form of bread only: And also it is more agreeable to the first institution of Christ, and to the usage of the Apostles and the primitive Church, that the people being present should receive the same with the priest than that the priest should receive it alone: Therefore be it enacted by our said sovereign lord the King, with the consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and the Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, That the said most blessed Sacrament be hereafter commonly delivered and administered unto the people within the Church of England and Ireland, and other the King's dominions, under both the kinds, that is to say, of bread and wine, except necessity otherwise require: And also the priest which shall administer the same shall, at the least one day before, exhort all persons which shall be present likewise to resort and prepare themselves to receive the same. And when the day prefixed cometh, after a godly exhortation by the minister made (wherein shall be further expressed the benefit and comfort promised to them which worthily receive the said Holy Sacrament, and danger and indignation of God threatened to them which shall presume to receive the same unworthily, to the end that every man may try and examine his own conscience before he shall receive the same), the said minister shall not without a lawful cause deny the same to any person that will devoutly and humbly desire it; any law, statute, ordinance, or custom contrary thereto in any wise notwithstanding: Not condemning hereby the usage of any church out of the King's Majesty's dominions. (Ed. from Statutes at Large, ed. cit., III, 478.)

123. The Act of Uniformity

(2 EDW. VI, 1548)

Statutes at Large of England

Confusion in order and lack of reverence in religious services followed the innovations of Henry VIII. As Protestantism gained control, the disorder increased. The inevitable end was clearly foreseen by the advisers of Edward VI., and prompt action was taken by the following Act, which was designed to cause all the various forms of divine service to conform to one model, that of the Protestant Church of England.

AN ACT FOR THE UNIFORMITY OF SERVICE AND ADMINISTRATION OF THE SACRAMENTS THROUGHOUT THE REALM

(The preamble recites the uses of various forms of service; the attempt of the King and Lord Protector to prevent

innovations; the clemency of the King in not punishing offenders against his decrees; the appointment of the Archbishop of Canterbury and others to frame a common order of prayer and rites; the framing of the Book of Common Prayer; and the thanks of Parliament for the latter. It also asks amnesty for all offenders in the premises, and proceeds :)

... and that all and singular ministers in any cathedral or parish church or other place within this realm of England, Wales, Calais, and the marches of the same, or other the King's dominions, shall, from and after the feast of Pentecost next coming, be bounden to say and use the matins, evensong, celebration of the Lord's Supper, commonly called the Mass, and administration of each of the Sacraments, and all their common and open prayer, in such order and form as is mentioned in the same book, and none other or otherwise. And albeit that the same be so godly and good that they give occasion to every honest and conformable man most willingly to embrace them, yet lest any obstinate person who willingly would disturb so godly order and quiet in this realm should not go unpunished, that it may also be ordained and enacted by the authority aforesaid, That if any manner of parson, vicar, or other whatsoever ministers, that ought or should sing or say Common Prayer mentioned in the said Book, or administer the Sacraments, shall after the said feast of Pentecost next coming refuse to use the said Common Prayers, or to administer the Sacraments in such cathedral or parish church, or other places as he should use or administer the same, in such order and form as they be mentioned and set forth in the said Book; or shall use, wilfully and obstinately standing in the same, any other rite, ceremony, order, form, or manner of Mass openly or privily, or matins, evensong, administration of the Sacraments, or other open prayer than is mentioned and set forth in the said Book (open prayer, in and throughout this Act, is meant that prayer which is for other to come unto and hear, either in common churches or private chapels or oratories, commonly called the Service of the Church): or shall preach, declare, or speak any thing in the derogation or depraving of the said Book, or any thing therein contained, or of any part thereof; and shall be thereof lawfully convicted according to the laws of this realm, by verdict of twelve men, or by his own confession, or by the notorious evidence of the fact, shall lose and forfeit to the King's Highness, his heirs

and successors, for his first offence, the profits of such one of his spiritual benefices or promotions as it shall please the King's Highness to assign or appoint, coming and arising in one whole year next after his conviction. [The rest of this section deals with form of penalty for first, second, and third offences.]

II. And it is ordained and enacted by the authority abovesaid, That if any person or persons whatsoever, after the said feast of Pentecost next coming, shall in any interludes, plays, songs, rhymes, or by other open words, declare or speak any thing in the derogation, depraving, or despising of the same Book, or of any thing therein contained, or any part thereof; or shall by open fact, deed, or by open threatenings, compel or cause, or otherwise procure or maintain any parson, vicar, or other minister in any cathedral or parish church, or in any chapel or other place, to sing or say any common and open prayer, or to administer any Sacrament otherwise or in any other manner or form than is mentioned in the said Book; or that by any of the said means shall unlawfully interrupt or let any parson, vicar, or other ministers in any cathedral or parish church, chapel, or any other place, to sing or say common and open prayer, or to administer the Sacraments, or any of them, in any such manner and form as is mentioned in the said Book; that then every person being thereof lawfully convicted in form abovesaid, shall forfeit to the King our sovereign lord, his heirs and successors, for the first offence ten pounds. [The rest of this section deals with forms of penalties.]

