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EPISCOPAL MANUAL:

A SUMMARY EXPLANATION OF THE

DOCTRINE, DISCIPLINE, AND WORSHIP

OF THE

PROTESTANT EPISCOPAL CHURCH, IN THE
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.

WITH AN APPENDIX.

BY THE LATE

REV. WILLIAM H. WILMER, D. D.

"Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where
is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your
souls."
JEREMIAH, vi. 16.

NEW AND IMPROVED EDITION.

REVISED AND ADAPTED TO THE PRESENT STATE OF THE CHURCH.

WITH CONSIDERABLE ADDITIONS AND EMENDATIONS.

PHILADELPHIA:

PUBLISHED BY R. S. H. GEORGE,

SOUTH FIFTH STREET.

Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1841, by R. S. H. GEORGE, in the Clerk's office of the District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.

C. Sherman & Co. Printers,
19 St. James Street.

EDITOR'S PREFACE.

THE EPISCOPAL MANUAL," by the late Rev. Dr. Wilmer, has long been highly and justly esteemed by the members of our Church, as a brief, yet comprehensive and instructive exposition of its Ministry, Doctrines, Discipline, and Worship. We have many able works on the Constitution and external order of the Church, and numerous excellent treatises on doctrinal and practical religion; but a work devoted to the united interests of the Gospel and the Church-to the defence of both evangelical truth, and apostolical order;;-as it had long been a desideratum before the appearance of the admirable compendium now presented to the public in a revised, and, it is hoped, improved form; so it will probably not soon be superseded in general estimation by any similar publication. While its views of ecclesiastical polity are so sound and scriptural as to satisfy the most decided member of the Church, it at the same time so exhibits the spirituality of all her services, and the deep though sober piety required of her children, that the devout and humble Christian cannot peruse it without blessing God for so rich a heritage, and that it is his privilege to enjoy communion and fellowship with such a holy and divinely constituted society. After having already passed through several editions, another has long been called for; and, at the request of the publisher, the present editor has carefully revised the work, and made such alterations and additions as were necessary to adapt it to the present state of the Church in this country. The

iv

"Prayers suitable to several occasions," contained in former editions, are omitted in this, because, however excellent in themselves, they do not properly fall in with the design of the work; and since their original publication so many approved forms have appeared, that there is less necessity for increasing the size and cost of the book by retaining them. The insertion in the Appendix of the Constitution and Canons of the Church, including the amendments of the last General Convention in 1838, it is believed will prove acceptable, since to the great body of our laity they are usually not easily accessible.

Philadelphia, March 25, 1841.

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