( OF ?: C.^ 55'fOiOGlCAL St>»^ SCOTTISH PEESBYTEPJAN WOESHIP " There is an inward reasonable, and there is a solemn outwanl serviceable worship belonging unto God. Of the former kind are all manner virtuous duties that each man in reason and conscience to Godward oweth. Solemn and serviceable worship we name for dis- tinction's sake, whatsoever belongeth to the Church or public society of God by way of external adoration. It is the later of these two whereupon our i^i'esent question groweth." — Hooker's 'Laws of Ecclesiastical Polity,' book v. chap. iv. 3. THE PUBLIC WORSHIP OF PKESBYTEEIAN SCOTLAND HISTORICALLY TREATED QTfje dFourtecntl) Series of tijc Cxmttfncfljam Eecturcs BY CHARLES GREIG M'CKIE MINISTER AT AYR WILLIAM BLACKWOOD AND SONS EDINBUEGH AND LONDON MDCCCXCII All Itights reserved TO ALEXANDER F. MITCHELL, D.D., LL.D. PROFESSOR OF CHURCH HISTORY IN THE UNIVERSITY OF ST ANDREWS, IN ADMIRATION OF VALUABLE CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE LITERATURE OF THE ECCLESIA SCOTTICANA, AND IN GRATITUDE FOR MANY ACTS OF KINDNESS, THIS VOLUME IS RESPECTFULLY INSCRIBED. PREFACE. On the foregoing title-page I have endeavoured to set forth concisely the scope and the limitations of the following work. As there stated, the subject treated is not that of the principles of divine service in general, neither is it that of all the forms of public worship which have been or are at present observed in Scotland. All I have undertaken to give is a statement of the legislation and a description of the service-books wdiich have determined the usao-e and practice of Scotland when free to carry out her chosen and beloved Presbyterian polity and ritual. I have not found it possible to do justice to this definite and restricted field without occasionally travelling into regions beyond. But whenever I have passed outside national Presbyterial law and usage, it is to be understood that I make no claim for exhaustive treatment of what the exigency of my sul)ject required me there to examine. With such matters I have dealt only to the extent it seemed to h Vlll PREFACE. me to have bearing more or less direct upon my sjDecial province. Again, the treatment of the subject thus defined is purely historical. While a Presbyterian alike by ancestral antecedents and independent study, I have not consciously written in a dogmatic spirit or a polemic interest. I hold no brief for any side, I have received instructions from no party. And so the following pages will be searched in vain for a discussion of such questions as are in debate between EpiscojDalian and Presbyterian controversialists, or for a deliverance upon those details regarding which Presbyterians are at variance among themselves. Material bearing upon the settlement of controverted topics will, it is believed, be found at certain stages of this historical inquiry ; but the writer will neither be surprised nor disappointed should upholders of opposite schools find confirmation of opposing views in what is here submitted to their judgment. To prepare, first for delivery, and thereafter for publication, an historical survey of this nature within a limited space of time, the greater part of which has been spent at a distance from professional libraries, and while discharging all the functions of the ministry in a county town, has proved a some- what arduous undertaking. With all ni}^ anxiety to observe the fundamental requirements of narrative writing, I do not suppose there has been for me absolute immunity from errors of judgment or from inaccuracies of statement ; but I cherish the hope that few of either the former or the latter will be met with, and if any be observed, that they are such pi;eface. IX as not substantially to affect the rc23resentatioii that has been mven whether of facts or writino;s mentioned in the course of the following history. A vague reference has sent many a reader upon a vain quest, with loss of time, if not also of patience, as the only result. A statement simply of title and ])age — especially in the case of authors whose works have passed through many editions — may serve to tantalise but will fail to satisfy the verifying student of history. I have therefore done my utmost to ren- der the references given in the footnotes as service- able as possible, particularising not only chapter, page, and section, but also the edition to which I have had access.^ In the Appendix will be found matter which could not have been introduced at an earlier stage without overburdening the text or the footnotes, but which I anticipate will interest students of ritual, many of whom may not find the works from which the extracts are taken within their reach. As the last sheets of this work were passing through the press, there appeared in the journals of the day an account of the formation of a new Church of Scotland Society. In the columns of a newspaper 1 In tlii.s connection I may be permitted to refer to my honoured grandfather's ' Life of Knox.' In all the editions of that work, includ- ing the seventh or uniform edition of 1855, the references to Knox's standard work are simjily of this nature — " Knox, Historic, pp. 84, 85." The edition of the Reformer's ' Historie of the Reformatioun of Reli- gioun within the Realm of Scotland,' which Dr JNI'Crie made use of, is the folio one of 1732 printed from the Glasgow University manuscript, with life by Mr Matthew Crawfurd. Manifestly the edition to which all references ought now to be made is that of Dr Davicl Laing, forming vols. i. and ii. of Knox's Works. X PREFACE. of largest circulation, tlie statement appeared under the heading, " Formation of a High Church Party in Scotland," and the association is described as "a High Church Society in connection with the Church of Scotland." Having regard both to the auspices under which the movement comes before the public^ and to the influence which it is fitted to exert upon the life and worship of the Churcli within whose pale that movement has originated, I have given at the close of the volume a brief statement of the formation and constitution of " The Scottish Church Society." It only remains for me to make grateful and cordial acknowledgment of help received. To no one have I applied for material or direction without receiving a read}^ response. The Rev. Dr Bannerman, Perth ; the Rev. John Boyd, M.A., Skelmorlie ; Mr D. Hay Fleming, St Andrews ; Mr J. T. Gibb, Edinburgh ; the Rev. John Kerr, M.A., Dirleton ; Professor Laidlaw, D.D., Edinburgh ; the Rev. Dr Livingston, Stair ; Professor Mitchell, D.D., St Andrews ; the Rev. Pearson Macadam Muir, Morning-side ; the Rev. David Somerville, M.A., Edinburgh; the Rev. Dr Sprott, North Berwick ; the Rev. Dr Robert Steel, Australia ; Mr James Thin, Edinburgh, — these are coadjutors and correspondents whose names it is a personal gratification to be able to associate with various stages of my undertaking. To two friends of long- standing and tried worth I am under a very special debt of gratitude. The Rev. James Kennedy, B.D., has allowed me to draw without stint alike upon his extensive bibliographical knowledge and upon the PEEFACE. XI literary treasures under his charge as Acting Librarian of the New College, Edinburgh ; and the Eev. Alexander Robertson, Glasgow, has given me the benefit of his accurate scholarship and intimate acquaintance with both the highways and the by- paths of Scottish Ecclesiastical History, subjecting the following sheets to a most painstaking revision as they were passing through the press. C. G. M'CEIE. Free Church Manse, Ayr, 5th November 1892. CONTENTS. PEEIOD I. CELTIC AND ANGLO-ROMAN WORSHIP. Presbyterianisin essentially a system of Church government, but a dis- tinct life, theology, and ritual always associated with it — Presbyte- rian worship not dominant in Scotland till sixteenth century — Some acquaintance with what preceded desirable — Druidism^ — Roman occupation of Caledonia — Ninian in the south of Scotland — Columba among the Picts — Kentigern or Mungo in Clydesdale became Bishop of " Glesgu " — Aidan, Bishop of Northumbria, Apostle of the Angles — Cudberct a prior at Melrose, thereafter Bishop of Lindisfarne — Worship introduced by these men monastic in type — The Book of Deer — Daily service — Days either private or festival — Hours of l^rayer — Ritual or festival days — Baptism, no evidence that Eucharist administered to children after baptism — Adamnan's description of services at death of Columba — The Culdees — The Keledei of St Andrews — Litanies of the Culdees of Dunkeld — Queen Margaret, a devout Romanist, scene at her deathbed, and her conferences with Celtic clergy, suppression by her of " barbarous rites " in Scotland — Calendars, earliest Directories for public worship — Calendar of the Drumraond Missal — Calendar of Herdmanston Missal — Calendar of Culross, also a Celtic one unnamed — Adoration of Virgin Mary, stages of, traceable in early calendars — The Missal, that of Sarum — Edward I. and Sarum usages, Father Innes upon, Sarum order used in reign of James IV. — Ash - Wednesday service — The Breviary — Eli^hin- stone's Aberdeen Breviary — Lections and prayers in Aberdeen Breviary founded upon the lives and miracles of Columba, Serf, Baldred — Wearisome and deadening influence of the Latin service in medieval Church well expressed by Tennyson's " Northern Farmer," . , ... Page 1 XIV CONTEISITS. PERIOD II. RITUAL REVISIOX. Government of Scottish Cliurcli in hands of Provincial Councils from 1225 to 1559— Councils of 1549, 1550, 1552— Hamilton's Catechism- Baptismal series in— Council of 1558-59— That of 1560 summoned but never met— Revised Breviary of Quignon in 1535 — Ritual Reform of Hermann, his baptismal service — The Primers published in Eng- land, Marshall's, Hilsey's, and that of Henry VIII.— First English Prayer-Book in 1549 — Arrival in England of Knox same year, his views regarding service and sacrament given effect to at St Andrews, his practice at Berwick and Newcastle, when Chaplain of Edward VI. preached at Windsor upon right " gesture " for communicating, his memorial to Privy Council, his responsibility for the black rubric in Communion Office of Church of England — Continental and English refugees at Frankfort — Knox becomes one of the pastors of English congregation — Various drafts of service-book — Frankfort draft of Book of Common Order — Troubles of Frankfort — Knox returns to Geneva — Calvin's Order of Geneva, his views on public worship and on the state of matters in England and at Frankfort, gathered from his letters to Regent Seymour, to Edward VI., and to the British exiles at Frankfort — The historic value of Calvinism — " Calvinism saved Europe," .... Page 50 PERIOD III. THE BOOK OF COMMOxV ORDER. Manifestoes ofProtestants in middle of sixteenth century — The "Common Band" of 1557 — Two resolutions bearing on divine service — "The order of the Book of Common Prayers " refers to Anglican Prayer- Book, limitation of use — Scottish Parliament of 1560— First Scottish Confession of Faith — First Book of Discipline — Form and order for election and ordination of superintendents, elders, and deacons — The Frankfort draft of Book of Common Order referred to in Book of Discipline as "The Order of Geneva," "our Book of Common Order," &c. — 'The Form of Prayers,' &c., published in 1565 — " Knox's Liturgj^," misleading description of — Principle underlying the structure of the Scottish Book of Common Order — Number and ministration of the Sacraments — The Common Praj'ers — Congrega- tional Praise, references to singing in Book of Geneva and Book of Common Order — Metrical contents of the latter contain complete COJS'TENTS. XV Psalter but nothing else — Stewart's " Sonnet to tlie Chnrcli of Scot- land " — Order and doctrine of the General 'Fast — Form for restoration of jienitents and excommnnication of impenitents, references in these to prayer and praise — Carswell's translation of the Book of Common Order into Gaelic — " The manner of blessing a ship on going to sea" — Survival of popish forms of worship — Also of Anglican service as found in " The Form and Manner of Burial used in the Kirk of Montrose " — Bassandyne the printer taking liberties — Song "Welcum Fortune" inserted by him in Book of Common Order, published in 1568, traced to Wedderburn's " Gude and Godlie Ballates " — Editions of the Book of Common Order — That of 1575 containing metrical pieces additional to the Psalter and a " conclusion " — That of 1595 containing 32 " Con- clusions" and 149 collects on the Psalms — Troubles in Scotland from 1603 to 1688 — Action of Assembly in 1601 as to various revisions — Hart's edition of the Book of Common Order in 1616 containing James Melville's prosaic Song of Moses — First endeavour of King James to Anglicise the Scottish Church through prelatic government — Communion to be celebrated on Easter Day, 1614 — Assembly of 1616 at Aberdeen — " Howatt's Form of Prayer" — The Five Articles of Perth — The new "Paraphrase" or Psalter of King James and Sir William Alexander of Menstrie — Accession of Charles I. brought no change of policy — Petition of ministers against Perth Articles refused — Kneeling at Communion most offensive in Scotland, although the devotional posture from 1569 — The policy of " Thorough " — The Canons and Constitutions Ecclesiastical published in 1636, extracts from — " Laud's Liturgy," compilation of, attempted use of on July 23, 1637, the Erastian Proclamation, the Preface, quotation in Preface from Knox's ' History of the Reformation ' — Public worship little affected by obtruded Episcopacy during reigns of James VI. and Charles L — The year 1635 that in which most perfect metrical psalmody published — Descriptions of Scottish worship during period surveyed taken from the writings of Bishop Cowper of Galloway, Sir William Brereton of Cheshire, and Alexander Henderson, Page 96 PEEIOD IV. THE WESTMINSTER DIRECTORY. Era of Second Reformation inaugurated by Glasgow Assembly of 1638 — Condemnation of six Assemblies, the five Articles of Perth, the Book of Canons, and Laud's Prayer-Book — Deposition and excom- munication of the prelates — Commencement of Long Pai'liament in 1640 — Scottish Commissioners in London express a desire for a Directory — Communications between ministers in England and XVI CONTENTS. Scotland — Movement by Henderson in 1641 in direction of a Directory and a Platform of Government — Proposal in Assembly of 1641 for a National Synod — Order of English House of Commons calling one, April 1642 — First meeting on 1st July 1643 — Meeting of Scottish General Assembly in August — Private conference about "Novations" — Origin and nature of these — Action in Scotland for preparation of a Directory — Appointment of Scottish Commissioners to Westminster Assembly — Taking of Solemn League and Covenant by members of English Parliament, Anglican Divines, and Scottish Commissioners — Revision of Thirty-nine Articles — Labours of Com- mittee engaged upon the Directorj^, completed on 27th December 1644 — Ordinance of Parliament setting aside the Book of Common Prayer — Order for printing the Directory issued in March 1645 — ■ Action in Scotland with reference to the Directory — Act of Assembly on 3d February 1644-45 for establishing and putting in execiition — The declaratory statement — Committee of Estates and Commission of Assembly sanction printing and publishing of Scottish edition — Title of the book — Preface — Fourteen sections of — Elements in divine service : (1) Prayer — (2) Scripture reading — Office of Reader not recognised, legally abolished in 1581, but not discontinued, Patrick Henderson Reader in St Giles' in 1637, James Paterson, Aberdeen, last Reader in Scotland — (3) Praise, section " of singing of Psalms," provision for reading the line " for the present," an English innovation distasteful to Scottish Commissioners — West- minster divines and the Doxology- — Baillie's troubles with yeomen refusing to sing it at Kilwinning — Seven western ministers and the three "nocent ceremonies" — Attitude of Westminster Assembly re- garding the jjractices of offering the Lord's Prayer, praying privately in the pulpit, and singing the Doxology — Decision of General Assembly — Ray the naturalist heard Doxology sung in parish church of Dunbar in 1661, testimony of Edward of Murroes as to use of, in 1683, Patrick Simson's ' Spiritual Songs' of 1685 contained some, collection of paraphrases and hymns in 1781 contains one — A new metrical version of the Psalms included in parliamentary programme of Westminster documents — Version of Francis Rouse recommended by Parliament, approved of by Westminster Assembly, Scottish Commissioners agreeable to a new version, preference of Baillie for version of Sir W. Mure of Rowallan — English version care- fully examined and considerably altered in Scotland, authorised to- ward close of 1649 — Scottish edition of 1650 distinct from English one of 1646 — Holland's opinion that Kirk of Scotland strongly indisposed to innovate in psalmody confirmed by subsequent history of metrical version of 1650 — State of matters in Scotland during Protectorate — Lay preaching — Silencing of General Assembly- — Public worship not materially afi'ected — Action of Edinburgh ministers in 1650 about CO>'TENTS. XVll morning and evening week-day jirayers — Acts of Assembly in 1652, 1654, 1656 — Reintroduction at Leith of Scripture reading by the "Common Reader" in 1658 — Troubles in Scotland during reigns of Charles II. and James VII. — Act Rescissory — Act concerning religion and Church government — Subversion of Presbyterianism — Consecra- tion of Scottisli bishops at AVestminster and Holyrood- — Public wor- ship in parisli churches from Restoration to Revolution — Walter Scott's blunder in ' Old Mortality ' exposed by Dr M'Crie — Efforts to Anglicise Scottish worship by Parliament in 1661 — Action of Epis- copal Synods of St Andrews, Aberdeen, and Dunblane — Ray's de- scription of worship in Dumfries — Morer's account — Condemnation of Scottish burial usages — Absence of religious services at funerals till end of seventeenth century — Incident in life of Rowland Hill — Open- air services of Covenanters, lecturing or prefacing, singing, dispensing Sacraments — Instances of — Description of a Covenanting Communion at East Nisbet on banks of Whitadder, . . Page 170 PERIOD V. REVOLUTIOX UNION DECADENCE. Declaration of Prince of Orange in 168S, denouncing Popery — Address to him from people of Scotland condemning Prelacy — Meeting of Estates in Scotland — Claim of right and offer of crown to William and Mary — James VII. " forefaulted " right to the throne — First Parliament of William and Mary held at Edinburgh 1690 — Prelacy abolished — Confession of Faith ratified, also Presbyterian Church government — No mention of the Directory, current explanation — First General Assembly after Revolution, October 1690 — " Modera- tion " inculcated and professed, Acts passed by — " Rabbling " of two Episcopalian clergymen at Dumfries — Oi^position to re-establishment of Presbyterianism at Aberdeen — Dr Robert Lee's extracts from Session records of Banchory-Devenick examined, found not to bear out his inference — The phrase " Uniformity of worship " traced — Act of Assembly 1649— The Barrier Act, stages of, in 1639, 1641, 1695, 1697 — Accession of Queen Anne in 1702 — Endeavours of Scottish Episcopalians to secure toleration — Act of Assembly in 1707 against "Innovations," historical reference explained — Union negotiations in 1705 — Church of Scotland safeguarded — Action of Commission of Assembly — Conclusion of negotiations in 1707 — Catholic statement regarding Church of Scotland by Archbishop of Canterbury in House of Lords — Attitude of Scottish ecclesiastics at first hostile to incorpo- rating Union, majority in course of time became favourable — Case of Rev. James Greenshields stated — Passing of Toleration Act in 1712 XVlll CONTENTS. opposed by Church of Scotland, condemnation by some of that Church becauf5e of opposition and also because of action in Green- shields' case, considerations to be kept in view — Eighteenth century ecclesiastical legislation bearing on public worship — Movement in direction of enlarged psalmody, labours of Boyd, Lourie, and Adam- son — Action in 1706 — Patrick Simson's 'Scripture Songs,' unsuccess- ful endeaA^ours to interest the Church in them — The matter before Church courts from 1741 to 1745, when first edition of Paraphrases appeared — Second edition in 1781, use of sanctioned "in the mean- time," description of contents, criticism of by " Eabbi " Duncan — The five hymns subjoined — Friction in South Leith regarding intro- duction— Unfavourable judgment regarding the collection by Dr JMartin of Monimail — Members of Paraplirase Committee and con- tributors, names of some associated with Moderatism — Dr Wither- spoon, his career, his opposition to the Moderates, his * Ecclesiastical Characteristics,' extracts from bearing upon heresy, the Confession of Faith, and divine service — Evangelical men within the Church of Scotland during the decadence, Maclaurin, John Erskine, Sir Henry Moncreift' Wellwood, Carrie, Willison, Riccaltoun — The Seceders did not secede from the Cliurch of Scotland, only from " the present jDrevailing party" — Ralph Erskine, his song " Thus think, and smoke tobacco," his " Gospel Canticles," " Gospel Sonnets," " Scripture Songs" — Associate Synod recommend Erskine to translate all the songs of Scripture into metre — Anti-Burgher Seceders, their narrative and testimony, recognised propriety of singing other Scripture songs than Psalms of David — Union in 1820, testimony of the united body in 1827 admits the use of Scripture Doxologies and the Lord's Prayer — Union in 1827, that of Original Seceders, opposed to the use of both paraphrases and hymns — The Relief Church of 1762, never opposed to an enlarged psalmodj', in 1794 a selection of hymns compiled by a Relief Minister recommended by the Synod to be used in public praise — Estimate of the services of the Seceders to the cause of evangelical religion — Tribute to their worth by Prin- cipal Rainy, ...... Page 241 PEEIOD VI. THE MODERN RENAISSAXCE. Divine service in Scotland at close of eighteenth century — Description of, by Professor Story — Advantage taken of prevailing carelessness and irreverence, by an Episcopalian writer — Dr James Beattie of Aber- deen drew attention to state of matters and suggested improve- ments— Unsuccessful attempt made by congregation of St Andrew's, CONTENTS. XIX Glasgow, to introduce instrumental music in 1807 — Writings of Dr Eitchie, Dr Porteous, and Dr R. S. Candlisli, in connection tliere- with — Dr Andrew Thomson of Edinburgh — His work as a reformer of Church praise — Assistance rendered by Mr R. A. Smith — Testi- mony to improvement in 1831 from Journal of Arnold of Rugby — Dr Andrew Thomson's views regarding use of Lord's Prayer, offensive to some — Ten years before and after the Disruption — Dr Robert Lee, his qualifications to be pioneer in ritual reform, and his defects, entered upon a series of alterations in public worship in 1857, kneeling at prayer, standing at singing, reading of prayers, har- monium introduced in 1863 and organ in 1865, his book upon ' The Reform of the Church in Worship ' — The conduct of worship in Old Greyfriars brought before Assembly in 1859, 1864, 1865, 1866, and 1867 — Indefinite postponement of case in consequence of Dr Lee's illness and death — Dr Lee's attitude with reference to use of hymns a conservative one — Proposals for issuing hymn-book before the Church of Scotland from beginning of nineteenth century — Progress of movement in 1811, 1814, 1821, 1854, 1860— Authoritative use of hymns in Church of Scotland dates from 1861 — Nineteenth-century action in Secession Church as to use of hymns — United Secession Chiirch took action in 1842, large collection made and printed but never published — Union of the Associate and Relief Churches in 1847 — Synod of United Presbyterian Church of Scotland authorised issue of hymn-book in 1851, what virtually a new book under title of 'The Presbyterian Hymnal' in 1876 — Action in matter of hymns taken by the Free Church of Scotland in 1866, Assembly of 1872 " allow " the public use of a collection, a larger one in 1878 — Use of instrumental music unknown in the Church of Scotland from the Reformation till middle of present century — No formal sanction- ing of, but liberty to use secured by Act of Assembly in 1866 — Action in same direction taken by United Presbyterian Church in 1872 — The Free Church entered upon discussion of the subject in 1882, decided in 1883 that nothing in the Word of God or in the consti- tution and laws of this Church to preclude the use of instrumental music in public worship? as an aid to vocal praise — Formation of "The Church Service Society" in 1865, object of the Society, subse- quent history of, publication of ' Euchologion, or Book of Prayers,' afterwards called 'A Book of Common Order,' the Society still a private though not a secret society — " The Devotional Service Asso- ciation " in connection with the United Presbyterian Church, founded in 1882, objects and methods of — "The Aberdeen Ecclesiological Society" formed in 1886, constitution and operations of — "Public Worship Association" in connection with the Free Church of Scot- land, constituted in 1891, points on which it is believed there is general agreement among members, points on which some difference XX CONTENTS. of opinion, but felt to be important for conference and discussion — Closing remarks — Presbyterian public worship non-liturgical and non-sacramentarian in essence and history — Matters of detail sub- ordinate and secondary ought not to be elevated to rank of things essential and jDriinary — Security for purity of worship to be found in adherence to teaching of Westminster Confession of Faith regarding divine service — That teaching adduced from three several chapters of the Confession, ..... Page 310 APPENDIX. A. Scottish Service for Visitation and Communion of the Sick in twelfth century, .... 361 B. Latin Litany used by the Culdees of Dunkeld in fifteenth century, ....... 362 C. Eubrics and Ritual for dedication of Churches in thir- teenth century, with classified list of Scottish Churches and Chapels dedicated after the ' Pontificale Ecclesise S. Andrea},' ....... 364 D. Eight Scottish Prayers of the sixteenth century, founded on the Lord's Prayer, ..... 368 E. The Frankfort draft of the Book of Common Order, . 373 F. A Prayer printed in the sixteenth century, to be used in the Highlands before sermon, .... 378 G. A Scottish Burial Service of the sixteenth century-, . 379 H. The Love-song printed in a Scottish Psalter, condemned by the General Assembly in 1568, .... 385 I. Thirty-four Scottish Doxologies taken from Metrical Psalter of 1595, ....... 386 K. One hundred and forty-nine Scottish Collects on the Psalms, taken from the same, .... 390 L. Bidding Prayers, history and specimens of, . . 422 M. Chronological notes on the ofiices of Eeader and E.xhorter in the Church of Scotland, .... 428 CONTEXTS. PAGE X. Ent^lisli Presbyterian, Australian, and Tasnianian revisions and ada^jtations of Westminister Directory, . . 435 0. The Communion Office of the "Westminister Director}', theo- logically arid historically considered ; with statements from Kutherfurd's writings bearing upon administration of the Sacrament, and ujjon the reading of praj'ers, . 441 P. Formation and Constitution of " The Scottish Church Society," ....... 450 Index, ........ 453 THE PUBLIC WOESHIP OF PEESBYTEEIAN SCOTLAND. PERIOD I. CELTIC AND ANGLO-ROMAX WOESIIIP. Presbyterianism is essentially a system of Church polity, having government by presbyters for its distinguishing fea- ture. It clifiers from Episcopacy in refusing to acknowledge any such governing power in the hands of prelates or dio- cesan bishops as would constitute them an order in succes- sion to the apostleship, separate from and superior to pres- byters ; it is distinct from Independency, which lodges the government of the Church in the individual congregation. According to Presbyterian rule, all ecclesiastical authority is lodged in the presbyters as the genuine bishops of the New Testament, with whom is tlie true apostolic succession, the presbyters being associated, for purposes ministerial or ad- ministrative, in congregational Sessions, classical Presbyteries, provincial Synods, and general Assemblies. While, however, Presbyterianism is essentially a form of a 2 CELTIC AND ANGLO-ROMAX WORSHIP. government, historically it is a good deal more than that. For there has come to be associated with it Christian life of a particular type, the confessional theology of a pronounced school, and a well-defined ritual of divine service. It is with the last-named concomitant or characteristic of Presbyterianism — that of worship — that we are concerned in this historical inquiry ; and our range of treatment is limited to tracing the development of public worship in tliat country which, from the dawn of the Protestant era until now, in spite of repeated attempts to dictate and coerce, to subvert and innovate, has asserted herself Presbyterian in polity, in theology, and in ritual. ]S"ot until, in the sixteenth century, the great European movement of reform all along the lines of church organisa- tion had reached our shores, and our reformers, refusing to acknowledge the authority of papal Pome, of ante-jSTicene fathers, and even of the sub-apostolic age, pressed back to Christ and the 'New Testament, did Presbyterian ritual dominate the worship of Scotland. If we take no account of forms of worship whicli pre- vailed in Scotland previous to the Eeformation in 1560, we might make the middle of the sixteenth century our point of departure in this endeavour to trace the development of New Testament worship in the legislation and practice of our country. It will, however, materially aid us in forming an adequate estimate both of what had to be done and of what was actually accomplished, if we start with a clear and accurate conception of the ritual followed in Scotland prior to the date when divine service was reconstructed with an avowed recognition of the grand Presbyterian principle that " the acceptable way of worshipping God is instituted by Him- self, and so limited by His own revealed will that He may not be worshipped according to any way not prescribed in the Holy Scripture." In this introductory chapter, therefore, it will be our aim to DP.UIDISM IX SCOTLAND. 3 State briefly but concisely what lias come down to the present day bearing upon the substance and the forms of worship in Scotland during the Celtic and medieval periods of her history. Seeking to penetrate into an age anterior to the invasion of Britain by Julius Ctesar, tifty-five years before the Christian era, we come upon the Druidic rites of our pagan forefathers. At one time it seemed as if a good deal were known about the sacrifices, animal and human, the priestly orders and vestments, the festivals and names of the Divine Being, which obtained among the Druids of Caledonia or Alban. But under the operation of destructive historic criticism and the influence of the modern historical temper, this supposed knowledge shows a tendency to diminish rather than to in- crease in volume. Disappointed, it may even be disgusted, to find how few grains of verifiable information can be extract- ed from the rubbish-heaps of fable and fine writing that have gathered round the very name of Druid, some modern scholars have been led to question whether such a thing as Druidism ever existed in the British Tsles.^ Avoiding the two extremes of over-credulity and over- scepticism, a balanced estimate of this form of northern Pictish paganism will lead us to regard it as a sort of fetich- ism which peopled all the objects of nature with malignant beings, to whose agency its phenomena were attributed, the Druids being medicine-men, priests, and teachers, who, as Magi and Uniadh, exercised great influence among the people, from a belief that they were able to practise a ^ So Dr .John Stuart in ' Sculptured Stones of Scotland ' (appendix to preface), and Dr J. H. Burton in article in 'Edinburgh Review,' July 1S63, and 'The History of Scotland,' vol. i. chap, vi., "Heathendom," pp. 209-217, second edition. Skene, while crediting Burton with being the first " to ex- pose the utterly fictitious basis on which the popular conception of the so- called Druidical religion rests," considers " he undoubtedly carries his scepti- cism too far, when he seems disposed to deny the existence among the pre- Christian inhabitants of Scotland and Ireland of a class of persons termed Druids." — 'Celtic Scotland,' vol. ii. bk. ii. chap. iii. p. 119, n. 73. 4 CELTIC AND ANGLO-KOMAN WORSHIP. species of magic or witchcraft, or to injure those to whom they were opposed.- From the invasion of Julius Cassar down to the year of grace 410, Scotland formed a province of the Eoman Empire. That the dominion of imperial Eome, extending over so many centuries of time, powerfully influenced the religious as well as the secular and social condition of Britain, must go without saying. Discounting such legends as credit the apostles Paul or Peter with being the founders of the British Church, as also the rhetorical statements of Tertullian and Origen about the universal prevalence of the Christian faith in the first century, we are warranted in afhrming that the religion of the Cross made its way during the Eoman occupation through the province of Britain, and that as early as the second century a Christian Church had obtained a place among the institutions of the country. The ruined church of Eeculver in Kent, the early ecclesiastical buildings of Canterbury, the Chi Eho monogram, the remains of Christian settlements in Skye, Orkney, and the Gairloch Islands, belonging to the earliest types of ecclesiastical struc- tures— such treasure-trove of the archajologist go far to prove that buildings of undoubted Eoman origin were used as places of Christian worship previous to the departure of the Eomans in 410. For us, however, the period is a blank, no records existing to tell the nature of the worship of the Eoniano- ^ W. F. Skene, 'Celtic Scotland,' ut siqt., p. 118. To much the same effect is the judgment of Rhys, Professor of Celtic in the University of Oxford. ■' One," writes this authority, " may sum up the impressions of ancient authors as to the Druids by describing them as magicians who were medicine-men, priests, and teachers of the young. This applies more especially to Gaul, but their characteristics apjjear to have been much the same in Ireland." — ' Lec- tures on the Origin and Growth of Religion as illustrated by Celtic Heathen- dom : ' The Hibbert Lectures, 1886. Students of pre-Christian religions will do well to acquaint themselves with ' The Golden Bough : A Study in Compara- tive Religion.' By J. G. Frazer, M.A., Trinity College, Cambridge. London : Macmillan & Co., 1890, — the work of a Scottish student, alike fascinating and informing, no matter what opinions may be entertained regarding the par- ticular theory unfolded and advocated. CHURCH OF XIXIAN AT WHITHORX. 5 British Church.^ Although the closing years of the Pvoman occupation were ?ull of struggle and confusion — the barbarians on the north and the west assailing the imperial province — yet during that troublous time the Christian Church pene- trated the district of country extending along the north shore of the Sol way Firth. The agent in this primitive Church extension movement was Xinian, whom Bede describes as " a most reverend bishop and holy man, of the nation of the Britons, regularly in- structed at Rome in the faith and mysteries of the truth." ^ AVhether Xinian's birthplace was in Cumberland, in Wales, or in Galloway — and claims have been put forward in favour of all three places — cannot now be determined ; but that he was the son of a native Christian, and received his early education from the Church which existed in Britain, has never been gainsaid." History and biography are also at one in repre- senting Ninian as receiving the greater part of his theological ^ See ' Scotland in Early Christians Times. ' By Joseph Anderson, LL.D. 2 vols. (Being Rhind Lectures in Archeology for 1879 and 1880.) Edinburgh : David Douglas. Also, ' The Monumental Histor}' of the Early British Church.' By J. Romily Allen, F.S.A. (Scot.) S.P.C.K., 1889. Dr James Macdonald of Glasgow, one of the moat accomplished of modern Scottish archaeologists, contributed a valuable i^aper to the ' Transactions of the Glasgow Archfeologi- cal Society,' 1891, on "Burghead as the Site of an Early Christian Chui'ch," in which he contends that a reservoir cut out of the solid rock is " almost beyond question an ancient sacred font or bajatisterj'," and, as such, " the one such relic of the ancient Scottish Church that has come down to our times." ■* '■ Xamcjue ipsi australes Picti . . . fidem veritatis acce]ierant, predicante eis verbum Xiniano Episcopo reverentissimo et sanctissimo viro de natione Bretonum, qui erat Rome regulariter fidem et misteria veritatis edoctus." — Bfcda, ' Hist. Eccles.,' lib. iii. c. iv. ■'' The language of Ailred, Abbot of Rievaux, in his ' Vita Xiniani Pictorum Australium Apostoli,' is explicit as to the country, but vague as to the par- ticular localitj' : "In insula . . . Britannic . . . beatus Xinianus extitit (iriundus ; in ea, ut putatur, regione que in occiduis ipsius insule partibus ubi occeanus quasi brachium porrigens, ex utraque parte quasi duos angulos faciens, Scotorum nunc et Anglorum regna dividit constituta, usque novissima ad Anglorum tempora projjrium habuisse regem, non solum hystoriarum fide, sed et quorundam quoque memoria comprobatur." — Cap. i., "The Historians of Scotland," vol. v. p. 140. b CELTIC AND ANGLO-EOMAN WORSHIP. training at Eome, living and stndyiug there from a.d. 370 to near the close of the fonrth century. Becoming a favourite with his ecclesiastical superiors, and displaying remarkable proficiency in sacred studies, the young Briton was ulti- mately consecrated to the episcopal office by the Bishop of Eome, and sent back to his own land to convert those who had not received the Christian faith, and to correct the creed of as many as had heard the word of the Gospel from heretics. On his way home the newly consecrated bishop turned aside to visit the city of Tours, desirous of intercourse with, and stimulus from, the widely known and highly esteemed St jMartin. Having intimated to the Galilean dignitary that, as in faith, so in the way of building churches and consti- tuting ecclesiastical offices, he purposed to follow the holy Eoman Church, Ninian asked and obtained the services of masons to enable him to construct a stone edifice in Scotland after the Eoman model.*' So soon as he was settled in his Galloway district, the missionary bishop set about the build- ing of his church of stone, or Candida Casa,'' at AYhithorn,^ '' " Beatus Xinianus a saucto cementaiuos sibi dari postulavit, ijroiJositum sibi esse asserens, sicut sancte Romane Ecclesie ficlem, ita et mores in con- struendis ecclesiis, ecclesiasticisque qfficiis coustituendis imitari." — Ibid., p. 143. ^ " Cujus sedem episcoj^atus Sancti Martini Episcopi nomine, et ecclesiam insignem, ubi ipse etiam corpore una cum pluribus Sanctis requiescit, jam nunc Anglorum gens optinet. Qui locus ad provinciam Berniciorum pertinens vulgo vocatur ad Candidam Casam ; eo quod ibi ecclesiam de lapide, insolito Bretou- ibus more, fecit." — Bseda, ' Hist. Eccles.,' lib. iii. c. iv. ^ " Elegit autem sibi sedem in loco qui nunc Witerna dicitur ; qui locus super litus occeani situs, dum se ipsum mare longius j^orrigit ab oriente, occidente, atque meridie, ipso pelago clauditur a i:)arte tantum aquilonali, via ingredi volentibus aperitur." — 'Vita Niniani,' c. iii., '•' Fundatio Ecclesite de Whithorn." The question which Ailred's description of Whithorn has given rise to, Was the site of Ninian's Church where the ruins of the cathedral now are, or were they two miles distant southwards at the port called the Isle of Whithorn ? is well treated by Bishop Forbes, and decided by him in favour of the former supposition ; while Mr Muir, whom the bishop admits is " our best authority on Scottish medieval architecture," argues for the latter. — " Lives of St Ninian and St Kentigern " in 'The Historians of Scotland,' vol. v. Notes to the Life of St Xinian, Xote M., p. 26S. MONASTERY OF C0LU5IBA AT lONA. 7 dedicated to St Martin of Tours, tidings of whose death reached the founder while the edifice was nearing completion, which narrows the time within a range of four years between 397 and 401. Whether, as an old Irish life of the saint ailirms,'^ Ninian spent his closing years in Ireland, founding a church in Leinster, and whether he died in the year 432, is uncertain and unimportant. The facts of value are those already stated — facts which testify to the moulding influence exerted upon the apostle of the south of Scotland by the Churches of Italy and Gaul. Once severed from the civilisation of the West and the culture of the European empire by the termination of the Eoman dominion, the British Isles relapsed into paganism, — " seemed, as it were, to retire again into the recesses of that western ocean from which they had emerged in the reign of the Emperor Claudian ; and a darkness which grew more pro- found as their isolated existence continued, settled down upon them, and shrouded their inhabitants from the eye of Europe till the spread of that great and paramount influence which succeeded to the dominion of the Eoman Empire, and in- herited its concentrating energy — the Christian Church — took Britain witliin its grasp, and the works of its monastic and clerical writers once more brought its fortunes within the sphere of history." ^"^ That condition of isolation lusted for wellnigh two centuries — lasted till 563, when Columba, the apostle of Pictland, sailed with twelve disciples from Scotia or Ireland to Britain. ^ For all our knowledge of this Irish life ui Ninian, not now extant, we are indebted to Archbishop Ussher, who describes it in the addenda to his work, ' De Britannicarum Ecclesiarum Primordiis,' According to this biographj^ Ninian is stated, " Hiberniam petiisse atque ibi iiupetrato a rege loco apto et ania'uo, Cluayn-couer dicto, caniobium magnum coiistituisse, ibidemque post multos in Hibernia transactos annos obiisse traditur." — Ut suj^., General Introduction, vol. iv. ^•^ Skene's 'Celtic Scotland,' vol. i. book i. chap, iii., "Britain after the Romans," p. 114. 8 CELTIC AND ANGLO-EOMAX WOKSHIP. Born in the wilds of Donegal, this epoch-making man spent his early life in his native country. In the forty-second year of his age, having been ordained a deacon and thereafter received into priests' orders, he crossed the sea and founded in Caledonia an ecclesiastical settlement, which formed a con- venient centre for intercourse with the Scots already Chris- tians, at least in name, and for mission work among the Picts, who were avowed pagans. Columba died on the island where for upwards of thirty years he had served God and sought the good of his fellow-men, an island one of the many names of which embalms his memory, — li-Cholum-Chille, or the Island of Columba's Cell, a corrupted form of which — Icolm- kill — it still retains.^^ The influence of this Celtic-Scot, or Scoto-Celt, upon the worship as well as the faith of the people whom he won to the Christian religion, will come up for consideration afterwards ; meanwhile we pass from him to another missionary saint of Celtic Scotland. For Kentigern, better known, especially in the west of Scotland, by his AVelsh name of affection, Munghu or Mungo — the mild or gentle dear one^- — the legends of the saints claim royal parentage, and weave round his birth an unsavoury story, in which the son of a king of Cumbria and the daughter of a king of Laudonia are criminally implicated. In reality, nothing is known regarding either his parentage or ^^ All one can ever hoi:)e to know, if not all one may desire to know, regard- ing this " man of venerable life and blessed memory, tlie father and founder of monasteries " (' Vit. S. Columb.,' Sec. Prfef. ), is to be found in that classic work and splendid specimen of editing, ' Life of Saint Columba, Founder of Hy. Written by Adamnan, ninth Abbot of that Monastery.' Edited by William Reeves, D.D., M.R.I. A. It forms vol. vi. of 'The Historians of Scotland.' ^" "... Pre cunctis sociis suis erat in oculis sancti senis [Servani] preciosus, et amabilis. Unde et ilium patria lingua Munghu, quod Latine dicitur Karissimus Amicus, ex consuetudine api^ellavit. " — 'Vita Kentigerni,' c. iv. " This is a Welsh word. It comes from mivyn, mild, amiable, gentle ; and cv, in comjDosition (ju, dear. This is the same termination as in Glesgu, or, as in the British Museum MS. , Deschu, . . , the old name of Glasgow, and trans- lated 'cara familia.'" — 'The Historians of Scot.,' vol. v. pp. 169, 327 n. S. CHUrX'H OF KEXTIGERN AT GLASGOW, 9 his birtli. Educated by St Servanus at Culeuros, the Culross of our day, where he excited the dislike and persecution of his fellow-students, young Kentigern left I'ifesliire in secret, and journeyed till he reached Clydesdale, which then formed the kingdom of Cumbria, or Strathclyde. Here he was ap- proached by the king and clergy of the region, and urged to allow himself to be elected sheplierd and l»i.shop of their souls. A'ery unwilling at first to turn from a life of inward peace and holy contemplation, Kentigern finally consented, and was consecrated — one bishop from Ireland, " after the manner of the Britons and Scots," officiating. " He established his cathedral seat," writes Jocelyn, the monk of Furness Abbey, " in a town called Glesgu, which is, interpreted, The Dear Family, and is now called Glasgu, where he united to himself a famous and God-beloved family of servants of God, who practised continence, and who lived after the fashion of the primitive Cliurch under the apostles, without private property, in holy discipline and divine service." ^^ AVith the subsequent incidents in the missionary life of Kentigern — his taking refuge with St David in Wales, his building there a monastery, afterwards called St Asaph's, his recall to the Cymric kingdom, his meeting with Columba, and his death early in the seventh century, — with these matters, interesting enough in themselves, we are not immediately concerned. Our present interest in the man is exhausted when we note that, while his sphere of missionary labour and divine service was in Strathclyde, that of Ninian being in Galloway, and that of Columba in Pictland, his church organisation and ritual were substantially the same with those of the other apostles of Celtic Scotlantl. One district of the country, forming the country of the Anglic nation, still remained to be Christianised, after the south, the north, and the west had been brought out of " " Catliedralcm sedem suain in villa dicta Glesgu (juod interprotatur Cara Fainilia, (luc nunc vocatur Glasgu constituit. " — ' Vit. Keutigerni,' c. xi. 10 CELTIC AND ANGLO-EOMAN WORSHIP. paganism. The partial conversion of the Angles to Chris- tianity is placed by Celtic scholars under the year 627, in which year of grace ^duin the king was baptised at York on the holy day of Easter. But tlie name of Aidan, Bishop of Xortliumbria, must always be associated with the entire Christianising of the Angles, which took place eight years later, when King Oswald, sending " to the elders of the Scots," as Bede expresses it, received from them Aidan to be bishop, appointed him the island of Lindisfarne for his episcopal see, and gave him money and lands to enable him to build monasteries.^'^ Mailros, the Melrose Abbey of Tweedside, was one of these ecclesiastical settlements which royal munificence enabled Aidan to rear. And with Mailros there came to be peculiarly connected the name of Cudberct, popularly called St Cuthbert. Irish parentage has been attributed to this Scottish saint, and it is not unlikely he was the son of some Irish chief or petty king by an Anglic mother. "When yet a boy he was brought to Britain, and, after some wanderings, was appointed prior of Mailros, in which office he displayed fervid zeal for the conversion of the svirrounding populace, going out frequently from the monastery, occasionally on horseback, more generally on foot, and preaching the way of truth. Weeks, sometimes an entire month, were devoted to these evangelistic tours, in the course of which the missioner penetrated to remote villages, the inhabitants of which were cut off from inter- course with such as could instruct them. Transferred in 6Q4: to the monastery of Lindisfarne,^-' " to teach the rules of ^* Bseda, 'Hist. Eccl.,' lib. iii. c. iii. " Bishop Aidan, a man of singular meek- ness, piety, and moderation ; zealous in the cause of God, though not altogether according to knowledge, for he was wont to keep Easter Sunday according to the custom of his country . . . from the 14th to the 20th moon, the northern province of the Scots and all the nation of the Picts celebrating Easter then after that manner. . . . But the Scots which dwelt in the south of Ireland had long since, by the admonition of the bishop of the Apostolic See, learned to observe Easter according to the canonical custom." 15 Lindisfai-ne, now called Holy Island, is situated on the north of Xorth- CUTHBERT AT MELROSE AND LINDISFARXE. 11 monastic perfection with the authority of a superior," he there became zealous in endeavours to assimiLate the Scottish system to the customs of the Roman Church, and through patient and insistent practice was largely successful in his attempt. After twelve years of active service in the Northumbrian monastery, Cudberct followed the custom of ecclesiastics in his day, and witlidrew to lead a solitary life in the remote and uninhabited island of Fame, about two miles and a half from the mainland, where he constructed an anchorite's cell. Eight years having been spent in this solitude, Cudberct was in 684 elected bishop of Lindisfarne, and reluctantly consented to be consecrated. Two years after election, convinced his end was near, he resigned office, retired to his cell, and in 687 departed to the Lord, the circumstances attending his last days, as recorded by his biographer, Bede, being very similar to those in the case of Columba, narrated in the pages of Adamnan.^*^ These notices of the men wdiose names stand associated witli the introduction and establishment of Christianity in the different districts or kingdoms of Scotland, although in themselves brief, may suffice to bring out one feature of the religious life common to them all, and which materially affected the worship they inaugurated. That feature was the practice of monasticism. AVhile the Ninian, the Colum- ban, and the Cymbrian Churches might differ as to the correct time for the observance of Easter, and as to the uinberlaud. Here stood a monastery, and it was for four centuries the seat of the i^resent see of Durham. '•' Btcda, 'Hist. EccL,' lib. iv. c. xxvii.-xxxii. In addition to the information supphed in tlie foregoing work of Bede, there is a life of the saint written by the same venerable author, and given in his ' Minor Historical AVorks.' " In modern times the Rev. James Bain has published, in a collection printed Ijy the Surtees Society, two lives of St Cuthbert — a prose and a metrical. He has also given to the public, ' Saint Cuthbert, with an Account of the State in w-hich his Remains were found on opening his Tomb in 1827 ' (Durham, 1828) ; and Archbishop Eyre has written a life of this saint (Lond., 1849)." — ' Kalendars of Scottish Saints,' by Bishop Forbes, p. 317. 12 CELTIC AND ANGLO-EOMAN WORSHIP. proper mode of making the tonsure, they were at one with the Churches of Strathclyde and the Lothians in holding that the highest form of religious life was that modelled on monastic rule. And so the Candida Casa of Ninian at Whithorn became a " magnum monastcrium." Before Columba crossed from Ireland to Britain he had founded monasteries not a few, though these were little better than collections of wooden huts ; and he commenced his Pictish mission by founding his famous monastery on the island of lona, Kentigern, as has been seen, was no sooner in touch with St David of Wales, one of the founders of monasticism, than he set him- self to build a monastery in the country which yielded him an asylum ; and when he established his see at Glas- gow, he formed a society or college of the servants of God under monastic rules. And Cudberct, in his turn, received the tonsure, became a monk, and was afterwards chosen prior of the monastery of Mailros or Melrose, where it is testified of him that he gave to his bretliren a splendid pattern of the monastic life. Without concerning ourselves about the quarter or quarters from which monachism reached the Celtic Church of Scotland, or about the internal organ- isation of the fraternity — both of which matters lie outside our province — we note the intluence which this mode of Christian life exercised upon the divine services of Scoto- Celtic Christianity. It rendered that worship one of strict rule, in the rubric of which no room was found for the extemporaneous, the unwritten. The material now available for determining the matter, form, and order of worship instituted by the founders of the Scottish Church is not large. Xo entire liturgical service exists; only fragments — Welsh, Irish, and Scottish — have survived. Of these, by far the most interesting is that found in what is known as the Book of Deer.^' This is a ^" The Book of Deer, carefully edited by Dr John Stuart, was published by THE BOOK OF DEEK. 13 parchment volume of Svo size, containing 86 folios, which belonged originally to the Cistercian Abbey of Deer, in the district of Buchan, and came, in the beginning of the eighteenth century, into the possession of the University of Cambridge. It contains the C4ospel of St John entire, por- tions of the other three Gospels, the Apostles' Creed, and a colophon in old Irish, all in the same handwriting, which experts agree in regarding as that of a ninth-century scribe. Also, in a later hand, inserted between the written portion of St Mark and that of St Luke, there is a fragment of an ofifice for the visitation and adndnistration of the Com- munion to the sick, about which all that can be said witli any certainty is that it dates from a time anterior to the changes introduced by Queen Margaret and her sons. Begin- ning with the rubric, " Likewise the prayer before the Lord's Prayer," it opens out with this collect : " Creator of all kinds of being, God and Father of every fatherhood in heaven and in earth, receive from Thy throne of liglit that is inaccessible these the devout prayers of Thy trembling people, and amid the unwearied praises of Cherubim and Seraphim who stand around Thee, give ear to our petitions for the assurance of our hope." Then follow the opening words of the Lord's Prayer, which the rubric directs is to be repeated "bisque in Jinem." After that the Deer fragment gives what liturgiologists term the Embolisuius, being a short prayer thrown in : " Deliver us, 0 Lord, from evil ; () Lord Christ Jesus, keep us always in every good work ; (J God, the fount and author of all good things, empty us of vices, and fill us with good virtues, through Thyself, Clirist Jesu." The rubric which follows is the only portion of the frag- the Spalding Club in 1869. The portion containing the office for vi.siting and administering the Communion to the sick has been reprinted by Haddan and Stubbs in their ' Councils and Ecclesiastical Documents,' vol. ii. pt. i. p. 275 ; also by Mr Warren iu his ' Liturgy and Kitual of the Celtic Church,' Clarendon Pi'e.ss, p. 163. 14 CELTIC AND ANGLO-ROMAN WORSHIP. ment not in Latin, being in the vernacular of the time, and to the effect, " Here give the sacrifice to him." The words of administration to be addressed to the sick man are then given : " The body with the blood of our Lord Jesus Christ be to thee health unto eternal life and salvation." A formula of thanksgiving follows up the act of administration, couched in these terms : " Eefreshed Nvith the body and blood of Christ, let us render alway to Thee, O Lord, the Alleluia, Alleluia ; " and that again leads on to a cento from the Psalms, each quotation ending with the twice-repeated Alleluia, the formula being repeated at intervals. The office comes to a conclusion with the following collect, which, as in the case of the Embolismus, is addressed to Christ : " 0 God, we give Thee thanks, through whom we have celebrated these holy mysteries, and we beseech of Thee the gifts of holiness. Have mercy upon us, 0 Lord, Saviour of the world, who reignest for ever and ever. Amen." ^^ This fragment, short as it is, has a twofold value. It is of interest as a veritable fragment of Scottish Celtic liturgical documents, all other remains for which such an antiquity is claimed being eitlier of Irish extraction or be- longing to the Sarum Order, the adoption of which in Scot- land does not date further back than the twelfth century. This short eucharistic office is also of evidential value because of the similarity between many of the liturgical expressions occurring in it and those of the Mozarabic and Galilean missals, and because of its divergence from certain marked features of the Eoman liturgy. It thus affords evidence in favour of the contention of those who claim for the Scoto- Pictish liturgy of the Columban Church an " Ephesine " as distino'uished from a " Petrine " derivation.^'' ^* Appendix A., Scottish Service for Visitation aud Conimuniou of the Sick. 1" There is a close coincidence- between many expressions in the short eucharistic office which it contains and those of the Mozarabic and GaUican missals, and there is a marked deviation from certain invariable features of CELTIC ]\[OXASTIC WOESHIP. 15 From a single liturgical fragment belonging to the Celtic period of the Scottish Church we may pass to certain state- ments, phrases, and particular terms to be found in biogra- phies of the period, which directly relate to or incidentally reveal the details of early monastic worship. Public worship was conducted daily throughout the year,-*^ Adamnau telling, in his life of the saint, what befell a book of hymns for the office of every day in the week, penned by the hand of Columba himself. The days of the Calendar were either private and ordinary, or festival ; -^ but whether the one or the other, each day had an office or service -- of prayers, psalms, hymns, and versicles, these being offered, sung, and read at canonical hours called the Hours of Prayer. Each Lord's Bay, all birthdays of saints,^'^ ascertained or con- jectured, belonged to the festival class of days. On such days the brethren were summoned to the Oratory by the the Roman liturgj'. Therefoi'e this fragment, short as it is, affords evideuee that the Scoto-Pictish liturgy of the Columban Church in Scotland belonged to the " Ejihesine " and not to the " Petrine " family of liturgies. The reasons for this conclusion are given in detail in the notes. Warren's ' The Liturgy and Ritual of the Celtic Church,' p. 163. -** Adamnan tells what befell a book of hymns for the office of every day in the week, and in the handwriting of St Columba—" hymuorum liber septi- maniorum Sanctse Columba) manu descriptus." — 'Vit. S. Columb.,' lib. ii. c. viii. Upon this Dr Reeves remarks : " We have no collection remaining to answer the present description ; but there are abundant materials for an Irish Hymnal preserved in the ' Antiphonary ' of Bangor, the ' Leabhar Breac,' Mone's ' Hymni Medii ^Evi,' and. above all, the celebrated ' Liber Hymuorum,' now jjrcserved in the Library of Trinity College, Dublin." — 'The Histoi-iaus of Scotland,' vol. vi. p. 269. -^ The festival days were termed solenncs, solemncs. -• Cursus or synaxis. The chapter ' ' De Cursu " in the ' Rule of Columbanus ' commences thus: "De synaxi ergo — i.e., de cursu Psalmorum et orationum modo canonico," and it prescribes: "Per diurnas terui Psalmi horas pro operum interpositione statuti sunt a Senioribtis nostris, . . . delude jjro omni populo Chris tiano, deinde pro Sacerdotibus et reliquis Deo consecratis sacrje plebis gradibus, postremo pro eleemosynas facientibus, postea pro pace regum, novissime ])ro ininiicis." The reference to "Seuioribus nostris" maj^ include St Comgall of Bangor, of whom Columbanus was a pupil. — Dr Reeves, Notes to Introduction to ' Life of Columba,' p. 236. -"* "Dies Dominicio " and "Sanctorum Natales," 16 CELTIC AND ANGLO-EOMAX WORSHIP. sound of the bellj^-^ and took their places in their white robes.^^ The service began with the reading of the Gos])el, the chanting of the particular office, the makiug commemora- tion of departed saints, chanting, intoning, and singing being led by chanters.^*^ Then came the principal part of the ser- vice— the administration of that ordinance to which were applied such titles as " the holy services of the Eucharist," " the holy mysteries of the Eucharist," " the solemn offices of the Mass," " the holy oblation," " the body of Christ," " the sacrificial mystery." -" The material things made use of in celebrating this sacrament were (1) bread, called " bread of the Lord " ; -^ (2) wine ; -^ and (3) water drawn from a pure spring.^° Baptism was administered both to adults and to infants, but what particular formula was used in the administration does not appear. It has been alleged that " the once uni- versal custom of administering the Eucharist to children after baptism" was practised in the Celtic Church of Scotland. All the evidence adduced is taken from the Stowe Missal, in -"' " . . , subito ad suuiii dicit miuistratorem Diormitium, Cloccam pulsa." — 'Yit. S. Columb.,' lib. i. c. vii. -^ "... ad ecclesiain [ministeriis] quasi die solenni albati cum Saucto jier- gunt." — Ibid., lib. iii. c. xiii. -'' " Sed forte, dum inter talia cum modulatiuiie officia ilia consueta decan- taretur deprecatio, in qua Sancti Martini cummemoi-atur nomen, subito Sanctus ad Can tores ejusdem onomatis ad locum pervenientes, Hodie, ait, pro Sancto Columbano episcopo decantare debetis. " — Ibid. -" " Sacra eucharisticEc ministeria. Sacra eucharisticaj mj'steria. Sacrtc ob- lationis mysteria. Missarum solemnia. Sacra oblatio. Corjius Christ i. Sacrificale mysterium. " — Ibid., passim. ^* '■ Dominicum panem. Nam alia die Dominica a Sancto jussus Christi corpus ex more conficere, Sanctum advocat ut simul, quasi duo presbyteri, Dominicum pauem fraugerent. Sanctus proinde ad altarium accedens, re- pente intuitus faciem ejus, sic eum compellat, Benedicat te Clu'istus, frater ; hunc solus, ejaiscoijali ritu, frange panem ; nunc scimus quod sis ejjiscopus. " — Ibid., lib. i. c. xxxv. -" "... quadam solenni die vinura ad sacrificale mysterium casu aliquo miuime inveniebatur. "— Ibid., lib. ii. c. i. ''" "... ad fontem sumpto pergit urceo, ut ad sacrte Eucharistiie ministeria aquam, quasi diacouus, fontanam liauriret. " — Ibid. DYING UTTERANCES OF COLUMBA. 17 which one of the verses employed as a comiuunion antliein or antiphon is the verse, " Suffer little children to come unto me, and forbid them not." ^^ That, it must be admitted, is very slender evidence in support of the assertion. To this has to be added that the Missal in question, altliough the earliest surviving belonging to the Irish Church, is one about the history of which little is known, and that little does not carry the sacramental portion of the volume further back than the ninth century.^- Columba, the apostle of Pictland, died in 597 ; and the words in which his biographer tells how the first of his order passed to the Lord have so close a bearing upon some of the details of Celtic worship just noticed, that it may be well to re- produce the substance at least of the passage. The saint had kept the nocturnal vigils of the last Lord's Day he spent upon earth, and had given his farewell instructions to the brethren in the hearing of his attendant alone, saying : " These, 0 my children, are the last words I address to you — that ye be at peace and have unfeigned charity among yourselves ; and if }-ou thus follow the example of the holy fathers, God, the Comforter of the good, will be your helper, and I, abiding with Him, will intercede for you." ^^ •*^ Bellesheim, 'History of the Catholic Church of Scotland,' chap. ii. § 24, p. 136. Warren: " There are traces of the once universal custom of admin- istering the Eucharist to children after baptism in the Stowe Missal : ' T'. Sinite parvulos et nolite eos lirohibere ad me venire.' The employment of this verse as a comumuion anthem points to the custom of infant communion." — ' The Liturgy and Ritual of the Celtic Church,' pp. 136, 267. ^- " The Stowe ilissal. Little is known about the history of the MS. which bears this name, and which is the earliest surviving Missal of the L'ish Church. , , . The sacramental portion of the volume, with which alone we are here concerned, is in various handwritings, the oldest of which cannot, on liturgi- cal grounds, be assigned t(j an earlier period than the ninth century, though several of the features, taken singly, seem to point to a still earlier, and others to a still later, date." — Warron, vl xup., chap. iii. § 14, "Irish Frag- ments," pp. 198, 199. ;a " jjjgj. vobis, 0 filioli, novissima commendo verba, ut inter vos mutuam et non fictam habeatis charitatem, cum pace ; et si ita, juxta sanctorum exempla patrum, observaveritis, Deus, confortator bonorum, vos auxiliabitur, et ego, B 18 CELTIC AND ANGLO-ROMAN WOKSHIP. . Thereafter the bell tolled for matins, then celebrated a little before daybreak. He rose hastily from the bare flag which had been his couch, and the stone which had served for pillow, and, running more quickly than the rest, he en- tered the church alone, and knelt down in prayer beside the altar. When the service was about to commence, the Abbot was found lying before the altar speechless. The faithful Diormit was quickly by his side, resting the dying man's head upon his bosom, and raising the right hand for a bless- ing on the assembled monks. After the soul had departed and the matin hymns were finished, the body was carried by the brethren, chanting psalms, from the church back to the chamber from which, a little before, he had come forth alive, and his obsequies were celebrated with all due honour and reverence during three days and as many nights. These completed, the body was wrapped " in a clean shroud of fine linen, and, being- placed in the coffin prepared for it, was buried with all due veneration, to rise again with lustrous and eternal brightness." ^'* In Scottish documents and chronicles bearing upon matters ecclesiastical in Scotland during the eighth century, a word appears for the first time, the attempt to fix the origin and meaning of which makes of itself a chapter in historical con- troversy.^^ When from the etymology of the word Culdee cum ipso maiiens, pro vobis interpellabo ; et non tautum prtesentis vite neces- saria abeo sufficienter administrabuntur sed etiam a3terualium bonorum prsemia, divinoruin observatoribus prreparata, tribuentur." — ' Yit. Sane. Columb.,' lib. iii. c. xxiv. =>■» Ibid. ^^ The Latin, W^elsh, Irish, and Gaehc languages have all been drawn upon by etymologists when hunting for the derivation of the term. Dr Reeves, the greatest modern autliority on the subject, believes Culdee to be a corruption of the Celtic Cele- or Kelc-De, that again being a translation of Servus Dei. Dr J. H. Burton makes an amusing contribution to the history of the word : " This old Celtic word for servant came in the Scots Celtic of later times to be hardened into the word 'gilly,' well-known to the tenants of Highland moors. Thus has it happened that at the present day the etymological representative THE CULDEES IN SCOTLAND. 19 historians and theologians proceed to determine tlie relation in wliich the Culdees stood, on the one hand, to the Church of lona, and on the other to the Church of Eome, the contro- versy becomes keener, — so keen that no wise man who has not a direct call to do so will care to become involved therein.^*^ Happily for us, the information bearing on the worship of the Culdees can be reduced within small comj)ass, and the state- ment of it does not necessitate, however much it may invite, debatable treatment. AVith Kcledei, as the Scottish form of tlie word, there is a reference to the Culdees in a description of the Church of St Andrews contained in the larger legend of that saint, drawn up in the middle of the twelfth century. Among other interesting items of information regarding the Keledei of that locality, it is stated that none of them served at the altar of the blessed apostle, but that they were wont to say their otiice, after their own fashion, in a corner of a church which was very small.^'' What peculiarities of ritual charac- ijf the Culdee is found in the gamekeeper's assistant." — 'Hist, of Scot.,' chap, xii., " The Church," voL i. p. 394 n., •2d ed. "^ The popuhar and (to Calvinistic Presbyterians) palatable view of the Culdees i.s given in such works as Dr J. H. A. Ebrard's ' Handbuch der Christlichen Kirchen und Dogmen-Geschichte '; also in a series of papers by the same author in the ' Zeitschrift ftir die Historische Theologie' for 1863, and in his ' Culdeische Kirche ' ; in Dr John Jamieson's ' Historical Account of tlie Ancient Culdees of lona ' (a popular reprint of what first appeared in 1811 came out in 1890. Glasgow: T. D. Morison); and most recently in Dr J. A. Wylie's ' Hist, of the Scot. Nation,' vol. iii., 1890. The more critical estimate of Keledean history and theology is that given hy Skene, ' Celtic Scot.,' vol. ii. bk. ii. chap. vi. 'The Secular Clergj' and the Culdees' — of which Bellesheim's chapter, "The Culdees and the Secular Clergy," vol. i. chap, vi., is a barefaced reproduction, with an occasional transposition of terms, as in the title of the chapter — also by Prof. G. Grub in liis ' Ecclesi- astical Hist, of Scot.,' an Episcopalian work not less valuable for its diligent research than for its impartial candour. A condensed but succinct account of the Culdees will be found in Haddan and Stubbs's ' Councils and Ecclesias- tical Documents,' vol. ii. Part i. Period iii., Append. B. — "Keledei (vulyo 'Culdees' in Scotland, c. a.d. 800 — c. a.d. 1150.) Not extinct, hoiccvcr, until the vudrllc of the fourteenth ccnturj/." '■^'^ " Keledei nauK^uo in angulo quodam ecclesiw, ijure modica nimis erat, suum 20 CELTIC AXD ANGLO-llOMAN WORSHIP. terised the Culdee worship at St Andrews, over and above that of celebratino' the Eucharist, not at the altar but in a corner of the church, cannot be confidently stated ; but evidently they were such as proved distasteful to the Saxon mind, and as such would be dealt with as abuses in a barbarous rite by the reforming and conforming Council at which Malcolm III. and Queen Margaret were present. Then, somewhere about the middle of the twelfth century, the monastery of Lochleven, which had been occupied by Keledei, was made over to the prior and canons of St Andrews, and the old order at Lochleven was suppressed. On that occasion an inventory was drawn up for insertion in the Eegister of St Andrews, in which were entered all the belongings of the Keledean monks. Among other things catalogued are so many books, and among the books are a Pastoral, a Gradual, a Missal, and a Lectionary.^^ While some of these, such as the first and last named, are ordinary service-books, the other two are books employed in the celebration of Mass — the Missal containing all that was necessary for the celebration of Mass throughout the year, and the Gradual the anthem sung at tlie approach of the priest to the altar, called the Introit, also the anthem sung after the epistle and the missal anthems were ended. How long these books had been in the Lochleven monastery before passing into new hands, it is, of course, impossible to say ; but their being there at all, in the possession of Culdees, in the library of the old and wealthy foundation, on the officium moi'e suo ceieb)'abaut." — Skene's 'Chron. Picts and Scots.' Haddan and Stubbs, lit sup., p. ISO. See also valuable notes of Dr Reeves, 'On the Culdees,' Dublin, 1864, p. 106. ^^ " . . . et cum hiis libris — i.e., cum Pastorali, Graduali, Missali . . . cum Leccionario."— A.D. 1144 — 1150. Gift of the Keledean Monastery of Loch- leven by Robert, Bishop of St Andrews, to the prior and canons of St Andrews. And suppression of the Keledei of Lochleven. Haddan and Stubbs, iit sup.. Period iv. pp. 227, 228. THE CULDEE LITANY OF DUNKELD. 21 same shelf with books of the Bible and works of the fathers, is of itself noteworthy. One more document bears in its title to be of Ciildee origin, and has an important bearing upon Keledean worship. First printed hj a Cllasgow liturgiologist from a manuscrijtt found in Eatisbon monastery, but now preserved in tlie library of the Eoman Catholic College at Blairs, in Kin- cardineshire, the document was inserted by the late Bishop Forbes of Brechin as an appendix to his preface of the ' Kalendars of Scottish Saints,' and more recently it has been incorporated by Haddan and Stubbs in their ' Councils and Ecclesiastical Documents relating to Great Britain and Ire- land.' 2^ The document purports to contain " Ancient litanies used in the old monastery of Dunkeld, which the Keledei, commonly called Culdees, were wont to sing in public processions," or, more briefly, the Dunkeld Litany. The anachronisms and historical inaccuracies in the Dun- keld Litany as it now stands show too clearly that it has suffered from interpolations, some of which are as recent as the fifteenth century.'*" While, however, the extreme anti- quity claimed for the Culdee Litany must be largely dis- counted, there is no reason why it should l)e regarded as an imposition or a simulated antique. Forming the basis of the literary structure, there was in all probability an earlier and simpler genuine writing, giving in substance the prayers of the old Keledei of Scotland, to which from time to time additions were made of certain historical names. The Litany opens with, " Lord have mercy upon us " and " Christ have mercy upon us," uttered in each case three ■'^ ' Kalendars of Scottish Saints,' Pref. , pp. xxxiv, xxxv. Append, to Pref., })p. iii, Ivi-lxv. ' Councils and Eccles. Doc.,' vol. ii. Period iv. Append. C, pp. 278-28.X ^" E.g., the names of King Constantine (a.d. 900-952) and King David I. (a.d. 112-1-1153) occur among those " Sanctorum Confessorum et Mona- chorum" to whom it is said ora pro nobis ; while Gerich (King Gregory, a.d. 873-893) is prayed for as still alive. 