r 
 
 lis 
 
% Cl)iiptci' oil fitui'iifs. 
 
" And this I speak for your profit : not tliat I may cast a snare npon you, but 
 for that which is comely." 1 Cor. vii. 35. 
 
CHAPTER ON LITURGIES 
 
 fistorital Sktd|cs. 
 
 EEY. CHARLES W. BAIRD, 
 
 (new YORK, U. S.) 
 
 AN INTRODUCTORY PREFACE, AND AN APPENDIX TOUCHING THE 
 QUESTION "ARE DISSENTERS TO HAVE A LITURGY?" 
 
 EEY. THOMAS BINNEY. 
 
 LONDON: 
 
 KNiaHT & SON, CLERKENWELL CLOSE. 
 
 1856. 
 
"Debet unaqureque ecclosia cnstodire ritus suos: sed receptos a majoribus, 
 longoque usu prsescriptos, et legitima auctoritate approbates." 
 
rZIItGHTCIT 
 
 ^'.. 
 
 
 %^^ffliTx^t:-^' 
 
 
 editor's preface 
 
 PAGE 
 
 INTRODUCTION 
 
 1 
 
 I. 
 CALVIN AND THE CHURCH OF GENEVA .... 
 
 . 14 
 
 II. 
 
 Calvin's last communion 45 
 
 ni. 
 Calvin's daily offices 59 
 
 IV. 
 
 the GENEVAN LITURGY IN FRANCE 71 
 
 V. 
 
 JOHN KNOX AND THE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND ... 92 
 
 VI. 
 THE FIRST SACRAMENT IN SCOTLAND ....... 116 
 
 VIT. 
 TRACES OF THE SCOTTISH LITURGY 129 
 
 VIII. 
 WORSHIP OF THE EARLY PURITANS 140 
 
 IX. 
 BAXTER'S REFORMED LITURGY 163 
 
VI CONTENTS. 
 
 X. PAGE 
 
 THE CALVINISTIC FORMS IN THE BOOK OF COMMON 
 
 PRAYER 192 
 
 XI. 
 LITURGY OF THE REFORMED DUTCH CHURCH . . . 207 
 
 XII. 
 LITURGY OF THE PALATINATE 221 
 
 XIII. 
 THE DIRECTORY OF WORSHIP REVISED 233 
 
 XIV. 
 CONCLUSION 251 
 
 ADDITIONAL SECTIONS. 
 
 I. THE LITURGIES OF SWITZERLAND 267 
 
 II. THE WALDENSIAN LITURGY 270 
 
 III. SPECIAL PRAYERS OF CALVIN 273 
 
 IV. A FORM OF CELEBRATING MARRIAGE . . . .276 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 ARE DISSENTERS TO HAVE A LITURGY? 283 
 
P2i:iCET0J 
 
 % 
 
 THSOLOGIC&L 
 PREFACE. 
 
 At the request of the Rev. Dr. Baird, whom 
 I met in London towards the close of last 
 year, I undertook to see this work of his 
 son through the press, if its publication 
 in this country should be thought advisable. 
 The author is a young man, and the volume, 
 I think, does great credit to his research 
 and industry, his religious feeling and 
 literary skill. It was to me for a long time 
 doubtful whether the subject would attract 
 strictly English readers. The publishers, 
 however, were willing to take the risk of an 
 Edition, and I was willing to hope that 
 many of different Communions would be 
 interested in the work. It is proper to say, 
 that the reader has in his hand not only an 
 exact reprint of the original work, without 
 
VI 11 EDITOR'S PREFACE. 
 
 the omission of a single line, but that this 
 reprint contains many important additional 
 passages, and some additional sections, which 
 were sent in manuscript by the author with 
 the corrected copy, forwarded to me for this 
 authorized English edition. 
 
 The only great liberty I have taken is one. 
 which may perhaps need an apology. I 
 have altered the title of the work. In the 
 original it stands thus : — "EUTAXIA, 
 or the Presbyterian" Liturgies : His- 
 torical Sketches." The Greek compound, 
 constituting here the first title, was thought 
 to be objectionable as the heading of a 
 popular work ; and the second title it was 
 felt would repel some readers whom it was 
 desirable to attract. I could not but admit 
 the force of these representations, and I have 
 done the best I could under their pressure. 
 The work is not a Treatise on Liturgies in 
 general, and it does not appear as such ; but 
 it is "A Chapter on Liturgies," a section, 
 as it were, on one sort, and, in this charac- 
 ter, will find its way, I hope, into many 
 hands. 
 
EDITOR'S PEEFACE. IX 
 
 Among the readers of this book, I can 
 imagine there will be many who will learn 
 from it with surprise the views entertained 
 respecting the use of Liturgical forms by 
 those of the Reformers whose followers in 
 this country have long repudiated every- 
 thing of the sort. The sections on Calvin" 
 and Knox will to some be especially in- 
 teresting ; nor less so to others those on 
 " the worship of the Early Puritans," and 
 on ^' Baxter's Reformed Liturgy." There 
 are those who will be surprised to find that 
 Calvin not only approved of forms of prayer, 
 but that he lamented the lengths to which 
 some had gone in rejecting altogether cer- 
 tain ecclesiastical rites and customs ; — that 
 Knox prepared an Order for public worship, 
 which was adopted and sanctioned by the 
 General Assembly of the Church of Scot- 
 land ; and that his own last hours were 
 soothed and solaced, and his soul refreshed, 
 by a prayer being read to him out of a 
 book ! — that some of the English Puritans 
 
X EDITOE'S PREFACE. 
 
 and Separatists used the prepared Con- 
 tinental forms in their secret meetings ; and 
 that latter Nonconformists had no objection 
 to a Liturgy as such^ but only wished some 
 changes to be made in that which was in 
 use, — that it should not be e.vclusiveli/ en- 
 forced, that there should be the means of 
 giving variety to the services, and the oppor- 
 tunity afforded for free prayer. There are 
 those, too, on both sides of the Tweed, who 
 will find their notions of the past somewhat 
 disturbed by the discovery, that the Re- 
 formers so generally encouraged " Daily Ser- 
 vice ;" and that, in the Order of Worship in 
 the Church of Scotland, provision was made 
 for the introduction of the Apostles' Creed, 
 the Lord's Prayer, and the Ten Command- 
 ments. * 
 
 * In a note on page 262, the author states in relation to 
 Scotland, that, " as he has been told, it is not uncommon 
 there to hear the decalogue and the Lord's Prayer repeated 
 in Divine Service." This is quite contrary to all my recol- 
 lections of Presbyterian worship. I never heard of the 
 custom in Scotland [what is "not uncommon" would be 
 customary] ; though I cannot speak very positively on the 
 point. 
 
EDITOR'S PREFACE. XI 
 
 II. 
 
 There are those who will be interested 
 in the author's statements respecting the 
 English Book of Common Prayer, and the 
 proofs he adduces of its owing something 
 to foreign Presbyterian influence. The 
 modern Anglican party is greatly scandal- 
 ized by this ; but, as the fact cannot be 
 disputed, all that remains is to acknow- 
 ]edp;e or confess it with becoming; humilia- 
 tion, and to lament and deplore it as a 
 Divine judgment. Some expounders of the 
 rationale of the Prayer Book, see in the 
 commencement of their service a beautiful 
 propriety and a deep meaning. The Scrip- 
 ture sentences, — the call to Confession, — the 
 Confession itself that follows upon this, — 
 then the Absolution, — and then — thus peni- 
 tent, believing, pardoned — the entering, as it 
 were, into the holiest of all, freely approach- 
 ing the Divine Majesty through Christ, and 
 in his loords, — and so on to all the high, 
 spiritual utterances that follow, and which 
 could not consistently come without the 
 
XU EDITOR'S PREFACE. 
 
 previous preparatory process of confession 
 and forgiveness ; — all this appears to some 
 Churchmen so scriptural, so beautiful, that 
 it is the theme of their especial praise. But 
 for all this, the English Prayer Book is 
 indebted to Presbyterians. To many good 
 men, the thought of this brings no pain ; it 
 rather ministers delight, as a proof of that 
 true catholicity of spirit which was cherished 
 by the Reformers of different countries, and 
 the Fathers of different Protestant churches, 
 towards each other. The deep distress with 
 which others contemplate it may be seen in 
 one of the Oxford tracts, a few sentences of 
 which may interest some who may have no 
 opportunity of looking into those once noto- 
 rious publications. 
 
 " We find on opening it [tHe Prayer Book], that it 
 commences in a manner perfectly different from any 
 of the Liturgical books immediately preceding it . . . 
 which commence with the Lord's Prayer, and from 
 thence proceed to the Creed. Instead of this, we 
 have the Sentences, the Exhortation, the Confession, 
 
 and the Absolution preceding that Prayer 
 
 Such a commencement, therefore, may prove the 
 characteristic of our Church, as expressive of the posi- 
 
EDITOE'S PEEFACE. XII] 
 
 tion in which God has placed us. It might be said 
 that these introductory parts were insertions in the 
 Second Book of Edward, hj the intervention of foreign- 
 ers, who, having shorn and left us bare of so much 
 that is holy and valuable, liave necessarily 'put us into 
 a degraded condition. But it must be remembered, 
 that our object is to divest ourselves of the considera- 
 tion of secondary agents ; . . . . such deprivations 
 were doubtless judicial; but it may be shown here- 
 after how overriding mercies Mend with those judg- 
 ments, frustrating the designs ofmen^^ 
 
 The foregoing remarks and references 
 may serve to explain the eaiployment by 
 the author of some rather strong language 
 respecting the English Episcopal Church 
 
 * Tracts for the Times, No. 8G, pp. 16, 19. I do not 
 enter into the question between the two parties referred to 
 in the text, as to the right idea of Christian worship, — 
 whether it should commence as the English service now 
 commences, or with the Lord's Prayer ; I merely profess to 
 illustrate, by the above remarks and quotations, portions of 
 the tenth chapter of this book. The deep tone of humility 
 and sorrow which pervades the Tract, No. 86, is indeed re- 
 markable, though there is sometimes to be heard a pretty 
 distinct and intelligible undertone of what is very like a 
 spirit of pride and resentment. To some readers the follow- 
 ing passage will appear curious : — " In the daily prayers 
 there are two peculiarities of our own Church ; the one is 
 the position which the pray erf or the King occupies before that 
 for the Church, We cannot, humanly speaking, approve of 
 
XIV EDITOE'S PEEFACE. 
 
 which occurs in the text and in a note on 
 page 205. His words are no doubt true 
 enough as applied to the spirit of a certain 
 party in the Church, and to the probable 
 action of the Church as a corporation. There 
 Is no doubt that the high Anglicans do re- 
 gard the orders and sacraments of unepis- 
 copal Churches, and such Churches them- 
 selves, in the way described ; and that Con- 
 vocation, or the Queen in Council, would 
 not be likely to express the sympathy of 
 the Church with Continental Protestants by 
 any public act or utterance, — by appointing 
 a day of fasting, or publishing a form of 
 
 such an anomally. But may we not perceive in it some 
 design of warning or otherwise? Is it a witness to our- 
 selves of the evil consequences of an Erastian preference of 
 the State to the Church — a badge of servitude ? . . . The 
 next circumstance is the prayer for the Parliament, which is, 
 of course, unprecedented. It is remarkable, that, at the 
 time of its being first issued, and ever since, the Parliament 
 has been more or less the enemy of God's Church, and 
 exercising an indirect control over it. And yet to pray for 
 them, under such circumstances, is of Divine command ; 
 and perhaps the strictest parallel to it will be found in the 
 case of the Israelites (Jer. xxix. /)» ' Seek ye the peace of 
 the city whither I have caused you to he carried away cap- 
 tives, and pray unto the Lord for it.' This may be applied 
 to both circumstaces alluded to." — Page 24. 
 
EDITOE'S PKEFACE. XV 
 
 prayer. Nevertheless, there are many among 
 the clergy and laity of the Church of Eng- 
 land, who rejoice to recognise the brother- 
 hood of all " who hold the Head," and the 
 validity of their orders and sacraments, irre- 
 spective of modes of government and dis- 
 cipline ; — who think that Christ's flock is 
 rather to be recognised by its being com- 
 posed of sheep, than by the form of the fold 
 in which any number of any sort of living 
 creatures may be contained ; — and who sym- 
 pathize with the persecuted of other lands, 
 and, on fitting occasions, are not backward 
 to express that sympathy. To which it 
 might be added, that if anything were to 
 occur again equal in atrocity to the St. Bar- 
 tholomew massacre, it might perhaps come to 
 pass that all ecclesiastical restraints would 
 be broken through ; and the Church, as a 
 Church, in its corporate capacity, would 
 come forth, and by word and act show that 
 the impulses of a common humanity, and 
 the spirit of a common faith, are, after all, 
 far more vital and potent things than any 
 set of notions about the form of the Church, 
 
XVI EDITOR'S TKEFACE. 
 
 the virtue of sacraments, or the succession 
 of the priesthood. 
 
 III. 
 
 In the chapter on the Reformed Dutch 
 Liturgy, there is an expression of the author's 
 (page 217) which may require an explanatory 
 remark. In giving tw^o of the prayers from 
 the Liturgy in question, selected from its 
 Baptismal service^ he says, [These prayers] 
 '^ are the more interesting to us, because it 
 is to be feared that in the present revision 
 they w^ill undergo modification, to suit the 
 low conceptions of the value of this rite, and 
 the efficacy of the grace accompanying it, 
 that prevail in the Churches." I can imagine 
 that some will be ready to ask, especially 
 when they recall the comparatively recent 
 Gorham controversy. What is " the grace 
 that accompanies baptism?" What the 
 '' efficacy" of it? What the " value of the 
 rite" in consequence of its connexion with 
 that grace ? I am not going to discuss the 
 subject, but merely to explain what I sup- 
 pose may be the import of the author's 
 
EDITOR'S PREFACE. XVll 
 
 statement. Mr. Baird is a Presbyterian ; 
 and, as such, he is the minister of a Church 
 which, I presume, adopts as its standards 
 those of the Church of Scotland as con- 
 tained in the Confession of Faith. That 
 Confession appears to many to involve some- 
 thing very similar to Mr. Gorham's Bap- 
 tismal theory. Mr. Gorham always main- 
 tained that he firmly believed in the " grace 
 of baptism," but that he did not hold that 
 the grace was so tied to the rite as to be 
 given to all, or, when given, to be always 
 conferred when the rite was administered. 
 It might be given before, at, or after bap- 
 tism ; but, whenever a baptized person who 
 had not received grace when baptized be- 
 came, at whatever distance of time after- 
 wards, a child of God, his baptism then 
 became efficacious, — the grace of baptism 
 was then subjectively received. I quote 
 from recollection, but I believe what I have 
 said to be substantially correct. Now, in 
 the Confession of Faith of the Church of 
 Scotland, in chapter xxviii. entitled " of 
 Baptism," there occurs the following article : 
 
XVlll EDITOR'S PREFACE. 
 
 " The efficacy of baptism is not tied to 
 that moment of time wherein it is adminis- 
 tered ; yet notwithstanding, by the right 
 use of this ordinance, the grace promised is 
 not only offered, but really e.vhibited and con- 
 ferred h\j the Holy Ghosty to such (whether 
 of age or infants) as that grace belongeth 
 unto, according to the counsel of God's own 
 will, in his appointed time.'' In Fisher's 
 " Explanation of the Shorter Catechism, by 
 way of Question and Answer," the matter is 
 expounded thus : — Q, " Is baptism effica- 
 cious at the time of its administration?' 
 A, " Not always : ' the efficacy of baptism is 
 not tied to that moment of time wherein it 
 is administered,' but may take place after- 
 ivards, as God in his sovereignty has fixed 
 it." There seems to be an identity between 
 the Presbyterian theory and that of Mr. 
 Gorham. The latter theory, I remember, 
 was thought by some, at the time when the 
 subject was before the public, to be that of 
 a possible, modified, or delayed baptismal 
 regeneration, and he himself explained, that 
 on the ground of it, he could deny " that he 
 
EDITOR'S PREFACE. XIX 
 
 held, or persisted in holding, that spiritual 
 regeneration is not given or conferred in 
 baptism." How far Mr. Baird, or any other 
 minister who accepts the Confession of Faith, 
 would say this of himself, I do not know. 
 My object in these remarks is neither to 
 discuss the baptismal question, to explain 
 my own views, or to find fault with those of 
 any individual, or of any church. I merely 
 desire to direct the reader to the authorita- 
 tive source, as I conceive it to be, of what 
 the author of this book may be supposed to 
 mean in the passage referred to, and which 
 might possibly strike some minds. As a 
 Presbyterian, he holds, we may presume, 
 the Presbyterian theory of baptismal grace. 
 
 ly. 
 
 Having thus noticed one or two things 
 which appeared to me to invite remark, I 
 have only to add a few concluding observa- 
 tions on the general subject, to a branch 
 of which this "Chapter on Liturgies" is 
 devoted. The lawfulness and advantage of 
 forms 01 prayer in public worship, is at 
 
XX EDITOR'S PREFACE. 
 
 present exciting, on both sides of the Atlantic, 
 much attention in certain communities, — 
 communities supposed in opinion to be 
 hostile to such forms, as in practice they 
 repudiate their use. So far back as fourteen 
 or fifteen years ago, Dr. Gumming published 
 an edition of Knox's Liturgy, prefixing to it 
 a preface in which he expressed himself in 
 favour of a partial use of forms of prayer, and 
 went back for the true idea of his Church to 
 the times referred to in this book, rather 
 than to those of Claverhouse and the Cove- 
 nanters. "There is a mediocrity," he says, 
 " among the clergy as among the laity. For 
 the great mass, therefore, I believe that the 
 partial use of a form of prayer would be 
 truly valuable." ... . " I believe that the 
 resumption — if the word can be used of 
 that which is not rescinded — of the Liturgy 
 I now edit, by the Church of Scotland, 
 would be attended with great good.". . . . 
 " It is a melancholy fact, that too many of 
 the Church people of Scotland direct their 
 minds to the days preceding and during the 
 Covenant for the true character and senti- 
 
EDITOR'S PREFACE. XXI 
 
 ments of their Church. Nothing can be 
 more unfortunate. Our Reformers and the 
 Church of the Reformation^ not the Cove- 
 nanters^ are our best models^ 
 
 The Duke of Argyle, in accounting for 
 the fact that so many of the ^' families of 
 Scotland have left the communion of Pres- 
 bytery, and joined that of the English 
 Church," says, that ^' few have been induced 
 to do so by any previous conversion to 
 Church principles." ..." The deeper source 
 of the extensive alienation which has taken 
 place, is to be found in the superior attrac- 
 tions of a more ritual worship." ... "A partial 
 use of Liturgical forms of prayer, to which 
 the first Scottish Reformers had no objec- 
 tion, and which the legislative institutions 
 of Presbytery entitle it to adopt at any 
 moment, would alone, I think, have been of 
 immense value in engaging the affections, 
 and preventing the straying of its members. 
 For, certainly, there is no more just excep- 
 tion against the worship of Scottish Presby- 
 tery, than its effect in placing the most 
 devotional part of Divine service so entirely 
 
XXU EDITOR'S PKEFACE. 
 
 at the mercy of the individual minister who 
 happens to conduct it."* 
 
 I am not at all sure that the want of a 
 Liturgy is anything like the principal ground 
 on which Scotchmen leave the Church of 
 their fathers, or that the adoption of such 
 forms as would alone be compatible with the 
 spirit of that Church, and agreeable to the 
 provisions and example of its Reformers, 
 would either bring back those that have 
 w^andered, or keep others from straying after 
 them. I have only, however, to do at present 
 with those facts and opinions which indicate 
 the interest that is supposed to prevail on 
 the subject of this book. 
 
