sung every evening '; and in the Evening office of the Greek church accordingly it is still sung". The bidding of prayers by the deacon at Evening Service, mentioned in the Constitutions *, is still preserved in the Vesper Service of the Greeks 3.

As far as we can see, therefore, the Greek offices are, substantially, far more ancient than those of the Roman church, from which they differ very materially.

VIII. The Egyptian office was different from the above, for Cassian states that each psalm was succeeded by a silent prayer of the congregation and a collect of the priest. This custom had prevailed from the time of Athanasius at least 2. Some time before the fifth century the Egyptians had adopted the practice of repeating twelve psalms in the nocturnal office, which was afterwards adopted in some parts of the West; and after the psalms two lessons were read, one from the Old Testament and the other from the New. It is remarkable that the psalms in Egypt were not chanted as in other churches, where the alternate way of singing was used; but one person read or sung in a plain and even tone, the rest sitting by, and attending to what was said ". There were also no other offices

ν ̓Αλλὰ προσέχετε μετὰ ἀkpißɛiaç' ovde yàp ånλç olμaι τὸν ψαλμὸν τοῦτον τετάχθαι παρὰ τῶν πατέρων καθ' ἑκάστην

EσTéрav λéyεolau. ἑσπέραν λέγεσθαι. Hom. in Psal. cxl.

w Bona, ubi supra.

X

Chrysost.

a

Athanasii Apologia pro Fuga, p. 334, tom. i. ed. Benedict.

b Cassian. Inst. 1. ii. c. 5, 6. It is worthy of observation, that the number of twelve psalms is still preserved in the

* Apostol. Constitut. 1. viii. Coptic or Egyptian offices.

c. 36.

See Bona, Divina Psalmodia, c. xviii. § 18.

c Cassian, 1. ii. c. 6.

d Ibid.

for the canonical hours in the Egyptian churches, except those for the Nocturnal Vigil, and the Evening. The ancient Irish writer, alluded to above, states, that the Irish Cursus or offices in the seventh century resembled those of St. Mark, i. e. of the Egyptian church, which had been brought to Gaul by Cassian'.

With regard to the canonical hours and offices of the oriental churches of the Jacobites, Armenians, &c., which differ in some respects from those I have noticed, the reader may be referred to Bona, de Divina Psalmodia, c. 18. § 13, &c.; Zaccaria, Bibliotheca Ritualis, liber i. c. 4, art. 1 and 2. Cave, Dissertatio de Libris et Officiis ecclesiasticis Græcorum, at the end of his Historia Literaria, furnishes abundant information on the subject of the Greek rites, and the books used in them.

THIRDLY, I will briefly notice the books in which the offices for the canonical hours, according to the western church, were formerly contained.

The Psalter of David was used in two Latin versions. First the Roman, which was in fact the ancient Italic slightly corrected by Jerome; and was in primitive times used by all the western churches. Secondly, the Gallican, which was a correct version made by Jerome from the Septuagint, and from being first received into public use in Gaul (towards the end of the sixth century) was called Gallican. This version was used in the English church immediately after it was received in Gaul, and is nearly the same which, in an English translation, we still use. The Gallican Psalter in

e Cassian, 1. iii. c. 2.

f Spelman, Concilia, t. i. p. 176, 177. ed. Lond. 1639.

the end completely supplanted the Roman all over Europe, except at Milan, and in one or two other places.

The Psalter used in the celebration of divine service generally contained, at the end, several hymns taken from the Old and New Testament, such as Benedictus, &c. and the Te Deum, and Athanasian Creed, all of which were appointed for the service of the canonical hours.

The Bible contained the lessons of Scripture, which were not formerly selected and placed in a distinct volume, but were read at the nocturns from the Bible itself.

The Antiphonarium contained the anthems and responsories, which were sung in the course of divine service.

The Hymnarium comprised the hymns in verse, which from the time of Ambrose were chanted at the canonical hours in many churches".

The Collectarium included the collects to be said at the end of the services, and the capitula or short lessons, which were also sometimes recited in the offices.

The Homilarium, Passionarium, and Martyrologium, contained the comments of the Fathers on the Gospel of the day, and the account of the martyrdom of the saints for each distinct festival 1.

About the eleventh century, the Breviary was formed out of all these books; the lessons, anthems, responsories, hymns, &c. for the different days of the year, being all placed in the same volume with the Psalter, Prayers, &c.: and in latter times the Breviary was divided into two parts, one for the summer, and the other for the winter half of the year*, and sometimes it was divided into four parts; so that it was more portable and convenient for the use of those clergy and monks who were accustomed to recite the offices for the canonical hours at some time in the day. From this cause also it was sometimes entitled Portiforium.

The Roman Breviary is said by some writers to have been compiled in the time, if not under the directions of Gregory VII.' The evidence in support of this assertion does not seem very clear; nor is it perhaps easy to determine precisely when this compilation was made in other churches. Osmund, bishop of Sarum, in England, A. D. 1080, is said to have corrected the offices of his church ", and the

Breviary ad usum Sarisburiensis Ecclesiæ is generally attributed to him. Doubtless in this, and the following ages, the churches and the monastic orders of the West compiled and arranged their respective offices according to their own judgment. Zaccaria mentions more than a hundred and fifty different Breviaries which were in use in the West previously to the sixteenth century ". The ancient Roman offices, of which we find traces in the sixth century, in the rule of St. Benedict, formed the general basis, having been received in the course of successive ages, in England, France, Germany, and other countries. The principal exceptions were the Mosarabic office, which represented the ancient rites of the Spanish churches, and the Ambrosian, which was that of the church of Milan. Of those rites I have already spoken. The other more ancient rites of the western church had long ceased to exist.

Ritualists have stated that the Roman Breviary was considerably abbreviated in the service of the Papal chapel at Rome in the time of Pope Gregory VII.; and it is added, that Haymo, the chief of the order of Franciscans, adopted this abbreviated office in his compilation of the Franciscan Breviary, which was received into use in all the churches at Rome by order of Pope Nicholas III., A. D. 1278°. It is probable, I think, that the diminution of the les