22 CELTIC AND ANGLO-ROMAN "VVORSHir. times. The cry " pity us " is then addressed to God the Father, Son, and Spirit, the Triune God. The invocation " pray for us " is first addressed to that person who is described as (a) Holy ]\Iary, (/>) Holy Virgin of Virgins, (c) Mother of God. The same " ora pro nobis " is then directed to a series of beings grouped in the following order : First, angels, including the archangels JNIichael and Eaphael, with Urihel, Cherubin, Seraphin, and all the holy choir of the nine orders of celestial spirits ; second, apostles and evangelists, to the number of sixteen, beginning with Saint Peter, " Princeps Apostolorura," and Saint Andrew, " Patronus Noster " ; third, the martyrs, sixteen in all, including Joseph of Arimatliea, Alban and Amphibalus, first martyrs of the British Church, with Blaithmac and the monks, his com- panions, who are described as " cruelly slain by the heatlien Danes " ; fourth, the bishops, thirty-four in number. Saints Victor and Coelestine, Popes of Pome, heading the list, but the majority of names being Celtic, and including among a number of unknown such familiar names as ISTinian, Palladius, Servanus, Kentigern, " truly styled Mungo," and Cudberct ; fifth, the abbots, thirty-eight all told, and, with the exception of three, all Celts, fourth in order being Columba, and fourteenth his successor and biographer, Adamnan ; sixth, the confessors and monks, the first six names in a list of twenty-four having the word " Pex " written after them ; seventh, the virgins and widows, num- bering twenty-two, of whom INIary Magdalene and Martha are the first and second. After " ora pro nobis " of Litany comes " intercedite pro nobis." That petition is addressed in succession to Angels and Archangels, Virtues, Thrones, Powers, Dominions, Prin- cipalities, the company of the nine heavenly orders, Patriarchs, Prophets, Apostles, Martyrs, Bishops, Abbots, Confessors, and Monks, Virgins and Widows. " That," the Litany goes on to say, " l3y your prayers we may persevere in true penitence, THE DUNKELD CULDEE LITANY. 23 that liy your intercessions we may overcome the Devil and his temptations, and be led in safety to the heavenly kingdom." The prayer " be propitious," three times repeated, with a slightly varied response, leads up to a petition for deliverance from fifteen deprecated evils, the petition being addressed to Him who is entreated by His Advent, Xativity, Circumcision, Baptism, Passion, and Mission of the Paraclete Spirit. To that there succeeds the prayer " we beseech Thee to hear us," addressed to the thrice-invoked " Holy Father," and having reference to no fewer than twenty-five topics of intercession. Tlie thrice-repeated invocation, " Lamb of God, who takest away the sins of the world," is answered by the threefold response, " Have mercy upon us, 0 Lord, have mercy upon us ; 0 Lord, give to us peace ; " and it is followed by the words, " Christ conquers, Christ reigns, Christ rules," repeated in three lines. These lines are in turn followed by three petitions each uttered twice : " 0 Christ, hear us," " 0 Lord, have mercy upon us," " 0 Christ, have mercy upon us," the response in each case being a repetition of the petition. Then comes, just before the Amen, a versicle of three lines : '• Thou, 0 Clirist, grant unto us Thy grace. Thou, 0 Christ, give to us joy and peace. Thou, 0 Christ, grant unto us life and salvation." After the Amen is the rubric, " Let us pray," followed by the opening words of the " Pater Xoster," and by the follow- ing i)rayer : — " Almighty and life-giving God, we humbly beseech Thy Majesty that, tlu'ougli the wonderful merits and prayers of the accepted saints, and througli the powerful intercessions of Saint Mary Tliy INfother, of all Patriarchs, Prophets, Apostles, Martyrs, Bishops, Abbots, Confessors, and jMonks, Virgins and "Widows, reigning in lieaven with Thee, Thou wouldest grant to us pardon and forgive- ness of all sins, the increase of Thy heavenly grace, and Thine effectual help against all snares of our enemies visible and invisible ; 24 CELTIC AND ANGLO-ROMAX WORSHIP. SO that, our hearts given up wholly to Thy comniandments, we may merit at length, after the close of this mortal life, both to see the face and glory of these saints in the kingdom of God, and to rejoice with them in onr surpassing Lord Jesus Christ, our Eedeemer, to "Whom, along with the Father and the Holy Spirit, he honour and power and dominion, throughout all ages. Amen." ^^ When we pass, as it is necessary we should now do, to the worship of Scotland in medieval times, there meets us at the threshold of that period the striking personality of Margaret, the Saxon princess who became Queen of Scotland. Long before she came to influence religion and ritual in the country to which she fled from Xorman invasion and conquest, efforts had been made to harmonise the worship of the national Church, the Ecdesia Scoticana of ninth-century chroniclers, with that of Rome. A large measure of success had attended such efforts, which began with the mission of Augustin toward the close of the sixtli century, and were continued by Wilfrid of Lindisfarne and Adamnan of lona, Scottish perverts to Eoman usage, by Nectan the Pictish king, and by Ecberct the Saxon monk. Yielding to the pressure of ex- ternal force and of internal divisions, the old Celtic Church was in a state of decline approaching extinction ; the ancient Columban and Culdean monasteries of wood were disappear- ing, giving place to stone abbeys and priories modelled upon Italian patterns ; and the Keledei, whom many revere as early Scottish Puritans, were either being wholly suppressed or summarily converted into canons regular. But the movement in favour of subordination to papal authority and assimilation to Roman usage received its greatest acceleration from the example and the influence of the most devoted daughter of the Papacy that ever sat upon a throne. When in the spring of 1069 the Scottish king, Malcolm, was married to the Anglic princess j\Iargaret, a union was ■'^ The Latin of the Dunkekl Litany will be found condensed in Appendix B. QUEEN MARGARET, 25 consunniiated that exercised a most powerful intluence on the religion of Scotland. Protestants have vied with writers of her own Church iu their endeavour to do justice to the character and the life-work of this Saxon saint and sovereign. She has been pronounced unsurpassed for purity of motives and personal piety, for entire self-abnegation and the un- selfish performance of whatever duty lay before her, for earnest desire to benefit the people among whom her lot was cast, and for benefactions to the poor upon a scale of princely munificence.^"- While credit is undoubtedly to be given her for these qualities and graces, it must not be overlooked that her religion was of the austerest and most ascetic type that even the Church of Eome has developed. It was tlie religion of the crucifix, the Mass, and Lent observance ; of abstinence so complete and prolonged as to generate disease ; and of charity which, not content with relieving the necessities of the poor, washed the feet of six indigent persons, personally fed nine little orphans with pap put into their mouths with the spoon used by the royal feeder, and would not suffer a meal to be partaken of until four -and -twenty poor retainers, who were always within reach, had been humbly waited upon. The private apart- ments of the queen were so many show-rooms of ecclesiastical furniture and workshops of sacred art, in which were con- stantly being made " copes for the cantors, chasubles, stoles, altar-cloths, and other priestly vestments and Church orna- ments." ^-^ The Court maidens were kept busy producing such •*- '■ There is perhaps no more beautiful character recorded in history than that of Margaret." — Skene, ' Celtic Scot.,' vol. ii. bk. ii. chap. viii. p. 344. "It would be impossible to give any adequate idea of the edifying life and lioly death of this princess. . . . We see here the picture of the highest and I)urest domestic piety of the middle age." — Bishop Forbes, ' Kalendar of Scot. Saints,' p. 389. For a very different estimate of the character and services of <^ueen Margaret, see Dr AVj'lic's 'Hist, of the Scot. Nation,' vol. iii. chap, xvii. ■'^ Turgot, ' Life of St Margaret,' translated by W. Forbes-Leith, S.J. (lulin. : W. Paterson, 1884). p. 30. 26 CELTIC AND ANGLO-EOMAX AVOESHIP. fabrics, and were strictly guarded from the contamination of male intercourse, no man being admitted into their work- rooms except when the royal mistress permitted one to enter in her company. As Queen Margaret could not live, so neither could she die, in comfort, without her material cross upon which to fix her gaze. It is thus the last moments of her life are described by her favourite father-confessor, from whom her biographer obtained the account : — " The disease gained ground, and death was imminent. . . . Her face had already grown pallid in death when she directed that I, and the other ministers of the sacred altar along with me, should stand near her and commend her soul to Christ by our psalms. Moreover, she asked that there should be brought to her a cross, called the Black Cross, which she always held in the greatest veneration. There was some delay in opening tlie chest in which it Avas kept, during which the (jueen, sighing deeply, exclaimed, ' 0 uidiappy that we are ! 0 guilty that we are ! Shall Ave not be permitted once more to look upon the Holy Cross 1 ' When at last it was got out of the chest and brought to her, she received it Avith reverence, and did her best to embrace it and kiss it, and several times she signed herself with it. Although every part of her body Avas noAv groAving cold, still, as long as the Avarmth of life throbbed at her heart, she continued steadfast in prayer. She repeated the AAdiole of the fiftieth Psalm, '^"^ and placing the cross before her eyes, she held it there Avith both her liands." ^'^ Tlie narrative is here interrupted by the priest requiring to tell how the queen's son, Edgar, came from the battle- field of Northumbria to his mother's deathbed in the Castle of Edinburgh, with tidings of the slaughter of his father, ■*"* The 51st Psalm in our English version. *^ " The cross in question Avas enclosed in a black case, and so called the Blacl- Cross. It Avas of gold, set Avith diamonds, and was reported to contain a por- tion of our Lord's cross. Margaret brought it Avith her to Scotland, and handed it down as an heirloom to her sons : the youngest, David, when he became king, built a magnificent church for it near the city — the Church of the Holy-Rood." — Turgot, ut suj)., p. 77, n. MARGARET AND CELTIC PRACTICES. 27 ]\Ialcolm III., and his brother Edward. Finding her at the point of death, he tried to keep the tidings from her. "But," resumes the narrator, "with a deep sigh, she said, 'I know it, my boy, I know it. V>y tliis holy cross, by the bond of our blood, I adjure you to tell me the truth.' Thus pressed, he told her exactly all that had hapi)eneil. . . . Ifaising her eyes and her hands toward heaven, she glorified God, saying, ' I give praise and thanks to Thee, Almighty God, for that Thou hast been pleased that I should endure such deep sorrow at my departing, and I trust that by means of this suffering it is Thy pleasure that I should l)e cleansed from some of the stains of my sins.' Feeling now that death was close at hand, she at once began the prayer which is usually said liy the priest before he receives the Body and Blood of our Lord, saj'ing, ' Lord Jesus Christ, who, according to the will of the Father through the co-operation of the Holy Ghost, hast by Thy death given life to the world, deliver me.' As she was saying the words, ' Deliver me,' her soul was freed from the chains of the liody, and departed to Christ, the author of true liljcrty, to Christ whom she had always loved, and by whom she was made a partaker of the liappiness of the saints, the examples of whose virtues she haridging the river Dee, restoring the fabric of liis cathedral, reforming his clergy, and improving church music, — these were with him matters of endeavour, and of at least partial accomplishment. His greatest undertaking, however, was undoubtedly that which associates his name with Scotland's first printing-press — the compiling of the famous Aberdeen Breviary of 1509-10. Of this magnum opus only four copies have survived the lapse of time and the wear and tear of constant use — all four being more or less defective. As the result, however, of a painstaking and skilful collation of these imperfect copies, a facsimile reprint was issued in 1854, which forms a splendid specimen of scholarly editing and exact printing.'''' The reprint, like the original, consists of two volumes. In the first volume is the " Pars Hyemalis," containing a Calendar, Table of Feasts, Psalter, Temporale, and Proprium Sanctorum. Volume second contains " Pars xEstivalis," and it also lias a Calendar, Psalter, the Proper of the seasons, and the Proper of the Saints.^'' "■* The patent of James IV. to Chepmau & I\Iyllar, and the complaint of the former regarding an infringement of the same, are given in Appendix Xo. I. to 'Memorial for the Bible Society in Scotland,' drawn up by Pi-incipal Lee in 1824 ; also in 'Annals of Scottish Printing,' see n. 62. '^ Joseph Robertson in Pref. to ' Concilia Scotite,' p. cxxv. A genial ap- preciative sketch of the life and career of Bishop Elphinstone is given by Professor C. Innes in the second chapter of his ' Sketches of Early Scotch History.' "" The reprint was edited by the llev. W. lilew, M.A., and published by James Toovey, London. An impression having been thrown off in 1855 for tlie Bannatyne Club, Dr David Laing furnished it with a preface, in separate form, which has all the characteristic excellences of that book-hunter's workmanship. "'' The references to the Aberdeen Breviary in Dr J. H. Burton's ' Hist, of Scot.' are regrettably inaccurate. In vol. i. chap. viii. p. 264 (n.) of 2d edi- tion there are three errors: (1) Chepman's name is given as "Chapman" ; (2) " only Uco copies " of the work are said to be " known to be in existence " ; 42 CELTIC AND ANGLO-EOMAN WOKSHIP. The title-page of the first volume happily exists in the Edinburgh University copy, otherwise defective, and runs thus : — " The Avinter section of the Breviary of Aberdeen, principally according to the use and practice of the very famous Church of the Scots : concerning Season and Saints, and the Davidic psalter, suitably divided over week-days : along with Invitatories, hymns, Antiphons, chapters, Eesponses, hours, week-day commemorations throughout the course of the year, as also the common service of saints and of very many virgins and matrons, and the legends of diverse saints, which formerly floated about vaguely in scattered form : with a Kalendar and perpetual table of the movable feasts, and various other adjuncts added from new source, and exceedingly necessary for priests. Printed in the town of Edinburgh at the charges of Walter Chepraan, merchant, on the 13th of February, in the year of our salvation and of grace, the ninth over and above the thousandth and five hundredth" (1509).'- The colophon or inscription at the end of the second volume has also escaped destruction, and as it contains some new matter, the opening and closing paragraphs may be here translated : — " Praise be to God by whose grace this present little work has reached its close [namely, that] of the summer section of the Brev- iary of the Divine Offices for the Season and for the Saints. . . . By the Eeverend father in Christ, William, Bishop of Al^erdeen ; collected with special care and very great labour, not only for general use in his own church of Aberdeen, but also for that of the whole church of Scotland." '''■' The Aberdeen Breviary does not materially differ from other service-books of that class, and so does not call for (3) the printing is stated to have been "in the year 1500 " ; while in vol. iii. chap, xxxvii. p. 328, it is stated to have been issued, " as we have seen, in the year 1550." '^ The original Latin, freed from the contractions with which it abounds, also the above translation, are given in 'Annals of Scottish Printing' (chap. X. pp. 87, 88), with a beautiful facsimile in colours of the title-page. "" Ibid., pp. 94, 95. COLUMBA AND SEEYANUS IN ABERDEEN BREVIAKY. 43 detailed treatment. As the patent of King James and its own title-page would lead us to expect, the portion of the work which has national interest is that which contains, in the lections, the legends of Scottish saints. It would he impossible to enter into these at any length. It may suffice if we glance at those lections hearing for the most part on such saints as have already been mentioned, and translate the prayers founded upon the legends narrated. Of St Columba, confessor and abbot, the incidents recorded of his birth, childhood, boyhood, and later years are all such as are to be found in Adaninan's life of his predecessor, and so need not be here reproduced. To him — described as " the holy father Columba, descended of noble parentage, a man of venerable life and of happy memor}', a father and a founder of monasteries " — this invocation is addressed : " 0 hap})y Columba, an advocate for the needy, cleanse us from our grievous faults, — us, who are afflicted by our offences against heaven, and crushed by trouble ; and be thou our strongest tower." An oratio follows this invocation, couched in the following terms : " Breathe into our hearts, 0 Lord, we be- seech thee, the desire of heavenly glory ; and grant that on our right hands we may carry thither the maniples of right- eousness ; where with Thee, as a golden star, the holy Abbot Columba shines." ^^ In the eighth century, if not earlier, the county of Fife was favoured with the miracle-working presence of a bishop and confessor, with the Latin name Ser\'aiius, but in the Scottish nomenclature Serf, and in the Irish Serb. To him there is assigned in the Breviary of Elphinstone the 1st of July as his commemoration-day, and in the first lection under that date it is affirmed of the east-coast saint that he had derived his 8" ' Brev. Aberdon.,' vol. ii. Prop. Sanct., fol. cii., 9th June. Also iu 'The Legends and Commemorative Celebrations of St Kentigern, his Friends and Disciples : Edin., 1872. 44 CELTIC AND ANGLO-ROMAN WORSHIP. origin from the nation of the Scots, lived under the rite and form of the primitive Church till the arrival of the blessed father Palladius, the bishop, who had been sent by the blessed Pope Celestine for the purpose of converting the nation of the Scots, and who appointed Servanus his suffragan for the whole nation of the Scots, seeing Palladius found himself unable to dispense the mysteries to so great a nation without assistance. In some of the subsequent lections very wonderful things are told of Servanus, of which the following may be taken as specimens. On one occasion, when going round homesteads, castles, and villages, sowing the seed of the Lord's Word, it happened that he and his clergy were lodged with a certain poor man, who, ascribing unmeasured praises to God for guests so distinguished, killed his one only pig for the refection of the holy men. The holy Servanus, moved with piety [ex pictatc], restored the pig, and the poor man found it alive in its sty. Once upon a time, states another lection, the devil tempted the blessed Servanus with diverse questions in the cave of Dysart ; but, confounded by the divine virtue, he went away ; and from that day the demon has appeared to no one in that cave. The devil, seeing from these things that he could prevail in no wise against the holy man, endeavoured to do serious mischief, where that was within his power. He therefore entered into a certain miserable man, and bestowed upon him so prodigious an appetite that he could not by any means be satisfied. But Servanus put his thumb into the man's mouth, and the devil, terrified and roaring horribly, set him free. In lection eight the following story finds a place: A certain robber, having stolen a sheep which had been domes- ticated in the house of Servanus, killed it, and ate a part of it. By-and-bv, when diligent search was made for the missino- animal, the suspected robber hastened to the holy man, and, wishing to justify himself on the staff or crosier, swore a great oath, declaring his innocence. A wonderful thing fol- ST BALDRED IN" THE BREVIARY. 45 lowed. The sheep which had just heeii eaten spoke vocally out ])y bleating in the thief's throat ! Whereui^on the rob- ber, confounded, prostrated himself on the earth, pitiably imploring' forgiveness, and the holy man besought the Lord for him. The prayer for the day of Servanus is in these words : " 0 (lod, who, for the salvation of the human race, hast made the blessed Servanus illustrious by wonderful miracles, we be- seech Thee that, through his benignant intercession, the chains of our sins being loosed. Thou wouldst bestow upon us the heavenly kingdom." ^^ Columba and Servanus have figured at an earlier stage of this survey : let us close with a Scottish saint not hitherto named, but who has an honourable place assigned him, as bishop and confessor, in the Aberdeen Breviary. In times considerably nearer our own than those we have been deal- ing with, the Bass Rock, in the mouth of tlie Firth of Forth, had honourable associations with Covenanting struggles and sufferings. It had also to do with the hagiology of Scotland in the beginning of the seventh century. For on this exposed mass of rock, rising sheer out of the waters, is said to have lived Sanctus Baltherus, the St Baldred of the Scots. This meditative man, at one time a suffragan of the blessed Kentigern, and associated with the Lothians, is stated, in the first lection devoted to him, to have renounced all the pomp of the world and vain care of the same, and following, as far as he could, the divine John, dwelt in solitary deserts and sequestered places, and betook himself to islands of the sea. Leading such a kind of life, Baldred had no great need nor scope for the exercise of miraculous powers. But one forth- putting of supernatural power is mentioned in lection fourth in the following terms : A rock huge and lofty stood in the middle of the passage between the island of the Bass and the nearest land, opposing itself to ships as an impediment, *^ ' Brev. Abenlon.,' vol. i., Proii. Saiut., fol. xv., ]t-t Jul)'. 46 CELTIC AND ANGLO-ROMAX WORSHIP. occasionally causing shipwreck. Out of pity for others, Baldred appointed himself to be set on the said rock. When this had been done, that rock, at his nod, was straightway pulled up from its submarine fastenings, and, like a boat impelled by a favourable wind, approached the nearest shore ; and till now it remains there in memory of this miracle, and even at this day is called the tomb or the cock-boat of the blessed Baldred. The hermit saint of the Bass had special charge of three churches in the neighbouring parishes of Auldhame, Tyning- hame, and Prestonkirk, in Haddingtonshire. When the frailties of old age overtook him, he went to the first-named parish, and there, " in a certain cottage of his parish minister, on the day before the nones of March, with all patience and alacrity and compunction of heart, bidding his flock farewell with much prayer, he commended his soul to the Lord." '*- What ensued when tidings of his death reached the parish- ioners of the three churches must be told in the language of the Aberdeen lectionary : — "They assembled in tliree bands at the place of tlie most sweet body of Baldred ; and they, by turns, with tlie utmost eagerness demanded the body, and urgently begged tliat him whom they had for their teacher on earth they might, by showing him due reverence, have for their pious intercessor in the heavens. When tliey were unable to agree among themselves, on the advice of a certain old man they left the body unburied during the night, and all sepa- rately betook themselves to prayers, that the glorious God Himself would, of His grace, send them some sign indicating on Avhich church the body of the holy man should be conferred. But when it was morning, a thmg not often to be heard of is prepared. The scattered parishioners, assembling as at first, found three similar bodies laid out with similar pomp of funereal solemnities ; for which miracle they gave thanks with the greatest gladness to Almighty God and the blessed Baldred ; and singing and playing, each parish having lifted up one body with its bier, carried it with all reverence *- Lect. V. DEDICATION OF PARISH CHURCHES. 47 away to their own church, and placed it honourably tliere, and to this day the bodies are held in the greatest honour and reverence, and venerated accordingly."**^ The oratio for the day of the east-country miracle-worker is in these terms : " 0 Clod, who through the contemplative life of the blessed Baldred, Thy bishop and confessor, hast conferred ineffable grace on Thy servants, grant, we beseech Thee, that, by his merits and intercessions, we may be able to obtain in all things the saving help of Thy mercy." ^^ Had our limits permitted, it would have been interesting to supplement the foregoing with detailed information bearing u]5on the consecration, dedication, and reconciliation ^^ of churches and chapels, altars and burying-grounds, in Scotland during the period now^ reviewed. David de Bernham, Bishop of St Andrews in the thirteenth century, was specially active in this department of ecclesiastical function. The record of his work still exists in a manuscript enriching the treasures of the Bibliotheque ISTationale at Paris, where it is catalogued ' Pontificale Anglicanuni,' and numbered " Fonds Latin, Xo. 1218." The list of buildings which this dignitary consecrated with divine service was printed by Joseph Eobertson in 1866,^'^ and the Pontihcal itself was in 1885 edited and published at Edinburgh.^^'^ Quite recently interest has been revived and extended in David de Bernham and his career by the appearance of a scholarly monograph from the pen of "^ Lect. vi. For furtliei* information regarding the east-country hermit and his three parishes, see ' The Chui'ches of Saint Baldred.' By A. J. llitchie, Kdin. : 1SS:J. 8^ 'Brev. Aberdon.,' vol. ii., Pmp. Sanct., fol. Ixiii., 29th March. ^^ In ecclesiastical nomenclature, a consecrated building requires reconcilia- tion when it has been desecrated by some crime being committed within its precincts. Thus on the 15th of April 1542 the Church of the Holy Trinity, at Berwick, was "reconciled iMSt cffusionem sanyuinis," occasioned by a deadly (juarrel which took place between two "scolocs," or clerici sc/iolarcs. *"■' 'Concilia Scotia;,' Pref., Appendix, p. xxxii. " Hee sunt Ecclesie quas dedicauit Episcopus Dauid," pp. ccxcviii-ccciii. 8" ' Pontificale licclesire S. Andreic. ' Edin. : Pitsligo Press. 48 CELTIC AND ANGLO-KOMAN WORSHIP. a minister of the Church of Scotland, which gives good pro- mise of further work in the department of Scottish arclia?o- logical research. ^^ As there seems to be in some quarters a desire to revert to old usages and vestments in connection with the opening of church structures, it may interest some readers to find in the Appendix some of the outstanding passages of the ' Pontificale,' while a wider circle may scan the list of parish churches in the dedicating of which this service-book was eniployed.^^ How burdensome, wearisome, and unprofitable all the services of Missal, Breviary, and Pontifical became, alike to those who rendered them and to those who were simply auditors of what had to them no meaning, it would be hard to estimate. Whatever may be said about the laxity of morals among " the spiritualitie " and tlie licentiousness of the laity, in causing the middle ages to be a period of moral darkness and sj)iritual death, these, it will be ad- mitted, were the concomitants of public worship mechani- cally gone through, and from wliich all heart and life had fled. Headers of Tennysonian poetry are familiar with his " Northern Farmer, Old Style," and will remember the dying man's words about church and parson. Before his wife's death — so he reminisced — he always went to church : there he heard the parson bumming away like a cockchafer over his head ; he never knew what the men at the reading-desk or in the pulpit meant, neither did it occur to him that he had any business to know. He supposed parson had something to say, and that he said what he ought. When the bumming was over, the hearer came away, and that *^ ' The Church of Scotland in the Thirteenth Centurj'. ' The Life ami Times of David de Beruham of St Andi'ews (Bishop), a.d. 1239 to 1253. With List of Churches dedicated by him, and dates. By William Lockhart, A.M., F.S.A. Scot., and Minister of Colinton Parish, Mid-Lothian. W. Blackwood & Sons, Edin. and Lend.: 1889. 8" Appendix C to this volume. MEDIEVAL WORSHIP WASTEFUL, WEARISOME. 49 was an end of divine service.^'^ It is safe to say there were many northern farmers of still older style than that of the dying pagan described by the Poet Laureate, who never knew nor cared to know what priest or preacher said, to whom the whole service came to be a waste of time, a weari- ness to the flesh, an infliction to be avoided as often as it possibly could. Happily for Scotland, a better day was about to dawn, a da}' which preceded and prepared men for the advent of the era of the Reformation, when the public worship of the land became a life and a power, being brought back to the spon- taneity and simplicity of Scripture warrant and apostolic institution. "" " An' I liallus corned to 's choorch afoor my Sally wur deiid, An' 'eerd un a bumiuin' awaiiy loike a buzzard-clock ower my zeiid, An' I niver knaw'd whot a meiin'd, but I thowt a 'ad summut to saiiy, An' I thowt a said whot a owt to 'a said, an' I corned awaiiy." — ' Enoch Arden,' &c. 50 PERIOD II. rJTUAL EEVISION. From the year 1225 until 1559 the government of the Scottish Church was in the hands of its Provincial Councils. No stronger proof of the corruption and decay which liad overtaken that Church can he drawn from any quarter than is to be found in the canons of these councils. Aiming, as many of them did, at correcting the abuses with which the Scottish clergy were chargeable, they served only the more widely and loudly to proclaim these abuses. As confirmatory of this statement, at a General Convention and Provincial Council which assembled in the Blackfriars' Church at Edinburgh on the 27th November 1549, and was presided over by the Archbishop of St Andrews, who styled himself " Primate of all Scotland and Legate Natus," ^ the sixty-eight statutes then approved of and ratified contain in explicit terms the admission that the flagitious lives and the gross ignorance of the Scottish clergy were the root and cause of all the troubles and heresies which then afflicted the Church.- \Vhile some of those statutes were framed to arrest the progress of heresy by ordering a rigorous ^ An enumeration of the ecclesiastical offices repi'eseuted at the Convention, and a brief description of the men of any account who were present, will be found in the ' Concilia ScotiEe,' Pref., pp. cxlvii-cxlviii. 2 ' Concil. Scot.,' pp. 81, 82, 283, 290, 292. THE PROVINCIAL COUNCIL OF 1551-52. 51 search to be made with a \ie\v to the detection of heretical persons, and the burning of heretical books, ballads, and poems reflecting- upon the Church or the clergy,^ not a few of them were addressed to the reformation of clerical lives and manners,"* and others provided for the promoting of learning,-'' the restoring of discipline, the removing of ecclesiastical scandals,'' and the more general preaching to the people.' When, eighteen months later, another Provincial Council assembled in the metropolis, the confession was made that the reforming canons of 1549 were largely inoperative ; that even in populous parishes the attendance when ]\Iass was celebrated and sermons w^ere preached was scandalously- small ; that in time of service jesting and irreverence were indulged in within the church, while sports were going on and business being transacted in the porch and the cliurch- yard.^ In the new canons of 1551-52 not only was provision made for the immediate enforcement of former statutes, but instructions were issued that the names of all absentees from divine service be taken down by the officiating curate and reported to the rural dean, and that all gatherings within ecclesiastical precincts, whether for sport or traffic, be for- bidden alike on Sundays and other holidays, during public worship.'^ Further, to meet wliat is freely confessed, the in- ability of the inferior clergy, and even of the prelates, either to inform or reform the people, this same Council took steps ^ ' Concil. Scot.,' pp. 117, IIS, 294, ct passim. -» Ibid., pp. 118, 294. * Thus, inter alia, provision wa.s made iu tlie canons of 1."j49 for teaching grammar, divinity, and canon law in cathedrals and abbeys, and for sending from every monastery one or more monks to a university. — Ibid., pp. 95-97, 100-102, 104, 105, 287-290, also 102-104. '^ The clergy were enjoined to put away their concubines and to dismiss from their houses the children born to them in concubinage ; while prelates were admonished not to keep in their households drunkards, gamblers, whore- mongers, brawlers, night-walkers, buffoons, blasphemers, or profane swearers. —Ibid., pp. 86-88, 284, 301, 302, also 91, 286. 7 Ibid., pp. 95, 96, 97-100, et passim. ^ Ibid., p. 128. '' Ibid., pp. 131, 132, 297, 298. 52 EITUAL KEYISION. for the preparation and publication of a popular exposi- tion of Catholic doctrine and ritual, written in the Scottish vernacular of the sixteenth century, and revised by the wisest and most learned divines and churchmen of the realm. The intention was that portions of the work should be read to congregations " before High Mass, when there was no sermon ; as much as would occupy half an hour being read from the pulpit every Sunday and holiday, with a loud voice, clearly, distinctly, impressively, solemnly, by the rector, vicar, or curate in surplice and stole." ^"^ Although designed for the instruction of the laity, the book when published was not to be given indiscriminately to lay persons, but only to such as the Ordinary might approve of ; and the public reading of it was not to be made the occasion of controversy during service. And in order that their reading of what would soon be in their hands might be effective and instructive, the clergy were enjoined to have daily practisings, and thus guard against such stammering or breaking down as would certainly expose them to the ridicule of their hearers." ^^ In August of the same year, 1552, seven months after the meeting of Council, the book was published at St Andrews,^^ and purported to be ' The Catechism ; that is to say, a com- mon and Catholic instruction of the Christian people in matters of our Catholic faith and religion, which no good Christian man or woman should be ignorant of.' After the preface, the table of contents, and a prologue, the ^^ " And thairfor everilk Sonclay and princijial halydaie, quhen thair cummis na precheour to tham to schaw thame the word of God, to have this Catechisme usit and reid to thame in steid of prechiug, quhil [until] God of his gudues provide ane sufficient nowmer of Catholyk and abil i^recheouris, quhilk sal be within few yeiris as we traist in God, to quhom be honour and glore for evir. Amen." — Pref. to Hamilton's Catechism. " 'ConciLScot.,'pp. 135-139, 299. ^- " Preutit at Sanct Androus be the command and exi^eusis of the maist reverend father in God Johne Archbischop of Sanct Androus, and primat of the hail kirk of Scotland, the xxix day of August the yeir of our Lord mdlii." — The Colophon. AUCHBISHOP HAMILTON'S CATECHISM. 53 work, commonly known as ' The Catechism of John Hamilton, Archbishop of St Andrews,' gives an exposition of the Ten Commandments, of the twelve articles of the Creed, of the seven Sacraments, and of the Lord's Prayer. Then follow a preface to, and a brief exposition of, all the words contained in the Ave Maria. These are succeeded by the proposing and answering of two questions : First, To whom should we pray ? the answer being, " To God only as giver of all grace and goodness ; also to good men and women on earth, and spe- cially to saints and angels in heaven as intercessors to God for us." Second, For whom should we pray ? which has for answer, " For all Christian men and women, who have need of our prayers, not only for them that are living, but also for all Christian souls which are in I'urgatory and may lie helped by our prayers." The mention of this " place in which," according to the teaching of the Church of Eome, " souls who depart this life in the grace of God suffer for a time," leads to the compilers of the Catechism engaging in an explanation and defence of the affirmation relative to Purga- tory, founded upon the alleged teaching of our Saviour, the apostle Paul, and the Fathers of the Church. The book concludes with an epilogue addressed first to vicars and curates, to whom will fall the reading of the foregoing publicly, urging them to pay attention to the errata athxed, so that their reading may be to the edifica- tion of their hearers ; then to all parsons wdio have the cure of souls, exhorting them to preach and teach sincerely the evangel of God, and not to use the book so as to foster presumption, or make it the occasion of negligence or idle- ness ; and, lastly, to Christian people, who are urged to " hear, understand, and keep in remembrance the holy words of God, which in this present Catechism are truly and Catholicly expounded for their spiritual edification." ^^ '^ In recent years tliere have been twu reprints otli public and private, according to the U.se of the United Church of England and Ireland : Illustrated from the " Use of Salisbury"; the "Keligious Consultation of Herman, Archbishop of Cologne ;" and the sentiments of the compilers and revisers of the Book of Common Prayer.' By the Rev. T. M. Fallow, A.M. London : 1838. Pp. 20-54. E 66 RITUAL REVISION. conOTegation have uttered their Amen, there comes this direction : " Here let the wJiole congregation sing in Butch, Now all thanks, &c., or the Psahne, God be merciful unto us. Then lettc the pastovr go forth in the ministrdtion of the LoTcles Supper "^^ And this congregational vernacular singing is not confined in Herman's ' Consultation ' to the baptismal service. It has a place in the suggestions " how the Lord's Supper must l:>e celebrated." After Confession and Absolu- tion there comes this rubric : " The Clerhs shall then sing something in Latin out of Holy Scrijjturc, for an Entrance or Beginning. After which Kyrie Eleison and Gloria in excelsis, and let the ^jcople sing both in Dutch." ^^ Then, in the same sacramental service, after the Epistle, the Gospel, the Sermon, " a prayer for all states of men and necessities of the congregation," the Creed, " to be sung by the whole congregation, during which the faithful are to offer their oblations every man according to the blessing which he hath received of God," the Preface, the Sanctus, this direction follows : " Then the Priest shcdl sing the vjords of the Lord's Supper in Dvtch, Our Lord the niglit in which He was delivered, &c. These v:ords must he sung ivith great reverence, and plainly. And the people shcdl say to these tcords, Amen, which all the old Church ohserved, and the Greeks do yet ohscrve the same." ^^ Meeting with hearty co-operation from Melanchthon and Martin Bucer, consulted and corresponded with by Cranmer in Engiand,^^ Herman von Wied experienced the fate of too ^■^ Fallow, lit sup., p. 49. '^ I.e., iu German. " This is of great interest, for it set the example of using the vulgar tongue in Church services, though the confusion of the two languages here suggested would have been intolerable." — Burbidge, ut sup., chai^. vi. p. 191, n. ^^ Burbidge, ut sup., p. 192. ^^ " Cranmer corresponded with Herman, and interested the King's Council in his behalf ; and it cannot be doubted that his book was much employed by the commission assembled at Windsor in the compilation of their new form of Common Prayer." — Cardwell's ' Two Liturgies of Ed. VI.,' 1852. Pref., p. xvi. ENGLISH PRIMERS. 67 many reformers before and at the lieformation. He fell under the suspicion of heresy ; ^^ struggled for a time against the papal excommunication launched in 1546 ; was ultimately deposed ; and died in retirement, August 13, 1552. In England symptoms of the desire for a revision of Church service-books first manifested themselves in the preparation and circulation of devotional manuals called Primers. These compilations of elementary religious instruction were, for the most part, translations and abridgments of portions of the Eoman Breviary ; but many of them revealed considerable divergence from, in some cases even positive hostility to, the teaching of the Church of Eome. In 1535 — that same year of grace which stands associated with Quignon's ' Breviary ' and Herman's ' Consultation ' — there was printed and published at London what has come to be known as Marshall's ^* Primer — " A goodly Primer in English, newly corrected and printed, with certain godly ^Meditations and Prayers added to the same, very necessary and profitable for all them that right assuredly understand not the Latin and Greek tongues." ^^ In 1539 appeared Bishop Hilsey's Primer, professing to be ' The jNIanual of Prayers, or Tlie Primer in English, set out at length.' '^'^ Finally, in 1545 there was issued, by royal authority, what goes under the name of King Henry's, but might more fitly be styled Cranmer's Primer, " to be taught, learned, and read." ^^ "^ Labbe in his 'Concilia' (torn. xiv. p. 484. Paris : 1671), after the name of Herman, inserts the remark within brackets, " qui postea in h;cresim lapsus est." '•'^ Regai-ding W^illiam Marshall nothing is now known. In identifying him with Dr Cuthbert Marshal, Archdeacon of Nottingham, Strype was evidently misled by a partial similarity of name. •'" 'Three Primers put forth in the reign of Henry VIII.' Edited by Edward Burton. Oxford: 1834. P. 1. ""' Ibid., p. 305. In the title-page the author is designated "John, late Bishop of Rochester." John Hilsey or Hildesley was originally a Black or Dominican Eriar. "" Ibid., p. 437. ' The Primer set forth by the King's JIajesty, and his Clergy, To be taught, learned, and read : and none other to be used through- 68 EITUAL KEVISION. All these were issued during the reign of Henry YIII., and paved the way for what appeared two years after his death in the reign of his son Edward VI. Upon the 7th of March 1549 there was printed at London what came into use on the 9th of June following, being Whit-Sunday, the first complete service-book in the English language, bearing on title - page to be ' The Book of the Common Prayer and Administration of the Sacraments, and other Eites and Ceremonies of the Church after the use of the Church of England.' '^- For us in Scotland that same year 1549 acquires an addi- tional interest from the fact that at an early stage of it, prob- ably in February, there arrived in London a Scotsman — that " honest-hearted brotherly man, brother to the high, brother also to the low, sincere in his sympathy with both, . . . the much -enduring, hard -worn, ever battling man," John Knox, " bravest of all Scotsmen." ■^^ Having obtained licence to preach in England, " John Knox, Scott," as he is styled in the list of eighty persons to whom permission was extended during the reign of Edward VI.,** was appointed to preach in Berwick-on-Tweed, where out all his dominions.' 1545. Printed for the first time in 1545 in three different sizes, by Richard Grafton ; reprinted in 1546 ; a literal reprint made* in the reign of Edward VI. A copy of the 1545 edition is in the Bodleian Library. Burton. Vrei., ut sup., i[).lx. *'- 'The Two Liturgies, a.d. 1549 and a.d. 1552,' kc. Parker Society. Edited by Rev. J. Ketley, M.A. In " The Ancient and Modern Library of Theological Literature " of Messi-s Griffith, Farran, Okeden, & Welsh, there is an inexpensive but extremely accurate reprint of the first Prayer-book of Edward VI., as also of the second, and also of Queen Elizabeth's Prayer-book. ^^ Carlyle's ' Heroes and Hero -Worship. ' Lect. iv., " The Hero as Priest." ■*■* " The names of certayne persons that have hadd license to preache under th' ecclesiasticall seale since Julye in anno 1547." The list contains eighty names — that of Knox being the sixty-fourth in order. Not far from the name of Knox are those of three Scottish preachers closely associated with him at different periods of his career — John Rough, John M'Briar, and John Willock. The list was taken from the original in the Record Office, London, and first published by Dr Laing in his 'Works of John Knox,' vol. vi., Pref., pp. xxvi-xxviii. KNOX BEFOEK THE CONVENTION AT ST ANDREWS. 69 he ministered for two years in tlie old parish church to a congregation composed partly of civilians and partly of soldiers. Before he was forcibly taken from St Andrews in a vessel of the French fleet, the Scottish reformer had arrived at and acted upon Protestant views regarding the conduct of public worship and the administration of sacraments. This is made abundantly evident from what took place during his brief ministry subsequent to his remarkable call. At the con- vention of 1547, summoned to meet in St Leonard's Yard for the purpose of inquiring into the preaching of Knox and his senior colleague John Eough, nine articles were exhibited purporting to be taken from the sermons of the two preachers. Of these — the correctness of which Knox, when conducting his defence, did not call in question — it is sufficient for our purpose to adduce the following : — " (iii.) Man may neither make nor devise a religion that is ac- ceptable to Clod ; but man is bound to observe and keep the reli- gion that from God is received, "without chopping or clianging tliereof. '•(iv. ) The Sacraments of the Xew Testament ought to be min- istered as they were instituted by Christ Jesus, and practised by His apostles : notliing ought to be added unto them ; nothing ought to be diminislied from them. " (v.) The Mass is abominable idolatry, blasphemous to the death of Christ, and a profanation of the Lord's Supper. . . . " (vii.) Praying for the dead is vain, and to the dead is idolatry." ^'^ When Arbuckill,'*'^ the Grey friar, entered the lists with Knox, and undertook to prove that ceremonies are ordered by Crod, the reply was — " Such as God lias ordained we allow, and with reverence we use tliem. But the question is of those that God has npt ordained, *'' 'Works,' vol. i. p. 194. ■"^ Identified by Dr Laing with Alexander Arbuckylle, member of a Fran- ciscan Monastery of Observantines at St Andrews. — Knox's 'Works,' ut svp., p. 197, n. 70 EITUAL EEVISION. such as, in baptism, are spittle, salt, candle, cude (except it be to keep tlie bairn from cold), hardis, oyle, and the rest of the papisti- cal inventions. . . , For the j^lain and straight commandment of God isj ' Jv^ot that thing -which appears good in thine eyes shalt thou do to the Lord thy God, but what the Lord thy God has commanded thee, that do thou : add nothing to it ; diminish nothing from it.' Now, unless that ye be able to prove that God has com- manded your ceremonies, this, his former commandment, will condemn both you and them." '^' Following up his racy account of the St Andrews dispu- tation, in which Dean Winram, who presided, and the man " bearing a grey cowll " canie oft' second and third best, Knox has this interesting statement regarding himself in his ' His- tory ' : " God so assisted His weak soldier, and so blessed his labours, that not only all those of the Castle, but also a great number of the town, openly professed, by participation of the Lord's Table, in the same irurity that now it is ministered in the churches of Scotland, with that same doctrine that he had taught unto them." ^^ As preacher of the Gospel at Berwick, Knox conducted public worship and dispensed the sacraments on the lines laid down during his brief St Andrews pastorate. Two valuable Knox papers, unknown to his biographer and his editor, but brought to light by Professor Lorimer of London, place this beyond all reasonable doubt.*^ In an " Epistle to the Congregation of Berwick," written in 1552, and a fragment purporting to set forth " The practice of the Lord's Supper used in Berwick-upon-Tweed by John Knox, preacher to that congregation in the church there," Knox is to be seen openly departing from the order of the English Prayer-book, and following what he believed to be the teach- ■■" Ibid., pp. 197, 199. -is Ibid., p. 201. *^ ' John Knox and the Church of England : His work in her pulpit and his influence upon her liturgj', articles, and parties. A Monograph founded upon several important papers of Knox never before published.' By Peter Lorimer, D.D. London: 1875. i KNOX INNOVATING AT BERWICK AND NEWCASTLE. 71 ing of Christ and the practice of His apostles. Notably was this so in the case of one particular. In the directions for the ol)servance of " The Supper of the Lorde and the Holy Communion, commonly called the Masse," at a certain stage of the service the rubric of the Anglican Prayer-book re- quired the priest to turn toward those coming to the ordi- nance, and address to them an invitation to " draw near and take this holy sacrament to their comfort, make their humble confession to Almighty God, and to His holy Church here gathered together in His name, meekly kneeling upon their hiecs." The general confession was then to be made " in the name of all those that are minded to receive the Holy Communion, either by one of them, or else by one of the ministers, or by the priest himself, all kneeling humhly upon their knees." After the priest had repeated " comfortable words " from Scripture, he was to turn " to C4od's board, kneel down, and say, in the name of all them that shall receive the Communion," a prayer, beginning with, " We do not pre- sume to come to this Thy table (0 merciful Lord) trusting in our own righteousness, but in Thy manifold and great mercies." Xow, in the estimate of the northern preaclier, kneeling, as what he termed " a table gesture," was neither Scriptural nor convenient : it tended to foster superstitious notions concern- ing the elements ; and it had for support only " the statute of that Eoman Antichrist, whom Christ Jesus shall confound." He accordingly substituted for kneeling the posture of sitting, an innovation upon Anglican usage with which his congrega- tion did not refuse to comply, but " with all reverence and thanksgiving unto God for His truth," confirmed with their gestures and confession." ^'^ After a two years' ministry in Berwick, Knox was, in the summer of 1551, transferred to Newcastle, where he re- mained till the spring of 1553. In this town, where during ^" Ldrimer, itt sup., p. 261. 72 RITUAL REVISION. his earlier English ministry he had given his confession why he affirmed the Mass to be idolatry before an influential assemblage of the Council of the North in the great church of St Nicolas, Knox conducted public worship and dispensed the sacraments — not in harmony with the direction of the 1549 Prayer-book of Edward VI., but according to his con- victions of what was Scriptural. Our warrant for this state- ment is a writing of the reformer, unknown to his biographer, but now accessible to all in the edition of his collected works.^^ It takes the form of an epistle to the inhabitants of Newcastle and Berwick, in the course of which the brethren of these towns are reminded of their former profession of subjection to Christ " by" receiving the sacraments not as man had appointed, but as Christ had instituted them ; " also, how often they had taken part in the administration of baptism and the Lord's Supper, " prepared, used, and ministered in all simplicity, not as man had devised, neither as the king's proceedings did allow, but as Christ Jesus did institute and Saint Paul did practise." ^- Appointed one of King Edward's chaplains in ordinary during his Newcastle ministry, Knox was in a position to bring his reforming zeal to bear upon the improvement of public worship as then conducted in England, and of this he was not slow to avail himself. When, in his capacity of royal chaplain, he visited Windsor, and preached before the youthful king, surrounded by courtiers, prelates, and coun- sellors, he selected for his subject the right attitude in the observance of the Lord's Supper, creating no small excite- ment among his hearers by the vehemency with whicli he inveighed against kneeling.^^ ^1 "An Epistle to the inhabitants of Newcastle and Berwick," M.D.Lvni. — Knox's 'Works,' vol. v. pjD. 475-494. The Epistle ends thus touchingly : " The dayes are so wicked, that I dare make special commendations to no man. Your Brother with troubled hart, John Knox." ^^ "Epistle." ut sup., pp. 477, 478, 480. ^^ John Utenhovius, writing to Henry Bullinger from London on October MEMORIAL AGAINST KNEELING AT THE LORD'S SUrrER. 73 Thereafter, along with an En^ilish rector and the Provost of Eton College, the Scottish chaplain gave in to the I'rivy Council, in 1552, a ]Memorial or " Confession " directed against what formed the 38th Article of Eeligion in Cran- iner's original draft, according to which the Book of Common Prayer was affirmed to be " holy, godly, and not only by Cod's Scriptures probable in every rite and ceremony, but also ^?^ no point repugnant thereto, as well concerning com- mon prayers and ministration of the sacraments, as the ordering and admission of priests, deacons, bishops, and archbishops." ^* To that statement Knox and his fellow- memorialists refused to subscribe so long as kneeling was enjoined in the administering and receiving of the Lord's Supper, that posture, in their judgment, edifying no man, but offering " occasion of slander and offence to many." ^^ In the end of the day tlie rector, the provost, and the chaplain succeeded in effecting a rubric modification of the English Service-book. 12, 1552, gives his coi-respomlent the following piece of ecclesiastical news : " Some disputes have arisen within these few clays among the bishops, in consequence of a sermon of a pious preacher, chaplain to the Duke of North- umberland, preached by him before the King and Council, in which he in- veighed with great freedom against kneeling at the Lord's Supper, which is still retained here by the English. This good man, however, a Scotsman hy nation, has so wrought upon the minds of many persons, that we may hope some good to the Church will at length arise from it." — 'Grig. Letters rela- tive to the Eng. Reformation.' Parker Society. The Second Portion, Let. cclxxiii. p]i. 591, 592. Dr H. Robinson, editor of the Letters, states in a footnote, " The preacher referred to was probably Knox." His difiSculties connected with the mention of the Duke of Northumberland and the date is satisfactorily removed h-y Prof. Lorimer, ut sup., chaj). iii. p. 99. °* A copy of the Articles in Latin, with the autographs of the six Edwai'diau chaplains, is preserved in H.M. State Paper Office (Calendar, Domestic Series, 1547-1580, p. 5, No. 34). A facsimile of the signatures, that of Knox being the last, is given by Dr Laing in Knox's ' Works,' vol. vi., Pref., p. xxx. •''•' ' Memorial or Confession to the Privy Council of Edward VI., 1552.' Lorimer's ' John Knox and the Church of England.' Part Second, vol. ii. pp. 267-274. In his elaborate Note appended to the document, which does not bear the names of those who drew it up. Professor Lorimer gives conclusive reasons for attributing the jiaper to Knox. 74 EITUAL EEYISION. The First Prayer-book of Edward, although it aimed at preserving " the godly and decent order of the ancient fathers," and contained material drawn partly from the ancient liturgies of the Western Church, partly from the labours of Melanchthon and Bucer, was not satisfactory to any party. ISTo sooner did it appear than a revision was called for. The matter was discussed both in Parliament and in Convocation, and a Commission, with Archbishop Cranmer for president, was appointed to draw up a new book. Questions about the lawfulness of clerical vestments, the observance of holy days, and the nature of the sacramental elements in the Lord's Supper being raised, the process of revision went slowly on. It was toward the close of 1551 before the Commission completed their labours. On the 23d of January 1552 the amended book was laid before Parlia- ment and Convocation ; and in April a bill for the uniformity of divine service, with the revised Prayer - book annexed, was brouglit into both Houses of Parliament, and an order issued that the new Service-book be used throughout the kingdom from the Feast of All Saints following — that is, from the 1st of November. The printers were busy working off impressions, some of which had actually reached the publishers, when an order was issued by the Privy Council, bearing date 26th Sep- tember, staying further progress, and prohibiting any of the Company of Stationers from sending abroad copies in their keeping " until certain faults therein be corrected." ^^ On ^^ " A letter to Grafton, the printer, to stay in any wise from uttering any of the books of the new Service, and if he have distributed any of them among his company [of Stationers], that then he give strait commandment to every one of them not to put any of them abroad until certain faults therein be corrected." — ' Register of the Privy Council,' 26th or 27th Sept. 1552. Extracted by Strype, ' Memorials, Edward VI.,' and reproduced by Professor Lorimer, ut siq}., ]). 109; also by Rev. T. W. Perry in 'Some Historical Considerations relating to the Declaration on Kneeling.' London : 1863. P. 35. Mr Perry's is a masterly piece of historical writing, which suffers sadly from defective arrangement of matter and heaviness of style. A post- PRINTING OF REVISED PRAYER-BOOK ARRESTED. 75 the 27tli of October — only four days Ijefore the new I'rayer- book was to come into use — an important decision was reached, and recorded in the Eegister of Council, in these terms : " A letter to the Lord Chancellor, to cause to be joined unto the Book of Common Prayer, lately set forth, a certain declaration signed by the King's Majesty, and sent unto his Lordship, touching the kneeling at the receiving of the Communion." ''' From two memoranda of Secretary Cecil ^^ which have recently been brought to light, it is evident this celeljrated document was drawn up suhscqiicnt to the Memorial of Knox already referred to being brought before the Council, and after the question of kneeling or sitting at the receiving of the Eucharist had been debated at a meeting held for that purpose. At this meeting Archbishop Cranmer contended for the rubric his committee had inserted in the Communion scrii^t (No. 2) of some 366 \>\y. forms the bulk of the volume, which is in the form of a letter to Dr Terrot, then Bishop of Edinburgh and Primus. ■'~ Burnet's 'Hist. Reformation,' Part iii. bk. 4. Also Lorimer, vt sup., p. 119 ; and Perry, i(t sup., p. 3.5. •^^ 1st, the following brief entry : " ilr Knocks — b. of Cat''' | ye book in y' [or y^] B. of Durh'". Memoranda of matters to be brought before the Council." — October 20, 1552. State Paper Office, " Domestic," Edward VI., vol. xv. No. 20. Given by Perry, ut sup., p. 96, and Lorimer, ut sup., p. 106. "The juxtaposition of Knox and Cranmer, and the mention^ of the booh, though separated fi-om their names, I cannot but conjecture to be notes touching this dispute on kneeling which was settled at the Council of Oct. 27th by ordering tlie Declaration. . . . The former part of the Note looks very much indeed like an allusion to Knox's alleged complaint of the Rubric on Kneeling and the Archbishop's defence of it." — Perry, ut sup., p. 96. Professor Lorimer agrees with Mr Perry in his conjecture. In his judgment the latter part of the memorandum " refers to a proposal to introduce the new Book of Common Prayer into the diocese of Durham, where no Reformed Prayer-book had ever been as yet used." — Lorimer, \it supt., ]). 107, n. 2d, For the meeting on the 20th October there occurs the following entry : "A Brief of the Dispute at Windsoi-, for the King." "This 'Dispute at Windsor ' was, no doubt, the same ' dispute among the Bishops ' to which I'tenhovius refers as occasioned by Knox's sermon at Court. Apparently it had not taken place in the presence of the king, l>ut he had heard of it, and had exjiressed his pleasure tliat a ' Brief ' of the arguments used on both sides should be drawn up fm- his perusal." — Loi'imei-, nt sup., p. 122. 76 KITUAL REVISION. office of their revised Prayer-book, requiring the minister, having first received the Communion in both kinds, to " deliver it to other ministers, if any be there present (that they may help the chief minister), and after to the people in their hands kneding ; " while Knox argued for the sitting posture as the proper table gesture. The decision of the Council was of the nature of a com- promise. The rubric they allowed to stand as drawn by Cranmer; but the declaration was to be added, explaining what the kneeling of the communicants was meant to signify, and what it was not intended to imply. " Whereas it is ordained in the Book of Common Prayer " — so runs the ruling paragraph — " in the administration of the Lord's Supper, that the communicants kneeling should receive the Holy Communion ; which thing being well meant, for a signification of the humble and grateful acknowledging of the benefits of Christ, given unto the worthy receiver, and to avoid the profanation and disorder, Avhich about the holy Communion might else ensue : lest yet the same kneeling might be thought or taken otherwise, we do declare that it is not meant thereby, that any adoration is done, or ought to be done, either unto tlie sacramental bread or wine there bodily received, or unto any real and essential presence there being of Christ's natural flesh and Ijlood." ^'^ After the labours of the Piev. T. W. Perry in his exhaustive work, ' Some Historical Considerations relating to the Declar- ation of Kneeling,' and of the Ptev. Dr Lorimer in his valuable monograph, ' John Knox and the Church of England,' only ■'^ The Declaration in its entirety is given by Ketley in ' The Two Liturgies,' &c., lU sup., p. 283 ; and in the original spelling in ' The Second Prayer-Book of Edward VI., 1552,' ut sup., p. 172. Mr Perry prints the form of Declara- tion as it appeared in the revised Book of Charles II., 1662 — that presently used by the Church of England, alongside of the form of 1552. In the judg- ment of this competent authority both forms were intended " to disclaim for the Church of England a belief in any visible or invisible presence of Christ's natural body and blood locally in the Eucharist, . . . while a definite corporal act was prescribed, adequate to express the highest belief, and that the act of kneeling." — Ut sup., pp. 3, 4. KNOX KESPONSIBLE FOR THE ''BLACK RUBIUG." 77 culpable ignorance or pitiable prejudice can keep any writer, whether Episcopal or Presbyterian, from recognising the fact that for that declaration Knox is mainly responsible. No one wlio lias studied these two books and the documents upon which tliey are founded will now question the correct- ness of the application to tlie Scottish Eeformer of Dr Wes- ton's description of that " runnagate Scot " who " did take away the adoration or worshipping of Christ in the sacra- ment, by whose procurement that heresy was put into the last communion book." ^'^ How obnoxious that declaration has always been to Koman- ists without and Ritualists within the Church of England is proved by the nickname " Black Rubric " which they have applied to it, as also by the insistent efforts that have been made to secure its ejection from the Anglican Prayer-book.*^^ For the present the Knoxian Declaration holds the place first given it in 1552, to be brought forward and debated as often as cases of ritualistic innovation distract the Anglican Church. "Whether, in some future revision, it will be retained or dropped must be determined by the ascendancy at the time of revisal of the Romanising or the Puritan party ; but what- ever may be its fate, no Scotsman intelligently acquainted with the records of past revision will ever read it without a feeling of pardonable pride when he reflects that the New- castle preacher and royal chaplain of Edward so imj)rinted his *^' Foxe, 'Acts and Munuments,' a.d. 1554 ; Mary (vol. ii. p. 1072, ed. 1S75). M'Crie's ' Life of Knox,' Period iii. (p. 44, Un. ed.) Perry, ut siq)., pp. 98, 99. Strype, Townsend, editor of Foxe, Dr Wordsworth in ' Eecles. Biog.,' and the editor of Latimer's ' Remains ' for the Parker Society, have all questioned the application of Weston's statement to Knox ; but Mr Perry has conclu- sively di.sposed of all that has been advanced to deprive the Scottish chaplain of such honour as is involved in being vituperated by the Oxford Prolocutor. —Ui siij^., pp. 99-102. ^^ When the Elizabethan Prayer-book of 1559 was compiled, the Declaration was dropped in order to conciliate tlie Romanists of that reign ; but when the latest authorised revision took place in 1662, Charles IL being on the throne, it was restored, with some verbal alterations, the policy of comprehension being then pursued towards the Puritans. 78 RITUAL EEVISION. stamp upon the Anglican liturgy that of this particular rubric one may say — -John Knox, his mark. With the death of Edward in 1553, and the outbreak of persecution which signalised the accession of his sister Mary to the throne of England, the progress of ritual revision takes us to Frankfort-on-the-]\rain, an imperial city of Germany which opened its gates to Protestants from all quarters. Thither, in the first place, removed a little colony of Flendsh weavers, who had established themselves at Glastonbury under the ecclesiastical superintendence of Valerandus Pollanus.*'- They were kindly received by the authorities of Frankfort, and were granted the use of the Church of the Weissen Danun, White Ladies, as a place of worship.*^^ The weavers of Glastonbury were, at no long interval, fol- lowed by a company of Englishmen and Scotsmen, with William Whittingham, an Oxford scholar of repute,*^* at their head. A friendly alliance was entered into between the French and the British exiles, and an application was made in favour of the latter for permission to hold their services in the same building as the former. This petition was favourably received and cordially granted, the only condition attached being that the English should pledge themselves not ^- " Xor must the Church at Glastonbury in Somersetshire be unmentioned, with Valerandus Pollanus, their preacher and superintendent. These con- sisted chiefly of weavers of worsted." — Strype, ' Eccles. Mem.,' vol. ii. pt. i. p. 375. Oxford ed., 1822. ''^ " Frankfort, April 20, the day after the opening of the Church of the White Virgins to us, when Master Valerandus Pollanus, the husband of my relative, and the chief pastor of the church, preached a sermon and baptised his young son in the Rhine." — Anne Hooper to Henry Bullinger : ' Orig. Lets.,' &c., ut sup., Let. H. p. 111. As the Weissen Frauen Kirche the church still stands. " Maister Valaren Pullan," as he is styled in the Frankfort Troubles, was probably a native of Brabant, and became minister of the Church of the Strangers, consisting chiefly of French and Walloons, wlio fled from Strasburg by reason of the Interim, in 1550. ^^ An authentic sketch of the life of William Whittingham is preserved among the MSS. of Anthony A. Wood in the Bodleian, Oxford. Having made a transcript of it with his own hand, Professor Lorimer inserted it as an appendix in his ' John Knox and the Church of England,' pp. 303-317. SERVICE-BOOK OF FRA.NKFORT REFUGEES. 79 to deviate from the teaching and practice of the French brethren, but subscribe a form of worship and a formula of faith which the Continental brethren were then preparing."^ The best evidence that this condition had been complied with was furnished in September 1554, when there issued from the printing-press at Frankfort a small octavo volume of 92 pages, containing the liturgy of the Congregation of the Strangers there, and a summary of the doctrines they held. The doctrinal summary has two sets of signatures, one con- taining those of the pastor and elders of the French Church, the other exhibiting the signatures of refugees from Great Britain on account of the Gospel, who subscribed in name of the entire congregation. The first signature in the Galilean column of five names is that of Pollanus, pastor; tlie first in the British, containing an equal number of names, is that of John ]\Iacbray, a Scotsman from Galloway ; while the last is that of the English scholar, William Whittingham.*^*^ In respect of arrangement and general contents, the Frank- fort Service-book resembles an earlier one which Pastor Pollanus had drawn up in Latin in order that the English king and his Council might know what forms the Strasburg strangers proposed to follow at Glastonbury.*''' In the brief ^•^ " And the 14 daie oft" the same nionethe [Julj' 1554] yt was graunted that they sliuhle liaue libertie to jireache aud minister the sacraments, in that churche which the Frenche men had, the Frenche one daie and the Englishe an other daie and upon the Sundaie, to chuse also them houres as they coulde agree amoiige them selues, but yt was with this commandement, that the Englishe shulde not discent from the French men in doctrine, or ceremonyes, least they shulde thereby minister occasion off offence, and willed fai-ther, that before they entred their churche, they shulde approue and subscribe the same confession off faith, that the Frenche men had then presented and abowte to put in printe." — ' A Brief Discourse of the Troubles begun at Frankfort, in the year 1554.' Petheram's Reprint of Black-Letter edition of 1575, p. vi. 66 " Professio Fidei Catholicte. Subsci-ipserunt Pastor et Seniores Ecclesise Gall. qu;e est Francofordise. — Valekandus Polljvnus, Pastor Ecclcsice, &c. Subscribunt etiam Angli ob Euangelium profugi, totius Ecclesiae suae nomine. — Joannes Makbr.eus, M.; Guil. Vuhytinghamus." — Knox's 'Works,' vol. iv. p. [145]. *'' The earlier liturgy bears the following title : ' Liturgia Sacra, seu Ritus 80 RITUAL REVISION. Frankfort directory guidance is given for the conducting of three services on the Lord's Day, the afternoon one being devoted to the catechising of children ; for the administration of the Lord's Supper on the first Sabbath of each month ; for daily services ; for a service of repentance ; for the adminis- tration of baptism ; for blessing wedlock ; for the visitation of the sick and the administration to such of the Commun- ion; for burial ; for the ordination of office-bearers; and for the administration of discipline and infliction of excommuni- cation. One feature of the Continental Service-book may be noticed in passing, being essentially Presbyterian in its character. "While forms of prayer to God and addresses to- the congregation are provided, it is made abundantly plain that there was no intention on the part of the compilers to restrict those officiating to such forms, there being now and again statements to the effect that at certain stages of the service the minister is at liberty to follow his own course,, and allow himself to be guided by the impulse of his own spirit.*''^ Having thus proved their community of view with their Continental brethren in exile by subscribing their articles of faith, the British refugees at Frankfort turned their attention to the manner in which divine service should be conducted Ministerii in Ecclesia Peregrinorum iirofugurum i^ropter Evangelium Christi Argentina, 1551. Adjecta est ad fiueni brevis Apologia i;)ro hac Liturgia, per Valerandum Pollanum Flandruin.' Londini, 1551. A summary of this Argentine or Strasburg Service-book is given by Strype, ' Eccles. Mem.,' vol. ii. part i. pp. 379-381. The title of the later or Frankfort book runs thus : ' Liturgia Sacra, seu Ritus Ministerij in Ecclesia peregrinorum Francofordiic ad Mocnum. Addita est Summa Doctrine seu Fidei Professio eiusdem Ecclesifc' Francofordipe, 1554. A copy of this Liturgy is preserved in the University Library of Glasgow, which I have had an oj^portunity of examining and collating with the Strasburg one as condensed by Strype. ^^ E.rj. : " Huic addit exiiortationem de Coenaj usu suo arhitrio." " Minister, post decantatum psalmum, pergit in suo libro quemcunq. sumpserit exponen- dum." " Concludit oratione quam pro suo arhitrio dicit, commendans Deo omnes status." "Post horas spatium concludit precatione aliqua breviare prout animus (iilerit." MODIFIED ANGLICAN PRAYER-BOOK AT FRANKFORT. 