 Some English Nonconformists are known to 
 hold views similar to those avowed by their 
 fathers — views of which many of their children 
 are unaware — not only that a Liturgy is not 
 unlawful, but that its uses may be very great, 
 especially if connected with free prayer. 
 In some parts of America, the subject is 
 
 * Tart of these extracts, from Dr. Cumming and the Duke 
 of Arg} le, are given by Mr. Baird in his concluding chaj)ter. 
 I thought it well to give them a little more fully here. 
 
EDITOR'S PREFACE. XXI 11 
 
 changing from a matter of speculation to 
 one of fact. I noticed lately the account of 
 the introduction of a Liturgical service in a 
 church at Rochester ; — it was spoken of as 
 interesting and successful. A minister of the 
 Congregational body, resident in one of our 
 Metropolitan suburbs, has not only compiled 
 a series of Services under the title of "The 
 Biblical Liturgy," — the whole consisting of 
 Scriptural passages carefully arranged, — but 
 has begun to use them in public worship. 
 How far it is at all likely that such a change 
 can be, with us, successful and permanent, — 
 that Churches accustomed to free prayer can 
 be brought to combine with it fixed forms, — 
 or that, in England, any Liturgical service 
 whatever, will have such attractions to the 
 general mind as are supposed to belong to 
 that of the Establishment, I do not stay to 
 inquire. All that I have mentioned, I merely 
 mention as " signs of the times." 
 
 Whatever may be indicated by these 
 "signs," and some others that might be 
 mentioned, — or to whatever that which they 
 indicate may lead,— there is one thing which 
 
XXIV EDITOR'S PREFACE. 
 
 they certainly seem to indicate, and one to 
 which they may lead, both of them matters 
 of much interest to many thoughtful and 
 earnest men. They indicate dissatisfaction 
 with the state of worship prevalent amongst 
 us, — worship properly so called ; they show 
 a yearning for something deeper and richer 
 than what we have, — deeper devotion and 
 richer song, — something, too, in which the 
 people shall take a prominent and active 
 part, — not in psalmody only, but in supplica- 
 tion ; — in which they shall be called vocally 
 to utter some portions of the Church's com- 
 mon 'prayer^ — so that, by audible repetition, 
 and appropriate response, and other modes 
 of united action, they shall feel that they 
 positively do pray, as well as listen to another 
 praying. All this is indicated by the facts 
 referred to, — an underlying and growing 
 dissatisfaction with things as they are, a 
 desire for worship to be more highly esti- 
 mated, to occupy a more distinguished place, 
 to have generally attached to it greater 
 importance in ''the assemblies of the saints," 
 and for all to discharge, actively and con- 
 
EDITOR'S PREFACE. XXV 
 
 sciously, the "ministry" that belongs to 
 " the priesthood of God." All this is good ; 
 and, whether or not it lead to the adoption 
 of forms of prayer, — which, perhaps, are 
 not the best or wisest method of supplying 
 what is longed for,-— it may lead to t/ns, 
 which in itself is something, indeed much : — 
 it may induce Presbyterian and Noncon- 
 formist ministers to pay more attention 
 than many of them have hitherto done 
 to the ivorship of the Church ; — to cultivate, 
 if I may say so, devotional taste ; — to use, 
 in prayer, modes of speech, and even tones 
 and gestures more simple, natural, becoming, 
 and devout; — in speaking to "The Father," 
 to speak more from the heart than the head, 
 — to be more religious and less theological, 
 — to think more of the wants which are to 
 be made known to God, than of the points 
 and systems which are to be taught to men ; — 
 and, in addition to these things, to encourage, 
 for the joy and solace of the Church, as 
 means alike of edification and grace, better 
 and higher forms of praise than those with 
 which many have hitherto been content. 
 
XXVI EDITOR'S PREFACE. 
 
 The people, too, may be led to many higher 
 and better things than they yet know, — to a 
 deeper sense of the solemnity of worship 
 than is often felt, and to a more becoming 
 behaviour in the house of God than is some- 
 times seen ; — to more reverence, greater 
 stillness, less noise, more punctuality, — 
 everything, in short, that shall make it mani- 
 fest that they come themselves to engage in 
 the service,-— that they feel it belongs to 
 them, — that they would be sorry to miss it, — 
 to be absent at its commencement, — to be dis- 
 turbed as it proceeds, or to disturb others ; — 
 and that, without disparaging or undervaluing 
 preaching, they should yet feel that they 
 would as much regret the loss of the worship, 
 as of any sermon however eloquent, or even 
 spiritual. 
 
 It is this general sort of impression and 
 result which I hope, in some measure, to 
 forward by superintending the publication 
 of this book. I do not expect that the par- 
 ticular Liturgies herein given will be adopted 
 anywhere ; nor, indeed, that in themselves 
 hey will be so approved or admired, as to 
 
EDITOR'S PREFACE. XXVll 
 
 be regarded as worth adding to our own 
 customary public devotions, certainly not 
 as constituting an adequate substitute for the 
 higher forms of free prayer which we have 
 amongst us. I do expect, however, that the 
 mere publication of a book of prayers rather 
 than sermons, — a directory for public wor- 
 ship, helps and models for public prayer, 
 rather than a volume of prepared discourses 
 or pulpit reports, — I do hope that this may 
 lead some people to direct their thoughts to 
 the great subject of which the book treats ; 
 and thus help on some of those results which 
 have been indicated as desirable. During the 
 whole of my ministerial life, I have gone on 
 the principle of attaching special importance 
 to worship, — showing that I did so, and 
 trying to get the people to do the same. 
 All my convictions, however, formed and 
 deepened by long reflection, reading, ex- 
 perience, are strongly against the principle 
 of confining worship to the provisions of a 
 strictly imposed ritual, — a thing admitting 
 of no variation, and forbidding free prayer. 
 At the same time, I am ready to confess 
 
XXVUl EDITOR'S PREFACE. 
 
 that I have felt, under the solemnity and 
 awfulness of the ever-recurring public duty, 
 as if I should occasionally have been glad if 
 I could have fallen back on the partial use 
 of some Liturgical assistance. This, how- 
 ever, might have proved a snare, and have 
 tempted to negligence, by facilitating the 
 adoption of the letter and form w^hen the 
 spirit of devotion v^as felt, or imagined, to 
 be dull or low. In relation to the services 
 of the Episcopal Church, I have known some- 
 thing of the feeling which, in my ^' Con- 
 scientious Clerical Nonconformity," I attri- 
 buted to the imaginary individual therein 
 described, who was compelled on principle 
 to keep out of the Establishment, though he 
 felt drawn towards it by much that was 
 congenial to his sympathies and tastes. I 
 by no means appropriate everything in the 
 following portrait to myself, but I could not 
 have sketched it if there had not been some- 
 thing in common between the subject and 
 the artist : — 
 
 " Let us suppose, that with the per- 
 fect consciousness of possessing the ability 
 
EDITOE^S PEEFACE. XXIX 
 
 for extemporary devotion, and with the 
 calm hope that he could conduct it himself 
 in sincerity and faith, he yet shrinks from 
 the awful and perilous thing, — from an en- 
 gagement which he conceives to be difficult 
 and oppressive, just in proportion as the 
 mind is awake to what is to be done, and 
 the heart fitted for doing it aright. Let us 
 suppose, that with such feelings, and as a 
 really spiritual and devout man, he finds a 
 refuge and a rest for his sou] as a worshipper 
 in the employment in public of Liturgical 
 forms. And let us further imagine here, that 
 his tastes and preferences are mostly met by 
 the prayers and collects of the Established 
 Church ; that their language, at once simple 
 and dignified, — in general calm, but at times 
 rising into the earnest and impassioned, — 
 their brevity, as separate exercises of devo- 
 tion, — their unity and comprehensiveness 
 considered as a whole, — their allotment to 
 the people of much that is vocal and active 
 in the service ; — let us suppose that all this 
 draws and attracts him towards the Establish- 
 ment. Nor let him be insensible to the thrill- 
 
XXX EDITOR'S PREFACE. 
 
 ing thought, that, in her worship, his lips 
 utter the identical supplications, breathe his 
 wants in the very words, glorify God in the 
 same high and hallowed hymns that were 
 heard in the service of the ancient Church, 
 or have swelled for centuries in the sacred 
 edifices where they echo still !" 
 
 This was written seventeen years ago, but 
 something of my feeling on kindred subjects 
 was expressed in publications, of one sort or 
 another, as far back as twenty-four and 
 thirty years ago. When I sat doAvn to 
 write this Preface, I thought of recalling 
 some of the many things which, in the course 
 of my public life, have happened to occur 
 to me, on several of the practical questions 
 which the subject of this volume naturally 
 suggests, and to which passing events seem 
 likely to give increased importance. The 
 most of my remarks, however, have taken 
 rather a different, though not, I think, an 
 improper turn. I shall not add to them a 
 fresh section on other matters ; yet, as it may 
 not be unacceptable to some readers to hear 
 
EDITOE'S PEEFACE. XXXI 
 
 what is thought, by different minds, on two 
 or three of those subjects to which I have 
 had incidentally to allude, I will subjoin for 
 their benefit, in an appendix, the substance 
 of a conversation between four or five 
 ministers, who were sitting the other day 
 in the reading-room of the Milton Club, and 
 who, beginning with an allusion to a recent 
 publication, were led to speak, though some- 
 what desultorily, on a good many other sug- 
 gested topics. So far as these had any 
 relation to the subject of this volume I care- 
 fully noted what was said respecting them. 
 My report of the conversation will be found 
 at the end of this volume. 
 
 T. BINNEY. 
 
 Walworth, 
 A2}ril 23, 1855. 
 
CHAPTER ON LITURGIES 
 
 Itttrohtttiun. 
 
 "If the Parson were ashamed of particularizing in these things, 
 he were not fit to be a Parson ; but he holds the Rule, that Nothing 
 is little in God's Service : If it once have the honour of that Name, 
 it grows great instantly." — The Countky Parsox, ch. xiv. 
 
 To ascertain from the history and teachings of 
 the Presbyterian Church, what may be considered 
 the proper theory of its worship, and to compare 
 that ideal with our prevailing practice, is my 
 purpose in the following researches. I have 
 chosen for their title a term compendiously de- 
 signating that due observance of decorum, and 
 regard to comeliness of word and action, which in 
 the public service of God I seek with all humility 
 to advocate. Generically, the term is no other than 
 that used by the Apostle, in his command, " Let 
 all things be done decently and in order;"* a 
 
 * 1 Cor. xiv. 40. — Evaxv/^'^'^^s koI Kara rd^iv. See, in relation to 
 this passage and note, the Preface by the Editor. 
 B 
 
2 A CHAPTER ON LITURGIES. 
 
 precept affording sufficient warrant for the discus- 
 sion upon which I have presumed to enter. 
 
 The scriptural idea of pubHc worship is clearly 
 that of a service prescribed as to its several 
 component parts, but free in the filling up of 
 its general outlines. The observance of the 
 Lord's Day by attendance upon religious minis- 
 trations ; participation in the sacraments ; the 
 singing of psalms, and hymns, and spiritual song^ ; 
 the reading of Scripture ; and the making of suppli- 
 cations, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgiving: 
 these are all matters of direct Divine appointment. 
 But apart from these, there are considerations of 
 propriety and taste, as to the form and manner of 
 discharging the required duties : which, although 
 important and worthy of careful attention, the 
 Apostles seem to have left, with a few general 
 directions like that given to the Corinthian Churcb, 
 for individual or ecclesiastical adjustment; consi- 
 derations of comeliness and decorum, appropriately 
 to be settled in accordance with the peculiar cir- 
 cumstances under which they might severally 
 come up. To this category belongs, unquestion- 
 ably, the subject of the choice of language to be 
 used in the services of public devotion. 
 
 It has been the wisdom of the Presbyteria?-' 
 
INTRODUCTION. 3 
 
 Church to follow strictly this scriptural and Apos- 
 tolic method; imposing as duties, only such acts 
 and ordinances of worship as are of Divine appoint- 
 ment ; and leaving in a great measure to indivi- 
 dual choice the selection of words employed in 
 their performance. The Directory of Worship, set 
 forth by the Assembly at Westminster, and adopted 
 by our Mother Church as one of her standards, 
 contains such regulations, referring to all the parts 
 of Divine service; minutely and definitely pre- 
 scribing the topics of prayer, their sequence and 
 proportions ; in fact, embracing all the themes of 
 worship, without rigid confinement to set words 
 and phrases. This Directory, the laborious pro- 
 duction of the ablest divines of the period, is all 
 that our Church has enjoined as a matter of strict 
 requisition upon her ministers and people ; leaving 
 entire liberty in respect to the language that shall 
 embody and express these prescribed topics. But 
 it is quite evident, at the same time, that how- 
 ever this Directory of Worship may meet the aim 
 of our Church in regard to the performance of 
 religious rites, and exactly correspond with in- 
 spired precept and primitive practice, it does not 
 meet all the wants of public devotion, nor answer 
 all the ends of an aid to public prayer. It defines 
 
4 A CHAPTER ON LITURGIES. 
 
 and arranges the parts of Divine service; but it 
 does not furnish forms of language suitable for 
 their expression. The need of assistance to the 
 minister in conducting, and to the people in 
 following oral supplications, is not supplied by a 
 work whose whole object is to state and describe 
 the constituent elements of worship. There is a 
 necessity palpable and widely felt, for something 
 more than this, to meet the exigencies of the case. 
 Does the Presbyterian Church allow or con- 
 template any such subsidiary provision for the 
 celebration of public worship ? Are her ministers 
 precluded from the use of sound and w^ell-con- 
 ceived formularies, and shut up to the necessity 
 of original composition for this most solemn, diffi- 
 cult, and trying function of their office, without 
 even the right of previous preparation for the 
 task ? There is in the Church of Christ a rich 
 and copious literature of devotion, accumulated 
 by the labours of many ages. Holy men of prayer 
 have been gifted at some periods, as few can claim 
 to be now, with elevation of thought and language 
 necessary for the adequate expression of devout 
 feeling. The period of primitive zeal produced 
 such minds. The period of reformation in the 
 Church brought out others. Are we, in less 
 
INTRODUCTION. O 
 
 favoured days, debarred from the fruits of these 
 high spiritual endowments ? Do our ecclesiastical 
 rules exclude us from the use of the best liturgical 
 compositions, and force us to rely on our indivi- 
 dual resources of conception, however crude, and 
 meagre, and immature we may find them ? 
 
 Such is undoubtedly the popular conception of 
 the matter; and the fact of its general, if not 
 universal prevalence, has led me to attempt an 
 exhibition of the true theory, and the normal 
 practice of our Church in this particular. It will 
 be my object to demonstrate, first. That the prin- 
 ciples of Preshyterianis7n hi no loise conflict tvith 
 the discretionary use of written forms ; and, se- 
 condly. That the practice of Presbyterian churches 
 abundantly icarrants the adoption and the use of 
 such forms. 
 
 The principles of our Church, in regard to 
 public worship, are easily gathered from her 
 standards, and from the opinions of those who 
 are considered their ablest and most authentic 
 exponents. It might be inferred, from the com- 
 mon notion of her antipathy to all preconceived 
 forms, that our Church expressly and strongly 
 condemns their use. No such prohibition occurs 
 in her standards. There is rather a studious 
 
b A CHAPTER OX LITURGIES. 
 
 avoidance of anything like this condemnation ; 
 resembling the tone of one who cautiously refrains 
 from censuring her own past action, however it 
 may differ from her present habits. 
 
 The Directory of Worship reprobates, indeed, 
 the " cojijining" of ministers to set or fixed forms ; 
 but, far from discouraging preparation, it recom- 
 mends the "reading of the best writers on the 
 subject." The language of our theologians is yet 
 more clear and unmistakeable : " We are very far 
 from pronouncing, or even thinking," says a vene- 
 rated divine, recently deceased, " that it is un- 
 lawful to conduct prayer, either public or private, 
 by a form. We should deem such a sentence or 
 opinion altogether erroneous. There is no reason 
 to doubt that many a truly fervent and acceptable 
 prayer has been offered in this manner. Some of 
 the most excellent men that ever adorned the 
 Church of Christ have decisively preferred this 
 method of conducting the devotions of the sanc- 
 tuary, and have no doubt found it compatible with 
 the most exalted spirit of prayer. We only con- 
 tend that such forms are not indispensable, as 
 some contend, to orderly and edifying prayer. . . . 
 And that to impose forms of prayer at all times, 
 and upon all persons who publicly minister in 
 
IXTRODrCTION. 7 
 
 holy things^ and to confine them to the use of 
 such forms, is by no means either desirable or 
 wise."* 
 
 From another and equally authoritative source, 
 I gained a similar opinion : " Not condemning 
 either the principle or use of a Liturgy, the Pres- 
 byterian Church, nevertheless, from a conviction 
 that the practice of confining ministers to set or 
 fixed forms of prayers for public worship, derives 
 no warrant from the spirit and examples of the 
 word of God, nor from the practice of the Primi- 
 tive Church, and that it is, moreover, unprofitable, 
 burdensome to Christian liberty, and otherwise 
 inexpedient, — disapproves of such restrictions; 
 but she has, at the same time, made such pro- 
 visions in her ^ Directory ' for the service, that it 
 may be performed with dignity and propriety, as 
 well as profit, to those who join in it, and that it 
 may not be disgraced by mean, irregular, or ex- 
 travagant effusions."! 
 
