Cylchgronau Cymru

in a chapel within the Cathedral Church of Ely, the 15th of April, A.D., 1568, of all such as intend to receive Holy Orders. Edmund Pryse of the same college [St. John's] of the age of xxiiij years, Bach. in Arts, exhibiteth his Letters Testimonial as before. He readeth well. He desireth to enter into Order of Priesthood. He is deacon already made by my Lord of this Diocese. He understandeth well the Latin tongue. He is reasonably well exercised in the Holy Scriptures. He writeth as followeth, Vanitas hominum invenit istas artes ad predicient animae suae et de- cipulam insipientum. [The conceit of men fabricates those arts which are destructive of the souls of men, and a snare to the stupid.] William Morgan of the same college, of the age of xxiij years, Bach. in Arts, exhibiteth his Letters Testimonial as before. He readeth well. He desireth to be Deacon of zeal to God His word and mindeth to proceed in Holy Orders. He sayeth he is legitimate and well able to prove the same. He is reasonably well exercised in the Holy Scriptures. He writeth as followeth, Evangelium Christi est potentia Dei ad salutem omni credenti. [The Gospel of Christ is the power of God for the salvation of all that believe.] March 16th, 1570, saw Edmund Prys elected to a Foun- dation Fellowship at St. John's,1 and in 1571 he proceeded to his M.A.2 There is no record to be found which would supply us with information as to what Prys was doing at Cambridge between the taking of his degree in 1568 and his appointment as Fellow in 1570. It would be mere conjecture on our part to attempt to fill the gap. We have already noticed that he was ordained deacon in 1567 and it may well be that he acted as some kind of Chaplain at St. John's. At any rate he was officially appointed Preacher of St. John's in 1574. The word Preacher con- noted something more in the days of Prys than in our time. The fact that a man was fully ordained did not include permission to preach. A reference to the Service for the ordination of deacons in the present Prayer Book will afford some information on this sub- ject.3 Even as late as August 12th, 1622, a Direction4 was promulgated by James I that no clergyman below the standing of a Bishop or of a Dean of a Cathedral or Col- legiate Church, was to preach on the great doctrines of 1 See p. 121, Note 1. 2 See Alumni Cantabrigienses (J. Venn), vol. II. 3 "It appertaineth to the Office of a Deacon, in the Church where he shall be appointed to serve, to assist the Priest in Divine Service, and and to preach, if he be admitted thereto by the Bishop". 4 To be seen at Lambeth Palace Library.