81 ill their own language as often as they met for public worship in the Church of the White Ladies. The Second English Prayer-book of 1552 was carefully examined, and it was resolved to make use of it, with the following important modifications : audible responses and the Litany to be omitted ; the use of clerical vestments to be dispensed with ; the con- fession to give place to another, " framed according to the state and time " ; the people to have an opportunity, after the confession, of singing a psalm in metre to a plain tune, according to the usage of the French, Dutch, Italian, Spanish, and Scottish Eeformed Churches ; the minister to pray for the assistance of the Holy Spirit before giving his sermon ; a general prayer to come after sermon, concluding with the Lord's Prayer and a rehearsal of the articles of belief ; the minister to conclude the service with a particular form of blessing, " or some other of like effect." In the administration of the sacraments several omissions were agreed upon, the matters omitted being regarded as " superstitious and superfluous." ^^ ®^ " They consulted amonge themselves what Order of Service they shulde use (for they were not so strictly bownde, as was tolde them, to the Cei-e- mouies of the Freuche, by the Magistrats, but that if the one allowed of the other it was sufficient). At length, the English Order was perused, and this by generall consente was concluded that the answeringe allowde after the Minister shulde not be used ; the Litanye, Surplice, and many other thinges also omitted. ... It was farther agreed upon that the minister (in place of the P^nglishe Confession) shulde use an other, bothe of moreeffecte, and also framed accordinge to the state and time. And the same ended, the people to singe a psalm in meetre, in a plain tune, as was and is accustomed in the Frenche, Dutche, Italian, Spauishe, and Skottishe churches ; that done, the minister to praye for the assistance of God's Holie Spirite, and so to proceade to the sermon. After the sermon a generall praier for all estates, and for our countrie of Englande, was also devised ; at th'ende of whiche praier was joined the Lord's Praier, and a rehersall of th' articles of oure belief ; which ended, the people to singe ane other psalme, as afore. Then the minister jironouncinge this blessinge, 'The peace of God,' &e., or some other of like effccte, the people to departe. And as touchinge the ministration of the Sacraments, sundrie things were also, by common consente, omitted as super- stitious and superfluous." — "The Troubles at Frankfu»t," Knox's 'Works,' vol. iv. pp. 10, 11. Petlieram's 'Reprint,' pp. vi, vii. r 82 RITUAL REVISION. With a service-book thus adjusted to their satisfaction, and a staff of office-bearers elected 'pro tempore, the British exiles proceeded to call three ministers to become colleague pastors of the Church of the Strangers at Frankfort. One of these was John Knox, who, having reluctantly quitted Eng- land on the breaking out of the ]Marian persecutions, had found a home, and favourable opportunities for prosecuting his linguistic studies, at Geneva, the town of John Calvin. When the Scottish exile, complying with the invitation ad- dressed to him,'*^ arrived at Frankfort in October 1554, he found that the brethren in Zurich, Strasburg, and other Con- tinental places of refuge, when informed of the changes made at Frankfort upon the English Prayer-book, had expressed displeasure, and opposition to any other service being em- ployed than was provided for in the book of 1552 just as it stood. As a measure of conciliation and compromise, it was proposed that the Order of the Geneva Church, an English translation of which was in the possession of some of the congregation,''^ might be used ; but to that arrangement Knox refused to give his consent.''- With a view to obtaining an opinion that would have weight with all parties regarding the merits or demerits of the English Book of Common Prayer, a summary of its contents was drawn up in Latin by Whittingham, Knox, and others, and forwarded to Calvin, with a request for his judgment and advice. The answer of the Genevan reformer, "*' Ibid., Knox's 'Works,' pp. 12, 13; Petlieram, jip. xix, xx. Also, 'Life of Knox,' Note Y. (p. 34.3, Un. ed.) ''1 This was Calvin's Order, drawn up for the congregation of which he was minister. An English translation by "Maister William Huyck " had been " imprinted at London by Edward Whitchurehe," 1550. ''- But Maister Knox beinge spoken unto, aswell to put that Order in practise as to minister the Communion, refused to do either the one or the other ; affirminge, that for manie considerations he coulde not consente that the same Order shulde be practised, till the lerned men of Strausbrough, Zurik, Emden, &c., were made privy." — Ibid., Knox, pja. 20, 21; Petlieram, p. xxvii. ATTEMPTS TO PROVIDE A LITURGY OF COMPROMISE. 83 containing the oft-quoted phrase applied to some of the con- tents of the book in question — " fooHsh things that might be tolerated," '^ — has probably done more to secure for its writer the ill-will of most Church of England authors than his alleged res]:)onsibility for the burning of Servetus.'* Subsequent to the receiving of Calvin's unfavourable judg- ment two attempts were made to come to an agreement, and provide an order in following which all might unite. First, Five of the exiles, including the English martyrolo- gist John Foxe, Whittingham, and Knox, drew out an order which, although favourably regarded by many, evoked the strenuous opposition of those who favoured the Anglican liturgy without modification."^ Second, Four brethren, Knox and Whittingham being of the number, met in conference, and agreed upon another order, in which they partly followed the English Prayer-book and partly introduced fresh mate- rial.'''^ To this draft, existing only in MS., the title of " the "■' " Multas tolerabiles ineptias." '■* The " platt of the whole Booke of England " sent to " Maister Calvin of Geneva " is given in English in " The Troubles at Frankfurt," under the heading, " A Description of the Liturgie or Booke of Service that is used in Englande." — Knox's 'Works,' vol. iv. pp. 22-27; Petheram's 'Reprint,' pp. xxviii-xxxiii. Calvin's answer in the original Latin is given in his ' Works ' (' Epistoke et Responsa'), p. 98, also in Knox's ' Works,' vol. iv. pp. 51-53. An English rendering of " The Answere and Judgemente of that famous and ex- cellent lerned man, Maister John Calvin," is given in ' Tlie Troubles at Frankfurt,' Knox, ut sup., pp. 28-30 ; Petheram, pp. xxxiiii-xxxvi. '•' "... after louge debatinge to and fro, it was concluded, that Maister Knox, M. Whittingham, M. Gilby, M. Foxe, and M. J. Cole, shulde drawe forthe some Order meete for their state and time ; whiche thinge was by them accomplished and offred to the congregation (beinge the same Order of Geneva which is nowe in print). This Order was verie well liked of many ; but suche as were bent to the Booke of England coulde not abide it." — ' The Troubles,' &c., Knox, ^lt sup., p. 30 ; Petheram, pp. xxxvi, xxxvii. '^ " In th'ende an other waie was taken by the congregation, whiche was, that Maister Knox and M. Whittingham, M. Parry and JIaister Leaver, shulde devise some Order, yf it might be, to ende all strife and contention. Theis 4 assembled for that purpos. . . . "Wherupon after some conference, an Order was agreed upon ; some parte taken forthe of the Englishe Booke and other things put to, as the state of that Churche required." — Ibid., Knox, ut sup., p. 31; Petheram, p. xxxvii. 84 EITUAL REVISION". Liturgy of Compromise " has been given by a modern authority."'' When hiicl before the English congregation this new draft met with general acceptance ; and it was agreed that a .trial be made of it from the 6th of February to the last day of April 1555, provision being made in the agreement that in the event of difference of opinion arising regarding any portion of the drafted liturgy, the matter in dispute should be referred for arbitration to five Continental divines, of whom John Calvin was to be 'priinusP The troubles of Frankfort, however, were far from ended. For in March of the same year there arrived from England Dr Eichard Cox and some of his countrymen. During the first service at which they were present the new-comers gave audible responses to the prayers, and persisted in doing so, although remonstrated with by the elders present. This violation of order was followed up by a still more flagrant departure from the agreement. For, on the following " Sunday," as Knox designates the day, one of the Cox party obtained early and surreptitious entrance to the pulpit, from which he read the English Litany, beginning with, " 0 God the Father of heaven, have mercy upon us miserable sinners," those acting in concert with him uttering such re- '''' For detailed information regarding, and extracts from, this Frankfort Book of Common Order, see Appendix E of this volume. ''^ " And this Order, by the consent of the congregation, shulde coutinewe to the laste of Aprill folowing. [This order was taken the 6. of Feb. — Marg. note.] Yff anie contention shulde arise in the meane time, the matter then to be determined by theis five notable learned men — to wete, Calvin, Musculus, Martyr, BuUinger, and Vyret. This agremente was put in vnytinge. To that all gave their consentes. This dale was joyfull. Thankes were geven to God, brotherly reconciliation folowed, great familiaritie used, the former grudges seemed to be forgotten. Yea, the holie Communion was, uppon this happie agremente, also ministred." — " The Troubles," &c., Knox, iU sup., pp. 31, 32 ; Petheram, pp. xxxvii, xxxviii. " Valaran also, the Frenche Minister, was partaker off this Communion, and a furtherer off concorde and a wittnes of theis thinges. "— " The SuppHcation to the Senate," ibid., Knox. p. 36; Petheram, p. xli. JUDGMENT OF KNOX EEGAEDING ENGLISH PEAYER-BOOK. 85 sponses as " Spare us, good Lord ; good Lord, deliver us ; Christ, have mercy upon us ; Lord, have mercy upon us." To such a violation of order and good faith John Knox was the last man tamely to submit. That very afternoon it fell to him, in order of rotation, to conduct the service. In the course of it he preached a sermon the like of which, it is safe to affirm, Dr Cox and his supporters had never before heard in respect of outspokenness and impassioned warmth. At one stage of his discourse the preacher stated liow he now stood in relation to the English Prayer-book. He frankly acknowledged that at one time he thought well of it in general, although he was from the first opposed to the adop- tion of all its details. But a larger experience, deeper con- sideration of the evils resulting from its unrestricted use, and a wider view of present requirements, had all led him to modify his earlier judgment; and he now stood forth to tell his hearers plainly that nothing ought to be obtruded upon a Christian congregation without Scripture warrant, and that, as the English Prayer-book contained things which in his judgment were superstitious, impure, unclean, and imperfect, he for one would never consent to its being the service-book of the Frankfort exiles."''^ In conclusion, he warned his hearers of the guilt incurred by those who wil- '■' " . . . coming to my course the same clay after noon to preach, . . . at the time appointed for the sermon by occasion, I began to declare what opinion I had sometime of the English Book, what moved me from the same, and what was my opinion presently. I had once a good opinion of the Book, I said, but even so, I added, like as yours is at the present, that it ought not in all points to be observed. Then afterwards, by the stubborness of such men as would defend the whole, and the deeper consideration of the damnage that might ensue thereof, and by contemplation of our estate, which retiuireth all our d(jiiigs to have open defence of the Scriptures, (especially in God's ser- vice to admit nothing without God's Word,) I was driven away from my first opinion ; and now do I tell them plainly, that as by God's book they must seek our warrant for Religion, and without that we must thrust nothing into any Christian congregation ; so because I do find in the English Book (which they so highly praise and advance above all other Orders) things superstitious, impure, unclean, and unperfect (the which I offered myself ready to prove, and to justify before any man), therefore I could not agree that their Book 86 RITUAL REVISION. fully make a breach in the order of a Church of which Christ is the alone Head, adding significantly that, although they and he had changed countries, God had not changed His nature. At this stage of the Frankfort troubles, when party feeling ran so high that a breach of the peace was apprehended, a friendly Senator interposed with a proposal that a conference be held in the house of the French pastor, the two English parties being represented by Cox and Lever on the one side, Whittingham and Knox on the other. For two days these men laboured at the task of compiling offices of worship which all might unite in. On the third day, when engaged upon the order for Morning Prayer, the liturgical party insisted that after the general Confession, the Absolution, and the Lord's Prayer, there should come the following, as in the English Prayer-book: " Then likeivisc he shall say: 0 Lord, open Thou our lips. Ansiocr : And our mouth shall show forth Thy praise. Priest: 0 God, make speed to save us. Ansiver : 0 Lord, make haste to help us." The Puritan party opposed the insertion of the versicles, on the ground that they were unscriptural and Popish. " Then," in the words of Knox, " began the tragedy, and our consulta- tion ended." ^^ Thereafter the intervention of the Frankfort Senate was sought by the perplexed congregation, and was extended to them in a somewhat peremptory fashion ; for at a congrega- tional meeting held on the 22d of March 1555, the friendly civil magistrate already mentioned put in an appearance, and informed all present that unless they at once agreed to con- form to the French exiles both in doctrine and worship, the British refugees would be expelled alike from church and city. should be of our Church received." — " A Narrative by Knox of the Proceed- ings of the EngHsh Congregation at Frankfurt," in Mai'ch m.d.lv., 'Works,' vol. iv. p]^. 41-49. ^^ Ibid., p. 46: "Who was most blameworthy," adds Knox, "God shall judge ; and if I spake fervently, to God was I fervent." FOEMATION OF ENGLISH CONGREGATION AT GENEVA. 87 This summary action of the authorities had a quieting effect upon the Cox party, who professed to be quite satisfied with the Gallican liturgy as " both good and godly " in all points ; and for one day at least that order was followed by the congregation of English strangers worshipping in the Church of the White Ladies in the German city. Although even then the troubles were not ended, it is by no means needful that we trace their subsequent stages. It will suffice to state that in consequence of a move on the part of his opponents as discreditable as it was adroit, bringing him under the suspicions of the municipal au- thorities, Knox felt himself compelled to retire from his pastorate, after a stay in Frankfort of only five months' duration.*^^ Upon his return to Geneva he received a cordial welcome from " most courteous Calvin," as an English statesman styled the Swiss reformer ; ^- and, in concert with \Yhittiugham, Gilby, Goodman, Keith, and others, he speedily organised an English congregation, which in a short time numbered some hundred members. The temporary absence of Knox on a visit to his native country did not arrest, nor even retard, tlie work of ecclesias- tical construction and equipment ; for when, in the autumn of 1556, he returned to Geneva, in response to a call to l)ecome one of the pastors of the newly formed congregation, he found them in possession of a Service-book, purporting on the title-page to be " The forme of prayers and ministration of the Sacraments, &c., used in the English Congregation at *^ The movement of the Cox faction to get rid of Knox, and the seijuel to the history of the English congregation at Frankfort, are recorded in the "Hist, of the Troubles," &c. ; also by Dr M'Crie, 'Life of Knox' (Period iv. jip. 74-78, L^n. ed.), who, in a footnote (p. 76), exposes the inaccuracy and partiality of Strype's narrative of the afliiir. **- Sir Richard Morison, writing from Strasburg to Calvin, April 17, 1555. 'Grig. Lets.,' Parker Soc, Let. Ixxiv., pp. 147, 148. The original is preserved at Geneva. 88 EITUAL REVISION. Geneva ; and approved by the famous and godly learned man John Calvin." and bearing, at the end of the preface addressed " To our Brethren in England and elsewhere, which love Jesus Christ unfeignedly," to be issued " At Geneva, the 10th of February, Anno 1556." ®"^ This book of forms and rubrics is no other than the Service- book drawn up by five brethren at the beginning of the Frankfort disputes, but which, owing to the opposition of the liturgical party, never came to be used in the congregation of the strangers ; for, when describing that book, the author of the ' Brief Discourse ' makes the important parenthetical state- ment, " Being the same Order of Geneva which is now in print." ^* It will be remembered, however, that at a still earlier sta^e of the Frankfort complication the English congregation had agreed to adopt an Order of Geneva already existing in an English form, and some copies of which had found their way to Frankfort, but which Knox refused to employ. This was the Order drawn up by Calvin, and used in the church of which he was the minister.^^ The Order of Geneva is thus earlier in date of composition than, and quite distinct from, " The Form of Prayers used in the English Church at Geneva," although it stood in a close relation to what succeeded it in point of time. In view, however, of the influence which the great Swiss reformer exercised no less upon the worship than upon the theology of Presbyterian Scotland, as also of the aftinity between it and the Form of Prayers used in the English congregation at Geneva, Calvin's Order may fitly find a place in any treatment of English and Continental ritual revision. During his banishment from Geneva and his brief pastorate at Strasburg, Calvin prepared a Directory for Divine Service *^ Knox's 'Works,' vol. iv. pp. 141-214. The preface or address to "Our Brethren in England " is attributed to Whittingham. s-* See note 75, p. 83. «= ggg ^^^^^ -j^^ -2, p. 82. FOEMS OF PRAYER PREPARED ^BY CALVIN. 89 written in the French language. We have this work sub- stantially reproduced in Latin by his successor at Strasburg in the ' Liturgia Sacra,' published by Valerandus Pollanus in London, owing to circumstances already described. After his return to Geneva in 1541, Calvin drew up for the use of the Church three Catechisms and several Forms of Prayer. Some of these works were in French, others in Latin ; in some cases Catechism and Form were in one volume, and in other cases they were published separately. The earliest of the separate Forms was issued in 1542,*^'' and from it can be gathered what were the distinctive features of the worship rendered by the congregation which had John Calvin for their minister. At the outset there is this general direction bearing on the prayers to be offered at the week-day services : " The minister useth such words in prayer as may seem to him good, suiting his prayer to the occasion, and the matter whereof he treats in preaching." In the first or morning service upon the Lord's Day the following order was followed : (1) The Invocation sentence, " Our help is in the name of the Lord, who made heaven and earth." (2> The Exhortation, " brethren, let each of you present himself before the Lord, with confession of his sins and offences, following in heart my words." (3) The general Confession, beginning with, " 0 Lord God, Eternal and Almighty Father, we acknowledge and confess before Thy holy Majesty that we are miserable sinners, conceived and born in guilt and corruption, prone to evil, unable of our- selves to do any good work." ^" (4) Singing by the congrega- ^^ ' La Forme ties Prieres et Chant/, Ecclesiastiques, avec la Maiiiere cVadministrer les .Sacrameus et cousacrer le mariage selou la coustuuie de L'Eglise ancienne.' m.d.xlii. 'Corpus Reformatorum,' vol. xxxiv. p. 160. Brunsvigase : 1867. ^' " Seigneur Dieu, Pere eternel et tout puissant," &c. A translation of this prayer is given by Bingham in his treatise, ' The French Church's Apology for the Church of England' (Bk. iii. chap. ix. vol. ii. p. 761, f>>l. ed. London : 90 RITUAL REVISION. tion of a psalm. (5) Prayer, the form of which is at the discretion of the minister, but in which he asks of God the grace of His Holy Spirit to the end that His Word may be faithfully expounded to the honour of His name and to the edification of the Church.^^ (6) Praise. (7) The Sermon. (8) " At the close of the sermon, the minister, having made exhortation to prayer, beginneth thus " — then follows a prayer of intercession of considerable length, followed up with an expansion or paraphrase of the Lord's Prayer.^*^ (9) The Benediction, " pronounced at the departure of the people, according as our Lord hath commanded," the particular form specified being the Aaronic Blessing. The directions for the administration of tlie Lord's Supper are characterised by a like simplicity. Upon the day of celebration the minister either devotes his entire discourse to the ordinance, or makes closing reference to it, unfolding what our Lord would say and signify by this mystery, and after what manner He would have us receive it. Then, having prayed and made confession, testifying in name of the people that all wash to live and die in the Christian verity and faith, he calls upon the congregation, with a clear voice, to attend to the words of institution, which he reads from the eleventh of 1st Corinthians, on which he founds an exhortation. In the course of his address he debars all leading scandalous lives, warning such to abstain from approaching the holy table ; and he calls on each intending communicant to 1726) ; also by Rev. C. W. Baii-d in 'A Chaptei- on Liturgie8.' London : 1856. Pp. 35, 36. ^^ In view of such a rubric as the above, one is amazed at the audacity and recklessness of a Bampton lecturer who could assure English hearers that Calviu " equally approved of public forms, and never, like his followers in after- times, dreamed of praying by the Spirit." 'An Attempt to illustrate those Articles of the Ch. of Eng. which the Cab'inists impropei-ly consider as Calvin- istical.' — Bampton Lees, for 1804. By li. Laurence, LL.D. Note 7 on Sermon i., p. 207. ^^ This joaraphrase is omitted in the j^resent liturgj' of Geneva. Mr Baird inserts the Lord's Prayer and the Creed after tlie Intercession, but neither forms a jmrt of "La Forme" in 1542. CALVIN S LETTER TO REGENT SEYMOUR. 91 examine himself with a view to ascertaining whether he is placing his whole trust in God's mercy, and seeking his salvation entirely in Jesus Christ, with a true and earnest purpose to live in harmony and brotherly love with his neighbour. The exhortation ended, the ministers present and officiating distribute the bread and the cuj) to the people, liaving admonished them to come forward with reverence and in good order. A psalm is sung, or a portion of Scripture suitable to the occasion is read. Thanksgiving is then rendered either in a form beginning, " Heavenly Father, we give Thee eternal praise and thanks," or in a similar one. From these specimens of the contents of Calvin's Order of Geneva, it is not difficult to determine what were the prin- ciples of divine service which guided the Genevan reformer in its compilation. As, however, these principles receive striking elucidation from Calvin's printed correspondence, and as his view of the situation of affairs in England and at Frankfort during the period now reviewed can be clearly gathered from the same quarter, we propose to pass in review such of his letters as have a bearing upon the conduct of public worship and the administration of sacraments. In October 1548, Calvin indited a long and elaborate letter to Edward Seymour, Eegent of England during the minority of Edward VI. Because of what is in that letter Calvin has been claimed by such writers as Bingham and Bishop HalP*^ as favouring a fixed and unvarying form of service, he being represented as urging upon the British statesman that every cliurch ought to have a fixed Catechism, a definite Confession of Faith, and a prescribed Form of Prayer. A careful study, however, of the letter in its cnitirety will not be found to "" Bingham, ut su}}., Bk. iii. chap. i. p. 747. Bishop Hall, 'Defence of the Humble lleinonstraiice against the frivolous and false exceptions of yiucctyniiuuis,' 1641, pp. 27, 28. 92 RITUAL EE VISION. bear out that construction of a part of it.^^ For in this com- munication to the Eno-lish Protector, Calvin is dealing with the existing state of matters in Britain. From what he had heard he was led to believe there were two classes of incom- petent pastors in that country. One class consisted of those who could only deliver their sermons when reading from a manuscript ; the other was made up of flighty enthusiasts who went beyond all bounds in spreading their own silly fancies. Any danger arising from this state of matters ought not, in the judgment of the reformer, to be allowed to hinder the Spirit of God from having liberty and free course in those to whom He has given grace for the edifying of the Church. At the same time, it is right and fitting to take steps to oppose the levity of fantastic minds, and shut the door against all eccentricities and novel doctrines. The steps which the sagacious foreign correspondent recommends as fitted to diminish, if not entirely check, the evils arising from an inefficient and flighty ministry are these : The preparing of an explicit summary of the truths which all ought to preach ; a common catechism for the instruction of children and ignorant persons ; a form for public prayers and for the administration of the sacraments. While admitting that, in view of the existing state of matters, it may be well, and even necessary, to bind down pastors and curates to a prescribed form, Calvin is careful to add that, " whatever in the meantime be the arrangement, caution must be observed not to impair the efficacy which ought ever to attend the preaching of the Gosj^el. At an after-stage of his weighty epistle, he enumerates certain corruptions which ought to be cleared away at once — such corruptions as prayers for the dead at the time of the celebration of the Lord's Supper, the "^ The letter in its original Latin form is given in ' Calvini Epistolee et Responsa.' Amst. : 1657. A French copy of it is in the Library of Geneva, vol. 107; and an English translation in 'Letters of John Calvin,' by Dr J. Bonnet. Edin. Vol. ii. Let. ccxxix. p. 168. CALVIN S LETTER TO EDWARD VL 93 chrism in the baptism of infants, and extreme unction admin- istered to the dying. " The spiritual government of the Church," remarks the sagacious adviser of the English duke, " ought to be according to the ordinance of the Word of God. Herein we are not at liberty to yield ujd anything to men, nor to turn aside on either hand in their favour. Indeed there is nought that is more displeasing to God than when we would, in accordance with our own human wisdom, modify or curtail, advance or retreat, otherwise than He would have us." So far, then, as the Somerset letter of 1548 is concerned, it appears that Calvin was no advocate of liturgic forms, but only tolerated them out of a wise regard to the exigencies of the times. One can cordially endorse the statement of a distinguished Irish Presbyterian controversialist, who argues from this very writing of the Genevan reformer that he was " too well acquainted with the Word of God and with the nature of man to imagine that the desires of the Church should throughout all time ascend to heaven in one unalter- ing form of supplication." *'- In the month of January 1551, Calvin wrote to Edward when forwarding to him copies of two of his Commentaries, which he had dedicated to the boy-king of England. The letter to the royal " Sire," who died in his sixteenth year, takes the form of an exhortation to persevere in the work of the reformation in his kingdom, and an enumeration of abuses which ought not to be endured. As specimens of the abuses, he instances "prayer for the souls of the departed, putting forward to God the intercession of saints in our prayers, as also joining them to God in invocation." Distinct from such abuses " are things indifterent which one may allowably tolerate." What these indifferent things are is not stated ; but the toleration of them is thus guarded : " We ^" ' Presbyterianism Defended,' by Ministers of the Synod of Ulster ; Dis- course iv., by Rev. Dr A. P. Goudy, Strabane, p. 231. 94 EITUAL EEVISION. must always carefully insist that simplicity and order be observed in the use of ceremonies, so that the clear light of the Gospel be not obscured by them, as if we were still under the shadows of the law ; and then that there may be nothing- allowed that is not in agreement with and conformity to the order established by the Son of God, and that the whole may serve and be suited to the edification of the Church. For God does not allow His name to be trifled with — mixing up silly frivolities with His holy and sacred ordinances." ^^ In harmony with the strain of these letters sent across seas to the Protector and to the King of England is that of one despatched, four years after the date of the last-named, to the British exiles at Frankfort, to which reference has already been made. In that " answer and judgment of that famous and excellent learned man, Master John Calvin, . . . touching the Book of England after that he had perused the same," there is the same distinction between things that ought to be clean taken away and " tolerable foolish things " — things, that is to say, not having the purity to be desired, but yet "for a season to be tolerated." In the liturgy of England, as it then was in 1555, the writer discerned many of these latter things. As the defects of these things could not be rectified in a day, and as there was no manifest impiety implied in them, they might, for the present, be allowed to stand. It was permissible to make a beginning with such a rudimentary or elementary form ; iDut so doing, the learned, grave, and godly ministers of Christ ought to aim at some- thing higher, and set forth in course of time "something more filed from rust, and purer." The writer cannot under- stand how- persons can take delight in what he styles " the leavings of Popish dregs," Ijut supposes the explanation must be that they "love the things whereunto they are accus- tomed." The book is, in his judgment, " a thing Ijoth trifling "^ Bonnet's 'Letters,' &c., ut sup., vol. ii. pp. 284-288. Also in 'Original Letters,' &c., %it sup., Second Portion, p^x 707-711. CALVIN S ADVICE TO THE FRANKFOKT EXILES. 95 and childish," and the new order contained in it i.s very far from being a change for the better. For both parties in the Church of the Strangers at Frankfort, Calvin has a word of advice. The progressive men of the congregation desirous of attaining to an order in advance of that contained in tlie book submitted to his judgment, he counsels not to be over-exact- ing in their demands upon those whose infirmity will not suffer them to ascend to a higher elevation. The obstructives he advertises that they please not themselves in their foolish- ness, nor, by their forwardness, hinder the progress of sacred edification.^'* Such was the judiciously balanced counsel tendered to his " dearly beloved brethren and servants of Christ," among whom were " the godly and learned men, ^Master John Ivnox and Master William Whittingham," by one who signed him- self, " Your John Calvin." It may lead some to attach value to these sentiments of Calvin if they know in what light the system which bears his stamp and his name is regarded by an Anglican Church- man of learnino- and insight, which give him a right to be heard in such a matter. " Tlie Protestant movement," wrote j\Iark Pattison, " was saved from being sunk in the quick- sands of doctrinal dispute chiefly by the new moral direction given to it in Geneva. . . . Calvinism saved Europe." ^^ *■' See note 74, p. 83. ^^ ' Essays,' vol. ii. p. 31. 96 PERIOD III. THE BOOK OF COMMON OEDER. By the middle of the sixteenth century the Protestant move- ment was ill the ascendant among the nobility and laity of Scotland. The extent and strength of the hold which Eeformation principles had taken are evinced alike by the actions and the manifestoes, civil and ecclesiastical, of the Protestant leaders in 1557 and following years. So much of the Reformation movement as has a bearing upon public worship will fall now to be narrated. Moved in great measure by communications received from Knox, then at Dieppe, the Protestant lords and commoners of Scotland entered into " a common band," in which they solemnly vowed "before the Majesty of God and His Congre- gation" that they would, "with all diligence, continually apply their whole power, substance, and very lives, to maintain, set forward, and establish the most blessed Word of God and His Congregation," and do all in their power " to have faith- ful ministers purely and truly to minister Christ's Evangel and Sacraments to His people." This covenant or engage- ment was subscribed in the first place by the Earls of Argyll, Glencairn, and Morton, by Archibald Lord of Lorn, John Erskine of Dun, and thereafter by many others.^ ^ Knox's 'Hist, of the Reformation in Scot.,' Book i. 'Works,' vol. i. pp. 273, 274. EARLY USE OF ENGLISH PKAYER-BOOK. 97 These associated and avowed Protestants of Scotland followed up their covenanting by formulating two resolu- tions, both of which, since they have an important bearing upon Scottish Reformation Divine Service, we give in the words of the reformer and historian : — " First, it is thought expedient, devised, and ordained that in all parishes of this Eealni the Common Prayers he read weekly on Sunday and other festival days, publickly in the Parish Kirks, with the Lessons of the Xew and Old Testament, conform to the order of the Book of Common Prayers : and if the curates of the parishes be qualified, to cause them to read the same ; and if they be not, or if they refuse, that the most qualified in the parish use and read the same. "Secondly, it is thought necessary that doctrine, preaching, and interpretation of Scriptures be had and used privately in quiet houses, without great conventions of the people thereto, till after- ward that God move the Prince to grant public preaching by faithful and true ministers." ^ It was at one time keenly disputed whether " the order of the Book of Common Prayers " mentioned in the first of these resolutions was the Second Prayer-book of Edward VI., pub- lished, as we have seen, in 1552, or the Form of Prayers and Ministration of the Sacraments compiled at Frankfort, and used by the British refugees at Geneva. Scottish Episco- palians, represented by Bishop Sage, contended that it was the former; while the Eev. John Anderson of Dumbarton, the champion of Presbyterianism, argued that it was the latter. No one of competent knowledge and unbiassed judg- ment now questions the accuracy of reference on the part of Episcopalian writers. The statements of two public char- acters of the period place it beyond reasonable doubt that the English Prayer-book was used in Scotland at the time in question. Writing on the 1st of July 1559 to Sir Henry Percy, - Ibid., pp. 275, 276. G 98 THE BOOK OF COMMON ORDER. informing him of the manner in which the Eeformation move- ment was heing carried on in Scotland, William Kirkaldy of Grange, after telling how monasteries and abbeys had been pulled down, goes on to say: "As to parish churches, they cleanse them of images and all other monuments of idolatry, and command that no Mass be said in them ; in place thereof, the Booh set forth hy godly King Edivard is read in the same churches." ^ Similar to this is the testimony of Sir William Cecil, writing, eight days later, to the English Ambassador at Paris on the same subject : " The Protestants be at Edinburgh. The parish churches they deliver of altars and images, and have rceeived the service of the Church of England according to King Kchvard's Booh." ■* The use of the English Prayer-book, however, although deemed expedient in the transition state of matters, was a use with limitations. It was agreed to read lessons, but these are expressly confined to " the New and Old Testa- ment," thus excluding the apocryphal books, from which some portions were taken in the Anglican Service-book. Then, a considerable portion of the English offices of worship . must have been omitted in the Scottish use — all such as could only rightly be discharged by a priest — as often as a competent layman read prayers, the curate of the parish being either incompetent or obstructive. Indeed the whole arrangement was provisional, made to suit the exigencies of the times — times in which there were in most places no settled parish churches and no congregations with regularly ordained ministers.^ ^ The letter is given in full by Dr Laing in Knox's 'Works,' vol. vi. pp. 33, 34. It ends thus: "The first of Jullij, in liaist, recly to tak the fevre. Youris, as ze knaw, to the deathe." ■* Forbes's 'State Papers,' vol. i. p. 155. Quoted by Dr M'Crie in 'Life of Knox,' Notes to Period Fifth, Note DD, "On the Form of Prayer used in Scotland at the beginning of the Reformation," which note contains an ex- haustive treatment of the question at issue between Sage and Anderson. ■' " Such arrangements, however, were merely prospective, to suit the exigencies of the times ; and if we admit that the English Liturgy was PROTESTANT SUPPLICATION OF 1560. 99 What has been justly characterised as " the most important meeting of the Estates of the kingdom that had ever been held in Scotland," "^ engrossing the attention of the nation, and fixing the eyes of Europe on its proceedings, was the meeting of the Scottish Parliament held in the Tolbooth of Edinburgh in the month of August 1560. Before this memorable gathering the Protestant interests were brouglit by means of a Supplication offered by " the barons, gentle- men, burgesses, and others, true subjects of this realm, pro- fessing the Lord Jesus Christ within the same," a document certainly not wanting in either plainness or forcibleuess of expression. The petition desired remedy against the action of " that Man of Sin," claiming to himself such titles as " The Vicar of Christ, the successor of Peter, the head of the Kirk," and taking upon him " the distribution and possession of the whole patrimony of the Kirk," and also against them " that are called the clergy," utterly " corrupt of life and manners," living in scandalous violation of the seventh commandment. But in the Supplication the first place is given to the teaching of the Church of Ptome, declared to be opposed to Scripture, without foundation in the teaching of the Master Jesus Christ, His prophets and apostles. The doctrines specified are those of Transubstantiation, the Adoration of Christ's body under the form of the bread of the sacrament, the merit attaching to good works, and the justification fiowing therefrom, together with the doctrine of Indulgences, Purgatory, Pilgrimages, and praying to departed saints — all which the Supplication craves that, as they are by God's AVord condemned, so they may be abolished by an Act of this present Parliament, and punishment be appointed for transgressors.'^ actually adopted, it could have only been to a partial extent, and of no long continuance." — Dr Laing, Knox's 'Work.'-,' vol. vi. p. [278]. " M'Crie's 'Life of Kno.x,' Period vi. p. 160, Un. ed. '' Knox'.s 'Hist, of the Reformation in Scot.,' bk. iii., 'Works,' vol. ii. pp. 89-92. 100 THE BOOK OF COMMON OKDEE. The petition led to those who were responsible for it being requested to lay before Parliament a summary of the Pro- testant faith which they were prepared to maintain, and which they desired Parliament to establish within the realm. Four days afterwards ^ the required " sum " of doctrine was presented in the form of and under the title of " The Confes- sion of Faith professed and believed by the Protestants within the realm of Scotland." Eead in the hearing of the Estates, article by article, this first Scottish Confession of Faith was ratified and approved as " wholesome and sound doctrine, grounded upon the infallible truth of God's Word." ^ As a fitting sequel to the national recognition of the Protestant faith, three Acts were passed by the same Parliament of 1560 — one directed against the Mass and all persons administer- ing or being present at its celebration,^*' another abolishing the jurisdiction of the Pope,^^ and the third rescinding all laws made in support of Eoman Catholicism, or containing any provision contrary to the teaching of the newly ratified Confession of Faith.^- Before this parliamentary legislation * " Withiu fuure cTayis [the Barronis and Ministeris] i^resentit this Confes- sioun." — Knox, ibid., p. 92. '■* This Confession of 1560 will be found in the ' Scottish Acts of Parliament,' vol. ii. pp. 526-534 ; in Dunlop's ' Collection of Confessions of Faith,' &c., vol. ii. pp. 21-98 — "The Scots Confession" ; and in Knox's 'Works,' vol. ii. pp. 93-120. Summaries of the contents are given by Dr M'Crie, ' Life of Knox,' Period vi. , pp. 161, 162, Un. ed. ; and by Pi'ofessor Grub, ' Eccl. Hist, of Scot.,' vol. ii. chap. 33, pp. 89, 90. ^^ '■ Anent the Messe abolischit, and punisching of all that heiris or sayis the samin." — Acts of Parliament, 1567: "The Act against the Messe." — Knox's 'Hist, of the Reformation in Scotland,' bk. iii., 'Woi'ks,' vol. ii. p. 123. Violation of this Act was to be visited with " confiscatioun of all thair goodis [movabill and unmovabill], and punisheing of thair bodyis at the dis- cretioun of the Magistrattis . . . for the first fault ; banisching of the Realme, for the secound fault ; and justifeing to the dead, for the thrid fait." '"' This severe statute was never executed, so far as I have been able to learn, and probably it was never intended to be executed in its full extent." — Principal Lee, ' Lects. on the Hist, of the Ch. of Scot.,' Lect. vi., vol. i. p. 149. ^^ "The Act for Abolishing the Jurisdictioun of the Pape." — Knox's 'Works,' vol. ii. pp. 124, 125. 1- " There was likewise another Act annulling all former Acts made for the "THE BUKE OF DISCIPLINE." 101 was accomplished, both the Protestant laity and the Eeformed pastors had realised the necessity of having a polity for the Protestant Presbyterian Church of Scotland. Thus, as early as the 29th of April 1560, the great Council of the land gave it in charge to the Protestant ministers to draft and submit to Parliament some platform of common doctrine, worship, government, and discipline. To this task those intrusted with it addressed themselves so ardently and unremittingly that in the course of three weeks they had in readiness several " Heads for common order and uniformity." ^^ Xo further action, however, was taken till after the dissolution of Parliament. When the desirableness of having " a good and godly policy " was again made matter of urgency, a com- mission of divines was charged to complete the work.^* This was done, and the volume containing the policy and disci- pline of the Peformed Church was submitted to the Lords of the Congregation. By these ecclesiastical leaders it was care- fully perused, with varying results. Some cordially approved, and wished legal sanction given to the polity, as had been done in the case of the Confession ; others disliked the docu- ment, styling it " a devout imagination " of the clerical brain. Laid before one of the earliest meetings of the General As- sembly, held on the 5th January 1560-61, made by the fathers and brethren matter of " great pains, much reading, prayer, and meditation," the " Heads of the Policy of the Kirk " received the approval of all present, some articles deemed too lengthy being abridged.^^ Although never rati- fied by Parliament, this Eeformation standard received the maintenance of Idolatry, or ' contrarj- to the Confession of Faytli, published iu this Parliament.' "— Dr Laing, Knox's ' Works,' vol. ii. p. 123, n. 1. Tlie three Acts were republished, with others of a similar nature, at Edinburgh in 1580, and again in 1593. '■* The Preface to the ' Book of Discipline,' Knox's ' Works,' vol. ii. p. 184. '■* The Commission consisted of two superintendents, John Spotswood and John Winram, with three ministers, John Douglas, John Row, and Jolui Knox — a truly notable Johannine company. ^■' Row's ' Hist, of the Kirk of Scotland,' p. IG of Wodruw S<.)C. ed. 102 THE BOOK OF COMMON ORDER. approval of a majority of the Lords of Council, who declared it to be " good, and conform to God's AVord in all points," and promised to further the same to the utmost of their power.^*^ The work thus stamped with ecclesiastical and civil approval is best known under the familiar title of the ' Book of Dis- cipline,' although the alternative title, ' Book of Polity,' is more expressive of its scope and more descriptive of its contents. Other two documents may be classed along with the Con- fession and the Book of Discipline as belonging to the same early Reformation movement. These are, " The Form and Order of the Election of the Superintendents," ^^ and " The Order of the Election of Elders and Deacons in the privy Kirk of Edinburgh, in the beginning, when as yet there was no public face of a Kirk, nor open Assemblies, but secret and privy Conventions in Houses or in the Eields." ^'^ The earlier of these directories bears to have been used in 1560-61, when John Knox was minister, and John Spotswood was ad- mitted Superintendent of Lothian ; tlie later one, although in its completed form it has material that can only have been inserted in 1568, has a place in the manuscript copy of Knox's ' History,' belonging to the University of Glasgow, under the year 1561. Throughout the Book of Discipline references occur to what is designated " the Order of Geneva," " our Book of Common Order," " the Book of our Common Order called the Order of Geneva," " the Common Prayers." ^^ The Service- book thus variously described is manifestly the one drawn " Knox's 'Hist.,' &c., bk. iii. p. 129, pp. 258-260 of ' Works,' vol. ii. ; Row, tU siq^., p. 17. i*" "The Forme and Ordour of the Electioun of the Superintendents, quhilk may serve also in Electioun of all uther Ministers. At Edinburghe, the 9th of Merche 1560 yeiris, John Knox being Minister." — Knox's 'Hist.,' bk. iii., 'Works,' vol. ii. pp. 144-150; Dunlop's 'Confessions,' &c., vol. ii. pp. 625- 636. '8 Ibid., pp. 151-154 ; Dunlop, ut sup., pp. 636-641. " Ibid., pp. 186, 196, 239, 210; Dunlop, lit s«j5., i^p. 520-624, jMssm. "OEDElt OF GENEVA" INTEODUCED INTO SCOTLAND. 103 Up at Frankfort, but first used by the ]5ritis]i refugees formed into a congregation at Geneva, and which has for title, " The Form of Prayers and Ministration of the Sacraments, &c., used in the English Congregation at Geneva, and approved by the famous and godly learned man, John Calvin." While there is no formal sanctioning of this book of forms in any of the early Pieformation documents just enumerated, the notices taken of it are such as show it to have been in actual use. That it had gradually superseded the English Prayer-book from the time of the return of John Knox to Scotland in 1559 seems very evident, Naturally, as the Reformed faith spread over Scotland, and Protestant congregations became larger and more numerous, the use of the Geneva Form of Prayers assumed greater projDortions, and the demand for copies was more difficult to meet. That this was the state of matters in 1562 can be gathered from two incidents of that year. Fird, There was then printed the earliest Scottish edition of the Geneva Order. " Imprinted at Edinburgh, by Robert Lekprewick, cum privUcgio, 1562," it bears on title-page to be '• The Form of Prayers, . . . whereunto are also added the prayers wliich they use there in the French Church." -'^ Second, On the closing day of December in that same year, the General Assembly passed an Act requiring a uniform order to be taken and observed in the administration of sacraments, the solemnisation of marriage and burials, " ac- conling to the Boole of Geneva." -^ -'' " The Forme of prayers and ministration of the Sacraments, &c. used in the Englisli Churche at Geneua, and approued by the famous and godlie learned man, John Caluin, whereunto are also added the praiers which they use there in the FrSche Churche : AVith the confession of Faith whiche all they make that are received into the vniuersitie of Geneua. 1 Corinth, iii. , ' No man can laye any other fundation the that w-hich is laid, euen Christ Jesus.' Imprinted at Edinburgh, by Robert Lekprewik. Cum priuxlegio, l.">62." — Knox's 'Works,' vol. iv. p. [155]. -1 " Sessio 5'''' haldin the last of December 156'2. ... It is concludit that aue uniforme ordour salbe takin or keijiit in the administratioun i>f the Sacra- 104 THE BOOK OF COMMON ORDER. A larger use of the Forms of Geneva, however, soon made it evident that, in their original form and local application — intended for the guidance of a single congregation abroad — they fell short of the requirements of an entire country and the Scottish people. Steps were accordingly taken to have the work enlarged and adapted to existing circumstances and national require- ments.^^ Several prayers, selected and original, were added, and the metrical rendering of the Psalms appeared in com- pleted form. When all was ready for publication, the General Assembly, at a meeting held on the 26th of December 1564, issued a prospective injunction, to the effect that " every Minister, Exhorter, and Eeader shall have one of the Psalm-books lately printed in Edinburgh, and use the order contained therein in Prayers, INIarriage, and ministration of the Sacra- ments." -^ The book thus referred to duly appeared, with the following for its descriptive title : " The Form of Prayers and Ministration of the Sacraments, &c., used in the English Church at Geneva, approved and received hy the Church of Scotland. Whereunto, besides that was in the former books, are also added sundry other prayers, with the whole Psalms of David in English metre, m.d.lxv." -* ments and solemnization of mariages and burialls of the dead, according to the Booke of Geneva." — 'The Booke of the Universall Kirk of Scotland,' 1562. Maitland Club edition. Part I., p. 30. -'- We have no information regarding the persons to vehom the task of en- larging and adapting was intrusted ; but we get curious insight into the typo- graphical arrangements of the undertaking from this entry in the proceedings of the Assembly of 1562 : " For printing of the psalms, the kirk lent Rob. Lickprivick, printer, twa hundreth pounds, to help to buy irons, ink, and papper, and to fie craftesmen for printing." — Dicksf)n and Edmond's 'An- nals of Scottish Printing,' chap, xviii. p. 199. 23 ' The B.U.K.S.,' tit sup., p. 54. -■' " The Forme of Prayers and ministration of the Sacraments, &c. vsed in the English Church at Geneua, approued and receiued by the Churche of Scotland, whereunto besydes that was in the former bokes are also added sondrie other prayers, with the whole Psalmes of Dauid in English meter. BOOK OF COMMON ORDER NOT A LITURGY, 105 It is this remodelled Book of Geneva which sometimes passes under the name of " Knox's Psalms and Liturgy," more frequently, sj)ecially in modern reprints, under that of " Knox's Liturgy." More misleading and incorrect titles it would be diflicult to light upon. While Knox had undoubtedly a share in the compiling of the book, he was not solely responsible for its contents, any more than was Cranmer for those of the Church of England Prayer-book. Who ever speaks of Cranmer's Liturgy ? It is, however, the application oi the term " Liturgy " to the Scottish Service-book of the sixteenth century -'" that is open to the severest condemnation. Never by Knox or any of his associates is the word applied to the book either of Geneva or of Edinburgh. Calderwood the historian, born in 1575 and dying in 1650, whose ' History ' was not published till some years after his death, writes in that work of what may be gathered " not only of the First P>ook of Discipline, but also out of the Liturgy or manner of ministration of the sacraments, and form of divine service, whicli is set down The contents of this boke are conteined in the page following. 1 Corinth. iii., ' No man can lay any other fundation, then that which is laid, euen Christ Jesus.' Printed at Edinburgh by Robert Lekprevik, m.d.lxv." — Knox's 'Works,' vol. vi. p. [287]. The edition of the above printed in Dunlop's ' Collection ' is that of 1600, " compared with several other editions, particu- larly with that of Geneva, ] 558," vol. ii. p. 383, In the reprint of the ' Book of Common Order and Directory of the Church of Scotland,' edited by Dr Sprott and Dr Leishman, and published in 1868, the edition reproduced is that of Andro Hart, 1611, by which date the title had been altered to " The Psalmes of David in Meeter, with the Prose. Whereunto is added Prayers commonly vsed in the Kirke, and private houses : with a perpetuall Kalendar and all the Changes of the Moone that shall hapijen for the space of xix yeeres to come. Duelie calculated to the Meridian of Edinbvrgh." A useful list of the principal editions of the ' Book of Geneva ' and the ' Book of Common Order,' from 1556 to 1644, with a statement of where copies exist, is given by Dr Sprott at the outset of his "Notes" to the foregoing reprint, pp. 237; 238. -' In 1840 Dr John Cumming of London republished what he calls 'The Liturgy of the Church of Scotland, or John Knox's Book of Common Order.' 106 THE BOOK OF COMMON ORDER. before the Psalms ; " ^^ while Anderson of Dumbarton, writ- ing in 1711, represents his opponent Sage as acknowledging " that our Scotch Liturgy, commonly called Knox's or the Geneva Liturgy, was universally used for wellnigh fourscore years after the year 1564;" and he himself, at an after-stage of ' The Countrey Man's Letter to the Curat,' makes refer- ence to " the Scotch or Genevan Liturgy." -'' How much earlier than the dates now given this loose way of speaking was in use may not now be ascertained, but whenever and by whomsoever introduced, the expression " Liturgy " applied to the Form of Prayers was both unfortunate and infelicitous. For whether the term be taken in the more restricted techni- cal sense in which it is applied to the Communion service at the altar, or in the wider and more popular acceptation ac- cording to which it describes prescribed and obligatory forms or offices of worship, it is altogether inapplicable to any Pres- byterian service-book, which never aims at being more than a directory, with forms for optional use. This will appear when the contents of this particular Presbyterian directory come to be dealt with ; meanwhile, it may be noted that such accurate and accuracy-loving authorities as the biographer and the editor of Knox avoid the use of the expression " Knox's Liturgy." AVhile telling their readers that the book is " some- times called Knox's Liturgy," they give it to be understood that the more suitable title is that by which it was generally known in early times, " The Book of Common Order." -^ Let ns in our after-treatment so designate the work, applying to the earlier one the distinctive title of " The Book of Geneva." Drawing our information as well from the ecclesiastical standards already enumerated as from the book itself, we -•* Calderwood's ' Historic,' 1561, vol. ii. p. 51 of Wocl. Soc. ed. -'' Anderson's ' Countrej- Man's Letter to the Curat,' pp. 61-63. 25 M'Crie's ' Life of Knox,' Period iv. p. 72, n. 2 in Un. ed. Also, Note DD, p. 356, Laing's ' Works of Knox,' vol. vi. p. 277. UXDEKLYING PRINCIPLE IN BOOK OF COMMON OPvDEE. 107 proceed to state tlie principle applied in the structure, and thereafter, the leading features of the contents, of the Book of Common Order. The principle regulating all the divisions and details of the Scottish Presbyterian book of ritual is the sole and supreme authority of Scripture in all that enters into the essence of public worship. The compilers of the Eeformation subor- dinate standards did not undertake to lay down an order for every detail, in every particular. They acted upon a dis- tinction between what is necessary if there is to be the face of a visible Church in the land, and what may be profitable and desirable, but is not absolutely necessary. In the latter category they placed the singing of psalms, the selection of passages of Scripture for })ublic reading, the number of week- day services, the frequency or rarity of the dispensation of the Lord's Supper.-'^ These and suchlike matters, not enter- ing into the essence of divine service, they left to be deter- mined by each particular congregation, and according to the discretion of ministers and elders. The things deemed " utterly necessary " were the preaching of the Word, the administration of sacraments, prayer, cate- chising, and discipline."*^ -'* " Polecie we call aue exercise of the Churche in suche thingis as may bring the rude and ignorant to knawledge, or ellis inflambe the learned to greater fervencie, or to reteane the Churche in gucle ordour. And thairof thair be two sortis : the one utterlie necessarie. . . . The other is proffitable, but not of mere necessitie ; as, that Psalmes suld be sung ; that certane placis of the Scripturis suld be red whan thair is no .sermon ; that this day or that day, few or many in the weeke, the churche suld assemble. Off these and suche utheris we can not se how ane certane ordour can be establisched. Foi- in some churcheis the Psalmes may be convenientlie sung ; in utheris, per- chance thay can not. Some churcheis may convene everie day ; some thryise or twise in the weeke ; some perchance bot onis. In these and such like must everie particular Churche, by thair awin consent, appoint thair awin Polecie." — 'The Buke of Discipline,' "The Nnyt Heade, concernyng the Polecie of the Churche." Knox's 'Works,' vol. ii. pp. 237, 238; Dunlop's 'Collection,' vol. ii. p. 582. •"' "... two sortis : the one utterlie necessarie ; as that the word be treulie preched, the sacramentis richtlie ministrat, common prayeris ]iublictlie 108 THE BOOK OF COMMON OEDER. In the case of these necessary thmgs the principle laid down and strictly applied was, that for each part of the wor- ship there must be divine sanction in the form of Scripture warrant ; all professed honouring of God not contained in His holy Word is, it was maintained, not worship, but idolatry ; ^^ the sacraments are rightly administered when to Scriptural institution nothing is added, and from such nothing is taken, — all is to be done " as Christ our Saviour hath taught us, . . . according to His example ; so that with- out His word and warrant there is nothing in this holy action " to be " attempted." ^- Among things that ought to be abolished, because involving a violation of this principle, the compilers of the Book of Discipline specify prayers for the dead, observance of fast- ing days superstitiously, and of holy days — such as the so- styled Feasts of Apostles, Martyrs, and Virgins, of Christmas, Circumcision, and Epiphany, with the Purification and other festivals of " our Lady " — all of which are declared to be inventions of the Papists." ^^ maid ; that the chilcli'en and rude personis be instructed in the cheaf pointis of religioun, and that ofifences be corrected and punisched ; these thingis, we say, be so necessarie, that without the same thair is no face of ane visible Kirk." — Knox, ict sup. ; Duulop, ut sup. ^^ " By Idolatrie we understand the Messe, Invocatioun of Sanctis, Adora- tioun of Ymagis, and the keping and retenying of the same ; and fiuallie, all honoring of God, not conteaned in his holie Word." — Ibid., "The Thrid Head." Knox, ut sup., pp. 188, 189 ; Dunlop, ut sup., p. 523. ^- " . . . quhen farther to thame is nothing added, from thame no thing diminissit, and in thair practise nathing changit besydis the institutioun of the Lord Jesus, and practise of his holie Apostles." — Ibid., "The Seeound Head, of Sacramentis. " Knox, ^tt suj^., p. 186; Dunloj^, tct sup., p. 520. "Then taking bread we give thankes, breake and distribute it, as Christ our Saviour hath taught us. Finally, the ministration ended, we give thankes againe, according to his example : So that, without his worde and warrant, there is nothing in this holie action attempted." — 'The Book of Common Order,' " The Maner of the Lord's Supper. To the Reader." Knox's ' AVorks,' vol. vi. p. 326; Dunlop's 'Collection,' vol. ii. p. 454; Dr Sprott's Reprint, p. 128. '■^" Among things of doctrine declared to be repugnant to Christ's evangel and " damnabill to mannis salvatioun," a place is given to the " keping of holy BAPTISMAL SERVICE IX BOOK OF COMMON OKDEL'. 109 I. Coming now to the contents of the Book of Connnon Order, it may be well to begin with the sacraments, their number and mode of administration. In 1551 the peo])le of Scotland were told, on the authority of holy mother Church, speaking to them through Hamilton's Catechism, that there are seven sacraments — Baptism, Confirmation, the Sacrament of the Altar, Penance, Extreme Unction, Holy Orders, and JNIatrimony, In their first national Confession of Faith the Protestants of Scotland affirmed : " We now, in the time of the Evangel, have two sacraments only, instituted by the Lord Jesus, and commanded to be used of all those that will be reputed members of His body — to wit, Baptism, and the Supper or Table of the Lord Jesus, called the Com- munion of His body and blood." ^^ In " the Order of Baptism " the following are the rubrics of direction : — " First note, that forasmuch as it is not permitted by God's Word that "Women should preach or minister the Sacraments, and it is evident that the Sacraments are not ordained of God to be used in private corners as charms or sorceries, but left to the congrega- tion, and necessarily annexed to God's AVord, as seals of the same ; Therefore, the Infant whicli is to be Iiaptised shall be brought to the Church, on the day appointed to connnon prayer and preaching, accompanied -with the Father and Godfather, so that after the Ser- mon, the Child lieing presented to the Minister, he demandeth this Question : Do you present this Child to be baptised, earnestly de- siring that he may be ingrafted in tlie mystical body of Jesus Christ"? Tlie Ausicer. — Yes, we rerpiire the same." The foregoing question and answer are identical with those dayis of certane Sanctis commaiidit by man, suclie as be all those that the Papistis have iuveuted, as the Feistis (as thai terme thame) of Appostillis, Martyres, Yirgenis, of Christmess, Circumcisiouu, Epiphany, ruriticatiou, and uther found [fond] feistis of our Lady." — 'The Buke of Discipline,' "The First Head, of Doctrine. The Explicatiouus of the First Head." Knox's 'Works,' vol. ii. pp. 185, 186 ; Dunlop's ' Collection,' vol. ii. p. 519. ^ Ivuox's 'Works,' vol. ii. p. 113; Dunlop's 'Collection,' vol. ii. pp. 77, 78. 110 THE BOOK OF COMMON ORDER. siven at this stacje of the service in the Book of Geneva. So also is a lengthened address to which the minister " pro- eeedeth " after receiving the answer. This given, the rubric proceeds : " Then the Father, or in his absence the Godfather, shall rehearse the Articles of his Faith ; which done, the Minister expoundeth the same as after foUoweth." This leads lip to " An Exposition of the Creed," not as commonly divided into twelve articles, but as arranged in " four prin- cipal parts." " Then followeth this prayer." The prayer that follows is the same as that in the Book of Geneva, and it concludes, as does the earlier order, with the petition for the child, that after this life be ended he may be brought as a living member of Christ's body " unto the full fruition of Thy joys in the heavens, where Thy Son our Christ reigneth, world without end. In whose name we pray as He hath taught us : Our Father," &c. " When they have prayed," continues the rubric, " the Minister requireth the child's name, which known, he saith, ' N., I Baptise thee in the Name of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.' And as he speaketh these wordes, he taketh water in his hand, and layeth it upon the child's forehead ; which done, he giveth thanks as followeth." The thankscjivinsi in the Book of Common Order is also taken from the Order of Baptism in the Book of Geneva.^^ " The Manner of the Lord's Supper," as set forth in the first Directory of the Eeformed Church of Scotland, is char- acterised by n like simplicity and adherence to Scripture rule. This will be apparent if, as in the case of the other sacrament, we follow the order and directions of the rubrics. " The day when the Lord's Supper is ministered" — so runs the first instruction — " which commonly is used once a month, or so oft as the Congregation shall think expedient,^*^ the Minister •'^ Knox's 'Works,' vol. vi. pp. .316-324. Compare with vol. iv. jip. 186-191 ; Dunlop's ' Collection,' vol. ii. pp. 427-445 ; Dr Sprott's Rejjrint, jDp. 135-149. :i6 " Foure tynies in the yeai-e we think sufficient to the administratioun of " THE MANNER OF THE LORD'S SUPPEK." 1 1 1 useth to say ;is foUowetli." The exhortation, which includes the reading of the words of institution as found in 1st Cor- inthians, is substantially that of the ]3ook of Geneva, tlie paragraph of excommunication being somewhat fuller and more strongly worded. " The exhortation ended, the Minister cometh down from the pulpit, and sitteth at the Table, every man and woman in likewise taking their place as occasion best serveth : then he taketh bread and givetli thanks, either in these words following, or like in ef!ect." The form of prayer supplied begins with : " 0 Father of mercy, and God of all consolation, seeing all creatures do acknowledge and confess Thee as Governor and Lord, it becometh us, the workmanship of Thine own hands, at all times to reverence and magnify Thy Godly ^Majesty ; " and ends with an ascrip- tion of " all thanks, praise, and glory " for " most inestimable benefits received of Thy free mercy, by Thy only beloved Son Jesus Christ." " This done," continues the Directory, " the Minister breaketh the bread, and delivereth it to the people, who distribute and divide the same amongst themselves, ac- cording to our Saviour Christ's commandment, and likewise giveth the cup. During the wdiich time, some place of the Scriptures is read, wliich doth lively set forth the death of Christ, to the intent that our eyes and senses may not only Ije occupied in these outward signs of bread and wine, which are called the visible word ; but that our hearts and minds also may l^e fully fixed in the contemplation of the Lord's death, which is by this -holy sacrament represented. And after the action is done, he giveth thanks." The thanks- the Lordis Tabill, which we de.sh'e to be distiucted, that the .super.stitioun of tymes may be avoided so far as may be. . . . We do not deny but that any severall churche, for reasonable causses, may change the tyme, and may min- ister ofter ; but we study to suppresse superstitioun." — 'The Buke of Disci- l^line,' "The Nnyt Heade." Knox's 'Works,' vol. ii. pp. 239, 210. " Attour [moreover] ordains the Communion to be ministrat four tymes in the yeir within burrowes, and tvvyse in the yeir to landwart." — 'The B.U.K.,' 1.562, Part I. :\Iait. Club cd., p. 30. 112 THE BOOK OF COMMON ORDEK. giving which follows, beautifully conceived and tenderly worded, is, with a few verbal alterations, identical with that used at Geneva. " The action thus ended," directs the closing rubric, " the people sing the 103d Psalm, ' My soul give laud,' &c., or some other of thanksgiving : which ended, one of the blessings before mentioned is recited, and so they rise from the Table, and depart." In both the Book of Geneva and the Book of Common Order this closing rubric is followed up with a statement " to the Reader," the purpose of which is to explain " Why this order is observed rather than any other," — an order in which " first of all we utterly renounce the error of the Papists ; secondly, we restore unto the sacrament his own substance, and to Christ His proper place." ^^ 11. From the sacraments and their administration we pass to the Common Prayers, which form a distinctive feature of the public worship of Presbyterian Scotland. The very titles of the Service-books, whether compiled at Fraidvfort, used at Geneva, or remodelled at Edinburgh, testify to the importance attached to the devotional element on the part of those who arranged them. In all such these words, " The Form of Prayers," form the opening part of the description of con- tents. The prayers contained in these books of form were read from the printed book at certain stages of divine service, — as openly and regularly read as were the passages of Scripture forming the lessons for the day. In the case of some of these printed and read prayers we are able to state, with consider- able probability, the sources from which they were taken. Thus, what in the Book of Common Order comes before the sermon as " The Confession of our Sins," appears in all the liturgies of the Eeformed Churches as " The Common Con- fession," is taken, in the first instance, from Calvin's Latin ^^ Knox's 'Works,' vol. vi. pp. 324-326, compared with vol. iv. pp. 191- 197 ; Dunlop's ' Collection,' vol. ii. pp. 445-454 ; Dr Sprott's Reprint, pp. 121-128. PEAYEKS IN BOOK OF COMMON ORDER. 113 Form of 1545, but is, in all probability, originally a pre- Eeformation prayer.-^^ Other devotional forms bear, on the face of them, to have been prepared in view of special requirements of the nation or of the Church, and were only intended for temporary use. This holds good of a form " used in the Churches of Scot- land in the time of their persecution by the Frenchmen," and of another called " A Thanksgiving unto C4od after our deliverance from the tyranny of the Frenchmen." ^^ Of these special forms, some were recast in successive ver- sions or editions of the Book of Geneva. In this way " A Confession of Sins, with Prayer for remission of the same, to be used in these troublesome days," inserted in the Edinburgh edition of the Book of Geneva, appears in the Book of Com- mon Order, with some modifications, under the title of " Another Confession and Prayer commonly used in the Church of Edinburgh on the day of common prayers." ^^ The distinguishing peculiarity of this department of divine service, as provided for in the Book of Common Order, is one that has often been pointed out, but which cannot be too strongly emphasised, — the liberty vested in the officiating minister, the discretionary power left with him to employ, to modify, or to omit the forms of prayer provided. At the weekly gathering for the interpretation of Scripture, for example, the rubric provides that the Confession of Sin be used by the minister, but adds, " or like in effect." '^^ Then before preaching the officiating clergyman is enjoined 28 The "General Confession" in the Communion Order of the Church of England is substantially this form of prayer. According to Mr Procter, the English reformers took it from Herman's ' Simple and Religious Consulta- tion.'— 'Hist, of the Book of Common Prayer,' chap. iii. sect, iii., pp. 355, 356 n. of eighteenth edition. ^* Knox's 'Works,' vol. vi. pp. 309, 313. ^» Ibid., pp. 294, 371. ■ii Ibid., p. 294. H 114 THE BOOK OF COMMON ORDER. to pray; but no form of prayer is provided: he is simply directed to invoke " the assistance of God's Holy Spirit, as the same shall move his heart." *- After sermon, prayer is to be offered " for the whole state of Christ's Church," and confession is to be made in the articles of the Creed; but when supplying a form for this prayer the compilers describe it in this alternative way — " this prayer following, or such nice." '^^ To the specific directions for the conduct of divine service on the Lord's Day there is sulijoined this intimation : — " It shall not be necessary for the Minister daily to repeat all these things before mentioned, but beginning with some manner of Confession, to proceed to the Sermon ; which ended, he either useth the prayer for all Estates before mentioned, or else prayeth, as the Spirit of God shall move his heart, framing the same accord- ing to the time, and matter which he hath treated of. And if there shall be at any time any present plague, famine, pestilence, Avar, or such like, which be evident tokens of God's wrath, ... it shall be convenient that the INIinister, at such time, do not only admonish the people thereof, but also use some form of prayer, according as the present necessity recpiireth, to the which he may appoint, by a common consent, some several day, after the sermon, weekly to be observed." '^■^ In this connection there is a statement in the Book of Discipline bearing upon the daily service, deemed proper to be held in all large towns, which is significant as showing that the authors were fully alive to the abuses connected with printed prayers constantly read. At these week-day services it is deemed expedient there should be either the preaching of a sermon or the reading of the common prayers and of Scripture. On those days upon which there is preach- ing it is not required nor greatly approved of that the com- mon prayers be publicly used. For this arrangement two *' Ibid., p. 297. •^ Ibid., p. 297. ■** Ibid., vol. iv. p. 186 ; Dunlop's 'Collection,' vol. ii. p. 426 ; Dr Sprott's Eeprint, pp. 90, 91. CONGREGATIONAL PRAISE. 115 reasons are assigned. One is that the unvarying use of the prayers would foster in the peo})le a superstitious regard for them, leading worshippers to come to the prayers as they had come in former days to the Mass. The other is that this constant hearing of read prayers might lead people to regard as no prayers at all those not read but made before and after sermon."*^ From all that has now been advanced it will be seen how impossible it is to impugn the accuracy of the biographer of Knox, when he affirms that " the Scottish prayers were in- tended as a help to the ignorant, not as a restraint upon those who could pray without a set form." ^^' III. By a natural transition we pass from the "Common Prayers" to the Congregational Praise, as ordered in the subordinate standards of the Church of Scotland reformed from Popery. One of the Pieformation documents mentioned at an earlier stage of this survey was " The Form and Order of the Elec- tion and Admission of the Superintendent." In this short ■15 " In greit Tounis we think expedient that everie day thair be eathlr Ser- mon, or ellis Common Prayeris, with some exercise of reiding the Scripturis. Wliat day the publict Sermon is, we can neathir require or gretlie approve that the Commoun Prayeris be publictlie used, least that we shall eathir fostar the peple in superstitioun, wha come to the Prayeris as thay come to the Messe ; or ellis give thame occasioun to think that those be no prayeris whiche ar maid before and efter Sermon."