 As it respects the existence of authorized forms 
 
 * The Eev. Samuel Miller, D.D., late Professor of Ecclesiastical 
 History in the Theological Seminary of the Presbyterian Church, in 
 his work on '■'■ Fublic Prayer,'' pp. 138, 139. 
 
 t Rev. John M. Krebs, D.D., Permanent Clerk of the General 
 Assembly of the Presbyterian Church, in an article contributed to a 
 " History of the Religmis Denominations in the United States, by 
 J. D. Rupp." Philad., 1844: pp. 564—566. 
 
8 A CHAPTER ON LITURGIES. 
 
 of worship in the Presbyterian Church, it will be 
 my aim to show, that the idea of a Liturgy has 
 not been foreign to our system ; that forms of this 
 nature have, at various periods, been drawn up 
 and used ; that previous to the date of the West- 
 minster Assembly, there prevailed in Scotland an 
 order of worship liturgical in its character, which, 
 indeed, has never been officially abrogated ; and 
 that the authorship of those forms is to be as- 
 cribed to no meaner sources than our own great 
 Reformers, Knox and Calvin, the founders of 
 modern Presbyterianism. 
 
 And here let me define the meaning of the 
 term " Liturgy ^^ when used in a Presbyterian 
 sense. The churches of the Reformation have 
 treated the subject of public worship according to 
 four different methods. 
 
 The first is that of an imposed ritual, responsive 
 in its character, and prescribed to the minister and 
 people for their common use. Such is the practice 
 of the Anglican and Lutheran communions. 
 
 Another method is that of a discretionary ritual, 
 not responsive, and supplied to the minister alone,* 
 
 * In France and Switzerland, but few copies of the Liturgies in 
 use are printed, and these are to be procured, as a general thing, only 
 by ministers. 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 9 
 
 for his guidance as to the matter and manner of 
 worship ; leaving freedom of variation, as to the 
 latter, according to his judgment. Such was the 
 usage of the Church of Scotland, for the first 
 century of her existence; such is the practice 
 of every Reformed Church on the Continent of 
 Europe at the present time ; and such w^as the 
 plan proposed by Rodgers, Green, and other of our 
 American divines, at the period of the organiza- 
 tion of our Church in this country. 
 
 The third method is that of a rubrical provi- 
 sion ', consisting of directions without examples ; 
 indicating the subjects, but omitting the language 
 of prayer. Of this character was the Directory 
 composed by the Westminster Assembly, and 
 adopted by our Church. 
 
 And the fourth method, if such we may call it, 
 is that of ejitire freedom, as respects both subject 
 and language; leaving all to the option of the 
 minister. Perhaps no denomination has followed 
 this course, since the days of the old Indepen- 
 dents, w^ho opposed even the introduction of a 
 Directory of Worship, as hampering the liberty 
 of the individual. * 
 
 * Hetheeington's History of the Westminster Assembly of 
 Divines, ch. iii. Neale's History of the Furitans, vol. ii. The same 
 
10 A CHAPTER ON LITURGIES. 
 
 It is only the second and third of the four 
 methods here indicated that will be embraced by 
 our remarks; those usages between which the 
 practice of our own Church has been divided : the 
 former being her ancient custom, the latter the 
 more modern. Be it understood that where occa- 
 sion leads us to allude to the comparative merits 
 of liturgical and rubrical forms, we shall speak 
 only of those two methods which have been 
 equally approved, honoured, and practised in our 
 own Church. We have nothing to do, by way 
 of recommending or denouncing, with the first of 
 these methods — an imposed, prescriptive Liturgy, 
 admitting of no variation. Our Church knows 
 nothing of such custom, and it will therefore fall 
 outside of the range of our observations. 
 
 There exists among us a strong and justifiable 
 feeling, which I would be the last to weaken, 
 opposed to the borrowing of forms and ceremonies 
 alien from our ecclesiastical spirit. The dignity 
 of our Church, to say nothing of individual self- 
 respect, would sufifer by such an imitation. We 
 may not censure the practices of other commu- 
 
 vicw was taken by Milton, whose dislike for Presbyterianisra was 
 almost as marked as his hatred of Prelacy. See the '■^ Ansivcr to 
 Eikon Basilike," c. xvi. 
 
INTRODUCTION. 1 1 
 
 iiions; yet tlie fact that they are heterogeneous 
 to our own system forbids their introduction. 
 The spirit of Jenny Geddes is yet alive, and would 
 be apt to resent no less resolutely, though doubt- 
 less in a fashion more accordant with the times, 
 the attempt to foist strange ceremonies upon our 
 sim^^le worship. But if, on the other hand, it 
 should appear reasonable to hope that those 
 wants which are deeply felt and widely acknow- 
 ledged among us, in regard to the public services 
 of our churches at the present day, may be sup- 
 plied by a return to our own ancient and vener- 
 able customs ; by a resumption of that which has 
 been long forsaken, yet remains admirable and 
 excellent still: — Are we asking too much when 
 we claim for these heir-looms of the past a careful 
 and candid consideration ? 
 
 " The ministers and members of the Presby- 
 terian Church," says a late excellent writer, '^have 
 reason to be thankful that they belong to a body 
 which is not restrained by any secular power 
 from making such improvements in their system 
 of worship as the word of God and more ample 
 experience may dictate. . . . Whatever is most 
 agreeable to the word of God, and most edify- 
 ing to the Body of Christ, we are, happily, at 
 
12 A CHAPTER OF LITURGIES. 
 
 full liberty to introduce, and progressively to 
 modify."* 
 
 There are favoured spirits, to whom the want 
 of help in the language of devotion is unknown. 
 Endowed with a spiritual fluency, akin to the free 
 utterance of a disembodied state, they pour forth 
 in unpremeditated strain 
 
 "The gushing thoughts that struggle to have way." 
 
 These are the gifted sons of the Church : for 
 them nothing herein contained is meant. Let them 
 pass by, without rebuke, the means which they 
 do not require ; charitably conceding, that there 
 may be sincerity among less fortunate worship- 
 pers, whose unready thought and slow speech 
 justify them in borrowing suggestions and expres- 
 sions from others. 
 
 But whether available or not, for present adop- 
 tion and use, we think it clear beyond question, 
 that the documents here gathered for the first 
 time, are worthy of careful preservation ; that the 
 facts which relate to the authorship and history 
 of these ancient formularies, have their import- 
 ance, and claim a place in the records of the 
 
 * Miller on Public Praycry p. 40. 
 
INTRODUCTION. 13 
 
 Presbyterian Church. It is surely time that 
 these materials, so long buried in oblivion, should 
 be sought after, and brought forth to the view 
 of men. It is time that the radicalism which 
 had abandoned to utter neglect these Institutes of 
 Divine worship, should be silenced by the authori- 
 tative voice of those great reformers, who have 
 long been represented as the advocates of this 
 abuse. To see this justice rendered, will be an 
 ample reward for the researches which have pro- 
 duced this compilation. 
 
I. 
 
 "Inward truth of heart alone, is what the Lord requires. 
 Exercises superadded are to be approved, so far as they are sub- 
 servient to Truth, useful incitements, or marks of profession to 
 attest our faith to men. Nor do we reject things tending to the 
 preservation of Order and Discipline. But when consciences are put 
 under fetters, and bound by religious obligations, in matters in which 
 God willed them to be free, then we must boldly protest in order 
 that the worship of God be not vitiated by human fictions."— Calvix. 
 
 Geneva was already free from the burden of the 
 Romish ceremonial, when Calvin came to take up 
 his abode in that city. This fact must be borne 
 in mind, while we endeavour to appreciate the 
 labours of that Reformer, in reconstructing the 
 worship of his Church. A more impetuous 
 champion of the cause had preceded him, sweep- 
 ing away every vestige of superstition, with much 
 besides that was indifferent and harmless, from 
 the service and the garniture of the churches. 
 The arrangement was doubtless providential. 
 Before Calvin could build up the Christian 
 edifice, Farel was needed to pull down the altars 
 of idolatry. 
 
CALVIN CHURCH OF GENEVA. 15 
 
 William Farel was tlie iconoclast of the Swiss 
 Reformation. Already had he performed a task 
 of Augean purification in several towns of the Re- 
 public, displaying energy and intrepidity such as 
 no opposition could withstand. Thus at Neuf- 
 chatel, in the course of a few days he removed 
 every trace of the offensive ritual, drove away or 
 brought over all the priests, and converted or 
 silenced the masses of the population. Having 
 thoroughly purged the Cathedral of that city from 
 all Romish adornments, and substituted for the 
 high altar two tables of communion, he placed 
 upon them the bread and wine of the sacrament ; 
 and then mounting a pulpit, exclaimed to his 
 astonished audience, as he pointed to the trans- 
 formation : " This is the service your Father 
 requires, that you should worship Him in spirit 
 and in truth ; for the Father seeketh of you none 
 other worship than this."* 
 
 At Aigle, at Lausanne, this fearless preacher of 
 the gospel accomplished a similar work. The 
 turn of Geneva came at length. That city, 
 notorious for dissoluteness of manners and super- 
 stition of creed, overrun with priests and nuns, 
 
 * Le Chroniqueur, Recueil historique, lo3o, 1536. Lausanne, 
 1S3G, p. \U. 
 
16 A CHAPTER ON LITURGIES. 
 
 crowded with taverns, resounding with merriment 
 and debauch, Avas to become the residence of 
 grave and severe reformers, the capital of Pro- 
 testant Europe, a model of order and virtue for 
 the world. 
 
 The Reformation at Geneva had spread widely 
 among the people, before its magistrates could be 
 persuaded to yield to the movement. Farel, for 
 some months after his arrival, was refused per- 
 mission to preach in the more important churches, 
 and was obliged to hold his meetings in a suburb 
 of the town. But on the 8th of August, 1535, 
 impatient at the delay of their magistrates, the 
 people assembled in great numbers at the Cathedral, 
 rang the bells, and sent for the preacher of the 
 Gospel. Farel came, nothing loth, ascended the 
 pulpit, and preached. It was the first triumph of 
 the Reformation in Geneva. No sooner did this 
 audacious act come to the ears of the magistrates, 
 than they summoned the offender before them. 
 When asked how he dared to occupy that pulpit 
 contrary to the injunction of the authorities, Farel 
 answered, with a bold countenance : " I am 
 astonished that you should put such a question to 
 me. Know you not, that what I did was a holy 
 duty, acceptable to God and agreeable to his 
 
CALVIN CHURCH OF GENEVA. 17 
 
 Gospel ?" The magistrates, embarrassed by such 
 a reply, remanded the preacher to appear before 
 them on the following day. 
 
 But meanwhile, a band of little children were 
 bringing to naught the counsels of the wise. 
 While the priests at St. Peter's were engaged at 
 vespers in singing the hundred and fourteenth 
 Psalm, in Exitu Israel, these children, of their 
 own accord, set up an outcry of shouts and 
 screams to mimic the chanting of the priests. A 
 few Protestants who were present caught the idea, 
 and, rushing Avith these young reformers into the 
 choir, broke down the altar and the images, and 
 dispersed the officiating priests. " The children," 
 says an old chronicler, '' began to run and skip 
 about, carrying these little idols in their arms, and 
 crying out wdth joyous voices to the people who 
 had gathered in front of the church, ^ We have 
 got the gods of the priests ; will you have some V 
 And they threw them after the passers-by."* 
 
 Farel, with his fellow-labourers, was now free 
 to proclaim the Gospel, and institute the pure 
 worship of God. But the religious services which 
 
 * Le Chroniqueur, etc., p. 135. See, also, an interesting 
 volume of sketches entitled, Farel, Froment, Viret, by Chene- 
 viERE : Geneva, 1835, p. 192. 
 
 C 
 
18 A CHAPTER ON LITURGIES. 
 
 they proceeded to establish were of the most plain 
 and bald simplicity. Preaching was almost the 
 only function performed in the churches. Sermons 
 were deUvered in abundance: on week-days, at 
 six in the morning ; on Sundays, at four, ^^ for the 
 convenience of servants," and twice again in the 
 course of the day. Attendance on these services 
 was made compulsory, and fines were imposed 
 on such as absented themselves from church.* 
 
 Geneva thus far had neither Confession of Faith 
 nor Order of Worship. Farel was not the man to 
 supply this want. All that he did towards the 
 performance of Divine service, was to set the 
 Apostles' Creed and Ten Commandments to music, 
 and cause them to be sung by the congregation. 
 At the beginning of his sermons he was in the 
 habit of pronouncing the Lord's Prayer, and some- 
 times a brief extemporaneous supplication. But 
 
 * Extraits des Registres du Conseil d'Etat ; quoted in Lc Jtibile 
 de la Reformation. Geneva, 1835, p. 244. 
 
 "The 8th September [1535], Master William Farel entered, and 
 made a remonstrance, giving a written notice, whereupon it was 
 determined, that because the writings of the said William are so 
 godly, there shall be preaching at six in the morning at the Church of 
 St. Germain, whither the Councillors shall be obliged to come, in 
 order that they may repair at seven o'clock to the Council. It was 
 also determined that J. Balard be sent for ; and sliould he refuse to 
 go to hear preaching, that he be imprisoned, and conducted every day 
 to hear it. It was likewise resolved that the same thing be done 
 in regard to all others." 
 
CALVIN CHURCH OF GENEVA. 19 
 
 as yet neither psalm-book nor liturgy assisted the 
 devotions of the faithful. 
 
 When J therefore, in 1536, Calvin came to the 
 city of his adoption, he found the way clear to 
 inaugurate a pure, solemn, and scriptural mode 
 of worship, such as might be deduced from 
 the doctrine of revelation and the example of 
 Apostolic times. In fact, no other course was 
 practicable but such a return to primitive 
 usage. Nothing remained of the Romish ritual 
 to correct and improve. All had been abolished 
 that might otherwise have served as the frame- 
 work of an expurgated service. Popular prejudice 
 was ready to assail the slightest appearance of a 
 resumption of repudiated forms. The moderation 
 which was so striking a feature of Calvin's 
 character, might have led him to retain many 
 excellencies of the ancient worship, omitting only 
 what was corrupt and useless. We have reason 
 to believe that such would have been his natural 
 course. That he could discriminate impartially be- 
 tween the substance and the superadditions of many 
 of the Romish practices, is clear to any student of 
 his writings.* But the case would not allow such 
 
 * Thus we find him favourable to the rite of confirmation. *' "We 
 should like," he says, "to see that rite everj-where restored by which 
 
20 A CHAPTER ON LITURGIES. 
 
 discrimination^ and the course which he adopted 
 was obviously, under the circumstances, most wise 
 and prudent. 
 
 The ritual of Calvinism, like its creed, was 
 founded, therefore, on the theory of a simple 
 return to the scriptural and primitive pattern. 
 Differing from the systems of Luther and Cranmer, 
 it lost sight completely of all practices which had 
 originated in a less remote antiquity; it left the 
 missal and the breviary among the rubbish of 
 "idolatrous gear" swept out from its renovated 
 churches; refusing to tamper with the complica- 
 tions of a corrupt ceremonial, whose forms had 
 
 the young are presented to God, after giving forth a confession of 
 their faith. This would not be an unbecoming approval of their 
 Catechism." — Tracts, vol. iii., p. 288. 
 
 The practice of auricular confession he desired to see reformed and 
 modified, not entirely done away with. "I have often told you," 
 he writes to Farel, " that I should have thought it unwise to abolish 
 confession in our churches, unless the rite which I have lately 
 introduced be established in its place." This custom was that of a 
 personal and private interview of communicants with the pastor, 
 previous to each sacramental occasion. It does not appear that 
 Calvin succeeded in enforcing this duty to any great extent. Indeed, 
 he himself observes in the same connexion : " It is no new thing that 
 pious souls should fear our falling back into superstition, whenever 
 they hear of our establishing anything that has even a remote 
 similarity to Popish inventions. Although I cannot expel these 
 doubts from their minds, for Ave have not the means of doing so, I 
 may express the wish that they may be somewhat careful to separate 
 the good wheat from the chaff and the tares." — Henky's Life of 
 Calvin, I., 142. 
 
CALVIX CHURCH OF GENEVA, 21 
 
 long enough weighed upon and wearied the souls 
 of men. It went back for authority and inspira- 
 tion to the law and to the testimony of God. 
 
 Calvin's form of worship is distinguished by sl 
 plain and logical structure. The several acts of 
 devotion follow in progressive series, commencing 
 with those which are more primary and prepara- 
 tive, and culminating in the highest exercises of 
 adoration and faith. This systematic character 
 places it in marked contrast with other formularies, 
 taken from the old mass-books ; the proper order 
 and connexion of whose parts it is sometimes 
 difficult for a mind not educated in their use to 
 discover. 
 
 In Calvin's service for tlie morning of the 
 Lord's Day, the reading of a portion of the Holy 
 Scriptures, with the Ten Commandments, is made 
 introductory to the prayers. When this reading, 
 performed by a clerk, is finished, the minister 
 enters the desk, and begins with a sentence of 
 invocation ; then calling the people to accompany 
 him in prayer, he proceeds to the confession of 
 sins, and supplication for grace. This ended,* 
 
 * Here would naturally come a declaration of forgiveness, such as 
 that in the Anglican ritual ; and so Calvin designed : but the 
 prejudices of the times prevented the insertion of this feature. 
 
^2 A CHAPTER ON LITURGIES. 
 
 the congregation unite in praise, singing one of 
 the Psalms of David. Then, the minister having 
 prayed again, invoking the Divine favour, begins 
 the sermon. This exercise, being a spiritual 
 instruction, forms part of the service of Divine 
 TTOrship, and prepares the way for the prayer 
 of intercession which follows it, and which is the 
 longest of these forms; and the whole is terminated, 
 unless the Communion be administered, with the 
 Lord's Prayer, the Creed, and the Benediction. 
 
 " There is none of us," says he, " but must acknowledge it to be very 
 useful that, after the general confession, some striking promise of 
 Scripture should follow, whereby sinners might be raised to the hopes 
 of pai'don and reconciliation. And I would have introduced this 
 custom from the beginning, but some fearing that the novelty of it 
 would give offence, I was over easy in yielding to them, so the thing 
 was omitted, and now it would not be seasonable to make any change ; 
 because the greatest part of our people begin to rise up before we 
 come to the end of the confession." Therefore he advises those he 
 writes to, whilst they had it in their power, to accustom their people 
 to an absolution, as well as a confession. — IJpist. de Quibusd. Eccles, 
 Eitib. p. 206. Bingham, Works, II. 762. Although omitted, for 
 the above reasons, in the Genevan Liturgy, this absolution must 
 have been inserted in Calvin's Liturgy of Strasburg, since it is from 
 that formulary that the absolution in the Book of Common Prayer 
 was taken. 
 
