The other incident arose from the discovery of the Commons' committee that in one of the rubrics of the revised Book the word persons appeared to be written by mistake for children. On this
the Lord Bishop of Durham acquainted the House that himself, and the Lord Bishop of St. Asaph, and the Lord Bishop of Carlisle, had authority from the Convocation to mend the said word, averring it was only a mistake of the scribe, and accordingly they came to the clerk's table, and amended the same. [38]
In fact, on April 21, the bishops in Convocation had heard from the Chancellor of the mistake, and had taken measures accordingly, adding Cosin of Durham to their committee of March 5 appointed for such an emergency. [39]
The Act received the royal assent on May 19. I have dealt so fully with its course through Parliament because of the character of the incidents. In itself it does not contain much that is new as regards my subject. The preamble recites the statute of Elizabeth, and relates the fact of its non-observance, and the neglect of the Book of Common Prayer during the late troublous times; takes note of the King's commission for the review of the Book and its subsequent revision by Convocation; and records the message in which the King recommended to Parliament that the Book so revised should "be the Book" appointed to be used everywhere in the kingdom. This accordingly is enacted, and in the twenty-fourth section all the existing laws on the subject, including of course the statute of Elizabeth, are confirmed as referring to the revised Book and none other. The revised Book, as in 1552, is thus put in exactly the same legal position as the original, and the authentic copy, as on that occasion, is, for the purpose of reference, annexed and joined to the Act. The other lengthy clauses of the Act contain elaborate provisions for preventing nonconformity, but with one exception they do not throw any further light on the relation of the legislature to the Prayer-book. The exception is the fifteenth section, which provides
that the penalties in this Act shall not extend to the Foreiners or Aliens of the Forein Reformed Churches allowed, or to be allowed by the King's Majesty, his heirs and successors, in England.
An exception which had hitherto been made, as we have seen, by a stretch of prerogative, was now established by law. The exception illustrates the purpose of the Act. No sect or congregation of native-born dissenters was to be allowed any relief from the penalties imposed by law. The guarded promise of toleration made by the King before and after his restoration was ignored. The use of the forms of worship provided by the authorities of the Church was to be forced on the whole nation.
The conclusion that I would draw from this analysis of proceedings will be fairly obvious. The Prayer-book did not originate with Parliament, nor was it in any true sense authorized by the Crown in Parliament. The action of the legislature on the first and the last occasion is perfectly intelligible. A Book of Common Prayer was in existence, drawn up and approved by ecclesiastical authority, on the first occasion it is not quite clear after what fashion, on the last occasion by the unquestioned exercise of synodical powers. This Book, so approved, was then, by authority of Parliament, imposed upon the whole nation. This being clearly the case on the two occasions when the procedure is free from ambiguity, I think we may fairly argue for the same construction of those proceedings, on the other two occasions, which are more open to question. The policy of the Acts of Uniformity is to be taken as a whole. The writer of the paper in the Record Office to which I have referred, purporting to give an account of what was done in 1559, explains that parliamentary action is limited to enforcing the use of the Book by penalties. Further authority than this, he says emphatically, is not in the Parliament. Writing early in the seventeenth century he sets out exactly the procedure followed in 1662. He describes, in fact, the policy of Uniformity, which was, therefore, not peculiar to the last occasion. [40]
I shall describe it negatively. The Parliament was not legislating for the regulation of divine worship. In 1662, as we have seen, both Houses, while stiffly maintaining their right to interfere, expressly declined that task, and declared it the proper work of Convocation. This was not from want of interest. The Commons were eager to have some further rules for "reverend gestures." But these things were to be regulated rather by canon than by statute. The Convocation was not even asked to prepare something for submission to Parliament; "some canon or rule," enacted by Convocation with royal assent, would be the sufficient and proper authority. [41] There could be no clearer proof, that, according to the mind of Parliament, Convocation has full powers, and is the proper authority, for dealing with such matters.
But even if this be so, it is urged, on the other hand, that what is contained in the Prayer-book is actually prescribed and stands by authority of Parliament. The Book annexed is treated as a schedule of the Act of Uniformity. It is, says Dr. Stephens,