— ' The Buke of Discipline,' "The Nnyt Heade," Knox's 'Works,' vol. ii. p. 238 ; Dunlop's 'Collection,' vol. ii. pp. 582, .583. ^« 'Life of Knox,' Note DD, p. 357 of Un. ed. Dr M'Crie adds: "The readers and exhorters commonly used them ; but even they were encouraged to perform the service in a different manner." In support of this statement reference is made to ' The Ordour and Doctrine of the General Fast' of 1565, in which this occurs for the regulating of "The Exercise of the whole Weke " : " The beginning ever to be with Confession of our sinues, and imploring of God's graces. Then certane Psahnes, and certane Histories to be distinctly red, exhortation to be conceaved thereupon, and prayers lykewise, as God shall instruct and inspyre the Minister or Header." — Knox's 'Works,' vol. vi. pp. 420, 421 ; Dunlop's ' Collection,' vol. ii. pp. C93, 694. 116 THE BOOK OF COMMON ORDER. paper the several stages in the service, as first used, were these : (1) A sermon was made, in the course of which four heads were " intreated," followed up by (2) A declaration by the maker of the same what the Lords of the Secret Council had done in the matter of the appointment of Mr John Spottiswood to be Superintendent of the Churches of the Lothian. (3) Questions were put to and answered by the congregation assembled, as also in the case of the Superin- tendent elect. (4) Prayer was addressed to Christ, " the eternal Son of the eternal Father," " our Lord, King, and only Bishop," and ending with the Lord's Prayer, (5) The extending the hand of fellowship to the Superintendent elect on the part of " the rest of the Ministers and Elders of that Church, if any be present, in sign of their consent." (6) The Benediction by " the chief Minister," concluding with a doxology. ^' (7) An " Exhortation to the elected." (8) The Form concludes with the injunction, "Then sing the xxiii. Psalme." ^^ In the ' Compendious Book of Psalms and Spiritual Songs,' commonly known as ' The Gude and Godlie Ballates,' and associated with the names of John and Eobert Wedderburn, there is a Scottish rendering of the 23d Psalm, of which these are the opening lines : — " The Lord God is my Pastor gude, Aboundantly me for to feid ; Then how can I be destitute Of ony gude thing in my neid 1 " "'^ The reference in the Form for the election of a Superin- tendent may be to this rendering of the psalm, as the composition of most of the " Godlie Ballates," judging from ^" " . . . The Lord Jesus ; to quhome, with the Father and the Holy Ghost, be all honour, prayse, and glory, now and ever. So be it." •*^ Knox's 'Works,' vol. ii. p. 150; DunloiD's 'Collection,' vol. ii. p. 636. *^ ' A Compendious Book of Psalms and Spiritual Songs, commonly known as "The Gude and Godlie Ballates."' Edinburgh: Reprinted from the edition of 1578. m.dgcc.lxviii. Preface by Dr David Laing. P. 79. SINGING AT ORDINATION OF OFFICE-liEARERS. 117 the language employed, may be attributed to the middle of the sixteenth century, and even to an earlier date, if we are to be guided by the history of their reputed authors. There is, however, greater probability attaching to the supposition that the version intended to be sung is one to be found in the metrical psalms of the Book of Geneva, as also in that of the Book of Common Order, which has William Whittingham for its maker, and the opening verse of which is — " The Lord is onely my supporte, And he that doeth me fede : How can I then lack anything Whereof I stand in nede ? " ^ Although there is uncertainty attaching to the date of it, there has always been associated with the foregoing Form and Order another Eeformation document of similar purport — viz., " The Order of the Election of Elders and .Deacons." With the contents of this Order, interesting as they are in themselves and in other connections, we do not now con- cern ourselves further than to note that at a certain stage of the service, after there has been a saying of the Lord's Prayer and a " rehearsal of the belief," there comes this rubric: "After which shall be sung this portion of the 103 Psalm, verse 19, ' The Heavens high are made the Seat,' and so forth to the end of that Psalm." ^^ The quotation is from a version of the lOod Psalm which formed one of forty-four published in 1549 by John Hopkins, the greater number of which came from the pen of Thomas Sternhold. This same rendering finds a place in the Psalter both of the Book of Geneva and of the Book of Common Order. Turning now to the Book of Common Order itself, we shall note, first, the references to congregational singing in the rubrics of the earlier prose portion ; and, second, the pro- s'' Knox's 'Works,' vol. vi. p. [335]. =' Ibid., vol. ii. p. 154. 118 THE BOOK OF COMMON ORDER. vision made in the metrical part of the volume for giving effect to these directions. The references to singing in the Forms both of the Book of Geneva and of the Book of Common Order are few in number, and are of a twofold nature, either pertaining to praises in general, or sj)ecifying certain psalms appropriate to particular services. Of the former class there are only two. (1) After a " Con- fession used in time of extreme trouble," before sermon, there occurs this direction : " This done, the people sing a Psalm all together, in a plain tune." ^- (2) At the close of the "general prayer for the whole state of Christ's Church," which is to be offered after sermon, and wdiich concludes w^ith the Belief, the rubric directs, " Then the people sing a Psalm." S3 The references to particular psalms are also two in number. (1) After setting forth " the manner of the Lord's Supper," the closing direction begins, as we have already had occasion to state, in these words : " The action thus ended, the people sing the 103 Psalm, ' My soul give laude,' &c., or some other of thanksgiving." ^^ (2) In the Form of Marriage, the exhortation, the putting and answering of questions, and the charging of the couple " to live a chaste and holy life together, in godly love, in Christian peace, and good ex- ample," lead up to a commending them to God "in this or such like sort : ' The Lord sanctify and bless you ! The Lord pour the riches of His grace upon you, that ye may please Him, and live together in holy love to your lives' end. So DC it.' " The marriage service then concludes after this fashion : " Then is sung the 128 Psalm, ' Blessed are they that fear the Lord,' &c., or some other appertaining to the same purpose." ^^ While the references, general and specific, to congregational 5- Ibid., vol. vi. p. 297. ^^ Ibid., p. 298. 5-» Ibid., p. 326. 55 Ibid., p. 327. PSALTERS OF GENEVA AND EDINBURGH. 119 praise in the earlier half of the Scottish Book of Common (!)rder are thus few in number, the provision for this part of divine service is more ample than in any preceding version of the Frankfort-Geneva Book. So largely did the metrical matter bulk in the volume, or so important did it appear in the eyes of the people using it, that from an early date in the seventeenth century the entire book was styled, " The Psalms of David in Metre, . . . whereunto is- added Prayers com- monly used in the kirk and private houses." When a comparison is instituted between the metrical portion of the Book of Common Order printed at Edinburgh in 1564-65, and that of the Book of Geneva imprinted by John Crespin in 1556 for the use of the English congregation there, they are found to differ in two respects. First, The Psalter of the former forms a complete metrical version of the Hebrew Book of Psalms. The second portion of the Book of Geneva purports to contain " One-and-fifty Psalms of David in English Metre, whereof 37 were made by Thomas Sternhold, and the rest by others. Conferred with the Hebrew, and in certain places corrected, as the text and sense of the Prophet required." "What an advance had been made upon this selection by the time the Book of Common Order was published can be gathered from the seventeenth item in the contents of the Book: "The 150 Psalms of David in metre." The growth from a selection of 51 to the completed num- ber, 150, had been gradual. Thus in 1560 fourteen versions were added, bringing the number up to 65, and in the following year the number was increased to 87. In its com- pleted form the Psalter of the Book of Common Order embodied the labours of no fewer than nine versifiers, if not poets, six of whom were Englishmen, while the remaining three were Scotsmen.^** ■'" The fullest and most accurate iiifonnation regarding the successive editions of the Genevan and Scottish Psalters is to be found in Dr Neil 120 THE BOOK OF COMMON ORDER, Second, The metrical portion of the Scottish Service-book differed from that in the Book of Geneva in drawing its material exclusively from the Hebrew Psalms. The earliest issue of the Frankfort-Geneva Book, in addi- tion to the " one-and-fiftie I'salms of David," contained a metrical version of the Ten Commandments, the authorship of which can be traced to William Whittingham.^^ When, in 15G0, the number of Psalter metrical renderings was increased to sixty-five, there was also an increase in the number of metrical renderings of other portions of Scripture, and the following pieces were added : A prayer after the Com- mandments, called an " Addition " ; The Lord's Prayer ; The Creed ; The Bcncdictus ; The Magnificat ; The Nimc Dimittis. But in 1561, with an increase of Psalter renderings in verse, there was a diminution in the other department of metrical renderings. For while the metrical version of the Command- ments was retained, as also that of the Lord's Prayer, with two additional versions subjoined, and a new version of the JVunc Dimittis was substituted for that of 1500, all the other pieces were dropped. In 1562 a Scottish edition of the Book of Geneva, printed by Lekpreuik at Edinburgh, contained no mention of metrical Psalms in " The Contents of the Boke," and no renderings in the book itself, — a feature of this issue which probably was the ground upon which the editor of the ' Phenix ' characterised " the Liturgy us'd in the English Church of Geneva " as " a grave demure piece, without either Piesponses, or Psalms, or Hymns, without fringe or philactery ; but terribly fortify'd and pallisado'd with texts of Scripture." ^^ Livingston's standard work, 'The Scottish Metrical Psalter of a.d. 1635.' Glasgow : 1864. There may also be consulted with advantage Dr D. Laing's ■' Notices regarding the Metrical Versions of the Psalms received by the Church of Scotland," in Baillie's 'Letters and Journals,' vol. iii. pp. 525-554. ^'^ "The 'Commandments' appears anonymously in 1556, but in 1561, &c., it is assigned to Whittingham." — Dr Livingston, ut sup., Diss. iii. p. 34. ^^ ' The Phenix : or, a Revival of Scarce and Valuable Pieces from the Re- THE SCOTTISH PSALTER OF 1565. 121 AVhen the Book of Common Order appeared in 1565, re- modelled for Scottish use, it was found to contain a full metrical Psalter, but no other metrical pieces, in the form either of paraphrases of Scripture passages, or of hymns, to be used in congregational praise. There is, indeed, a poetical composition in that earliest version of the Book, which, however, is not Scriptural, and was obviously not intended to be sung. It is a " Sonnet," in three stanzas, addressed by William Stewart to the Church of Scotland. In this poetic address the Church is described as the " little Church to whom Christ hath restored the clear lost light of His Evangel pure," and is congratulated upon being now under " the careful cure of such Pastors as truly teach His AVord." From the hands of these pastors the Church of Scotland is called upon gratefully to receive " All David's Psalnies set foorth in pleasant verse." A greater gift than this, it is declared, could not be craved, — a gift all the fruit of which the sonnet-writer finds it im- possible to set forth — " For here thou hast, for everie accident That may occurre, a doctrine pertinent." ''^ This poetical effusion disappeared from all subsequent editions of the Scottish praise -book; and tlie fate which overtook the composer of it was both striking and mysteri- ous. Beginning his ptiblic career as Boss Herald, in which capacity he visited Denmark, William Stewart was, on his rettirn from that country, appointed Lyon King-at-Arms, and upon the 22d of February 1567-08 was installed in the Church of St Giles, in presence of the Eegent and nobility. Witliin six months he was deprived of office, and imprisoned at Dumbarton on a charge of conspiracy. Tried at St motest Antiquity down to tlie Present Times.' London. M.ucc.vir. Vol. ii., Preface, p. viii, ■■>« Knox's ' Works,' vol. vi. p. [:J34]. 122 THE BOOK OF COMMON ORDER. Andrews after a twelve months' imprisonment, the charge was disproved. Thereupon he was tried for witchcraft and sorcery, condemned, and sentenced to be burnt. The pro- ceedings at the trial have unfortunately not been recorded ; but there is preserved in the Eegister of the Secret Council a grant to his widow of all his goods and property which had fallen to the Crown, and in that grant he is described as "William Stewart, sometime Lyon King-of-Arms, convict and justified to the dead for certain crimes of witchcraft, necromancy, and other crimes." '^^ In our enumeration of early Eeformation manifestoes we have specified the Confession of Faith ratified in 1560, the Book of Discipline subscribed by Lords of Council in January 1560-61, the Form and Order of the election of Superin- tendents, with the Order of election of Elders and Deacons in March of the same year, and the Book of Common Order sanctioned by the General Assembly in December 1564. The series is completed when to those mentioned there are added two treatises which in later editions of the Service- book find a place among its contents. The first of these supplementary documents is a treatise on Fasting, called " The Order and Doctrine of the General Fast, appointed by the General Assembly of the Kirk of Scotland, holden at Edinburgh, the 25th day of December 1565 ;" ^'^ the other is a form for the restoration of penitents and the excommuni- cation of the obstinate and impenitent, called " The Order of excommunication and of public repentance used in the ^" In the edition of 1565 there is an address by Wiiliam Stewart, but it is occupied wholly with the Calendar at the commencement of the volume. Of Stewart, Dr Livingston states, " Nothing is known, but it may be supposed that he was an elder of the Church, and that he had less or more to do with the preparation of the volume."— (' The Scot. Met. Psalter,' Diss. ii. p. 13.) The information given above regarding the sonneteer's checkered career and tragic ending was brought to light by Dr Laing. Knox's ' Works,' vol. vi. pp. 334-692. fii Knox's 'Works,' vol. vi. pp. [393]-430 ; Dunlop's 'Collection,' vol. ii. pp. 645-700 ; Dr Sprott's Reprint, pp. 150-191. ORDERS OF FASTING AND EXCOMMUNICATION. 123 Church of Scotland, and commanded to be printed by the General Assembly of the same, in the month of June 1569." 62 Valuable and interesting as these treatises are because of the glimpses they give into old Church life in Scotland, and the information they supply regarding the ecclesiastical discipline of Eeformation times, there is not mucli in them bearing upon public worship that need long detain us. In both are to be found the features characteristic of the pro- vision made in the Book of Common Order for common prayers and congregational praise. Thus, the prayer to be offered at the afternoon diet of worship on "the Sunday of Abstinence " is simply " referred unto the Minister " ; ^^ while at the week-day services during the continuance of the public fasting, along with " certain Psalms and certain Histories to be distinctly read," with "exhortation to be conceived thereupon," there are to be " prayers likewise, as God shall instruct and inspire the Minister or Eeader." '^^ In the case of " the Exhortations and Prayers of every several Exercise," the compilers state, " we have remitted " them " to be gathered by the discreet ]\Iinisters ; for time pressed us so, that we could not frame them in such order as was convenient, neither yet thought we it so expedient to pen prayers unto men, as to teach them with what heart and affection, and for what causes we should pray in this great calamity." ^'' ^- Knox, ibid., pp. 447-470. Dunlop, ibid., pp. 703-747. Dr Laing points out that the date " Junij " on the original title-page, and repeated in all subse- quent editions, is an error for Julij, the General Assembly having met at Edinburgh on the 5th of the latter month. — Knox's 'Works,' vt sujh, p. [448]. ^•' Knox, ut sup., p. 420 ; Dunlop, «< xiq)., p. 693. " Ibid., pp. 421, 694. "^ Ibid., pp. 421, 69,'>. That "penned" praj'ers were to be combined with conceived ones is made evident by such a rubric in the Order of the General Fast as this : "The Sermonc ended, the conimone prayer shalbe used, that is conteancd in tb.e Psalme booke, the 46. page thereof, beginning thus : ' God 124 THE BOOK OF COMMON OKDEE. The same general rule determines the nature of the prayers prescribed and provided in the companion Order. The closing rubric of that treatise is couched in these latitude-giving terms : " This Order may be enlarged or contracted as the wisdom of the discreet Minister shall think exjDedient ; For we rather show the way to the ignorant, than prescribe Order to the learned, that cannot be amended." ^"^ As with the prayers so also with the praise. For the close of the service, when the form of public repentance is to be followed, the 103d Psalm is specified as suitable to be sung, and when that of excommunication, the 101st ; but in both cases there is to be the exercise of discretion, the rubric in the one case being, " Then after shall the Church sing the 103d Psalm, so much as tlicy think expedient ;" and in the other, "The Assembly shall be dismissed, after they have sung the ci. Psalm, or one jjortion thereof, as it shall please the congregation." ^"^ If there is anything in the requirements and provision of the two supplementary treatises which has no place in the devotional arrangements of the earlier documents, it will be found in that part of the Order of the General Fast which makes provision for private silent prayer. The Confession ended, and the Minister or Eeader having distinctly read the 27th and 28th chapters of Deuteronomy, there follows this rubric : " The Minister shall wish every man to descend secretly into himself, to examine his own conscience, where- into he findeth himself guilty before God. The Minister Almyglitie and heavenly Father.' " The prayer thus referred to is in tlie Book of Common Order, and is introduced with this rubric : " This Prayer following is used to be said after the Sermon, on the day which is appointed for commune Prayer : and it is very propre for our state and time, to move us to true repentance, and to turne backe God's sharpe roddes which yet threaten us." — Knox, ut sup., p. 304. ''•■ Knox, Mi sup., p. 470 ; Dunlop, ut sup., p. 746. ''^ Knox, ut sup., pp. 460-4C8 ; DunlojD, tit sup., pp. 727-742. BOOK OF COMMON ORDER IN GAELIC. 125 himself, with the people, shall j^rostrate themselves, and remain in private meditation a reasonable space, as the quarter of an hour, or more. Thereafter shall the Minister exhort the people to confess witli him their sins and offences, as followeth." ^^^ Taking a conjunct and general view of the two Forms, it is abundantly evident tliat in the ordering of the services for public fasting, for the readmission of penitents, and for the excommunication of the obstinately impenitent, much is left to the discretion of officiating ministers — or rather, to use the very language of the compilers, " to the wisdom of the dis- creet Ministers, who best can judge both what the auditors may bear, and wliat themselves are able to sustain." ^^ Between the date of publication in the case of the Treatise on Public Fasting (1566) and that of the Form of Excom- munication (1569), there issued from the printing-press of Kobert Lekpreuik, at Edinburgh, a book, tlie first of its kind, of which, in its original form, only one perfect copy is known to exist."'^ This is a translation of the Book of Common Order into Gaelic. It was the work of John Carswell, Superintendent of Argyll and the Isles in the early Re- formation Church, subsequently Bishop of the Isles, and held in repute by students of Celtic literature as the first to publish any work in the Gaelic language. In the scholarly reprint of this work, edited by the late I)r M'Lauchlan of ^^ Knox, lit sup., p. 419 ; Dunlop, ut swp., p. 690 ; Dr Spi'ott's Reprint, p. 182. "'■' " The tyme that shalbe spent aswell before none as after, must be left to the wisdome of the discrete Ministers, who best can judge botli what tlie auditore may beare, and what themslblves are able to sustene. . . . We think that three houres and less, before noune, and two houres at after noune, shalbe sufficient for the whole exercyse publict." — Knox, ut sup., p. 417 ; Dunlop, ut sup., p. 687. '* The work is dedicated to Archibald, Earl of Argyll, whose descendants possess the only perfect copy. There is a copy in the British Museum which wants title-page and several signatures ; and a third copy, wanting several leaves, is in Edinburgh University Library. — Dickson and Edmoud's 'Annals of Scottish Printing,' chap. xix. pp. 231, 232. 126 THE BOOK OF COMMON ORDER. Edinburgh, translator of ' The Book of the Dean of Lismore,' will be found admirably stated all the information now pro- curable about Bishop Carswell and his undertaking.'^^ We content ourselves with noting the following features of in- terest in this Gaelic Service-book of Eeformation times. First. The title-page of the work has an interest of its own : " Forms of Prayer and administration of the Sacra- ments and Catechism of the Christian faith, here below. According as they are practised in the churches of Scotland which have loved and accepted the faithful gospel of God, on having put away the false faith, turned from the Latin and English into Gaelic by Mr John Carswell, Minister of the Church of God in the bounds of Argyll, whose other name is Bishop of the Isles. No other foundation can any man lay save that which is laid even Jesus Christ. — 1 Cor. 3. Printed in Edinhurgh, whose other name is Dunmony the 24th day of April 1567. By Robert Lekprevik." Second, A statement at the close of the book, called " A lawful Apology," attracts attention. In this declaration the translator intimates that he lays his account with the ridicule and laughter of men who may mock his little work " because that the language wants the polish of the poets, and because the words want force." To account for the typographical errors that may be detected, it is further stated " the printer had not one word of Gaelic, but printed by chance or by guess." The apology concludes with this peculiarly worded doxology : " To the one God in three persons — viz., the powerful merciful Father, and the fair marvellous Son, and the powerful Holy Spirit, be adl praise, honour, and glory, now and for ever, Amen." Third, The imprint on the closing page is peculiar, con- ''^ The Book of Common Order ; commonly called John Knox's Liturgy. Translated into Gaelic Anno Domini 1567. By Mr John Carswell, Bishop of the Isles. Edited by Thomas M'Lauchlan, LL.D., translator of ' The Book of the Dean of Lismore. ' Edinburgh : Edmonston & Douglas, mdccclxxiii. GAELIC FORM FOR BLESSIXG A SHIP. 127 taiuing the following information : " This little book was finished by the Bishop of the Isles on the 24th day of the month of Aprile, in the fifteen hundred and sixty-seventh year of the annals of our Lord Jesus Christ. In the twenty- fifth year of the reign of the most powerful Queen Marie, Queen of Alban,"— the information l)eing followed up with two lines, apparently intended for poetry, to the effect — '' The Grace of God in its beginning we are, It has not yet reached an end." Fourth, The most interesting portion of the contents is a form for blessing a ship on going to sea. For this no original has as yet been discovered in any edition of the Book of Common Order, so that the Bishop of tlie Isles may safely be credited with its conception and its execution. As it is brief, and gives an instance of responsive service not to l)e met with elsewhere in Scottish Presbyterian ritual, it will not be out of place to reproduce this manner of blessing an outward- bound ship, as translated for us ])y the accomplished editor of this unique Gaelic Prayer-book : — '• Let one of the crew say thus : The Steersman, Bless our sliip. llie rest respond, May God the Father bless her. The Steersman, Bless our ship. Response, May Jesus Christ bless her. The Steers- man, Bless our ship. Response, May the Holy Spirit bless her. The Steersman, "What do ye fear and [seeing] that God the Father is with youl Response, "\Ve fear nothing. The Steersman, What do ye fear and that God the Son is with you ? Resp)onse, We fear nothing. Tlie Steersman, What do ye fear and that God the Holy Spirit is with you 1 Response, We fear nothing. The Steersman, IMay the Almighty God, for tlie sake of His Son Jesus Christ, tlirough the comfort of the Holy Ghost, the one God who brought the children of Israel through the Bed Sea miraculously, and brought Jonah to land out of the whale's belly, and brought the apostle Paul, and his ship, with the crew, out of the great tempest, and out of the fierce storm, save us, and sanctify us, and bless us, and carry us on witli (|uiet and favouring winds, and comfort, over the sea, and into the liarbour, according to His own good will. 128 THE BOOK OF COMMON OKDER. Which thing we desire from Him, saying, Our Father which art in heaven, &c. Let all the rest say, So be it." '- All students of ancient usages know how firmly these hold their place, how slowly the old order gives place to a new. It was so in the case of those forms of service which the Book of Common Order was intended to supersede. Even after provision had been made for the Eeformed ritual being followed in both the Lowlands and Highlands of Scot- land, there were parts of the country in which Eomish rites and forms probably Anglican continued to be practised. That the old Anglo-Eoman worship was not wholly discon- tinued till a consideral)le time after tlie Reformation appears from the action taken by several of the early General As- semblies of the Reformed Church. Representations were from time to time made to the secular powers, urging that sharp punishment be inflicted upon all idolaters and main- tainers thereof who, " in contempt of God, the true religion, and acts of Parliament, either said Mass, caused it to be said, or were present at the celebration." Places infected with this form of idolatry were specified, including such districts as Nithsdale and Galloway, Fifeshire, Ayrshire, East Lothian, the Ettrick Forest ; and persons chargeable with the sin in various of its forms were enumerated — among them being Earls and Lairds ; ^^ Abbots,''* Priors,''^ and Curates ; "^^ " the auld Ladie Hoome in Thornetoun," " the goodman of Gallow- scheils," and the parishioners of Maybole, Girvan, Kirkoswald, and Dailly."" It would appear that the celebration of the Sac- ''- Dr M'Lauchlan's Kepi-int. ut sup., pp. 240, 241. For Highland prayer before sermon, see ApiJcndix F of this work. ''^ " In Nithesdaile and Galloway : The Laird of Kirkmichaell, who causes Masse daylie to be said, and images holden up, and idolatrie to be mantained within his bounds."—' The B.U.K,' 1560. Part I. Maitland Club ed., p. 6. "^ " The abbot of Corsraguell. " — Ibid. 75 it rpj^g Pryor of 'Whitherne and his servants in Crugletone." — Ibid. '"•' " The curate of Cui-rie for abusing the Sacraments." — Ibid. '^ " The parochiners of Mayboill, Girvan, Oswald, and Dal ay, within the kirk whereof Messe is openly said and mantained." — Ibid. I BAPTISMS "IX A PAnSTICAL MANNER." 129 I'ament of the altar was not discontinued in Scotland till after 1574, for in May of that year a priest was hanged in Glasgow for a violation of the law of the land in celebrating the illegal ordinance/^ And Eoniish practices were not confined to the one sac- rament. Meeting on Christmas - day 1565, the Assembly pronounced sentence of excommunication upon all persons who, in addition to receiving the sacrament of the altar, offered their children for baptism " after the Papistical manner," Two years later the Assembly required to deal with a complaint given in against " my Lady Argyle," charg- ing her with giving "assistance and presence to the baptising of the king [James A^L] in a Papistical manner," the offence being aggravated, in the opinion of her accusers, by the fact that she had been at the table of the Lord Jesus, and there professed His evangel. The bearing of the offender and the punishment inflicted will appear in the following extract from the ' Book of the Universal Kirk ' : " The said Lady being present, granted that she had offended to the eternal God, and had been a slander to the Kirk in committing the premiss, and therefore willingly submitted herself to the discipline of the Kirk and discretion of them. Therefore the Kirk ordains the said Lady to make public repentance in the Chapel-Iioyal of Stirling, upon a Sunday in time of preaching, and this to be done at such time as the Kirk hereafter shall appoint by tlie superintendent of Lothian, providing always it be before the next Assembly." " As in the case of Eomish ritual, so also with that based upon the offices of the English Prayer-book — there was a '® ' Diurnal of Occurreutrf in Scotland,' Bannatyne Club ed., \k 341. George Buchanan, in his account of the execution of Archbishop Hamilton in 1571, states that the priest on whose evidence mainly that prelate was condemned, himself suffered death for saying Mass a third time. Buchanan's statement of dates is not to be relied upon, and both historian and journalist may lie refer- ring to the same person — Thomas Robison, at one time schoolmaster at Paisley. "" 'B.U.K.,' l.">67, ]>. 117, Mait. Club ed. An account of tlie baptism, which took place at Stirling, is given in the 'Diurnal,' kc. ut tsiqj. "Thir solem- I 130 THE BOOK OF COMMON ORDER. survival of Anglican forms even after the authorising of the Presbyterian Book of Common Order. This appears from a valuable document brought to light within recent years, and printed in " The Miscellany " of the Wodrov\^ Society. This short paper has for title, " The Form and Manner of Burial used in the Kirk of Montrose " ; it bears no date, but has been, on good grounds, assigned to a period subsequent to the Eeformation and prior to 1581, and it is in a handwriting belonging to the latter years of the sixteenth century. The directions for burial in the Eeformation standards are largely prohibitive ; they make little or no provision for services, either public or private, in the house or at the churchyard. To guard against superstition and idolatry, the Book of Discipline prohibited such practices as singing of Mass, Placebo, Dirigc, while it discountenanced preaching, singing, and reading, seeing superstitious people might think these things engaged in by the living were intended to profit the dead.^*^ All the compilers allowed for was, to use their own words, " that the Dead be conveyed to the place of burial, with some honest company of the Kirk, without either singing or reading ; yea, without all kind of ceremony heretofore used, other than that the dead be committed to the grave, with such gravity and sobriety as those that be present may seem to fear the judgments of God, and to hate sin, which is the cause of death." ^^ nities," states the anonymous chronicler, '"enclit with singing and playing on organis." — P. 104. 80 " Buriall in all aiges hath bene liolden iu estimatioun, to signifie that the same body that was committed to the earth should not utterlie perishe, but should ryse agane. And the same we wold have keapt within this Realme, provided that superstitioun, idolatrie, and whatsoever hath proceaded of a fals opinioun, and for advantage saik, may be avoyded ; as singing of Messe, Placebo, and Dirige, and all other prayeris over or for the dead, are not onlie sujDer- fluous and vane, but also ar idolatrie, and do repugns to the plane Scriptures of God. . . . For avoiding all inconvenientis, we judge it best that neather singing nor reading be at the Buryall." — " Off Buriall," Knox's 'Works,' vol. ii. pp. 249, 250 ; Dunlop's ' Collection,' vol. ii. pp. 596, 597. ^^ Ut sup. THE MONTROSE BUKIAL SEEVICE. 131 The section " Of Buryall " in the Book of Common Order is very brief, not to say bald, and only grants a liberty of exhortation to the minister under carefully guarded condi- tions. The entire section is contained in these lines : " The Corpse is reverently brought to the grave, accompanied with the Congregation, without any further Ceremonies ; which being buried, the Minister, if he be present, and required, goeth to the Church, if it be not far oft, and maketh some comfortable exhortation to the people, touching Death and Eesurrection." ^'^ In the Montrose Form and ]Manner of Burial there is a disregard both of the spirit and the letter of these restric- tions and requirements. For the Order contains a service in three parts. First, UxJiortation. — The body having been reverently brought to the grave, accompanied by the congregation, " the Minister or Eeader " is to give, as provided in the Order, an address of some length, in which are several Scripture quotations taken from Tyndale's translation of the Xew Testament, and the doctrinal teaching of which is distinctly Protestant. Second, Prayer. — " This being done," is the direction given, " the Minister shall pray in effect as follows." The prayer is, with some slight variations, that which appeared as part of "the Order for the burial of the dead" in the Church of England Book of Common Prayer in 1552. It differs from that in the version of 1549, or the First Prayer-book of Edward VI., chiefly in the rigid exclusion of all supplications for the soul of the departed ; and it is substantially the prayer of the version of the Prayer-book at present in use, begin- ning, " Almighty God, with whom do live the spirits of them that depart hence in the Lord, and with whom the souls of the faithful, after they are delivered from the burden of the flesh, are in joy and felicity." ^- Knox's ' Works,' vol. vi. p. 333 ; Dunlop's ' Collection,' vol. ii. p. 468. 132 THE BOOK OF COMMON OEDER. Third, Singing. — A hymn in the Scottish vernacular, con- consisting of twelve stanzas, follows the Anglican prayer, and at the end of the MS. two staves are drawn, tlie musical notes being unfortunately omitted, but inadvertently, as would appear from the words that are added : " This Sang is to be sung eftir this tune." The words of the hymn can be traced back to the Wedder- burn's " Compendious Book of Psalms and Spiritual Songs," the variations between the two versions being mostly in spelling, and in collocation of words not affecting the meaning. The original of the first eight stanzas of this quaint and beautiful funeral hymn is the composition of ]\Iichael Weiss, a minister of the Bohemian Church, who in 1531 translated the hymns of the Bohemian Brethren into German ; the four closing stanzas of the Wedderburn collection and the Montrose burial service, having no counterpart in the Ger- man texts, may be taken to be original. The German original, with the music, is to be found in the Nuremberg collection of 1570, and an English translation of the hymn is given by j\Iiss Winkworth in the Second Series of the " Lyra Germanica," the translation being reprinted, with the original tune harmonised, in " The Chorale Book for England," London, 1863.^3 With its Scottish exhortation, English prayer, and German hymn, the post-Eeformation form of burial, as used in the Kirk of Montrose, yields interesting material for a study of the survival of ancient usages. It is all the more remarkable that this Order should have had even local observance, when it is considered how care- fully the reformed Church of Scotland guarded the purity of her Service-book. Of the Church's vigilance in this particular an illustration was given in 1568, when an Edinburgh printer 83 Pqj. « rpj^g Forme and Maner of Buriall used in the Kirk of Montrois," see 'The Miscellany of the Wodrow Society,' pp. 291 -300. For the prayer and the hymn collated with other forms, see Appendix G of this work. I BASSANDYNES LOVE-SONG, 1568. 133 incurred ecclesiastical displeasure and censure. By the Assembly of 15G3 it had been made matter of statute and ordinance that no work " touching religion or doctrine " be printed nor circulated in writing until such time as it had been submitted to the Superintendent of the diocese for the revision and approval of himself and as many of the most learned within the bounds as he may call to his aid. Should the examiners be in doubt regarding any matter raised in the work, they are to report to the Assembly.^* Either in ignorance or in defiance of this ordinance, Thomas Bassandyne, a noted craftsman of the sixteenth century, printed two books in 1568 without having obtained the necessary municipal licence and ecclesiastical sanction. One of the books ^^ was an edition of the Book of Common Order, briefly termed a Psalm-book. After publication it was found by the Church censors to contain, in addition to its sacred contents, a secular composition in verse, which the ecclesias- tical court regarded with great disfavour, and to which it applied an epithet of extreme severity.^*^ " The said Thomas " was immediately ordained, by a unanimous resolution of the Assembly, first, to call in again all copies of the work already sold, and then to keep back from publication all the unsold ones until he liad cancelled the page containing the obnoxious song. Till recently the song in question could not be traced, no copy of the edition of the metrical Psalter into which it had been unwarrantably foisted having escaped confiscation. The mystery has, however, been cleared up, and that in an unexpected way. At the sale of the literary effects of a Dundee teacher, one lot of odds and ends sold for the modest sum of eightpence. In that lot there was found by the pur- ^^ 'The B. of the U.K. of Scot.,' 1563. Part First, p. 35. ilait. Club ed. ^' The name of the other book was, ' The Fall of the Komane Kirk.' No copy of the book has been discovered. Tlie same holds good of the " psalnie booke." — Dickson and Edmond's 'Annals of Scot. Printing,' chaps, xxi., xxii. ^ "Ane baudie song callit 'Welcum Fortoun.' "— ' Tiie B.U.K.,' «« svp., pp. 12.'i, 126. 134 THE BOOK OF COMMON OEDER. chaser an imperfect copy of an early edition of the Wedder- burns' * Compendious Book,' or ' Gude and Godlie Ballates,' to which the name of " Dundie Psalmes " would seem from an early date to have been given, owing probably to the Wedderburn connection with that town. The imprint of this valuable fragment bears the date 1567, eleven years earlier than the date of the edition from which Dr Laing prepared his reprint, and only one year prior to that in which Bassandyne came under the censure of the Cliurch. In this rare find there is a composition of five stanzas which has dropped from subsequent editions of the collection, and which has for opening verse these four lines : — " Welcume Fortoun, welcum agaiiie, The day and hour I may Weill blis, Thou lies exilit all my paine, Quhilk to my hart greit plesour is." ^'^ This, there can be no reasonable doubt, is the poetical piece which the Edinburgh printer unwittingly or contumaciously inserted in one of his editions of the Church's Book of Com- mon Order. It turns out to be a purely secular love-song, to neither the sentiment nor the language of which, judged as a literary product, can any objection be taken on the score of morality. Evidently the head and front of the offence committed by the reprimanded typographer was the inserting of what was certainly neither psalm, hymn, nor spiritual song in an issue of the Psalms of David in metre, doing so without licence and without sanction from the constituted authorities of Church and State. This visfilant guarding of the contents of the Book of o o o Common Order from unauthorised liberties did not, however, stand in the way of alterations being made from time to time with the knowledge and approval of the Church. Many of the editions subsequent to 1564-65 can only be regarded as reissues, distinguished from one another by greater or less ^" The complete song will be found in Appendix H of this volume. PSALM-BOOK AND DOXOLOGY OF 1575. 135 degrees of accuracy in the printing of the literary contents and the musical notation. There are, however, two early editions of the Scottish Pres- byterian book of forms and material, the metrical portions of which present distinctly new features calling for some notice. First, In 1575 the Edinburgh printer already mentioned published a volume having for title : " The CL. Psalms of David in English metre. With the Form of Prayers and Ministration of the Sacraments, &c., used in the Church of Scotland. "Whereunto besides that was in the former books, are added also sundry other Prayers, with a new and exact Ivalendar for xvi. years next to come." ^^ It will 1)6 remembered that from the first complete Scot- tish metrical Psalter, issued in 1564-65, all spiritual songs outside the Hebrew Psalm and Prayer Book were excluded. In Bassandyne's issue of 1575, however, metrical compositions, such as had a place in the earlier Books of Geneva, reappear, and Scottish congregations had for the first time in their hands an enlarged psalmody, containing metrical compositions additional to the Psalms of David. These consist of the Lord's Prayer, the Commandments, a Prayer addressed direct to Christ, a Lamentation, and the Veni Creator. Another distinctive feature of the 1575 edition of the Pres- byterian Service-book is the insertion at the very end of the book of what then went by the name of a " conclusion," or the " Gloria Fatri," being in substance, though not in name, a doxology.^^ Why there should be only one such compusi- ** Of this edition no comiilete copy is known. A copj- in the library of the late Dr D, Laing had the Psahns entire, but wanted several leaves of the Prayers and Catechism. Another copy in the Bodleian Library, Oxford, has the Prayers and Catechism perfect, but the Psalms are wanting. A third copy, with the general title, Kalendar and Psalms (but wanting all the Prayers and Catechism), is now also in the Bodleian. Pressmark, Mason CC, 84. — Dickson and Edmond's 'Annals,' &c., chap. xxii. p. 310. *^ Students of Hooker will here recall the magnificent passage in book v. " touching the Hymn of Glorv, our usual conclusion to Psalms," in which it 136 THE BOOK OF COMMON ORDEE. tion in the book, why it should he apparently restricted in its use to the close of one psalm and that one the 148th, it seems impossible now to determine. Second, In 1595-96 there issued from the printing-press of another Edinburgh typographer, Henry Charteris by name,^° a work which may fitly be described as epoch-marking in the history of Scottish Presbyterian worship. While the prose division of the volume contains the " Prayers and Catechism according to the form used in the Kirk of Scotland," with a slight variation in the order of contents, special interest attaches to the metrical portion, as may be gathered from its title, which runs thus : " The Psalms of David in Metre. According as they are sung in the Kirk of Scotland. Together with the Conclusion or Gloria Patri after the Psalm : and also a Prayer after every Psalm, agree- in" with the meaning thereof." ^^ The conclusions or doxologies are thirty-two in number — is asked " if that joyful Hymn of Glory have auy use in the Church of God whose name we therewith extol and magnify, can we place it more fitly than where now it serveth as a close or conclusion to Psalms ?" — ' Of the Laws of Ecclesiastical Polity,' book v. chap. xlii. [7], pp. .565, 566 of two-vol. ed. of ' Works.' Oxford : m.DCCC.LXV. And lovers of Robert Browning will think of the closing lines of his " Christmas-Eve " : — " I put up pencil and join chorus To Hepzibah Tune, without further apology, Tlie last five verses of the tliird section Of the seventeenth hymn of Whitlield's Collection, To conclude with the doxology."— ' Poetical Works,' vol. v. p. 1(35. 90 "There is perhaps no Scottish printer whose name is more honoured by those who love the vernacular poetry of the country than that of the worthy burgess of Edinburgh, Henry Charteris." — Dickson and Edmond, ut sup., chap, xxvii. p. 348. ^^ A copy of this edition of the Book of Common Order is in the British Museum (pressmark, 3436, f. 16), It is very imperfect, but has the date 1595 on the title-page of the second part. Another copy is in Cambridge Uni- versity Library, lacking the first title-page, but otherwise perfect. A third copy was in the private collection of the late Dr D. Laing. A facsimile of the title-page of i^art second is given by Dr Livingston, 'Scot. Met. Psalter,' " Facsimiles from various editions," p. 72. The Scottish Doxologies of this Psalter will be found in Appendix I of this work. NINIAX WIXZET AND THE DOXOLOGY. 137 a number equal to that of the musical forms, there lieing one for each particular metre. The contention of some, that the " conclusion " was not employed in divine service earlier than 1595, or at least than 1575,^^ cannot now be upheld in view of an explicit reference to Protestant use of doxologies made by Ninian AVinzet, the able defender of the old unreformed Church, which has hitherto escaped notice in this connection. Among the eighty-three questions touching doctrine, order, and manners published at Antwerp in 1563 by the ex-school- master of Linlithgow, and delivered to John Knox, with a challenge to answer them if he could, one (the 67th) was thus drawn up : " Why do you, Calvinian Preachers, sing with us Catholics at the end of every psalm, Glory be to the Father, to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost, &c., seeing that godly form of praise was first ordered to be sung by Pope Damasus as a rebuke to heretics ? " "^ The very construc- tion of such a question, pointing as it does, not to the simple repeating, but to the singing, of doxologies by Scottish I*ro- testants, would seem to indicate that tliey had association with psalm-singing from the very Ijeginning of the Reforma- tion movement. In this connection it may be pointed out that the "\Ved- derburn Collection of Psalms and Spiritual Songs, with some if not all of which AVinzet was presumably acquainted, con- tains Scottish doxologies, of which this, occurring at the ''■- Dr Livingston, ut sup.. Diss. I., jj. 4. »^ 'The Buke of Foui- Scoir Tln-e Questions, tueching Doctrine, Ordour and Maneris . . . sett furth be X^inian Winzet a Catholik Prei.st.' . . . 1563. Autverjoiae. "67. Of the forme, Gloir to the Father, &c., in end of euery Psalme." This treatise of Winzet, along with 'Certain Tractates,' was re- printed by Bishop Keith in the Appendix to his 'History' (Spott. Soc. ed., vol. ii. ) Both the Buke of Questions and the Tractates, as also ' The Last Blast' and 'Translation of Vincentius Lirinensis,' were published by the Maitland Club in one vol., with a Memoir by J. B. Oracle. But the edition facile princeps of the vernacular writings of Winzet is that in two vols, printed by the Scottish Text Society, 1887-1891, edited by J. K. Hewison, M.A., F.S.A. Scot., minister of Rothesay. The editor's Introduction, Appendix, Xotes, and Glo.--sary, are all models of editing. 138 THE BOOK OF COMMON OEDER. close of a hymn upon our Lord's nativity, may be taken as a specimen : — " To God the Father mot be gloir, may, glory. And als to Christ for euer moir, also. The Haly Gaist mot blissit be, Wirkar of this Natiuitie." '■^^ The other outstanding feature in the metrical part of the 1595 edition of the Book of Common Order is that referred to in the words of the title, " Ane Prayer ef ter everie Psalme." The exact number of the devotional prose forms is 149, those following two of the Psalms (the 107th and 108th) being, with two unimportant variations, the same. The closing ten in this unique collection of prayers are brief simple breath- ings of desire directed to Him who is addressed as "dear Father," " good God," " puissant God of armies " ; while the earlier pieces constitute a collection of 139 Scottish col- lects, each containing, in observance of liturgical rules, an Invocation, a Petition, and a Conclusion. What use these prayers were intended to serve cannot be affirmed with certainty. Their having a place in the Psalter of the Church might seem to point to use in public worship ; on the other hand, their appearing in only one edition of the Church's Service-book, and the absence of reference to them in any subsequent readjustment of sanctuary service, favour the supposition that they were simply intended for the private use, guidance, and edification of those who possessed the volume. ^^ But the most curious circumstance connected with these Scottish prayers is one relating to their authorship. As re- cently as 1864, Dr Livingston, our greatest living authority on Scottish psalmody, when directing attention to them and ^•' 'The Gude and Godlie Ballates.' Patei'son's edition, p. 68. ^' Dr Livingston favours the latter view. ' The Scot. Met. Psalter,' ut siqj.. p. 37. SCOTTISH PRESBYTERIAN COLLECTS. 139 reproducing them in their entirety, confessed to a lack of information regarding their origin, in the absence of which he was disposed to regard them as of purely Scottish ex- traction. In 1885, however, another minister of the Free Church, who has rendered valuable service in this depart- ment of historical research — the liev. Dr Bannerman of Perth — came upon a copy of the Marot and Beza French Psalter among the l^ooks of the Innerpeffray Library, Perthshire. The title of the little volume ends with a statement which stimulated curiosity and closer examination. It was in these words ; " And a Prayer at the end of each Psalm by M. Augustin Marlorat." ^^ An inspection of the appended prayers convinced the finder that for all practical purposes the Scottish "Prayers on the Psalms" of 1595 are simply translations of the French " Oraisons." Augustin Marlorat, whose name appears on the Huguenot Psalter, was an honoured theologian, devotional writer, and reformer of the sixteenth century, tlie friend of Calvin, the coadjutor of Beza, and ultimately a victim of lioman Catholic intolerance and cruelty at the siege and capture of Eouen in 1562. It may be possible for future investigators to trace some of the French prayers in substance and modified form to the contents of early pre-Eeformation service-books, from which so much good material was taken by both Continental and English compilers of liturgies and psalters ; but in a matter of this kind the judgment of M. Bovet, historian of tlie Psalter of the Eeformed Churches, is entitled to great weight, and he holds that " Marlorat was the original and the only author of the prayers which bear his name." ^"^ In any case, ^ The full title of this interesting vulume, which I have personally ex- amined, is : ' Les ex. Pseaumes rle David, mis en rime Franroise par Clement Marot et Theodore Beze. Avec la prose en marge, comme elle est en la Bible, et un Oraison ii la fin d'uu chacun Pseaume par M. Augustin Marlorat.' A Paris. Par Pierre Haultin : 1567. "" " Le primitif et le seul auteur."— ' Histoirc du Psautier des Eglises Re- formdes.' Neuchatel : 1872. 140 THE BOOK OF COMMON ORDER. enough has been done in thus tracing a connection between the Scottish prayers and those of the Church of the Huguenots to justify that connection being taken to furnish " a fresh evi- dence of the close and cordial relations which subsisted from the first between the Eeformed Churches of the Continent and the Churcli of Scotland." °^ With the beginning of the seventeenth century, and the accession of James to the throne of England in 1603, the Church of Scotland entered upon a period of trouble and confiict from which ultimate relief was obtained only by the Eevolution of 1688, when the Stewarts were righteously dispossessed of the throne of Great Britain. All through the two-and-twenty years of the century during which James VI. of Scotland and I. of Enoland was reigning sovereign, the Eeformed Church took no legislative action of any importance affecting the conduct of divine service. A movement in the direction of revision was indeed initiated in an Assembly which ought to have met at St Andrews, but which, owing to the king's indisposition, was held at Burntisland, the king, " with his Commissioners of the Nobility and Burghs," being present.^^ At that Assembly, on the 16th of May 1601, several measures of revision were proposed. One proposal was to correct " sundry errors in the vulgar trans- lation of the Bible ; " another to do the same in the case of the metrical version of the Psalms ; and a third to alter " sundry prayers in the Psalm-book in respect they are not convenient for the time." ^^'^ Xone of these proposals resulted in any common action being then taken. In the case of the ^^ Dr Bannermau iu 'Presbyterian Review' (vol. vii. 1886, pp. 151-155). " Origin of the Scottish Collects of 1595 : A Discover}'." For the i^rayers in their entirety, see Appendix K of this work. 89 " The Generall Asseniblie of the Kirk of Scotland, haldin at Bruutiland, the 12 day of May 1601 yeirs. In the quhilk the King's IMajestie, with his Commissioners of the Nobilitie and Burrowes, were present." — 'The B.U.K. of Scot.,' 1600. Part Third. Maitland Club ed. i"" Ibid., p. 970, I REISSUES OF THE BOOK OF COMMON OPxDER. 141 metrical Psalter, the conclusion come to was " that the same be revised by Mr Eobert Pont, minister at St Cuthbert's Church [Edinburgh], and his travels to be revised at the next Assembly." As regards the prayers, it was not thought gootl that those already contained in the Service-book be altered or omitted ; but if any brother wished to have other prayers added as being suitable for the times, the Assembly ordained the same to be first tried and then sanctioned by some future Assembly.i^^i All through the stages of the crisis, however, which ended in the temporary and enforced ascendancy of episcopal government, editions of the Book of Coninion Order con- tinued to issue from the press. Some of these were printed abroad at such places as Dort and Middleburgh ; some at Aberdeen by Edward Piaban, of whom more hereafter ; but the greater number at Edinburgh. What Lekpreuik and Bassandyne had been in the sixteenth century — privileged printers of ecclesiastical literature — Andro Hart became in the century following. One of Hart's editions, bearing date 1615, has a novel if not notable feature. After the treatise on Public Easting, drawn up in 1565, and before the twelve tunes to which it is intimated all psalms of common measure may be sung, there is inserted a metrical piece called " The Song of Moses." The composition is prefaced by a statement from the printer of the reason that led to its insertion. Being in conversation with a godly brother to whom he made known his intention of reprinting the Psalter, this friend expressed surprise that " The Song of Moses " had never found a place in any earlier edition. Moved by the representations of this adviser, Andro Hart requested him to cast the song into English metre, with a view to insertion in the forthcoming issue. The result was the appearing, for the first time, of a metrical paraphrase of the 32d chapter of 101 Ibid., pp. 970, 971. 142 THE BOOK OF COMMON ORDER. Deuteronomy, broken up into six parts, a prose summary of each part being given at its commencement in the margin.^"^ Attached to the song in this edition of 1615 are the initials " J. M." These stand for James Melville, minister of Kilrenny, in Fife, and the nephew of the more widely known Andrew Melville.^*'^ While creditable to the piety of the versifier, this product of his labours has done nothing to extend the reputation of one whose racy autobiography and diary sufficiently guard his name from oblivion. Although it continued to appear in successive editions of the Scottish praise-book down to the time when a new version was adopted, James Melville's setting of the grand old Hebrew song failed to secure a place in modern collections of Para- phrases and Hymns, and is not likely to find one in any future compilation, however large and varied. Leaving it to his grandson to make the announcement that Presbyterianism is unworthy of the fine gentleman, King James formed the conclusion that Episcopacy is the form of Church polity most favourable to the designs of a despot. And so his first move towards bringing the northern kingdom into ecclesiastical conformity with that of the south was to have himself declared by the Scottish Parliament of 1606 absolute prince, judge, and governor over all persons, estates, and causes, both spiritual and temporal ; to revive the order of prelates, restoring to such the status of a hun- dred years back, that status including livings, prerogatives, and place in Parliament ; and to reorganise the institution of chapters, which had been suppressed. Having by acts of intimidation, usurpation, and despotic cruelty, fashioned the government of the Church of Scotland to his liking, James proceeded to deal with the Church's ritual. The first step in i"- The musical direction for the public singing of the composition is, " Sing this as the 32 Psalme." ^"^ A manuscript volume in the Advocates' Library, Edinburgh, known to be in the handwriting of James Melville, contains the same rendei-ing of the Scripture passage. JAMES VI. AND SCOTTISH PJTUAL. 143 this direction was the issuing of a royal proclamation at the Cross of Edinburgh, recjuiring all ministers to celebrate Holy Communion on Easter - day, the 24th of April 1614, and calling upon all members to communicate in their respective parish churches.^°* But graver measures were in contempla- tion. Being in London at the time when, through the death of Gladstanes, the primacy of all Scotland was in the gift of the Crown, James Spottiswoode, then Archbishop of Glasgow, secured this piece of preferment for himself. At the same time consultation took place between him and his royal patron as to what still constituted desiderata in the polity of the northern Church. In the judgment both of the king and of the prelatic Scotsmen these included a good many things, prominent among them being " a form of divine service," ^*^^ orders to be followed in the election of arch- bishops and bishops, in the electing of elders and their ordination, forms for marriage, baptism, and administration of the Holy Supper, and a service for confirmation " most Yjrofitable for children, but wanting in our Church." A movement towards supplying what was thus deemed lacking in Scottish ritual was made when, at the recpiest of the pliant bishops, a General Assembly was summoned to meet at Aberdeen in August IGIG. To those Lords and Barons, Archbishops, Bishops, and Commissioners from Presbyteries who there assembled, and ^''■' " The true intent was to try how the people wold bearc with alteratious and innovations in the worship of God. The most part obeyed, but not all.'" — Calderwood, 'Historie,' 1614. Vol. ii. p. 191 of Wod. Soc. ed. "This was justly supposed to be a preparation for other measures which were soon to follow."— Prof. Grub, 'Hist.,' vol. ii. chap. xlv. p. 300. 1(15 "Articles required for the .service of the Church of Scotland — 1. There is lacking in our Church a form of divine service ; and while every minister is left to the framing of public prayer hy himself, both the people are neglected and their prayers prove often impertinent." (A paper in the handwriting of Spottiswoode.) — ' Orig. Letters relating to the Eccl. Aflf. of Scot.,' vol. ii. p. 445. Cited by Prof. Grub, ut sup., p. 305, and by Dr Si)rott in Introd. to 'Scot. Liturgies of the Keign of James Sixth.' Edin. : 1871. Pp. xv, xvi. 144 THE BOOK OF COMMON OKDEE. over whom the primate claimed a royal warrant to preside/'^'' the Kmg's Commissioner submitted certain " instructions " sent by his Majesty to be proposed to "this present As- semblie." Of these royal instructions, the eighth was in these terms : " That a Liturgie be made, and form of divine service, which shall be read in every church in common prayer-, and before preaching every Sabbath, by the Eeader, where there is one, and where there is none, by the Minister, before he conceive his own prayer, that the common people may learn it, and by custom serve God rightly." ^^" Before the Assembly broke up, but not till the last session was reached and ministers from the south had begun to leave, decisions were registered giving effect to all the king's wishes. In the matter of public worship, it was resolved that a uni- form order of service be drawn up, to be read in all churches at all meetings for prayer, and on every Lord's Day before sermon.^'^^ To give effect to this resolution, a committee of four were appointed, with instructions to revise the Book of Common Order, and to set down a form of service to be used in all time hereafter. By the close of 1616, or the beginning 106 "The King ordained, by his Letter, the Primat to rule the Clergie, and his Commissioner, the Earl of Montrose, to order the Laitie. ... So Mr John Spotswood, Archbishop of Sanct Androis, stepped into the Moderator's place without election." — 'The B.U.K. of Scotland,' itt su}^., p. 1116. i»" Ibid., p. 1123. Calderwood's ' Hist.,' 1616, vol. vii. pp. 105, 106, "Wod. Soc. ed. ^"* " Item, It is statute and ordainit that ane vniforme ordour of Liturgie or Divyne Service be sett down to be red in all Kirks, on the ordinaire dayes of i^rayer, and every Sabbath day befor the sermoun. . . . And to this intent, the Assemblie lies appointit the saids Mr Patrick Galloway ... to revise the Booke of Commouu Prayers containit in the Psalme Booke, and to sett downe ane commoune forme of ordinaire service, to be vsed in all tyme heirafter." — Ibid., ?<< siq}., pp. 1127, 1128. "The term 'Liturgy' had not previously been in use to express a form of prayer in Scotland. It must be remembered, however, that although the Assembly of 1616 probably did not nourish any innovation approaching that of the Service-book of 1637, their Acts as an Assembly were afterwards rei^udiated, and they were treated as prelatical usurpers, who had interrupted the government of the Church according to the legitimate Presbyterian order." — Dr J. H. Burton, 'The Hist, of Scot.,' chap. Ixviii., '" Charles I.," vol. vi. p. 116. HO WATTS FOmi OF PKAYER. 145 of the following year, some progress had been made either by the committee or by an individual member thereof. For there is in existence the MS. of a draft liturgy which has written on the last sheet, " Howatt's Form of Prayer." The Eev. Peter Ewat, Hewat, or Howatt, one of the Edinburgh ministers, was a member of the liturgical committee, and it is highly probable that he had been made convener by his fellow-members, and in that capacity had drafted what bears his name, while it has for fuller title a description closely resembling the terms employed by the Aberdeen Assembly .^°^ Immediately after, if not even earlier than, the Assembly of 1616, King James had summarised his scheme of uni- formity with Anglican usage under five heads. Dissuaded from bringing these articles forward when first drafted, and foiled in his endeavours to have them adopted by the As- sembly that met in St Andrews shortly after his return from Scotland, where he had an opportunity of showing his northern subjects how he liked divine service conducted and sacra- ments dispensed,^^*^ the headstrong monarch resolved to force lull it ^^ Pqi-ii^ of Service to he used in all the Parish Churches of Scotland upon the Sabbath Day by the Readers where there are any established, and where there are no Readers by the Ministers themselves before they go to sermon." Written on the last sheet of the MS. in a different hand is, " Howatt's Form of Prayer." Advocates' Library, Edinburgh. MS. (Wod- row MSS., vol. 20, cjuarto), Lib. No. ccc. 2-12. Dr Sprott has brouglit this literary curiosity to light, and has j^i-inted it as an Api)endix to his valuable reprint, ' Scottish Liturgies of the Reign of James VL' Edinlx : 1871. '^^ "Among other directions sent from the king, one was for repairing of the Chappell, and some £nf/lish carpenters employed, who brought with them the portraits of the Apostles to be set in tlie Pews or Stalls ; as they were proceeding in their work, a foolish and idle rumour went, that Images were to be set up in the Chapell : and as peoide are given to speak the worst, it was current among them, that the Orr/ans came Jirst, now the Inuir/es, and ere long they should have the Masse." — Spottiswoode's 'Hist, of the Ch. of Scot.,' an. 161t), lib. vii. p. oSOof folio ed. London: mdclv. Upon the day following the royal entrance into the capital — i.e., Sunday, 18th May — service was conducted ill the Chapel Royal according to the ritual of the Church of England, " with singing of choristers, surplices, and playing on organs." On the 8th of June, being Whitsunday, Holy Communion was celebrated in the same place after the same order, those communicating doing so kneelhvj. Several of the K 146 THE BOOK OF COMMON ORDER, them upon the Assembly of the following year, which was summoned to convene at Perth. In this he succeeded ; and so the King James articles of assimilation have taken their place in the records of history under the name of the Five Articles of Perth. They range over the following particulars : (1) Kneeling in the act of communicating ; (2) administering the Com- munion to sick persons in private ; (3) baptising in private ; (4) confirmation ; (5) the observance of the four holy-days — Christmas, Good Friday, Easter, and Whitsunday .^^^ When, according to the usage of the times, the Acts of Assembly came before the Privy Council, the Five Articles were all ratified, and so also was a finding which gave commission to certain persons to review the labours of the previously ap- pointed commissioners in the matter of Common Order Book revision.^^- Tliis revising was carried on partly in Scotland by the bishops there, and partly in England by James him- self in consultation with Anglican dignitaries. Drafts of what was proposed having been sent across the Border and nobility and clei-gy who were present but who scrupled to communicate, received a royal mandate requiring them to do so next Ijord's Day. — Calder- wood's ' Hist.,' 1617, vol. vii. p. 246, Wod. Soc. ed. "1 The Five Articles are given in full in ' The B.U.K. of Scot.' [ut sup., pp. 1165, 1166). Because of its bearing upon what is to be found in Period II. on the same subject, I give at length the first of the five relating to kneeling at the celebration of the Lord's Suj^per. " Seing we are commanded by God himself, that when wee come to worship him, we fall doun and kneel before the Lord our Maker ; and considdering withall,that there is no partof divine worship more heavenly and spiritual, then is the holy receiving of the blessed body and blood of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ ; like as the most humble and rever- end gesture of the body, in our meditation and lifting up of our hearts, best be- cometh so divine and sacred an action : Therefor, notwithstanding that our Kirk hath used, since the Reformation of Religion, to celebrate the holj' Communion to the people sitting, by reason of the great abuse of kneeling used in the idolatrous worship of the Sacrament by the Papists : yet now seeing all memory of bypast superstition is past ; in reverence of God, and in due regai-d of so divine a mj-stery, and in remembrance of so mystical an union as we are made partakers of, the Assembly thinketli good, that that blessed Sacrament be celebrat hereafter meekly and reverently upon their knees." ^^ Dr Sprott, ' Scot. Liturgies,' &c., ut sup., Introduc, p. xxix. SCOTTISH LITURGIES OF THE IlEIGN OF JAJIKS VI. 1-17 returned, with " observations, additions, expunctious, muta- tions, accommodations," ^^^ matters were so far advanced by June 1619 that a royal licence was then granted to an Edinburgh bookseller — Gilbert Dick by name — authorising him to print the book, and giving him exclusive right to do so for nineteen years to come.^^'* So certain did it seem that in a short time the old Book of Common Order, with its optional forms, directions, and suggested material, would be superseded by a Book of Common Prayer with set forms and prescribed prayers, that Archbishop Spottiswoode, in the heat of altercation with Thomas Hog, minister at Dysart, charged with speaking disrespectfully of the Perth Articles, thought to silence the sturdy Presbyterian by assuring him that, although his prayers had up till now been in harmony with the usage of his Church, and according to the ritual of the Book of Common Order, in a short time the old order would be discharged, and ministers would be tied ^^^ to set forms, 113 " This Booke [a pul )like f(jrme of Liturgie, or Booke of Common Prayer] . . . being by those who were dejjuted for that purpose framed, was hy the Lord ArchbishojJ of Saint Andreices that now liveth, sent up to Our Roy all Father, who not onely carefully and punctually perused everie jiarticular passage of it himselfe but had it also considerately advised with, and revised by some of that Kingdome here in England, in whose judgement He reposed singular trust and confidence ; and after all His owne and their observations, additions, expunctions, mutations, accommodations. He sent it backe to those from whom He had received it, to be commended to that whole Church, being a Service Booke in substance, frame, and composure, much about one with this verie Service Booke which AVe of late commended to them [1637]." — ' A Large Declaration,' &c. By the King. London: mdc.xxxix. Pp. 16, 17. This work was written for Charles I. by Dr Balcanquhall, Dean of Durham. Baillie calls it " that unexampled manifesto, which, at Canterburie's direction, Balquan- quall, and Rosse, and St Andrewes, had penned," and describes it as "heaping up a rabble of the falsest calumnies that ever was put into one discourse that I had read." — Baillie's ' Letters and Journals,' vol. i. p. 208. "■* Dr Sprott's 'Scot. Liturg.,' at sup., Introd., p. xxxiv. "' "Ye are not content, said the Bishop, to declaim in your Sermons against the Course and State of Bishops ; but also ye pray ordinarily after Sermon against Bishops, as Belligods and Hirelings. He [Mr Thomas Hogg, minister at Dysart] answered that he prayed ordinarily against Belligods and Hirelings in the Ministry, by the warrant of God's AVord, and confumi to the prayer published in the bouk of Discipline, for the use of the Kirk of Scot- 148 THE BOOK OF COMMON ORDER. and not permitted to conceive prayers just as it pleased them. To complete the equipment of the Anglicised Church of Scotland, it was thought desirable that there should be a new Psalter. That also James, in the exercise of royal interest and forethought, had provided. Taking the matter into his own special charge, he had, in leisure hours, prepared metrical renderings of the psalms in the Scottish dialect.^^*^ After trying his skill in the case of thirty compositions,^^^ the king availed himself of the co-operation of Sir AVilliam Alexander of Menstrie, afterwards Earl of Stirling, and author of tragedies now forgotten.^^^ So largely did the land. . . . Then said the Bishop, in great indignation, in short space, that book of Discipline (meaning the book of Common order before the Psalmes) shall be discharged, and Ministers shall be tied to set Prayers, and shall not be suffered to conceive prayers, as they please." — Calderwood's ' History,' 1619, pp. 726, 727 of fol. ed. ; vol. vii. p. 369 of AVod. Soc. ed. ■'^^ A volume of these metrical translations, in the king's handwriting, is in the British Museum Librarj^. In addition to renderings of thirty psalms, not in consecutive order, there are paraphrases of the twelfth chapter of Ecclesiastes, of the Lord's Prayer, and of the Song of Moses. ii' " Hee [James VI.] was in hand (when God call'd him to sing psalmes with the angels) with the translation of our Church psalmes, which hee intended to have finished and dedicated with all to the onely saint of his devotion, the Church of Great Britaine and that of Ireland. This worke was staled in the one and thirty psalme." — Dr Williams, " Great Britain's Salomon ; a Sermon preached at the magnificent Funerall of the most high and mighty King James" (London, 1625), p. 42. ^^^ " The revising of the Psalmes he [his Majesty] made his own labour, and at such hours as he might spare from the publick cares, went through a number of them, commending the rest to a faithfull and learned .servant, who hath therein answered his Majesties expectation." — Spottiswoode's 'Hist, of the Ch. of Scot.,' an. 1601, p. 465 ; fol. ed., vol. iii. pp. 98, 99 of Spot. Soc. ed. In a letter to William Drummond of Hawthornden, dated April 18, 1620, Sir William Alexander wrote in these terms : "Brother, I received your last letter with the Psalm you sent, which I think very well done ; I had done the same long before it came ; but He prefers his own to all else ; tho' perchance, when you see it, you will think it the worst of the three. No man must meddle with that subject, and therefore I advise you to take no more pains therein." — Drummond's ' Works ' (Edinburgh, 1711), p. 151. On the 28th December 1627 there was granted licence for the space of 31 years, to print the Psalms of King David, translated by King James, in favour of Sir William Alexander, " to quhais cair his Majestic hath speciallie entrusted tlie THE PSALMS OF KING DAVID AND KING JAMES. U9 coadjutor assist in the undei'taking that the version might fairly bear his name rather than that of his sovereign ; but the courtesy of a courtier and tlie vanity of a king kept every name Ijut one out of the title-page. It is doulttful, however, if James ever had the gratification, which in his case would have been intense, of seeing the work even in draft, and of reading on the title-page, " The Psalms of King David, translated by King James." ^^^ Certainly there never came to him the satisfaction of knowing that the Church of Scotland had accepted that Prayer-book in the preparation of which he took such interest, and that Psalter which he fondly hoped would be associated with his name for all time to come. For when he died in 1625 the Book of Common Prayer was still in draft, and the world was not favoured with a sight of the Psalter till six years after the death of the royal versifier. The accession of Charles I. to the throne of Great Britain brought no relief to the people of Scotland from State meddling and dictation in matters spiritual and ecclesias- tical. A petition from ministers opposed to the Perth Articles gave the newly crowned king an opportunity of making it known that it was his determination to have the ordinances, instructions, and injunctions of his father strictly enforced in all matters of government and worship. said work in collecting and reviewing of the same and in seeing the first inipres- sioun thairof to be carefullie and weill done and withall being gi-atiouslie pleased that he sould reape the benefite of his travellis thairin." The licence is given in full by Principal Lee in his 'Memorial for the Bible Societies in Scutland,' Edin., 1824 ; Apjiendix No. xxi. pp. 36-38. For further information regard- ing Sir William Alexander and his i)salter renderings see Jolin Holland's 'Psalmists of Britain' (London, 1843), vol. i. pp. 2.o9-267 ; also Dr D. Laing's ' Notes regarding the ^Metrical Versions of the Psalms received by the Cliurch of Scotland.' — Baillie's ' Letters and Journals,' vol. iii. p. 530. "® ' The Psalmes of King David, translated by King James. Cum Privi- legio Regiic Maiestatis.' On another engraved leaf are the royal arms and the king's authority allowing the psalms " to be sung in all the Churches of oure Dominions." Imprint: " Oxford, Printed by William Turner, Printer to the famous University, m.dc.xxxi." 150 THE BOOK OF COMMON ORDEK. Of all the articles recently forced upon ministers and people the most offensive was the first, according to which the Assembly was represented as thinking it good that the sacrament of Holy Communion " be celebrated hereafter meekly and reverently iqoon their knees." The opposition to the enforcement of this requirement was not grounded upon dislike of kneeling as a posture in worship ; neither did it spring from unwillingness to yield to an innovation implied in the posture. For, as far as appears, kneeling in public worship had been practised in Scotland among Presby- terians from the time of the Reformation. Thus in the Order of Excommunication and of Public Eepentance published in 1569, before uttering "the invocation of the name of Jesus Christ to excommunicate the impenitent," the minister briefly addresses the congregation, concluding with these words : " And that we may do the same, not out of our own authority, but in the name and power of our Lord Jesus Christ, before whom all knees are compelled to bow, let us hunibly fall down Icfore him, and on this manner pray." ^-° Then in 1587 the Glasgow Session ordained that all persons in time of prayer " bow their knees to the ground " ; ^"-^ and Lindsay, in his vindication of the Perth Assembly, states, " We were accus- tomed, and still are, to kneel at the thanksgiving." ^-- The opposition to the " gesture of kneeling " when com- municating was that which John Knox urged so vehemently in his day, and which led to the insertion of the " black rubric " into the English Prayer-book of 1552, — opposition, viz., to the adoration of the Host believed to be implied, if not intended, in tliat posture. Kneeling at Communion was wor- shipping and bowing down in the house of Rimmon, an act of 120 Knox's ' Works,' vol. vi. p. 466. 