First impressions of the New World on two travellers from the Old, in the autumn of 1858Trotter, Isabella Strange
History
First impressions of the New World on two travellers from the Old, in the autumn of 1858
Trotter, Isabella Strange
Canada -- Description and travel; United States -- Description and travel
Some alterations were of course rendered necessary by the establishment
of a republic, but these seem to have been confined as far as possible
to what the occasion called for. I think, however, in spite of their
republicanism, they might have retained the Scriptural expression, "King
of Kings, and Lord of Lords," instead of changing it to the inflated,
"High and Mighty Ruler of the Universe." This reminded us of the doubt
raised by some, when Queen Victoria came to the throne, if the words
ought not then to have been changed to "King of Queens." It is pleasing,
however, to observe how small the variations in general are, if indeed
there be any, which are at variance with either the doctrine or the
discipline of the Church of England.
We are so much accustomed to the opening sentences of our own Liturgy,
"When the wicked man turneth away from the wickedness that he hath
committed," &c., that their opening words startled us at first; but
their two or three initiatory sentences are well selected to begin the
service; the first being, "The Lord is in his holy temple: let all the
earth keep silence before him."
Some of the alterations are improvements rather than blemishes, for the
constant repetitions in our service are avoided. The Lord's prayer is
less frequently repeated, and the collect for the day, when it has to be
read in the Communion Service, is omitted where it first occurs with us.
A little more freedom of choice, too, is allowed to the minister in
several parts of the service. For example: the Apostle's Creed or the
Nicene Creed may be substituted for each other, as the latter is not
used in the office for the Communion; and instead of reading the Psalter
as divided into days in the daily service, some very good selections
from the Psalms are made, which may be substituted either on the week
days, or on Sundays. The daily Lessons are shortened, and yet all the
portions read by us, out of the Canonical Scriptures, are retained,
which is managed by omitting all the Lessons taken from the Apocrypha.
The second lessons on Sundays are specially appointed as well as the
first, and not made to depend, as with us, on the day of the month.
The Commination Service for Ash Wednesday is omitted, only the two
prayers at the end being retained; these are read after the Litany. The
Athanasian Creed is never used.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account