+Source.+--_Statutes of the Realm._ Vol. v., pp. 364-370.
Whereas in the first year of the late Queen Elizabeth there was one
uniform order of common service and prayer and of the administration of
sacraments, rites, and ceremonies in the Church of England ... compiled
by the reverend bishops and clergy, intituled, The Book of Common Prayer
... and enjoined to be used by Act of Parliament ... and yet ... a great
number of people in divers parts of this realm ... do wilfully and
schismatically ... refuse to come to their parish churches ... upon the
Sundays and other days ... appointed to be kept as holy days; And
whereas by the great and scandalous neglect of ministers in using the
said order or liturgy ..., great mischiefs and inconveniences, during
the times of the late unhappy troubles, have arisen ... and many people
have been led into factions and schisms, to the great decay and scandal
of the reformed religion of the Church of England, and to the hazard of
many souls:--For the prevention of which ... in time to come, for
settling the peace of the Church and for allaying the present distempers
which the indisposition of the time hath contracted, the King's Majesty
... granted his commission under the Great Seal of England to several
bishops and other divines to review the Book of Common Prayer and to
prepare such alterations and additions as they thought fit to offer. And
afterwards the convocations, ... being by his Majesty ... assembled, his
Majesty hath been pleased to authorize and require the presidents of the
said convocations ... to review the said Book of Common Prayer, and the
book of the form and manner of the making and consecrating of bishops,
priests, and deacons; And that ... they should make such additions and
alterations in the said books ... as to them should seem meet and
convenient.
[Which things being done] his Majesty ... hath fully approved and
allowed the same, and recommended to this present Parliament, That the
said Books of Common Prayer and of the form of ordination and
consecration of bishops, priests, and deacons, with the alterations ...
made, ... be the book which shall be appointed to be used by all that
officiate in all cathedral and collegiate churches and chapels, and in
all chapels of colleges and halls in both the universities, and the
colleges of Eton and Winchester, and in all parish churches and chapels
within the kingdom of England, dominion of Wales, and town of Berwick
upon Tweed, and by all that make or consecrate bishops, priests, or
deacons.
Be it enacted by the King's most excellent Majesty, by the advice and
with the consent of the Lords spiritual and temporal, and of the
Commons, in this present parliament assembled ... that all and singular
ministers in any cathedral, collegiate or parish church or chapel, or
other place of public worship within this realm of England, dominion of
Wales, and town of Berwick upon Tweed, shall be bound to say and use ...
the Book of Common Prayer.
That every parson, vicar, or other minister whatsoever, who now ...
enjoyeth any ecclesiastical benefice or promotion within the ... places
aforesaid, shall, in the church, chapel, or place of public worship
belonging to his said benefit or promotion, upon some Lord's day before
the feast of St. Bartholomew ... in the year ... one thousand six
hundred and sixty and two, openly, publicly, and solemnly read the
Morning and Evening Prayer ... according to the said Book of Common
Prayer ... and after such reading ... shall openly and publicly, before
the congregation there assembled, declare his unfeigned assent and
consent to the use of all things in the said book ... in these words,
and no other:--
"I [name] do hereby declare my unfeigned assent and consent to all and
every thing contained and prescribed in and by the book, intituled, The
Book of Common Prayer and administration of the sacraments, and other
rites and ceremonies of the Church of England, together with the
psalter or psalms of David, appointed as they are to be sung or said in
churches; and the form or manner of making, ordaining, and consecrating
of bishops, priests and deacons."
And that all ... who shall ... neglect or refuse to do the same ...
shall _ipso facto_ be deprived of all his spiritual promotions.
And that ... every dean, canon, and prebendary of every cathedral or
collegiate church, and all masters and other heads, fellows, chaplains,
and tutors of or in any college, hall, house of learning or hospital,
and every public professor and reader in either of the universities, and
in every college elsewhere, and every parson, vicar, curate, lecturer,
and every other person in holy orders, and every schoolmaster keeping
any public or private school, and every person instructing or teaching
any youth in any house or private family as a tutor or schoolmaster ...
shall, before the feast of St. Bartholomew [1662] subscribe to the
declaration following....
"I [name] do declare that it is not lawful upon any pretence whatsoever
to take up arms against the king, and that I do abhor that traitorous
position of taking arms by his authority against his person; and that I
will conform to the liturgy of the Church of England, as it is now by
law established. And I do declare that I do hold there lies no
obligation, upon me or on any other person, from the oath commonly
called The solemn league and covenant, to endeavour any ... alteration
of government either in church or state, and that the same was in
itself an unlawful oath, and imposed upon the subjects of this realm
against the known laws and liberties of this kingdom."