THE PREFACE TO THE PRAYER-BOOK.
To THE EDITOR OF THE "SFXCTAT011.1 SIR,—In the article on the above subject in the Spectator of February 21st the writer describes the word " generally " as a " vague word." Surely this is a mistake, for the modern meaning—" in most cases," "for the most part"—is not the sense of the word either in the Bible or the Prayer-book. The words "general," " generally," had formerly quite a definite sense,—viz., "universal," the "whole turned into one"; the Latin equivalent is universus. Thus the General Confession is to be said of the whole congregation. Again, take the words " for this kingdom in general" in the prayer for Parliament. The word occurs in 2 Samuel xvii. 11: " that all Israel be generally gathered unto thee " ; Vulgate, " ad to universus Israel"; LXX., vie; lopeciA. Again, Jer. xlviii. 38, " generally upon all the housetops of Moab"; Vulgate, " super (mania tecta Moab"; LXX., ET. i vityre.,y, &c. Webster gives this meaning of " generally," and quotes the passage from 2 Samuel 6%ven
[Our correspondent is probably right as regards the former use of the word, but Dr. Murray's " Oxford English Dictionary" quotes an example of the use of the word, dated 1658, which tells on the other side : " The doctrine professed most generally in England bore in foreign nations the name of Parliament faith " (Osborn).—ED. Spectator.]
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