 To some extent, this usage was introduced into the French churches 
 upon Calvin's advice ; as we learn from a canon passed at the second 
 General Synod, Paris, 1565 : " That such churches as were accus- 
 tomed upon sacrament days, or other Sabbaths, after the confession of 
 sins, to pronounce a general absolution, may, if they please, continue 
 in it : but where this custom is not introduced, the Synod adviseth 
 the churches not to admit it, because of the dangerous consequences 
 which may ensue."— Quick's Synodicon : London, 1692 : Can. 4. 
 
CALVIN CHURCH OF GENEVA. 2o 
 
 Respecting the degree of strictness with which 
 these forms of worship should be observed, 
 Calvin's design evidently was, that no deviation 
 be allowed from those parts which are j^^r escribed. 
 "As to what concerns a form of prayer and 
 ecclesiastical rites/' says he, in a letter to the 
 Protector Somerset, " I highly approve of it that 
 there be a certain form, from which the ministers 
 be not allowed to vary : That first, some provision 
 be made to help the simplicity and unskilfulness 
 of some ; secondly, that the consent and harmony 
 of the churches one with another may appear ; and 
 lastly, that the capricious giddiness and levity of 
 such as afiect innovations may be prevented. To 
 which end I have showed that a Catechism will 
 be very useful. Therefore there ought to be a 
 stated Catechism, a stated form of prayer, and 
 adminstration of the sacraments."* 
 
 For voluntary and extemporaneous prayer, 
 Calvin made special provision. The prayer before 
 sermon in the service for the Lord's Day, is left 
 to the minister's choice ; and all other services of 
 public prayer, whether on week-days or on the 
 afternoon of the Sabbath, are unrestricted and 
 
 * Calvin, £pis. ad Frotector. Angl, p. 41. Bingkam, II., 
 p. 747. 
 
24 A CHAPTER ON LITURc^IES. 
 
 free. At such times^ the preacher is to use 
 ^^ such words in prayer as may seem to him good, 
 suiting his prayer to the occasion, and the matter 
 whereof he treats." Only in those general suppli- 
 cations, Avhich from their nature must he uniform, 
 as they express common wants and desires, the 
 reformer required a close adherence to the public 
 formularies of the Church. This union of free 
 prayer with the rigid use of a Liturgy, was the 
 marked and peculiar excellence of the Genevan 
 worship. Nor was it an impracticable theory, 
 destined to expire with its founder. The ex- 
 perience of three centuries has tested its adequacy 
 and utility. Frequent ecclesiastical enactments 
 secured the observance of this practice in the 
 Reformed Church of France, so long as the 
 synodical government and effective discipline of 
 that Church were suffered to exist. All pastors 
 were required by their ordination vows, to use 
 the liturgical forms in the " public prayers and 
 administration of the s; craments ;" while for all 
 secondary occasions they were left to provide by 
 extempore prayer. The fact that such a com- 
 bination of free prayer with the use of a liturgy 
 has continued under circumstances most adverse 
 for so long a period, down to the present day. 
 
CALVIN CHURCH OF GENEVA. 25 
 
 fully confutes the objection that these methods 
 are incompatible, and that their connexion must 
 necessarily result in the relinquishment of the one 
 or the other. Nor can we fail to perceive in the 
 successful working of this arrangement, an instance 
 of the far-reaching penetration of our Reformer ; 
 who thus attained the just and happy medium, as 
 desirable in our own day as it was then, between 
 a servile bondage to forms, and a neglect of 
 the order and symmetry of the service of God's 
 house. His views are therefore correctly rendered 
 by the excellent Vinet, who says : " There are 
 good reasons why the minister ought to abstain 
 from introducing changes of his own into the 
 worship of God, except in cases of real necessity, 
 such as private or public calamities. The minis- 
 ter is bound to the Liturgy, which belongs not to 
 him, but is the utterance of the congregation, to 
 which he does but lend his own individual voice."* 
 The simplicity upon which this ritual was 
 framed, pervaded also the manner of its celebra- 
 tion. The churches of Geneva had been stripped 
 of all their ancient garniture ; no symbol of w^or- 
 ship remained except the Cross, which for some 
 years was suffered to stand on the towers of the 
 
 * Thtologie Pastorale, p. 221. 
 
»b A CHAPTER ON LITURGIES. 
 
 churches.* The altar was replaced by a Com- 
 munion-table; the baptismal fonts were at first 
 removed, though afterwards restored ; f the prayers 
 were said, and the Bible read, from the pulpit. 
 Instead of variegated vestments, the garb of the 
 ministers was the plain black robe with em- 
 broidered lappets, the bands, and the black velvet 
 cap, which were afterwards commonly worn for 
 many years by the Calvinistic clergy of France, 
 Holland, and Scotland. + 
 
 * Registres du Conseil d'Etat d Geneve, 1556. Chroniques do 
 Roset, in. the Library of Geneva, VI. 9. Le Jiibile de la Reformation : 
 Geneva, 1835, p. 93. " On the summit of the tower of St. Peter's 
 there was yet standing a large cross surmounting a gilded ball of 
 copper, upon which God sent a thunderbolt on the 12th of August 
 [1556], at about nine o'clock in the forenoon, the lords being seated 
 at council. The lightning made in the said ball a couple of holes, of 
 the length of two fingers ; then went down by the stem of the cross 
 to the belfry, which was roofed with tin, and burned it down to the 
 clock. Then was it seen that ten brave fellows attacked this fire 
 with extraordinary hardihood ; for the burning sparks rained down 
 on their heads, and the height and difficulty of the place must needs 
 have precipitated them down, if God had not marvellously preserved 
 them, as He did also the whole city ; for the powder-magazine stood 
 not five feet beyond the fall of the sparks, which as well with wine 
 as with water wei-e extinguished, no further damage occurring than 
 such as was done to the spire upon which stood the cross ; on whose 
 account, as every one said, God had done this thing, willing to 
 purge this church of such relics.^' 
 
 t Henry's Life of Calvin, p. 1, c. 9. 
 
 X This costume, differing considerably from the academic gown now 
 worn by ministers of the Church of Scotland as well as on the Con- 
 tinent, seems to have become entirely obsolete at the present day. 
 Calvin, like the ministers of his time, was in the habit of wearing also 
 a "long gown or robe" in the street ; "for which he never met but 
 
CALVIN CHURCH OF GENEVA. 27 
 
 The posture of the people during prayer seems, 
 in the early days of the Reformation, to have been 
 that of kneeling. We infer as much from the 
 remark of Calvin quoted on a preceding page, 
 respecting the introduction of a form of absolution. 
 The fact is indicated also by a canon of the Book 
 of Discipline of the French churches, adopted in 
 1559, in the following words : 
 
 '* That great irreverence which is found in 
 divers persons, who at public and private prayers 
 do neither uncover their heads nor bow their 
 knees, shall be reformed; which is a matter re- 
 pugnant unto piety, and giveth suspicion of pride, 
 and scandalizes them that fear God. Wherefore 
 all pastors shall be advised, as also elders and 
 heads of families, carefully to oversee, that in time 
 of prayer all persons, without exception or accept- 
 ation, do evidence by these exterior signs the 
 inward humility of their hearts, and homage 
 which they yield to God ; unless any one be 
 hindered from so doing by sickness or otherwise.* 
 
 with one rebuff in all his life, and that from a silly woman who 
 declaimed against long garments," etc. She pretended to prove this 
 from the Gospel, saying, Is it not written. They shall come to you 
 in long garments ? Calvin says, "he left her, in despair of convincing 
 such ignorance."— J5);. to Farel, Bixgham, p. 758. 
 
 * Book of Disc, c. 10, art. 1. Quick's Synodicon. 
 
 "Calvin himself," says Bingham, "speaking of kneeling at public 
 
28 A CHAPTER ON LITURGIES. 
 
 AVhile thus providing for the office of prayer, 
 our Reformer introduced also the regular practice 
 of congregational singing. To him we are all 
 indebted for this feature of Divine worship, which 
 was directly copied from the Church of Geneva 
 into the Scottish and Anglican services.* At his 
 suggestion it was that Clement Marot and Theo- 
 dore Beza translated the Psalms of David into 
 French verse, and set them to simple and appro- 
 priate airs. A volume containing some portion of 
 these psalms made its appearance at Geneva, with 
 a preface by Calvin, in 1543 ; but the collection 
 was not completed before the year 1561.t 
 
 In a survey of the Calvinistic worship, this 
 interesting feature of Psalmody must not be 
 omitted. It belongs peculiarly and character- 
 istically to that worship. The Reformers of S wit- 
 prayer (which is the law of France and Geneva), says, 'If it be 
 asked whether this be an human tradition, which any man may 
 refuse or neglect at pleasure : I answer, It is so human, as also to be 
 divine. It is of God, as it is part of that decency commended to us 
 by the Apostle, 1 Cor. xiv. 40. But it is of men, as it particularly 
 points out and specifies what the Scripture only declares in general.' " — 
 Bingham, p. 728. 
 
 * In Scotland by John Knox, when he introduced the Genevan 
 Order of Worship. In England the custom of congregational singing 
 of psalms, "as was used among the Protestants of Geneva," was 
 borrowed by the Church of England as early as 1559.— SxiiYrE, Life 
 of Archbis/ioj) Grlndal, b. i., c. 3. 
 
 t Sayous, Etudes Litteraires sur les Ecrivains Fran^ais de la 
 Reformation^ I. 26. 
 
CALVIN — CHURCH OF GENEVA. 29 
 
 zerland and Scotland did not, as we often hear, 
 deprive their ritual of a responsive and popular 
 character. They did no more than separate the 
 functions of minister and people into the distinct 
 duties of reading and singing. The Psalms are 
 the responsive part of Calvin's Liturgy. These 
 choral services embodied the acts of adoration, 
 praise, and thanksgiving, which are scarcely noticed 
 in the forms of prayer; while in the latter, the 
 offices of intercession, supplication, and teaching 
 were assigned to the minister alone. The prayers, 
 by constant use made familiar to the people, were 
 to be followed silently or in subdued tones ; the 
 psalms and hymns constituted their audible utter- 
 ance in the sacred ministrations. 
 
 This portion of Divine service was taken directly 
 from the Roman Catholic Church, where it had 
 been preserved from the Jewish and early Chris- 
 tian worship. Nor did our Reformers reject those 
 other ancient Hymns which for ages had been 
 closely united with the Psalms in public devotion. 
 The Te Deum, the Song of Simeon, the Magnificat, 
 were likewise transferred in a metrical shape to 
 the Protestant ritual. None of these, perhaps, 
 has been more frequently and heartily used, in the 
 solemnities of the Church and in private acts of 
 
30 A CHAPTEE, ON LITURGIES. 
 
 praise, than the sublime Hymn of Ambrose and 
 Augustine. 
 
 To anticipate the idea that Calvin's Liturgy may 
 have been modelled after or suggested by the 
 English Book of Common Prayer, we have only 
 to note here, besides their general dissimilarity, 
 that the Geneva formulary was published in 1543, 
 (and composed several years earlier,) whereas the 
 First Book of Edward VI. was not issued until 
 1549. On the other hand, we shall elsewhere see, 
 that what little these forms have in common was 
 borrowed from the Genevan into the Anglican 
 form. 
 
 With regard to festivals, Calvin retained, besides 
 the Sabbath, those only that relate to the great 
 periods of our Saviour's life, and that which 
 commemorates the outpouring of the Holy Spirit 
 at Pentecost. Indeed, he would have preferred 
 the retention of those festivals alone which fall 
 upon the Lord's Day : transferring to the Sundays 
 that immediately precede and follow, the celebra- 
 tion of such epochs as were observed on other 
 days. But in this reform, as in some others, his 
 wishes were thwarted by popular prejudices, and 
 by the opposition of his colleagues. 
 
 Christmas, Good Friday, Easter, Ascension Day, 
 
CALVIN CHURCH OF GENEVA. 31 
 
 and Whitsunday, were the five feasts of the Re- 
 formed Church. Of these, Christmas and Easter 
 are celebrated with peculiar solemnity, as two 
 out of the four sacramental occasions in the year. 
 As to the frequency of celebrating the Lord's 
 Supper, the Reformer's views differed again from 
 those prevalent at Geneva. He was favourable to 
 a much more frequent observance than the people 
 were willing to adopt. "We should have much 
 wished," he says, " to partake of the Lord's Supper 
 every month ; but when I found so few that 
 allowed themselves to be convinced, it seemed 
 better to spare the weakness of the people's faith, 
 than to strive obstinately against it. I took care, 
 however, that it should be remarked in the public 
 acts, that our custom was defective,* so that those 
 who come after may have more freedom and ease 
 in correcting it."t 
 
 For the frequency of public services of worship, 
 Calvin made abundant provision in the churches 
 
 * "Let the Holy Supper of Our Lord Jesus Christ be in as 
 frequent use as practicable in His Church, according to His own 
 
 institution, and as it was observed in the Ancient Church 
 
 And although, for the present, we are of opinion that it be adminis- 
 tered four times a year, it is, nevertheless, a defect that it be celebrated 
 too seldom." — Ordonnances Ecclcsiastiques, tit. L, c. 4, art. 149. 
 Quoted by Gaussen, Sermons, p. 168. 
 
 t Calvini EpisioU^ 361. Quoted by Henry. 
 
6Z A CHAPTER ON LITURGIES. 
 
 of Geneva. Prayers with sermon were said on 
 every day of the week.* On the Sabbath there 
 were three services, one of which was for cate- 
 chetical instruction. On Monday, Tuesday, and 
 Friday, there was a service at the cathedral, to be 
 attended by all the magistrates of the city. On 
 Thursday took place the weekly expository exercise, 
 called the " Co7igregatio7i,''^ the object of which was 
 " to uphold the purity of the clergy, whether of 
 the city or of the country. At this meeting, every 
 minister was to discourse in his turn on the portion 
 of Scripture appointed for the day. After the 
 sermon, the ministers were to withdraw and make 
 their remarks, especially on the preacher. If any 
 controversy arose on matters of doctrine, they 
 were to employ their best endeavours to preserve 
 union ; and if they failed in this, the elders of the 
 church were to give their opinion on the subject, 
 and strive to restore peace." f This expository 
 service was imitated, as we shall see, in Scotland, 
 
 * Daily prayers, but without sermon, are still said in the churches 
 of Geneva, See Preface to La Liturgie de Geneve, 1820. The 
 Thursday service, called "Congregation," is also kept up. 
 
 t Henry's Life of Calvin, c. 5. For an interesting specimen of 
 the manner in which these conferences were conducted, see a small 
 tract on the doctrine of Election, entitled, " Congregation faite en 
 TEglise de Geneve, par Maitrc Jean Calvin : a Geneve, 1562 : re- 
 printed 1835." 
 
CALVIN CHURCH OF GENEVA. 33 
 
 and thence transferred to the Church of England. 
 Magistrates^ soldiers, and people were alike re- 
 quired to attend these week-day services. The 
 students of the academy or university founded by 
 Calvin were to be present at Divine worship every 
 AVednesday in the cathedral, as well as three 
 times on the Sabbath. The city garrison, by a 
 later regulation, were directed to attend prayers 
 twice every day. And here let us observe, in 
 passing, one of those beautiful customs that belong 
 peculiarly to the religious times of which we 
 speak. At every gate of the city, a soldier knelt 
 down and repeated aloud a prayer, before the 
 portal was closed at night, and before it was opened 
 in the morning.* Truly, with such habits of devo- 
 tion, and such facilities for the spiritual culture of 
 its people, Geneva deserved the eulogy of Knox, 
 when he called it "The most perfect school of 
 Christ that ever was on earth." f "God hath 
 made of Geneva," says an old writer, " His Beth- 
 lehem; that is to say. His house of bread.''' 1;. 
 
 This brief analysis of Calvin's order of worship 
 brings us to the examination of the forms of prayer 
 which he composed, as they are contained in the 
 
 * Henry's Life of Calvin, p. 2, c. 4. 
 t M' Crib's Life of Knox, period o. 
 X Le Chroniqueur, etc., p. 145. 
 D 
 
34 A CHAPTER ON LITURGIES. 
 
 Liturgy of Geneva. That ritual^ we have already 
 stated, was published in 1543, though, doubtless, 
 in use among the ministers of Geneva for several 
 years preceding. We find it, as originally drawn 
 up, among the writings of Calvin, both in French 
 and in Latin; nor is it certain which of these 
 languages was the medium of its first publication. 
 With more or less modification, it constitutes the 
 basis of all the Reformed Liturgies, and is now used 
 throughout the churches of Switzerland, France, 
 and the Calvinistic communion in Germany.* 
 
 THE FORM OF CHURCH PRAYERS. 
 
 Oil week-days the minister useth such words in 
 lyrayer as may seem to him good, suiting his prayer 
 to the occasion, and the matter whereof he treats 
 in preaching. 
 
 * See the original French in Cah'iu's Opuscules, Geneva, 1566, 
 1 vol. folio; and the Latin in the Amsterdam edition of 1667. As 
 now used in the Church of Geneva, Calvin's formulary has been 
 altered in some particulars, to suit the prevailing heterodoxj"-. Com- 
 pare La Liturgie, Ou la Manitre de celtbrer le Service Bivin dans 
 V Eglise de Geneve : 1820. We have followed the original in our 
 translation, adding only some rubrical explanations from the modern 
 Liturgy. See Henry's Life of Calvin, p. 1, c. 7 ; also Calvin and 
 the Swiss Reformation, by John Scott, M.A., p. 341; and a 
 Notice sur la Vie et les Ouvrages de Calvin. Paris : pp. 15, 43. 
 
 In 1545, Calvin prepared for the church at Strasburg, to which he 
 had ministered dming his temporary exile from Geneva in 1538 — 1541, 
 a Liturgy differing but slightly from that of Geneva. 
 
CALVIN CHURCH OF GENEVA. 35 
 
 For the Lord's Daij in the morning is commonly 
 
 used the Form ensuing. After the reading of the 
 
 appointed chapters of Holy Scripture, the Ten. Com- 
 
 manaments are read. Then the minister hegiiis thus : 
 
 INVOCATION. 
 
 Our help is in the name of the Lord, who made 
 heaven and earth. Amen. 
 
 EXHORTATION. 
 Brethren, let each of you present himself before 
 the Lord, with confession of his sins and oifences, 
 following in heart my words. 
 
