york00orns

286 YORK.
distinct authority of the king. It is a proof of the
reviving influence of the reforming party. The
principle is avowed in the preface of the book that it
is lawful for people to pray in their own language.
The Litany in English was incorporated with it, and
the king's directions were that no other manual of
prayer was to be used throughout all his dominions.
The issue of these manuals seems to be regarded
by many writers as a sort of preparation for the
public offices of the Church being conducted in the
mother tongue. This may no doubt be true to some
extent. There was an evident desire for uniformity
of usage. In 1541 the Southern Convocation decided
that the Use of Sarum was to be observed
throughout the province of Canterbur}', and in the
following year the king ordered an examination and
revisal of all mass-books, antiphoners, and breviaries.
Superstitious collects and versicles were to be expunged,
and their place supplied by services " made
out of the scriptures and authentic doctors." Portions
of Holy Scripture in English were likewise
ordered to be read. It would seem, indeed, that
new service books were actually prepared before the
end of Henry's reign.
It is, perhaps, worth noting that in the account
roll of Thomas Merser, Canon Residentiary of York,
for the year 1543-4, there is an item for the purchase
of " thre processioners in Englishe.'"
But as regarded private manuals of devotion in
English, they were familiarly known and used under
'
"Fabric Rolls of York Minster," p. 1 11.