121 " A.uent Prayers. 1587, Sept. 21 — That all persons in time of prayer bow their knee to the ground." — Wodrow's ' Collections on the Life of Mr David Weems,' Maitland Club, p. 22. 1-- Lindsay's ' True Narrative of Perth Assembly,' p. 47 ; also his ' Resolu- tions for Kneeling,' pp. 34, 65. Dr Sprott in ' Introd. to Scot. Liturg.,' p. xxx. THE POLICY OF "THOROUGH." 151 constructive idolatry to be reprobated and abhorred by all sound Protestant Presbyterians. And so, when on Easter Sunday of 1G27 the Communion was dispensed in the churches of Edinljurgh to as many as would receive the elements kneeling, instead of communi- cants coming forward in thousands, not more than six or seven persons presented themselves in the Church of St Giles, and some of the ministers refused to conform. ^-^ During an entire year the sacrament of the Lord's Supper was not observed in the city churches ; and when in Feliruary 1629 there was a celebration, the result was a scene of scan- dalous disorder characterised by the historian of the times as " pitiful to behold ; some of the ministers kneeling, some sitting, some standing ; similar confusion among the people ; the minister giving the elements out of his hands to each one, and the reader reading, or the people singing at that same time." 1-^^ By this time Charles, and those courtiers and ecclesiastics who were in his confidence, were fully connnitted to that policy of disregard of constitutional restraints and disdain of half measures which passed among themselves as the policy of Thorough, and which was applied with perfect impar- tiality, though with very different results, to England, Ire- land, and Scotland. Applying it to the ecclesiastical affairs of the last - named country, those intrusted with carrying out the thorough treatment of the Church prepared for the Scots two ecclesiastical directories intended to be coin- cident in date of appearance ; but, as matters turned out, they were separate from each other by a considerable inter- val of time. The first in order of time appeared when, in the beginning of 1G36, there issued from the press of Edward Piaban, printer in Aberdeen, a publication bearing the royal coat of arms, '-3 Rowe's ' History,' a.d. 1027, p. 343 of Wocl. Soc. etl. i--* Ibid., A.D. 1629, p. 34S. 152 THE BOOK OF COMMON ORDER. and described on title-page as " Canons and Constitutions Ecclesiastical ; gathered and put in form for the government of the Church of Scotland, Eatified and Approved by His Majesty's Eoyal Warrant, and ordained to be observed by the Clergy, and all others whom they concern." ^-^ Of the Canons, contained under nineteen heads or chap- ters, some took to do with public worship and the ad- ministration of sacraments, and that in a very thorough manner. Thus, according to two canons, no presbyter or reader was thenceforth to pray in public ex tempore ; but all preachers were to exhort their hearers to join with them in prayer, using some convenient expressions, and always con- cluding with the Lord's Prayer.^-*^ Another canon, while condemning the adoration of the bread, required " that the holy sacrament of the Lord's Supper be received with the bowing of the knee, to testify the devotion and thankfulness of the receivers for that most excellent gift." It was enjoined by yet another royal mandate that in time of divine service " no man shall cover his head," but all persons present shall reverently kneel when the Confession and other prayers are read, and shall stand up at the saying of the Creed. In several of the chapters explicit reference is made to a Service- book in course of preparation. Thus it was set down as one of the duties of a presbyter that he either personally, or by a qualified representative, read or cause to be read divine ser- vice " according to the Form of the Book of Common Prayer." ^-' Upon the authority of Wharton, Professor Masson states that the title in the original draft was, " Canons agreed on to be proposed to the several Synods of the Kirk of Scotland," and that the alteration was made by Laud. — ' Life of Milton and Hist, of his Time,' vol. i. p. 717. 126 " They [the Scottish Presbyterians] disliked the sixteenth, pretending themselves bound to the form of bidding prayer, prescribed in the 55th Canon of the Church of England, which was, in effect, they said, to subject them to the discipline of a foreign Church." — A. Stevenson's 'Hist, of the Ch. and State of Scot.,' book i. chap. ii. p. 161 of one-vol. ed. Edinburgh: 1840. For information regarding Bidding Prayers, with illustrative specimens, see Appendix L of this work. CAXOXS ECCLESIASTICAL, 1636. 153 Still more explicitly, it was ordained, for the manifestation of unity in faith through uniformity in worship, "that in all meetings for Divine "Worshi]), before Sermon, the whole Prayers accordinrj to the Liturgy be deliberately and distinctly read ; " while in his visitation of the sick the presbyter was enjoined to instruct and comfort them " according to the Book of Common Prayer." For the silencing of all fault-finders, it was decreed and ordained that whosoever affirmed the form of worship con- tained in the book now established under his Majesty's authority to contain anything repugnant to the Scriptures, to be corrupt, superstitious, or unlawful, should be excom- municated, and not restored till after his repentance, and a public revocation of such wicked errors. For the punishing of nonconforming presbyters, it was likewise decreed and ordained that any such, as also any reader, guilty of using any other form in the public service than the one now prescribed, be visited with deprivation of licence or of cure." ^-^ ^-^ Even Clarendon admits '" it was a fatal inadvertency, that neither before nor after these canons were sent to the king they were never seen by the Assembly, or any convocation of the clergj', which was so strictly obliged to the observation of them ; nor so much as communicated to the Lords of the Council of that kingdom." The same historian considers it "strange that those canons should be published before the liturgy was prepared, when three ■jr four of the canons were principally fur the observation and punctual com- jjliance with the liturgy ; which all the clergy were to be sworn to submit to, and to pay all obedience to what was enjoined bj' it, before they knew what it contained."— ' The Hist, of the Rebellion and Civil Wars in England,' Bk. ii. pp. 4f), 46 : Oxford, one-vol. ed., 1839. " In this [the authority whence they came forth] it may safely be said that thej' stand alone among tiie State papers of Christian Europe. Whoever may have given personal help in their preparation, they were adopted by the king, and were as much his sole per- sonal act as if he had penned them all alone in his cabinet, and sent them as a despatch to those who were to obey their injunctions. ... A complete code of laws for the government of a Churcli, issued by a sovereign, without official consultation with the responsi'ole representatives of that Church, is unex- ampled in European history." — Dr J. H. Burton, 'The Hist, of Scot.,' chajj. Ixviii., "Charles I.," vol. vi. ])p. 109, 110 (sec. ed., 1874). When the above admissions of Koyalist and Episcopalian historians are kept in view, the reader 154 THE BOOK OF COMMOX ORDER. The other measure which brought matters to a crisis was the issuing of a Service-book, intended to have been pnb- lished along with the Canons, although it was fifteen months later of making its appearance. The delay was probably due to the number of persons concerned in its preparation. When the compiling of a Prayer-book for the Church of Scotland was again taken in hand, it was felt it would not be possible to ignore the recently elevated Scottish prelates. To those of their number taken into confidence at Whitehall and Lambeth, the proposal was first made that, in the interests of uniformity, the new ritual should be the Book of Common Prayer used across the Border.^-^ The proposal, however, failing to approve itself to the northern prelates, who judged that it would be exceedingly distasteful to the bulk of the nation, they were called upon to draw up a scheme of what they deemed might be accepted, and submit it for the con- sideration of King Charles and those whom he might asso- ciate with him in the work of final revision. The men in Scotland intrusted with the work of drafting were the wary Primate Spottiswoode,^-^ Maxwell, Bishop of Eoss,^^" and will appreciate the statement of Professor Massou, that in Scotland the book '■'was received with a kind of dumb amazement."- — -'Life of Milton,' ut sup., vol. i. p. 716. i:;8 " I [Laud] told him [Maxwel, Bishop of Ross] I was clear of opinion that if his Majesty would have a Liturgy settled there, it were best to take the English Liturgy without anj' variation, that so the same Service-book might be established in all his Majesty's Dominions. . . . He [his Majesty] inclined to my Opinion, to have the English Service without any alteration to be estab- lished there. And in this Condition I held that Business, for 2 if not 3 years at least."—' The Hist, of the Troubles and Tryal of The Most Reverend Father in God and Blessed Martyr, William Laud, Lord Archbishop of Canterbury.' W'rote by Himself during his Imprisonment in the Tower (London, mdcxcv. ), pp. 168, 169. ^-^ "A prudent and mild man, but of no great decency in his course of life."— Burnet, 'Hist, of His Own Time,' bk. i. "A Summary," &c., p. 14, one-vol. ed. London: Chatto & Wiudus, 1875. 130 " ]v;^,j^v among these late bishojDS whom king Charles preferred, none were generally esteemed gifted for the office, except bishop Maxwell, of whom it cannot be denied but he was a man of great parts ; but the mischief was, they were accompanied with unbounded ambition." — -'The Memoirs of laud's liturgy, 1637. 155 Weclderburu, Bishop of Dunblane, wliom Laud afterwards affected to depreciate as " a mere scholar and a bookman,-" but who was known to l;)e in sympathy with the Arminian and High Church leanings of the English prelate. In England the proposals were carefully examined by the king ; but for final revision they were passed on to three Church of England dignitaries — Archbishop Laud, Dr Juxon, Bishop of London, and Dr AVren of Norwich. After this process of drafting, revising, and recasting had gone on for some time,^^^ the book assumed completed form when Laud and Wren wrote in a copy of the English Book of Common Prayer such modifications as had been suggested in Scotland and had secured royal approval, and also the additions which English revisionists had resolved upon. This book was sent to Scotland for the guidance of the compilers there, with a plain intimation that the liberty seemingly granted to alter some things was one not to be exercised, his Majesty's will being that there should be little or no alteration.^^- Whatever contributions may have Ijeen made by others to the offices of worship as finally adjusted, no one now seems to doubt that the really responsible editor was " the little, low, red-faced man," William Laud, that evil genius of his sovereign " of the narrow forehead and melan- choly Vandyke air." ^^^ In this case there is as much of ap- propriateness in conjoining the name of Laud with the book as there is of inaccuracy in associating the name of Knox with the term liturgy. What is popularly known as, " Laud's Liturgy," is justly so called. As in the compiling, so also in Henry Guthry, late Bishop of Duiikeld,' sec. ed. (Glasgow, mdccxlvii.), pp. 16, 17. ^^^ Dr Sprott regards what issued from the press in April 1637 as the fourth or fifth draft. — 'Scot. Liturg.,' ut sup., Introd., p. Ixiv. ^■'•- Iliid., Introd., pp. li.x, Ix. 133 " The alterations proposed were forwarded to Scotland for the approval of the Scottish bishops ; but the brain which had conceived them was that of the restless Archbishop of Canterbury." — S. R. Gardiner, ' Hist, of England from the Accession of James A'l.,' vol. viii. chap. Ixxx. p. 309. 156 THE BOOK OF COMMON ORDER. the bringing out, of the new l;)Ook of forms, tliere was con- siderable delay. Copies of the work issued from the Edinburgh press of Ptobert Young in April 1637, the intention being that it should be in use by Easter of that year. And individual cases of its employment in two or three provincial towns and in college chapels may be met with ; but Easter came and passed without the new Prayer-book having been used in the capital. By midsummer, however, the Privy Council took action in the matter, bringing such pressure to bear upon the hesitating or dilatory bishops that it was deter- mined by tlie ecclesiastical authorities to begin the use of the liturgy upon Sunday, the 23d of July, intimation to that effect to be made on the 16th in all the city churches. The way in which this order was dealt with by the Edinburgh ministers was ominous of trouble. " Some of them," says the historian Pow, " refused to read it at all ; some did cast it down to the Peader to read it ; and some did read it, yet in such a way that any might perceive he cared not whether that edict was obeyed or not." ^^^ AVhat took place on the eVentful 23d of July 1637 in the churches of St Giles and Greyfriars is familiar to every schoolboy in Scotland, and need not be here narrated. If any one v/ishes to freslien his acquaintance with the some- what hackneyed story, he has only to read the narrative of the Edinl)urgh tumults of that year, as told by the town-clerk of Aberdeen,^^^ by the parson of Pothiemay,^''' or by the minis- ter of Carnock ; ^^'^ and one of the most dramatic episodes of Scottish Church History will appear all aglow with national enthusiasm and tumultuous with popular excitement. The official condemnation of tlie obtruded Service-book "^ 'Historic,' 1637, p. 408, Wod. Soc. ed. ^■^^ John Spalding's ' Memorialls of the Troubles in Scot, and Eng.,' a.d. 1624-164.'., Spalding Club, pp. 79, 80. "" James Gordon's ' Hist, of Scots Affairs,' Spalding Club, vol. i. ^^'' John Rowe's 'Hist, of the Kirk of Scot.,' pp. 408, 409, Wod. Soc. ed. ItOYAL PEOCLAMATIOX ANENT LAUD'S LITURGY. IHT will fall to be stated under the subsequent period which opens with the General Assembly of 1638. Just now it will be enough to direct attention to a remarkable proclamation and an equally remarkable preface with which the contents of the volume were brought before the people of Scotland. The title-page prepared them to find in what followed, " The Book of Common Prayer and Administration of the Sacra- ments ; and other Parts of Divine Service for the Use of the Church of Scotland." After a table of contents came "A Proclamation for the authorizing of the Book of Common Prayer to be used throughout the Eealm of Scotland." This edict purported to emanate from " Charles, by the Grace of God, King of Great Britain, Prance, and Ireland, Defender of the Faith," and was addressed to various civil functionaries enjoining them straitly and immediately to " command and charge all our subjects, both ecclesiastical and civil, to conform themselves to the public Form of Worship, which is the only Form which We (having taken the Counsel of Our Clergy) think fit to be used in God's public Worship in this Our Kingdom." Then, "all Arch- bishops, and Bishops, and other Presbyters and Church-men," were commanded " to take a special Care that the same be duly obeyed and observed, and the Contraveeners condignly censured and punished ; and to have special Care that every Parish betwixt and Pasch ^^^ next procure unto themselves two at least of the said Books of Common Prayer for the use of the Parish." i^'' ^'•^^ "Betwixt and Pasch next." The elliptical plirase might well puzzle such an English editor as the Rev. Peter Hall ( ' ReliquiiE Liturgica?, ' vol. ii. p. 6), who imagines a word to be omitted — "Between this and Easter next." But the wording is in correct Scottish legal style. The phi-ase occurs in one of Baillie's letters : " So I did what I could, with so mauie of the Commission I got hetuixt and ten." — 'Letters and Journals,' vol. ii. p. 97. ^•'^ Dr J. H. Burton characterises the proclamation as "a very offensive secular document printed at the beginning of the book, to flare in the face, as it were, of those for whom it was destined. . . . Surely it may be safelj- said that the history of Christianity cannot show another instance of a book of 158 THE BOOK OF COMMON ORDER. The proclamation of authorisation is followed by a preface of explanation. In the opening paragraph it is affirmed that " the Church of Christ hath in all ages had a prescript Form of Common Prayer, or Divine Service, as appeareth by the ancient Liturgies of tlie Greek and Latin Churches." This, it is claimed, is in the interests of uniformity in public wor- ship, an object so desirable and seemly that " it were to be wished that the whole Church of Christ were one as well in Form of publick Worship, as in Doctrine : And that, as it hath but one Lord and one Faith, so it had but one Heart and one Mouth." Such a uniformity may not be attainable " in the whole Catholic Christian Church," but ought surely to be matter of endeavour " in the Churches that are under the Protection of one Sovereign Prince." Pteference is then made to the pains taken in this matter by " King James of blessed memory," and to the resolve of the reigning sovereign not to suffer his father's purpose to fall to the ground. Of this evidence was given "soon after his coming to the Crown," when he " gave order for the framing of a Book of Common Prayer like unto that which is received in the Churches of England and Ireland, for the Use of this Church." Exception is then supposed to be taken to " this good and most pious Work," on the ground that the framers of it have followed the Service-book of England. Any disposed to sympathise with that objection are asked " to consider that, being, as we are, by God's Mercy, of one true Profession, and otherways united by many Bonds," it would not have " been fitting to vary much from theirs, ours especially coming forth after theirs." It was therefore deemed " meet to adhere to their Form, even in the Festivals, and some other Eites, not as yet received nor observed in our Church, rather than by omitting them, to give the Adversary to tliink that we disliked any part of their Service." devotion announced in such a fasliion to its devotees." — 'The Hist, of Scot.,' vol. vi. chap. Ixviii. jjp. Hi, 145, sec. ed. KNOXS HISTORY AND LAUDS LITUKGY. 159 In a remarkable closing paragraph the framers of the Scottish Prayer-book endeavour to strengthen their position by adducing the opinion and the practice of those whom they style " our first Eeformers." This is done by a reference to the ordinance passed at a meeting of nobles and barons in 1557. On that occasion, it is stated "the first Head con- cluded " by those " professing Christ Jesus " was to the effect " that in all the Parishes of this Ptealm the Common Prayer should be read Weekly on Sundays and other Festival Days, with the Lessons of the Old and Xew Testament, conform to the Order of the Book of Common Prayer (meaning that of England) ; for it is known that divers Years after we had no other Order for Common Order." Then follows the state- ment, " We keep the Words of the History " divided from which by a semicolon, and printed in italics, are the additional words: " Edigion was not then placed in Rites and Gestures, nor Men taken loitli the Fancy of extemporary Prayers." But at the close of the first limb of the sentence affirming adher- ence to the ijjsissima verha of the record is an asterisk directing to an authority on the margin of the page, that authority being thus given : " The History of the Church of Scotland, p. 218." It may surprise some to learn that the History thus re- ferred to is no other than ' The History of the Pieformatiou of Eeligion within the Eealm of Scotland,' by John Knox. Of that famous work an attempt was made to print an edition in England by Vaultrollier in 1586 or the year following ; but after a limited number of copies had been thrown off', further progress was arrested by the ecclesiastical authorities, and what had been printed was seized in order to be destroyed. This imperfect and suppressed edition, in small octavo, had for title, ' The Historic of the Church of Scotland ' ; and on page 218 of the volume a statement substantially the same as that now quoted is to be found.^^*^ Needless to state that John ^^" I have been able to trace and verify the above reference tliruugh the 160 THE BOOK OF COMMON ORDER. Knox is not responsible for the words that follow the asterisk and semicolon, although that impression might quite well be created in the mind of a cursory reader. He is no more responsible for affirming that at the Eeformation religion was not made to consist in rites or postures, nor were men car- ried away with a " fancy of extemporary prayers," than he is chargeable with advancing the averment with which this remarkable preface closes, to wit, " Sure, the public Worship of God in His Church, being the most solemn Action of us His poor Creatures here below, ought to be performed by a Liturgy advisedly set and framed, and not according to the sudden and various Fancies of Men." Any one wlio examines the matter with care will find that the extent to which the ascendancy of Episcopacy in Scotland during the reigns of James YI. and Charles I. affected the public worship of the country was very limited. When divine service was rendered in the presence of earthly royalty, care was taken that it should be after the English pattern. It was so when James visited his native country in 1617, and again in 1633, when Charles paid his coronation visit, having Laud for his chaplain and master of ceremonies. And services of a similar kind were no doubt conducted elsewhere than in Edinburgh — in, for example, Aberdeen and St Andrews, where it would be safe to venture upon them. But cases of this kind were only occasional and ex- ceptional. In the great majority of parish churches, both in town and country, public worship was conducted on the lines laid down in that Order which was used at Geneva, approved and received by the Church of Scotland, and "imprinted" at Edinburgh in 1565. courteous co-operation of Mr J. S. Gibb, Edinburgh. Among his many other literary treasures, that gentleman possesses a copy of the earliest printed edition of Knox's ' History,' of which he has kindly granted me the use. Further information regarding tliis and other editions of the History will be found in ' Life of Knox,' Notes TTT, UUU; also in 'Works,' vol. i., Introd. Notice, pp. xxxii-xxxix. SCOTTISH METPJCAL PSALTEK, 1G35. 161 In confirmation of this statement we may point to tlie fact that 1635, the very year in which Charles I. issued letters patent authorising the Canons which prohibited the use of any other ritual than that which English and Scottish bishops were busy framing, was the year in which there was published at Edinburgh the edition of the Scottish Presby- terian metrical Psalter regarded by competent authorities as the most complete of its kind, and as such selected for reproduction in a modern verbatim reprint which reflects the greatest credit alike upon generous promoter, learned editor, and painstaking lithographers.^^^ In this edition of 1635, the only one in which the tunes are harmonised, there are three " conclusions " or doxologies printed by themselves and placed at the opening of the metrical portion of the volume, and fourteen Spiritual Songs brought in at "the end of the I'salms of David in Prose and Metre," and with in- structions at the beginning of each as to the number of the psalm to the tune of which it is to be sung. Some of these metrical pieces may fairly enough be styled paraphrases of Scripture passages, as, for example, " The Ten Command- ments," " The Lord's Prayer," " The Song of Simeon," " The Song of the Blessed Virgin Mary," and " The Song of Moses." Others, again, can only with any measure of correctness be designated hymns, for among the collection are the " Veni Creator," " The xii Articles of the Christian Belief," " The Humble Suit," " Lamentation," and " Complaint of a Sinner," and what is termed " a Spiritual Song," having for opening- lines — " What greater wealth than a couteuted mind ? What poverty so great as want of grace ? " i-"! " The Scottish Metrical Psalter of A. D. 1635, reprinted in full from the original work. The Additional Matter and Various Headings found in the editions of 1565, &c., being appended, and the whole illustrated by Disserta- tions, Xotes, and Fac Similes. Edited by the Rev. Neil Livingston [D.D.] Printed from stone, by Maclure & Macdonald, Lithographers to the Queen. Glasgow : 1864." L 162 THE BOOK OF COMMON ORDER. That the uniformity of Presbyterian worship was not materially affected by the obtruding upon the country of a popularly disliked Episcopacy can be made good in another way, — one which will give us greater breadth of view, while it will furnish us with the testimony of widely differing and quite independent witnesses. We propose, then, to extract from the writings of a Scottish Episcopalian, an English traveller, and a Scottish Presby- terian divine, descriptions of the ritual practised in Scotland at times in the period reviewed, when kingcraft and prelatic abetting of it were specially active in the interests of Episco- palian government and worship. Our first description is one relating to divine service in the reign of King James, and comes from the pen of William Cowper, who commenced his public life as a Presbyterian minister, but became Bishop of Galloway in 1G12, having got " new light " ^*- which caused him to change sides and brought to him promotion. This estimable man and evan- gelical writer published a controversial treatise in 1623. It takes the form of a series of conferences or dialogues between a " Catholic Christian " and a " Catholic Eoman," as the author styles them ; and one of the imaginary conferences is held on a Sabbath, upon which day, at the suggestion of the Catholic Christian, they attend divine service in a Pro- testant place of worship. This is what they are reported by the Scottish bishop to have seen and heard. The congrega- tion bow reverently while the Reader makes humble con- fession and supplication in their name ; they then open their psalm-books in order to join in praise, the Picader having given out a particular psalm for all to sing, after which he opens the Bible and reads a portion of Scripture. These exercises of prayer, praise, and reading occupy an hour, all 142 Pqj. favourable estimate of the writings aud racy anecdote regarding the "new Hght" of WiUiam Cowper see M'Crie's 'Life of Melville,' chaps. ix., xii. COWPER AND BKERETON ON SCOTTISH lIITUxVL. 163 being engaged in with tlie utmost quietness and devoutness, everything uttered, it is observed by the Romanist, being spoken in the vernacular of the country. The ringing of a bell ^^^ brings this part of the service to a close, and the minister enters the pulpit. He commences with a conceived or unwritten prayer, during which the worshippers reverently humble themselves. He thereafter reads his text and pro- ceeds with his sermon, the majority of his male hearers having their heads uncovered, those whom considerations of health might influence being at liberty to remain covered. The sermon iinished, the minister engages in thanksgiving; a psalm is sung by the congregation ; the minister pro- nounces the blessing in the name of the Lord, " and so demits them." When the two friends have left the Ijuilding the Roman Catholic expresses himself highly pleased with what he terms a "most comely and comfortable order," thanking God for " the best Sabbath-day that ever he saw." ^^^ The second writer of whose testimony we avail ourselves is an English traveller. Sir William Brereton of Cheshire belonged to the Puritan party in England, and acquired some distinction as an officer in the Parliamentary army. He visited Scotland and other countries in 1634 and 1635; and his account of his travels was published by the Chatham Society in 1844. "^ " The third bell." The first bell was rung at an early hour to prepare the people for setting out ; the second at the commencement of the Reader's service ; and the third to mark the beginning of that of the minister. Thus the Glasgow Session made the following arrangement on the 29th July 1592 : " the first bell at half nyne [8.30 a.m.], the 2d at nyne, and the 3d at half ten [9.30 A.M.] ;" and on Jan. 23, 1597, " that at the 3d Bell the two Bells in the Laigh Steeple shall both be rung together;" and in March 1652, "That an Elder attend in every kirk between the ringing of the first and 2d Bells, to see decency and order keeped in jieople taking their seats." — ' Collections on the Life of Mr David Weems,' ]\Iaitland Club, pp. 17, 18. ^** 'The Workes of Mr AVillia Cowper, late Bishop of Galloway.' London : 1626. 164 THE BOOK OF COMMON ORDER. This is Brereton's description of public worship in Scotland when Charles I. was on the throne, and was doing his utmost to Anglicise the polity of Presbyterian Scotland : — " Upon the Lord's day they do assemble betwixt eight and nine in the morning, and spend the time in singing psalms and reading chapters in the Old Testament, i:ntil about ten o'clock ; then the preacher comes into the pulpit, and the psalm being ended, he reads a printed and prescribed prayer, Avhich is an excellent prayer ; this being ended, another psalm is sung, and then he jirays before ser- mon, and concludes his sermon betwixt eleven and twelve o'clock ; and during tlie intermission, many continue in the church until the afternoon exercise, wliich begins soon after one, is performed in the same manner as in the morning, save the chapters then read are out of the N'ew Testament ; and they conclude about four o'clock." Sir AVilliani also describes the administration of the sacra- ments. In the case of baptism he represents the preacher as standing in the pulpit, to which is fastened " a frame of iron shaped and proportioned to a basin, wherein there stands a silver basin and ewer." " The minister usetli an exliortation of gratitude for God's great goodness in admitting them to this privilege, &c., and demanding from the witnesses (wlio are many, sometimes twelve, sometimes twenty) according to a printed form of Baptism ; the parent receives the child from the midwife, presents the same mito the preacher, who doth baptize it without any manner of ceremony, giving a strict care of Christian and religious education, first unto the parent, then to the witnesses." According to the English tourist of the seventeenth century, the sacrament of the Lord's Supper is administered after this manner : A narrow table is placed in the middle aisle, the whole length of it, round about which the most of the communicants sit, as in the Dutch and French churches, although Brereton found conformity to English Church ceremonies being much pressed, especially in the case of the " gesture of kneelinef." Of the strain that existed in "ORDER OF THE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND," 1641. 165 the country generally because of the endeavour to introduce the " nocent ceremonies " from England, Sir William Brereton had evidence when he visited Ayr. On inquiring of his landlady there regarding the town minister, he found her ready with complaints against him because of the zeal with which he was pressing conformity, particularly in the matter of kneeling. She further informed him that upon Easter-day so soon as the minister went to the communion-table the people left in a body, no one remaining but the conform- ing pastor.^^^ Our remaining testimony is that of one who played an important part in the stirring events that led up to the Second Eeformation, one to whom Presbyterian Scotland owes a debt of gratitude only second to that due to John Knox. Our reference is to Alexander Henderson. In 1641 there was printed at Edinburgh a small treatise upon " The Government and Order of the Church of Scot- land." Eepublished in London "by authority" [?] in 1644 with some omissions and alterations, a third edition was issued at Edinburgh in 1690. In his "Advertisement" to the latest issue, the publisher, George Mosman by name, professes that he " cannot certainly learn who was the author," but thinks he must have been a stranger. It is further stated that where anything appeared to be either omitted, erroneously stated, or different from present practice, care has been taken to mark and supply such by means of brief marginal notes " by a good hand." Although published anonymously, and written as if coming from the pen of an English I'uritan, this masterly treatise is now, by general consent, associated with the name of Henderson.^^*^ i« 'Early Travellers in Scotland. 1295 to 1689.' Edited by P. Hume Brown, author of 'The Life of George Buchanan.' Edin.: 1891. Pp. 132-158. ^*^ In a letter of the historian W^odrow, dated Jan. 11, 1723, he sends his correspondent " a List of wliat of Mr H.'s I have in print and manu- script." Second in his enumeration of printed works is 'Government and 166 THE BOOK OF COMMON OEDEE. In his prefatory remarks " to the Eeader," the writer con- fesses he had been made to believe two things which he afterwards found to be not in accordance with the facts of the case. The first erroneous impression was " that the true Government of " the Churcli of Scotland " was Episcopal, and that beside the order of Episcopacy, there was nothing in that Church but disorder and confusion, through the Parity of their Ministers ; " and the second was " that they had no certain rule or direction for their public worship, but that every man following his extemporary fansie, did preach and pray what seemed good in his own eyes." A sufficient proof of the inaccuracy of this last statement the author finds in " the form of Prayers, administration of the Sacraments, admission of Ministers, Excommunication, solemnizing of Marriage, visiting of the sick, &c., which are set down before their Psalm Book, and to which the Ministers are to conform themselves." " Eor although," he goes on to remark, " they be not tied to set forms and words, yet are they not left at randome, but for testifying their consent and keeping unity, they have their directory and prescribed order. Nowhere ordei- of ye Church of Scotland, 4to, Lond., 1641.' 'Sermons, Prayers, and Pulpit Addresses, by Alexander Henderson, 1638.' Edited from the original MS. by the Eev. R. Thomson Martin, Wishaw, Edin.: 1867. 'Memorial about Mr Alexander Henderson,' p. xxxiii. As late as 1864 the authorship of the treatise was supposed by some to be unknown, and the author regarded as an English Puritan. So in " Report of Committee anent Innovations in Public Worship appointed by the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland " in 1863. But, writing in May 1868, Dr Sprott calls it ' Henderson's Government and Order of the Church of Scotland,' and in a footnote states that "though anonymous, and written as if by an Englishman, there can be no doubt that Henderson was the author. Baillie speaks of Henderson writing such a work at the time. ... In a i^amphlet of 1659 it is referred to as Henderson's." — Re- print of ' Book of Common Order,' Introd., p. xxx, n. Dr J. H. Burton accepts Dr Sprott's view which he gives, and adds regarding the little book : " It is an extremely clear exposition ; and as the best account of the government and worship of the Church of Scotland at this critical juncture, one is surprised that it has not been reprinted in later times, and remains a rarity little known."— 'The Hist, of Scot.,' chap. Ixviii., "Charles I.," p. 124 (n.), 2d ed. The copy in my possession is one of the 1690 edition. Henderson's "order kept in preaching." 167 hath preaching- and the Ministeiy more spiritual and less carnal liberty, the Presbytery and Assemblies encouraging to the one and restraining from the other." The treatise itself is divided into two parts, the first treat- ing " Of the Officers of the Church," and the second " Of the Assemblies of the Church." Section third of part first treats of the duties of the pastor under the following particulars : 1. The Order kept in Preaching. 2. The Order of Baptism. 3. The Order of administering the Communion. 4. The Order of public Fasting, &c. 5. The Order of Marriage, 6. The Order of Purial of the Dead. Any one who compares these " Orders " with what is contained under the same or similar headings in the Book of Common Order, and thereafter with the contents of the Westminster Directory, will have all trouble repaid by the results of the comparison. For the present, however, we confine ourselves to the first of the orders enumerated^that " kept in preaching." Starting with the general statements that " the Pastor is bound to teach the AYord of God in season and out of season," and that, in addition to occasional and week-day sermons, " which in Cities and Towns use to be at least two dayes every week," the writer states there is a gathering of the congrega- tion twice on the Lord's Day. What takes place at such gatherings is thus described: — " Notice is given of the time by the sound of a Bell. When so many of all sorts, Men and Women, IMasters and Servants, Young and Old, as shall meet together, are assembled ; tlie public Worship beginneth witli Prayer, and reading some portion of holy Scripture both of the Old and New Testament, Avhich the people hear with attention and reverence ; and, after reading the Avhole Congregation joineth in singing some PmJin. This reading and singing do con- tinue till the Preaching begin. At which time the ^Minister having prefaced a little for quickening and lifting up tliL' hearts of the people, first maketh a Prayer for remission of sin, Sanctilication, 168 THE BOOK OF COMMON ORDER. and all things needful, joyning also Confession of sins and Thanks- giving, with special relation to the Hearers. After "which is an- other PsaJm, and after the Piable that his reference is to the 23i'ose portion of the Book of Common Order, which, as we have seen, was often spoken of as the " Psalme Book" ? ^" "Edinburgh, April 20, 16-42." Baillie's ' Lettei'S and Journals,' vol. ii. p. 2. TIME AND PLACE OF MEETING. 177 Upon the 13tli of May 1643, a parliamentary instrument called an Ordinance, which is a Bill accepted by the two Houses but wanting the royal assent, was produced, and had the force of law given to it upon June 12th. It purports to be " an Ordinance of the Lords and Commons assembled in Parliament, for the calling of an Assembly of learned and godly Divines and others, to be consulted with by the Parlia- ment, for the settling of the government and liturgy of the Church of England, and for vindicating and clearing of the doctrine of the said Church from false aspersions and inter- pretations."^^ In the document itself Peers and Commoners state that they are resolved " that such a government shall be settled in the Church as may be most agreeable to God's holy Word, and most apt to procure and preserve the peace of the Church at home, and nearer agreement with the Church of Scotland, and other Reformed Churches abroad." Thereafter " all and every the persons hereafter in this present Ordinance named " are required and enjoined " to meet and assemble themselves at Westminster, in the Chapel called King Henry the VII.'s Chapel,^'* on the first day of July, in tlie year of our Lord one thousand six hundred and forty-three, . . . and the said persons . . . shall have power and authority, and are hereby likewise enjoined ... to confer and treat among themselves of such matters and things, touching and concern- ing the liturgy, discipline, and government of the Church of England, for the vindicating and clearing of the doctrine of 1^ This Ordinance i.s generallj- prefixed to editions of the Westminster Con- fession of Faith, &c. 14 << This place appointed for their meeting was the place where the Convo- cation of 1640, notorious for its forlorn attempt to carry out the policy of 'thorough' despotism in Church and State, had met." — 'The Westminster Assembly, its History and Standards.' By A. F. Mitchell, D.D. London: 1883, Lect. v. p. 133. " They did sit in Henry the 7ths Chappell, in the place of the Convocation ; but since the weather grew cold, they did go to Jerusalem chamber, a fair roome in the Abbey of Westminster, about the bounds of the CoUedge fore-hall, but wyder." — Baillie's 'Letters and Jour- nals,' vol. ii. p. 107. See Dean Stanley's ' Memorials of Westminster Abbey.' M 178 THE WESTMINSTER DIRECTORY. the same from all false aspersions and misconstructions, as shall be proposed nnto them by both or either of the said Houses of Parliament, and no other." Upon the day and at the place specified in this Ordinance the Westminster Assembly began its proceedings, disregarding a proclamation from the king, who attempted to arrest pro- ceedings with the threat of a prcenmnire penalty. In Scotland the General Assembly for that year met at Edinburgh in the month of August. On the loth of that month a conference was held in the Moderator's private room. Two years earlier a meeting of a similar nature had been held in the Earl of Loudon's chamber on the invitation of the IMarquis of Argyll and the Earl of Cassillis. Upon that occa- sion the matter of innovations in the conduct of public wor- ship was discussed. The " novations " complained of were omitting the doxology, abstaining from kneeling for silent prayer upon entering the pulpit, " discountenancing read prayers," &c. Some who were j)resent and " were suspected of innovating," notably David Dickson and Eobert Blair, "did purge themselves fullie of all such intentions." The meeting broke up, all being " refreshed with a certaine hope of a solid agreement," making Baillie, who was there and has reported the proceedings, sanguine that they would not again be "fashed with idle toyes and scruples."^^ But when the Assembly of 1643 met, it appeared the trouble from ritual innovations imported from England and Ireland was not at an end, and so another private meeting " anent the troublesome evil of novation " was found necessary. The new school, allied with English Independents, and strengthened by the return from Ulster of Scottish emigrants of the south-western counties, were now agitating, not only for the discontinuance of the doxology and kneeling or bow- ing in the pulpit, but also for the omission of the Lord's Prayer from the public prayers, and of the Creed from the •'■' Baillie's ' Letters and Journals,' vol. i. jap. 362, 363. ENGLISH "novations" IN SCOTLAND. 179 administration of the sacraments, and, generally, for tlie dis- use of all rubrics of ritual, even the simplest. The discussion in the INIoderator's private apartment was a protracted and heated one. The favourers of departure from use and wont in the alleged interests of purity and simplicity were heard, though with impatience, especially when they argued against the use of the Lord's Prayer. Such Scottish noblemen as were present expressed displeasure with the new movement, while Samuel Eutherfurd and David Dickson refuted the arguments of the innovators. " After one hour's jangling," it was found no progress had been made, and, in the interests of peace, many were disposed, Paitherfurd being specially so, to discontinue the use of the time - honoured " conclusion " and " bowing in the pulpit," induced to do so in view of agreement with England.^*^ Ultimately it was agreed that an Act should be drawn up authorising the compiling of a Scottish Directory for worship, and making special reference to innovating tendencies and practices that were troubling the peace of the Church. The Act was drafted that same day by Alexander Hender- son,^^ as one " for preparing the Directorie for the Worship of God." In terms thereof it was ordained " that a Directorie for Divine Worship, with all convenient diligence, be framed ^6 " In our privie meetings we had much clebait anent the troublesome evill of novations. . . . Being called to the Moderator's chamber, Mr John M'Lel- lane and Mr John Nevay, most did propone their reasons for their judgement. Mr Samuell Rutherfoord and Mr D. [Dickson] did ansuer. All heard with disdaine Mr John Nevay's reasons were against the Lord's Prayer : after one hour's jangling, we left it nothing better ; I found manie enclined, especiallie Mr Samuell, though he professed it duetie to ansuer satisfactorlie all their arguments, for peace cause, to passe from the use of the conclusion, and bow- ing in the pulpit, especiallie if we agree with England." — Baillie's ' Letters and Journals,' vol. ii. p. 94. ^" " We agreed to draw up some act for satisfieiug in some measure all. ... Mr Hendersone communicat to me the act he had drawn. I told him my mislike of some parts of it, as putting in too great ane equalitie the nova- tors and their opposits ; also my opinion that the Directorie might serve for mauie good ends, bot no wayes for supressing, bot much encreasing, the ill of novations." — .Baillie, ut sup., pp. 94, 95. 180 THE WESTMINSTER DIRECTORY. and made ready, in all the parts thereof, against the next General Assembly, to be held in the year 1644."^^ The clos- ing paragraph was specially directed against the disturbing innovators, forbidding, " under the pain of the censures of the Kirk, all disputation by word or writing, in private or publick, about different practices in such things as have not been formerly determined by this Kirk, and all condemn- ing one of another in such lawfull things as have been uni- versally received, and by perpetuall custome practised by the most faithfull ministers of the Gospell, and opposers of cor- ruptions in this Kirk, since the first beginning of reforma- tion to these times." ^^ Submitted to the Assembly at a later stage of the day, the Act was passed unanimously, and three ministers — Henderson, Calderwood, and Dickson — were appointed to draft the Direc- tory.-*^ Happily, or unfortunately, nothing came out of this movement for a purely Scottish Directory.-^ For to that 1^ Sess. 12, Aug. 15, 1643. — " Act for preparing the Directorie for the Worship of God." — Acts, tit stq)., pp. 79, 80. 1^ " And for preserving of peace and brotherly unity in the meanwhile, till the Directorie, by universall consent of the whole Kirk, be framed, finished, and concluded, the Assembly forbiddeth," kc, ut sup. — Acts, ut stq)., p. SO. "" " This act did pass unanimouslie with all. Mr Hendersone, ilr Calder- wood, and Mr Dicksone, were voyced to draw with diligence that Directorie, wherein I wish them much better successe than I expect ; yet in this I am comforted, that in none of our brethren who are taken with those conceits, appears as yet the least inclination to IndeiJendencie, and in these their dif- ferent practises they become lesse violent, and more modest." — Baillie, ut sup., p. 95. -^ At p. 38 (n.) of 'Liturgical Proposals to Presbyterians of England tried by History, Experience, and Scripture ' (London, 1891), the Rev. S. R. Mac- phail states that the Directorj- provided for by the Assembly of 1643 "ap- peared in 1644." " It is jjrinted," writes Mr Macphail, "in Hall's 'Fragmenta Liturgica,' vol. i.," and the comijleted book in the same compiler's ' Reliquia; Liturgies,' vol. i. But there is no evidence whatever to associate Henderson, Calderwood, and Dickson with the reprint in question. That is simply an English edition of the Book of Common Order as published in 1556, the Preface or Address being in Hall's 'Reliq. Liturg.,' dated "At Geneva, the 10th of February, Anno 1556," and the entire document being identical with " The Forme of Prayers and ilinistration of the Sacraments, &c., used in the English Congregation at Geneva, m.d.lvi.," as given in Knox's 'Works,' vol. ENGLISH DESIRES FOE A DIRECTORY. 181 same Assembly of the Church of Scotland there came com- munications from the Houses of the English Parliament, and from " the Assembly of Divines in the Church of England," inviting co-operation in the drawing up of ecclesiastical standards. In the parliamentary declaration, presented by English Commissioners in person, both Houses expressed their desire that " the two kingdomes might be brought into a near conjunction in one form of Church government, one Directorie of Worship, one Catechisme, &c., and the founda- tion laid of the utter extirpation of Popery and Prelacie out of both kingdomes." -- In the letter from " the Assembly of Divines called, and now sitting by authority of both Houses of Parliament," thanks are rendered to God for putting it " into the hearts of our Parliament to cleanse the House of the Lord of all iv. 3Ir Wacphail lia.s probably been misled by the editor of the ' Fragmenta ' aud ' ReliquijB, ' by uo means a safe guide, especially in matters of Scottisli ritual, aud he, again, by finding on the title-page of " The Settled Order of Church Government, Liturgie and Discipline, for the rooting out of all Popery, Heresie, and Schisme, according to the Forme published by the Assembly of the Kii-k of Scotland," that it was " most humbly presented to the learned Assembly of Divines now congregated at Westminster, by the authority of both Houses of Parliament, for the Reformation of abuses in the government of the Church." The same remark applies to what the Rev. Peter Hall rejjrints in vol. iii. of his ' Reliq. Liturg. ' as an apjiendix to the Dii-ec- tory, under the title of "The Service, Discipline," kc, printed at London, 1641, 1643, and "presented to the High Court of Parliament," but which is simply " The Book of Common Order, &c., approved and received by the Church of Scotland, m.d.lxiv.," as reprinted in Knox's 'Works,' vol. vi. In "the Letter from the Commissioners at London to the Generall Assembly," dated " Worcester House, London, May 20, 1644," signed by " Jo. Maitland, Alex. Henderson, Robert Baillie, Sam. Rutherford, George Gillespie," and inserted in the Assembly minutes under " Sess. 7, June 4, 1644," there is this sentence, which seems to me to afford conclusive evidence that by that time all idea of compiling a Scottish Directory had been abandoned: "The Common Directory for Fublick Worship in the Kirks of the three kingdomes is so begun (which we did make known to the commissioners of the Generall Assembly), that we could not think upon any particular Directory for our own Kirk, and yet it is not so far perfected that wee could present any part thereof unto your view." — Acts, ut svp., p. 102. " Acts, ut sup., p. 82. 182 THE WESTMINSTER DIRECTORY. the uncleaniiesse that is in it, by impure doctrine, worship, or discipline ; " and it is declared to be " a great consolation that our God hath put it into your hearts to designe [appoint] some godly and learned brethren to put in their sickles with us into this harvest, which is so great, and requires so many labourers ; for which, as we heartily return thanks, so we earnestly pray the Lord to open a way to their timely coming hither, and do assure them of all testimonies of respect, love, and the right hand of fellowship, who shall undertake a journey so tedious, and now so perilous, to joyne with us in the work, when it shall please the Honourable Houses of Parliament to invite them thereunto." -^ Answers were in due course returned by the Scottish Assembly to these English overtures. The Parliament of England was informed that the Church of Scotland had " nominated and elected " certain ministers of God's Word and ruling elders, " all of them men much approved here," " to repair unto the Assembly of Divines and others of the Church of England, now sitting at Westminster, to propound, consult, treat, and conclude with them ... in all such things as may conduce to the utter extirpation of Popery, Prelacy, heresie, schisme, superstition, and idolatry — and for the setling of the so much desired union of this whole island in one forme of Church government, one Confession of Faith, one common Catechisme, and one Directorie for the AVorship of God." 24 The " Eight Eeverend the Assembly of Divines in the Church of England " were, in briefer terms, informed of the appointment of " some godly and learned of this Church to repair to your Assembly." -^ Before the fathers and brethren, convened at Edinburgh, separated, there was drawn up a Commission " for these that repair to the kingdom of England," authorising them " to propone, consult, treat, and conclude ... in all matters 23 Ibid., pp. 83, 84. 24 ibij^ pp, S9, 90. -5 iiji,i_^ p, 92. SOLEMN LEAGUE AND COVENANT TAKEN AT WESTMINSTER. 183 which may further the union of this ishmd in one forme of Kirk government, one Confession of Faith, one Catechisme, and one Directorie for the Worship of God, according to the instructions which they have received from the Assembly, or shall receive, from time to time hereafter, from tlie Commis- sioners of the Assembly, deputed for that effect." -" By the 14tli of September three of the Commissioners from the Church of Scotland reached London,-'' and on the day following they were received and welcomed by the English divines as representatives of one of the covenanting churches and nations. Eleven days thereafter English meml)ers of Parliament and ministers of the Gospel, with the Scottish Commissioners, gathered in the little but historically famous Church of St JNIargaret's, Westminster, and there, after pro- longed and renewed exercises of singing, praying, and preach- ing, with hands uplifted to heaven, worshipping the great name of God, they gave assent and adhesion to the Solemn League and Covenant.-*^ -^ Ibid., p. 94. -" The three were Alexander Henderson, George Gillespie, and John, Lord Maitland. ^* The service at the taking of the Covenant on September 25, 1643, is de- scribed by Lightfoot in his Journals (Pitman's ed. of 'Works,' vol. xiii. p. 19), by Dr Hetherington ('Hist, of West. Assemb.,' chap. ii. pp. 120, 121), and by Dr Mitchell ('The West. Assemb.,' Lect. vi. pp. 176, 177), who gives Lightfoot's account. To only two points does our present subject lead us to refer. First, The title of this Church and State document. As framed by Henderson, and laid before the English Commissioners, it was entituled ' The Solemn Leagie AND Covenant for Reforjiation and Defence of Religion, the Honour and Happiness of the King, and the Peace and Safety of the Three Kingdoms of Scotland, Ewjland, and Ireland.' By English writers such as Rush worth and Neal, the order of the first two kingdoms is inverted ; so also by Mr S. R. Gardiner in ' The Constitutional Documents of the Puritan Revolution, 1628- 1660,' Oxford, 1889, pp. 187-190. Tliat the order is as we have given appears from. Second, the first article of the Covenant, which has an important bear- ing upon our present inquiry, and is in this significant ordering and in these striking terms : " That we shall sincerely, really and constantly, through the Grace of GOD, endeavour in our several Places and Callings, the Preservation of the reformed Religion in the Church of Scotland, in Doctrine, Worship, Discipline and Government, against our common enemies ; the Reformation of 184 THE WESTMINSTEK DIEECTORY. During the first ten weel^s of its deliberations tlie West- minster Assembly was occupied with a revision of the Thirty- nine Articles of the Church of England.-'^ But on the 12th of October 1643, English members and Scottish Commissioners directed their attention to " the discipline and liturgy of the Church," moved to do so by an order from both Houses of the English Parliament. The order set forth that upon serious consideration of the present state and conjuncture of the affairs of this kingdom, the Lords and Commons do order that the Assembly do forthwith confer and treat among themselves of such a discipline and government as may be most agreeable to God's holy "Word, and most apt to procure and preserve the peace of the Church at home, and nearer agreement with the Church of Scotland and other reformed Churches abroad . . . and touching and concerning the Directory of Worship or lit- urgy liereafter to be in the Church." ^'^ In carrying out these orders the Assembly gave priority to Eeligion in the Kingdoms of England and Ireland, in Doctrine, Worship, Dis- cipline and Government, according to the W^ord of GOD, and the Example of the best reformed Churches ; and shall endeavour to bring the Churches of GOD in the three kingdoms, to the nearest Conjunction and Uniformity in Religion, Confession of Faith, Form of Church Government, Directory for Worship and Catechizing ; that we, and our Posterity after us, may, as Brethren, live in Faith and Love ; and the Lord may delight to dwell in the midst of us." -^ "A committee of divines was appointed to consider what amendments were proper to be made in the doctrinal articles of the Church of P^ngland and report them to the Assembly, who were 10 weeks in debating upon the first 15, before the arrival of the Scots commissioners ; the design was to render their sense more express and determinate in favour of Calvinism." — Neal's 'Hist, of the Puritans,' part iii. chap. ii. vol. ii. p. 215 of Tegg's ed. 1837. In Appendix VII. Neal gives the articles as revised "with the original articles of the Church in opposite columns" (vol. iii. pp. 519-524). According to Dr Hetherington, this part of the Assembly's labours " led to no practical result"; terminating abruptly' and unfinished, it "cannot properly be said to form any part of the Assembly's actual proceedings" (' Hist.,' ut stijj., Period III. chap. ii. p. 115). But Prof. C. A. Briggs takes a wider view, and affirms "the labour was not fruitless " (American Presbyterianism, chap. i. § iii. p. 62, n. Also "The Documentary Hist, of the West. Ass.," by same wi-iter in ' Presbyterian Review,' vol. i. 1880, an article displaying great historic insight. '^^ Lightfoot's 'Works,' ut sit])., vol. xiii. p. 17. THE DIRECTOKY IN COMMITTEE. 185 the matter of government, Lut arranged for the Directory or liturgy being proceeded with in committee. On the 21st of May 1644, the divines were debating with apparently nndiminished zest and keenness the power of the keys, and to whom it was given, the rights of a classical pres- bytery as distinct from those of a particular congregation, and suchlike questions, when a wearied Scot Commissioner, de- spairing of the matter of ritual being ever reached at this rate of progress, abruptly "moved for the speeding of the Directory for worship." ^^ Seconded in this movement by an English Puritan,^- Samuel Paitherfurd carried his proposal, and the committee in charge of the Directory were ordered to bring in some report in the course of three days. That committee had been employed upon a Directory since the middle of October in the previous year ; but had, at an early stage, handed over the working out of the details to a small sub-committee, con- sisting of five members and all the Scot Commissioners.^^ From the journalist and letter-writer among the latter we ob- tain some insight as to what went on in committee ; how, for example, " the matter of all the prayers of the Sabbath-day " was laid upon them ; how the portion relating to the sacra- ^1 Ibid., p. 268. "- Rutherfurd's seconder was Steiihen Marshall, "known as one of the best Puritans of his day, and as one of the Smectj'innuans, and by many thought to be the best preacher in England." — Prof. Masson, 'Life of Milton,' ice, vol. ii. p. 519. "'■' . . . " in the uieantiuie, we wy of this valuable but scarce book made use of by me is in the Library of the New College, Edinburgh. 234 THE WESTMINSTER DIKECTOEY. this another psahn is sung, named by the Minister, and frequently- suited to the subject of his sermon ; which done, he gives the bene- diction, and dismisses the congregation for that time." Afternoon service follows closely upon that of the morning, " because in the interim they eat nothing." The order of service is similar to what has been described. " Sucli," moralises the London rector, " is the Church's way in Scotland, and it seems to us Presbyterian, and therefore we the more admire [wonder] that the two parties should so much dis- agree between themselves when they appear to the world so like brethren."' " Truly," he goes on to remark, " their difference is hardly discernible ; for their singing of psalms, praying, preaching, and collections are the same, and 'tis the whole of their worship in both the congregations. They both do it after the same manner, saving that after the psalm the Episcopal minister uses the Dox- ology, Avhich the other omits, and concludes his own prayer with that of the Lord, which the I'resbyterian refuses to do." ^^^ Morer's description of the dispensation of sacraments and solemnisation of marriage in Scotland toward the close of the Stuart occupancy of the throne calls for no special notice, unless it be that in the case of baptism questions are re- ported to be put concerning the Creed to the father, while god-parents are not mentioned; that in the ease of the Com- munion it is stated to be " dispensed to the people while they are sitting, after the example of the Apostles eating the old Passover ; " and that marriages are said to be " openly solem- nised in the Church, and indifferently on any day of the week." 120 Burials were, so far as Morer's observations enabled him to judge, " made without a minister," in order to avoid what might seem to savour of Popery. On the day of burial the coffin was brought out, " covered with a large black cloth or velvet pall, sprinkled with herbs and flowers," and sup- ported by three poles, " like those our chairmen use," having "» ' Short Account,' &c., pp. 59-62. i-" Ibid., pp. 62-64. BUEIAL USAGES IN XYII. AND XVIII, CENTUPJES. 235 three men on each side to support and march with the bier. A procession was formed, one portion of which went before the coffin-bearers, the other following them in ranks without confusion, the rear being brought up by " a promiscuous com- pany of women," who walked " without distinction of quality," and also " without any order." The churchyard being reached, " they put in the dead corpse with little ceremony, and then the company immediately return home." ^-^ Such a mode of interment might well appear to tlie English clergyman sadly lacking in Christian respect and reverence. It is with evident and laudable satisfaction he proceeds to tell how it fell to his lot as chaplain to take part in the burial of an English officer in the parish of Dalkeith, according to Anglican ritual. In order to avoid giving offence by dis- playing the Prayer-book, the burial-service was committed to memory by Chaplain Morer, and was thereafter " delivered by lieart." Thus conducted, the service " so well satisfied many of the Scotch of that town that they could not forbear calling it a Christian burial, and said that theirs was like the burial of a dog in comparison of the other." ^-^ This absence of religious services in the case of Scottish burials continued for more than a century after IMorer's day. The Eev. Eowland Hill paid his first visit to Scotland in 1798, and as an incident in that visit his biographer records the following : — " At Hawick lie saw for the first time a Scotch funeral conducted without a prayer or the presence of a minister, and observed to a bystander, ' Your funerals are soon over.' A loquacious old woman told him prayers were of no use to the dead. This he admitted, but suggested that the people of Scotland lost an excellent oppor- tunity of doing good to the living, if they could do nothing for the dead. * I was surprised,' he adds, ' at this omission in Scotland ; hut considering that a Scotsman always stands as an antipode to the 1-' Ibiil., pp. 64, 65. 1" Ibid., pp. 67, 68. 236 THE WESTMINSTER DIRECTORY. Pope, it appeared probable that papal prayers for the dead deter- mined John Knox, their valuable but uncouth reformer, against all prayers at a funeral whatever." ^-^ That the services conducted iu the open air at the con- venticles or field-meetings of the Covenanters were Presby- terian in pattern and detail need hardly be stated. The matter to be emphasised is that, in spite of all that was abnormal and alarming, full of discomfort and hardship alike to ministers and congregations in these proscribed gatherings, there would seem to have been a careful regard to the leading exercises of public worship as these had been observed in the forsaken parish churches. There was lecturing or prefacing as there had been from the time of the Westminster divines. Thus at the famous conventicle of the 8th of June 1670, held on the Hill of Beath near Dunfermline, the forenoon service was conducted by Mr John Dickson, who lectured for a considerable time before preaching ; the afternoon service fell to ]\Ir Blackader, who, after some jJ'i'&facinff, took for the text of his sermon the 16th verse of the 9th chapter' of 1st Corinthians.^-* On another and later occasion — the first Sabbath of January 1674 — Mr Blackader addressed a large gathering at Kinkell House, a short distance from St Andrews. There he lectured on the 2d Psalm. Before the service had proceeded far the wife of the primate became aware of what was going on, and, in the absence of her husband, sent out a mixed multitude, composed of the militia, the town rabble, and a number of the wilder students,^-^ to disperse the worshippers. By the time this motley company reached the scene the lecture 1-3 ' The Life of the Rev. Rowland Hill.' By the Rev. E. Sidney. Chap, vii. pp. 185, 186. i^-* 'Memoirs of the Rev. John Blackader.' By Andrew Crichtou. 1823. Pp. 155-157. 1-^ To the honour of the students of St Andrews iu the seventeenth century let this be noted : "There were 12 or 14 of the best alfected scholars hearers at Kinkel." COYENANTIXG SERVICES. 237 was ended, and Blackader was about to begin his sermon. The lady of the house remonstrated with the lieutenant in charge for creating a disturbance on the Lord's Day, and having brought forth some ale for him and his men, succeeded in getting him to draw off the intruders. Thereafter the congregation gathered quietly together again, heard a sermon, and " the meeting closed in peace." ^-*^ Again, there was generally at Covenanting services in times of persecution the exercise of praise. True, there were occasions when, for obvious reasons, sing- ing could not be engaged in. Such occasions were those of the midnight conventicle, as described in the lines of James Grahame : — " Wlien the ■wintry storm raged fierce, And tliunder-peals compelled the men of blood To couch within their dens ; then dauntlessly The scattered few would meet, in some deep dell By rocks o'er-canopied, to hear the voice, Their faithful pastor's A'oice." On other occasions, however, when Scotia's persecuted children " Heard the word of God By Cameron thundered, or by Renwick poured In gentle stream : then rose the song, the loud Acclaim of praise ; the wheeling plover ceased Her plaint ; the solitary place was glad, And on the distant cairns the watcher's ear Caught doubtfully at times the breeze-borne note." Cairntable, a conspicuous mountain-height on the border of two parishes, Muirkirk in Ayrshire and Douglas in Lanark- shire, was the scene of many a Covenanting gathering. Here,. 1-" 'Memoirs of the Rev. John Blackader,' ut sup., p. 177. At p. 261 mention is made of "a very moving discourse" on Jeremiali viii. G "by way of preface." See also "A choice Collection of very valuable Prefaces, Lectures, and Sermons preached upon the mountains and muirs of Scotland, in the hottest time of the late persecution. By that faithful Minister and Martyr of Jesus Christ, The Keverend Mr James Renwick." In some cases there was a preface and no lecture ; when there was a lecture before the sermon it was generally preceded by "a preface to lecture." 238 THE WESTMINSTER DIRECTORY. on the 28th of December 1686, James Eenwick prefaced, lectured, and preached to a large audience. His preface was devoted to a setting forth of forty-one " causes of a Fast," which wei'C enumerated and enforced by the preacher " after singing a ])art of the, ^^th Psalm." ^-'' Finally, at the Covenanters' open-air services the sacra- ments were dispensed. To go back to the famous Hill of Beatli conventicle, attendance at that gathering entailed dis- astrous consequences upon many of the worshippers.^^^ Two of these — Mr John Vernor and Mr Eobert Orr — were charged with the heinous offence of having had their children bap- tised. Both were imprisoned. Inasmuch as he refused to inform upon others, the former was fed with bread and water, and so heavily ironed that in course of time one of his limbs showed symptoms of gangrene. The two were ulti- mately set at liberty upon the urgent representations of some people of rank, but only on condition that they found security to the extent of 500 merks each to appear when called upon.^-^ ^-'' 'A Choice Collection,' &c., ut sup., p. 247. "An old Christian Sufterer, yet alive in the Parish of Orr in Galloway, writes to me, That in the year 1677, he heard Mr John Welwood preach in the South, near the Border. A Gentleman came four or five ililes to stop him from preaching on his Ground. Mr Wehoood was begun ere he came ; Mr Welwood had sung in the 24 Psalm, The Earth's the Lord's, and the Fulness thereof: And, Prefacing ujjon the same, as their Ordinary then was, said, Tho' the Earth be the Lord's, and the Fulness thereof, &c., yet the poor Fools of the World will not allow a Bit of his Earth to preach his Gospel upon. The Gentleman standing at the side of the People, going to discharge him from preaching upon his Ground, these Words so pierced him, that he sat down and heard him through the Day, went Home, and set up the Worship of God in his Family, and very shortly there- after joined himself in a Society-Meeting, where my Informer was present, and thereafter became a Sufferer himself, but not unto Death." — Patrick Walker's ' Biographia Presbyteriana.' Two vols. Edinb. : 1827. Vol. ii. "Postscript," p. 96. ^"^ Some were heavily fined ; some were taken bound never to attend such services in the future ; some were imprisoned for refusing to give the names of officiating ministers ; while others were sent out of the country into slavery. 1-3 Wodrow's 'Hist, of the Sufferings,' &c., book ii. chap. v. sect. i. vol. ii. of Burns's ed., i>. 158. See also ibid., book ii. chap. i. sect, i., pp. 4-6. A COVENANTING COMMUNION. 