AN OLD IRISH PRAYER BOOK.
[To THE EDITOR or THE " SPECTATOR :1 am anxious to obtain information about some of the contents of a Prayer Book in my possession, printed in Dublin in 1766, "according to the use of the Church of Ireland." Perhaps some of your readers can assist me. The book contains, besides the usual contents, " A Form of Prayer with Thanksgiving for the three and twentieth Day of October," " A Form of Prayer with Thanksgiving for the fifth Day of November,"" A Form of Prayer with Fasting for the thirtieth Day of January," " A Form of Prayer with Thanksgiving for the nine and twentieth Day of May," " A Form of Prayer for the Visitation of Prisoners." It is about the first and the last of these that I desire information, the others being, of course, in common use at the time. Can some one tell me what special deliverance is commemorated on October 23rd by this service, *` appointed by Act of Parliament made in this Kingdom in the 14th and 15th years of King Charles the Second " ? The " Form of Prayer for the Visitation of Prisoners " is headed thus—" treated upon by the Archbishops and Bishops, and the rest of the clergy of Ireland, and agreed upon by Her Majesty's License in their Synod, holden at Dublin, in the year 1711." The form of service is long and interesting, and contains special directions for prayers and exhortations for criminals "under sentence of Death," and also a "Prayer for Imprisoned Debtors," besides much else. I should be very glad of any information about this curious service. I may add that the Prayer Book in question is of special interest to me, having been used in my family at the weddings of four genera- tions, the earliest being that of my grandfather and grandmother so long ago as 1775. I wonder whether many of your readers can show a like connexion with so distant a past with only a single generation between. My grandparents were both born in the reign of George II.—I am, Sir, &c., JOHN GARDNER-BROWN. [The first service was presumably a thanksgiving for the escape of many Protestants from the Irish Roman Catholic massacre which began on October 23rd, 1641.—En. Spectator.]
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