This post is an interruption of the previous series, but one done for the sake of timeliness… As there is interest in the 1789 Book of Common Prayer on the occasion of the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, here is an equally interesting liturgy that did not make it into the 1789 book: A Form of Prayer and Thanksgiving to Almighty God for the inestimable Blessings of Religious and Civil Liberty to be used yearly on the 4th day of July, unless it happen to be on Sunday, and then on the Day following.
I’m going to break this post into two parts. First, a presentation and discussion of the liturgy itself; second, a recounting of the context of its creation and its reception—realizing that the 1786 Proposed Book of Common Prayer was the only American BCP to be submitted to the English bishops for their approval of its contents.
The 4th of July Liturgy of 1786
I shall present this text in parallel, taking screenshots from the actual printed 1786 Proposed Book and also text taken from the 1786 page of Chad Wohler’s excellent BCP site.
PRAYER AND THANKSGIVING
TO ALMIGHTY GOD,
For the inestimable Blessings of Religious and Civil Liberty; to be used yearly Fourth Day of July, unless it happen to be on Sunday, and then on following.
¶ The Service shall be as usual, except where it is hereby otherwise appointed.
[My commentary] This is the liturgy for the 4th of July unless the 4th is a Sunday–in that case it will occur on the 5th. So, in terms of precedent, Independence Day ranks lower than a Sunday and is to be transferred to the Monday if the 4th is a Sunday.
Furthermore, the following materials are intended to be fit within the usual daily structure. This is important, because it packs in several assumptions that—for the sake of our own day—need to be made explicit. The key thing is that the materials provided assume that the complete liturgy will consist of 1) Morning Prayer which contained 2) The Litany packed inside of it (!), and 3) The Communion Service (with or without actual consecration of the Eucharist; in fact, it’s probably intended as an ante-communion service only as the Eucharist was rarely celebrated in those days).
Thus, the Morning Prayer materials are placed first, and then the materials for the Communion Service.
¶ Among the Sentences at Morning Prayer shall be the following:
THe Eternal God is thy refuge, and underneath are the everlasting Arms. Deut. 33. 27.
Israel then shall dwell in safety alone: The fountain of Jacob shall be upon a land of corn and wine: also his heavens shall drop down dew. Verse 28.
Happy art thou, O Israel: who is like unto thee, O people favoured by the Lord, the shield of thy help, and who is the sword of thy Excellency. Verse 29.
The Lord hath been mindful of us, and he shall bless us; he shall bless them that fear him, both small and great. Psalm 115. 12, 13.
O that men would therefore praise the Lord for his goodness, and declare the wonders that he doeth for the children of men. Psalm 107.21.
[My commentary] The MP rubrics direct that the minister shall read “some of the following sentences of Scripture”; this adds a few more into the mix to be chosen and read at the minister’s discretion.
¶ Instead of “O come let us sing, &c.,” the following Hymn shall be said or sung.
MY Song shall be alway of the loving kindness of the Lord : with my Mouth ever be shewing his Truth from one generation to another. Psal. 89. 1.
The merciful and gracious Lord hath so done his marvellous Works : that they ought to be had in remembrance. Psal. 111. 4.
Who can express the noble Acts of the Lord : or shew forth all his praise? Psal. 106. 2.
The works of the Lord are great : sought out of all them that have pleasure therein. Psal. 111.2.
For he will not alway be chiding : neither keepeth he his anger forever. Psal. 103.9.
He hath not dealt with us after our sins : nor rewarded us according to our wickedness. Verse 10.
For look how high the heaven is in comparison of the earth : so great is his mercy toward them that fear him. Verse 11.
Yea, like as a father pitieth his own children : even so is the Lord merciful unto them that fear him. Verse 11.
Thou, O God, hast proved us; thou also hast tried us, like as silver is tried. Psal. 66.9.
Thou didst remember us in our low estate, and redeem us from our enemies for thy mercy endureth forever. Psal. 136. 23, 24.
[My commentary] This is one of the interesting features of the 1786 book: on various occasions it prefers to replace the opening Venite with a proper cento, a hymn created by taking select verses from a variety of psalms and assembling them into a new creation for that specific day. Given the multitude of references, it looks very much like the preceding optional Opening Sentences, but is intended to be read through fully. If I were preparing this for congregational use, I would take the references out of the text and either put them at the end or explain them in a different part of the bulletin.
¶ Then shall be said or sung the Psalm; which shall be the same as is appointed for the 23d Day, Part 2.
¶ The first Lesson shall be, Deut. 8; and the second Lesson shall be, [1] Thess. 5. 12 to 24.
[My commentary] I have corrected the first text rubric, as it missed which day was to be used. The psalms of this BCP are deserve their own study, because they take the idea of the cento to the extreme! Each day is split into Part I and Part II, the first customarily being used at Morning Prayer, the second at Evening Prayer. Unlike the classical prayer book division, this is not a continuous movement through all of the psalms, but working with an assemblage of materials. Day 23 provides a perfect example of what I mean: Part I is a mash-up of Psalms 116, 117 & 105 while Part II (the one directed here) is “From Psalm 118.” The text is 118:1-9, 13-29.
Like the BCPs from 1549-1662, the readings from the Daily Office are printed according to the civil—not liturgical—calendar. By the 1662 book, this was supplemented by two other tables, one providing materials for Sundays and the second for the static holydays. As in the 1662, that calendar at the front of the book contains blanks when a proper lesson is appointed somewhere else. In the calendar, July 4 is marked as “Religious & Civil Liberty,” the two morning readings are blank, and the two evening readings continue in course from the day before. Thus, the two readings here (Deuteronomy chapter 8 and 1 Thessalonians 5:12-24 are proper for the day.
