To a fair Lady weeping for her husband, committed to prison by the Parliament, 1643. Rump Songs, p. 131.

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The Church's Seasons for Marriage.

"Extracted from the Register-book of the parish of South Benfleet, in the county of Essex :—

'TO KNOW THE SEASON WHEN MARRIAGE IS OUT OF SEASON.

'Memento. It goeth out on February 7th, or on Shrove Tuesday, and comes not in again till Low Sunday: then it goeth out again on Rogation Sunday, and continueth out till TRINITY Sunday, from which time it is in season, until Advent Sunday: then it goeth out till January 13th, and continueth in from thence till February 7, &c. JEFFREY PHILMEAD, Vicar.'

"It appears from the same Register-book, that Jeffrey Philmead was inducted into the vicarage of South Benfleet, April 6, 1663.

"The above extract shows that the practice of solemnizing marriages at certain times only, was in use in the English church at a recent period. The same practice is set forth at the beginning of Bishop Cosin's 'Collection of Private Devotions in the practice of the Ancient Church, called the Hours of Prayer,' which was published in 1627.

'Some of these being times of solemn fasting and abstinence, some of holy festivity and joy, both fit to be spent in such sacred exercises without other avocations.' - English Churchman, No. CLV. p. 800.

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"Wherefore to begin with the times wherein the liberty of marriage is restrained. There is,' saith Solomon, a time for all things; a time to laugh, and a time to mourn.' That duties belonging unto marriage, and offices appertaining to penance, are things unsuitable and unfit to be matched together, the prophets and apostles themselves do witness. Upon which ground, as we might well think it marvellous absurd to see in a church a wedding on the day of a public fast, so likewise, in the selfsame consideration, our predecessors thought it not amiss to take away the common liberty of marriages during the time which was appointed for the preparation unto and for exercise of general humiliation by fasting and praying, weeping for sins."-Ecclesiastical Polity, v. 73.

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"We might right well,' says the great and judicious Mr. Hooker, (1. 5, sect. 73), 'think it absurd to see in the church a wedding on the day of a publick fast': therefore no regular clergyman marries any by banns during the solemn time of Lent, when good Christians ought to be engaged in more serious and heavenly business : and even when a license comes, and the case is somewhat extraordinary, yet he can scarce ever get his own consent to the doing so unagreeable a thing."-The Clergyman's Vade Mecum, 3rd edit., p. 189. 12mo. 1709.

[552]

The Devil's Knell.

1828.] "At Dewsbury, Yorkshire, there is a bell called Black Tom of Sothill': the tradition is that it is an expiatory gift for a murder. One of the bells, perhaps this one, is tolled on Christmas-eve as at a funeral or in the manner of a passing-bell: and any one asking whose bell it was, would be told that it was the devil's knell. The moral of it is, that the devil died when CHRIST was born. The custom was discontinued for many years, but revived

by the vicar in 1828."-Collect. Top., vol. 1. p. 167.

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Altar Furniture in Archbishop Laud's Chapel.

Temp. Charles I.] "Upon this new altar he had much superstitious Romish furniture, never used in his predecessor's days, as

namely, two great silver candlesticks with tapers in them, besides basons and other silver vessels (with a costly Common Prayer-book standing on the altar, which, as some say, had a crucifix on the bosses), with the picture of CHRIST receiving His last supper with His disciples in a piece of arras, hanging just behind the midst of the altar, and a crucifix in the window directly over it...... This new altar furniture of his was proved and attested upon oath by Sir Nathaniel Brent, Dr. Featly, Dr. Haywood (his own popish chaplain), who justified his lord that he did it in imitation of the king's chapel at Whitehall, where he had seen not only tapers and candlesticks standing, but likewise burning in the day-time, on the altar."— Canterbury's Doom, pp. 62, 63.

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Altar Candlesticks in Village Churches.

1844.] "A correspondent has obligingly furnished us with the following examples of village churches, in which the rubrick that requires two lights to be placed upon the high altar, is at this day observed: S. Mary's, BRUTON, Somersetshire, where the candlesticks are silver, and bear the legend The gift of Mr. John Gilbert to Bruton church, 1744'; S. Nicholas', WEST PENNARD, Somersetshire; THEALE, Berks.; S. Thomas Apostle's, THOVERTON, Devon; and S. Peter's, MARLBOROUGH, where they have been in use from time immemorial. We may add S. —, BEAUMARIS ; S. Michael's, CLAPTON in GORDANO (disused), Bristol; Allhallows', BARKING, London."-The Ecclesiologist, vol. 1. p. 160.

