ABSTRACT
The invocation, if not the influence, of Russia is almost as old as Anglicanism, since epiklesis (or the invocation of the Holy Spirit upon the bread and wine) in the first English Prayer Book of 1549 was derived from the Eastern liturgies. Ecumenism as well as epiklesis began to stir in Victorian England. Some even thought that the Russian Church would be an effective ally against the Roman Catholics. Certainly some Russians encouraged them to think so. In 1840 William Palmer went to Russia and asked to be admitted to Holy Communion. W. J. Birkbeck was a particular friend of K. Pobedonostsev, the Chief Procurator of the Holy Synod, who tried to counter the 'atheising' tendencies of the Zemstvo schools by establishing a system of church schools. However much some Englishmen might court the Orthodox Church, there was no denying that its musical record was poor, indeed, orthodox zealots had once tried to proscribe the use of musical instruments.
