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ARCHDEACON SHARP says:-'There were orders given at the last Revisal, of which perhaps the reasons are not quite so discoverable, or at least not so satisfactory. As, for instance, in this same Office for Communion there was a new direction given, that at the end of the Epistle the Minister should say, "Here endeth the Epistle, or the portion of Scripture appointed for the Epistle." But at the ending of the Gopsel he is left without direction, and so must 'proceed on to the Nicene Creed. They who undertake to account for every thing tell us, that the reason of this is, that the Gospel is supposed to be continued in the Creed, and endeth not properly 'till we conclude with "life of the world to come. Amen." But, 'whether this be thought a satisfactory reason or no, yet the silence of the Rubric is a sufficient argument that we ought not to put in 'any words of our own at the end of the Gospel the want of an 'order in this case amounting to a prohibition.' (p. 78.)—On the Rubrics and Canons.

SHEPHERD in his Elucidation of the Book of Common Prayer (Vol. ii. p. 179.) uses the same argument as Archdeacon Sharp.

The Rev. J. PURCHAS writes:-'The Gospeller is not directed 'to say, "Here endeth the holy Gospel," inasmuch as ancient Ritual'ists teach us that the Gospel being everlasting has no end; or 'because, as some of them hold, that the Gospel finds its proper end ' in the Creed.' (p. 34. note.)-Directorium Anglicanum.

The REV. S. Rowe observes:-'The Rubric before the Nicene Creed expressly prescribes the terms in which the Epistle and " Gospel shall be announced by the Minister. Why the exact words 'should be ever departed from, when so explicitly appointed, one is 'utterly at a loss to conceivc,-why we should say, "so, or thus ends the Epistle," instead of "Here endeth the Epistle," and why we 'should merely say "the Gospel" instead of "the holy Gospel," seems difficult to explain. If it be alleged that such innovations are, after all, mere trifles, it is evident that the Fathers of our 'Church did not think them too unimportant to be worthy of consideration; and the less important such things are, the more 'incumbent it is upon us to submit our notions to the authority 'of our venerable Liturgists.' (p. 148. note.)—An Appeal to the Rubric.

MR. A. J. STEPHENS, Barrister-at-law, states:-'The Priest has no right to say any other form of words when he gives out the 'Gospel than that which has been ordered by the Rubric.' (p. 1136.) -Book of Com Prayer. E. H. S. Vol. II.

499.-It was a very ancient custom to give great prominence to the public reading of the Gospel. St Chrysostom tells us that the Deacon first stood

up, and proclaimed with a loud voice, 'πpóσxwμev', (let us attend), which was several times repeated; and before beginning to read he cried out, τάδε λέγει Κύριος (thus saith the Lord). Hom. XIX. on Act. Apos. In the 6th century also, we learn, that the Congregation, at the enunciation of the title of the Gospel, and before the Reader began, stood up en masse, and aloud gave glory to God for His holy Gospel. Subsequently, in the Rubrics of the Roman Missal, we find, that it was customary to say at the end of the Epistle Deo Gratias,' which was followed by the graduale or alleluia; and before the Gospel was read, the Reader used to proclaim Dominus Vobiscum,' to which the people responded, Et cum spiritu tuo:' then, after the announcement of the Gospel, they cried Gloria tibi Domine;' and, at its close, 'Laus tibi Christe' (Rubr. gen Miss. tit. x. 6.): while in the Mozarabic Missal, there was said here simply Amen.' (See BONA Rev. Lit. II. vii. 4. and MASKELL'S Ancient Liturgies). Whence the practise has been retained in the Church of England, and, at the Reformation, was incorporated into the first Liturgy of Edward VI. (1549); where the Rubric, after directing the announcement of the Gospel, thus enjoins:

Although this Doxology has been omitted from all subsequent Revisions of the Prayer Book, yet the practice has continued almost universally down to the present time. Its omission from the last Review in 1662 is the more remarkable, from the fact of the Rubric being retained in the Scotch Liturgy* of 1637, which had great weight with the Hampton Court

*The Rubric in the SCOTCH LITURGY on this point when the Presbyter has announced the Gospel thus reads:

And then the People all standing up shall say, Glory be 'to thee, O Lord; At the end of the Gospel, the Presbyter

Conference, and was much consulted by them. The Doxology, therefore, is considered by very many Ritualists to have been left out accidentally by the Reviewers of 1662.

