d of mine, now at rest with the Lord after a long and
faithful ministry. He was one of those men who instinctively speak
strongly, perhaps sometimes roughly; but such roughness is often useful.
"The Prayer Book," said he, "is always handy to throw at people's
heads"; figuratively, of course, not literally. He slung it out in
vigorous quotations from his pulpit, point blank at the unreality, and
formalism, and pharisaism, and love of this present evil world, which
too often underlies the most precise "churchmanship" and the most
punctual church-going.

My old friend's strong word may carry a suggestion to some of my younger
Brethren; though I would advise their deferring a _projectile_ use of
the Book till they are seniors in the Church. But the youngest Minister
of Christ, in all loving modesty, may reach many a conscience (beginning
with his own) by well-timed words from the Prayer Book, showing what the
Book takes for granted in the worshipper.

SCRIPTURALITY OF THE BOOK.

ii. Next I point to the abundant and loyal _Scripturality_ of the Prayer
Book. I venture to say that no Service Book in the world is quite like
ours in this. This characteristic lies on the surface; in the wealth of
Scripture poured out in every service before the people; Psalms,
Lessons, Canticles, Epistle, Gospel, Introductory Sentences, Decalogue,
Comfortable Words. At the Font, in the Marriage Ordinance, at the Grave,
it is still the same; Scripture, in our mother tongue, full and free,
runs everywhere. And below the surface it is the same. Take almost any
set of responses, or any single prayer, and see the strong warp of the
Bible in it all.

*"THE PREFACE" ON THE BIBLE.

And then go for a moment from the Services to the Preface of the Book,
and see what the Fathers of our English Liturgy thought and intended
about the place of the Holy Scriptures in worship. I hope my Brethren
have all read that "Preface" with care; I mean, of course, the whole
length of introductory matter which precedes the Tables of Lessons;
nothing of it later than 1662, most of it (indeed all but the first
section, written by Sanderson) dating in substance from 1549.[26] I hope
it has all been read by you; but I am not quite certain of it, so little
attention is at present called to those important and authoritative
statements of principle. But however well you may already know them,
they will repay another reading; and so you will be reminded again that
the really