corpse, which was carried up to a vault in King Henry VII's chapel, the ensigns of honor being all borne by the proper officers."-The Weekly Journal or Saturday's Post, March 18, 1721. [354] Copes worn at the Funeral of the Duke of Marlborough. 1722.] "Having all entered into the church, a velvet canopy being laid over the body, and the pall-bearers having taken up the corners of the pall, the Prebends in their rich copes, and the choir in their surplices, placed themselves after the great banner, and before the heralds, who carried the trophies, and sung the sentence in the office for Burial, I am the resurrection and the life,' with the two following sentences, and continued singing till the body was placed in King Henry the VII's chapel..........An altar, by the Dean's order, was erected at the head of King Henry VII's tomb. After the body was set down in the chapel, an anthem was performed with vocal and instrumental music ......The anthem being ended the body was carried to a vault at the foot of King Henry VII's tomb, the choir singing Man that is born of woman,' and the three following sentences, and continued singing them till the body was deposited in the vault. Then the Lord Bishop of Rochester, the Dean of Westminster, in his cope, read, Forasmuch as it hath pleased ALMIGHTY GOD,' &c. Then the choir sung, 'I heard a voice from heaven,' &c."-The Daily Journal, Aug. 13, 1722. [355] Copes worn at the Funeral of the Queen of George H. 1737.] "As soon as the procession came to the north door of Westminster Abbey, the Lord Bishop of Rochester, as Dean, and the Prebendaries, with the masters, scholars, and choir belonging to the same, and the choir of the chapel-royal, attending there in their proper habits, with wax tapers in their hands, and the Dean and Prebendaries in their copes; they all joined the procession."Gentleman's Magazine, vol. VII. p. 765. [356] Copes usually worn in Cathedrals. 1738.] "Bishops, Deans, Canons, in Cathedral churches, wear a cope besides the surplice, and are to put it on at the Communion S service, administration of Sacraments, or any other religious function which is to be performed with solemnity."-Picart's Religious Ceremonies, vol. VI. p. 55, fol. 1738. [357] Copes worn in Westminster Abbey at the Funeral of George EE. 1760, Nov. 11.] "At the entrance within the church, the Dean and Prebendaries in their copes, attended by the choir, all having wax tapers in their hands, received the royal body, and fell into the procession just before Clarencieux king-of-arms, and so proceeded singing into Henry VII's chapel."-The Ceremonial of the Interment of King George the Second. Gentleman's Magazine, vol xxx. p. 540. [358] Copes worn at the Coronation of George E. 1761.] "Children of the chapel-royal in surplices, with scarlet mantles over them. Choir of Westminster in surplices. Gentlemen of the chapel-royal, in scarlet mantles. [359] Copes worn in Brasennose College, Oxford. "Although the cope is now out of use, I have been credibly informed that it was used in Brasennose college during the last century."-British Magazine, vol. VI. p. 40. [360] Copes worn in Durham Cathedral till within these Sixty Years. 1804.] "In the vestry of Durham Cathedral are five ancient copes, which were, until these twenty years, worn at the altar on festivals and other principal days of the year."-Gentleman's Magazine, vol. LXXIV. part 1. p. 232. [361] Disuse of Copes at Durham. "I believe some of the ancient vestments formerly belonging to the Cathedral of Durham are still preserved there. If we may credit an anecdote, the cause of their ceasing to be worn was this. Bishop Warburton, who was a hot-tempered man, could never be pleased by the verger in putting on his robe; the stiff high collar used to ruffle his great full-bottomed wig, till one day he threw the robe off in a great passion, and said he would never wear it again; and he never did, and the other dignitaries soon afterwards left off theirs."-Quarterly Review, vol. xxxп. p. 273, quoted in Hartshorne's Funeral Monuments, p. 51 (note), 8vo. 1840. [362] Copes worn at the Coronation of George IV. 1821, July 19.] "When the king had offered his oblation, he went to his chair set for him on the south side of the altar, and knelt at his faldstool, and the Litany commenced, which was read by two Bishops, vested in copes, and kneeling at a faldstool above the steps of the theatre, on the middle of the east side.........When the king came forth from his traverse, he stood before the altar, and the Archbishop, still vested in his cope, set the crown of state, provided for the king to wear during the rest of the ceremony, upon his head. Then he gave the sceptre, with the cross, into the king's right hand, and the orb, with the cross, in his left; which being done, both the Archbishop and Dean divested themselves of their copes, and left them there, and proceeded in their usual habits."Allen's History and Antiquities of London, vol. IV. pp. 29-37. [363] Copes worn at the Coronation of William IV. 1831.]" His Majesty took his seat: and the Bible, the chalice, and the patina were carried to and placed on the altar by the Bishops who had borne them. The Archbishop of Canterbury put on his соре, and the Bishops who were to read the Litany, were also vested in copes."-Gentleman's Magazine, vol. cI. p. 226. [364] Copes worn at the Coronation of her present Majesty. 1838.] "The Archbishop of Canterbury then proceeded to the altar, put on his cope, and stood on the north side. The Bishops who read the Litany also vested themselves in their copes."—Ibid. vol. 1. (New Series), p. 195. [365] Copes, Chasubles, Albs, Dalmatics, &c. enjoined by the present Rubrick. 