239 The sacrament of the Lord's Supper was also dispensed under the dome of what Carlyle calls " the great Cathedral of Immensity " to those who could not with a clear conscience receive it from the hands of curates within parish churches. A famous Covenanting Communion was that held at East Nisbet, in Berwickshire, on the banks of the Whitadder, 1677. At this sacramental service John Blackader took a leading part, and has fortunately given a description of the scene which, if homely in its style, is touching in its simplicity. On this occasion rumours were abroad as to intended vio- lence on the part of county militia and the king's troops, the Earl of Hume ^^^ having, it was reported, profanely sworn that he would make the horses of his troopers trample the Communion bread under their hoofs, and drink the sacra- mental wine. On this account it was deemed prudent to take precautions. Reconnoitring parties were formed ; com- panies of armed and mounted yeomen were drawn up round the congregation, care being taken to place them so that " they might hear sermon." " The place where we convened," writes Blackader, whose narra- tive we give in condensed form, " was every way commodious, and seemed to have been formed on purpose. It Avas a green and pleasant haugli, fast by the water-side. In both directions there was a spacious brae, in form of a half round, covered with delight- fid pasture, and rising with a gentle slope to a goodly height. Above us was the clear blue sky, for it was a sweet and calm Sabbath morning, promising to be, indeed, one of the days of the Son of man. The Communion-tables were spread on the green by the Avater, and around them the people had arranged themselves in decent order. But the far greater multitude sat on the brae-face, which Avas croAvded from top to bottom. The tables were served by some gentlemen, persons of the gravest deportment. N"one Avere admitted Avithout tokens, as usual, which Avere distributed on the Saturday, but only to such as Avere knoAvn to some of the ministers 130 i'^j, ramp a youth as any in the country." — Blackader's 'Memoirs' p. 200. 240 THE WESTMINSTER DIRECTORY. or persons of trust to be free from public scandals. All the regular forms were gone through : the communicants entered at one end and retired at the other, a way being kept clear for them to take their seats again on the hillside. " Mr "Welsh preached the action sermon, and served the first tAvo tables : the other four ministers, Mr Blackader, Mr Dickson, jMr Eiddel, and Mr Eae, exhorted the rest in turn : the table services were closed by Mr Welsh with solemn thanksgiving. The Com- munion was peaceably concluded ; all the people heartily offering up their gratitude, and singing with a joyful noise to the Eock of their salvation. It was pleasant as the night fell to hear their melody swelling in full unison along the hills, the Avhole congrega- tion joining with one accord and praising God with the voice of psalm. There were two long tables and one short across the head, Avith seats on each side. About a hundred sat at every table : there were 16 tables served, so that about 3200 communicated that day. The afternoon sermon Avas preached by Mr Dickson ; and the season of solemn serAdces Avas brought to a close Avith a sermon on Monday afternoon from Mr Blackader." 241 PERIOD V. EEVOLUTION — UNION — DECADENCE. Towards the close of 1G88, William Henry, Prince of Orange, and son-in-law of James VI I., addressed a declaration to " the ancient kingdom of Scotland," in which he set forth the reasons that induced him " to appear in arms for preserving the Protestant religion and restoring the laws and liberties " of that country. In the course of the manifesto, " given at our court in the Hague," reference is made to the endeavour in certain c^uarters to introduce a religion contrary to law, which rendered it the duty of those more immediately con- cerned to come forward in order " to preserve and maintain the established laws, liberties, and customs, and, above all, the religion and worship of God that is established among them." ^ Considering the avowed faith of James VII., this reference to the Church of Eome was natural, and would be palatable to the majority of Scotsmen ; but the absence from the decla- ration of all mention of Prelacy must have rendered it dis- appointing to many in the ancient kingdom, with whom abhorrence of that system was not less intense than their detestation of Popery. How the kingdom and Kirk of Scotland viewed the Prelacy forced upon the country by the second Charles and ^ Wodrow's 'Hist, of the Sufferings of the Ch. of Scot.,' book iii. chap xii. sect. iv. Vol. iv. pp. 470-47*2 of Burus's ed. 242 REVOLUTION — UNION — DECADENCE. the last of the Jameses was speedily made known in an address presented to the Dutch Prince, " together with a call and humble petition to his highness from the people of Scotland of all sorts, especially of the Presbyterians there." Among other things petitioned for in the national manifesto were these : " That the office of bishops above pastors, with all that pertain thereunto, be assoilied, . . . the same having no warrant from God's word, being contrary to our solemn covenants and vows, and which our predecessors at the bring- ing in of the first bishops . . . did hold forth to be the egg of which antichrist and the man of sin was decked [hatched] at first, and by which, as a ladder and steps, he mounted up to the popedom : " " that presbyterian government be restored and re-established, as it was at the beginning of our refor- mation from popery, and renewed in the year 1638, continuing until 16G0."2 To the same effect was the prayer of an address drawn up at a largely attended meeting of Presbyterian ministers held in Edinburgh, January 1689. In this paper advantage is taken of a reference in the Dutch declaration to the ejection of 1661 to direct attention to the true cause of that act, which resulted in the filling of the places of ejected Presby- terians witL, in many cases, ignorant and scandalous persons, that cause being " the overturning of the presbyterial govern- ment, which was generally received as of divine right, and established by the national assemblies of this church, and sanction of many civil laws, and instead thereof, the erecting of prelacy." ^ Upon the 13th of February 1689, in the Banqueting-house at Whitehall, Prince William Henry and Princess Mary accepted -Ibid., pp. 477-481. "The copy I have," writes tlie historian, "is the first draught of it, witli marginal corrections. "Whether this address was ever wi'itten out, signed, and sent to the prince, I cannot say. ... I am of opinion that this paper was not got finished before the prince's arrival iu England, and so was not sent." 2 Ibid., pp. 481, 482. ABOLITION OF PEELACY IN 1689. 243 the crown of England, and were proclaimed King and Queen of England, France, and Ireland. The proclamation made no mention of Scotland, which was thus left to resolve, offer, and declare for itself. These steps were soon taken. On the 14th of ]\Iarch 1G89 a meeting of the Estates of the Kingdom of Scotland, called by circular letters under the hand and seal of William, was " holden and begun at Edinburgh." By the time those thus summoned had done their work, wdiich was not till the 25th of May, important conclusions had been reached and epoch-making steps had been recorded. An exchange of letters was followed up with " The De- claration of the Estates of the Kingdom of Scotland, con- taining the Claim of Eight, and the offer of the Crown to their IMajesties King William and Queen Mary," In the forefront of this famous document King James YIL, styled " a professed Papist," is charged with having acted uncon- stitutionally when he assumed the regal power, and with invading " the fundamental constitution " of the country, altering the same " from a legal limited monarchy to an arbitrary, despotic power," exercising the same " to the sub- version of the Protestant Pieligion, and the violation of the laws and liberties of the kingdom." On these and other grounds the Estates find and declare " he hath forefaulted the right to the Crown, and the Throne is become vacant." After this finding there follows a series of declarations, and among these the following have a central place : " That Prel- acy and the Superiority of any Office in the Church above Presbyters is, and hath been, a great and insupportable Grievance and Trouble to this Nation, and contrary to the Inclinations of the Generality of the People ever since the Eeformation (they having reformed from Popery by Pres- byters), and therefore ought to be abolished : " " that William and Mary, King and Queen of England, France, and Ireland, Be and Be Declared King and Queen of Scotland." ^ ■■ ' The Acts and Orders of the Meeting of tlie Estates of the Kingdom of 244 REVOLUTIOX — UNION — DECADENCE. The first Scottish Parliament of " our most high and dread Sovereigns William and Mary, by the Grace of God King and Queen of Scotland, England, France, and Ireland," was " holden and begun at Edinburgh" on the 5th of June 1689. One of the Acts of that Parliament, passed on the 22d of the following month, was styled " Act abolishing Prelacy." In this important piece of legislation the King and Queen's IMajesties did two things, with advice and consent of the Estates of Parliament. They abolislied Prelacy and all superiority of any office in the Church of this kingdom above Presbyters ; and they undertook to settle by law that Church government in this kingdom " which is most agree- able to the inclinations of the people," going back, with evident purpose, upon the crave and the very language of the Claim of Plight of some three months' earlier date.^ A second session of the First Parliament of William and Mary began on the 25th of April 1690, and by the 7th of June further action was taken in the interests of the Church of Scotland. There was ratified and established the Confession of Faith " as the public and avowed Confession of this Church, containing the sum and substance of the doctrine of the Reformed Churches ; " there was also established, ratified, and confirmed the Presbyterian Church Government and discipline by Kirk-sessions, Presbyteries, Provincial Synods, and General Assemblies, ratified and established in 1592, and thereafter received, by the general consent of this nation, to be the only government of Christ's Church within this king- dom ; and lastly, the first meeting of the General Assembly of this Church as above established was appointed " to be at Scotland, Holdeu and begun at Edinb. the 14tli Day of March 1689. Called by Circular Letters from His Highness the Prinxe of Orange, under his Hand and Seal.' Edinb.: 1690. ' The Declaration of the Estates of the Kingdom of Scot, containing the Claim of Right, and the Offer of the Crown to Their Majesties King William and Queen Mary,' pp. 15-19. 5 Ibid. "Act abolishing Prelacy, July 22, 16S9." PEESBYTEPJAN POLITY PATIFIED, 1690. 245 Edinburgh the third Thursday of October next to come in this instant year 1690."*^ It will be observed that the only Westminster document read, voted, and approved by the Parliament of 1690 was the Confession of Faith. The story is current that it was on the motion of the Duke of Hamilton that the thirty-three chap- ters of the confessional standard were read over " with a distinct and audible voice," the reading being a matter of several hours, and exhausting the endurance of most who were present. When it was proposed that the reading of Catechisms and Directory be proceeded with the wearied members rebelled, and declared the rest might be left to the ministers, to be managed according to their discretion.'' Whatever of truth or exaggeration there may be in the story, it is certain that the Directory has no place in the Eevolution settlement of the Scottisli Parliament, the same holding good of the National Covenant, and the Solemn League and Covenant.^ When we look Ijack upon the parliamentary legislation of the Picvolution period with any knowledge of the factions represented in the meetings of Convention and of Parliament, and consequently with some appreciation of the difficulties of the situation, the settlement arrived at may appear to have been as satisfactory as could well be expected. There is the wisdom of the statesman and the moderation of the reason- able party man in these weighty words of Lord Melville, written by one who had full knowledge of what was attain- able, and what might be theoretically desirable but out of '' Ibid. " Act ratifying the Confession of Faith, and settHng Presliyterian Church Government, June 7, 1690." ^ 'Account of the late Establishment of I'resbyterian Government,' 1690. ^ " At the Revolution there was no legislation ou worship. Parliament did not legalise the Directory as it legalised the Confession of Faith." — 'The Church of Scot., Past and Present.' Edited by Dr Story. 'The Ritual of the Church.' By Rev. Thomas Leishmau, D.D. Vol. v. p. 397. 246 EEVOLUTION — UNION — DECADENCE. reach — " Men must take what they can have in a cleanly way, when they cannot have all they would." '* The majority of Scottish Presbyterians took substantially this view of the situation. Living at the crisis of a sudden transition from despotism to secured liberty, " smarting from the fresh wounds of anti-Christian oppression, weary of strife, and anxious for rest and peace," they " either thankfully accepted, or at least acquiesced in," the settlement, " in the hope of being able practically to effect under it the great ends which the Church had all along, in all her former con- tendings, regarded as indispensable." ^^ It was in this thankful and hopeful frame of spirit that about one hundred and eighty ministers convened in the Assembly House, Edinburgh, on the 16th of October 1690, and constituted themselves into a General Assembly, the first after an interval of seven-and-thirty years. Both prior to and at the opening of the Assembly strenuous endeavours were made by the king and his ministers of State to impress upon fathers and brethren the urgent desirableness of cultivating the virtue or grace of moderation. The Earl of IMelville wrote to the royal commissioner, Lord Carmichael, " an honest and moderat person," as also to such Presbyterian ministers as Mr Hugh Kennedie, one of the ministers of Trinity College Church, and the Moderator designate, Mr James Kirkton, Dr Eule, Mr Eraser of Brae, Mr David Wilson ; and the burden of every communication was — be temperate, be moderate, only determine matters of absolute necessity, make the session short, just enter upon possession and then adjourn.^^ At the second meeting of the Assembly his Majesty's letter was read, in which such a frame of government " as was ^ Lord Melville to the Earl of Crawfurd. — ' Leven and Melville Papers' (Baunatyne Club), p. 210. ^•^ Act and Declai-ation of the Free Church of Scotland, 1851, prefixed to Subordinate Standards and other authoritative Documents. " ' Leven and Melville Papers,' pp. 542-544. THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF 1G90. 247 judged to be most agreeable to the inclinations of our good subjects " is rejiresented as ready to be enacted by king and Paidiament, while " a calm and peaceable procedure," no less pleasing than becoming, is enjoined in these silvery sentences, which certainly breathe the spirit, if indeed they did not emanate from the pen, of " Cardinal " Carstares : " We never could be of the mind tliat violence was suited to the advanc- ing of true religion ; nor do we intend that our authority shall ever be a tool to the irregular passions of any party. Moder- ation is what religion enjoins, neighbouring churches expect from you, and we recommend to 3"ou." ^- In their answer to that " gracious letter " the Scottish Presbyterian divines assure his Majesty that nothing will be wanting on their part to render the management of their affairs such as he had just reason to expect, and such as would never give him cause to repent of what he had done for them. " The God of love, the Prince of peace, with all the providences that have gone over us," say they, " and circumstances that we are under, as well as your Majesty's most obliging pleasure, require of us a calm and peaceable procedure." ^^ The only legislative measure of the Assembly of 1690 which can be regarded as having any bearing upon the con- duct of divine service is in the form of an " Act anent the Administration of the Sacraments," the purpose of which is to prohibit " the administration of the Lord's SujDper to sick persons in their houses, and all other use of the same, except in the public assemblies of the Church ; and also . . . the ad- ministration of Baptism in private, that is, in any place, or at any time, when the congregation is not orderly called together to wait on the dispensing of the Word.^* In one Act, the Confession of Faith is mentioned as that which " all proba- tioners licensed to preach, all intrants into the ministry, and !■- 'Acts of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotlaud, 1638-1842." Edinb.: 1843. P. 222. 13 Ibid., p. 223. '* Ibid., pp. 226, 227. 248 REVOLUTION — UXION — DECADENCE. all other ministers and elders received into communion with us in church government," must give approval of by subscrip- tion;^^ in another, provision is made for the effective distribu- tion of " Irish [Gaelic] Bibles, New Testaments, and Cate- chisms " among " the Highlanders of this Kingdom." ^^ But the Directory for Public Worship is not once referred to in the doings or actings of the first Assembly after the Eevolution. Nor, after what we have seen, need that be wondered at. For, though an alien form of Church government had been forced upon Scotland, the Church worship throughout the kingdom continued substantially what it had been in days of Eeformation freedom and purity, and therefore legislative action was not necessary to restore what had never been lost. It only remained for the episcopal incumbents, who, in order to retain their benefices, became presbyterian conformists, to pi'ay for William and ]\Iary instead of for the fugitive James, and to conduct the services in the parish churches on the same lines as formerly ; the outed presbyterian ministers, when restored to their charges, might safely be left to officiate within walls with the same disregard of liturgical ritual as had characterised their conventicle services in the open air all through the times of the late persecution. As might be expected, there were here and there through- out the country cases of friction, and even of collision, arising from episcopalian injudiciousness or presbyterian indiscretion, from the tenacity of the adherents of a lost cause or the irre- pressible buoyancy of those who found the tables turned in their favour. An incident or two may serve as illustrative of the kind of thing referred to, the locality of the incident giving additional interest to what took place. 15 Ibid., p. 225. 1^ Ibid., p. 227. The last of the six " Overtures anent the Irish Bibles," &c., approved by the Assembly, contained a recommendation "to the ministers concerned in the Highlands to dispatch the whole Paraphrase . " I daresay it will not be easily forgot, what all our great men are very sen- sible of, that the Union could never have had the consent of the Scotch Parlia- 266 EEVOLUTION — UNION — DECADENCE. this person of notoriety out of proportion to his import- ance or ability, had received prelatic ordination from Bishop Eamsay of Eoss in 1694, by which time the bishop had neither civil nor ecclesiastical status. Soon after admission to holy orders Greenshields went to Ireland, where he held a curacy first in the diocese of Down and afterwards in that of Armagh. He returned to Scotland in the beginning of 1709, bringing with him testimonials from several Irish ecclesiastics, and also certification that he had taken the oaths to Government, was loyal to the Throne, had conformed to the established order alike in Church and State, and that his manner of living was in harmony with his ministerial profession.'*^ In Edinburgh Greenshields formed acquaintance with several English families. Government appointments having brought them to Scotland subsequent to the Union ; and his intercourse with these led to his conducting services accord- ing to the forms of the Church of England, first in a room in the Canongate, then in a house at the city cross, part of which he fitted up as a chapel, and lastly in another house situated in a less public part of the town. This procedure coming to the knowledge of the Edinburgh Presbytery through a reference from the session of the College Church,^* Greenshields was cited to appear within the Old ment, if you had not acted the worthy i^art you did." — Unsubscribed Letter to Carstares from some English Minister of State. Ibid., p. 76. ^'■^ De Foe's description of Greensliields is manifestly prejudiced and un- substantiated. According to the historian of the Union, the Scoto-Irish curate was a Jacobite tool who lived upon £15 a-year in Ireland, and who came over to Edinburgh "to mend his commons." Found to be "a person of prosti- tuted morals, a large stock in the face, and ready if well paid to do their work," hia party " promise him fourscore pounds a year." — Preface to ' History of the Union,' p. 19. If the income of the Irish clergyman was no more than De Foe states, he might well seek to "mend his commons," seeing he had to maintain not only himself but also a wife and seven children. •** " The kirk-session of the north-east parish of Edinburgh, called commonly the College Kirk, presented this new innovator to the Presbytery of Edin- burgh, who accordingly cited him before them." — Ibid., p. 22. CASE OF EEV. JAMES GREENSHIELDS. 267 Church of the city.'*'' He compeared, produced his certili- cate of ordination and credentials to show that he was " a presbyter according to the rites and usages of the Church of Scotland," but declined to acknowledge the authority of the local church or preshytery.'*° Disallowing his declinature and protestation, the Presby- tery tried him upon and found him guilty of three charges : first, declining their authority ; second, exercising the office of the ministry without their cognisance and sanction ; third, introducing " a form of worship contrary to the purity and uniformity of the worship of this Church established by law," They proceeded to prohibit him from exercising any part of ministerial function within their bounds, and thereafter they applied " to the Magistrates of Edinburgh to render their sentence effectual." Mr Greenshields' next appearance was in the new council chamljer, where by the magistrates he was prohibited and discharged to preach or exercise any part of his ministerial function " within the bounds and liberties of the good town of Edinburgh, with certification that " trans- gression of the prohibition would bring upon him imprison- ment in the Tolbooth and such other punishments as they might think fit to inflict. Having on the following Sunday officiated in his meeting-house and used the Book of Common Prayer, he was again called before the civic authorities, who, upon his admission that he had " preached and performed Divine Service publickly upon Sabbath last," " ordained him "*•' lu the " Summonds given by the Presbytery's Officer to Mr James Green- shields," he is stj'led "a pretended Preacher," and is required to conijiear in order " to give an account of yourself, you being a Stranger here, and jDresuming at your own Hand without the Authority of any predicatory to exercise the Office of the Holy Ministrj- publickly on the Lord's Day, and convening people to hear you." — 'A True State of the Case of the Reverend Mr Greenshields, now Prisoner in the Tolbooth in Ediub.,' &c. London: 1710. A copy of this scarce publication is in the library of the New College, Edinburgh. ^•^ "He told them, he had in a Christian manner given them satisfaction that he was no Vagabond ; and that since it was plain by his Credentials he was a Minister of the Communion of the Church of England, he conceived, as such, he was not subject to their Jurisdiction."— Ibid., pp. 7, 2S. 268 EE VOLUTION — UNION — DECADENCE. to go to the Prison and Tolbooth of this City, therein to remain, ay and while he found caution that he should desist from the exercise of his ministry within this City, Liberties and Privileges, in all time coming, or else that he should remove himself therefrom." After an imprisonment of wellnigh two months, during which his health became impaired and his large family was reduced to straits, Greenshields applied to the Lords of Council and Session for his liberation by presenting a bill of suspension. By this court of appeal, however, the sentence of the magis- trates was on two several occasions confirmed, the ground taken being that " no minister ordained by an exauctorated *'' [deprived] bishop has true ordination," — one Lord of Session affirming that such a so-called bishop had " no more power to ordain a minister than a ballad-cryer in the streets," and another occupant of the bench comparing the deposed eccle- siastic to a cashiered colonel or captain of horse giving com- missions to subalterns. Failing in both applications to the Court of Session, the prisoner in the Tolbooth made his final appeal to the British House of Lords. Before the Lords gave their judgment the Edinburgh magistrates had released the appellant, but not before he had been seven months in con- finement. After some delay, caused in part by efforts to get the case settled out of court, the appeal was heard, and on the 1st of March 1711 the sentence of the magistrates and the sustaining of the Court of Session were reversed, and the municipal authorities were found liable in costs.'*'^ The wide-reaching influence of this first decision of the British House of I'eers in an appeal case from Scotland is only perceived wdien it is viewed as making way for, and •*'' " To ExAUCTOHATE [cx««catetica.' By the late John Duncan, LL.D. Edin- burgh. JIDCCCLXX. P. 6. 288 EEYOLUTION — UNION — DECADENCE. The second, also from the pen of the English essayist, occurs in a 'Spectator' article, dated 23d August 1712, entitled " The Confirmation of Faith," and in it the verbal altera- tions are fewer and slighter than in the first. The third is also Addisonian, being introduced in the ' Spectator ' for 18th October 1712 as the composition of a clergyman on his deathbed. The fourth is one of Isaac Watts', whose " Hymns and Spiritual Songs" were published in 1709. In that collec- tion the 7 2d hymn has for title, " The Lord's Day ; or, The resurrection of Christ " ; and for opening verse these lines : — " Bless'd morning, whose young dawning rays Beheld our rising God ; That saw him triumph o'er the dust, And leave his last abode." Not only were there verbal changes made upon this piece before it was placed in the Scottish appendix to the I'ara- phrases, but a sixth verse was added to the five of which the hymn originally consisted. This additional stanza takes the form of a translation by Nicholas Brady or Nahuni Tate of the Gloria Patri or conclusion : — " To Father, Son, and Holy Ghost,' the God whom w^e adore, Be glory as it was, and is, and shall be evermore." The only one of the five appended hymns for which a purely Scottish origin has been claimed is the last, beginning with the verse : — " The hour of my departure's come ; I hear the voice that calls me home : At last, 0 Lord ! let trouble cease. And let thy servant die in peace." This has been generally attributed to the Eev. John Logan of Leith, although it does not find a place in the poems which he published in the same year as that in which the Church of "THE ADDITIONAL PSALMODY" IN" SOUTH LEITII, 289 Scotland sanctioned and issued " Translations and Paraphrases of several passages of Sacred Scripture." The colleague minister of South Leith just mentioned took an active part in the enlarging of the Church's psalmody, and was a principal contributor to the collection of 1781. Never- theless, the endeavour to introduce the paraphrases and hymns into his own parish was attended with not a little friction and opposition, as the following curious extracts from the Session records make evident : — '■^ Jdnuanj 17 th, 1782. — The Session taking under their con- sideration the Intimation Mr Logan made from the Pulpit last Lord's Day, that the Additional Psalmody was to he introduced into the public worship, Sahhath next, without consulting either his Colleague or tlie Session, they apprehend this precipitant manner of introducing it will hy no means answer the design of the General Assembly ; the Session are unanimously of opinion that it should be deferred for some time mitill the Congregation are provided in books. Tlie Session appoint the Clerk to write Mr Logan this even- ing, and acquaint him of this their resolution." The receipt of this extract minute drew from the irritable and irate poet the following mandate addressed to the clerk, who was also precentor in South Leith congregation : — " Leith, January \Qth, 1782. " I charge you, Mr Alexander Lindsay, to sing the Psalms or Hymns which are to be read out in the pulpit of South Leith to Morrow ; as Session Clerk you are to obey the orders of the Session, as Precentor you are amenable only to the minister who presides in the public worship. If you refuse to comply with this order, I will prosecute you before the Presbytery of Edinburgh for disobedience to the Laws of the Cliurch. {S/'jn&J) John Logax."^^ Beyond the engrossing of this formidable document in the Session minutes according to orders given at a meeting held on the 14th of February, no further action is chronicled as having been taken on either side.^^ •*- Maclagan's ' Scottish Paraphra.ses,' p. 40. 8^ That the introduction of the enlarged Psalmody was more quietly gone T 290 EEVOLUTION — UNIONS' — DECADENCE. That in other quarters the collection was not regarded with clerical favour is illustrated by the action of the Eev. Dr Samuel Martin of Monimail, Fifeshire. This divine was a member of the Assembly's committee on the paraphrases, and a contributor of one of the sixty-seven in the issue of 1781. His is the paraphrase beginning — " Ye indolent and slothful ! rise, View the ant's labours, and be wise ; She has no guide to point her way. No ruler chiding her delay." Taking no active share in the work of revision, Dr Martin was disappointed with the production when it appeared, re- garded many of the pieces as doctrinally unsound, and never gave them out to be sung either in church or manse.^* The student of eighteenth -century life and literature desirous of becoming acquainted with the prevailing char- acter, tastes, and pursuits of its ecclesiastics, so as to form some conception of the religious life of the period, would do well to inform himself regarding the members of the para- phrase committee, and the versifiers whose productions find a place in the book that so grieved the evangelical minister of Monimail. In the list of the committee he will find names such as those of William Wishart, Principal of the Edinburgh University, and his brother George, for thirty-two years principal Clerk of Assembly ; of Patrick Cuming, Professor of Church His- tory and city minister in Edinburgh ; of William Eobertson of Gladsmuir, afterwards Principal Ptobertson ; of Alexander about in other jjarts of the country may appear from what is recorded of Mauchline, in Ayrshire. " Thei-e is no notice," writes the late Dr Edgar, " of this important step in any extant minute of kii-k-session, but allusion is made to it in a small memorandum-book of the session-clerk. . . . The whole entry regarding the paraphrases in this memoi'andum-book is, '1806, Feb. 9, began to sing the Pai'aphrases.' " — ' Old Church Life in Scotland,' Lect. ii. p. 82. ^* Letter from Rev. James Brodie of Monimail (grandson of Dr Martin) in 'Free Church Magazine,' Aug, 1847. Maclagan, ut sup., pjj. 41, 42. CONTEIBUTORS TO ENLARGEMENT OF PSALMODY. 291 Carlyle of Inveresk, " who 1ms made himself so familiarly — some are inclined to think too familiarly — known to us in his ' Autobiography ' ; " ^^ r^^-^([ qJ ^\^q j^^^thor of " Douglas, a Tragedy," at one time the Eev. John Home of Athelstane- ford, but after 1757 John Home, Esq. Among the authors some of whose compositions found a place in the enlarged psalmody of the century, he will read the names of Thomas Blacklock, the blind bard and minister, friend of David Hume, and discoverer of the genius of Robert Burns ; Hugh Blair, the popular city preaclier and Professor of rdietoric ; his relative, Robert Blair, author of the poem on the Grave ; and John Logan, whose bearing towards his colleague, session-clerk, and conductor of psalmody has been already noted, who was claimant to verses, both secular and sacred, not universally acknowledged to be his own, and a writer of tragedies : greater than any he imagined, however, was the tragedy he lived out. These names are sufficient to call up a school or party in the Church of Scotland, the rise and ascendency of which give special interest to the doings and writings of that much -maligned century, — the party which took as their watchword the term Moderation, with the reign of which as a prevailing party in Church courts the people of Scot- land have ever associated Moderatism. Xo man had better opportunity for studying the genius and characteristics of moderatism in its first development than the Ilev. Dr Juhn Witherspoon. Born in the manse of Yester, Haddingtonshire, February 5, 1722, ordained minister at Beith, Ayrshire, in 1745, inducted to the charge of the Laigh Church of Paisley in 1757, where he laboured till he entered upon a new career as President of Princeton College, New Jersey, Witherspoon spent the greater part of his ministerial life in close but hostile contact with the moderate *' Principal TuUocli in 'St Giles' Lectui-es. First Series.' ISSl. "The Church of the Eighteenth Century," p. 278. 292 REVOLUTION — UNION — DECADENCE. party. He fought them on the floor of the Assembly as the leader of the evangelical opposition, to the discipline of which Principal Eobertson paid a generous tribute. He also assailed them in their favourite field of literature, and with such effectiveness that his work is not unworthy of a place of permanency alongside that of Lord Shaftesbury,^'' upon the title and contents of which it is modelled. It was in 1753 that Dr Witherspoon published anony- mously his 'Ecclesiastical Chaeacteristics : or, the Arcana OF Church Policy. Being an Humble Attempt to open THE Mystery of Moderation. Wherein is shewn a plain AND easy way of ATTAINING TO THE CHARACTER OF A MODER- ATE MAN, AS AT PRESENT IN REPUTE IN THE ChURCH OF SCOT- LAND.' Knowing him to be the author, and denouncing the book as " of a very bad tendency to the interests of religion, and injurious to the characters of many ministers of this Church," the Presbytery of Paisley did everything in their power to keep him from becoming one of their number ; but the magistrates, town council, and trades of the town, along with the session and seatholders of the Laigh Church, tri- umphed when the matter came, on appeal, before the Synod of Glasgow and Ayr. Ten years after the appearance of the ' Characteristics,' the author, still preserving his anonymity, published 'A Serious Apology for the Ecclesiastical Characteristics. By the real Author of that Performanec' The thirteen maxims of the ' Ecclesiastical Characteristics,' in which the author, professing to be a member of the party he opposed, " enumerates distinctly, and in their proper order and connection, all the several maxims upon which moderate men conduct themselves," form a splendid specimen of the use of irony as a weapon both of refutation and of ridicule. One can understand how bitterly such members of the Paisley Presbytery as were moderates at heart, or were in sympathy ^ ' Characteristics of Men, Manners, Opinions, and Times.' By Anthony Ashley Cooper, third Earl of Shaftesbury. Lond. : 1711. 3 vols. WITHEItSPOON'S 'ECCLESIASTICAL CIIAEACTEKISTICS,' 1753. 293 witli the Moderatism tendency, would resent the opening maxim dealing thus with heresy : " All ecclesiastical persons, of whatever rank, whether principals of colleges, professors of divinity, ministers, or even probationers, that are suspected of heresy, are to be esteemed men of great genius, vast learn- ing, and uncommon worth ; and are, by all means, to be supported and protected ; " ^^ or the third, in which the treatment of the Confession of Faith by the moderate party is thus described : " It is a necessary part of the character of a moderate man never to speak of the Confession of Faith but with a sneer : to give sly hints that he does not thoroughly believe it : and to make the word orthodoxy a term of contempt and reproach ; " ^^ or, yet again, the fourth, in whicli the " special marks and signs of a talent for preaching " are em- ployed to indicate a good preacher: "1. His subjects must be confined to social duties. 2. He must recommend them only from rational considerations — viz., the beauty and comely proportions of virtue, and its advantages in the present life, without any regard to a future state of more extended self- interest. 3. His authorities must be drawn from heathen writers, none, or as few as possible, from Scripture. -4. He must be very unacceptable to the common people." ^^ »'■ ' The Works of John Witherspoon, D.D.' Ediub. : 1S05. Vol. vi. ' Eccle.siastical Characteristics,' ilaxim I. p. 15.5. »s Ibid., p. 162. *'■' Iljid., jD. 166. Writing of the Glasgow Communion in October 1724, Wodrow describes a sermon preached on the Mondaj- afternoon by Mr Wallace of Moffat. " It was on ' Faith without works is dead,' and in the neu harang- ing method, and pleased some of the young volage [Fr. volafjc, volatile] sparks, who set up nou mightily for criticks of sermons. For a full half hour he insisted on an introduction about the necessity of trying [enquiring] in matter of religion ; ami the uuaccountablenes of being satisfied with education ; and left but a quarter of an hour for his text, where he gave a cold account of faith, as an assent and crediting testimony ; and insisted on an inference or two, of the insufficiency of a profession ; and that e%'il works wer worse than evil opinion, . . . and a fling at Confessions, as ' imposed forms of orthodoxy,' or words to that purpose." — ' Analecta,' vol. iii. pp. 167, 168. Two months later Wodrow records that when in Glasgow he heard "no good accounts of the students of Divinity there." He is told "that very openly they oppose the 294 KE VOLUTION — UNION — DECADENCE. The seventh Maxim of the series is that which describes moderation in relation to public worship, and according to it "a moderate man must endeavour, as much as he handsomely can, to put off any appearances of devotion, and avoid all un- necessary exercises of religious worship, whether public or private." ^*^ By the time he reaches the close of his work the author professes to have such an admiration of moderation that he proposes the next ensuing General Assembly should be overtured to appoint " that all the professors of divinity in the nation shall lecture one day every week upon this system, that our youth may be trained up from their infancy in a taste for it." This lecturing, he feels persuaded, will be much more profitable than the study of such antiquated systems of divinity as those of Pictet or Turretine ; it w^ill prove more adapted to the times than the study even of the writers whom he styles " the more modern authors, Epictetus and jNIarcus Antoninus, which last, in Mr Foulis's translation," he is given to understand " many young divines, in their first year," have " mistaken for Markii Medulla Theologife." ^^ To show how fruitful a subject the delineation of " the moderate character " is, the satirist intimates that he has gathered material for " many useful and edifying treatises," of which the following are specified : " The art of making a flourished sermon with very little matter . . . : one resolution [resolving] of all cases of conscience, from the good of the whole scheme : A Directory for prayer upon the same scheme : The horrid sin and danger of ministers spending too much time in catechising and visiting in country parishes." ^- What seriousness and earnestness were underlying all this play of sarcasm and employment of irony on the part of the Confession of Faith," that this is spreading widely among " young merchants and others," and that " the haranguing way of preaching is the only method that is nou in vogue with them. Another tells me, that in open companys, the grace of God is openly mocked and ridiculed." — Ibid., p. 170. ^^ 'Ecclesiastical Characteristics,' lit sujj., p. 186. 91 Ibid., p. 220. ^- Ibid., p. 221. EVANGELICAL LIFE IX THE CHUECH OF SCOTLAND. 295 sturdy opponent of Moderatisni can be gathered from the ' Serious Apology,' from among the closing sentences of which the following may be extracted. Having quoted the Eoman maxim, Nunquam dcsperandum est de re'puhUca, the author observes : " Xothing is impossible to the power of God. . . . Let no Christian, therefore, give way to desponding thoughts. AVe plead the cause that shall at last prevail. Religion shall rise from its ruins; and its oppressed state at present should not only excite us to pray, but encourage us to hope for its speedy revival." ^^ Of such a revival as Witherspoon thus prayed and hoped for there never were wanting the promise and the potency within the pale of the Scottish establishment, even when Moderatism was dominant. At the Commission of Assembly in November 1733, by the action of which ecclesiastical court the four fathers of the Secession were declared to be no longer members of the Church of Scotland, and all ministers were forbidden to employ them in any ministerial function, there were seven members who protested against the sentence, and avowed their intention to hold ministerial communion with those whom they styled " their dear brethren," and this " as if no such sentence had been past against them." '-^^ After both the Secession and the Eelief Churches were formed and or- ganised, there were still to be found in the ministry of the Church of Scotland such men as John Maclaurin of Glasgow, the evangelical Joseph Butler of Scotland, ever glorying in the cross of Christ ; Dr John Erskine of Edinlnirgh, " prob- ably," writes Principal William Cunningham, " the greatest divine in the Church of Scotland in the latter part of the last century ; " and Erskine's biographer and successor in the leadership of the evangelical forces, Sir Henry ^Moncreiff 9i Ibid., p. -284. "■' The seven were Gabriel Wilson, Maxton ; Ralph Erskine, Dunfermline ; John Currie, Kinglassie ; Thomas Mair, Orwell ; James Wardlaw, Dunferm- line; John M'Claren, Edinburgh; and Thomas Nairn, Abbotshall. 296 KEVOLUTIOX — UNION — DECADENCE. Wellwoocl, whose ministry extended to nearly the close of the third decade of the present century. And there were others in the rank and file of the Scottish ministry who, when Moderatism was the policy of the pre- vailing party, did good service in maintaining the evangelical succession inside the old Church of Scotland. There was John Currie of Kinglassie, the friend in earlier years of Ealph Erskine, whose signature appeared at the representation and petition to the Assembly, drawn up in 1732, and "relating to the grievances the Church is at present under." There was John Willison of Dundee, best known now, by name at least, as a writer of practical and catechetical treatises, but who, in 1744, drew up "a fair and impartial Testimony, containing Humble Pleadings with our Mother Church to exert herself to stop defection and pi'omote reformation." And there was Eobert Riccaltoun of Hobkirk or Hopekirk, in the Presbytery of Jedburgh, to whom pertains the unique distinction of being licensed and ordained without having cither studied at a Divinity Hall or passed a Board of Examination, Ijut who nevertheless proved more than a match for Principal Hadow of St Andrews in the Marrow Controversy, and who was, in some respects, one of the most remarkable theologians Scot- land has ever produced.''^ It is obvious, however, that the evangelical party within the Church of the State would have been a greater factor in the maintenance of spiritual life had there not been with- drawn from their ranks those who formed and have per- petuated the Church of the Secession from 1733 and onwards. The first Seceders, it is never to be forgotten, emphatically and with wonted reiteration denied that they seceded from the communion of the Church of Scotland, or that they had constituted a denomination distinct from the Church written ■'•' Full and valuable information regarding Riccaltoun and his writings will be found in ' The Theology of Consolation.' By Rev. D. C. A. Agnew. Edinb. : 18S1. Pp. 334-341. EISE OF THE SECESSION IN SCOTLAND. 297 of in the nation's history, and recognised in nnmerous Acts of its Parliament. They eyer affirmed that they formed a part of the historical Church of Scotland, owning all her doc- trines, adhering to her government, discipline, and \vorship. Their secession was only from what they styled " the present preyailing party," who, having got the management into their hands, and the majority on their side, were " breaking down our beautiful Presbyterian constitution." And so the fathers of the Secession, when they gave forth their Judicial Testimony in 1736, were careful to identify themselves with the Church of the first and second Eeforma- tion. Not only did they acknowledge, declare, and assert the presbyterial polity to be " that only form of government laid down and appointed by the Lord Christ in His Word ; " but, in particular, they " received and owned the Confession of Faith, the Larger and Shorter Catechisms, the Form of Church government and ordination of ministers, and the Directory for public worship, as the same stand approven by the As- sembly of 1645." Students of ballad and song literature may have met with a set of verses containing a meditation and moralising upon smoking. The piece has been found in a j\IS. of the time of James I., and also in broadsides of 1670, 1672.^*^ Printed in numerous chap-books, and largely circulated both in England and Scotland, the set of verses came into the hands of the Lev. Ealph Erskine of Dunfermline, who thought he could improve the theology of the poem, and, in particular, give a more explicit statement of the divine remedy for human frailty and shortcomings as moralised upon in the song. He accordingly wrote a companion set of verses dealing with " Smoking Spiritualised." Owing to the two parts being publislied in early editions of his poetry, they are often "" Bell's 'Ballads and Songs of the reasantiy of England.' London : 1857. An adaptation of the song is also to lie found in r)'l'rfi-ey"s ' Pills to Purge Melancholy,' 1719. 298 KEVOLUTION — UNION — DECADENCE. regarded as the composition of the Dunfermline minister ; but in the complete edition of his writings, published in 1825, while both parts are given, the authorship of the two is kept separate.^" The first verse of each part may here be repro- duced, as sufficient to show the style of the original and the skill of the improver : — - Part I. " This Indian weed now witliered quite, Tho' green at noon, cut down at night. Shows thy decay ; All flesh is hay. Thus think, and smoke tobacco." Fart II. " Was this small plant for thee cut down ? So was the Plant of Great Renown ; "Which mercy sends For nobler ends. Thus think, and smoke tobacco." But Ralph Erskine did not confine his poetical activity to supplementing the deficiencies in the compositions of others. He was a versifier of great fertility and copiousness. In the earlier years of his ministry his chief recreation was the pro- duction of religious verses. Originally published anony- mously in 1726 under the title of ' Gospel Canticles,' an enlarged collection, with the authorship avowed, appeared in 1734, having 'Gospel Sonnets' for title. Upon the 18th of February 1737, " at the Kirk of Orwell in Kinross-shire," Mr Ealph Erskine and Mr Thomas Mair. were received into the fellowship of the ministers and elders constituting the Associate Presbytery of Seceders. Soon after becoming a Seceder, Mr Erskine essayed the ^'' " The following Poem, the second part of 7chich 7cas ivritten hy Mr Erskine, is here inserted to fill up this page, as a proper subject of Meditation to Smokers of Tobacco : — Smoking Spiritualised : In Two Parts. The First Part being an old Meditation upon smoking Tobacco ; the Second a new ad- dition to it, or improvement of it." — Ralph Erskine's 'Complete Works.' Lond. : 1825. Vol. vii, p. 305. THE SCRIPTUEE SONGS OF ItALPH ERSKIKE. 299 arduous task of giving to the Church " a Paraphrase, or large explicatory poem, upon the Song of Solomon." The work was so appreciated by his brethren that in 1748 the Asso- ciate Synod, having determined upon an enlargement of their I'salmody, " recommended it to the lieverend Mr Ealph Erskine to have under his consideration a Translation of the Songs in Scripture into metre, except [leaving out] the Psalms of David, which are already translated." °* Proceeding on the line of the Synod's recommendation, which was that of his own inclination, ^Iv Erskine completed in 1750 "A Short Paraphrase upon the Lamentations of Jeremiah, in five chapters"; and in 1752 "A new version of the Song of Solomon, in eight chapters." These were instal- ments of what appeared, after the death of the metrical ren- derer, as ' Scripture Songs, in two books,' the first book con- sisting of Old Testament songs in six parts, the second of ISTew Testament ones in three parts. The ' Scripture Songs ' of Pialph Erskine were at one time lield in high esteem, and copies of them were in great demand not only in Scotland, but also in England, Wales, and the United States, as many as twenty-five editions having been published in London alone before 1826. They do not, how- ever, form a part of the reading of the present day, neither do tliey find a place in modern hymnals. ' The Presbyterian Hymnal ' of the Church, which is justly proud of him as one of its founders, has only one of Erskine's songs among the ®^ " Extract from tlie Record.s of the Associate Synod in manuscript : Stirling, April 14, 1748.— The Synod reconnnended it to the Rev. Mr Ralph Erskine to have under his consideration a translation of the Songs in Scrip- ture into metre, except the Psalms of David, which are already translated, agreeable to the reconuuendation of the General Assembly, met at Edinburgh, Aug. 28th, 1647, Sess. 25." — 'The Life and Diary of the Reverend Raljih Erskine, M.A.' By Donald Eraser. Edinb. : 1834, p. 508, note. The refer- ence in the Secession recommendation to the Church of Scotland's " Act for Revising the Paraphrase of the Psalmes brought from England, with a Recom- mendation for Translating the other Scriptural Songs in Meeter " — going a hundred years back — is not without significance. 300 EEVOLUTIOX — UNION — DECADENCE. 366 pieces of its coiitents.^^ There is, however, a statement prefixed to the first instalment of songs, " showing the occa- sion and design of the following poems," to which a per- manent interest attaches. At the ontset reference is made to what has already come under our notice — the fact, viz., that " more than a hundred years ago the work of turning all the rest of the Scripture Songs into metre, as the Psalms of David are, and for the same public use, was proposed by the Church of Scotland," the reference, of course, being to " the recommendation of the Assembly given to Mr Zecharias Boyd" in 1647.-'°'^ "This affair," the statement goes on to affirm, " having never yet been accomplished to general sat- isfaction, though some essays were made towards it," it was suggested to the metrical translator that he should employ his skill upon it, and the suggestion was followed up by an official recommendation of the Associate Synod to the same effect. Eventually, nothing came of the movement in that quarter at that time. Ealph Erskine died on the 6th of November 1752, and in May of the following year the Synod discharged a committee that had been appointed to revise the Scripture songs ; and so the affair dropped.^"^ The recommendation, however, of the Associate Synod, and the action of such a prominent seceder as Erskine of Dun- fermline, are significant, as showing that, while the burgher S9 Xo. 230 :— " O send me down a draught of love, Or take me lienee to drink aliove ! Here Marali's wiiter lills my cujj ; But there all griefs are swallowed up." 100 " jVnd the Assembly cloth further recommend that Mr Zachary Boyd be at the paiues to translate the other >Scri]:)tural Songs in meeter, and to report his travels also to the Commission of Assembly, that, after their examination thereof, they may send the same to Presbyteries to be there considered untill the next Generall Assembly."- — 'Acts of Assembly,' 1647, p. 159. ^"^ " Shuttle Street Church of Glasgow, Maj' 2nd 1753. — In regard the Committee appointed to revise the Scripture Songs translated into metre by the Rev. Mr Ralph Erskine had not met before his death, the Sjnod did not judge it proper to continue the said Committee." — ' Life and Diary,' lit sup., p. 508, note. SECESSION TESTIMONIES ItEGAEDIXG DOCTRINE. 301 portion of the Secession did not favour the use of hynnis in public worship, it regarded with approval the enlargement of the psalmody through the addition of paraphrases or transla- tions of Scripture passages other than those of the Hebrew psalter. By the Antiburgher portion of the Secession, with, for its champion, Adam Gib, a Scotch Athanasius standing unmoved and unflinching in the old ways,^'^'-^ there was issued, in August 1758, "A Solemn Warning addressed to persons of all ranks in Great Britain and Ireland." ^^^ AVhile section 2, article 4, of this manifesto is devoted to a lengthy exposition of the corruptions of pu1)lic worship in England and Wales, nothing is said on the same head in the case of Scotland furtlier than a reference to "the promiscuous admissions to the Lord's table which are now commonly practised in Scotland, as well as in the neighbouring lands," and which " do greatly add to the public guiltiness." ^'•'■^ In 1804 the same body of Seceders, constituting the General Associate Synod, agreed upon a manifesto of the nature of a narrative and testimony, the doctrinal division of which has a chapter devoted to " various Divine Ordinances and Corrup- tions of them." Under the 1st section, with preaching for its ^"'- " Adam Gib, ... an ecclesiastic of the second Reformation type. All its leading princijjles he had firmly grasped, or rather they had taken jjosses- sion of him. A hard, dry man, fond of logic and formulas, he had an extra- ordinary intensity of character. He writes his covenant with God in the blood of his own veins. ... It would not be difficult to trace our own Cliureh connection with the Antiburgher leader." — 'The Theology and Theologians of Scotland.' By James Walker, D.D. Edinb. : 1872. Lect. I. p. 31. 103 "^ Solemn Warning, by the Associate Si/nod in Scotland ; addressed to persons of all ranks in Great Bi-itain and Ireland: Wherein the great sin, danger, and duty of the present generation in these lands , . . are pointed out and declared." Given in full in 'The Present Truth : a Disjilay of the Seces- sion-Testimony,' best known as Gib's Display. In two vols. Edinb. : 1774. Vol. ii. pp. 192-230. ^^* In the course of the above article there is this statement of the general and distinctive principle ruling all Presbyterian worship : " As in the govern- ment and discipline, so in the worship of his Church, — the Word of God is the only rule. And he is a jealous God, jealous of all deviations from that rule." 302 REVOLUTION — UNION — DECADENCE. subject, it is asserted " that in dispensing the gospel ministers ought to preach, and not to read their discourses to the people ; " while in the 4th, occupied with " Forms of Prayer," there is condemned and protested against " the conduct of those adult persons, who, in ordinary circumstances, either in public, in private, or in secret, restrict themselves to set forms of prayer, whether these be read or repeated." ^'^^ Another section treats " of the Psalmody," and contains two important assertions and declarations. First, " That the Psalms con- tained in the book which bears this name, and other Scripture Songs, were given by divine inspiration, to be used in the ordinance of praise under the Old Testament." Second, " That these Psalms and Songs are of the same divine autho- rity under the New Testament; and that these, ((s vjell as others contained in the JYac Testament itself, may be sung in the ordinance of praise." ^'^*^ All that is condemned and testified against in the matter of psalmody is " the doctrine of those who, maintaining that many of the Psalms of David are in- consistent with the spirit of the Gospel, have laid them aside as unfit to be sung in Christian assemblies, and have, in various instances, introduced in their room hymns of human composition containing erroneous doctrine." ^^^ This is all that the narrati^'e and testimony sets forth upon the subject of the matter and form of public praise ; and it is evident that the position of the Antiburgher Seceders was the same as that of those from whom they differed about the burgess oath. Both parties considered it permissible to use other Scripture songs than those constituting the Hebrew psalter, but neither extended this permission to " human hymns " or ■'' hymns of human composition." The period of splits in the Secession was followed by one of if's 'NaiTative and Testimouy, agreed upon aud enacted by the General As- .sociate Synod.' 1804. Chap. ix. pp. 163. 169. 1**^ Ibid., p. 170. The italics in the above quotation are ours, iw Ibid., p. 171. SECESSION TESTIMONIES REGARDING PRAYER AND RRAISE. 303 unions, although the latter were not always effected without giving rise to fresh disruptions. The earliest union was that of 1820, when a section of the Associate or Burgher Synod, and the majority of the General Associate or Antiburgher Synod, formed the United Associate Synod. The united body published a Testimony in 1827, consisting of an historical narrative and a doctrinal statement, and treating amono: other things of " the Means of Salvation and Ordinances of Wor- ship." As regards prayer, not only is there emphatic con- demnation of " the offering of prayers to angels or departed saints," and the presentation of prayers or performance of any supplicatory services in behalf of the dead," but there is disapproval " of the conduct of those adult persons who re- strict themselves to set forms of prayer, whether these be read or repeated." There is, however, this notable concession under the head of j^rayer : " As Scripture doxologies, and the divinely approved petitions of saints, may be warrantably adopted in our devotional exercises, both public and personal, so may the Lord's Prayer be used by itself, or in connection with other supplications." With regard to praise, this striking statement stands at the opening of the paragraph : " We admit that other parts of Scripture may be used in praise, but we reject the principle that the Book of Psalms is not suited to the Christian dispensation." ^°^ The next Secession union of outstanding interest took place in 1827, and was that, on the one part, of a minority whose disapproval of the Narrative and Testimony of 1804 emitted by the General Associate Synod had led them to constitute them- selves a separate body, under the name of the Constitutional Associate Presbytery ; and, on the other part, of a minority who, disapproving of the union of 1820, were called Protesters. These two dissentient minorities formed, when united, the Associate Synod of Original Seceders, a designation intended ^"^ ' Testimony of the United Associate Synod of the Secession Church.' In Two Parts, Historical and Doctrinal. Pp. 135, 136. 304 KEYOLUTION — UNION — DECADENCE. to denote that they stood precisely on the same ground with that occupied by the first Seceders from the Church of Scot- land. For purposes of information and vindication a new Testimony was drawn up 1 jy the Original Seceders, constructed after the pattern of earlier documents of the same nature, in two parts, the one containing historical, the other doctrinal statements.^'^^ In the latter half of the Testimony there are three chapters which treat successively "of Moral, Natural, and Instituted Worship." The position laid down in these chap- ters regarding prayer presents no feature of difference from what has been found in earlier documents of the same scliool. The declarations under the headings of " I'raise and the Psalmody " are, however, decidedly restrictive in their scope and tendency. They are to this effect : — "Tluit altliougli there are otlier Scripture songs besides those contained in the Boole of Psahns, yet the latter seem to have been especially intended by God to be used in the exercise of pubbc praise, from their being delivered to the Church by the H0I3" Ghost for that purpose ; that the Psalms of David are adapted to the \ise of the Church under the present as well as the former dispensation ;, that the use of these psalms in Xew Testament times is sanctioned hj the precept and example of our Lord and His apostles ; that when songs and hymns are spoken of in tlie New Testament along with psalms, there is no evidence that different compositions from the Psalms of David are intended, for some of these are styled songs and others hymns from the subjects of which they treat, or the occasion on which they Avere to be sung ; " and finally, " that to introduce hymns of human composition, or even paraphrases, in Avhich undue liberties are taken with the original text, tends ta endanger the purity both of the worship and doctrme of the church." "0 109 <^ Testimony to the Ti-uths of Christ, agreeably to the Westminster Standards as received by the Reformed Church of Scotland, and in opposition to defections from the Reformation sworn to in Britain and Ireland : together with An Act for renewing the Covenants, and a Formula. Agreed to by the Associate Synod of Original Seceders. 1827.' The historical part of this Secession manifesto came from the pen of the biographer of Knox. ^^" Ibid. Doctrinal Part. Chap. xvii. sect. ii. i)p. 152, 153. THE RELIEF CHURCH FAVOUKS AN ENLARGED PSALMODY. 305 Although the language thus employed is not free from ambiguity, and cannot be charged with being over-dogmatic, the manifest intention is to exclude all metrical compositions from public praise, except those which are renderings of the contents of the Hebrew psalter.^'^^ There remains but one other section of the Presbyterian Church in Scotland which became detached from the Church of State recognition and endowment during the period of decadence, but which took up a position with reference to the psalmody of public worship distinct from, and, some would say, in advance of, that maintained by the other branches of the Scottish Secession. That section formed itself into a presbytery of relief in 1761, and during the period of its separate existence, it was known as the Eelief Church in Scotland.^^2 At no stage of the eighty-six years within which its history is comprised does that branch of the Secession appear to have taken up a position unfavourable to the use of an enlarged psalmody. So far from that, three ministers of the denomination laid themselves open to the charge of unpresbyterial action introducing in the conduct of praise in their respective congregations selections of hymns which they had severally compiled. Although this procedure gave rise to discussion and occasioned secessions from the folds of the innovators, it was followed up by an overture favourable to an expansion of the psalter being brought before the Synod in 1793. Ill In his ' Catechism for the Times,' the late Rev. D. A. Sturrock of Mid- holm, a worthy representative of the O.S. Church, has the following questions and answers: "Are hymns and 2Mra2:)hrascs of human composure to he cm- 2^loyed in the ordinance of praise ? — No ; we have a divine form in the Word, and the practice endangers the purity of doctrine and worship. But are there no other sonfjs in the Bible besides those contained in the Psalms ? — Yes ; but even granting that such songs should be sung, this would form no argument whatever either for the use of human compositions, or of ' paraphrases ' on passages of Scripture, such, for example, as the Lord's Prayer." ii'-^ In 1847 the United Associate Synod and the Relief Synod united, and so brought about the fourth and largest of all the Secession Unions, forming the United Presbyterian Church of Scotland. U 306 EEVOLUTION — UNION — DECADENCE. The proposal was transmitted to presbyteries with an instruction to ministers to consider the matter, and be pre- pared to discuss it at next meeting of Synod. The result was favourable to the introduction, not only of metrical versions of Scripture passages generally, but also of hymns. By the Synod of 1794 the selection made by one of the three ministers who had taken the lead in the movement, with additions from those of the other two, was regarded with favour, and ministers were recommended " to use the said selection in the praises of God, when they found that the same would answer the purposes of edification and peace." ^^^ This rapid disposal of the matter gave offence in some quarters, and called forth the strenuous opposition of ministers of repute and influence in the Relief Church. In the course of a few years, however, the opposition died away, and the Synod hymn - book came to be generally adopted. According to Dr Struthers, the historian of the Eelief Church, this " was followed by a corresponding im- provement in church music ; and the worship of ' praise ' became varied, animating, and peculiarly adapted to the doctrines of the Gospel." ^^* The preface to the Eelief Hymn-book of 1794, written in the first person by Mr Stewart, whose selection was adopted, contains a defence of " the singing of Hymns and Sacred Songs," which, considering the quarter from which it "^ ' Sacred Songs and Hymns on various passages of Scripture, approved by the Synod of Relief, and recommended to be sung in the Congi-egations under their inspection.' Glasgow : Printed by J. Meunons. 1794. A copy is in the Library of the New College, Edinburgh. Issues of this collection were printed with a distinctive title-page for the use of particular congregations. Thus there is in the possession of James Thin, Esq., a copy of " Sacred Songs and Hymns on various passages of Scripture, for the New Relief Church, Campbell Street, Glasgow, 1794," which is exactly the same in the matter of contents as the first-named. This Secession collection of Sacred Songs and Hymns consists of 231 pieces. Of these, 31 are taken from the Paraphrases and 2 from the Hymns of the Church of Scotland edition of 1781. i^** 'History of the Rise, Progress, and Principles of the Relief Church.' By the Rev. G. Struthers, D.D. 1843. P. 376. TEE BELIEF CHUKCII IIYMN-BOOK. 307 emanated, is noteworthy. " The Book of Psahns," it is affirmed, " is indeed greatly to be esteemed ; and were Christians allowed to make use of one only of the sacred books in praising God, I am of opinion that the Psalms should be preferred to any other on account of the great diversity of objects and cases contained in them." Denying the existence of any such restriction, the writer inquires — "Are not the Psahns or Songs of Moses, of Isaiah, of Paul, of Peter, of John, and of other sacred writers, as sacred and important as those of David, Asaph, Heman, &c. 1 In particular, can any just reason be assigned why Christians should not sing the Songs of their own dispensation, but still confine themselves to those of the ancient tabernacle and temple 1 They very properly use passages of the ^ew Testament in their prayers, and why not also in their praises 1 Our Psalms were reduced to metre by un- inspired men, and may not other passages of Scripture be formed into metre, by uninspired men likewise, and be every way as bene- ficial for the edification of Christians 1 " In the closing paragraph the compiler states that " the following System of Hymns and Sacred Songs is collected from several authors, who, with a pious and laudable dili- gence, have employed their talents and attention in composi- tions of this kind." The individual pieces " are either founded upon particular texts of Scripture, or are Paraphrases upon several verses in particular chapters of the Sacred Books." In carrying out this arbitrary arrangement, according to which all hymns must appear as paraphrases, some curious results ensue, — as, for example, when Cowper's hymn, " Oh for a closer walk with God ! " is given as a paraphrase of Genesis v. 24, " Enoch walked with God," the passage of Scripture prefixed to it in the " Olney Hymns," of which it is the first ; or when Addi- son's " When all thy mercies, 0 my God " — first of the five in the Church of Scotland collection of 1781 — appears as a paraphrase of Psalm 104, verse 34, "My meditation of Him shall be sweet: I will be clad in the Lord." 308 EEVOLUTION — UNION — DECADENCE. The Seceders of Scotland may have been right as regards the particular type of worship they practised, with its unread sermons, unwritten prayers, and restricted psalmody : they may have been wrong in tolerating the doxology and para- phrases, but prohibiting hymns, in that, some of them con- tending for a distinction without a difference, many of them mistaking baldness and loudness for simplicity and strength, and all failing, more or less, to manifest the beauty of holi- ness in divine service : but whether they were right or wrong- as to one or more of the points specified, no man of fairness will fail to allow that the record of the Seceders all through the period of decadence was a noble one, a record of splen- did service to the cause of Christ and the historic Church of Scotland. Dr Witherspoon, in his ' Ecclesiastical Characteristics,' rep- resents the moderates of his day as sneering at " those poor beings the Seceders " ; ^^^ and doubtless, while there were among the ministers of the National Church those who honoured them, and continued to regard and speak of them as " dear brethren," the prevalent feeling in the moderate ranks was accurately reproduced in that contemptuous expression. But the verdict of history has condemned the calumny of contemporaries ; and that verdict could not find fitter expres- sion than in these sentences of a nineteenth-century eccle- siastical statesman : " They stood for Truth and Life in days iio " "\Ye Ami that moderate men have mostly, by coustitution, too much spirit to submit to the drudgery of the kinds of learning above mentioned, and despise all who do so. There is no controversy now about Arian, Arminian, Pelagian, or Socinian tenets, but only whether this good of the whole scheme holds. This shows, by the by, the injustice and malignity of those poor beings the Seceders, who cry out of erroneous doctrines in the Church, and assert that Arminianism is publicly taught by many. It is known that they mean the moderate men when they speak so ; and yet I will venture to affirm, that there are not a few young men of that character, who, if they were asked, could not tell what the five Arminian articles are, so little do they regard Arminianism." — Maxim VI. vol. vi. pp. 181, 182. SERVICES OF THE SECEDERS TO TRUTH AND LIFE. 309 when the battle went sore against both. And as long as Truth and Life are maintained in Scotland, it will not be forgotten that a great share of the honour of having carried them safe through some of our darkest days was given by God to the Seceders." ^^° iiG 'Three Lectures on the Church of Scotland.' By Robert Rainy, D.D. First edition, 1872. New edition, 1883. Third Lecture, p. 142 of new- edition. 310 PERIOD VL THE MODERN EENAISSANCE. By the close of the eighteenth century clivme service con- ducted in the churches of Scotland had fallen into a state of lifeless formality and slovenly neglect. Due allowance heing made for the tone of exaggeration in which a popular lecturer is apt to indulge, there is a measure of truthfulness in the description of the state of matters at that time furnished in 1886 by a Scottish lecturer on ' The Eeformed Eitual in Scotland.' According to Dr Story, " the public services of the Church of Scotland had become probably the baldest and rudest in Christendom. The parish kirks, owing to the niggardliness of the heritors, were comfortless and coarsely furnished. The music was rough and untrained ; only in a few of the town churches was it rendered with any attempt at taste or skill. The Bible was scarcely read. The prayers were reduced in number to two at the most, and were drearily long and uninteresting. The Lord's Prayer was never heard. The sermon was the great feature of the service ; and it was too often a * screed ' of dull doctrine or of cold morality." ^ Such a display of carelessness and irreverence did not escape the notice of those to whom Presbyterian worship of any kind was distasteful, and who longed for the introduction 1 ' The Reformed Ritual in Scotland.' The Lee Lecture for 1886. By R. H. Story, D.D. P. 36. PRESBYTEMAN WORSHIP AT CLOSE OF XVIII, CENTURY. 311 of Prayer-book and altar. Among the publications of the second half of the eighteenth century was a letter purporting to be " FROM A Blacksmith to the Ministers and Elders OF THE Church of Scotland: In which the manner of Publick Worship in that Church is considered ; its incon- veniences and defects pointed out ; and methods for remov- ing them humbly proposed." From the language he em- ploys, the references and quotations he makes, and the alterations for which he pleads, it is easy to discover, under the guise of a Presbyterian blacksmith, a parson of Epis- copalian prejudices and predilections. Worthless for all purposes of reform, the letter is of value because of what it reveals only to ridicule. Thus, complaint is made by the would-be improver that in the Presbyterian Churches of Scotland there is no systematic reading of Scripture, the worshippers being only indulged " now and then with ten or a dozen of verses of pure Scripture, chosen at the pleasure of the preacher ; " that the praise part of worship has an " air of rusticity and contempt of God," everything helpful to en- gage and elevate the heart having been " whimsically thrown out," the versification being " mean and barbarous," the music " harsh and ill performed," the harmony, " othervvays not very sweet, entirely lost, and the sense broke off at every line," the words used " obsolete and low," the sitting posture at praise being " the most indecent, negligent, and improper for singing well," that could have been adopted. The administration of the sacrament of the Lord's Supper upon what are styled " occasions " is severely handled, the caricature and satire employed not falling much short of those indulged in by Burns in his " Holy Fair." The min- isters of the Church of Scotland are charged with departing from the Directory for public worship in those very matters in which that standard gives good guidance. Thus the re- commendation that the Lord's Prayer be used in divine service is alleged to be neglected by most ; while all are 312 THE MODERN EENAISSANCE, charged with omitting Scripture reading at the several diets of worship. And finally, whereas, according to the Direc- tory, service should begin with prayer, " now," reports the blacksmith, " it begins with praise," the people rushing " into a very solemn part of worship, without a word of previous exhortation, very often without a serious thought." As may have been anticipated, the blacksmith's one remedy for the inconveniences and defects thus pointed out consists in " the composition and establishment of some devout liturgy, or form of prayer for public worship," so constructed that " the minister may have liberty to pray for all extraordinary cases in what words he thinks proper." Nearer the close of the eighteenth century the defects of existing Scottish Presbyterian worship were taken in hand in a more friendly spirit and by an abler pen. In 1778, Dr James Beattie, Professor of Moral Philosophy and Logic in Aberdeen, and author of " The Minstrel," wrote and published a letter on the " Improvement of Psalmody in Scotland," which he addressed to Dr Hugh Blair of Edinburgh.