The utmost that can be said of our rubrics is, that in cases of musical incapacity, or where no choir can be got, where priest or people _cannot_ perform their part properly, then they _may_ perform it improperly. But, unquestionably, whenever the services _can_ be correctly performed, when the priest _can_ monotone his part, and the people sing theirs, then the services ought to be so performed. It is a matter of simple obedience to Church rule. The single word "Even_song_" is a standing protest against the dull conversational services of modern times. In reference to the popular objection, that the musical rubrics refer merely to cathedrals and collegiate churches, Lord Stowell observed, in his judgment in the case of Hutchins _v._ Denziloe (see _Cripps_, p. 644, 3rd ed.), that if this _be_ the meaning of the rubrics and canons which refer to this subject, then "they are strangely worded, and of disputable meaning," for they _express_ nothing of the kind. The rubrics, he says, rule that certain portions of the service "be _sung_ or _said_ by the _minister_ and _people_; not by the prebendaries, canons, and a band of regular choristers, as in a cathedral; but plainly referring to the _services of a parish church_." It is very difficult to say _when_ the use of the monotone generally dropped and gave place to our modern careless unecclesiastical polytone. The change, I suppose, took place gradually; first in one district, then in another. The Church's mode of reciting her Offices would involve more _care_ and _skill_ than the clergy much cared to give. So, little by little,--first in one locality, then in another,--they fell into the modern, loose, irregular way of talking or pronouncing instead of "saying and singing." Yours ever, JOHN B. DYKES. ST. OSWALD'S VICARAGE, DURHAM, _January 20, 1866_. LONDON: W. CLOWES AND SONS, DUKE STREET, STAMFORD STREET, AND CHARING CROSS. _By the same Author._ 1.--THE PRINCIPLES OF DIVINE SERVICE. An Inquiry concerning the Order for Morning and Evening Prayer, and for Administration of the Holy Communion, in the English Church. Two vols., cloth, £1 6_s._ Or the vols, may be had separately. 2.--PLAIN DIRECTIONS for understanding the Order for Morning and Evening Prayer, 3_d._ 3.--SUNDAY. A Poem, 4_d._ Masters. J. H. PARKER, OXFORD AND LONDON. * * * * * Transcriber's note: Minor typographical and punctuation errors have been corrected without note. Irregularities and inconsistencies in the text have been retained as printed. Mismatched quotes are not fixed if it's not sufficiently clear where the missing quote should be placed. End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Rites and Ritual, by Philip Freeman