1661, 13, 14 Car. II. and 1844.] "And here it is to be noted that such ornaments of the church, and of the ministers thereof, shall be retained and be in use, as were in this Church of England, by authority of Parliament, in the second year of the reign of king Edward VI."-First Rubrick in the Book of Common Prayer.* * Mr. Robertson (How shall we conform to the Liturgy? 2nd edit. pp. 101-2,) concludes his quotations on the subject of copes with an argument intended to shew that we are bound at the present time by the LVIII. Canon rather than by the first Rubrick. That is to say: whereas the Rubrick enjoins the retention of the cope as being one of the "ornaments" in use "in this Church of England by the authority of Parliament in the second year of the reign of King Edward the Sixth," while on the other hand the Canon orders the use of a surplice "where the Prayerbook," to use Mr. Robertson's words, "in strictness prescribed a cope"; we are to obey the latter in preference to the former. The argument by which Mr. Robertson supports the inference appears to be this. The general Rubrick respecting ornaments corresponded with the Act of Uniformity, 1 Eliz. But to the latter was attached a provision that the ornaments should be retained “until other order" should be taken. Now Burn (Ecc. Law, iii. 437, quoted by Mr. R.) contends that no such other order ever having been taken the Rubrick remains in force, and consequently the LVIII. Canon, which contradicts it, is null and void. We may add that Bishops Cosin (Notes in Nicholls' Commentary, p. 17, quoted at length antè p. 143, and ibid. p. 18,) Gibson (Codex I. 363, quoted antè p. 142,) and Overall (Nicholls' Comm. p. 18, quoted antè p. 144) decide in the same way. But Mr. Robertson wishes to believe that the Advertisements of 1564-5, (though he cannot assert that they were issued in the way provided for by the Act, yet) "fulfilled the condition of the Act, and consequently have the full authority of law." Then the Canons of 1604 (which it must be admitted refer in Canon LVIII. to the said Advertisements) must, as agreeing with these Advertisements, supersede the Rubrick. This discrepancy and the virtual abrogation of the Rubrick, Mr. Robertson would have us believe, continue to the present day, in spite of the enactment of the Rubrick in 1662, and the want of any additional sanction to the Canons since 1604. Now on the other hand we would urge that the Advertisements of 1564-5, which confessedly were not made in accordance with the method prescribed by the Act, could not supersede the Rubrick. Even if they superseded the Rubrick in practice, they could not do so in point of law. We are not concerned to deny the fact, that these Adver [366] The solemn Funeral of Francis Talbot, Earl of Shrewsbury. The proceedings at Sheffield antecedent to the Funeral. 1560, 2 Eliz.] 1. "The right puissant Francis, late Earl of Shrewsbury, Lord Talbot, Furnival, Verdon, and Strange of Blackmore, Knight and Companion of the noble Order of the Garter, deceased out of this transitory world on Saturday, the 28th of September, in the morning, at his Manor of Sheffield, anno 1560. tisements and the subsequent Canons cannot be reconciled, upon this point, with the Rubrick. The difficulty to the Clergy of that period was not greater than that under which we labour, when we promise to obey injunctions which are next to impossible to be observed. However in 1662, whichever way the balance may have seemed likely to incline before, the deliberate re-enactment of the Rubrick surely confirmed anew its provisions, and so superseded the Canon. To us then the case is not difficult; since even on other grounds it may be shewn, and is generally acknowledged, that in any point of disagreement the Canons must yield precedence to the Rubrick. That the Divines in 1662 re-enacted this Rubrick with deliberation is shewn by the fact, that they introduced certain alterations in its terms, which made its provisions more general; and by the important circumstance that this was done in spite of the remonstrance of the Presbyterians, to the effect that this Rubrick would seem to enjoin copes, albs, &c. We may safely conclude then, that it was the intention of the Bishops not to lower the standard in respect to ornaments and ceremonies: and this is at least as good an argument in reference to intention as that urged by Mr. Robertson. But in truth we have little to do with the intention of any parties, while the fact remains that we are bound by the plain words of the present Rubrick. 1843. A writer of far higher authority than Mr. Robertson observes-"I must honestly acknowledge that I can find no argument to justify the disuse of these ancient vestments, so expressly enjoined by authorities to which all churchmen profess obedience, except that rule of charity which, as Bishop Beveridge expressed it, is above Rubricks."-The Choral Service of the United Church of England and Ireland, &c. by the Rev. J. Jebb, A.M. pp. 217, 218, 8vo. Mr. Jebb is mistaken in ascribing the above expression to Beveridge. It was the reply of Tillotson to Beveridge, when the latter opposed the reading of a .brief for collecting money to relieve the French Protestants in Canterbury cathedral, as being contrary to the Rubrick. After citing Dr. Birch's account of this occurrence, Dr. Hook remarks, "The quiet way in which it is here assumed that Bishop Beveridge was wrong, and the triumphant manner in which Dr. Tillotson's ad captandum sophism is introduced, is quite after the modern style. The question was not whether those who were in distress were to be relieved, but whether this could not have been done without violating a row."-Voice of the Church, vol. I. p. 16, 8vo. 1840. Will this "sophism," when thus ascribed to its right author, carry the same weight as before in Mr. Jebb's mind?-EDD. |