^ From letters contained in the account of his life and writings by Sir AVilliam Forbes, it appears that the poetical and meta- physical professor had been approached with a view to securing his co-operation in a proposed enlargement of the metrical psalter.^ Although considering himself disqualified for such work, because of his ignorance of the Hebrew lan- guage, Dr Beattie was evidently interested in the movement, and ventilated in private correspondence a proposal for a new version of the Psalms, to be formed by selecting the best renderings of versions already existing. In the open letter ^ 'A Letter to the Reverend Hugh Blair, D.D. one of the Ministers OF Edinburgh : on the Improvement of Psalmody in Scotland.' By James Beattie, LL.D. Printed, but not published, in 1778. In 1829 it was published vcrhatim by R. Buchanan, Edinburgh. ^ ' An Account of the Life and Writings of James Beattie, LL.D.' By Sir William Forbes of Pitsligo. London : 1824. Vol. i. pp. 398-400 ; vol. ii. pp. 13-16. DR beattie's proposals concerxing psalmody. 313 to Dr Blair, he treats psalmody improvement niider the two heads of, the Words and the Music. Dealing with the former of these, the northern professor expresses himself favourable to the employment of passages of Scripture additional to those constituting the Book of Psalms, including " even such pious songs of modern date as those published by Addison in the ' Spectator ' : and he is " in doubt whether Church music would not have more energy if we were to sing our psalms in prose, according to that form of Eecitative which in Eng- land is called Chanting." These," however, are matters which, as " no friend to innovation," he leaves to be decided by the General Assembly and the voice of the people. Dr Beattie proceeds to criticise briefly the several metrical versions, pointing out what he considers their excellences and their defects, giving preference to that " now used by all the Pres- byterian congregations in Scotland," although, in passing, speaking a good word for " the royal versifier," King James.^ In the matter of measure, Dr Beattie does not advocate the employment of many varieties. While he would not wholly exclude verses in Short measure, he intimates his preference for the common Iambic and the Long measures. Incidentally, it appears that he has no objection to anthems ; " many of Marcello's Psalms and of Handel's sacred songs and choruses might," in his judgment, " l>e performed in churches with the happiest effect." The subject of congregational music is treated in the letter with great brevity. Setting out from the position that it is not necessary that every worshipper should join in church music, the writer earnestly entreats " those who sing very ill, not to sing at all, at least in the church. If they are silent, they may have their affections raised by the singing of others ; but if they sing, especially if they sing loud (which bad •^ " The work does honour to this learued Monarch. It is not free from the northern idiom ; hut the style seems to me to be sui3eriour to that of every other Scotch writer of that age, Hawthornden excepted." — 'A Letter,' kc, p. 8. 314 THE MODERN RENAISSANCE, singers seldom fail to do) they will not hear the congregation, and they must disturb every person in the neighbourhood of their pew who has a musical ear." He recommends all who do join in the praise of the sanctuary to sing softly, and with exertion varying according to the character of the psalm to be sung. On two points bearing upon congregational singing Dr Beattie expresses a decided opinion. One of these relates to the practice of sitting while the psalms are being sung — a posture, he affirms, in which " one cannot sing freely or with the full command of one's voice." The other is the practice of " reading each line of the psalm separate, and then singing it." Introduced, he believes, at a time when it was in some sort necessary, because numbers in every congregation could not read, he thinks that, as that is not the case now, the practice should be discontinued. " The minister," he goes on to state, " should always read over, in a distinct voice, that part of the psalm which is to be sung ; and if he were to ex- plain any difficult phrase that may occur in it, I believe his people would think themselves obliged to him. This, indeed, is done in many places ; but in some country parishes, the morning psalms are begun before the minister enters the church ; and of the other psalms he never reads more than the first line ; which cannot fail to lessen the veneration of the people for that part of worship." The last topic upon which the "Minstrel" touches is the use of instrumental music. The reasonableness of using such in churches might, in his judgment, be proved " from Scrip- ture ; from the general practice of Christians ; from the con- stitution of the human mind ; and from the very nature of the human voice, and of musical sound." But he considers it unnecessary to enter upon the proof, " as in this country, at least, the practice can never become universal." Even suppos- ing the Assembly were to authorise it, he doubts " whether there are sixty parishes in Scotland, that could afford the ex- INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC IN GLASGOW, 1806. 315 pence of an organ and an organist." As a philosopher, he endeavonrs to comfort the lovers of instrumental music with this consideration, that if they enjoy not the benefit of organ music, they are not " hurt by its improprieties, which, as that matter is too frequently conducted, are neither few nor small," With this deliverance of Dr Beattie in mind, it is interest- ing to note that the next movement toward improving the praise of the Church of Scotland took the direction of instru- mental music. To the congregation of St Andrew's Church, Glasgow, belongs the distinction of being the first to agitate the question.^ In the autumn of 1806 application was made through the minister, Dr William Eitchie, to the Provost, Magistrates, and Council, for permission to make certain alterations in the seats behind the pulpit, that room mighc be obtained for setting up an organ. To this request the muni- cipal authorities declined to accede, and the progress of the movement was for a time arrested. In the summer of the following year, however, a musical association was formed by the minister and a few heads of families for the purpose of improving themselves in the science and art of sacred music. By-and-by a chamber-organ was employed " as a help to the precentor for guiding the voices of the singers," and the meet- ings were always closed with family worship. The satisfac- tion of those who took part in these gatlierings gave rise to an urgent request for the use of the instrument in public worship on the Lord's Day, and the resolution was come to by the minister and office-bearers to comply with the desire of the people. On Sabbath, 23d August 1807, the innova- tion was introduced. "The precentor was in his place" — we quote from Dr Eitchie's narrative — " when he struck a note the organ did so at the same moment, it proceeded along with him, passing from line to line in the ordi- '' A committee of the Presbytery of Glasgow appointed in 180S stated that "an attempt was made a few years ago by a respectable Congregation in Aberdeen, but instantly abandoned." 316 THE MODERN RENAISSANCE, nary method, and with him it ceased. The congregation joined both precentor and organ, all sitting as becomes true Presbyterians." Having interposed without effect at an earlier stage, the Lord Provost made formal intimation of what had taken place in St Andrew's Church to the Presbytery of the bounds, and the matter came before that court on the 7th of October. In the course of his speech upon that occasion Dr Eitchie announced that he would not again use an organ in the public worsliip of God without the authority of the Church. Two motions were submitted to the court, and ulti- mately voted upon. The first was, " That the Presbytery are of opinion that the use of the organ in the public worship of God is contrary to the law of the land, and to the law and constitution of our Established Church, and therefore prohibit it in all the Churches and Chapels within their bounds." The second was, " That in consequence of Dr Eitcliie's judicial declaration, the Presbytery find it unnecessary to proceed further in this business ; declaring, at the same time, their judgment, that the introduction of an organ into public wor- ship is inexpedient, and unauthorised in our Church." The first motion carried, and there being no complaint or appeal to the Superior Court, the judgment of the Presbytery became final. The minority, however, lodged reasons of dissent, and "a war of protocols within the Presbytery" ensued. Dr Ptitchie gave in a paper in which the whole question was raised on the merits, and a long and able argument was led for the use of instrumental music in public worship. His main contention was that the organ is simply " a help, a sup- port given to the precentor's voice, for enabling him more steadily and with more dignity to guide the voice of the con- gregation ; and thus to preserve, not only uniformity, but that unity of voice which is so becoming in the public service, which so pleasingly heightens devout feelings, and prevents that discord which so easily distracts the attention of the worshippers." THE MANIFESTOES FOR AND AGAINST, 1808-1856. 317 To Dr Pdtchie's paper a reply was prepared by a committee of Presbytery, Dr William Porteous of St George's being the member mainly, if not altogether, responsible for it. In this document, of greater length than, and equal in ability to, the paper to which it is a rejoinder, Dr Kitchie's contention that organ music is simply " the addition of a certain quantity of modulated sound to the precentor's voice, in perfect union with his, and therefore incapable of disturbing the current of devotion," is set aside as " not only metaphysical, but also tinctured with something not unlike sophistry," and the committee have no difficulty in showing that in introducing a musical instrument into Presbyterian worship without the knowledge and sanction of the Church judicatories, the minister and congregation of St Andrew's were chargeable with an innovation incompatible with, and subversive of, the principles of Presbytery.^ Shortly after the abortive attempt of the Glasgow congre- gation to effect what was denounced as an organic change in their worship, and vindicated as only an instrumental aid to the rendering of their praise, two men took up the role of reformers, and, working on lines that could not be charged with being either unconstitutional or inexpedient, rendered good service in elevating the standard and improving the " The conflict of manifestoes ceased on the 4th of May 1808 ; but in 1856 the two papers mentioned above, and which were identified respectively with the names of Dr Ritchie and Dr Porteous, were republished by Dr R. S. Candlish of Free St George's, Edinburgh, with an Introductory Notice ('The Organ Ques- tion : Statements by Dr Ritchie and Dr Porteous, For and against the use of the Organ in public worship, in the proceedings of the Presbytery of Glasgow, 1807-8.' Edinb. : 1856). In his Notice Dr Candlish expressed the alarm he felt at certain recent movements on behalf of instrumental music in Presby- terian worship, and his dread of the agitation of the question in Presbyterian Churches. Towards the close of his prefatory note he affirms it is a question which touches some of the highest and deepest points of Christian theology, and states it to be his firm persuasion that if the organ be admitted, there is no barrier, in principle, against the sacerdotal system in all its fulness — against the substitution again, in our religion and our ritual, of the formal for the spiritual, the symbolical for the real. 318 THE MODERN RENAISSANCE. rendering of praise in Scottish sanctuaries. One of these was Dr Andrew Thomson. The ministry of this noted protagonist of his times, who was so powerful a factor in the evangelical revival of the nineteenth century, reached its zenith when, in 1814, he was appointed by the Town Council of Edinburgh to the charge of St George's, then in the extreme west end of the city. In virtue of his mental endowment and physical build a reformer, gifted with rare nobleness and potency, wielding a masculine eloquence enlivened by copious facetiousness and pleasantry, displaying at times a certain irritability and turbulent vehemence, Dr Thomson's resemblance to the great German Eeformer of the sixteenth century became the more striking when the Scotsman also displayed an exquisite ear and passionate fondness for music. Among the many things to which this man of untiring energy gave the benefit of his support was elevating the standard and improving the psalmody of the Scottish Church. In 1820 Dr Thomson published a collection of Psalm and Hynni tunes under the name of ' Sacred Harmony.' '^ In his preface of six pages the compiler refers to the paucity of metres in the national psalmody, a defect which he hopes will be speedily remedied by the exertions of the Psalmody Committee of the Church of Scotland. A fourfold classification of the tunes contained in the collection is given, according as they are (1) tunes which have been long in common use, and are held in great estimation ; (2) airs which have failed to find their way into general use, although entitled to recognition ; (3) those of a more modern date, including some culled from the works of the greatest masters ; (4) tunes which have never before been published, the greater number having been composed ex- pressly for the work.^ In addition to 178 tunes adapted to '' ' Sacred Harmony. Part I. For the use of St George's Church, Edin- burgh. Being a Collection of Psalm and Hymn Tunes, with an Accompaniment for the Organ or Piano Forte. ' Edinb. : 1820. ^ One of these — " St George's, Edinburgh " — is now permanently associated DR A. THOMSON AND MR SMITH AS RITUAL REFORMERS. 319 all the psalms, paraphrases, and hymns in the enlarged psalmody of that date, Dr Thomson's collection contained music for four doxologies, five sanctuses, one dismission, and two anthems. Toward the close of his preface the Edinburgh minister expresses his obligation to Mr Smith of Paisley.^ Eobert Archibald Smith, son of a silk-weaver in Paisley, was born in England, Ijut came to Scotland when his father returned in 1800. Starting upon his professional career as precentor in the Abbey Church, Mr Smith was, in 1823, to the satisfaction of the musical minister of St George's, Edin- burgh, appointed conductor of psalmody in that church, and co-operated with its energetic pastor in bringing about a marked improvement in the psalmody, not only of the con- gregation with which he was specially associated, but of the country generally. Mr Smith was a voluminous composer and compiler. Before removing to Edinburgh he had pub- lished 'Devotional Music, Original and Selected,' 'Anthems in Eour Yocal Parts,' and the greater part of ' The Scottish Minstrel ' in six volumes. After becoming associated with Dr Thomson he edited ' Sacred Music, consisting of Tunes, Sanctuses, Doxologies, Thanksgivings,' &c., and ' The Sacred Harmony of the Church of Scotland, in Four Vocal Parts, adapted to the version of the Psalms, Paraphrases, and Hymns, &c., used in the Presbyterian Churches.' ^"^ with the name of Dr Thomson as its composer, and with the closing stanzas of the 24th Psalm, for the musical rendering of which it was specially composed. The work contains other twelve original tunes by the compiler. • " " Mr Smith of Paisley has done much for us, and all that he has done is excellent. And we are glad to have this opportunity of stating our obligations and bearing our testimony to this most deserving individual, whose taste and skill and acquirements in his professional walk entitle him to a high place, and have already secured for him no small reputation in the musical world. " Smith's contributions to Dr Thomson's ' Sacred Harmony ' consisted of five tunes, two sanctuses, and two anthems. ^^ The tune " Invocation," sung to the 43d Psalm, was first published in Smith's 'Sacred Music, &c., sung in St George's Church, Edinb.' 1825. " Selma " is generally thought to be also one of Smith's tunes ; but it is described in the foregoing collection as an " Ancient Scottish Melody noted in 320 THE MODERN EENAISSANCE, That Dr Thomson and Mr Smith, both individually and workino; in concert, enriched the church music of their country, and greatly improved that part of divine service, is the opinion of all competent judges. Testimony to the improved state of matters, all the more pleasing because rendered without solicitation, is furnished by the distin- guished English educationist, Dr Arnold of Eugby, who visited Scotland in the year of Dr Andrew Thomson's death, and who has recorded in his journal the impression made by what he then saw and heard. Under date July 1831 he has this entry : — " I was at chiu'cli (at Greenock) twice on Sunda}", once at the Presbyterian Church and once at the Episcopal Chapel. My impressions, received five years ago, were again renewed and strengthened as to the merits of the Presbyterian Church and our own. The singing is to me dehghtful, — I do not mean the music, but the heartiness with which all the congregation join in it. And I exceedingly like the local and particular prayers and addresses which the freedom of their services allows the minister to use. On the other hand, the people should be protected from the tediousness or dulness of their minister ; and that is admirably effected by a Liturgy, and especially by such a Liturgy as ours. . . . Some free- dom in the Service the minister certainly should have ; some power of insertion to suit the particular time and place ; some power of explaining on the spot whatever is read from the Scriptures, which may require explanation, or at any rate of stating the context." ^^ Dr Arnold spent another Sunday of the same month in Glasgow, and again worshipped in a Presbyterian church, but does not seem to have been so favourably impressed. The Scottish minister's sermon struck him as addressed more ad the Ii5lancl of Arran and harmonised by Mr Smith." It is there set to the 67th Psalm. For an appreciative notice of R. A. Smith, and the services he rendered to Scottish Psalmody, see ' Scottish Churcli Music : Its Composers and Sources.' By James Love. Edinb. : 1891. The appendix to this useful book of reference contains "A List of the principal Collections of Psalmody issued in Scotland from the year 1700 to the present time." 1^ ' Life and Correspondence of Thomas Arnold, D.D.' By A. P. Stanley, D.D. In two vols. Ninth ed. 1868. Vol. ii. p. 337. DR THOMSON ON USE OF LORD'S PRAYER. 321 clcrum than ad populum. Nothing, it seemed to him, could be worse than the introductory prayers of the Scottish service, judging from what he heard ; " the intercessory prayer after the sermon is far simpler, and there the discretion given to the ministers is often happily used." It w^as to the Englishman a pleasing surprise when the minister used the Lord's Prayer before the sermon.^^ We cannot claim for Dr Thomson's example and teaching that they provided for the Oxford professor of modern history the pleasure of hearing what to him was, in the circumstances, " doubly welcome and impressive." For the lectures of the Edinburgh divine have been appealed to, not without some show of reason, in order to prove him lacking in the true devotional spirit, and in loving appreciation of that prayer that teacheth to pray. In 1816 Dr Thomson published two volumes of ' Lectures on portions of Scripture.' ^^ Four of the lectures are devoted to the subject of Prayer as unfolded in the Gospel according to St Matthew.^^ In these the position taken up and argued with reference to the Lord's Prayer is thus set forth : " That the form of prayer which our Saviour gave to His disciples was never meant to be binding, as a part of Christian worship, on succeeding ages of the Church ; and consequently, that though, in the way of accommodation, it may be both lawfully and properly made use of, we are justi- fied in not making use of it according to the sense which it ^^ Ibid., p. 338. It is only fair to give Dr Arnold's general summing up, as expressed thus : " But altogether, taking their Service as it is, and ours as it is, I would far rather have our own ; how much more, therefore, with the slight improvements which we so easily might introduce — if only But even to the eleventh hour we will not refo)-m, and therefore we shall be not, I fear, reformed, but rudely mangled or overthrown by men as ignorant in their cor- rection of abuses as some of us are in their maintenance of them." These words were written sixty-one years ago. Is the Church of England any nearer the slight improvements desiderated — any nearer the being reformed which can alone avert the being overthrown ? ^^ ' Lectures, Expository and Practical, on select portions of Scripture.' By the Rev. Andrew Thomson, A.M., Minister of St George's, Edinb. 1816. ^* Vol. ii., Lects. xxii. -xxv. X 322 THE MODERN EENAISSANCE. literally and originally bears, and according to the method in which it is usually employed by those who hold a contrary opinion," ^^ In endeavouring to make good this position, the lecturer contends that the Founder of Christianity could not have designed the prayer for permanent use, since no further notice is taken of it after the regular institution of the Christian Church, and it does not appear from any authentic document that has come down to us, that it ever constituted a part either of public or of private wor- ship ; that, with the exception of the petition bearing on for- giveness, the whole of the prayer is extracted from the litur- gies that were in use among the Jews ; that had He designed this form for us who live in Gospel days, Christ " would have introduced into it petitions most directly and distinctly appli- cable to the characteristic doctrines of Christianity, and not limited himself to a phraseology adapted to the darker and more imperfect scheme of Judaism ; " that there is one of the petitions which it is impossible for us to employ in its ori- ginal sense, the petition " Thy kingdom come ; " and finally, " that the Lord's Prayer is not preferred in the name of Christ," while "it is beyond controversy that every petition we offer up to God must be offered up in that name, other- wise it cannot be acceptable and successful." Surely, then, we cannot reasonably suppose " that our Saviour would pre- scribe to us, as a set form, a prayer so radically defective as not to acknowledge the necessity of dependence upon His atonement and righteousness," or " that He would intend the form of prayer which He gave to His twelve disciples to be binding upon the practice of His Church in all succeeding ages." While on such grounds as these refusing to recognise and use the Lord's Prayer " as a precise and stinted form in worship," Dr Thomson protests against being regarded as agitating to have it set aside or treated with neglect. As a part of the Word of God it is, he maintains, entitled to our 15 Ibid., p. 23S. EPISCOPALIAN WKITERS ON USE OF LORD'S PRAYEI!. 323 respectful attention, and he concedes "that as a ^j^'a^/cr it may, in the way of accommodation, be employed with great propriety, and with great advantage." Even with these limitations, the contention of Dr Thomson gave deep offence to many. It furnished the editor of ' Pres- bytery Examined '^^ with corroboration, as he imagined, of his author's assertion that Presbyterians not only refuse to use the Lord's Prayer, but condemn the use of it by others ; ^"^ while the language of the minister of St George's about that sacred form of devotion which our divine Eedeemer uttered is stigmatised as " fearful." To the Episcopalian editor it was matter of painful surprise not only that one employing such language was not called to account by the judicatories of the Kirk, but that he continued to be regarded by the members of the Scottish establishment as a high authority on points of Christian doctrine.^^ ^^ ' The Fundamental Charter of Presbytery, as it hath been lately estab- lished in the Kingdom of Scotland, examin'd and dis23rov'd by the History, Records, and Public Transactions of our Nation.' London: 1695. 'The Works of the Right Rev. John Sage, a Bishop of the Church in Scot- land ; with Memoir and Notes.' Edinb. : Printed for the Spottiswoode Society. 1844. '^ " . . . our present Presbyterians observe no forms in their public prayers either before or after sermon. For the most part they observe no rules — they pray by no standard ; nay, they do not stick by their own ' Directory.' All must be extemporary work, and the newer the odder — the more surpriz- ing, both as to matter and manner, the better. . . . Nay, so much are they against set forms, that it is Popery, for anything I know, to say the Lord's Prayer. Our Reformers never met for public worship but they used it once or oftener. . . . Our present Presbyterians will not only not use it, but they condemn and write against the using of it." — Ut siq^., i^p. 352-355. ^8 " The best proof which can be adduced in support of Bishop Sage's asser- tion, that the present Presbyterians have receded from the principles of tlie Reformers (at least) in the matter of the Lord's Prayer, is furnished by the following extract from the printed Sermons of the late Dr Andrew Thomson, the authority of whose name is still of great weight in the estimation of Scot- tish Presbyterians." The editor, having furnished his extracts, some of which are the same as those given above, concludes with the observation : " This quotation requires no comment beyond the remark, that the person who used this fearful language about that sacred form of devotion which our divine Re- deemer uttered, was not only not called to account for it by the judicatories 324 THE MODERN RENAISSANCE. Dr Andrew Thomson's startingiy sudden death took place in 1831. The reforming party in the Church of Scotland, to the ultimate ascendency of which he so powerfully contrib- uted, became dominant in the General Assembly of 1834, and the struggle between evangelicalism and moderatism con- tinued till 1843, when it culminated in the Disruption. Dur- ing the ten years of conflict and convulsion, the Churcli of Scotland could not be expected to have either time or inclina- tion to attend to matters of ritual, her very existence as an ecclesiastical establishment being at stake ; and for wellnigh an equal number of years after separation, both sections of the disrupted Church found it needful to concern themselves with other matters than the details of worship. But all through these years of rending and of reconstructing there was a steady though silent quickening of the spiritual life of the Scottish Presbyterian Churches, one of the manifestations of which was a concern for and endeavour after greater seemliness and heartiness in the services of the sanctuary. The man who vmdertook to lead in this endeavour, but who led in a way that evoked stern opposition, while it created in- terest in the movement both within and outside the borders of his own Church, was Dr Eobert Lee, minister of Old Grey- friars, and Professor of Biblical Criticism in the University of Edinburgh. For the work of a pioneer in ritual reform to which this ecclesiastic addressed himself, single-handed, with intrepidity and enthusiasm, he possessed several valuable qualities. Exercising a dexterous and nimble rather than a profound or subtle intellect, displaying as a debater great alertness, coolness, and smartness, Dr Lee succeeded in indoc- trinating a large and influential congregation with his views as to the need of a reformed ritual for Scotland, while he proved more than a match for conservative opponents in his of the Kirk, but continues to be regarded by the members of the Scottish establishment as a high authority on points of Christian doctrine." — Ibid., pp. 354, 355 n. DR ROBERT LEE OF OLD GREYFRIARS. 325 numerous encounters with such upon the floor of the metro- politan Presbytery or the General Assembly. On the other hand, Dr Lee displayed in a marked degree les d4fautes de ses qualit4s. Occasionally his smartness de- generated into flippancy, his logical fence into unworthy verbal quibbling. His warmest admirers freely admit that he was lacking in the higher qualities of a liturgist, such qualities as a " tender reverence for Catholic usage," and an appreciation of " the archaic forms of Catholic tradition " — that he was defective in the higher feeling and the inner ear for the melody and rhythmic harmony of liturgical devotion, so that his own printed prayers breathe " the free and pure air of modern thought," give embodiment to his conception of " a rational Christian worship," but " have not much of that ripe- fulness and venerable gracious stateliness wliich shed a solemn yet kindly and familiar air — as of faint incense, or of mellow music, around the ancient liturgies." '^'^ There was also in certain quarters a prejudice with which he had to contend, arising from a suspicion that the pro- fessor's theology was not favourable to evangelical life and warmth, but had leanings towards the Socinianism of eighteenth-century moderatism. It is candidly admitted by his l^iographer. Professor Story, that in the earlier years of his ministry Dr Lee's " preaching was more tinged with what is popularly called 'Evangelicalism' than it afterwards was," and that the minister himself was, in some respects, a very different man then from the man he afterwards became, " the liberal and rational element which subsequently marked his ^'■' Dr K. H. Story, in ' Life and Remains of Robert Lee, D.D.' In two vols. London: 1870. Vol. i. p. 331 ; vol. ii. p. 351. See also article upon "The New Liturgies of the Scottish Kirk," under the initials, not difficult of identi- fication, "A. K. H. B.," in 'Blackwood's ^Magazine,' No. DCCCCi., Nov. 1890. The WTiter of the article admits that he, for one, " thoroughly disliked Dr Lee's book ['Prayers for Public Worship ']. The genuine liturgical flow was quite lacking in most of Dr Lee's prayers, which were to a considerable extent original. " 326 THE MODERN RENAISSANCE. character and ministry so strongly " being " then only par- tially develoi3ed." ^'^ The matter is cautiously stated when, by one in sympathy with his programme of ritual reform, it is admitted that Dr Lee's prayers were " very naturally flavoured " with his theology, that theology being " more advanced than was in those days common." -^ Dr Lee entered upon his career as a reformer of the forms, the postures, and the accompaniments of Presbyterian wor- ship when Old Greyfriars' Church, which had been burned in 1845, was reopened in 1857. On that occasion the min- ister, who " had been educating the minds of his people," ^^ requested them to kneel at prayer and to stand up when singing. He altered the first act of the service into con- formity with the usage of the Directory, and he read the prayers from a book which contained a series of Church services drawn up by himself, and published earlier in the same year.-^ In the spring of 1863 a harmonium was used in the rendering of the praise in Old Greyfriars. This, how- -'' ' Life and Remains,' ut sup., vol. i. p. 77. -1 ' Blackwood's Magazine, ' ut siq). " Dr R. H. Story, 'Life and Remains,' vol. i. p. 332. "^ 'Prayers for Public AVorship.' First ed. 1857. In the course of the preface Dr Lee stated : " The only deviation from the order generally prac- tised in the Church of Scotland, which will be here remarked, is in beginning the service with calling upon the people to unite in the worship of God, instead of commencing with singing. This is done not only out of compliance with evi- dent propriety, and with the practice of the Presbyterian Liturgies, but in obedience to the express rule of the Directory for the Public Worship of God ; a document which contains the present law of the Church on this sub- ject, and indeed on the whole subject of public worship ; and to which a recent General Assembly has 'earnestly called the attention of all Presby- teries and ministers of this Church, trusting that its regulations will be duly observed.' " [Recommendation and Declaratory Act of Assembly, 1856.] The third edition of Dr Lee's book of prayers was entitled ' A Presbyterian Prayer- Book,' and was published in 1863. The fourth was a reprint, in the following year, with some slight corrections and additions, but liaviug for title : ' The Order of Public Worship and Administration of the Sacraments as used in the Church of the Greyfriars, Edinburgh. By Robert Lee, D.D.,' &c. In 1873 the executors of Dr Lee issued a fifth edition, the fourth having been for some time out of print, and the demand for the book still continuing. i)R lee's refoem and innovations in worship. 327 ever, was regarded by Dr Lee and his congregation as only a preparation for a larger instrument ; and so, on the 22d April 1865, an organ was played, which was, to use his own lan- guage, " universally approved and applauded," a great en- thusiasm having been excited.^* The ritual reformer did not confine his efforts to impart aesthetic refinement to Presby- terian forms of worship within the limits of his own congre- gation, but sought to diffuse his views through the press. In 1864 there was published the first portion of a work which the author did not live to complete. Under the title of ' The Reform of the Church of Scotland in Worship, Government, and Doctrine ' ; the part devoted to ritual treats of such sub- jects as liturgical and extemporary prayer, postures in wor- ship, use of instrumental music, and the reintroduction of certain festivals and fasts, as Christmas, Good Friday, and Easter, " The book," writes Dr Story, " is incontestabl}^ the ablest con- tribution ever made to the question of Hberty and propriety of worship in the Scottish Church. . . . It is with proved truth tliat Dr Lee says, in his conclusion, that the reforms he has ad- vocated ' only tend, for the most part, to restore those customs and practices which tlie fathers of Presbytery thought expedient, and which they established and themselves practised. . . . Xo one should raise an outcry against ritualism, formalism, or au}^ other ism, when nothing more is suggested than a return to some prac- tices which the universal Church has sanctioned, which our earliest and wisest reformers approved, and which the more enlightened portion of the Scottisli people at least are prepared to welcome.' " -^ When, in 1859, the manner in which public worsliip was being conducted in Old Greyfriars became matter of review in the General Assembly, Dr Lee and his sympathisers re- -^ " 22(1 April 1865. — This has been a great clay in the Greyfriars' Church, and in the Church of ScotLand. The new organ, built by Messrs Hamilton, at a cost of £450, subscribed by the congregation, was this day opened, and uni- versally approved and applauded, and a great enthusiasm has been excited." — ' Life and Remains,' vol. ii. p. 82. -•' Ibid., pp. 55, 56. 328 THE MODERN EENAISSANCE, garded the first decision of that Court as substantially in his favour, virtually sanctioning the changes he had then intro- duced, with the exception of reading prayers from a printed book or from manuscript.^*" Dr Lee's practices were for the second time before the Supreme Court in 1864, and again the decision of the majority was hailed by the reforming party as one " wisely tolerant of orderly change and progress," one that " practi- cally condoned any fault that might be imputed to Dr Lee in regard to his resumption of the book of prayers, which he had laid aside from 1859 till 1863," and that would effec- tually protect him " from any future interference from the Presbytery." -^ In the following year, however, matters took a different turn, when, once more, the Assembly was called upon to give a deliverance with reference to the ritual movement which in February of that year Dr Lee described as "proceeding smoothly and successfully." For on the 23d of May 1865 Dr Pirie, Professor at Aberdeen, and ex-Moderator of the Church, carried, by a majority of 33, an elaborate motion in which " the General Assembly, while recommending the utmost tenderness to the feelings of unanimous congregations as to matters of form, do hereby declare and enact that arrange- -" " The Assembly decided for me, substantiallj', by a majorit}' of 140 to 110. It is a wonderful result ; and has surprised many people, and delighted far more." — Dr Lee, 'Life and Remains,' vol. i. p. 365. "This decision of the Assembly, ' rara avis in tcrris,' was really a popular triumph." — Dr Story, ibid., p. 367. The leading part of the Assembly's decision was in these terms : ' ' Find it established . . . that the prayers in the services of Grey- friars' Church are read by Dr Lee from a book in manuscript or printed. , . . Find that this practice is an innovation upon and contrary to the laws and usage of the Church, . . . and the Assembly enjoin Dr Lee to discontinue the use of the book in question in the services of his Church, and to conform in ofEering up prayer to the present ordinary practice of the Church." When this judgment of the Assembly was announced Dr Lee stated that he ac- quiesced therein, and would endeavour to comply with the injunction as he understood it. -'' ' Life and Remains,' vol. ii. p. Q6. "A Revolution ! " says Dr Lee in his diarj'. ASSEMBLY DELIVERANCES ON GREYFEIAES CASE. 329 ments with regard to public worship, and all other religious services and ecclesiastical arrangements of every kind in parishes or congregations, are to be regulated by the Presby- tery of the bounds, always subject to the ordinary right of appeal, and that even though no express law should exist with reference to such particulars — the decisions of Presby- teries in each case being absolute and obligatory until they have been finally reversed by the competent courts of review ; and the General Assembly strictly prohibit all ministers and office-bearers from assuming independent jurisdiction in such matters as are inconsistent w^ith the vows of submission pledged by them at ordination to the inferior courts, on pain of the highest censures." ^^ This deliverance was, as Dr Lee at once perceived and acknowledged, " a decision against Innovations," which, so long as it continued in operation, would be a fatal check upon the progress of the movement he so bravely championed. Accordingly he set himself to secure the repeal of what came to be spoken of as " Dr Pirie's Act," moving in that direction through his Presbytery and Synod to the Assembly of 1866.-^ By that Supreme Court, however, not only was his motion for repeal lost by a majority of 207 to 94, but a motion was carried by 147 votes against 106, authorising a committee of the Edinburgh Presbytery to confer with Dr Lee as to his present and proposed mode of conducting public worship in his church, and " to take such steps as the result of the inquiry may show to be requisite for the regulation of the services in the said church, in a manner consistent with this deliverance, and with the law and usage of the Church." ^'^ Once more, and for tlie last time, the innovations practised in -8 Ibid., pp. 153, 151. -" In the Edinburgh Presbytery Dr Lee examined " Dr Pirip's Act " at great length, and pronounced it to be "inept, contradictory, and unsound from its title to its conclusion." — Ibid., p. 239. ^" Ibid., pp. 264, 265. "So ended the debate," remarks Dr Storj', "on freedom of worship — in a way entirely hostile to Dr Lee." 330 THE MODERN EENAISSANCE. Old Greyfriars were made matter of motion, complaint, and appeal in the inferior courts, and travelled, by slow and wearisome stages, to the Assembly of 1867. When, however, the case was called, Dr Lee's legal representatives craved indefinite postponement, on the ground that the person most closely affected was unable to compear, or to concern himself with any public interest. For on the day before the opening the minister of Old Greyfriars had been struck down with paralysis. From the effects of that seizure he never fully recovered ; a second and severer proved fatal ; and on the evening of the 14th of March 1868 the spirit of the restless reformer and ready debater passed away from the heat of controversy and the strife of tongues. Thus, according to his sympathetic biographer, " the protracted discussions upon Innovations came to a vague and undefined close. The 'Greyfriars case' remains still unfinished — ending only in a postponement." And we have the same unimpeachable authority for stating that " Dr Lee's friends were not sorry that it should end thus, as they knew that, if the appeal had been heard, the decision of the Assembly would have been adverse." ^^ There is one department of divine service regarding which Dr Lee's attitude was essentially conservative — that, viz., of the material for praise. Writing in 1864, and giving his answer to the inquiry, What should be sung in church ? What words should be used as psalms or hymns in the worship of God ? he gave expression to the opinion that there was neither any necessity for, nor much advantage in, going beyond the Scrip- tures for the material of praise ; that if only adapted and used aright, there is abundance of material in the canticles of the Old and New Testaments for expressing every feeling of faith, hope, love, patience, submission, and every holy aspiration which we should seek to express and cherish in our songs of praise. He also expressed the conviction that 31 Ibid., p. 353. EXLAEGEMENT OF PSALMODY OF CHURCH OF SCOTLAND. 331 while many of the hymns in current use are good, and some of them even beautiful and well adapted for some uses, the number of really excellent modern hymns in the English language did not amount to a score. " A committee of the General Assemljly," he went on to state, " has sat for many years, and has collected a considerable number of hymns — the best they could find after diligent and extensive inquiries." ^- The matter of an enlarged psalmody and hymnody had indeed been before the Church of Scotland in one form or another from the opening of the century. As early as 1811, and again in 1814, specimens of poetic renderings of the Psalms in a variety of metres had been submitted to presby- teries. In 1821 there was laid before the Assembly, and by their order printed for the use of presbyteries, what was called 'Additional Psalmody '; ^^ in 1854 there was compiled for presentation to the Assembly a collection of 123 hymns founded upon and springing out of Scripture passages ; ^"* and in the year following a newly appointed committee made a selection in alphabetical order of 25 hymns wdiich they deemed suitable for public worship, introducing a few slight alterations, and adding Bishop Ken's Morning and Evening Hymns, as also 9 doxologies.^^ Then in 1860 there was prepared for presentation to the Assembly by the Psalmody Committee a collection of 85 hymns, also arranged alpha- ^'- 'The Reform of the Ch. of Scot.,' chap, x., '" Psalms and Hymns." ^^ ' Additional Psalmody ; submitted to the General Assembly, 1S20 ; and pi'iuted by their order, for the insioectiou of Presbyteries.' Ediub. : 1821. The collection consists of two parts, the first containing 32 renderings of psalms in different metres, and the second 17 metrical renderings of other passages of Old and New Testament Scripture, with 2 doxologies. ■^^ ' Hymns connected with passages of Sacred Scripture, collected by a Com- mittee of the General Assembly, and prepared for presentation on Friday, May 26, 1854.' "^ 'Hymns connected with passages of Sacred Scripture, and adapted for public worship. Selected by a Committee of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland from a Collection made by a former Committee. May 1S55.' 332 THE MODERN RENAISSANCE. betically ; ^'^ this, in turn, was superseded by the labours of the committee reported to the Assembly of 1861, and em- bodied in a collection containing 97 pieces, followed by 22 Doxologies, 3 forms of Thanksgivings, 2 Dismissions, 1 Hosanna, and 4 Sanctuses.^'^ It is unnecessary to trace the stages of the movement beyond the point now reached, as it is from 1861 the authoritative use of hymns in the Church of Scotland is to be dated. This, however, falls to be noted, that any explicit sanctioning of the use of hymns in public worship was never at any time either asked or given, the only nineteenth -century deliverance of Assembly on the subject being in these guarded terms : " Allow a Selection of the Hymns to be published by the Committee, it being understood that the sanction of the General Assembly is not hereby given to the Selection that may be made." When the Selection of 1861 was revised, and a new edition was issued in 1864, the Assembly simply alloivcd its publication. The edition of ' The Scottish Hymnal ' in present use among congregations purports on its title-page to be "For use in Churches, by authority of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland." If examined into it might appear that it would be more correct to say, " By permission," than " By authority." ^s ""^ ' Hymns collected by the Committee of the General Assembly on Psalmody for presentation in May 1860. David Arnot, D.D. , Convener.' 1860. '■' . . . the Church of Scotland never approved this volume : the Committee published it on their own responsibility. And its use in churches was never authorised by the General Assembly." — A. K. H. B., in ' Blackwood's Magazine,' May 1889, article, " The New Hymnology of the Scottish Kirk." ^^ ' Hymns for Public Worship collected by the Committee of the General Assembly on Psalmody. For presentation in May 1861. David Arnot, D.D., Convener.' ^^ " In 1864 an enlarged and improved edition of the Hymnal of 1861 was alloioed by the Assembly to be published. From that time the use of the book became general, although the authority for using it is merely to be gathered from the title taken along with the allowance to publish." — MS. communication from Dr Sprott, October 5, 1891. Dr Rankin of Muthill " de- ENLARGEMENT OF PSALMODY OF SECESSION CHURCIL 333 The present century action of the Secession Church in Scotland with reference to the use of hymns, while it does not go quite so far back as that within the border of the State Church, was in the same direction and of somewhat the same character. We have found, at an earlier stage of our survey, approval given by the Synod of Eelief as early as 1794 to a volume containing 231 " Sacred Songs and Hymns." Forty-six years later the United Secession Church, another influential section of the Secession in Scotland, was moved by overtures from several of its presbyteries to take the matter of an enlarge- ment of the psalmody into consideration, the result being the appointment in 1842 of a committee to make a selection of paraphrases and hymns fit for use in congregations. The labours of this learned body, extending over wellnigh two years, must have Ijeen arduous, judging from the amount of material brought together. In the printed collection no fewer than 814 pieces form the first part, 30 "Hymns for the Young " the second, while an appendix of 80 additional com- positions and 22 doxologies — making 946 metrical composi- tions in all — complete the portly volume. As in the case of the earlier Eelief Hymn-book, a number of the paraphrases of 1781 find a place in the United Associate Synod compila- tion, and the contents are arranged in the order of the books of the Bible. This particular hymnal, although printed, was never published, and so was never used in congregational praise.^^ The explanation of this peculiarity is probably to be found in the fact that long before the book was in type negotiations for union between the Associate and the Eelief vised the felicitous title of Tlic Scottish Hymnal." It "was first used in public worshij:) on Sundcay, August 14, 1870 ; being then a collection of only 200 Hymns. At the end of the j'ear 1888, the Hymnal had grown to a volume containing 442 Hynms," — A. K. H. B., tit sup. '^'•^ A copy of this book is in the possession of James Thin, Esq., Edinburgh, who has favoured me with the use of it, as also of the collections mentioned in the immediately preceding notes. 334 THE MODERN EENAISSANCE. Churches had commenced, that by the time the volume was ready for use the union platform had been constructed, and that the union itself was consummated on the 13th of May 1847. The fact that both parties to this union had thus a hymn-book, the one in readiness and the other in actual use, accounts for the celerity with which the United Presbyterian Church of Scotland took steps to furnish its congregations with an enlarged psalmody. Five days after the union the Synod appointed a committee to consider the psalmody of the United Church. That committee reported progress on the 8th October of the same year, and recommended the preparation of a book of hymns. By May 1848 they were in a position to submit to the Supreme Court a draft of the pro- posed hymnal, copies of which were, by orders of Synod, sent to each session for suggestions.*'' Matters advanced so har- moniously, that in May 1851 the United Presbyterian Synod was in a position to instruct the committee " to publish the Hymn-book forthwith for the use of the Church." The use of an authorised Hymn-book in the United Presbyterian Church of Scotland thus dates from 1851. In the authorised book the pieces were reduced in number from 663 in the draft issue to 460, and the doxologies from 26 to 19. With the exception of five at the close, the hymns were arranged in the order of the Bible passages on which they are founded or which they spiritualise, other parallel passages being indicated. What is virtually a new Hymn-book for United Presby- terian use was published by authority of the Synod in 1876, under the title of 'The Presbyterian Hymnal.' In this collection the process of selection is carried a stage further, the number of pieces being limited to 366, and of doxologies to 18, to which, however, are added 24 Scripture sentences. The arrangement of the contents is also different, the order ■*" ' Hymn Book of the United Presbyterian Church.' Glasgow : Printed by William Collins & Co. Draft. 1848. It contains 663 pieces, ai-ranged in the order of the books of the Bible, and 26 doxologies. EXLAEGEMENT OF PSALMODY IX FEEE CHUIICH OF SCOTLAND. 335 of Bible books being departed from in favour of a grouping according to subjects, these being fifteen in number. It was not till 186G that the question of authorising the use of a hymn-book was raised in the Free Church of Scot- land. In that year overtures found their way to the Assem- bly calling for an extension of the existing material for public praise. The motion which approved itself to a majority of the fathers and brethren on that occasion, was one appointing "a committee to consider maturely the whole matter, en- joining said committee to report to next General Assembly whether in their opinion any such changes as those now craved should be made, and if so, in what way this may best be done so as to preserve the peace and promote the edifica- tion of the Church."'*^ The large and representative committee then appointed nominated three sub-committees to consider and report upon separate branches of the subject — one to ascertain what has been the law and usage of the Eeformed Church of Scotland as regards the employment in public wor- ship of paraphrases and hymns ; another to inquire into the rule and practice of the primitive Church on the same subject ; and a third to examine the present collection of paraphrases and hymns, with a view, in the event of its being resolved that a revision of that collection should be made, to recom- mend what part of the existing collection should be retained, what displaced, and what should be regarded as doubtful. After a short interim report presented in 1867, and a larger one, with three appendices, in 1868, the Assembly of 1869 felt justified in giving a deliverance of approval, and in re- mitting to the committee carefully to revise the existing col- ■'^ This motion, proposed by Dr Adam, was carried by a majority of 73 against one submitted by Dr Begg, which raised and remitted to a committee the following points : "1. Whether any principle is involved in singing inspired or uninspired compositions in the public worship of God ? 2. Whether, apart from questions of principle, any of the practical suggestions embodied in the overtures on the table, or any other suggestion, are worthy of careful con- sideration ? "— F.C. Blue-Book for 1866, pp. 268, 247. 336 THE MODERN RENAISSANCE. lection of paraphrases and hymns, to select a limited number of Scriptural and standard ones in addition to those that may be retained, and to make a more thorough examination of the versions of the Psalms formerly prepared and submitted by the Psalmody Committee, Acting on the lines tlius laid down for their guidance, the Committee on Paraphrases and Hymns fixed upon seventy-five hymns, which they printed in alphabetical order and appended to the report given in to the Assembly of 1870, and they also enumerated the paraphrases and hymns of the 1781 collec- tion which they proposed to omit, as also which of these, with certain alterations, they deemed worthy of retention. By 1872 the committee had been for six years engaged in the work, having devoted to it not a little time, thought, and effort, and they then felt justified in asking for a final deci- sion, in the form of permission to congregations to use the limited collection, where that was desired. They further sug- gested that the Assembly should follow as nearly as possible the course which the Church pursued in 1781 — that, viz., of allowing the collection to be used in public worship in con- gregations where the minister finds it for edification. The suggestion was given effect to by the Assembly of 1872, who approved " generally " of the revised collection of psalm ver- sions, paraphrases, and hymns. To this finding there was added the following statement : " And being persuaded that the Assembly cannot with advantage longer delay coming to a decision in the matter, they hereby allow the public use of said collection where that is judged to be for edification." ^^ ^' The opposition motion was moved by Dr Hugh Martin in the following terms: "That no measures in the way of legislation ought to be adopted in connection with the materials of our public psalmody until a clear deliverance is given by this Church in regard to the Scrij^tural principle which regulates the appointed and acceptable mode of worshij^piug God, as bearing upon con- gregational praise." For this motion there voted 61 against 213, giving a majority of 152 in favour of Dr Adam's, which was that given in the text. — F.C. Blue-Book for 1872, pp. 313, 316, 327. THE OKGAN UNUSED IN REFOKMED CHURCH OF SCOTLAND, 337 A movement in 1878 for a larger collection, resulted, three years later, in the sanction of the volume at present in use, which purports to be " The Free Church Hymn Book. Pub- lished by authority of the General Assembly of the Free Church of Scotland." Little or no responsibility attached to Dr Eobert Lee in the matter of hymn-singing, and for what of change he introduced into that department of divine service it was open to him to plead that, as in the kneeling posture at prayer, he was simply falling back upon the Church's sanction and usage at an earlier period of her history, that his "novations" were not innovations but restorations.'^^ That plea, however, he did not advance, as indeed it was not possible for him to advance it, in defence of one of the changes he introduced into Old Grey friars in 18G3, when instrumental music was employed at the public diets of wor- ship. Whatever support they may endeavour to derive from the practice of the medieval Church, even the warmest sym- pathisers with Dr Lee are ready to admit that instrumental music had been unknown in the Ecclesia Scotticana from the era of the Eeformation.^^ Although the attention of the •*-^ "To kneel in prayer was only returning to an attitude which ought never to have been abandoned." — Dr Leishman, "The Ritual of the Church," in 'The Church of Scotland, Past and Present,' vol. v. p. 42i. Regarding an- other change of attitude in which Dr Lee led the way, Dr Leishman is dis- posed to admit that it "was, perhaps, an innovation." "It is doubtful," he i-emarks, "if at anytime standing at singing was prevalent in Scotland." — • Ibid. " Sitting at praise I look upon as an innovation. In the Orkney Islands, where I was brought up, the congi-egations of all sects, from the time of the Reformation, have stood at praise." — Speaker in Free Church Assembly, 1882. ** " Putting aside all questions as to the point at which Church authority ends and individual freedom begins, every candid person must admit that most of the changes which can be traced to his action had the Church's sanc- tion in some earlier period of her history. An exception was the use of in- strumental music. It had been unknown in the Church since the Reformation, for uniformity can hardly be said to have been broken by the tentative use of it on one or two occasions in the Chapel Royal or the Glasgow church. But it was an innovation which Dr Lee saw the nation was ready to adopt." — Dr Leishman, lU suj)., p. 423. Y 338 THE MODERN RENAISSANCE. Church courts was from time to time directed to the fact that a harmonium was being used by the minister of Greyfriars, and his doing so was classed among the innovations with which he was charged, it was not this matter that formed the chief topic of discussion and deliverance. The departure from use and wont given prominence to, and on which a find- ing adverse to the innovator was chiefly sought by his oppo- nents, was the offering of prayer from a printed or manuscript book. The Assembly never during Dr Lee's lifetime came to any explicit finding on the question of what might be used as an aid to vocal praise ; ^^ nor since his death has there been any formal decision sanctioning the use of instrumental aid, while liberty has been practically secured for congrega- tions to avail themselves of such, if they see their way to do so. The Assembly by which this is regarded as having been done is that of 1866. By that Assembly an Act was passed which, deprecating " needless interference witli the govern- ment of particular kirks," declares it to be the duty of Pres- byteries, on cause shown, either to enjoin the discontinuance or prohibit the introduction of such innovation or novel practice, or to find that no cause has been stated to them calling for their interference, or to pronounce such other de- liverance in the said matter as in their judgment seems war- ranted by the circumstances of the case and the laws and usages of the Church ; it being always competent to submit such deliverances to the review of the Supreme Church Court in common form. Some years elapsed before the example thus set was followed by any of the other sections of Scottish Presby- terianism. At length, in 1872, the United Presbyterian Church framed such a deliverance as gives the right to any consreoation within its jurisdiction to call in the aid of in- strumental music with a view to steadying, strengthening, •'•' In no one of the four General Assembly decisions in the Greyfriars case is there any mention of instrumental music. THE ORGAN IX UNITED TEESBYTEKIAN AND FREE CHURCHES. 339 and sustaining the voices of the people. The deliverance was in these carefully selected, well-balanced clauses of a long sentence : " That this Synod decline to pronounce any judgment upon the use of instrumental music in public worship ; yet do not longer make uniformity of practice in this matter a rule of the Church ; but the Synod urge upon the courts of the Church and upon individual ministers the duty of guarding anxiously the simplicity of public worship ; and press on the earnest attention of all the members of the Church watchfulness over the unity of our congregations." Ten years passed away ; and then the Free Church found herself in turn forced to face the question of sanctioning, tolerating, or prohibiting the innovation. The matter was brought before the Assembly of 1882 by petitions from two congregations '^'^ praying for liberty to use instrumental music in the public services, if they should so determine ; and also by overtures, two against and five in favour of such lil)erty being declared.^'' The Assembly remitted the subject to a committee, " with instructions to consider carefully the applications now made for congregational liberty in regard to the use of instrumental aids in the public worship of the sanctuary, with the grounds on which such liberty is craved, and to report as to the manner in which the appli- cations should be ultimately dealt with in consistency with the principles of the divine Word and the Standards of this Church." The report of this committee, laid on the table of the Assembly of 1883, was an elaborate document of thirty X^ages. It was very far from being a unanimous one, having been dissented from in whole or in part by several members ; but the conclusions reached by the majority of the comndttee ■^^ Both congregations were within tlie bounds of the Glasgow Presbytery, being those of Free College Church and of Westbourue Free Church. ■*" The two overtures unfavourable to liberty being granted were from the Synod of Glenelg and the Presbytery of Dornoch ; the five in favour of per- mission being given were from the Synods of Fife and Aberdeen, and the Presbyteries of Glasgow, Kirkcaldy, and Dunfermline. 340 THE MODERiSr RENAISSANCE. were, all along the line of inquiry, in favour of liberty being granted. The discussion to which this document gave rise in the Assembly was a protracted one, extending from eleven in the morning till eleven at night, and it was at times carried on in heat and with temper. The motion which, by a majority of 390 to 259, became the finding of the Church, declared " that there is nothing in the Word of God, or in the constitution and laws of this Church, to preclude the use of instrumental music in public worship as an aid to vocal praise." "The General Assembly," the motion went on to affirm, " do not feel entitled to withhold this declaration, which, in the circumstances, it has become their duty to make."*^ Thus, by separate and successive acts of legislation ex- tending from 1866 to 1883, the three leading branches of the Presbyterianism of Scotland have given liberty or extended toleration to the congregations within their borders, under certain restrictions, to employ instrumental music as an accompaniment of and an aid to their service of praise. To what extent the permission has been acted upon, and what has been the influence of instrumental music upon that de- partment of divine service in the case of congregations that have availed themselves of it, it does not fall within the scope of this inquiry to determine. "^^ ^^ The motion which became the finding of the House was that of Principal Rainy. The counter-motion was that of Sir Henry Moncreiff, and it called upon the Assembly " to publish the report, along with the accompanying documents, for the general information of the Church, that all its members may have a full opportunity of considering the matter ; and the Assembly, in the meantime, take no further action with i-espect to it." — F.C. Blue-Book for 1883, pp. 102, 107, 108. *^ Dr Leishman of Linton is a minister of that Church which has most largely availed itself of instrumental aid in the rendering of the public praise, and is an authority on all matters connected with Presbyterian ritual. It is thus that in 1891 he expresses himself regarding the introduction of the organ : " Many were startled at first ; some, who were personally favourable to it, opposed it from a belief that it would be distasteful to the body of their countrymen. ExjDerience has shown these fears to be groundless. Scottish FORMATION OF "CHURCH SERVICE SOCIETY," 1865. 341 A year prior to the earliest of the dates just mentioned, there came into existence a society which has undoubtedly exercised a potent influence upon divine service as now con- ducted in Presbyterian Scotland, and whose formation has been followed by that of several other associations of a kindred nature. Three years before the death of Dr Lee the movement within the pale of the Church of Scotland for an improved ritual widened out from the personal and congregational circle in which it had up till then moved, into one which included a considerable number of prominent and repre- sentative ministers. For on the 31st of January 1865 a meeting was held at Glasgow which resulted in the for- mation of a private association called " The Church Service Society," for membership in which only ordained ministers of the Church of Scotland were eligible, and admission was determined by the votes of a majority of the members present at a particular meeting. ^° As set forth in rule vi. of the constitution, the object of the Society is stated to be "the study of the liturgies, ancient and modern, of the Christian intelligence declined to see a breach of the second commandment in the use of an organ, which is neither an object nor an ordinance of worship. As an accessory of worshij), it was found to be a steadier support to the singers' voices than the larynx of a precentor. The help of an instrument has been welcomed in town and country, and if there are districts where a feeling against it remains, it is not likely to be lasting, unless wrong-headed men strengthen it by attempts to force the new mode on those who are prejudiced against it." — "The Ritual of the Church." 'The Church of Scotland, Past and Present,' vol. v. pp. 423, 424. ^^ The restriction of membership to members of the clerical profession was soon removed. At the annual meeting in 1867 it was agreed to invite the co-operation of laymen. Since 1873 that part of the constitution declaring " that none but ordained ministers of the Church of Scotland shall be eligible as members " has been dropped. In the lists of the members of the Society now published in the annual reports, tliere appear, in addition to the clerical members arranged according to Presbyteries, members under the following designations: 1. " Unbeneficed Clergymen and Licentiates." 2. "Church of Scotland in England. Presbytery of London." 3. "Dominion of Canada." 4. " Church of Scotland in the Colonics and elsewhere." 5. " Lay Members." 342 THE MODERN RENAISSANCE. Church, with a view to tlie preparation and ultimate pub- lication of certain forms of prayer for public worship, and services for the administration of the sacraments, the celebra- tion of marriage, the burial of the dead, &c." At a meeting held in Glasgow on the 31st March of the same year, there was read and adopted the report of a sub- committee which had been appointed " to consider what steps it is advisable to take in order to carry out the intention of the Society." As it sets forth the intentions of those who were the founders and promoters of the movement, this report is of value and significance. At the outset the committee advert to a misconception of the design of the Society, which they have reason to believe has entered into the mind of one or two of its members, and may possibly be even more widely spread. The error in question is that the Society " has been organised with the design of introducing a Liturgy into the Church of Scotland." Very emphatically is it stated that this is not the case, and that this is in no sense the work to which the Society has addressed itself. Without discussing the question whether the introduction of a Liturgy is desir- able or undesirable, possible or impossible, the committee judge that there is no room for diversity of opinion on this point, " that the introduction of a Liturgy into any Church whose worship has not been hitherto liturgical must be a measure long considered, slowly matured, and ultimately carried, not by any private association of clergymen, but by the public, official, and constitutional action of the Church herself." After a reference to rule vi. of the constitution, already quoted, for a statement of tlie true object of the Society, the sub-committee contend that the study of liturgies forms as rational a subject of inquiry on the part of ministers as homiletics or dogmatic theology ; that the preparation of the results of such study is competent to those who have time, ability, and inclination for such a line of investigation ; while the publication of them must rest with the Society, PKOGRAMME OF EDITORIAL COMMITTEE. 343 anil will doubtless be made to depend on its deliberate judg- ment of tlieir probable usefulness to tlie Cliurcli at large. Considering the premature or indiscreet use of prepared forms as sufficiently guarded against by rule viii., which enacts that no form of prayer or of service submitted to the Society shall be adopted and used by any member in his clerical capacity ^^ until the Society has agreed to sanction or recommend it, the committee go on to suggest that such forms as do obtain sanction sliould be regarded as models or aids to devotion, to be employed " not so as to supersede what is called free prayer," but so as to add richness to the language and solemnity to tlie worship. Two currents of feeling in the Church, generally supposed to run counter to each other, though not in reality doing so, or at least not needing to do so, are then described. The one feeling is that of sincere attachment to the simplicity of our non-liturgical worship ; the other is an earnest desire for a worship more solemn, uniform, and devout, than (in tone and aspect at least) our non-liturgical service generally is. In the case of those who object to that " simple service," which to others is dear, it is suggested that what has rendered the service heavy and profitless " is not its simjdicity, but — what is too often com- bined therewith, and may be as readily associated with the simplest as with the most elaborate service — its lifelcssness, and lack of devotional spirit and expression " — and that the remedy for this defect is to be found in the filling up of the simple forms valued by some, with the earnestness of devotional expression desired by others, — " by doing, in short, what the Society proposes to attempt, preparing or collecting examples of prayer as full and as suggestive of solemn, earnest, fervent devotion as words can be, and binding these into the simple order of our existing worship." In the judgment of the com- mittee, " our plain service is suited to the constitution of our ^^ In rule vii. of tlic constitution the clause '" in his clerical capacity," which ai'pears in the sub-committee's report, does not find a place. 344 THE MODEEN RENAISSANCE. Church and to the genius of our people, and may not be radically departed from." On the other hand, it is considered " very possible that in some minor points of arrangement the order may be improved," "ample freedom" for such improve- ment being " guaranteed by our Directory." Should the Society resolve to give attention to improvements, it is deemed right to point out that " although our closer ac- quaintance with England, and our readier opportunities of studying the ritual of the Anglican Church, are apt to lead us, in any alteration, to approximate to what we consider excel- lent in that ritual, yet our truer model is to be found in the Eeformed Churches of the Continent, with which in all matters of historical position, of creed, of worship, and of government, we have, and ought to have, a much closer affinity than with the Episcopal communion established in the southern part of this island." The work before the Society is divided by the committee into two main branches — the Constructive and the Eclectic. Under the first of these there would fall " the compilation or composition of forms for special services." Dealing with the eclectic, the committee take for granted that all their fellow-members " value highly the privilege of what is called free prayer, and that they would be unwilling to submit themselves to the yoke, which neither their fathers nor they have been able to bear, of a liturgy so rigid, albeit so beau- tiful, as that of the Anglican Church." By " free prayer," however, the committee do not understand liberty on the part of each minister " to lead the devotions of his congrega- tion according to his own idea or fancy, or as his spirit may be moved to pray ; " they attach to it wdiat they consider a legitimate and higher meaning, " that each clergyman of a Church which, like ours, is a National branch of the Church catJiolie, is at liberty to use whatever in the recorded devo- tions of that Church he finds most suitable to his own congregation's need," thus laying under contribution " the SUBSEQUENT HISTORY OF THE SOCIETY. 