¶ A thanksgiving for the day, to be said after the general thanksgiving.
OGod, whose Name is excellent in all the earth, and thy glory above the heavens, who as on this day didst inspire and direct the hearts of our delegates in Congress, to lay the perpetual foundations of peace, liberty, and safety; we bless and adore thy glorious Majesty, for this thy loving kindness and providence. And we humbly pray that the devout sense of this signal mercy may renew and increase in us a spirit of love and thankfulness to thee its only author, a spirit of peaceable submission to the laws and government of our country, and a spirit of fervent zeal for our holy religion, which thou hast preserved and secured to us and our posterity. May we improve these inestimable blessing for the advancement of religion, liberty, and science throughout this land, till the wilderness and solitary place be glad through us, and the desert rejoice and blossom as the rose. This we beg through the merits of Jesus Christ our Saviour. Amen.
[My commentary] I corrected the text’s “inspire the direct” to “inspire and direct” following the printed page.
Here we’re jumping to the end of Morning Prayer, past the Litany & Supplication which is embedded in Morning Prayer, to the General Thanksgiving which comes at the Litany & Supplication’s conclusion. So, this prayer falls between the General Thanksgiving and the Prayer of St. Chrysostom.
We now silently move to the Communion Office; no warning of this movement is provided—the text assumes that you know what’s going on.
¶ The Collect: to be used instead of that for the Day.
ALmighty God, who hast in all ages shewed forth thy power and mercy in the wonderful preservation of thy church, and in the protection of every nation and people professing thy holy and eternal Truth, and putting their sure trust in thee; We yield thee our unfeigned thanks and praise for all thy public mercies, and more especially for that signal and wonderful manifestation of thy providence which we commemorate this day; Wherefore not unto us, O Lord, not unto us, but unto thy Name be ascribed all honor and glory, in all churches of the Saints, from generation to generation, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
[My commentary] Why, yes, we are in a period of very wordy and prolix prayers, thanks for noticing… The same thing occurs in the new collects created for the (proposed) English1689 BCP. It never uses a couple of words where several phrases could be inserted.
The one thing I’ll mention is that while the 4th of July prayer in the 1979 BCP is criticized for coming from an implicitly White and privileged perspective, this prayer does not fall into that trap nor is it an overtly nationalistic prayer calling on “the protection of every nation and people professing thy holy and eternal Truth.” More on that later…
¶ The Epistle. Philip. 4. 4.
REjoice in the Lord alway: and again I say, Rejoice. Let your moderation be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand. Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.
¶ The Gospel. St. John 8.31.
THen said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. They answered him, We be Abraham’s seed, and were never in bondage to any man: how sayest thou, Ye shall be made free? Jesus answered them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin. And the servant abideth not in the house for ever: but the Son abideth ever. If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.
[My commentary] These two readings then round off the service. Again, these are the proper lessons for the Communion Service. After this is simply a dividing line and the text continues into the Thanksgiving/Harvest liturgy.
The Context and Reception of the 4th of July Liturgy
William White goes into quite some detail on the concerns around this liturgy and does not mince words:
The next material question, to the best of the recollection retained, was a motion from framing a service for the fourth of July. This was the most injudicious step taken by the convention. Could they not have foreseen, that every clergyman, whose political principles interfered with the appointment, would be under a strong temptation to cry down the intended book, if it were only to get rid of the offensive holiday? Beside this point of prudence, was it not the dictate of moderation, to avoid the introducing of extraneous matter of difference of opinion, in a Church that was to be built up?
Memoirs of the Protestant Episcopal Church, p. 104
What White is getting at is that many of the clergy of the Protest Episcopal Church had been loyalists during the Revolution. A number of them had fled to Canada, while others had actively work with the British Army. In fact, Samuel Seabury was a chaplain to British troops and continued to draw a pension from the British government after the war (a point of some contention later on!).
Would the inclusion of such a liturgy threaten to fracture the new church body at the moment of its very composition?
After a few more rhetorical flourishes in the vein of those above, White continues:
This was one of the few occasions on which the author used the privilege reserved by him on his acceptance of the presidency, to deliver his opinion. To his great surprise, [105] there was but one gentleman—and he a professed friend to American independence—who spoke on the same side of the question; and there were very few, if any, who voted with the two speakers against the measure. . . . What must further seem not a little extraordinary, the service was principally arranged and the prayer alluded to was composed, by a reverend gentleman, (Dr. Smith) who had written and acted against the declaration of independence, and was unfavourably looked upon by the supporters of it, during the whole revolutionary war.
Memoirs of the Protestant Episcopal Church, pp. 104-5
To White’s surprise, the gathered assembly was quite sanguine about the whole matter.
Furthermore, when the Proposed Book was sent off to England for the Archbishops of Canterbury and York and a number of diocesan bishops to approve it, they had several issues regarding the creeds and changes to the articles, but none whatsoever to the 4th of July liturgy.
So—if the liturgy seems oddly lacking in a certain kind of patriotic spirit that we might think normal for national celebrations, it’s well to remember these circumstances:
- Many of the Episcopal Clergy had supported the British side in the Revolution
- There were concerns that introducing such a contentious topic might end both the proposed prayer book and the process of church formation
- Much depended on the Archbishops agreeing that the Protestant Episcopal Church truly shared the faith of the Church of England and antagonizing them could to great harm
However, none of these negative consequences came to pass. It is significant, though, that no such liturgy appeared in the 1789 Book of Common Prayer, nor the 1892. Indeed, the next occurrence of an Independence Day liturgy did not appear until that radical and revisionist book, the 1928 Book of Common Prayer.