 CONFESSION.* 
 Lord God ! Eternal and Almighty Father : 
 We acknowledge and confess before thy holy 
 majesty, that we are poor sinners; conceived and 
 born in guilt and in corruption, prone to do evil, 
 unable of ourselves to do any good ; who, by reason 
 of our depravity, transgress without end thy holy 
 
 * The origin of this prayer has been a matter of some speculation. 
 Henry, the biographer of Calvin, refers it to the Missal, where, 
 however, we find no trace of such a form. Ebrard {Reformirtcs 
 Eirchenbiich) ascribes it to (Ecolampadius. Current opinion in 
 France has attributed it to Theodore Beza, who used this prayer at 
 the Colloquy of Poissy ; but it existed already in the Liturgy of 
 Geneva. We have no reason to doubt Calvin's title to its authorship. 
 The point is one of some interest, as this prayer is to be traced in all 
 the Reformed Liturgies, and even in the Anglican Prayer-book, 
 where it will be found with some alterations. 
 
6b A CHAPTER ON LITURGIES. 
 
 commandments. Therefore we have drawn upon 
 ourselves, by thy just sentence, condemnation and 
 death. But, O Lord ! with heartfelt sorrow we 
 repent and deplore our offences ! we condemn 
 ourselves and our evil ways, with true penitence 
 beseeching that thy grace may relieve our distress. 
 Be pleased then to have compassion upon us, O 
 most gracious God ! Father of all mercies ; for 
 the sake of thy Son Jesus Christ our Lord. 
 And in removing our guilt and our pollution, 
 grant us the daily increase of the grace of thine 
 Holy Spirit; that acknowledging from our inmost 
 hearts our own unrighteousness, we may be touched 
 with sorrow that shall work true repentance ; and 
 that thy Spirit, mortifying all sin within us, may 
 produce the fruits of holiness and of righteousness 
 well-pleasing in thy sight : Through Jesus Christ 
 our Lord. Amen. 
 
 This done, shall he sung in the congregation a 
 Psalm; then the minister shall hegin afresh to 
 pray, ashing of God the grace of his Holy Spirit, 
 to the end that his word may he faithfully ex- 
 pounded, to the honour of his name, and to the 
 edification of the church; and that it he received 
 in such humility and obedience as are becoming. 
 
CALVIN CHURCH OF GENEVA. 37 
 
 The form thereof is at the discretion of the 
 minister. 
 
 [Prayer which the ministers are accustomed to 
 make* 
 
 FOR ILLUMINATION. 
 
 Most gracious God, our heavenly Father ! in 
 whom alone dwelleth all fulness of light and 
 wisdom : Illuminate our minds, we beseech thee, 
 by thine Holy Spirit, in the true understanding 
 of thy word. Give us grace that we may receive 
 it with reverence and humility unfeigned. May 
 it lead us to put our whole trust in thee alone ; 
 and so to serve and honour thee, that we may 
 glorify thy holy name, and edify our neighbours 
 by a good example. And since it hath pleased 
 thee to number us among thy people : O help us 
 to pay thee the love and homage that we owe, as 
 children to our Father, and as servants to our 
 Lord. We ask this for the sake of our Master and 
 Saviour, who hath taught us to pray, saying: 
 Our Father, &c.t] 
 
 * This prayer does not properly belong to the Liturgy, but is that 
 used by Calvin and his colleagues in this part of the service, and is 
 given at the commencement of several of his sermons. 
 
 t Here Calvin was accustomed to introduce the Apostles' Creed ; 
 which, however, in the Liturgy of Geneva, and in all the formularie* 
 framed upon it, occurs at the conclusion of the service. See Notk 
 sur la Vie de Calvin, p. 15. 
 
OO A CHAPTEll ON LITURGIES. 
 
 At the end of the sermon, the minister having 
 made exhortation to prayer, heginneth thus : 
 
 INTEECESSION. 
 
 Almighty God, our heavenly Father ! who hast 
 promised to grant our requests in the name of 
 thy well-beloved Son : Thou hast taught us in 
 his name also to assemble ourselves together, 
 assured that he shall be present in our midst, to 
 intercede for us with thee, and obtain for us all 
 things that we may agree on earth to ask thee. 
 Wherefore, having met in thy presence, dependent 
 on thy promise, we earnestly beseech thee, O 
 gracious God and Father ! for his sake who is our 
 only Saviour and Mediator, that of thy boundless 
 mercy thou wilt freely pardon our oifences ; and 
 so lift up our thoughts and draw forth our desires 
 toward thyself, that we may seek thee according to 
 thy holy and reasonable will. 
 
 FOR RULERS. 
 
 Heavenly Father ! who hast bidden us pray for 
 those in authority over us : We entreat thee to 
 bless all princes and governors, thy servants, to 
 whom thou hast committed the administration of 
 justice; and especially * * * May it please 
 
CALVIN CHURCH OF GENEVA. 39 
 
 thee to grant tliem the daily increase of thy good 
 Spirit^ that with true faith acknowledging Jesus 
 Christ, thy Son our Saviour, to he King of 
 kings and Lord of lords, unto whom thou hast 
 given all power in heaven and on earth : they 
 may seek to serve thee and exalt thy rule in their 
 dominions. May they govern their subjects, the 
 creatures of thy hand and the sheep of thy 
 pasture, in a manner well-pleasing in thy sight ; 
 so that as well here as throughout all the earth, 
 thy people, being kept in peace and quiet, may 
 serve thee in all godliness and honesty ; and we, 
 being delivered from the fear of our enemies, may 
 pass the time of our life in thy praise. 
 
 FOR PASTORS. 
 Almighty Saviour ! we pray for all whom thou 
 hast appointed pastors of thy believing people, 
 who are intrusted with the care of souls and the 
 dispensing of thy holy Gospel. Guide them by 
 thy Spirit, and make them faithful and loyal 
 ministers of thy glory. May they ever hold this 
 end before them : that by them, all poor wander- 
 ing sheep may be gathered in and made subject to 
 the Lord Jesus Christ, the Shepherd and Bishop 
 of their souls, and in him daily grow up and 
 
40 A CHAPTER ON LITURGIES. 
 
 increase in all righteousness and truth. Deliver 
 thy churches from the mouth of ravenous wolves 
 and hirelings, who seek only their own ambition 
 or profit, and not the exaltation of thy holy name, 
 and the safety of thy flock. 
 
 FOR ALL COXDITIONS OF MEN. 
 
 Most gracious God, Father of all mercies : We 
 beseech thee for every class and condition of our 
 fellow-men. Thou who wouldst be acknowledged as 
 the Saviour of all mankind, in the redemption made 
 by thy Son Jesus Christ : Grant that such as 
 are yet strangers to thy knowledge, in darkness 
 and captivity to ignorance and error, may, by the 
 enlightening of thy Spirit and the preaching of 
 thy word, be led into the right way of salvation ; 
 which is to know thee, the only true God, and Jesus 
 Christ, whom thou hast sent. May those whom 
 thou hast already visited with thy grace, and 
 enlightened with the knowledge of thy word, grow 
 daily in all godliness, and be enriched with thy 
 spiritual gifts. So that we all, with one heart and 
 one voice, may ever praise thee, giving honour and 
 worship to thy Christ, our Lord, Lawgiver, and 
 King. 
 
CALVIN — CHURCH OF GENEVA. 41 
 
 FOR AFFLICTED PERSONS. 
 
 God of all comfort ! We commend to thee 
 those whom thou art pleased to visit and chasten 
 with any cross or tribulation ; the nations whom 
 thou dost afflict with pestilence, war, or famine ; 
 all persons oppressed with poverty, imprisonment, 
 sickness, banishment, or any other distress of body 
 or sorrow of mind : That it may please thee to 
 show them thy fatherly kindness, chastening 
 them for their profit; to the end that in their 
 hearts they may turn unto thee, and being con- 
 verted, may receive perfect consolation, and de- 
 liverance from all their woes. 
 
 FOR PERSECUTED CHRISTIANS. 
 More especially we commend to thee our poor 
 brethren scattered abroad under the tyranny of 
 Antichrist, who are destitute of the pasture of life, 
 and deprived of the privilege of publicly calling 
 on thy holy name. We pray for those who are 
 confined as prisoners, or otherwise persecuted by 
 the enemies of thy Gospel. May it please thee, O 
 Father of mercies ! to strengthen them by the 
 virtue of thy Spirit, in such sort that they faint not, 
 but constantly abide in thy holy calling. Succour 
 them, help them as thou knowest they may 
 
42 A CHAPTER ON LITURGIES. 
 
 need ; console them in their afflictions ; maintain 
 them in thy safe keeping ; defend them against the 
 rage of devouring wolves; and augment within 
 them all the graces of thy Spirit, that whether in 
 life or death, they may glorify thy name. 
 
 FOR THE CONGEEGATION. 
 
 Finally, O God our Father ! Grant also unto 
 us, who are here gathered in the name of thy Holy 
 Child Jesus, to hear his word [and to celebrate 
 his holy Supper], that we may rightly and un- 
 feignedly perceive our lost estate by nature, and 
 the condemnation w^e have deserved and heaped 
 up to ourselves by disobedient lives. So that 
 conscious that in ourselves there dwelleth no good 
 thing, and that our flesh and blood cannot inherit 
 thy kingdom, with our whole affections we may 
 give ourselves up in firm trust to thy beloved Son, 
 Jesus Christ our Lord, our only Saviour and 
 Redeemer. And that he, dwelling in us, may 
 mortify within us the old Adam, renewing us for 
 that better life, wherein we shall exalt and glorify 
 thy blessed and worthy name, ever, world without 
 end.* Amen. 
 
 * We have here omitted a long paraphrase of the Lord's Prayer, 
 which ill the original is appended to this intercession, but which finds 
 no place in the modern Liturgy of Geneva. 
 
CALVIX — CHURCH OF GENEVA. 43 
 
 THE LORD'S PEAYER. 
 
 Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be 
 thy name : Thy kingdom come : Thy will be done 
 in earth as it is in heaven : Give us this day our 
 daily bread : And forgive us our debts, as we 
 forgive our debtors : And lead us not into tempt- 
 ation, but deliver us from evil : For thine is the 
 kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. 
 Amen. 
 
 THE CREED. 
 
 Lord, increase our faith. 
 
 I believe in God the Father Almighty, Maker of 
 heaven and earth ; and in Jesus Christ, his only 
 Son our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy 
 Ghost, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under 
 Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried ; He 
 descended into hell ; the third day He rose again 
 from the dead ; He ascended into heaven, and 
 sitteth on the right hand of God the Father 
 Almighty; from thence He shall come to judge 
 the quick and the dead. I believe in the Holy 
 Ghost ; the Holy Catholic Church ; the com- 
 munion of saints ; the forgiveness of sins ; the 
 resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. 
 Amen. 
 
^^ A CHAPTER ON LITURGIES. 
 
 THE BLESSING. 
 
 JVJiich is pronounced at the departure of the 
 people, according as our Lord hath comtnanded in 
 the LatVy — Numb. vi. 23. 
 
 The Lord bless thee, and keep thee -, 
 
 The Lord make his face shine upon thee, an 
 
 be gracious unto thee ; 
 
 The Lord lift up his countenance upon thee, 
 
 and give thee peace. 
 
 TVhereunto is added, to remind the people of the 
 duty of alms-gim7ig , as it is customary upon leamng 
 the church, 
 
 Depart in peace. Remember the poor ; and the 
 God of peace be with you. Amen. 
 
II. 
 
 &M\\'$ fast (!;0mnmiuon; 
 
 "As in heathen rites all was external, there the display of imagery 
 abounded. But the sanctuary of Christianity is in the heart; hence 
 the poetry it inspires must always flow from tenderness of feeling. 
 It is not the splendours of the Christian heaven that we can oppose 
 to the pagan Olympus ; but those phases of sorrow and innocence^ 
 old age and death^ which assume an air of serene elevation and repose, 
 under the shelter of religious hopes, whose wings are spread out to 
 cover the miseries of life. It seems to me untrue, then, that the 
 Protestant religion is devoid of poetry, though its customs of worship 
 have less that is brilliant than those of the Catholic faith." 
 
 JIad. de Stael, de V Allemagne^ p. iv. c. 4. 
 
 It was Easter Sunday at Geneva, in the year 
 1564. The doors of St. Peter's Cathedral were 
 thrown open, and multitudes pressing eagerly 
 through them, soon filled the broad area within. 
 A festival of no little interest and importance 
 convoked these crowds : for on Easter the Church 
 of Geneva Avas accustomed to celebrate, with 
 more solemnity than at other periods of the year, 
 the ordinance of the Lord's Supper. Looking 
 down the long Gothic nave to the opposite end 
 of the building, one might discover by the dim 
 light of the stained windows, the Holy Table 
 made ready with its pure covering, and the 
 
46 A CHAPTER ON LITURGIES. 
 
 sacred vessels glistening upon it. On each side 
 were seated the ministers of the church, and 
 behind them the grave syndics and other magis- 
 trates of the city, in their velvet robes of office. 
 But it was not to these august preparatives that 
 the eyes of the citizens were directed. Those 
 who had obtained room within, and the many 
 who lingered around the entrance, seemed alike 
 in expectancy of some arrival which was the 
 object of this unusual curiosity. It is Calvin 
 who is coming ; Calvin, whose voice has sounded 
 so often along those arches, but who never again 
 will stand in yonder pulpit to address his people. 
 He comes in his last sickness to participate once 
 more with his beloved flock in the emblems of the 
 Redeemer's love. There is a deep silence of sor- 
 row pervading this vast assembly, broken only 
 by here and there a sob of grief not to be re- 
 pressed. But now the throng parts, and through 
 its midst is carried on a chair the feeble and 
 emaciated frame of the great Reformer. He is 
 not old, but toil of mind has outworn the body. 
 The pallid, sunken cheeks show the ravages of 
 disease ; yet the large eyes are lustrous still, and 
 they glance with more than common earnestness 
 over the sea of faces that are turned to meet them. 
 
Calvin's last communion. 47 
 
 Now the chair is lowered to its place before the 
 Communion-table ; and the breathless silence is 
 broken by a voice from the pulpit at one side of 
 the church, commencing the usual service of the 
 Sabbath worship. With what meaning fall upon 
 the hearing of the multitude those prayers which 
 are so familiar to their ears, as uttered by one 
 who shall speak them no more on earth ! The 
 introductory service is over, and the sermon com- 
 mences. Beza is the preacher : Beza, long the 
 most faithful disciple, the most able successor of 
 the great Reformer ; he who in a few days will 
 have occasion to utter those words of heart-broken 
 affection : " Now that Calvin is dead, life will be 
 less sweet, and death less bitter."* We need not 
 be told that deep feeling showed itself in his dis- 
 course ; that more than once his voice trembled, 
 or was choked with a deep emotion. 
 
 The sermon over, the preacher descends from 
 the pulpit, and going to the sacred table, reads 
 the exhortation preparatory to the ordinance. 
 The consecrating prayer is said, and Beza carries 
 to his illustrious master the symbols of redemp- 
 tion. Then the vast congregation, coming forward 
 by groups, receive the blessed elements in silent 
 * Gillies' Historical Collections, book ii. ch. 2. 
 
48 A CHAPTER ON LITURGIES. 
 
 devotion; and when all is through, they join in 
 the concluding hymn of praise. Calvin is not 
 mute; his tremulous voice rises with the rest, 
 and " on his dying countenance," says Beza, 
 whose eyes are fixed upon his master, " was not 
 obscurely indicated a holy joy."* They sang, as 
 usual, the Song of Simeon, with which, in the 
 Calvinistic worship, the celebration of the Supper 
 is always closed, f 
 
 Now let thy servant, Lord ! 
 At length depart in peace ; 
 According to thy word, 
 My waiting soul release : 
 For thou my longing eyes hast spared 
 To see thy saving grace declared. 
 
 To see thy saving grace, 
 
 That soon dispensed abroad, 
 The nations shall embrace, 
 And find their help in God : 
 A light to lighten every land. 
 The glory of thy chosen band. 
 
 * Beza's Life of Calvin, prefixed to Calvin's Tracts, vol. i. 
 
 t The words and melody of this hymn are still in use ; the former 
 composed by Clement Marot, 1543 ; the latter attributed to Guillaume 
 Franc, 1552. We subjoin the original words : 
 
 Laissc-moi dc'sormais, Salut qu'en I'univers 
 
 Seigneur, aller en paix, Tant de peuples divers, 
 
 Car selou ta promesse, Vont re^evoir et croire ; 
 
 Tu fais voir a mes yeux Kcssourcc dcs pctits, 
 
 Le salut glorieux Lumil-re des Gcntils, 
 
 Que j'attendais sans cesse. Et d'Israel la gloire. 
 
 —Les Pseaumes de David, mis en J^ers Francois, par Clem ex t 
 Marot et Tii. de Beze. 
 
Calvin's last communion. 49 
 
 Thus consecrated by his own dying participa- 
 tion, Calvin's form for the celebration of the 
 Lord's Supper* has come down to us ; and we 
 present it here as a precious legacy of that illus- 
 trious mind. 
 
 THE MANNER OF CELEBRATING TH!E LORD'S SUPPER. 
 
 Note, that on the Sabbath before the Supper is 
 to be celebrated, it must be announced to the people, 
 in order that each onay prepare and dispose him- 
 self worthily to receive it.f Also, that children 
 be not brought to the Communion, until they have 
 been well instructed, and have made profession 
 of their faith, in the Church. And again, that 
 strangers, who are yet rude and ignorant, may 
 come to be taught in private. 
 
 On the day of the celebration, the minister in 
 the conclusion of his sermon adverts to it, or else, 
 if the matter be in hand, refers his ivhole discourse 
 to the same, expounding to the people what our 
 
 * Opuscules cle J. Calvin. We have introduced from the Liturgy 
 now used at Geneva some of the rubrical directions which serve to 
 indicate the manner in which these forms are used. 
 
 t Calvin recommended that persons intending to approach the 
 Lord's Table should call upon their pastor previous to the celebra- 
 tion of the sacrament, for the purpose of receiving spiritual instruc- 
 tion and counsel. A similar custom was enjoined by the Church of 
 Scotland: — "That every master and mistress of household come 
 themselves and their familj-, so many as be come to maturity, before 
 the Minister and the Elders, and give confession of their faith." — 
 First Book of Discipline^ ch. xi. 
 
 E 
 
50 A CHAPTER ON LITURGIES. 
 
 Lord would say and signify hy this mystery, and 
 after what manner he ivoidd have us receive it. 
 