345 prayers of the Faithful in all divisions of the Catholic Cliurch," tliese being gathered " not into a formal Manual of Devotion, but into a great 3Iagazinc of prayers." ^- To the programme as thus laid down at the outset of its career, the Society steadily adhered, if we may judge from the reports submitted to and the speeches made at its annual meetings. At an early stage of its history the editorial committee deemed it hardly necessary to remind the So- ciety of the inexpediency of identifying itself with any party in the Church. At the annual meeting in 1868, Dr Boyd of St Andrews, referring to the volume called ' Euchologiou/ stated that he never took the book to the pulpit, or used it there, and that he did not intend to do so. When moving the adoption of the report for 1878-79, Sir James Fergusson, while pleading for prayers " in a set form, wdiich could not be trenched upon by circumstances and haste," but which, if " approved and habitually used, would render the services more complete and solemn, and acceptable to the people for whom they were offered," expressed the conviction that " it would be always consonant to Scotch feeling that a clergy- man should, in the course of divine service, make special reference, in his own way, to topics which commended them- selves to him as specially suitable to the people." " Prayers," said the Ayrshire baronet, " must not be all liturgical." And t])e Duke of Argyll, when applying by letter in 1880 to have his name added to the roll of lay members, deprecated any attempt " to deprive our Presbyterian service of that freedom which has been one of its essential characters." In fuller assertion of, not in derogation from, that freedom, he " should be glad to see among ministers and congregations the system- atic, but not the exclusive, use of those forms of supplication of which the Lord's Prayer is the type, and of which it is the great example." His Grace further expressed himself op- •''" This report is signed " in name of the sub-couiniittee, 11. Herbert Story, Convener." 346 THE MODERN RENAISSANCE. posed to " the monotony and rigidity of a compulsory and formal rule," and would regret " the abandonment of spon- taneous prayer as a usual, if not an essential, part of worship." On the subject of Church music, the representative of the old Scottish family avowed himself " old-fashioned enough to prefer greatly the use of the human voice alone," and looked " with some regret on the notion which seemed to be growing up that when an organ lias been introduced, the best has been done that need be done to give greater life and variety to our public worship." As to the matter of praise, " the strong objection wliich has prevailed in Scotland against the use in worship of any compositions which are not strictly Biblical," is one deserving, in his opinion, " more sympathy and respect than is sometimes accorded to it " — although, taken even in its extremest form, this objection cannot apply to such a practice as " the reading of the Psalms in alternate and responsive verses by the minister and the congregation." " Whether for prayer or for praise," wrote the Duke, " whether for language addressed directly to God, or for words yielding comfort and instruction to those who stand by and hear, there is no liturgy comparable with the Psalms. These are the common heritage of the Christian Church, and the more systematic reading of them would alone be a great reform." The annual meeting in 1882 was presided over by the late Principal Tulloch of St Andrews, who in the course of his opening remarks stated that the object of the Society could not, in some respects, be better defined than by saying " that it was for maintaining purity of worship in Scotland," their aim having been from the first " to restore, if possible, the original character of the service of the Scottish Church, to impart to it a truer character of devotion, more simplicity, more directness, and, in a word, more spiritualness." To the same effect spoke one who is an authority on all matters of Scottish ritual, Dr Sprott of North Berwick, who " trusted CONSERVATIVE SPIRIT OF THE SOCIETY. 347 that the Society would continue as hitherto to be specially characterised by its deference to tlie traditions of the Church of Scotland." "There could," he thought, "be no doubt that the Society had been a very conservative one." This state- ment was followed up by the enunciating of three propositions by Dr Snodgrass of Canonbie : " First, this Society is in no sense of the word a secret society ; second, the object is not the introduction of prelatic forms ; third, it is not true that the members of the Society are bound to use only such prayers as are approved of by the Society." Now and again individual members have pled for the compiling and publish- ing of a partial and permissive liturgy, the providing of services for weekly Communion and for daily worship, as also for the commemoration of various events in the life of our Lord ; but these sentiments have not received open counte- nance from the ruling spirits of the Church Service Society .^^ ^^ At the annual meeting in 1871, the Rev. John MacLeod of Duns (now the Rev. Dr MacLeod of Govan) said " they must contemplate the elaboration of a comprehensive ritual with more frequent church services. He believed that the Church of Scotland in her standards practically conveyed the idea that there should be weekly Communion. He did not see why they should not revive the old Scotch custom of daily services where such a step was practi- cable. He would like to see special services for the commemoration of our Lord's Passion and various other events in the life of our Lord." Thereafter Dr Dykes of Ayr stated that " with a great deal of what Dr MacLeod had said he agreed, but with much he entirely differed, particularly what was said about the Communion." At the same meeting the Rev. R. H. Story re- marked : "The Society must remember that the point from which they started, and in fact to which they were very much confined, was the imj^rove- ment of the general worship of the Church, and the provision of material for that improvement ; and they were almost expressly debarred by the general feeling of the Society from attempting that further work referred to — viz., the provision of a positive liturgical series of services for thei Church ; but that question must be very carefully considered." Dr MacLeod explained that he did not intend to commit the Society to the introduction of anything that was unconstitutitjnal. In 1880 a motion was submitted and seconded at the annual meeting, to the effect " That it be referred to a committee to consider and report as to the expediency of drawing up and publishing a partial and permissive liturgy;" but the chairman (Dr Sprott) having expressed doubts as to the ex[)ediency of the motion, unless put in more general terms, it was withdrawn. 348 THE MODERN EENAISSANCE. Early in its history the editorial committee resolved on the publication of a volume of church services, which appeared in 1867 under the title of ' ETXOAOriON : or, Book of Prayers ; being Forms of Worship, issued by the Church Service Society.' When this volume reached a third edition the title was altered. The Greek word in Greek characters at the head of the title-page is followed by tliis description of the contents : " A Book of Common Order : being Forms of Prayer and Administration of the Sacraments, and other Ordinances of the Church."^* Starting with a small membership and from humble be- ginnings, the Church Service Society now reckons among its ^■' The first edition of ' Euchologion ' consists of 220 pages. In a preface of 20 pages all intention of offering a complete work is disclaimed, but the pros- pect of issuing such is held out, should the business of the Society prosper, and the result of the publication answer the purposes of the editors. The contents of the book are divisible into two nearly equal portions. The first l^art contains draft forms of services for the sacraments, the solemnisation of matrimonj', and a manual for the burial of the dead, the last-named including ''Service at the House," and "Service in Public." The second part begins with Tables of Psalms and Lessons to be read in public woi-ship, and concludes with "Material for the construction of a service for public worship on the Lord's Day," the material being arranged in 14 sections, which range over topics from Sentences of Scripture and Introductoi-y Prayers, to Collects, Canticles, and Benedictions. The fifth edition of ' Euchologion ' was issued in 1884, and numbers over 500 pages. Its contents are grouped in three parts. In part first are Tables of Psalms and Lessons, and the order of divine service for the several Sundaj's of the month. Part second is devoted to the order for the celebration of the sacraments, the admission of catechumens, the solemnisation of matrimony, the visitation of the sick, the burial of the dead, the ordination and induction of ministers, the admission of elders, for laying the foundation-stone of a church, and for the dedication of a church. Part third is an api^endix of 129 pages in 20 sections, containing materials for daily and other services. Among the matei-ials is " The Litany " of the Church of England Prayer-book, with a single alteration. One of the jDetitions in the Anglican Litany begins : " That it may please thee to illuminate all Bishops, Priests, and Deacons." ^ In ' Euchologion ' the opening of the corresponding suffrage runs thus : " That it may please Thee to illuminate all Thy ministers with true knowledge and understanding of Thy "Word." 1 In MarshaU's Primer of 1535 and Edward VI. First Prayer-book of 1549 the office- bearers are designated " Bishops, pastours, and ministers." UNITED PRESBYTERIAN "DEVOTIONAL SERV, ASSOCIATION." 349 members a majority of the outstanding clerical members of the Church of Scotland, and embraces more than a third of the ministers within its brotherhood.^^ It continues, how- ever, to be a private, though not a secret, association, for the actions and j)ublications of which the Church of the members has no responsibility, and of which it takes no official cog- nisance. In 1868 Dr Leishman of Linton, speaking as a member of the Society, anticipated the time when " the Church herself would, as she ought to do, relieve them of this work;" but writing in 1891, the same divine has to confess that it is still lying " with the Church to determine whether the changes which changing circumstances always require shall be left in future to the empirical fancies of individuals, or to the united action of a society, or whether she will take the work into her own hands." ^'' Another denominational Society, the formation and opera- tions of which give pleasing indication of revived interest in the devout and orderly expression of the worship of Presby- terian Scotland, is " The United Presbyterian Devotional Service Association." At a conference of ministers and elders of that Church held at Edinburgh on the 30th October 1882, the reading of three papers on the Devotional Services of the Church was followed up by the formation of this Association. Its objects and methods are set forth in the second and third articles of the constitution : — " (ii.) That the Object of the Association shall be to promote the edifying conduct of the Devotional Services of tlie Church. In piu'.suing this object the Association shall endeavour to foster an interest in the History and Literature of Public Worsliip, consider ^■' At the annual meeting in 1873 one speaker congratulated the gentlemen who took charge of the Society on the day of small things being now passed. The first meeting, he stated, was held in one of the elders' pews, and it was satisfactory to see the Society now spreading over the area of the Church. On the 25th May 1892 it was reported at the annual meeting that the membersliip consisted of 533 clergymen and 136 lay members — in all, 6(59 persons. 5« "The Ritual of the Church" in 'The Church of Scotland,' vol. v. p. -125. 350 THE MODERN RENAISSANCE. the practice of other Denominations, indicate defects in existing usages, discuss proposals in the direction of improvement, and liy such means to promote the devout and orderly expression of the Worship of the Church, (iii.) That the Methods employed by the Association shall include (1) jNIeetings of the Members for the reading of papers and for conference ; (2) The publication of a Periodical as the organ of the Association." The periodical has taken the form of an " Occasional Paper " issued twice a-year by the editorial committee, containing draft forms for various services printed for circulation among the members, that they may offer suggestions or criticisms before the forms are issued in a collected form. Based upon the consensus of opinion thus elicited, there was issued in May 1891 a volume of ' Presbyterian Forms of Service.' °^ Tentative in their character, the forms contained in this book are not intended to be used liturgically, but are offered merely as specimens of the manner in which the various services may be appropriately conducted under the existing system of public worship in a Scottish Presbyterian Church. It is in contemplation by the Association to prepare a volume of Family Prayers, and thereafter a book for the young to be used at children's services and in Sunday-schools. While not refusing to adopt any feature that commends itself simply because it is that of another form of ritual, the Association avows its adherence to Presbyterial lines, and its resolve to conserve the historical continuity of the Presbyterian polity and rituaL ^'' ' Presbyterian Forms of Service issued by the Devotional Service Associa- tion in connection with the United Presbyterian Church.' Edinburgh : 1891. P]). 158. Contents : 1. Tables of Scrii^ture Lessons for Divine Service. 2. Sentences of Scripture for the Beginning of Public Worship. 3. Order for Public Worship on the Lord's Day. 4. Selected Collects. 5. Two Orders for the Administration of the Lord's Supper. 6. Two do. for the Baptism of Infants. 7. Two Orders for the Admission of Baptised Persons to Full Com- munion. 8. Order for the Ordination of a Minister. 9. Do. of Elders. 10. Order for the Dedication of a Church. 11. Order for the Celebration of Marriage. 12. Order for the Burial of the Dead. 13. Scriirture Readings for Funeral Services. FREE CHURCH "PUBLIC WORSHIP ASSOCIATION." 351 Kindred in aim with these two denominational societies, but of wider basis in respect both of membership and of methods employed, is the "Aberdeen Ecclesiological Society." This Association was formed on the 2d of February 1886, when a few architects and ministers of different denomi- national connections met and constituted themselves into a society for the study of the Principles of Christian worship, and of the Church Architecture and allied Arts which minis- ter thereto, and also for the diffusion in the North of Scot- land of sound views, and the creation of a truer taste in such matters. To further these ends the Society holds monthly meetings, at which papers are read and discussed, a selec- tion of which is annually published in the ' Transactions ' ; it visits from time to time places of ecclesiological interest, and receives reports concerning new or restored churches ; it uses its influence for the conservation of buildings of archaeolog- ical or artistic value, and offers its opinion to ministers or others who may be contemplating the building, restoring, or adorning of churches. ^^ In this case, as in other instances of a new departure, the Free Church of Scotland has not displayed a wishfulness to take the lead, but has manifested a willingness to follow the example of sister Churches. For only in the last decade of the present century has a course of action been taken by some of her office-bearers similar to that entered upon by the Church of Scotland in 1865, and l.)y the United Presbyterian Church of Scotland in 1882. On the 2r)th of May 1891, in response to the invitation of a circular signed l>y four professors and ^^ The • Transactions of the Aberdeen Ecclesiological Society ' are fully illustrated, and handsomely printed in crown quarto. The published volumes contain, along with other valuable matter, papers upon '■ The Principles of Christian Worship," " Some Ancient Country Churches near Aberdeen," '"Some Romanesque Churches in Cologne," "Notes on Church Music in Aberdeen," " Notes on some Ross-shire Chui-ches," " Fifeshire Churches," " The Collegiate Church of Fowlis-Easter," " Ou the term ' Scolog.' " A series of drawings of the Sacrament-houses of the north of Scotland is appearing in successive volumes of ' Transactions. ' 352 THE MODERN RENAISSANCE. thirteen ministers, there was held in Edinl AU'oh " a private conference open to ministers and elders of the Free Church," at which it was agreed to form a Public Worship Association, the general object of which will l)e " to promote the ends of edification, order, and reverence in the public services of the Church, in accordance with Scripture principles, and in the light especially of the experience and practice of the Eeformed Churches holding the Presbyterian system." At a meeting held inNovemljer of the same year, the work to which the Association might profitably address itself was under consideration, when it appeared there were two sets of points open for conference and discussion. I. Those on which general and cordial agreement appeared. These were found to be three in number. 1st, Need of more attention by the Church to the subject of worship. 2d, Need of model services for special occasions. 3d, Need of ' Direc- tory for the Public Worship of God,' revised and adapted to the times.''^'^ II. Points on which some difference of opinion appeared, but which were felt to be important for conference and dis- cussion : — " 1st, Desirableness of an ' Optional Liturgy,' or * Book of Common Order,' as distinguished from a ' Directory ' for the ordinary Services. "Should certain parts of the ordinary Services, — viz., those which practically are in substance the same at all times, — be fixed, and forms for these, not enjoined, hut recommended, in conjunction always with free prayer 1 — e.(j., a 'general con- fession of sins,' with declaration of (rod's forgiveness to those who repent and believe ; a ' general thanksgiving ' ; an ' inter- cession for all estates' ; a short creed. " 2d, Desirableness of the people being brought to take more prominent part in devotional Services. ■'^ See Appendix N of this volume. Attempted Revision and Adaptation of "Westminster Directory. PEESBYTERIAN WORSHIP DISTINCT FROM EPISCOPALIAN. 353 " Lord's Praj'er being repeated aloud by people along with minister; 'Amen' said at all prayers; 'Apostles' Creed' (or perhaps the 'Nicene') on certain occasions; Ten Command- ments, Beatitudes, and two great commandments of love being- read or repeated statedly by minister, with short response by congregation. " od, Desirableness of the ' Collect ' form of Prayer, and of ' Eesponses ' generally beyond the ' Amens.' "4th, 'The Christian Year,' to the extent at least of the commemoration of Our Lord's Birth, Death, Eesurrection, Ascension, and the coming of the Holy Ghost." We have now carried our survey of the public worship of Presbyterian Scotland as far as is compatible with the impar- tiality, to say nothing of the dignity, of history. It rests with those who have followed us in the successive stages of our investigation to form their own conclusions as to what are the essentials and what the circumstantials of that worship for which, when free from the dictation of kings and the domination of prelates, Scotland has shown a decided preference. But it may be permitted us, in a closing sen- tence, to enter a caveat against any line of action being taken affecting divine service conducted upon the Presbyterian model that would lead, on the one hand, to what is funda- mental in that worship being changed, or, on the other, to what is subordinate being held a matter of primary import- ance. To modify and adapt Presbyterian worship so as to render it liturgical in the sense of making it the unvary- ing and prescribed worship enjoined in a prayer - book, mediaeval or modern, would be, in our judgment, to go con- trary to all that is characteristic of Presbyterian as distin- guished from Episcopalian litual. The genius of Presbyterian z 354 THE MODERN RENAISSANCE. government is not more anti-prelatic than that of Presbyterian worship is anti-liturgical.*^'' Again, to arrange the parts and details of Presbyterian worship on a sacramentarian basis, proceeding upon the theory that " the celebration of the Holy Communion is the distinctive ordinance of Christian worship," ^'^ is, we submit, ^^ The most extreme proijosal to Anglicise or Romanise, and so revolutionise, Presbyterian ritual, has come from India in two publications "by a Layman." 1st., ' Remarks on the Scottish Church, regarding her Ritual, Preaching, Standards, Administration, Vestment, and Architectui'e. With a Form of Service for Easter Sunday.' Calcutta : 1889. 2d, ' Proposed Restoration of the Liturgy according to the Use of the Ancient Scottish Church. With a Form of Service for Christ Mass.' Calcutta : 1890, Although he writes in the interests of the " Guid Auld Kirk," it is difficult to think of the Calcutta Layman as a Presbyterian when one finds him gravely proposing to discard '■ the sombre Geneva gown, which is a more appropriate covering for a lawyer than for a Christian bishop," in favour of the following wardrobe : " Deacon. —Surplice, with a black silk ribbon crossed over the shoulder from right to left. Bishop. — Surplice, narrow black silk stole, and the hood of his Univer- sity degree. Primus -Bishop. — Surplice, purple velvet stole, and a scarlet merino hood. Archbishop. — Albe, purple velvet cope, and a hood made of lamb's-skin, lined with purple velvet. Primate. — Albe, and a dalmatic of jjui'ple velvet." A more temperate plea for the employment of a Litur^^y in Presbyterian worship was that put forth by the late James Lorimer, Regius Professor of Public Law in the University of Edinburgh, in a small publication having for title, ' A National Church demands a National Liturgy.' Edinb. ; 1879. At the time he published his brochure Professor Lorimer was an Episcopalian {y>. 20, n.), living "outside of all party organisations, both ecclesiastical and Ijolitical. " ^^ '■ When I joined this Society I was myself profoundly impressed, as I am to this hour, by the importance of the question as to the need of the celebra- tion, according to a higher order, and more frequently, of the Holy Com- munion, in its relation both to the worship of the Church and to its effective work in the world. I believed then, as I believe now, that the celebration of the Holy Communion is, by divine institution, the distinctive ordinance of Christian worship. I believed that we had as little reason to doubt that it was our Lord's will, so far as we may learn it from the practice of His apostles, that the congregation should meet for the celebration of that rite every Lord's Day, as we have to doubt that it is the Lord's will that we should meet at all on the Lord's Day. And I then felt, as I feel now, that any reform in the matter of worship must, after all, be more or less superficial that does not touch that question. I was the more confirmed in my convictions upon that sub- ject, from my knowledge that the restoration of the Holy Communion to its PRESBYTERIAN RITUAL AND STANDARDS. 355 utterly unhistorical, so far as Scotland is concerned. For however attractive the theory may be to minds imbued with the Anglican High Church or Catholic Apostolic view, and whatever may be advanced in favour of it gathered from pa- tristic writings and alleged apostolic practice, it is vain to contend that the Eucharist is the key to such Presbyterian books of service as the Book of Common Order and the Directory for Public AVorship.'^- On the other hand, all who desire to manifest an intelli- gent appreciation of what is distinctive in Presbyterian ritual, would do well to guard against attaching undue importance or adhering too tenaciously to details of a past or present usage, as if these constituted the essentials from which there must never be the smallest deviation, of which there may never be the slightest modification or adaptation to altered requirements and circumstances. "Whether confession, supplication, thanksgiving, and inter- cession should all be poured forth promiscuously in one long prayer, or be distributed over three short prayers offered partly before and partly after the sermon ; whether the reading of Holy Scripture should be determined by a Lectionary or Table of Proper Lessons, or be left to the choice of the officiating minister ; whether the congregation should be silent except during the musical praise of the service, or should be active proper place was iir harmony with the opinion and belief of all the teachers who have been held in highest esteem in the Reformed Church of Scotland. " — The Rev. Dr John MacLeod, Govan, in speech as chairman of the annual meeting of the C.S.S., 27th May 1891. The ablest and most exhaustive Angli- can development and defence of this sacramentarian theory of Christian wor- ship will be found in Canon Freeman's 'Principles of Divine Service.' "The Celebration of the Holy Communion, or Eucharist, is by universal consent the supreme act of Christian worship and service. Distinct from this, though nearly allied to it, is the more ordinary kind, known to us by the name of Common Prayer." — Part I. chapter i. Section i. p. 34, vol. i. of cheaper re- issue. Oxford and London : 1880. ^- See Appendix 0 of this volume. The Communion Office of the West- minster Directory. 356 THE MODERN RENAISSANCE. throughout by the alcernative reading of the Psahiis, by re- sponses in prayer, and by the simultaneous recital of the Lord's Prayer and the Creeds, Apostolic and Nicene; whether the worship rendered in bringing an offering and coming into God's courts should be expressed by placing coin in "the plate " found in the vestibule, or by dropping it into a bag at a certain stage of the service, " the offertory" being sub- sequently laid upon the Communion-table, — the determining one way or another of such details cannot vitally affect Pres- byterian worship. Our distinctive national ritual is some- thing deeper and broader than any matter of posture, order of service, or aids to the more efficient rendering of the several parts ; and it would be unwise in the highest degree for any lover of " the laudable form and ritual of the Eeformed Church of Scotland" "^^ to stake the continuance of these upon the maintenance of one set of the alternatives just specified, or to predict their overthrow should their opposites be adopted. It is not possible to forecast the future in regard to most matters ; it is perilous to predict what modifications changed circumstances may yet work upon time-honoured, fondly - clung-to usage. But one thing may be reckoned certain. So long as the Presbyterian Churches of Scotland maintain an attitude of allegiance to, and carry out in practice, the con- fessional theology of their common subordinate standard, their worship is in no danger of being radically altered or funda- mentally impaired. For the findings of the 'Westminister Confession of Faith ' touching divine service are such as do ample justice to what is distinctive in and essential to the Presbyterian platform, while at the same time they lea^•e room for the modifying of details wdiich each successive gen- eration of worshippers may find desirable or necessary. These confessional deliverances are worthy of being here reproduced, and the placing of them, not in the order of the ^ "Juxta laudabilem Ecclesise Scoticc Eeformata; formam et ritum. " — Archbishop Grindal, 1582. Quoted by editors of ' Euchologion. ' PJTUAL DELIVERANCES OF WESTMINSTER CONFESSION. 357 cliapters in which they occur, but in the sequence of primary and subordinate, of unalterable principle and permissible variation of practice, may form a fitting conclusion to this historical survey. I. "The acceptable way of •\vobshipping the true God is IXSTITUTED BY HiMSELF, AND SO LIMITED BY HiS OWN REVEALED WILL, THAT He may NOT BE WORSHIPPED ACCORDING TO THE IM- AGINATIONS AND DEVICES OF MEN, OR THE SUGGESTIONS OF SaTAN, UNDER ANY VISIBLE REPRESENTATION, OR ANY OTHER WAY NOT PRESCRIBED IN THE HoLY ScRIPTURE. " EeLIGIOUS WORSHIP IS TO BE GIVEN TO GoD, THE FaTHER, SoN, AND Holy Ghost ; and to Him alone : not to angels, saints, OR ANY other CREATURE : AND, SINCE THE FALL, NOT WITHOUT A Mediator ; nor in the mediation of any other but of Christ ALONE. " Prayer, with thanksgiving, being one special part of RELIGIOUS worship, IS BY GoD REQUIRED OF ALL MEN ; AND, THAT IT MAY BE ACCEPTED, IT IS TO BE MADE IN THE NAME OF THE SON, BY THE HELP OF HiS SpIRIT, ACCORDING TO HiS WILL, WITH UNDER- STANDING, REVERENCE, HUMILITY, FERVENCY, FAITH, LOVE, AND PERSEVERANCE ; AND, IF VOCAL, IN A KNOWN TONGUE. " The READING OF THE tScRIPTURES WITH GODLY FEAR ; THE SOUND PREACHING, AND CONSCIONABLB HEARING OF THE WORD, IN OBEDIENCE UNTO God, with understanding, faith, and reverence ; singing of psalms with grace in the heart ; as also the due adminis- tration and worthy receiving of the sacraments instituted by Christ ; are all parts of the ordinary religious worship of G0D."<5^ II. " God alone is Lord of the conscience, and hath left it FREE FROM THE DOCTRINES AND COMMANDMENTS OF MEN WHICH ARE IN ANY THING CONTRARY TO HiS WORD, OR BESIDE [OUTSIDE Of] IT, IN MATTERS OF FAITH OR WORSHIP." ""^ III. "The WHOLE counsel of God, concerning all things NECESSARY FOR HiS OWN GLORY, MAN's SALVATION, FAITH, AND LIFE, IS EITHER EXPRESSLY SET DOWN IN ScRIPTURE, OR BY GOOD AND NECESSARY CONSEQUENCE MAY BE DEDUCED FROM SCRIPTURE : UNTO "■* 'Westminster Confession of Faith,' chap, xxi., i. ii. iii. v. ^^ Ibid., chap, xx., ii. 358 THE MODERN EENAISSANCE. WHICH NOTHING AT ANY TIME IS TO BE ADDED, WHETHER BY NEW REVELATIONS OF THE SpIRIT, OR TRADITIONS OF MEN. ISTeVERTHE- LESS WE ACKNOWLEDGE THE INWARD ILLUJIINATION OF THE SpIRIT OF God to be necessary for the saving understanding of such things as are revealed in the word ; and that there are some circumstances concerning the WORSHIP OF God, and GOVERNMENT OF THE Church, common to human actions and societies, which are to be ordered by the light of nature and Christian prudence, according to the general rules of the Word, which are always to be observed."*''^ ®^ Ibid., chap, i., vi. APPENDIX APPENDIX. APPENDIX A. Scottish Service for Visitation and Communion of the Sick in Twelfth Century. From the 'Book of Deer.' Period T., page 14. If em oratio ante dominicam orationem. Creator naturaruiu omnium Deus, et parens universarum in celo et in terra originum, has trementis popnli Tiii relegiosas preces ex illo inaccesibileis kicis trono Tuo suscipe, et inter hiruphin et zaraphin indefessas circumstantinm laudes exaudi spei non ambigue precationes. Pater noster Qui es usque in finem. Libera nos, Domine, a malo ; Domine Christe Ihesu, custodi nos semper in omni opere bona ; fons et auctor omnium bonorum Deus, evacua nos uitiis, et reple nos uirtutibus bonis : per Te, Christe Ihesu. ^ lliisnnd (hihar sacorfaice dan. [Here give the sacrifice to him.] Corpus cum sanguine Domini nostri Ihesu Christi sanitas sit tibi in uitam perpetua et sahitem. ^ " This embolismus resembles in its wording very closely the forms pre- served in the Galilean Liturgies. ' Libera nos a malo, evacua nos a vitiis et reple nos virtutibus,' is taken from the Mis. Richenovense, the most pure and ancient specimen yet discovered of the Ephesine Liturgy, without any trace of its having been interpolated with Roman Collects."— F. E. Warren. 362 APPENDIX. Eeffecti Cliristi corpore et sanguine, Tibi semper dicamus, Domine, alleluia, alleluia. Quia satiauit animani inanem, et animam essurientem satiauit bonis, alleluia, alleluia. Et sacrificent sacrificiuni laudis, — et usque exultatione, alleluia, alleluia. Calicem salutaris accipiam, et nomen Domini inuocabo, alleluia, alleluia. Eeffecti Christi corpore, alleluia, alleluia. Laudate Dominuni omnes gentes, alleluia, alleluia. Gloria. Eeffecti Christi, alleluia, alleluia. Et nunc, et semper. Eeffecti. Sacrificate sacrificiuni iustitia^ et sperate in Domino. Deus, Tibi gratias agimus per Queni misteria sancta celebrauimus, et a Te sanctitatis dona deposcimus ; miserere nobis, Domine sal- vator mundi, Qui regnas in secula seculorum, Amen.^ Finit.- APPEXDIX B. Latin Litany used by the Scottish Culdees in Fifteenth Cen- tury. From MSS. in ^Monastery at Eatisbon. Period I., p. 24. Antiques LiTANiiE in veteri Monasterio Dunkeldensi usitatse, quas in publicis Processionibus cantare solebant Kiledei com- munitor Ciddei appelati. Kirie eleison. Kirie eleison. Kirie eleison. Christe eleison. Christe eleison. Christe eleison. ■^ " This collect, occurring also in the Books of Dimma, Mulling, and Stowe Missal, appears twice in a nearly similar form in the 'Missale Gothicum.' It is not found in any of the Roman Sacramentaries." — Warren. - " No other MS. liturgical remains known to exist in Scotland are connected with the Scoto-Celtic Church." — Warren. LATIN LITANY USED BY THE SCOTTISH CULDEES. 363 Pater de coelis Deus, Filius Eedeniptor Dens, Spiritus Sanctus Deus, Qui es Trinus et Unus Deus, Miserere nobis. Sancta Maria, Sancta Virgo Yirginum, Sancta Dei Genetrix, Ora pro nobis. Christe audi nos. Rj. Christe audi nos. Christe audi nos, Ivyrie eleison. I^. Kyrie eleison. Kyrie eleison. Christe eleison. I^. Christe eleison. Christe eleison. Tu Christe nobis concede gratiam Tuam. Tu Christe nobis dona gaudium et pacem. Tu Christe nobis concede vitam et salutem. Amen. Oratio. Omnipotens et Almifice Deus, Majestatem Tuam suppliciter ex- oramus, ut per mirifica merita et orationes Sanctorum recensitorum, et per magnificas intercessiones SanctcB Genitricis Tuae Marise, omnium Patriarcharum, Prophetarum, Apostolorum, Martyrum, Episcoporum, Abbatum, Confessorum, et Monachorum, Virginum, et Viduarum, Tecum in coelo regnantium, nobis concedas veniam et indulgentiam omnium peccatorum, augmentum gratise Tuae cceles- tis, et efficax auxilium Tuuni contra omnes insidias inimicorum nostrorum visibilium et invisibilium ; quatenus et corda nostra, solis Tuis mandatis dedita, tandem post hujus mortalis vitte terminum, et eorum Sanctorum speciem et gloriam in regno Dei videre, et cum eis, congaudere mereamur ; praestante Domino Xostro Jesu Christe Eedemptore nostro, c\\\ et honor et potestas et imperium, una cum Patre et Spiritu Sancto, in saecula saeculorum. Amen.^ ^ A pai^cr on, the 'Ancient Litany of Dunkeld ' was read to the Aberdeen Ecclesiological Society on December 17, 1889, by the Eev. T. Newbigging Adamsun, (Barnhill, St Margaret's, Presbytery of Dundee, Church of Scotland), in the course of which it was stated that the above " has been adajited for modern use, printed and set to plain song by the writer of this article, in whose church it is sung every Friday. In the adaptation of this Litany for modern use, the invocations of saints and angels are replaced by petitions for angelic ministrations and for the Second Advent in answer to the prayers of tlie saints (Rev. vi. 10). As few changes as possible have been made elsewhere, the collect being adapted and retained. The whole sings well, and is very much liked." — 'Transactions of Aberdeen Ecclesiological Society,' 1889. 364 APPENDIX. APPENDIX C. I. — EuBRics FOR Dedication op Scottish Churches in Thirteenth Century, Period I., ix 48. The author of ' The Church of Scotland in tlie Thirteenth Cen- tury ' gives some passages from the Pontifical, forming " only about an eighth part of the service," in Avhich part the following rubrics and prayers find a place :^ Hcec sunt quce ad dedicatlonem ecclesice proiimranda simt: Duo- decim cruces jnctce /oris et duodecim inius, Crux, candelabra, viginti quatuor cerei, duodecim deforis et duodecim intus, vasa convenien- iia ad sacrandam et ad deferendam aquam ; Duo majores cerei ad candelabra; viginti quatuor clavi qiuhus cerei infigantur ; Ol- eum sanctum et clirisma, ysojncm, sahulum vel cineres, vinum, sal, majora grana incensi ; Panni alfari.^: Deinde hoc ordine consecretur domus Dei. Primitas, projsid et cceteri mijmtri erclesioi induant se vesti- meiitis sarris cum, quihus divinum ministerium adimplere dehent. Et dum se induunt, dictis consuetis Psalmis, id est Judica me Deus et, Quam dilecta, Inclina Domine, jNIemento Domine. . . . Deinde dicat episcopus hanc Orationem. Deus, qui paterna niajestate ignea claustra dirupisti infernorum, et sanguine tuo populum tibi adquisisti sempiternum ; indue nos armis spiritualibus virtutum, et invicta sanctae crucis potentia, ut contra diabolum pugnaturi te in auxilium habeamus, quatenus tibi hsereditatem de iniquo diaboli spolio adquiramus ; et Cj;ui in domum ZachiBi cpiondam miseratus descendisti, ad domum quoque hanc quam sanctificaturi sumus venire dignare ; et pojiulos qui ad ejus dedicatlonem convenerunt, spirituali gaudio munera, Salvator mundi, Domine Jesu Christe, Qui cum Patre et Spiritu Sancto vivis et regnas Deus, per omnia sascula sa3culorum. Post hcec veniat epnscopus de tentorio cum processione ante ostium ecclesice quce dedicanda est, hanc sonoriter cantando. Zazchaee festi- nans descende. . . . Qua finitd, dicatitr a prcestde. Dominus vobiscum. Oremus. Actiones nostras, qua^sumus, Domine, et aspirando prse- veni et adjuvando prosequere ; ut, interveniente beata et gloriosa PARISH CHURCHES DEDICATED IN THIRTEENTH CENTURY. 365 semperque virgine Dei genitrice jNIaria cum omnibus Sanctis cuncta nostra operatio et a te semper incipiat, et per te coepta finialur. . . , Et illuminentur duodecim cerei et 2>onantur deforis per circuitum ecrlesue qum dedicanda est, et totidem intus ; tumque circumeant ipsam ecclesiam deforU cum ^rrocessicme et sanctorum reliquiis, can- endo lianc Letaniam. Fiititd vero LetaniCi, dicantur cd> cjnscojjo hce Orcdiones ante ostium cedes ke, &c. II. — List of Parish Churches, Chapels, etc., ix Twelve Scottish Counties, thus dedicated in the middle of the Thirteenth Century, with Pontifical N"ames. I. — Berwickshire. I. Berwick, Church of the Trinity Holy (. Ecclesia Sancte Trinitatis de Ber \ wyck reconciliata proj^ter effu ( sionem sanguinis in eadem. 2, \i Church of 8t Nicholas Eccl. Sancti Nicholai de Berwyck. .S. Channelkirk .... Eccl. de Childenechirch. 4. Chirnside M Cherneside. 5. Coldstream ti Kaldestreni. 6. Earlston . 11 Erseldun. 7. Eccles n Ecclis. 8. Fogo r r Fogeho. 9. Gordon . II Gordun. 10. Greenlaw II Green lawe. 11. Hilton and Whitsome II Hiltun. 12. Hirsel, Coldstream . II Hershille. 13. Horndean II Woruerden. U. Hutton . II Hotun. 15. Langton . M Langetun. 16. Legerwood II Leiardewde. 17. Lennel, Coldstream . II Leinhah. 18. Longformacus . EUuni. 19. Merton . 11 Mertuna juxta Dryburgh. 20. Polwarth II Polwurth. 21. Swinton, Simprin 11 Simprig. II. — Clackmaxxaxsjiiue. Clackmannan . Eccl. de Clackmanan. 1. Carrington 2. Cockpen . 3. Cranston . III. — Edixburghshire. Eccl. de Kerntun. II Kokepen. II Cranestun. 36( 3 APPENDIX. 4. East Calder .... Eccl. de Calledouer. ( Eccl. Sancti Cuthberti de Edin \ burg prope Castrum. 5. Edinburgh, St Cuthbert's 6. M St Giles Eccl. Sancti Egidii de Edenbiirg. n 1. Gogar Eccl. de Goggere. 8. Hales ,, Halis. 9. Heriot II Heriet. 10. Lasswade ,, Lessewade. 11. Mid-Calder . It Calledouer Comitis. 12. Wedale, Stow . 11 Wedal. 13. Woolinet in Newton II Wynieth. IV. FiFESHIKE. 1. Abdie Eccl. de Ebedyn. 2 Abercrombie, St Monance Abercrombie. 3. Anstruther Eynstrother. 4. Auchterderran Vrcliardereth. 5. Auchtermuchty Vchermukedi. 6. Collessie . Calesyn. 7. Crail Keral. 8. Cults Quilte. 9. Dairsie . Deruesyn. 10. Dysai't Disarth. 11. Flisk Flisch. 12. Invei-keithing . Inuerkethyn. 13. Kelly, Carnbee Kelly. 14. Kemback Kembach. 15. Kilconquhar . Kilcunewath. 16. Kilgour, Falkland Kilgoneryn. 17. Kilrenny Kilretheny. 18. Kinghorn Magna Kingorn. 19. 11 Parua Kingorn. 20. Kinglassie Kinglassyn. 21. Largo Largath. 22. Lathrisk . Losserech. 23. Leslie Methkal. 24. Leuchars Locres. 25. Markinch Marking. 26. Moonzie, Cupar Vchthermunesin. 27. Newburn Nethbren. 28. Scotstarvet Tar vet. 29. Scoonie . Sconyn. 30. St Andrews P^ccl. parochialis Sancti Andree. V. FORFARSHIKE. 1. Aberlemno .... Eccl. de Aberlimenach. .1 Airlie II Erlyn. 3. Arbroath, St Vigeans j Eccl. Sancti Vigiani de Aber I brothock. 4. Auklbar . Eccl. de Aldebarr. 5. Barry . II Barri. 6. Benvie II Beneuyn. 7. Eassie n Essy. PARISH CHURCHES DEDICATED IX THIRTEENTH CENTURY, 367 8. Forfar . Eccl. de Forfare. 9. (ilammis . II Glames. 10. Inchbrayock, Craig M Inchebrioch. 1 1 . Inverkeilor 11 Inuerculethere. 12. Inverarity II Inverarethin. 13. Kettins . II Kettenes. 14. Kinnettles 11 Kinettles. 15. Kirkden, Idvie 11 Edvin. 16. Lochee II Logyndua. 17. Logie 11 Logincuthel. 18. Newtyle . 11 Newetyl. 19. Restennet II Rustinoth. 20. .Strathmartin . 1 1 >Straliittinmartin. 21. Tannadyce 1 1 Tanetheys. VI. HADDINGTON.SHIKE. 1. Athelstaneford . . . Eccl. de Elftanefford. 2. Auldhanie 11 Aldha. 3. Bolton . 11 Boltun. 4. Garvald and Bara II Baruwe. 5. Gullane . 11 Golyn. 6. Innerwick 11 Inuerwyck. 7. Linton 11 Lintun. 8. Morham . II Morham. 9. North Berwick \ Eccl. Monialium Conventualium / de Northberwyk. 10. Oldhamstocks . Eccl. de Aldhanistock. 11. Pencaitland 11 Penkathland. 12. Salton . 11 Saultune. 13. Seaton II Seethun. 14. Whittinghame. 11 Wytingeha. 15. Tester 1 1 Yestrith. VII. — KlXCARDIXESHIRE. 1 . Arbuthnott 2. Cowie, Chapel of 3. Dunottar 4. Feteresso 5. Fordonn . (1 Kineff 7. Laurencekirk S. Marykirk 9. Nigg . 10. St Cyrus. 11. Strachan . Eccl. de Aberbuthenott. II Capella de Collyn. II Dunothyr. II Fethirassoch. II Fordune. II Kineff. II Cuneueth. II Aberlutheroth. II Nig. II Egglesgerch, II Strachyn. VIII. — Kinross-shire, Church of tlie Hospital of Scot- land's Well Kinross .... Portmoak Eccl. Hospitalis de Fonte Scotie. II de Kinross. u Porthmoolk. 368 APPENDIX. IX. — Linlithgowshire. 1. Carriden . 2. Ecclesmachan 3. Kirkliston 4. Linlitiigow 5. Livingstone Eccl. de Karreden. 11 Eglemanechy. II Listun. 1 1 Linlethcu. 1 1 Leuingest. X. — Perthshire. L Blairgowrie 2. Collace . 3. Errol 4. Forteviot 5. Fowlis Easter 6. Inchture . 7. Methven . 8. Perth 9. M Church of Preaching Friar; 10. Rossie . . . . . Eccl. de Blare. H Culas prope Perth. II Erol. II Fertheuiet. 11 Fugeles. 1 1 Inchethor. II Methfen. II Pert. \ Eccl. Fratrum predicatorum de ) Pert. Eccl. de Rossinclerath. XL — Roxburghshire. 1. Kelso 2. Smailholm 3. Stitchell . Eccl. de Kalcho. 11 Smalham. II Stichill. XII. — Stirlingshire. 1. Airth . . . . 2. Falkirk . . . . 3. St Ninians, once Kirkton. Eccl. de Erth. Eccl. que vocatur Varia capella. Eccl. de Kirketun. The foregoing list contains 142 names of parish churches, chapels, hospitals, &c., and proves, as Mr Lockhart remarks, " that all the churches therein named were in existence in Scotland in the middle of the thirteenth century." APPENDIX D. Eight Scottish Prayers from Archbishop Hamilton's Catechism, 1552. Period II., p. 54. I. 0 our father quldR: is hi hevin. 0 our Father, Eternal God, "Who hast made us and all creatures, but hast made us in Thine own likeness, and all the rest of Thy PKAYERS FROM ARCHBISHOP HAMILTON'S CATECHISM. 3G9 creatures for us, and hast given us dominion over all that is in earth, Avater, and air, and hast caused the heavens, the sun, the moon, and the stars to render us service, and hast given command to Thy angels to keep us, speedily defend ns from all evil, and give us all good. Although Ave and our forefathers, as most unthankful creatures, have sold ourselves by sin to the devil's tyranny, and therefore by right ought to dread Thee as our terrible Judge and Condemner, nevertheless, since it is so that Thou of Thy excellent and infinite mercy hast sent us Thy Son to deliver us from the devil's tyranny, death and hell, and liy Him, His word, faith, and baptism, hast begotten us again and made us Thy sons by adoption, and by Him also hast bidden us call Thee Father : Ave beseech Thee, therefore, 0 merciful Father, eternal God, by Thy natural Son Jesus Christ, give to us Thy Holy Spirit, to bear Avitness Avitli our spirits that Ave are Thy sons by adoption, by Whom also Ave may call Thee Father Avith gladness, and rely surely on Thy fatherly and merciful providence and help in all trouble. Give us grace, 0 Eternal Father, that Ave may have evermore brotherly loA^e, and may knoAv ourselves A'erily as brothers and sisters to help one another, and to pray one for another to Thee our Eternal Father. Take from us all discord and individual love of self and our OAvn profit, that Ave may say Avith truth : 0 our Father, Eternal God, AVho art in heaA-en, not shut up in heaven, but Who art in all places by substance, jiresence, and poAver, and "Who by faith and grace dAvellest in all just men and AA^omen, and Who in the heavenly kingdom dost shoAV Thy eternal glory, joy, and bliss, give us grace, 0 Father Eternal, to have sure hope to come to that glorj'-, and to be chvellers in heaven Avith Thee evermore. Amen. II. Hcdlowit he tlii name. 0 God almighty our eternal Father, give us grace that Thy name Avhich is holy, laudable, and blessed in itself evermore, and also by Angels in heaven, might be knoAvn, thanked, and praised among us to Avliom Tliou hast given Thy name to knoAv and to be called Thy sons, and, after Thy Son's name. Christian men, grant us that our minds, our Avords and Avorks, our teaching and life, be con- formed to Thy godly Avill, expressed and shoAvn to us in Thy Son's evangel, that men seeing our good conversation may praise Thy name that Avorks all good in us. 0 Father, give Thy grace to Turks, Saracens, Pagans, and Jews, Avho do not know Thy name 2 A 370 APPENDIX. and give Thy godly name to creatures, and blaspheme Thy Son's blood, that they may forsake then- error, their idolatry and super- stition, and know Thee the very eternal God, and Jesus Christ whom Thou hast sent. Grant, good Father, that evil Christian men, who dishonour Thy Son's name by vicious life, may be reformed in mind, Avord, and deed, and lead their life after His teaching to the glory of Thy name. Amen. III. Let tlii Idnrjdom cum to. 0 heavenly and most merciful Father, we beseech Thee that all unfaithful nations, Turks, Pagans, and Jews, who through infidelity are subject to the kingdom of the devil, may receive and keep the evangel of Thy Son Jesus Christ, and by a living faith enter and abide in Thy spiritual kingdom of grace, made with us Thy sons, justified, and fellow-partakers of Thy eternal heritage. Grant also, 0 merciful Father, that all men and women, who err from the true faith of holy Church, and thereby are subject to the kingdom of the devil, that they may leave their damnable and condemned heresies, and return again to the true catholic faith. Grant also that all temporal kings and magistrates of Christendom, who through their tyranny oppress and put down Thy Church, and destroy Thy people by unjust wars, and all other kings whom the devil holds in his kingdom by pride, covetousness, and sensual lust and pleasure, that they may leave their tyranny and other vices, and be true ministers of justice under the King of all kings and Lord of all lords, and so belong to Thy spiritual kingdom of grace. Grant also that Thy kingdom of grace may come to us daily more and more, by true showing of Thy godly will and Thy Son's evangel and righteousness of faith. Give us grace to persevere in Thy praise, charity, and Christian life, that Thy Son's kingdom may spread and flourish over all the world, by right faith and Christian works, until Satan and all Thy Son's foes be subject under His feet. Grant, O merciful Father, that Thou may so reign in our hearts by grace, that on the latter day we may stand on Thy right hand in the number of those whom that day Thou shalt call to Thee, and give to us entrance and possession of Thy glorious kingdom of heaven, there to reign with Thee, "Who art three persons and one eternal God, in the com- pany and fellowship of Thy holy angels, in joy and bliss without end. Amen. PRAYEKS FROM ARCHBISHOP HAMILTON'S CATECHISM, 371 IV. Thi ivill hefulfilllt in eird as it is in hevin. 0 merciful Father and mighty King, AVhose will the angels of heaven fulfil at all time willingly, lovingly, and perfectly, Whose will no creature can resist, Ave know that our heart is ever evil in deed, or else inclined to evil at all times, to fulfil lust, to desire dominion, vengeance, our own profit and pleasure, without fear and dread of Thee, and plainly do all things contrary to Thy word and godly will. The devil labours always to cause us to break Thy commands, to mistrust Thee, blaspheme Thee, Thy Son's name and blood, and trust in him, his kingdom, pride, superstition, hypocrisy, and idola- try. He raises the world, that is to say evil men, to despise, hate, persecute, and trouble all Thy servants, who are willing to observe and keep Thy commands. Wherefore we beseech Thee, 0 merciful Father, let us not follow our own will or be deceived by the devil, but give us will and love of Thy law, to be good by Thy Spirit, to fulfil Thy divhie will in prosperity and adversity, to take patiently for the glory of Thy name all trouble in goods or in body, even pain- ful death, rather than we wilfully break Thy command. Grant us that we may, with the angels of heaven, be obedient to Thy will, perfectly, lovingly, and constantly ; give Thy grace to sinners, that they may fulfil Thy will, as good men do. Guide us all in body and soul, to be evermore obedient to Thy divine will, and thank Thee for all whatever Thou wilt have done with us, so that finally we may obtain the life eternal which it is Thy will be given to all the true servants of Thy Son Jesus Christ. Amen. Y. Geve us this day our daiJij hreid. 0 merciful Father, almighty God, although Thou knowest what we need before ever we open our mouth to ask Thee, and dost forbid us to be careful for food and clothing, seeing that all necessary things shall be given to us, if so be we seek first the Kingdom of God and the righteousness of it, nevertheless, after Thy own bidding, Ave dare ask noAV our daily bread, Avhich is necessary to our bodily sustenance, beseeching Thee also to feed our souls Avith the pure Avord that cometh fortli of Thy mouth, the true Avord of God. Gi\'e us the bread that cometh forth from heaven and giveth life to the world. Give us the Avater of life, the understanding of the laAv by Thy Spirit, of the Avhicli Avhosoever drinks shall never be thirsty. Give us the body of our Saviour Christ, the right food of our souls, to strengthen our spirit against the fiend, so that Ave 3 t 2 APrEXDIX. never see eternal death, but pass with lUir Saviour Jesus (according- to His promise) from death to life. Amen. A'l. AiuJ fonjevc lis our iIcffi,-<, crin as ice forge ve to our (h'ttourix. 0 heavenly and merciful Father, considering cnir own intirmity, frailty, and inclination to sin, whereby we fall into sin daily, Ave beseech Thee to forgive us all our sins and all penalties that we have deserved for our sins. Give strength to our spirit that we may firmly believe that Thou, 0 heavenly Father, hast forgiven us all our sins freely, for Thy Son's blood. And that the token which Thy Son has given to us of free forgiveness may comfort o\u- minds, give us grace to overcome our own wicked and revengeful heart, to forgive our enemies with our heart, to love them, pray for them, do good to them, that so doing we may obtain at Thy merciful hand forgiveness of all our sins, for the merits of Thy Son our Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen. VII. Lt'id us nodd into temj'tatioii. Since so it is, 0 merciful Father, that all our life upon earth is one continual battle, and that with such enemies that we cannot escape their temptation, give us grace to refrain our hearts from consenting to their temjitation : give us grace so to nourish our flesh that we nourish not also the sinful lust and concupiscence of the flesh. Give us grace so to live in the company of worldly people, that we be not drawn to evil by their evil counsel and example or persecution. Give us grace, strength, and power so by faith to resist the power of the devil that Ave be not overcome by his subtle provocations. Leave us not to our OAvn feebleness, neither give him leave to exercise upon us his cruelty, but give us spiritual strength to stand stoutly against him. Belt our loins Avith verity. Put upon us the breastplate of righteousness. Let the feet of our mind (avIucIi are our affections) be shod Avith the gospel of peace. Above all things give us grace to take hold of the buckler of faith, AvhereAvith Ave may quench the fiery darts of the Avicked spirit. Put on our head the helmet of salvation. Let us ahvays bear in our hand the sAvord of the Spirit, Avhich is Tliy holy Avord, that Avith this spiritual harness, armour, and Aveapons, Ave may easily overcome all our spiritual enemies, and finally olitain the croAvn of glory, Avhicli Thou hast prepared and promised to all TliA" servants. Amen. FRANKFORT DRAFT OF THE TlOOK OF COMMON ORDER. 37:3 VIII. Bot ddivir u--^ fra fril. Amen. 0 mighty and merciful I'utlior, God eternal, who correctest and chastisest them whom Thou lovcst, and scourgest with temporal adversity all Thy sons whom Thou receivest to I'hy favour, Thou forgivest them their sins in time of their trouhle. Thou wilt oftentimes wound them and cure their wounds again ; Tliy hand strikes them and heals them again. Give us grace, good Lord, that we neglect not Thy discipline and fatherly correction, hut when it is Thy divine will to send us temporal adversity, we l)eseech Thee give us also spiritual consolation and comfort in them through hope of the eternal joy and glory to come. And not according to our sensual will, but according to Thy divine will, deliver lis from all dangers and perils of fire and water, of lightning and thunder, of hunger and dearth, sedition and battle, of ([uarrel and annoyance, sickness and pestilence, prison and banishment, unforeseen and sudden death, and other adversities, calamities, and troubles of this present world, so that by them we be not overcome in our mind by impatience, murmuring, or any other sin contrary to Thy divine will. And when it pleaseth Thee to send any of them to us for our trial and just correction, give us also jiatiencc, comfort, and consolation, that we may be in this world so corrected and punished with Thy merciful hand, that we may escape the pains eternal. Amen. 80 be it. APPENDIX E. The Eraxkfort Draft of the Look of Common Order. Perioy nature are harder than any flint, that Ave be not hardened or obstinate through any incredulity against Thy holy AVord : but that we may serve Thee in true and living faith, so that in the end Ave may enter into Thy heavenly rest, through Jesus Christ our Lord. XCVL 0 Cood Lord, "Who wiliest all people to be saved and to 410 APPENDIX. come to tlie knowledge of Tliy verity : Show Thy power and excellent Majesty unto the whole world, that every one may sing Thy praises, yea, and sliow forth Thy salvation, which Thou hast promised to all them that dedicate themselves to Thy service ; that Thou mayest be praised in all Thy creatures, by means of Jesus Christ Thy Son. XCVII. 0 Lord, unto wliom all glory and honour do appertain, replenish us with spiritual joy : Grant that, all idolatry and super- stition being put away, the whole world may be so enlightened with the light of Thy holy word, that every man may give over liimself to a perpetual praising of Thy Imly Xanu>, and may give luito Thee most hearty thaidf all them that love and honour Thee : Extend Thy mercy and goodness to help lis Thy children, as often as we call upon Thee in our afflictions. Turn our sorrows into joys ; and imprint a true faith in our hearts, so that we may be able to give a sound confession thereof before all men : and that we may so profit by Thy rod which Thou layest on us, that we may never cease to celebrate, and invoke Thy holy Xame before all men, through Jesus Christ, our Lord. CXYII. 0 good Lord, unto AVlmni appertains all glory and mag- nificence : Cirant unto us that l)y the preaching of Thy holy Evangel Thou mayost l)e acknowledged throughout the whole earth ; so that all nations may have a perfect feeling of Thy nunciL's, and that Thy faithfulness may be more and more manifested, thniugh Christ Jesus, Thy Son. CXVIII. 0 loving and merciful Father, Who never leavest them that put their trust in Thee, and Who, as a Father, chastisest Thy children for their own health : Grant that we may be Iniilt as lively stones upon Jesus Christ, the true and only foumlation of the Church ; that forasmuch as He was rejected and despised of men, we may acknowledge Him always for our King and Saviour ; that Ave may for ever enjoy the fi'uit of Thy mercy and goodness. CXIX. jMost merciful God, Author of all good things. Who hast given Thy holy Commandments imto us, whereby we should direct our life : imprint [them] in our hearts [by] Thy Holy Spirit ; and grant that we may so renounce all our fleshly desires, and all the vanities of this world that our whole pleasure and delight may be in Thy law ; that we being always governed by Thy holy word, may in the end attain to that eternal salvation, which Thou hast promised through Christ Jesus, Thy Son. CXX. Most loving and merciful Father, the Defender and Pro- tector of all Thy servants : Deliver us from the deceits and calumnies of our enemies : repress their rage and fury : and strengthen us in SCOTTISH COLLECTS UPON THE PSALMS. 415 the midst of all our tribulations and afflictions, that we may so live among Infidels that we may never cease to serve and lionour Thee with such service as shall he acceptable and pleasant unto Thee, and that through the mediation and intercession of Jesus Christ, Tliy Son. CXXI. 0 Heavenly Father, Creator of heaven and earth, Who hast taken us into Thy protection : Suiter not our afflictions so to overcome us that we cast off all confidence in Thee ; but rather prosper and conduct all our enterprises, and give a happy end and issue to all our businesses that we may continually be more and more assured that Ave are of the number of them whom Thou hast chosen to salvation, through Jesus Christ, Thy Son. CXXII. 0 Eternal (Jod, the only Founder and Keeper of Thy Church ; seeing that contrary to all worldly judgment and opinion, Tliou dost daily augment the number of Thy own : Grant, that we being placed under the government of Jesus Christ, the only Chief and Head thereof, may be comforted by Thj' most holy "Word, and strengthened and confirmed by Thy Sacraments : to the intent that we all with one heart, and mouth, may glorify Thee, edifying one another in holiness of life and godly conversation. CXXIII. 0 Gracious Father, the only Eefuge and Support of the afflicted poor : Thou seest the rage of our enemies who use all means to destroy us ; Thou knowest how we are disdained and lightly esteemed by the proud and mighty of the Avorld. There- fore, having this only remedy, Ave lift up our eyes to Thee, beseeching Thee to have pity and compassion on us, and that for the sake of Jesus Christ, Thy Son. CXXIV. Almighty God, and merciful Father, Thou seest the multitude, the force, and the exceeding rage of our enemies to be so great that they Avould devour and tear us in pieces if Thy bountiful mercy did not relieve and succour us. But, seeing their craft and fury increase and groAv from day to day, declare Thou Thyself to be our Defender and Protector ; tliat Ave escaping their gins and snares, may give ourselves AvhoUy to praising and magni- fying Thy most holy and blessed Xame, and that through Jesus Christ, Thy dear Son, our only Lord and Saviour, 416 APPENDIX. CXXV. 0 Miglity King and Lord, the rock and fortress of all them that put their trust in Thee : Undo the force and break down the pride of them that afflict Thy poor Church, and suflfer not tlie simple ones to be overthrown by them, but confirm such as Mount Sion, that they may abide in the new Jerusalem, Avhich is Christ's Church. Suffer us not to shake hands Avith unrighteousness, but let peace be upon Israel, w'ho walk not after the flesh but after the Spirit, tlirough the selfsame Jesus Christ. CXXYL Eternal Father, the only true (iod, and Deliverer of poor captives and prisoners : "We beseech Thee of Thy plentiful bounty to relieve us from the bondage of our adversaries, that we passing through the miseries and calamities of this troublesome world, may in the end enjoy the fruit of our faith which is the salvation of our souls, bought by tlie blood of Thy dear Son Christ Jesus. CXXVII. Eternal and almighty ( iod, "Who by Thy Providence dost conduct and govern all creatures in this world : Suffer us not to enterprise anything but what is agreeable to Thy will and pleasure, tliat we, altogether discontented Avith ourselves, may wliolly depend upon Thy blessing ; and that our only care may be that Thou nuiyest be glorified in iis and our posterity, through Jesus Christ, Thy Son. CXXVII I. (Iracious Lord, "Who art the well-spring of all felicity: Grant unto us that we may always fear Thee, and walk in Thy ways. Bless us and all ours, that it may be Avell Avith us and all who pertain to us ; that we may see many generations and children of faith ; and that we may see peace upon Israel, and so may glorify Thee all the days of our lives, through Jesus Christ Thy Son. CXXIX. Eternal God, Who hast at all times shown forth the great care Thou hast of Thy Church and Thy poor servants : Assist us with Thy favour and grace, in such sort, that Ave may overthroAv all the enterprises of our enemies, that they being confounded and put back Avith shame, we may in all safety and quietness, praise and glorify Thy holy Xame, all the days of our life, through Jesus Christ, our Lord and only Saviour. SCOTTISH COLLECTS UPON THE PSALMS, 417 CXXX, Pitiful Father, Who art full of mercy, "Who never re- jectest the prayers of them that call upon Thee in truth and verity: Have mercy upon us, and destroy the multitude of our iniquities, according to the truth of Thy promises, which Thou hast promised unto us, and wherein we repose our whole confidence, according as we are taught by the "Word of Tliy Son, our only Saviour. CXXXI. Mighty Lord, Who resistest the proud and givest strength to the humble ones : Suffer not that Ave lift up ourselves in any proud opinion or conceit of ourselves in any good thing ; but [grant] that Ave may confess humbly before Thy Divine Majesty Avithout excusing ourselves. And [grant] tliat Ave may mortify ourselves dailj^ more and more, in such sort that in all our doings Ave may continually feel Thy fatherly favour, mercy, and assistance, through Jesus Christ Thy Son. CXXXII. 0 Loving Father, Who by Thine oath hast promised unto us a Saviour Jesus Christ, Thy Son : Thou hast not deceived us, but hast giA^en Him unto us, as Thy Word has declared, and by Thy Sacraments Thou hast confirmed. Yea, He hath further pro- mised unto us, that He Avill abide Avith us until the consummation of the Avorld. Therefore, dear Father, Ave beseech Thee that Thou Avilt bless us in all our turns, govern us, and replenish us Avith joy. Let Thy Crown and Kingdom abide above us, and preserve us in peace, through the same Jesus Christ Thy Son. CXXXIII. Gracious Lord, Who art not the God of confusion or discord, but the God of concord and of peace : Join our hearts and affections in such sort together that Ave may Avalk in Thy house as brethren, in brotherly charity and love, and as members of the body of Christ. Let the oil of sanctification, that is, Thy Holy Spirit, inflame us, and the cIcav of Thy blessing continually fall upon us, that Ave may obtain life eternal through the same Jesus Christ. CXXXIA^ Creator of HeaA-en and earth, hoAvever greatly the affairs and cares of this Avorld do trouble, molest, and avert us from rendering unto Thee that honour and obedience due unto Thee ; yet we beseech Thee that, forgetting all other things, Ave may haA'e no other aim but to praise and glorify Thee all the days of our life, for 2 D 418 APPEXDIX. the great benefits which we continually receive at Thj- hands, through Jesus Christ oi;r Lord. CXXXV. 0 Lord God, Who by Thy dear Son Jesus Christ hast made us Kings and Priests to offer unto Thee spiritual sacri- fices : Grant unto us that we renouncing all idolatry, superstition, and all ungodliness, may give over ourselves to Thy service ; and that in all time of tribulation we may call upon Thee with our whole heart that we may feel Thy fatherly bounty and mercy which Thou art wont to use toward all them whom Thou hast regenerated through the selfsame Jesus Christ. CXXXVL Gracious Father, replenished with all glory and mag- nificence : Grant unto us of Thy merciful grace that we may so apply ourselves to the consideration of Thy marvellous works and mighty providence, whereby Thou disposest and settest all things in good and due order; that thereby we may take occasion to celebrate Thy praises without ceasing, and specially inasmuch as Thou hast rencAved us by Thy Holy Spirit ; that thereby we may finally enjoy life eternal Avhich Thy Son Christ Jesus has got for us with His blood. CXXXYII. Merciful Lord, the Comforter and Deliverer of poor captives : Thou seest the great extremities whereinto Thy poor Church is brought and how she is on all hands exposed to the slavery and mockery of Thine enemies and ours, scoffing and at- tainting both us and Thy praises. 0 God, turn back Thy wrath upon them, and hear us who mourn and sigh for our deliverance ; so that, the tyrants our persecutors being overthrown, we may freely sing Thy praises and lauds in Thy house, in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord. CXXXVIII. ]\lighty Lord, full of peace and goodness. Who hast ever borne such favour unto Thy Church that even strange nations have been compelled to acknowledge and praise Thy marvellous bounty whereby Thou dost exalt the disdained and contemptible, and dost cast down the proud and haughty : Make, Lord, all people to submit under Thy mighty hand; and preserve us from all calamities ; that all the world may know Thou wilt not leave the w^ork imperfect which Thou hast begun in us, through Jesus Christ Thy Son. SCOTTISH COLLECTS UPON THE PSALMS. 419 CXXXIX. 0 Loving Father, unto Whom both we and all the inward secrets of our hearts are known : Grant unto us that we may so walk before Thee in uprightness of conscience that we keep no company with mockers and contemners of Thy holy AVord. But may we be so circumcised in heart and mind that, renouncing all worldly friendship, we may never stray furth the right way which Thou hast shown forth to us in the Evangel of Jesus Christ, Thy Son, our Saviour. CXL. Deliver me, 0 Lord, from the wicked and ungodly men, who in their hearts devise mischief and delight in strife and con- tention, whose tongues are sharp as serpents', yea, the venom of adders lurks under their lips. Lord, let us not fall into their gins, neither suffer them to handle us according to their desires. Thou art our God; hear the voice of our complaints; take the defence of our cause in Thy hand, that we may with all our hearts render Thee hearty praises and thanks, through Jesus Christ our Lord. CXLL To Thee, 0 Lord, we cry ; hear us, we beseech Thee. Let our prayer be as a sweet savour before Thee, and the lifting up of our hands as an evening sacrifice. Set a watch before our mouth and keep the door of our lips that they speak no proud thing, as the Avicked do ; but that they may call upon Thee in all uprightness and simj)licity. Finally, let us cast our eyes on Thee in only trust, and in Thee alone repose ourselves. Suffer us not to perish, but deliver us from the snares Avhich the Avicked have prepared for us, and that through Jesus Christ our Saviour. CXLII. Unto Thee, Lord, the Protector and Defender of all them that trust in Thy clemency, we cry and put forth our sighs ; unto Thee we open and lay bare the troubles of our hearts. Thou knowest our ways and distresses, and how on all parts we are circled and compassed with cruel and luigodly enemies. Deliver us, dear Father, from those troubles and dangers wherein we are, and declare the care Thou hast for us who love and honour Thee ; that we may in the midst of Thy holy congregation render Thee perpetual thanks, and that through Jesus Christ, Thy dear Son, our only Saviour. 420 APPENDIX. CXLIII. 0 God, hear our prayers and receive our complaints ; refuse us not for Thy righteousness' sake. Enter not into judgment with us Thy servants, for we know if Thou dealest strictly no man, not even the most holy, may stand in judgment before Thee. Teach us therefore, 0 Father, to do Thy will, and let Thy Holy Spirit lead us in all our ways that they may be agreeable to Thy ordinances, and that through Jesus Christ Thy Son. CXLIV. Puissant God of armies, Who knowest our Aveakness and infirmities to be so great that by ourselves Ave are not able to stand up for a moment before our adversaries did Thy mighty power not uphold us : Bow down Thyself out of the heavens, and stretch forth Thy strong hand, that those who seek our ruin may see Thou art our Protector and Defender. Give us such prosperous success that all the Avorld may see those are not miserable Avho depend on Thee, and claim Thee to be their God, through Jesus Christ our Saviour. CXLV. Thy mercies. Lord, are above all Tliy works ; faithful art Thou in all Thy promises, and just in all Thy doings. P>e a merciful Father unto us for Christ Jesus Thy Son's sake. Govern our Avays for Ave are Aveak ; strengthen lis for Ave are frail ; refresh lis for Ave are famished ; and plentifully bestow Thy good gifts upon us. Defend us from the snares of Satan, our old enemy, that he tempt us not out of the right Avay, but that Ave be ever- more ready to praise and glorify Thy holy Xame, through Jesus Christ. CXLYI. 0 Good God, sufler not that in any Avise Ave set Thee aside to put our trust or confidence in princes or in the children of men ; but let us continually have all our trust and confidence fixed upon Thee, for unto such as do so Thou art a sure Rock and Eefuge. Lead, Lord, them that Avalk in darkness ; deliver the oppressed ; enlarge Thy Kingdom Avhich all Thy chosen children Avho are redeemed by the blood of Thy Son most earnestly thirst for ; and that for the same Jesus Christ's sake. CXLVII. 0 Lord, marvellous are Thy might and strength, AAdiereby Thou castest doAvn the proud and fearful tyrant and liftest SCOTTISH COLLECTS UPON THE PSALMS. 421 up the humble and meek ones. We beseech Thee of Tliy great mercy to restore and rebuild Thy Church, which was founded by Thee only. Gather together Thy scattered sheep ; and as Thou feedest all creatures with temporal food and pasturage, make us to have an inward feeling of the effect of Thy holy Word, that we, following Thj'- will declared therein, may in the end enjoy the heritage prepared for us in Christ Jesus. CXLVIII. Great and marvellous is Thy majesty, 0 mighty God, Maker and Conserver of all things, and mightily doth it shine in all Thy creatures, both in heaven and earth and in the sea : Grant that as these all acknowledge Thee, so we may also make acknowledgment of the same, that with one accord and uniform consent we may with Thy holy angels praise the magnificence of Thy glorious ISTame, so that all may rejoice in the health and ex- alting of Thy people, whom Thou hast relieved from death, through the l)lood of Jesus Christ. CXLIX. Instruct our mouths, 0 good Lord, with a new song, that, our hearts being renewed, we may sing in the company of Thy saints, and rejoice in Thee our Creator and Eedeemer. Let us possess such peace of conscience as may strongly work for Thee. And being girded with the tAvo-edged sword of Thy Word and Holy Spirit, may we strive against all things that oppose themselves to the glory of Thy most holy Xame, and that through Jesus Christ, Thy dear Son, our only Lord and Eedeemer. CL. Most worthy art Thou, 0 good and gracious God, of all praises, even for Thine own sake, surpassing all things in holiness. By Thee alone are we made holy and sanctified. We praise Thee for our glorious redemption, purchased for us in Thy dearly beloved Son Christ Jesus, as our duty continually bids us. Give us Thy Holy Spirit to govern us. And grant that all things which breathe with life may praise Thee as the true life of all creatures, through the same Jesus Christ our Lord, Who reigneth Avith Thee and the Holy Ghost, one God, for ever and ever. 422 APPENDIX. APPEN^DIX L. The Bidding Peayer : History and Specimens of. Period III, p. 152. To this particular kind of prayer the late Dr Edgar of Mauchline makes reference in his ' Old Church Life in Scotland.' He terms it " a very grand old practice that prevailed in England at least, if not in Scotland, in Catholic times ; " and after quoting a passage from the 'Alliance of Divine Offices' by L'Estrange, descriptive of the bidding of prayers, he affirms : " JSTothing could be more proper or more solemn, more impressive or more edifying in public worship, than a brief service of this kind reverently conducted." — (First Series, lect. ii. p. 86.) As many Scottish readers may have no knowledge of this particular form of prayer, it may interest them to be furnished with a brief historical notice and with some illus- trative specimens. In his ' Origines Ecclesiastica; ' (Book ii. chap, xx.) Joseph Bing- ham treats, among other things, of the name, office, and duties of Deacons, as forming one of the three orders of the clergy, the third order of the ministry in prelatic church government. AVith " Deacons to Bid Prayer in the Congregation " for title, section x. states : " Another Office of the Deacons was to be a sort of J\f oni- tors and Directors to the People in the Exercise of their Publick Devotions in the Church. To which purpose they were wont to use certain known Forms of Words, to give notice when each part of the Service began, and to excite the People to join attentively therein ; also to give notice to the Catechumens, Penitents, Ener- gumens, when to come up and make their prayers, and when to depart ; and in several Prayers they repeated the Words before them, to teach them what they were to pray for. . . . And this is called the Deacon's ■7Tpocr<^(x>vria-i, Presbyterian, distinctive j)rin- cii)le of, 2 ; early in Scotland essen- tially monastic, 11 ; description of monastic, 15 ct seq. ; state of in Scotland towards close of eighteenth century, 310 ; distinction between what is fundamental and what is subordinate in, 353 ; not Sacramen- tarian, 354 ; statements in West- minster Confession bearing upon, 357, 358. Wren, Dr, of Norwich, share in revision of Laud's Liturgy, 155. PRINTED BY WILLIAM BLACKWOOD AND SONS. Pnnceton Theological Seminary-Speer 1 1012 01146 6275 DATE DUE GAYLORD PRINTED IN USA