be referred to some of the monastic societies, who had formerly houses in Oxford; as the bishopric or church of Oxford was not founded till the sixteenth century.

It may be remarked in general of all these missals and rituals, that they differed very little; the sacramentary of Gregory was used every where, with various small additions. However, the rites of the churches throughout the British empire were not by any means uniform at the middle of the sixteenth century, and needed various corrections; and therefore the Metropolitan of Canterbury, and other bishops and doctors of the holy catholic church, at the request and desire of king Edward the Sixth, revised the ritual books; and having examined the oriental liturgies, and the notices which the orthodox fathers supply, they edited the English ritual, containing the common prayer and administration of all the sacraments and rites of the church. And the reader will perceive by the following work, that although our liturgy and other offices were corrected and improved, chiefly after the example of the ancient Gallican, Spanish, Alexandrian, and Oriental, yet the greater portion of our prayers have been continually retained and used by the church of England for more than twelve hundred years.

APPENDIX.

LITURGY OF ARMENIA.

(See page 71.)

THE liturgy of the Armenians affords a very strong presumption, that the order and substance of Basil's liturgy prevailed in the exarchate of Cæsarea long before his time. Armenia, an extensive country to the east of Cappadocia, had in part received Christianity before the time of the emperor Maximin, A.D. 235; (see Euseb. lib. ix. c. 8;) but the greater portion of the Armenians were converted by Gregory, surnamed the Illuminator, about the beginning of the fourth century. Gregory had been instructed at Cæsarea in Cappadocia, and was consecrated a bishop by Leontius, archbishop of that city. Armenia soon became entirely Christian, and was included in the exarchate of Cæsarea. Basil ordained many bishops in Armenia; and for a considerable time the principal bishops of that country

were always ordained by the exarchs of Cæsarea. See Basil, Epist. 99. 120, &c. Blondel, de la Primauté, p. 656, &c. Tillemont, tom. ix. p. 187, &c. In the sixth century the Armenians adopted the Monophysite errors from Jacobus Baradæus, (Nicephorus, lib. xviii. c. 53,) and separated from the Catholic church about A.D. 551; and from this period, at least, their principal bishop, who resided at Etzmiazim, assumed patriarchal authority amongst them, and took the title of Catholic of Armenia.

The Armenians have only one liturgy, which is written in the ancient Armenian language, and has been used by them from time immemorial. It was first published by Le Brun, in the fifth volume of his "Explication de la Messe," &c. from a Latin translation made by M. Pidou de S. Olon, a Romish bishop, who had spent many years in the east, and was well acquainted with the Armenian language and customs. The MS. from which M. Pidou translated, only contained that part of the liturgy which was repeated by the priest; the remainder, including the parts recited by the deacon and choir, were supplied from the Armenian missal, printed by the Propaganda at Rome, A.D. 1677, and from the memory of the translator. The sources from which this translation has been compiled are, therefore, not always such as to command implicit reliance; but we may at least depend on the authenticity of the part translated from the Armenian MS., which is amply sufficient for my present purpose.

This liturgy has, like most others, received many additions in the course of ages; some apparently from the Jacobites of Syria, some from the Constan

tinopolitan offices, and others are peculiar to itself. There are several prayers extracted from the liturgy of Chrysostom, and actually ascribed to him. These were probably introduced at some time when the Armenians made a temporary reunion with the catholic church, which Photius says was the case in his time. (See Baronius, an. 863. p. 250, 251.) I will briefly notice the main order of the Armenian liturgy, omitting those parts which cannot be traced to primitive antiquity. All the introductory matter contained in articles 9, 10, 11, and 12, p. 70-138, must be omitted, as the liturgy originally began with lessons. The Trisagion mentioned in art. 13, p. 140, was introduced into the eastern liturgies in the fifth century. In article 14, p. 154, &c. we first meet with the really primitive part of the Armenian liturgy, which begins with a Psalm, and lessons from the Prophets, Epistles, and Gospels. There are no prayers for catechumens, penitents, &c. these having become obsolete; but the dismissal of those classes still remains, art. 15, p. 173. In article 16, p. 194, &c., the ancient anaphora begins; and I would now refer the reader to the description of the liturgy of Basil, which I have given at p. 65, 66, in order that he may compare it with what follows. The Armenian liturgy directs the "kiss of peace," p. 194; the benediction of "The grace of our Lord," &c. p. 196; "Sursum corda," &c. p. 197; the thanksgiving, p. 198, 199; the hymn Tersanctus, sung by all, p. 200; a continuation of thanksgiving, p. 201, 202; a commemoration of our Saviour's deeds and words at the last supper, p. 202, 203; a verbal oblation to God of his own creatures, p. 205; an invocation of the Holy Ghost, to make the ele