 The following py^ayer is to he added to the usual 
 prayer after the sermon : 
 
 THE INVOCATION.* 
 
 Most gracious God ! we beseech thee, that as 
 thy Son hath not only once offered up his body 
 and blood upon the cross for the remission of our 
 sins, but hath also vouchsafed them unto us, for 
 our meat and drink unto life eternal: So thou 
 wilt grant us grace, with sincere hearts and 
 fervent desires, to accept this great blessing at 
 his hands. May we by lively faith partake of his 
 body and blood, yea, of himself, true God and 
 man, the only bread from heaven, which giveth 
 life unto our souls. Suffer us no longer to live 
 unto ourselves, according to a corrupt and sinful 
 nature ; but may He live in us, and lead us to the 
 life that is holy, blessed, and unchangeable for 
 
 * We shall not specify the many points of resemblance which this 
 service bears with the beautiful form of administering this ordinance 
 in the Reformed Dutch Liturgy, It will be easy for the reader to 
 compare them. Nor need we add that we have here the original, of 
 which the Dutch form is an arrangement, and in some respects an 
 improvement. That service, however, has not been improved by 
 transferring the prayer of Invocation fi'om its place as here given, to 
 the close of the Exhortation. 
 
Calvin's last communion. 51 
 
 ever. Thus make us true partakers of the new 
 and everlasting testament, which is the covenant 
 of grace. And thus assure us of thy willingness 
 ever to be our gracious Father; not imputing 
 unto us our sins, but that we may magnify thy 
 name by our words and works, providing us as 
 thy beloved children and heirs with all things 
 necessary for our good. Fit us, O heavenly 
 Father ! so to celebrate at this time the blessed 
 remembrance of thy beloved Son. Enable us 
 profitably to contemplate his love, and show forth 
 the benefits of his death : That receiving fresh 
 increase of strength in thy faith and in all good 
 works, we may with greater confidence call 
 thee our Father, and evermore rejoice in thee : 
 Through Jesus Christ, our Redeemer. Amen. 
 
 THE CREED. 
 
 Let us now make profession of our faith in the 
 doctrine of the Christian Religion, wherein we all 
 purpose by God's grace to live and to die. 
 
 I believe in God the Father Almighty, Maker 
 of heaven and earth : and in Jesus Christ, his 
 only Son our Lord, who was conceived by the 
 Holy Ghost, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered 
 under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead and 
 
52 A CHAPTER ON LITURGIES. 
 
 buried ; He descended into hell ; the third day He 
 rose again from the dead. He ascended into heaven, 
 and sitteth on the right hand of God the Father 
 Almighty; from thence He shall come to judge 
 the quick and the dead. I believe in the Holy 
 Ghost; the holy Catholic Church; the commu- 
 nion of Saints ; the forgiveness of sins ; the re- 
 surrection of the body, and the life everlasting. 
 Amen. 
 
 Then the minister maheth this 
 
 EXHOKTATION. 
 
 Attend to the words of the institution of the 
 holy Supper of our Lord Jesus Christ, as they 
 are delivered by the Apostle Paul.* 
 
 For I have received of the Lord that which 
 also I delivered unto you : That the Lord Jesus, 
 the same night in which he was betrayed, took 
 bread ; and when he had given thanks, he brake 
 it, and said. Take, eat ; this is my body, which is 
 broken for you : this do in remembrance of me. 
 After the same manner also he took the cup, when 
 he had supped, saying: This cup is the new 
 testament in my blood : this do ye, as oft as ye 
 
 * 1 Cor. xi. 23-30. 
 
53 
 
 drink it, in remembrance of me. For as often as 
 ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do show 
 the Lord's death till he come. Wherefore, who- 
 soever shall eat this bread, and drink this* cup of 
 the Lord, unworthily, shall be guilty of the body 
 and blood of the Lord. But let a man examine 
 himself, and so let him eat of that bread, and 
 drink of that cup. For he that eateth and drinketh 
 unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to 
 himself, not discerning the Lord's body. 
 
 We have heard, brethren, in what manner our 
 Lord celebrated the Supper among his disciples ; 
 whence we see that strangers, who are not of the 
 company of the faithful, may not approach it. 
 Wherefore, in obedience to this rule, and in the 
 name and by the authority of our Lord Jesl^s 
 Christ, I excommunicate all idolaters, blas- 
 phemers, despisers of God, heretics, and all who 
 form sects apart, to break the unity of the Church ; 
 all perjurers, all who are rebellious against fathers 
 and mothers, and other superiors, all who are 
 seditious, contentious, quarrelsome, injurious, 
 adulterers, fornicators, thieves, misers, ravishers, 
 drunkards, gluttons, and all others who lead 
 scandalous lives ; warning them that they abstain 
 from this Table, lest they pollute and contaminate 
 
54 A CHAPTER ON LITURGIES. 
 
 the sacred food which our Lord Jesus Christ 
 giveth only to his faithful servants. 
 
 Therefore, according to the exhortation of St. 
 Paul, let each of you examine and prove his own 
 conscience, to know whether he have true repent- 
 ance of his sins, and sorrow for them ; desiring 
 henceforth to lead a holy and godly life; ahove 
 all, whether he putteth his whole trust in God's 
 mercy, and seeketh his whole salvation in Jesus 
 Christ; and renouncing all enmity and malice, 
 doth truly and honestly purpose to live in har- 
 mony and brotherly love with his neighbour. 
 
 If we have this testimony in our hearts before 
 God, we may not doubt that he adopteth us for 
 his children, and that our Lord Jesus addresseth 
 his word to us, admitting us to his Table, and 
 presenting us with this holy sacrament, which he 
 bestows upon his followers. 
 
 And notwithstanding that we feel many in- 
 firmities and miseries in ourselves, as, namely, 
 that we have not perfect faith, and that we have 
 not given ourselves to serve God with such zeal 
 as we are bound to do, but have daily to battle 
 with the lusts of our flesh ; yet, since the Lord 
 hath graciously been pleased to print his Gospel 
 upon our hearts, in order that we may withstand 
 
Calvin's last communion. 55 
 
 all unbelief; and hath given ns this earnest de- 
 sire to renounce our own thoughts and follow his 
 righteousness and his holy commandments : there- 
 fore we rest assured, that our remaining sins 
 and imperfections do not prevent us from being 
 received of God and made worthy partakers of 
 this spiritual food. For we come not to this Supper 
 to testify hereby that we are perfect and righteous 
 in ourselves; but on the contrary, seeking our 
 life in Jesus Christ, we acknowledge that we 
 lie in the midst of death. Let us then look upon 
 this sacrament as a medicine for those who are 
 spiritually sick ; and consider that all the worthi- 
 ness our Lord requireth of us, is that we truly 
 know ourselves, be sorry for our sins, and find 
 our pleasure, joy, and satisfaction in him above. 
 
 First, then, we must believe these promises, 
 which Jesus Christ, who is infallible truth, hath 
 pronounced with his own lips : That he is truly 
 willing to make us partakers of his body and of 
 his blood, in order that we may wholly possess 
 him, and that he may live in us, and we in him. 
 And although we see here only the Bread and 
 Wine, let us not doubt that he will accomplish 
 spiritually in our souls all that he outwardly ex- 
 hibits by these visible signs ; he will show himself 
 
56 A CHAPTER ON LITURGIES. 
 
 to be the heavenly bread, to feed and nourish us 
 unto life eternal. Let us not be unthankful to 
 the infinite goodness of our Lord, who displays 
 all his riches and his wealth at this Table, to 
 distribute them among us. For in giving himself, 
 he testifies that all he hath is ours. Let us 
 receive this sacrament as a pledge that the virtue 
 of his death and passion is imputed unto us for 
 righteousness ; even as though we had suffered in 
 our own persons. Let none perversely draw back, 
 when Jesus Christ doth gently invite him by 
 his word. But considering the dignity of his 
 precious gift, let us present ourselves to him with 
 ardent zeal, that he may make us capable of re- 
 ceiving it. 
 
 And now, to this end, lift up your minds and 
 hearts on high, where Jesus Christ abideth in 
 the glory of his Father, whence we expect his 
 coming at our redemption. Dwell not upon these 
 earthly and corruptible elements, which we see 
 present to our eyes, and feel with our hands, to 
 seek him in them, as if he were inclosed in the 
 Bread or in the Wine. For then only shall our 
 souls be disposed to receive food and life from his 
 substance, when they shall thus be lifted up above 
 worldly things, even unto heaven, and enter into 
 
Calvin's last communion. 57 
 
 the kingdom of God, where he dwelleth. Let us 
 be satisfied to have this Bread and this Wine for 
 witnesses and signs ; seeking spiritually the truth 
 where God's word hath promised that we shall 
 find it.* 
 
 This done, the ministers distribute the Bread 
 and the Cup to the people, having warned them to 
 come forward with reverence and order. Mean- 
 while a Psalm is sung, or a portion of the Scrip- 
 ture read, suitable to lohat is signified hy the 
 Sacrament. The Supper being over, is used this 
 or the like 
 
 * Here the Liturgy of Geneva as it now stands supplies the omis- 
 sion of the words of the Institution as follows : 
 
 The Minister having come clown from the pulpit, goeth to the Table, 
 breaketh the Bread, and saith, giving it unto the minister who assists 
 in the distribution : 
 
 The Bread which we break, is the communion of the body of Jesus 
 Christ our Lord. 
 
 Or other words to the like effect. Then he himself xiartaketh. 
 The other minister, giving him the cup, saith : 
 
 The cup of blessing which we bless, is the communion of the blood 
 of JEsrs Christ our Lord. 
 
 Or other words to the like effect. Then he himself partaketh. 
 The same is done at the second Table, where likewise two ministers 
 officiate. 
 
 The ministers having communicated, the magistrates, and then all 
 those of the congregation, approach the Table in turn and with order. 
 The men and thewomen go separately. One of the ministers distributeth 
 the Bread, and the other the Cup, saying to each communicant some 
 words proper to excite devotion. Meanwhile the Reader readeth cer- 
 tain chapters of Holy Scripture suitable to the occasion, and giveth 
 out Fsalms or Hymns to be sung. 
 
58 A CHAPTER ON LITURGIES. 
 
 THANKSGIVING. 
 
 Heavenly Father ! we give thee immortal praise 
 and thanks, that upon us poor sinners thou hast 
 conferred so great a benefit, as to bring us into 
 the communion of thy Son Jesus Christ our 
 Lord; whom having delivered up to death for us, 
 thou hast given for our food and nourishment 
 unto eternal life. Now, also, grant us grace, that 
 we may never be unmindful of these things ; but 
 rather carrying them about engraven upon our 
 hearts, may advance and grow in that faith which 
 is effectual unto every good work. Thus, may 
 the rest of our lives be ordered and followed out 
 to thy glory and the edification of our neighbours : 
 Through Jesus Christ our Lord ; Who with thee, 
 O Father ! and the Holy Ghost, liveth and 
 reigneth in the unity of the Godhead, world with- 
 out end. Amen. 
 
 Then, all the congregation standing, is sung the 
 Hymn of Simeon, after which the minister dis- 
 misses the ^people with 
 
 THE BLESSING. 
 
 The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the 
 love of God, and the communion of the Holy 
 Ghost, be with you all. Amen. 
 
III. 
 
 " Prayer to God is the chief part, yea, the main thing in religion. 
 For the design of the whole truth respecting salvation, is to teach us 
 that our life depends on God, and that whatever belongs to eternal 
 life must be hoped for and expected from him." — Calvin, Minor 
 Proph., V. 227. 
 
 It is a custom in the Romish Church on a certain 
 feast-day in the year, to take the candles which 
 have been blessed at the altar, and distribute them 
 among the people. These sacred tapers are carried 
 home, and kept with superstitious care, as precious 
 safeguards against all evil. Something better 
 than this has Protestantism done for her worship- 
 ping multitudes. The flame that was dimly burn- 
 ing in the damp air of churches, she has kindled 
 in their houses, to be brightly nourished at the 
 family altar. In place of daily masses, of matins, 
 vespers, and nocturns, she has given us the beau- 
 tiful office of morning and evening prayer in the 
 family and the home. For the gloom of the 
 Gothic chancel, the inarticulate mutter of the 
 priest, and the heedless response of the choir-boy, 
 she has conferred the cheer of the fireside devotion. 
 
60 A CHAPTER ON LITURGIES. 
 
 a ad the parent's intercessory voice, accompanied 
 by intelligent thought, and awakening pious 
 emotion. 
 
 It is a fact truly of no little interest, that wher- 
 ever the principles of the Reformation have pre- 
 vailed, they have revived the ancient custom of 
 family worship. The Reformers, while they did 
 not omit provision for the frequent assembling of 
 believers in the sanctuary, yet were evidently most 
 anxious to secure a regular and devout observance 
 of this primal and all-essential duty. Thus one 
 of the very earliest enactments of the Church of 
 Scotland, after recommending daily services of 
 prayer and preaching in the churches, directs that 
 *^in private houses the most grave and discreet 
 person use the Common Prayers at morn and 
 night, for the comfort and instruction of others."* 
 
 And the Church of France, a few years later, to 
 insure the general observance of this duty, went 
 even so far as to discourage the practice, then in- 
 cipient, of having daily prayer in the churches, 
 lest it should interfere with the more essential 
 matter of domestic worship. '^ Churches which, 
 besides their ordinary sermons, are accustomed to 
 morning and evening Common Prayers, on such 
 
 * First Book of Discipline^ ch. xi. 
 
Calvin's daily offices. 61 
 
 days when there is no preaching, or once a day 
 towards night, Avhen there has been a sermon, 
 are intreated to conform themselves unto those 
 churches which have no such custom; that so 
 superstition, which is likely to follow thereupon, 
 may be prevented, and that visible neglect and 
 contempt of sermons may be avoided ; and Family 
 Prayers, which every householder is bound to 
 perform, may be no more neglected."* 
 
 In further provision for this important service, 
 the Reformers have furnished us with several forms 
 of family worship ; the most remarkable of which 
 are those composed by Calvin, and copied with 
 more or less alteration into all the E-eformed 
 rituals. They are familiar to many in this country 
 [America] in a modified shape, as contained in the 
 Liturgy of the Dutch Reformed Church, under the 
 title of " The Morning and Evening Prayers." f 
 
 To the second of these prayers, that for the 
 evening, we would call more particular attention. 
 As well for the happiness of the language as for 
 the beauty of the leading thoughts, in which the 
 
 * 27id Synod of Paris, 1565. 
 
 t Liturgy of the Reformed Dutch Church. Compare " Several 
 Godly Prayers" of Calvin", Tracts, vol. ii. ; "Private Praj'ers" 
 in the Palatine Catechism, and in Knox's Liturgy; "Christian 
 Prayers and Meditations," in a volume of Prayers issued by the 
 Parker Society. 
 
62 A CHAPTER ON LITURGIES. 
 
 suggestions of night and darkness are treated with 
 exquisite feehng, we have long considered this 
 prayer the finest composition of the kind that has 
 fallen under our notice. 
 
 THE MORNING PEAYER. 
 
 Cause me to hear thy loving -kindness in the 
 morning ; for in thee do I trust. 
 
 Cause me to know the way wherein I should 
 walk ; for I lift up my soul unto thee. 
 
 Almighty God, our Father and Preserver ! we 
 give thee thanks that of thy goodness thou hast 
 watched over us the past night, and brought us to 
 this day. We beseech thee, strengthen and guard 
 us by thy Spirit, that we may spend it wholly in 
 thy service, aiming at thy glory, and the salvation 
 of our fellow-men. And even as thou sheddest 
 now the beams of the Sun upon the earth to give 
 light unto our bodies, so illuminate our souls with 
 the brightness of thy Spirit, to guide us in the 
 paths of thine obedience. May all our purpose be 
 this day to honour and serve thee ; may we look 
 for all prosperity to thy blessing only, and seek no 
 object but such as may be pleasing in thy sight. 
 Enable us, O Lord ! while we labour for the body, 
 and the life that now is, ever to look beyond unto 
 
6B 
 
 that heavenly life which thou hast promised thy 
 children. Defend us in soul and body from all 
 harm. Guard us against all assaults of the devil, 
 and deliver us from any dangers that may beset us. 
 And seeing it is a small thing to have begun well, 
 except we also persevere, take us, O Lord ! into 
 thy good keeping this day, and all our days ; con- 
 tinue and increase thy grace within us, until we 
 shall be perfectly united in the glory of thy Son 
 Jesus Christ our Lord, the Sun of Righteous- 
 ness, who shall replenish our souls with his 
 eternal light and gladness. And that we may 
 obtain all these blessings, be pleased to cast out of 
 thy remembrance all our past offences, and of thy 
 boundless mercy forgive them ; as thou hast pro- 
 mised those who call upon thee in sincerity and 
 truth. Hear us, O God, our Father and Re- 
 deemer ! through Jesus Christ our Lord : In 
 whose name we pray, as he hath taught us, 
 saying — Our Father, etc. 
 
 THE EVENING PRATER. 
 
 Consider and hear me, O Lord ; lighten mine 
 eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death, 
 
 I will both lay me down in peace and sleep ; for 
 thou, Lord, only makest me to dwell in safety. 
 
64 A CHAPTER ON LITURGIES. 
 
 O merciful God ! Eternal light, shining in 
 darkness, thou who dispellest the night of sin, and 
 all blindness of heart : since thou hast appointed 
 the night for rest, and the day for labour; we 
 beseech thee, grant that our bodies may rest in 
 peace and quietness, that afterward they may 
 be able to endure the labour they must bear. 
 Temper our sleep, that it be not disorderly, that 
 we may remain spotless both in body and soul ; 
 yea, that our sleep itself may be to thy glory. 
 Enlighten the eyes of our understanding, that we 
 may not sleep in death; but always look for 
 deliverance from this misery. Defend us against 
 all assaults of the devil, and take us into thine 
 holy protection. And although we have not passed 
 this day without greatly sinning against thee, we 
 beseech thee to hide our sins with thy mercy, as 
 thou hidest all things on earth with the darkness 
 of the night, that we may not be cast out from 
 thy presence. Relieve and comfort all those who 
 are afflicted or distressed, in mind, body, or estate : 
 Through Jesus Christ our Lord ; who hath 
 taught us to pray — Our Father, etc. 
 
