is therefore reasonable to suppose that he took the idea from the German service of 1542. As the Breviary of Quiñones appeared in 1535, it is possible that the German services were based upon it.

It was only necessary to combine these German services with a systematic division of the Psalms, and a plan of daily lessons similar to that provided by Quiñones.1 The combination appeared in the Mattins and Evensong of the English Prayer Book which came into use on Whitsunday 1549. The Mattins and Evensong of 1549 began with the Lord's Prayer, 'the priest being in the quire.' The Benedicite was to be used in the place of the Te Deum all through Lent.2 The Benedictus was to be used every day. Both Mattins and Evensong ended with the third Collect. In 1552 it was definitely declared to be of obligation on all priests and deacons to say daily the Morning and Evening Prayer. It was also directed that the Athanasian Creed 3 should be used on thirteen occasions yearly, instead of on six only. In 1661 there was prefixed to the Evening Service the present penitential opening of Sentences, Exhortation, Confession, and Absolution. This had been prefixed to Morning Prayer in 1552, with a direction that it was also to be said at Evening Prayer. Although it can claim a long precedent in the Confession and Absolution contained in the medieval Offices of Prime and Compline, it may,

1 The principle of Quiñones had been to have three lessons daily; one from the Old Testament, one from the Gospels, one from the Epistles or Acts. This has a parallel in the reformed English lectionary, the first lesson both at Mattins and Evensong being from the Old Testament, the second at Mattins was originally as a rule from the Gospels, and the second at Evensong as a rule from the Epistles or Acts.

2 Although the Te Deum had not been used daily in the Divine Office itself, its daily use was familiar to the people, as it was said daily in the Mattins of our Lady contained in the Primer.

Until 1661 the Athanasian Creed appears to have been said before the Apostles' Creed, and not instead of it.

perhaps, be legitimately doubted whether the use of such a form in a public service is not a mistake, as it leads the ignorant to imagine that a general confession of sinfulness is as valid as a careful confession of definite sins. Apart from this, the only defect in our present Evening Prayer seems to be the fact that the Nunc dimittis is less appropriate here and in the Sarum Compline, in both of which it occurs long before the end of the service, than in the Old Roman Compline, where it was simply followed by one prayer before the singers departed 'in peace' to their rest.

The prayers added after the third Collect at Morning and Evening Prayer were added in 1661.

(i) The prayer for the Sovereign occurs in the Primer of 1553, and in two little books of prayers printed by Berthelet, the King's printer at the end of the reign of Henry VIII. In its present shape it was introduced into the Litany adopted in Queen Elizabeth's chapel in 1559.

(ii) The prayer for the Royal Family was added to the Litany in 1604, and was probably composed by Archbishop Whitgift. King James's family was the first that would be likely to suggest to the clergy the use of such a prayer.

(iii) The prayer for the Clergy and People, from the Gelasian Sacramentary, occurs in the English Litany of 1544.

(iv) The prayer of S. Chrysostom also occurs in the English Litany of 1544, and was probably taken by Cranmer from the Latin translation of the prayer in the Greek and Latin edition of the Liturgy of S. Chrysostom printed at Venice in 1528.

(v) The Benediction from 2 Corinthians xiii. 14 was introduced into the Prayer Book in 1559, among the prayers at the end of the Litany.

If we compare our Evensong with the Old Roman Evensong, we see that it contains almost the whole

of that venerable service with the exception of the respond and the antiphons or anthems. The latter were much reduced in the Middle Ages, and in the 'modern' Roman service their original importance and meaning were quite obscured. They had become useless for the purpose of giving the musical tone at the beginning of the psalm as the organ could do this quite as well, and as they were no longer sung in the course of the psalms they did not serve to relieve monotony. The modern English anthem takes the place of the Old Roman respond.

Our present Evensong agrees with the Old Roman Evensong and differs from the modern Roman in these particulars :-(1) It contains no liturgical hymns; (2) each lesson is a genuine lesson, and not a 'little chapter,'1 so diminutive as to be scarcely visible; (3) it allows hardly any interruptions to the systematic reading of the Psalms. On the other hand, it has borrowed from Compline-(1) the Nunc dimittis; (2) the Creed; (3) the Sarum Collect derived from the ancient Gelasian Sacramentary, beginning 'Lighten our darkness."

1 It is, however, doubtful whether the 'short lesson' (corresponding with what was afterwards called the capitulum or 'little chapter') was ever long, and whether any of the Offices had long lessons except Mattins. The capitulum of Prime was originally quite a different thing. It was named after the 'chapter' of monks who assembled at the beginning of each day for private devotions, and not named after a 'chapter' of the Bible. It was a series of devotions added to the Office. It began with the Creed and included two lessons, one being from the monastic rule of S. Benedict. In later times another capitulum, viz. a short lesson, was inserted in the Office itself.

The preces feriales, or non-festal week-day petitions, called by S. Benedict supplicatio litaniae, are a short litany. In the eighth century they followed not only Lauds and Vespers, but also Terce, Sext, and None. The Sarum Breviary always retained them after these services. They survive in our petitions, O Lord, shew Thy mercy upon us,' etc.

The Pater noster was originally the climax of Vespers ; in the eighth century it was already replaced on Sundays and festivals by the Collect of the day.

Our Morning Prayer differs widely from the Old Roman Mattins, i.e. Nocturnal Office, being a mixture of the late forms of Mattins, Lauds, and Prime. As Vespers was apparently formed on the model of Lauds, so the Anglican Morning Prayer has been assimilated in form to the Anglican Evening Prayer. It cannot be compared with the Old Roman Mattins for the reason that the two Offices are on a wholly different level. It is enough to say that it is better suited to the needs of an average congregation.

The nature of the ancient services and of the revision by Quiñones will be shown in the tables at the end of this chapter.