justify the said treasonable Covenant, shall be accounted and esteemed as an enemy to his sacred Majesty, and to the public peace and tranquillity of this Church and Kingdom."

And in partial furtherance of these views the following acts were passed. Stat. 14 & 15 Car. II. sess. 4. c. 1. (for a perpetual anniversary thanksgiving on the nine-andtwentieth day of May), and stat. 14 & 15 Car. II. sess. 4. c. 23. (for keeping and celebrating the twenty-third of October as an anniversary thanksgiving).

At the Restoration, Elizabeth's Act of Uniformity necessarily regained its former power, and in May, 1661, the Irish House of Lords prepared a declaration, requiring all their fellow-countrymen to conform to the episcopal model of church government, and to the Liturgy as established by law, and to which the Commons readily concurred; and the Commons, at their own request, received in the middle of June, from the hands of the Primate, Bramhall, the sacrament in St. Patrick's Cathedral. It was not until 1666, however, that the second Irish Act of Uniformity was passed, establishing the Prayer Book, as approved of by the English Convocation in 1661.

A Convocation was held in 1662, and on the 26th of August it was referred to the archbishops and bishops then in Dublin, to read through, with the utmost care, the English Liturgy lately published in London, and to inform the House what they considered should be determined concerning it.

* Clay on the Irish Prayer Book, British Magazine, December,

At the next meeting, on the 2nd of September, Archbishop Margetson (in the absence of the Primate) informed the House, that, along with others of the bishops, Archbishop Bramhall had, according to the order made at the preceding session, read through the English Liturgy, lately set forth, and had found it, in a very few particulars, different from that hitherto in use in this church, and that there seemed no reason to find fault with the changes made in it, for which reason the bishops thought that this Liturgy should henceforth be everywhere used in the Irish Church, not only because it was not to be found fault with, but because its adoption seemed more suited to maintaining mutual concord between the Churches of England and Ireland. Whereupon the Prolocutor and the rest of the Lower House being summoned, were informed of the bishops' judgment of the revised Liturgy, which was delivered to them, in order that it might be further considered, and returned with their opinion concerning it.

Accordingly, on the 18th of the same month, Dean Mosse, the Prolocutor, and the rest of the Lower House, signified to the bishops, that they had read through the English Liturgy lately published in London, that they had found in it some changes, additions, and variations of different sorts, which they thought had been introduced and made under the guidance of piety and prudence, and they prayed that this Liturgy might be admitted into the use of the Irish Church, in the celebration of divine service, and confirmed by legal sanction in the Church. They also prayed that a prayer for the Lord Lieutenant or Chief

Governor of Ireland might be added, and that a new office for the 23rd of October might be appointed.*

On the 22nd of September, the Convocation adjourned till the 6th of the following November, and on the 11th of the latter month an entry is made in the journals, in which, having recorded their anxiety, not only to preserve the people of Ireland by the bond of faith and charity, in unity of spirit with the English Church, but also as far as in them lay, to render them conformed to it in divine worship, and in external rites and ceremonies, and to keep them so for ever, they state that they had caused to be read through and recited, the English Liturgy, lately confirmed by law, and published in London; and having had much conference among themselves thereupon, they had found in it certain alterations and additions, &c. They then proceed to declare that they concur with the Lower House in judging that these changes in the Liturgy had been piously and prudently made, and that therefore it should be admitted into the use of the whole Irish Church, and enjoined by law on the said Church, and that, to that end, the Archbishop of Armagh should be humbly entreated to induce the Duke of Ormond and the Privy Council to transmit to his Majesty a draft of an Act of Parliament for that purpose, and that a new Service for the 23rd of October, and a Form of Prayer for the LordLieutenant should be added to the Liturgy.

Whether the passing of the proposed Act was deferred by political events and considerations, it is needless now to enquire, but the Act of Uniformity did not receive the

On the 22nd of

royal assent until June 18th, 1666. February of the same year, the Upper House, as appears from the journals, had been engaged in considering the Bill, and in taking measures for expediting the matter in England.

It appears, then, by the records of this Convocation, that the Liturgy of the English Church, as revised in the Convocation in London, and established by the English Parliament of 1662, having first been carefully examined by the venerable and illustrious prelates who presided over the Irish dioceses at that period, and by the representatives of the inferior clergy, had, with the unanimous consent of both houses of Convocation, been approved and formally received by them as the Liturgy of the Church in this country, nearly four years before its use was enjoined by law under the penalties of the Irish Act of Uniformity. The Liturgy, in its present form, received, in the first instance, the sanction of the prelates and clergy of Ireland assembled in solemn synod. It was in consequence of their sentence of approval, and at their request, that its use was afterwards enjoined on the laity by legislative enactment. The reception of the English Common Prayer Book of 1662, was not forced on this Church, but originated with itself in the acts of its own Convocation, its fit and lawful representative in matters of spiritual concern.*

The Irish Act of Uniformity, stat. 17 & 18 Car. II. c. 6.,+ after reciting, that nothing conduceth more to * Clay on the Irish Prayer Book, British Magazine, Dec. 1846, pp. 608-611,

+ An accurate copy of this statute, collated by the Editor

the honour of God, the settling of the peace of a Nation, which is desired of all good men, nor to the advancement of Religion, than an universal agreement in the Public Worship of Almighty God; and to the intent that His Majesty's Irish Subjects might hold the same Uniformity of Common Prayers, and Administration of the Sacraments, and other the Rites and Ceremonies of the Church, according to the Use of the Church of England: together with the Psalter or Psalms of David, pointed as they are to be sung or said in Churches; and the Form or Manner of Making, Ordaining, or Consecrating of Bishops, Priests, and Deacons, which was recommended unto both Houses of Convocation assembled in Ireland, to consider, whether the same Form of Public Worship might not be profitably received, as the Public Form of Divine Service in Ireland and that thereupon both Houses of Convocation diligently considered and fully approved and allowed the same, and had exhibited and presented unto the Lord Lieutenant and Council in Ireland, one Book thereunto annexed; intituled, The Book of Common Prayer, and Administration of the Sacraments, and other Rites and Ceremonies of the Church, according to the Use of the Church of England; together with the Psalter and Psalms of David, pointed as they are to be sung or said in Churches; and the Form and Manner of Making, Ordaining, and Consecrating of Bishops, Priests and Deacons Therefore, to the intent that the greatly desirable work of Uni

with the original Statute Roll, has been given in the Appendix to this