III. (Provides that justices of oyer may sit in judgment.) IV. (Provides that a bishop may at his pleasure join with the justices at the trial.)

V. Provided always, That it shall be lawful to any man that understandeth the Greek, Latin, and Hebrew tongue, or other strange tongue, to say and have the said prayers heretofore specified of matins and evensong in Latin, or any such other tongue, saying the same privately, as they do understand.

VI. And for the further encouragement of learning in the tongues in the Universities of Cambridge and Oxford to use and exercise in their common and open prayer in their chapels (being no parish churches), or other places of prayer, the matins, evensong, litany, and all other prayers (the Holy Communion, commonly called the Mass, excepted), prescribed in the said Book, in Greek, Latin, or

Hebrew; any thing in this present Act to the contrary notwithstanding.

VII. Provided also, That it shall be lawful for all men, as well in churches, chapels, oratories, or other places, to use openly any psalms or prayer taken out of the Bible, at any due time, not letting or omitting thereby the Service, or any part thereof, mentioned in the said Book.

VIII. (Provides that Service Books shall be gotten by all churches before the next feast of Pentecost.)

IX, X, XI, XII, and XIII provide for procedure and jurisdiction under this Act.

(Ed. from Statutes at Large, ed. cit., III, p. 517.)

124. Against Books and Images

(3 EDW. VI, 1549)

Statutes at Large of England

The zeal of the Protestant party led to the issue of stringent acts against all practices that recalled the doctrines of the Catholic Church. Uniformity of worship was secured by careful suppression and drastic legislation.

Whereas the King's most excellent Majesty hath of late set forth and established by authority of Parliament an uniform, quiet, and godly order for Common and Open Prayer, in a book entitled, The Book of Common Prayer and Administration of the Sacraments, and other Rites and Ceremonies of the Church, after the Church of England, to be used and observed in the said Church of England, agreeably to the order of the primitive Church, much more comfortable unto his loving subjects than other diversity of service, as heretofore of long time hath been used, being in the said book ordained, nothing to be read but the very pure Word of God, or which is evidently grounded upon the same; and in the other, things corrupt, untrue, vain, and superstitious, and as it were a preparation to superstition; which for that they be not called in, but permitted to remain undefaced, do not only give occasion to such perverse persons as do impugn the order and godly meaning of the King's said Book of Common Prayer, to continue in their old accustomed superstitious service, but also minister great occasion to diversity of opinions, rites, ceremonies, and services: Be it therefore enacted by the King our Sovereign Lord, the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and the Commons, in the present Parliament assembled, That all books called antiphoners, missals, grailes, processionals, manuals, legends,

pies, portuasses, primers in Latin or English, couchers, journals, ordinals, or other books or writings heretofore used for service of the Church, written or printed in the English or Latin tongue, other than such as are or shall be set forth by the King's Majesty, shall be by authority of this present Act clearly and utterly abolished, extinguished, and forbidden for ever to be used or kept in this realm, or elsewhere within any of the King's dominions.

II. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That if any person or persons, of what estate, degree, or condition soever he, she, or they be, body politic or corporate, that now have or hereafter shall have in his, her, or their custody, any the books or writings of the sorts aforesaid, or any images of stone, timber, alabaster, or earth, graven, carved, or painted, which heretofore have been taken out of any church or chapel, or yet stand in any church or chapel, and do not before the last day of June next ensuing deface and destroy, or cause to be defaced and destroyed, the same images and every of them, and deliver or cause to be delivered all and every the same books to the mayor, bailiff, constable, or church-wardens of the town where such books then shall be, to be by them delivered over openly within three months next following after the said delivery, to the archbishop, bishop, chancellor, or commissary, of the same diocese, to the intent the said archbishop, bishop, chancellor, or commissary, and every of them, cause them immediately either to be openly burnt or otherwise defaced and destroyed; shall for every such book or books willingly retained in his, her, or their hands or custody within the realm, or elsewhere within any of the King's dominions, and not delivered as is aforesaid, after the said last day of June, and be thereof lawfully convict, forfeit and lose to the King our Sovereign Lord, for the first offence xx s., and for the second offence shall forfeit and lose (being thereof lawfully convict) iv li, and for the third offence shall suffer imprisonment at the King's will.

III. (Provides penalty in case of default of duty by any Mayor, etc.)

IV. (Provides for jurisdiction by Justices of the Assize.) V. Provided also, and be it enacted by the authority aforesaid, That any person or persons may use, keep, have, and retain any primers in the English or Latin tongue, set forth by the late King of famous memory, King Henry the Eighth, so that the sentences of invocation or prayer to the saints in