500. At the Conclusion, likewise, of the Gospel, it was not unusual in earlier times to sing an Alleluia, or Anthem. A custom which tradition has in a measure retained in many of our English Churches to this day; where, the Gospel being ended, the Congregation exclaim "Thanks be to thee, O Lord;" or Thanks be to thee, O Lord, for thy Holy Gospel." This usage is not prescribed in any of the Liturgies of the Church of England; but it is found, like the preceding Doxology, in the Scotch Liturgy of 1637.

501.-As, however, there is no rubrical authority in our present Prayer Book for the Doxology, or the Thanksgiving, the only defence that can be set up for the usage is immemorial custom. We find, therefore, in most Churches, in fact, almost universally, that the Doxology

Glory be to thee, O Lord."

is chanted, or said by the Congregation, before the Gospel; and after the Gospel, though less frequently, the following Thanksgiving' is chanted or said—

"Thanks be to thee, O Lord."

The opinions following will be found, for the most part, to advocate and confirm the usage; and the absence of the Doxology from the present Liturgy is generally ascribed to inadvertence.

BISHOP OVERALL observes upon the Doxology

'Which was

'appointed in King Edward's Service Book, and is still used, however it came to be be left out here. I think it was by the Printer's 'neligence, for the Statute at the beginning of this Book, says

shall say; So endeth the Gospel: And the People shall answer; Thanks be to thee, O Lord.'-KEELING. p. 176. 177.

In the AMERICAN LITURGY, the Rubric directs, after the anannouncing of the Gospel:-" Here the People shall say, "Glory be to thee, O Lord."—

'nothing shall be altered but a few words in the Litany, and a clause at the delivery of the Sacrament: so that if it had pleased 'the Printer, this might have stood still.' (p. 39). — Additional Notes to NICHOLLS' Book of Com. Prayer.

BP. SPARROW writes: :-'As first, when the Gospel is named, 'the Clergy and the People present, say or sing, Glory be to thee, O Lord: So it is in St Chrysostom's Liturgy," Glorifying God 'that hath sent to them also the Word of Salvation:" As it is in the Acts of the Apostles, Ch. xi. 18. "When they heard," &c. (p. 158.) ......After the Gospel is ended, the use was to praise God, saying, Thanks be to God for this Gospel. So was it of old ordained (Tolet. Conc. 4. Can. 11.) that the Lauds or Praises should be said, not 'after the Epistle, but immediately after the Gospel, for the Glory 'of Christ, which is preached in the Gospel. In some places the 'fashion was then to kiss the Book.' (p. 159.)-Rationale.

DR. BISSE says: -The other honour paid to the Gospel, was, 'that after the naming of it all the people standing up said, "Glory 'be to thee O Lord." This usage, borrowed from ancient Liturgies, 'our Reformers continued in ours; and, though afterwards discon'tinued in the Rubrick, yet custom still continues the use of it in 'most Cathedral and in many Parochial Churches: and the voice of 'custom is in many cases the voice of law.'-quoted in MANT'S B. of Com. Prayer in loco.

WHEATLY writes:-'The custom of saying," Glory be to thee, O Lord," when the Minister was about to read the holy Gospel, "and of singing" Hallelujah," or saying, "Thanks be to God for his holy Gospel," when he had concluded it, is as old as St Chrysostom; but we have no authority for it in our present Liturgy. The first indeed was enjoined by King Edward's first Common Prayer Book, and so the custom has continued ever since; and 'I do not find how it came to be left out of the Rubric afterwards. 'It certainly could have nothing objected against it, and therefore 'it is restored in the SCOTCH LITURGY; which also ordered, that, when the Presbyter shall say, "So endeth the holy Gospel," the 'People shall answer, "Thanks be to thee, O Lord." In our own 'COMMON PRAYER BOOK the Priest has no direction to say, "The Gospel is ended;" the reason of which some imagine to be, because 'it is still continued in the Creed that followeth.' (p. 308.-Rat. Ill. of Bk. of Com. Prayer.