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Resemblance of the Caroline Prelates to the Pope.

6

1642.] "The Scripture commandeth preaching in season and out of season; but with the pope and our bishops, all preaching is now out of season, I am sure out of fashion in themselves, and cried down in others: for with them ignorance is the mother of devotion. "The Scripture alloweth but two Sacraments; the pope addeth five; and our bishops are ambiguous. Two only,' they say, 'are generally necessary to salvation', which may clearly intimate that there are more than two; though perhaps not absolutely necessary to salvation, or though necessary, yet not generally necessary to all men, in all times, states, and conditions whatsoever. And so much the papists yield of their five Sacraments, nay, of six of their seven :

for only Baptism, they say, is absolutely and generally necessary to salvation; the Eucharist even with them is not necessary to infants, much less Matrimony, Orders, Confirmation, Penance, Unction. In what do our bishops then differ from papists in this? How do they differ in Baptism? Both pope and bishops hold it necessary, absolutely necessary, to salvation: yea, the most moderate of both maintain a general baptismal grace, equally conferred to all partakers of that Sacrament. Indeed our bishops do not openly use salt and spittle, but yet they retain the Cross (perhaps much worse), and begin to claim spiritual alliances as the papists do.

"In the LORD's Supper, the pope makes (or rather finds) an Hostia, an altar, a priest, and this priest must offer for the sins of the quick and dead. Our bishops must have priests, altars, a sacrifice, corporals, and what not that papists have? to say nothing of their times and gestures, which sure the Scripture never so determined, much less excluded any that would not yield to such and such circumstances, which none ever thought could be more than indifferent.

"In all ordinances the Scripture now speaks of no other holiness than that which is spiritual, rational, the holiness of the whole man. The pope hath found out new holiness, which he puts on places, times, vestments, bells, tapers, water, wafers, copes, basins, pots and cups, with other utensils.

"And do not our bishops so also? What means such rigid pressing of holy days? bare heads in churches? holy surplices? What mean they else by their holy chalices? holy knives? holy utensils? all which may be so sanctified by a devout priest, that they may become profitable to the souls of those that use them. How then do our bishops differ from papists in administering Sacraments, manner of all ordinances?

"And is there any greater difference in admission of members, and excommunication? This last being the last and greatest censure of the church, by both bishops and pope, is made not only most common, (as the humour moves them) but also most ridiculous, being the usual appendix of one groat short in our reckonings with our lord bishop's registrar, proctor, or apparitor.

"I would not be mistaken here. I bring not in these things of doctrine or discipline, as if by agreeing in one or many of these I might convince bishops and papists (or the pope) were all one.

The main thing I drive at in all this, is the original fountain from whence all these spring, and all the banks that keep in these rivulets; that virtue and power which moves and actuates all these in their proper channels and this is papal.

"For, whatever the pope doth of his own head, by his own power, dictating to his vassals, as head of the church, this is truly papal, and such is the power by which these usurp so much over men's persons and consciences, in enjoining and pressing such and such doctrine or discipline.

"So that a bishop's wearing a surplice, cope, mitre, using the cross, bowing to the altar, and these such things (though they may be errors, yet all these or one of these), makes him not a pope, a popeling, or properly antichristian: but receiving these from the pope's dictates, doing them because he commands, acknowledging his power in commanding,-this makes a papist: and commanding them, pressing them on others in such despotical power, makes a true pope, a real antichrist.

"Nor may our bishops evade by this (which I easily see may be answered), that though indeed they do these things and command these things, yet they neither do them from the pope's command, nor command them in the pope's power."—A Discourse opening the nature of that Episcopacy which is exercised in England, &c. By the Right Hon. Robert Lord Brooke, pp. 56, 58. 2nd. edit. 4to. 1642.

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Proposed Reconciliation of the Anglican and Roman Churches.

1634.] "As to a reconciliation between the Churches of England and Rome, there were made some general propositions and overtures by the archbishop's agents, they assuring that his grace was very much disposed thereunto, and that if it was not accomplished in his life-time, 'twould prove a work of more difficulty after his death; that in very truth, for the last three years, the archbishop had introduced some innovations approaching the rites and forms of Rome; that the bishop of Chichester, a great confidant of his grace, and the lord treasurer, and eight other bishops of his grace's party, do most passionately desire a reconciliation with the Church of Rome: that they did day by day recede from their ancient tenets to accommodate with the Church of Rome; that therefore the pope on his part ought to make some steps to meet them, and the court of