 The interest with which we regard these beau- 
 tiful forms is increased by an historical fact con- 
 
6b 
 
 nected witli one of them. It was in the language 
 of this "Evening Prayer" that our ilkistrious 
 Reformer, John Knox, breathed his dying thoughts 
 to heaven. Let us hear the account given by his 
 biographer : " At ten o'clock, they read the Even- 
 ing Prayer, which they had delayed beyond the 
 usual hour, from an apprehension that he was 
 asleep. After this exercise was concluded. Dr. 
 Preston asked him if he had heard the prayers. 
 * Would to God,' said he, ^ that you and all men 
 had heard them as I have heard them; I praise 
 God for that heavenly sound.' The doctor rose 
 up, and Kinyeancleugh sat down before his bed. 
 About eleven o'clock, he gave a deep sigh, and 
 said, ' Now it is come.' Bannatyne immediately 
 drew" near, and desired him to think upon those 
 comfortable 23romises of our Saviour Jesus Christ, 
 which he had so often declared to others ; and, 
 perceiving that he was speechless, requested him 
 to give them a sign that he heard them, and died 
 in peace. Upon this he lifted up one of his hands, 
 and sighing twice, expired without a struggle."* 
 The forms of prayer used by Calvin in the daily 
 services of the church at Geneva, were not incor- 
 porated with his Liturgy; but they have been 
 
 * M'Crie's Z{fe, p. 339. 
 F 
 
66 A CHAPTER ON LITURGIES. 
 
 handed down to us in connexion with some of his 
 discourses. We translate the following service 
 from the preface to Calvin's Lectures on Job. To 
 this service the great Reformer was accustomed to 
 adhere with considerable closeness; except in 
 those petitions that immediately followed the 
 sermon, which always varied with the matter of 
 the discourse. Of these we give a specimen under 
 the head of the " Special Prayer.^' Each of the 
 published Lectures of Calvin closes with one of 
 these beautiful collects; of which some further 
 examples will be found in another place. 
 
 THE DAILY PRAYERS. 
 
 INVOCATION. 
 
 Our help is in the name of the Lord, who made 
 heaven and earth. Amen. 
 
 SUPPLICATION. 
 
 Almighty God, our Heavenly Father ! we invoke 
 thy name, beseeching that it may please thee to 
 turn away thy face from our great and manifold 
 sins and transgressions, by which we have not 
 ceased to draw thine anger upon us. And because 
 we are most unworthy to appear before thy sove- 
 reign majesty, be pleased to regard us in thy well- 
 
Calvin's daily offices. 67 
 
 beloved Son Jesus Christ, and accept the merit 
 of his death in satisfaction for all onr offences ; 
 that by his atonement we may become well- 
 pleasing in thy sight. Pour down thine Holy 
 Spirit upon us, illuminating our minds in the true 
 understanding of thy word. And bestow upon us 
 grace, that receiving thy truth into our hearts 
 with humility and fear, we may be led to place all 
 our trust in thee only, living in thy service and 
 worship, to the glory of thy holy name. And 
 since it hath pleased thee to number us among thy 
 people : O help us to render the love and homage 
 that we owe thee, as children to our Father, and 
 as servants to our Lord. We ask this in the 
 words our blessed Master taught us, saying — Our 
 Father, etc. 
 
 After the Sermon the following Prayers are said: 
 
 THE SPECIAL PRAYER. 
 
 Almighty God ! wdio hast made known to us in 
 thy Son the fulness of all blessing and glory : () 
 grant that Ave may continue settled and grounded 
 in Him, nor ever fluctuate from our attachment, 
 but be so satisfied with his kingship and priest- 
 hood, as to deliver ourselves up wholly to his care 
 
68 A CHAPTER ON LITURGIES. 
 
 and protection. SuiFer us not to doubt that by 
 his grace we shall be sanctified and made accept- 
 able to thee ; but relying on him as our Mediator, 
 may we offer ourselves a sacrifice to him with full 
 confidence of heart; so striving to glorify thee 
 through the whole course of our life, that we may 
 at length be made partakers of that celestial 
 glory obtained for us by the blood of thine only 
 begotten Son. 
 
 THE GENERAL PRAYER. 
 
 Neither ask we these benefits for ourselves only, 
 but for all people and nations of the earth. Bring 
 back, O Lord ! into the right way of salvation, 
 all poor captives of ignorance and false doctrine. 
 Raise up true and faithful ministers of the word, 
 who shall seek not their own ease and ambition, 
 but the exaltation of thy Name and the safety of 
 thy flock. Remove and destroy all sects, heresies, 
 and errors, which are the nurseries of strife and 
 dissension in the Church ; that all thy people may 
 be of one heart, and live in brotherly union. Rule 
 thou and govern with thy Spirit all kings, princes, 
 and lords, who hold the administration of the 
 sword ; that their dominion be exercised not in 
 avarice, cruelty, and oppression, or any other evil 
 
Calvin's daily offices. 69 
 
 and inordinate affection^ but in all justice and 
 rectitude. May we also^ living under tliem, pay 
 them due honour and reverence, and lead quiet 
 and peaceable lives, in all godliness and honesty. 
 Be pleased to comfort all distressed and afflicted 
 persons, whom thou dost visit with any kind of 
 cross or tribulation : the nations whom thou 
 chasteneth with war, pestilence, famine, or any 
 other plague ; and all men whom thou afflict est 
 with poverty, imprisonment, sickness, banishment, 
 or any other distress of body or affliction of 
 mind. Give them firm patience under their trials, 
 and speedily bring them out of their afflictions. 
 Strengthen and confirm all thy faithful children, 
 who in various places are scattered in Babylonish 
 captivity, under the tyranny of Antichrist; 
 sufiering persecution for the testimony of thy 
 heavenly truth. Give them steadfast constancy ; 
 console them, nor suffer the rage of rapacious 
 wolves to prevail against them ; but enable them 
 to glorify thy name, as well in life as in death. 
 Confirm and defend all thy churches who at 
 this day are labouring and fighting for tlie holy 
 testimony of thy name. Defeat and overturn all 
 the counsels of their enemies, their machinations 
 and undertakings. So that thy glory may be 
 
70 A CHAPTER ON LITURGIES. 
 
 revealed, and the kingdom of our Lord Jesus 
 Christ more and more increased and promoted. 
 These things we ask of thee, as our sovereign 
 Lord and Master Jesus Christ hath taught us to 
 pray, saying — Our Father, etc. 
 
 THE CREED. 
 
 Almighty God ! we beseech thee, grant us true 
 perseverance in thy holy faith, and increase it 
 ever within us : Whereof we make confession, 
 saying — I believe, etc. 
 
 THE BLESSING 
 
 tvith tvhich it is customary to dismiss the congre- 
 gation. 
 
 The grace of God the Father, and the peace of 
 our Lord Jesus Christ, by the communication 
 of the Holy Ghost, dwell with you evermore. 
 Amen. 
 
lY. 
 
 ^t §tmM f itutgg in ixmut 
 
 " The French Liturgy is so often mentioned in many parts of their 
 Book of Discipline and Canons, that I think it useless to offer any 
 farther proofs that they have an established Liturgy among them." 
 
 Bingham. 
 
 The forms of worship we have now presented to 
 view, if interesting for their age and authorship, 
 receive additional histre from an eventful history. 
 So far as the Churches of France are concerned, 
 that history ahounds Avith passages of a striking 
 character. While in Scotland the Liturgy of 
 John Knox, after a century's existence, hecame 
 displaced and fell into ohlivion ; in France the 
 Prayers of Calvin have continued to he generally 
 used, until incorporated with the religion and 
 endeared to the heart of every worshipper. At 
 this day, from every pulpit those beautiful forms 
 of sound words are to be heard as in the first 
 years of the Reformation ; and the simple, yet 
 impressive rites of a pure worship, are observed 
 as at the beginning, without servility, but with 
 voluntary faithfulness. It is not alone the in- 
 trinsic merit of these prayers that commends them 
 
12 A CHAPTER ON LITURGIES. 
 
 to SO much veneration. Interwoven with them 
 are associations of the most aifecting nature. 
 Reminiscences of humble meetings of the Re- 
 formers, secret convocations in the Desert, occa- 
 sional seasons of prosperity, and long intervals of 
 persecution, are entwined about them. These 
 services of worship, together Avith the Psalms 
 dating from the same period, have come down to 
 us through long ages of dark and bitter trial; 
 during which, always prized and employed, they 
 have cheered the faith and fanned the devotion 
 of thousands. This fact, in the eyes of a French 
 Protestant, surrounds them with a sanctity and 
 beauty such as our neglected Scottish Liturgy can 
 never possess to us. The dearest though saddest 
 memories of a Martyr-Church are connected with 
 the modes of worship under which, " in all time 
 of her tribulation, in all time of her prosperity," 
 she has sought and found succour from Heaven. 
 
 We shall briefly review the extent of the adop- 
 tion and retention of these forms in France, within 
 the past three centuries. The indications of their 
 prevalence can be gathered only from isolated 
 allusions through the course of history, in the 
 total absence of any connected series of state- 
 ments. 
 
THE GENEVAN LITURGY IN FRANCE. 73 
 
 When Calvin communicated to the Churches 
 of France that Confession of Faith which they 
 adopted and retained ever after as their doctrinal 
 basis/ he gave them also the ritual of their wor- 
 ship. The first disseminators of evangelical truth, 
 the colporteurs and peddlers who carried their 
 burdens of religious books from Geneva into all 
 parts of France, acquainted the new converts Avith 
 these services.! We find them used at the earliest 
 meetings of the Reformed congregations after their 
 ecclesiastical organization in 1555. 
 
 The edict issued by Charles IX., in July, 1561, 
 granted them some degree of liberty in the cele- 
 bration of religious rites. Let us hear these ser- 
 vices described by an old Catholic chronicler, who 
 is at no pains to conceal his ill-will for the new 
 sect. " Thou^^h all reliorious assemblies were ex- 
 pressly forbid by the Edict," says Castelnau, ^' yet 
 they could not refrain from meeting in private 
 houses, where they baptized, married, received 
 the sacraments, and performed all other religious 
 offices after the Geneva Form. In a little time 
 after, their assemblies became so numerous, that 
 the houses in which they usually met were not 
 
 * De Felice, History of the Frotestants of France, p. 89. 
 t Ibid., p. 73. 
 
74 A CHAPTER ON LITURGIES. 
 
 sufficient to contain them. HoAvever, very few 
 of their chief preachers appeared, and these meet- 
 ings were for the most part made np of poor 
 ignorant people, who had no other knowledge or 
 doctrines but only the Catechisms and Prayers 
 that were printed in Geneva."* 
 
 Among the earliest enactments of the Synods 
 of the French Churches, we find reference to this 
 Liturgy, which, from the outset, had been adopted 
 as their uniform mode of worship. The enforce- 
 ment of a strict and undeviating adherence to it 
 seem to have constituted one of the chief anxieties 
 of these ecclesiastical bodies, so long as they were 
 permitted to meet and to legislate for the govern- 
 ment of the Church. Thus the thirty-first canon 
 of the Discipline established by the first National 
 Synod, which met at Paris, in 1559, declares : 
 " If one or more of the people stir up contention, 
 and do thereby break the Churches' vmion in any 
 point of Doctrine, or of Discipline, or about the 
 Form of Catechizing, or Administration of the 
 Sacraments , or of PiihUck Prayers, or the Cele- 
 bration of Marriage ^^ etc., they shall be exhorted, 
 
 * " Memoirs of the Reigns of Francis II. and Charles IX., of 
 France, by Michael Castelnau, who tvas Ambassador for Ten 
 Years at the Court of Queen Elizabeth. Done into English by a 
 Gentleman, and published for his Benefit.'" London, 1734, p. 115. 
 
THE GENEVAN LITURGY IN FRANCE. 75 
 
 censured, or excommunicated, according as the 
 case may be. The same penalties are imposed 
 by the thirty-second canon upon any 3Ii?iister 
 stirring up contention about " The Form of our 
 Common Prayers," etc.* 
 
 The Eleventh Synod, which met in 1581, 
 ordered that printers publishing the Psalm-book 
 of the Church should not separate from it the 
 Prayers and Catechism, but bind together. An 
 earlier law provides that all persons should bring 
 their Psalm-books with them to Divine service, 
 and reproves those who fail in doing so. f 
 
 The Thirteenth Synod, at Montauban in 1594, 
 enacted that " There shall be ?io alteration made 
 in the Forms of Public Prayers and Administra- 
 tion of the Sacraments; the whole having been 
 prudently and piously ordained, and for the 
 most part in plain and express terms of Holy 
 Scripture." :J: 
 
 At the Fifteenth Synod, Montpellier, 1598, 
 
 * Quick's Synodicon in Gallia Eeformata : a remarkable work 
 well known to bibliophiles, published at London in 1692, by a non- 
 conformist minister, who had collected in these two folio volumes all 
 the acts and decrees of the National Synods of France from the 
 original registers, which we believe have never been published in 
 the French. 
 
 t Ibid., ch. iii., art. 40. 
 
 X Ibid., ch. iv., art. 19. 
 
76 A CHAPTER ON LITURGIES. 
 
 letters were received from Geneva, urging that 
 no innovation be permitted in the Liturgy, singing 
 of Psahns, and Form of Catechizing ; Avhich was 
 accordingly ordered.* 
 
 By the Synod of St. Maixant, 1609, "All pastors 
 Avere enjoined to abstain from any new or private 
 methods of their owii [in the service of the Lord's 
 Supper], as of reading the words of institution 
 between the ordinary long jirayer, and that ap- 
 pointed particularly for this sacrament, etc. 
 Classes and Synods shall have their eyes over 
 those who act contrary to this order, and reduce 
 them to their duty by all befitting censures." f 
 
 The Synod which met at Tonneins in 1614, 
 declared that " Even National Synods should not 
 innovate anything in the Confession of Faith, 
 Catechism, Liturgy, and Discipline of the Church; 
 unless the matter had been first proposed by one 
 or more Provinces ; and also, unless it were a 
 thing of very great importance.^':!: 
 
 Finally, the Synod of Loudun, the last National 
 Assembly of the French Churches, which met in 
 1659, after which period the Presbyterian organiz- 
 ation of the churches in France was destroyed 
 
 * Quick's Synoclicon^ ch. v., art. 3. f Ibid., ch. vi.,art. 14. 
 X Ibid., ch. viii., art. 8. 
 
THE GENEVAN LITURGY IN FRANCE. 77 
 
 by a persecuting government, passed an order for 
 the obtaining of more accurate editions of the 
 Liturgy, Catechism/Bible, and Psahns.* 
 
 Such value did the suffering Churches of the 
 Reformation in France attach to their venerable 
 Liturgy, and such care did they exhibit in pre- 
 serving it intact from accidental and designed 
 alteration, that they might hand it down to poste- 
 rity as they themselves had received it. 
 
 Of the Calvinistic forms thus early and ex- 
 tensively brought into use among the French 
 Churches, there are some which have had a dis- 
 tinct and peculiar importance. That beautiful 
 Confession of Sins, which in Calvin^s Liturgy 
 introduces the worship for the Lord's Day, is 
 associated with one of the most impressive passages 
 of ecclesiastical history. It was at the famous 
 Colloquy or Conference of Poissy, on the 9th 
 September, 1561, when, by request of Charles IX. 
 and his mother Catherine de Medici, the leaders 
 of Protestantism consented to appear in public 
 debate with the prelates and doctors of Rome, 
 and vindicate the principles of the Reformation. 
 The occasion was brilliant and august. Already 
 the assembly had been convoked in the great 
 
 * Quick's Synodicon, etc. 
 
78 A CHAPTER ON LITURGIES. 
 
 refectory of the convent of Poissy, when the Re- 
 formers entered. The young king and his mother 
 were presiding, attended hy a multitude of princes, 
 courtiers, cardinals, bishops, and theologians ; all 
 arrayed in gorgeous habiliments, and presenting 
 a spectacle of the most imposing character. At 
 length the twelve pastors and twenty-two dele- 
 gates who had been chosen to represent the Re- 
 formed faith under these trying circumstances, 
 were permitted to present themselves before this 
 assemblage. At their head was Theodore Beza, 
 whom Calvin had persuaded to assume this re- 
 sponsible post.* As the deputation advanced up 
 the aisle, their grave and simple costume forming 
 a strange contrast with the insignia of prelates 
 and nobles, t they found themselves separated 
 from the courtly gathering by a barrier erected 
 across their way, behind which they were to stand 
 like criminals at the bar. Nothing troubled by 
 this indignity, but rather encouraged to look 
 above all human displays to the Divine tribunal 
 at which they stood, Beza in the name of his 
 colleagues turned to the king with a respectful 
 salutation, and said : " Sire, the help of God is 
 essential to success in whatever undertaking.'* 
 * Henry's Calvin, Part ii., ch. xii. f De Felice, p. 138. 
 
THE GENEYAX LITURGY IN FRANCE. 79 
 
 Then immediately kneeling down Avitli them at 
 the barrier, he uttered with fervour the prayer to 
 which we have alluded, beginning with these 
 words : " O Lord God ! Father Almighty and 
 Eternal : we acknowledge and confess before thy 
 holy Majesty, that we are miserable sinners."* 
 This ended, he rose, and pronounced his famous 
 defence of the Reformed doctrines and worship ; 
 to which all gave marked attention. The whole 
 scene is strikingly dramatic. " At the Colloquy 
 of Poissy," remarks a spirit essayist, '^ Beza stands 
 before us full of stateliness and dignity; while 
 the Reformation assumes its most imposing atti- 
 tude." f The grave and massive proportions of 
 Protestantism loom up with grandeur against this 
 background of priestly pomp and courtly elegance, 
 as we contemplate the Reformers forgetting even 
 the presence of royalty, in abasement at the foot- 
 stool of God.:}: 
 
 Those admirable forms of prayer for morning 
 
 * Beza, Histoire EccUsiastique, torn, i., p. 502. 
 
 t Sayous, Etudes Litteraires sur les Ecrivains Frangais tie la 
 Reformation, torn, i., p. 290. 
 
 X The fact of its use by Beza on this conspicuous occasion, has led 
 some to ascribe the authorship of the Confession of Sins to that Ee- 
 former. But we have elsewhere furnished sufficient evidence that 
 this prayer already existed as a part of the Calvinistic Liturgy ; having 
 been composed and published as early as 1543, that is, eighteen years 
 prior to the date of the Colloquy of Poissy. 
 