SHEPHERD observes: -'In ancient Liturgies, and in our first 'Book of Common Prayer, when the passage to be read out of the Gospel was announced by the Minister, the people, to evince the 'joy with which they received it, were directed to say, "Glory be to thee, O Lord," though, in all the subsequent editions of our book, 'this direction has been omitted, yet the practice is very generally ' retained. It was likewise customary in the ancient Church, after 'the ending of the Gospel, to say, "Thanks be to God for his Holy Gospel," a practice in some places still continued." (p. 178.)Elucidation of Bk. of Com Prayer. Vol. II.

Of modern authorities we may quote those annexed: they merely advocate the introduction of the 'Doxology' before the reading of the Gospel.

BP. MANT remarks:-'At the reading of the Gospel it is ordered, "that "the people shall be all standing up." But for the acclamation ' of Glory to God, however in itself unexceptionable and becoming, 'there is no actual authority, it having been omitted, probably by an oversight......There is no provision for notifying the end of the Gospel, as there is of the Epistle.' (p. 54.)-Hor. Lit.

The REV. J. W. K. CLAY, speaking of the variations between impressions of the Prayer Book of the same year, says: That we may be indebted for many of them to the Printer himself and to 'the want of all proper supervision, rather than to deliberate design on the part of a competent Ecclesiastical power.' And with regard to the question we are now considering, the omission of the Doxology before the Gospel, he adds:-' It is only on the former supposition, that we can account, in any reasonable manner, for the absence 'from every edition of our Prayer Book but the first of a passage 'belonging to the Communion Service, ("The Clearkes and People shal annswere, "6 Glory be to thee, O Lorde") which passage 'notwithstanding such absence, has met with due attention in our Churches down to this day.' (p. xxi. preface).- Bk. of Com. Prayer Illustrated.

The REV. J. JEBB remarks:- ་ The Glory before the Gospel is ⚫ a short Anthem, customarily kept up in all Churches, and forming 'part of the Choral system universally, though enjoined by no present Rubric. It is to be found, however, in all the editions of the Prayer Book before the last Review, and is supposed to have been omitted through inadvertence. No direction exists for announcing the termination of the Gospel, which may be accounted for by the ancient custom, enjoined in the Scotch Prayer Book, and prevalent in many country Churches in England, though 'sanctioned by no Rubric, of saying or singing "Thanks be to thee, O Lord," when the appointed portion has been read.' (p. 481.)— On the Choral Service. (Mr. Jebb is in error in stating that this Doxology' is found in all the editions of the Prayer Book before the last Review. See our observations above.)

The REV. H. R. MOODY writes:-"The "Glory be to thee, O Lord, 'before the Gospel, though not authorized by our present Rubric, is ' retained in most Cathedral and other Churches, having been 'ordered in the first book of Edward VI. and also used in the Ancient Church.' (p. 34.)-Hints to young Clergymen.

The REV. W. PALMER says:-'When the Deacon had ascended the pulpit, or ambon, and announced the title of the Gospel, the people with one voice exclaimed, "Glory be to thee, O Lord!" This custom of giving glory to God for his holy Gospel appears to' have prevailed from remote antiquity in all the Churches of the east and west; and the Church of England has not ceased for many centuries to follow so pious and laudable an example.' (p. 51.)...... When the Gospel was ended, the Churches of Spain and Gaul anciently sung an alleluia, or anthem. A custom like 'this prevails in many Churches in England, where, the Gospel being ended, the people say, "Thanks be to thee, O Lord, for thy holy Gospel," or, " Thanks be to thee, O Lord." (p. 52.)-Origines Liturgica. Vol. II.