ce the sixteenth
century. Great bodies of Christians have for a period of some
three hundred years been worshipping Almighty God in non-liturgical
ways, and have not been left without witness that their service
was acceptable to the Divine Majesty. Moreover, the fact that
absolute rigidity in liturgical use never was insisted upon in
any age of the Church until the English passed their Act of
Uniformity, makes in the same direction. And yet even after these
allowances have been made, there remains a considerable amount
of solid satisfaction for those who do adhere to the liturgical
method, in the thought that they are in the line which is apparently
the line of continuity, and that their interpretation of the
apostolic purpose with respect to worship is the interpretation
that has been generally received in Christendom as far back as we
can go.

II.

VICISSITUDES.

Certain of the necromancers of the far East are said to have the
power of causing a tree to spring up, spread its branches, blossom,
and bear fruit before the eyes of the lookers-on within the space
of a few moments.

Modern liturgies have sometimes been brought into being by a process
as extemporaneous as this, but not such was the genesis of the
Book of Common Prayer.

There are at least eight forms under which the Prayer Book has
been from time to time authoritatively set forth--five English,
one Scottish, one Irish, and one American; so that, if we would
be accurate, we are bound to specify, when we speak of "The Prayer
Book," which of several Prayer Books we have in mind.

The truth is, there exists in connection with everything that grows,
whether it be plant, animal, or building, a certain mystery like
that which attaches to what, in the case of a man, we call personal
identity. Which is the true, the actual Napoleon? Is it the
Napoleon of the Directory, or the Napoleon of the Consulate, or the
Napoleon of the Empire? At each epoch we discern a different phase
of the man's character, and yet we are compelled to acknowledge,
in the face of all the variations, that we have to do with one and
the same man.

But just as a ship acquires, as we may say, her personal identity
when she is launched and named, even though there may be a great
deal yet to be done in the way of finishing and furnishing before
she can be pronounced seaworthy, so it is with a book that is
destined to undergo repeated revision and reconstruction, it does
acquire,