dead notwithstanding. What though their souls be in bliss already? They may have a greater degree of bliss by our prayers: and when their bodies come to be raised and joined to their Our prayers for them will souls again, they shall be sure of a better state. not be in vain, were it but for that alone. [Bishop Overal. Additional Notes to Dr. Nichols on the Book of Common Prayer. Quoted by Wheatley, p. 483-4.]

We have now traced the teaching of the Church of England, on the subject of prayers for the dead, as expressed in her liturgies down to the present day. Were we to go back and refer to the writings of her representative men, we would find that they understood the doctrine I must content of the Church to be as is here set forth. myself with simply putting down the names of some of those who have distinctly stated their belief in the efficacy of prayers for the dead, and that the practice of praying for the dead is not opposed to the teachings of the Church. In the seventeenth century we have Bishop Andrews, Bishop Cosin, Bishop Buckeridge, Bishop Forbes, of Edinborough, Herbert Thorndike (one of the most learned theologians of the century), Bishop Gauden, Bishop Jeremy Taylor, Bishop Ken. In the eighteenth century I only mention Bishop Hickes, the non-juror; Collier, the historian, and Bishop Wilson, of Sodor and Man. In the nineteenth century we have Bishop Heber, Bishop Harrington, of Durham; Dr. Legge, of Oxford; Bishop Kaye, of Lincoln; Bishop Samuel Wilberforce, of Winchester.

All over England inscriptions on tombstones may be found, containing prayers for the departed, extending in dates from the Reformation to the present day.

We have, moreover, the decision of the Arches Court of Canterbury, concerning the doctrine of the Church.

In 1838, suit was brought against Mary Woolfrey, of the parish of Carisbrooke, in the Isle of Wight, "for having erected, or caused to be erected, a certain tombstone, in the church-yard of the same parish, to the memory of Joseph Woolfrey, late of the parish deceased, with a certain inscription thereon, contrary to the Articles, Canons and Constitutions, as to the doctrine and discipline of the Church of England." The inscription objected to was this: "Pray for the soul of J. Woolfrey." "It is a holy and wholesome thought to pray for the dead."

The dean, the Rt. Hon. Sir Herbert Jennet Fust, in his judgment, reviews all the arguments of the case at length and gives his decision as follows:

I am, then, of opinion, on the whole of the case, that the offence imputed by the Articles has not been sustained; that no authority or Canon has been pointed out by which the practice of praying for the dead has been expressly prohibited.

The position of the Church of England, then, is plainly this: She nowhere has condemned the practice of praying for the dead, but she has condemned the corrupt doctrine of Purgatory which, in the Roman Church, has grown up around this primitive and catholic practice. Our own branch of the Church has declared "that this Church is far from intending to depart from the Church of England in any essential point of doctrine, discipline or worship, or further than local circumstances require ;" and has consequently retained in the Order for the Burial of the Dead, a prayer for the departed in these words: "And we beseech Thee, that we, with all those who are departed in the true faith of Thy holy Name, may have our perfect consummation and bliss, both in body and soul, in Thy eternal and everlasting glory, through JESUS CHRIST our LORD."

It is sometimes said that this is not a prayer for the dead, but is simply a prayer, that the living may at last attain to the perfect consummation and bliss now enjoyed by "those who have departed in the true faith." But the departed do not yet enjoy perfect consummation and bliss.

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If Paradise furnishes perfect consummation and bliss, in what respect can Heaven be more to be desired? And most certainly the departed do not now enjoy “perfect consummation and bliss both in body and soul," for their bodies have been committed to the ground, "earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust, looking for the general when "the corresurrection at the last day," ruptible bodies of those who sleep in Him shall be changed and made like unto His own glorious body." Then, and not till then, will the faithful have their "perfect consummation and bliss, both in body and soul;" and in the meanwhile the martyred souls in Paradise cry out, “How long, O LORD, holy and true," and the Church on earth says, “Thy Kingdom come," in behalf of the whole Church Militant and Expectant.

H. D. WALLER.