History of English Literature Volume 2 (of 3)Taine, Hippolyte
History
History of English Literature Volume 2 (of 3)
Taine, Hippolyte
English literature -- History and criticism
It is not enough to hear this King, they must answer Him; and religion
is not complete until the prayer of the people is added to the
revelation of God. In 1548, at last, England received her
prayer-book[32] from the hands of Cranmer, Peter Martyr, Bernard Ochin,
Melanchthon; the chief and most ardent reformers of Europe were invited
to compose a body of doctrines conformable to Scripture, and to express
a body of sentiments conformable to the true Christian faith. This
prayer-book is an admirable book, in which the full spirit of the
Reformation breathes out, where, beside the moving tenderness of the
gospel, and the manly accents of the Bible, throb the profound emotion,
the grave eloquence, the noble-mindedness, the restrained enthusiasm of
the heroic and poetic souls who had rediscovered Christianity, and had
passed near the fire of martyrdom.
"Almighty and most merciful Father; We have erred, and strayed from Thy
ways like lost sheep. We have followed too much the devices and desires
of our own hearts. We have offended against Thy holy laws. We have left
undone those things which we ought to have done; And we have done those
things which we ought not to have done; And there is no health in us.
But Thou, O Lord, have mercy upon us, miserable offenders. Spare Thou
them, O God, which confess their faults. Restore Thou them that are
penitent; According to Thy promises declared unto mankind in Christ Jesu
our Lord. And grant, O most merciful Father, for His sake; That we may
hereafter live a godly, righteous, and sober life."
"Almighty and everlasting God, who hatest nothing that Thou hast made,
and dost forgive the sins of all them that are penitent; Create and make
in us new and contrite hearts, that we worthily lamenting our sins, and
acknowledging our wretchedness, may obtain of Thee, the God of all
mercy, perfect remission and forgiveness."
The same idea of sin, repentance, and moral renovation continually
recurs; the master-thought is always that of the heart humbled before
invisible justice, and only imploring His grace in order to obtain His
relief. Such a state of mind ennobles man, and introduces a sort of
impassioned gravity in all the important actions of his life. Listen to
the liturgy of the deathbed, of baptism, of marriage; the latter first:
"Wilt thou have this woman to be thy wedded wife, to live together after
God's ordinance, in the holy state of Matrimony? Wilt thou love her,
comfort her, honor, and keep her in sickness and in health; and,
forsaking all other, keep thee only unto her, so long as ye both shall
live?"
These are genuine, honest, and conscientious words. No mystic languor
here or elsewhere. This religion is not made for women who dream, yearn,
and sigh, but for men who examine themselves, act and have confidence,
confidence in someone more just than themselves. When a man is sick, and
his flesh is weak, the priest comes to him, and says:
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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