80 
 
 A CHAPTER ON LITURGIES. 
 
 and evening worship, which we have elsewhere 
 quoted from Calvin, connect themselves closely 
 in our mind with a reminiscence of one of the 
 most illustrious characters of Huguenot times, — 
 the excellent Coligny. An interesting picture of 
 the daily hahits of this remarkable man is given by 
 a contemporary writer. '^ As soon as he had risen 
 from his bed early in the morning, having knelt 
 down with all his household, he prayed accord- 
 ing to the Form commonly employed in the French 
 Churches. After which, waiting for the hour of 
 the sermon, which came twice a day, once with 
 the singing of Psalms, he gave audience to the 
 deputies of the churches who were sent to him, 
 or attended to public business, which he yet con- 
 tinued to discuss a little after the sermon, till the 
 dinner hour. Standing near the table when it 
 was set, with his wife by his side, they sang a 
 psalm, and then asked the ordinary blessing. All 
 this an infinite number of captains and colonels, 
 not only French, but German also, can bear wit- 
 ness that he was accustomed to observe without 
 omission, from day to day ; not only in the quiet 
 of his family, but also in the army.* The cloth 
 
 * The Huguenot army was subjected to severe religious discipline. 
 " Besides the ordinary exhortations and prayers," says Theodore Beza, 
 
THE GENEVAN LITURGY IN FRANCE. 81 
 
 removed, rising with his attendants, he returned 
 thanks himself, or by his minister. The same 
 he practised at supper ; and seeing that his house- 
 hold were inconvenienced by the lateness of the 
 evening prayer, he directed each to be present at 
 the close of the supper, when, after singing of 
 psalms, there was prayer. It is impossible to 
 give the number of those among the French 
 nobility who established in their families this 
 religious discipline of the Admiral."* 
 
 It was in the act of repeating the Morning 
 Prayer of Calvin's Liturgy, that the last moments 
 of Coligny's life was spent. Early on the fatal 
 morning of St. Bartholomew's day, 1512, the 
 Admiral, who was then confined to his bed by 
 the wound he had received from an assassin two 
 days before, sent for his chaplain to engage with 
 him in the customary devotions. While following 
 the familiar words thus uttered, he was attacked 
 by the band of murderers who burst into his 
 room, and dispatched him with their daggers. 
 
 " they attended general prayers, especially at six o'clock in the morn- 
 ing ; at the close of which, ministers and people, without exception, 
 went to work upon the fortifications with all their might ; all return- 
 ing again at four o'clock to Tpra.jer.—IIist. Eccles., tom. ii,, p. 162. 
 
 * Memoires de Coligny ; compiled, it is presumed, by Cornaton, a 
 faithful servant of the Admiral. Quoted by De Felice, pp. 102, 103. 
 G 
 
82 A CHAPTER ON LITURGIES. 
 
 Thus died Coligny. Even so have we seen John 
 Knox, with the hke holy joy, though on a tranquil 
 death-bed, listening to the rehearsal of Calvin's 
 Evening Prayer. * 
 
 Clustered around these forms of worship are a 
 thousand similar recollections of bloodshed and 
 oppression. Those fearful massacres which so 
 often devastated the churches of the Reformation 
 in France, even while as yet they maintained a 
 species of legal existence, being partially tolerated 
 by law, are vividly brought before us as we survey 
 these prayers and services. For it was most 
 frequently while engaged in their celebration, 
 that the Huguenots were surprised and over- 
 whelmed by their merciless foes. So at Vassy, 
 in February, 1562, when the Protestants had 
 assembled in a barn to the number of twelve 
 hundred, to celebrate the Lord's Supper. The 
 Duke of Guise with a band of soldiers arrived, 
 surrounded the place, burst in upon the assembly, 
 and slaughtered as many as they could reach, f 
 Not less barbarous was the assault upon Cha- 
 taigneraie in 1595 ; when the Leaguers fell sud- 
 denly on a congregation while attending Divine 
 service, and cruelly murdered two hundred per- 
 
 * Vide p. 64. f Beza, Histoire Ecclesiastique. 
 
THE GENEVAN LITUUGY IN FRANCE. 83 
 
 sons of all ages. Among the victims was a babe 
 just presented for baptism, whose life-stream was 
 poured forth before the symbol of regeneration 
 touched his forehead.* 
 
 Such instances might be adduced in multitudes. 
 The Liturgy of French Protestantism has been 
 bathed with the blood of its martyrs. What won- 
 der that it should commend itself to the reverence 
 and love of their descendants? No Church has 
 suffered like that of the Huguenots, and none has 
 transmitted to our day more touching memories, 
 attached to such precious relics. 
 
 We may be allowed to vary these souvenirs by 
 adducing one of a more lively cast. It is con- 
 nected with the baptismal service. When the 
 famous Claude was pastor of the church at 
 Charenton, near Paris (about the middle of the 
 seventeenth century), he was called on one occa- 
 sion to perform the marriage ceremony between 
 two Huguenots in high life ; of Avhom the bride- 
 groom was a decrepit septuagenarian, leading to 
 the altar a young girl of some sixteen summers. 
 As the minister saw this ill-matched couple ad- 
 vancing up the aisle to meet him, whether by 
 accident or design we cannot say, he opened his 
 * De Felice, p. 271. 
 
84 A CHAPTER ON LITURGIES. 
 
 book to the baptismal form, and addressed the 
 disconcerted bridegroom with the interrogation: 
 " Dost thou here present this child to be bap- 
 tized?" 
 
 In those fortified cities where the Reformed 
 were able for a while to maintain a footing, they 
 continued to observe in a public and official man- 
 ner the rites of worship. Among the registers of 
 the ancient Protestant town of Montauban, are 
 preserved two interesting prayers which were 
 used in the seventeenth century, at the opening 
 and close of the sessions of the civic council. 
 The following is a translation.* 
 
 In the Name of God : 
 
 PRATER AT THE OPENING OF THE COUNCIL. 
 
 Almighty and eternal God : We beseech thee, 
 for the sake of Jesus Christ, thy Son our Lord, 
 tx) regard us with thy grace and favour ; and by 
 thy Holy Spirit to preside among us as we are 
 here assembled. Guide and conduct us in all 
 things that concern the government of this city, 
 for which thy providence hath brought us together. 
 
 * These prayers are given in the Bulletin de la Societe de VSis- 
 toire du Protestant isme Frangais, Avril, 1853, p. 486. 
 
THE GENEVAN LITURGY IN FRANCE. 85 
 
 Endue us with the spirit of wisdom, fully to exe- 
 cute thy sovereign will, to deliberate and to resolve 
 only as shall promote thine honour and glory, in 
 the welfare and preservation of ourselves and our 
 fellow-citizens. Through Jesus Christ thy Son 
 our Lord. Amen. 
 
 THANKSGIVINa AT THE CLOSE OF THE COUNCIL. 
 
 O God ! who dispensest thy gifts to men, that 
 they may acknowledge and praise thee in them : 
 We give thee thanks for thy gracious help in our 
 present transactions. And since thou only art 
 mighty to accomplish and perfect whatever may 
 seem good in thy sight : Most humbly we beseech 
 thee of thy good pleasure to make us willing and 
 able to carry out those measures which have been 
 here determined; that each of us, according to 
 his office and calling, may faithfully, constantly, 
 and diligently labour for thy glory, the good and 
 comfort of all men in this city, and our final 
 salvation : Through Jesus Christ thy Son our 
 Lord. Amen.* 
 
 * It is pleasing to find on the first leaf of the ancient records of 
 the city of "New Amsterdam" a similar form of Prayer, which was 
 in use about the middle of the seventeenth century.— See Valen- 
 tine's History of New York, pp. 55 — 57. 
 
86 A CHAPTER ON LITURGIES. 
 
 When, after the revocation of the Edict of 
 Nantes, the Reformed congregations were de- 
 prived of every vestige of freedom, and dispersed 
 to the wilderness and the mountains for refuge, 
 we should expect to see them forsaking those 
 rites which they no longer had opportunity of 
 observing in a quiet and regular manner. Instead 
 of this, the contrary is true. With stronger 
 attachment than ever, the churches of the Desert 
 clung to their venerated forms. Even the ex- 
 cited bands of the Camisards in the South were 
 accustomed to celebrate with regularity their an- 
 cient services.* " The worship of the Desert," 
 says the historian, " was the same as in times of 
 freedom : liturgical prayers, the singing of psalms, 
 preaching, and the administration of the Lord's 
 Supper on feast-days ;t a simple worship, easily 
 performed everywhere, and which demanded no 
 more preparation than that of the upper chamber 
 where the apostles and first Christians of Jeru- 
 salem assembled. This simplicity had, moreover, 
 something grand and noble. The calm of the 
 
 * De Felice, p. 436. 
 
 t These feast-days were the three great festivals retained bj- the 
 Keformed Churches : the days of our Lord's Nativity aud Resurrec- 
 tion, and the season of Pentecost. A fourth sacramental occasion was 
 (and is still) observed on the first Sunday of September. 
 
THE GENEVAN LITURGY IX FRANCE. 8T 
 
 solitude suddenly broken by tlie voice of prayer ; 
 the songs of the faithful ascending to the Invisible 
 One amid the beauties of nature ; the minister of 
 Christ, like the believers of the Primitive Church, 
 invoking his God in behalf of oppressors who were 
 enraged that they could not yet drag him to the 
 scaffold ; poor peasants, humble labourers, laying 
 aside for a day their implements of toil, more 
 anxious for the sublime interests of faith and the 
 life to come ; a common apprehension of danger, 
 that kept their souls continually in the presence 
 of the Sovereign Judge : all this gave to the assem- 
 blies of the Desert an imposing majesty harmoniz- 
 ing well with the teachings of the Gospel."* 
 
 We have spoken of the French Psalm-book as 
 closely connected with the Liturgy of Calvin. In 
 fact, these two formularies were invariably bound 
 up together. It has been the good fortune of the 
 Church of France to possess from the outset an 
 excellent metrical version of the Psalms ; which, 
 at once received into general use, became one of 
 the most attractive features of the Reformation. 
 " They sung," says the old writer we have before 
 quoted, "Psalms in French rhyme, with vocal 
 and instrumental music, which extremely pleased 
 * De Felice, p. 452. 
 
88 A CHAPTER ON LITURGIES. 
 
 such people as were fond of novelty, and con- 
 tributed to increase their numbers daily."* These 
 sacred poems, with the simple and appropriate 
 melodies to which they were set, readily finding 
 place in the memory of the faithful, became the 
 language of their devotion, their consolation in 
 trial, their rejoicing in success, their watchword 
 at all times. An incident in the religious wars 
 of the Huguenots illustrates this fact. When the 
 town of Montauban, which had been for many 
 years their stronghold, was besieged in 1623, all 
 attempt to capture it proved ineifectual. At length 
 it was determined to raise the siege. On the 
 evening before this purpose was put in execution, 
 " the people of the town were apprized of the 
 approaching decampment of the army, by a Pro- 
 testant soldier, who played upon his flute the air 
 of the sixty-eighth Psalm, f The besieged took 
 
 * Castelnait, Memoirs, etc., p. 125. 
 
 t This Psalm, one of the most stirring compositions of the kind, 
 was the war-song of the Camisards, raised whenever they went forth 
 to battle. The first verse, which was the part used on such occa- 
 sions, may be thus translated : — 
 
 Let God but rise and show his face, 
 And in a moment from the place 
 
 Our foes are disappearing. 
 Their camp dispersed, bereft their pride, 
 Astonished, pressed on every side, 
 
 They flee at his appearing. 
 
THE GENEVAN LITURGY IN FRANCE. 89 
 
 this for the signal of their deliverance, and were 
 not mistaken.* 
 
 " Ah ! hoAV they penetrate the very soul at such 
 moments/' exclaims a brilliant delineator of the 
 Huguenot character, ^^ these rude songs of our 
 forefathers ! These psalms are our epic ; and the 
 most profoundly truthful epic that has ever been 
 written or sung by any nation ; an endless work, 
 of which each of us becomes afresh the author ; a 
 sacred treasure, where are gathered beside our 
 patriotic remembrances, the remembrances, hopes, 
 joys, and griefs of each. Not a verse, not a line, 
 which is not a whole history, or a whole poem. 
 This was sung by a mother at the cradle of her 
 first-born ; that was chanted by one of our martyrs 
 as he marched to his death. There is the song 
 of the Vaudois returning armed to their country ; 
 here that of the Camisards advancing to battle. 
 This was the line interrupted by a ball ; this was 
 half murmured by an expiring father, who went 
 to finish it among the angels. O our psalms! 
 
 We shall behold their scattered tents 
 Fade like a vapour dark and dense, 
 
 Their nothingness resuming : 
 As melts the wax in fervent heat, 
 So melt the wicked when they meet 
 
 Our God, their strength consuming. 
 
 * De Felice, p. 304. 
 
90 A CHAPTER ON LITURGIES. 
 
 our psalms ! Who in human language could ever 
 tell what you say to us in our solitudes, upon the 
 soil crimsoned with our blood, and under the vault 
 of heaven, from whose height look down upon 
 us those who with us have wept, sung, and 
 prayed!"* 
 
 Yes, ^^ sung and prayed j'^'' the halo of this an- 
 cient worship robes the prayers of these illustrious 
 witnesses of God with not less brightness than 
 their songs of praise. No psalm thrills more 
 powerfully on the ear of the worshipper than 
 that beautiful Confession of Sins, which, in the 
 language of another, ascends as a fragrant incense 
 on every Sabbath day, from every "temple" on 
 the soil of France, t No psalm is fraught with 
 recollections more vivid and touching, than are 
 connected with that prayer of consecration by 
 which the aged Rabaut, the pastor of the Desert, 
 inducted his only son to a ministry of toil and 
 martyrdom.^ No psalm comes up in more pathetic 
 
 * The Priest and the Huguenot, by L. Bungener, one of the most 
 delightful of historic illustrations, vol. i., pp. 141, 142. An excel- 
 lent translation has made this work known and popular among us . 
 Boston : Gould and Lincoln, 1854. 
 
 t Eev. Philippe Boucher, in an address before the General 
 Assembly of the Church of Scotland. 
 
 X r>E Felice, p. 545. The scene is described with intense interest 
 by Bungener, in the last pages of his remarkable work. The Priest 
 and the Huguenot, vol. ii., ch. xcix. 
 
THE GENEVAN LITURGY IN FRANCE. 91 
 
 strains to our memory, than those morning and 
 evening prayers, and those communion forms, in 
 the use of which Calvin, and Knox, and Cohgny, 
 breathed their souls away to God. 
 
 Never, we sincerely trust, will the day come 
 when, by any adventitious influence of *^ new 
 light" and new fashion, the Churches of France 
 shall be persuaded to violate the sanctity of these 
 venerable psalms and prayers, either by introduc- 
 tion of fancied improvements, or by exchange for 
 novelties of the day. The hasty concoctions of 
 modern innovators could scarcely supply the place 
 which these formularies are entitled to occupy 
 in the affections of every worshipper who adopts 
 them, and in the reverence of all others. 
 
V. 
 
 "Ceremonies grounded upon God's word, and approved in the 
 New Testament, are commendable, as the Circumstance thereof doth 
 support. Those that man hath invented, though he had never so 
 good Occasion thereunto, if they be once abused, import a necessity, 
 hinder God's Word, or be drawn into a Superstition, without respect 
 ought to be abolished." — Preface to the Book or Common Order. 
 
 Perhaps no one of the great Reformers was better 
 fitted than John Knox to prepare forms of wor- 
 ship for the Churches of the Reformation. In 
 him a temperament naturally enthusiastic was 
 heightened by the ardour of religious zeal; and 
 the courage that '' knew not what it was to quail 
 before the face of man/' consisted with a pious 
 reverence that abased him in the presence of God. 
 These qualities alone would insure earnest and 
 holy praying, and secure its prevalence at the 
 throne of grace ; but in John Knox, their useful- 
 ness to the Church was enhanced by a gift of 
 utterance seldom equalled Avithout a special in- 
 spiration. Vehement of thought, and fluent of 
 expression, his oratory and his devotions were 
 alike distinguished for striking and felicitous Ian- 
 
JOHN KNOX CHURCH OF SCOTLAND. 93 
 
 guage. A deep experience of the Christian life, 
 and a wide acquaintance with it in others, enabled 
 him largely to represent the wants and feelings 
 of worshippers, in those forms of supplication 
 which he drew up for their use. 
 
 Thus much would be pronounced by any one 
 at all familiar with the writings of Knox, how- 
 ever ignorant of the services he actually rendered 
 to religious worship. The fervent spirit of the 
 man breathes in every page of his works. On 
 first perusing them, we could not but wish that 
 the great Reformer might have left us some fruits 
 of his singular gift of prayer, beyond those which 
 are to be found scattered among his treatises and 
 letters. 
 
 And here let me cite as a specimen one of those 
 prayers which occur among the writings of this 
 Reformer. I select the following, not for its 
 greater merit, but for its brevity, as more suited 
 to the purpose. It is taken from the conclusion 
 of one of his treatises, and in the original is 
 entitled, 
 
 A GODLY PRATER. 
 
 O Lord, most strong and mighty God ! Who 
 destroyest the counsels of the ungodly, and at thy 
 
94 A CHAPTER ON LITURGIES. 
 
 pleasure riddest away the tyrants of this world, 
 so that no force can resist thine everlasting de- 
 termination : We, thy poor creatures and humble 
 servants, do most earnestly desire thee, for the 
 love thou hast to thy well-beloved only-begotten 
 Son, our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, that 
 thou wilt look upon thy cause; — for it is time, 
 O Lord ! — and bring to nought all those things 
 that are, or shall be appointed, determined, and 
 agreed against thee and thy holy w^ord. Let not 
 the enemies of thy truth too miserably oppress 
 thy word and thy servants which seek thy glory, 
 tender* the advancement of thy pure religion, and 
 above all things wish in their heart that thy holy 
 name alone may be glorified among all nations. 
 Give unto the mouth of thy people truth and 
 wisdom Avhich no man may resist. And although 
 we have most justly deserved this plague and 
 famine of thy word, yet, upon our true repentance, 
 grant, we beseech thee, we may be thereof re- 
 leased. And here we promise, before thy Divine 
 Majesty, better to use thy gifts than we have done, 
 and more straightly to order our lives according 
 to thy holy will and pleasure. And we will sing 
 
 * Tender^ i.e., regard with kindness. 
 
JOHN KNOX CHURCH OF SCOTLAND. 95 
 
 perpetual praises to thy most blessed name, world 
 without end, through Jesus Christ our Lord. 
 Amen. * 
 
 That there were some quaKties, however, in 
 the Scottish Reformer's character, wanting to a 
 perfect adaptedness for the work of devotional 
 writing, we are free to acknowledge. The deli- 
 cacy, the tenderness that should deal with cer- 
 tain phases of religious experience, that should 
 express certain emotions of the soul : of these, 
 though not destitute, neither was he remarkably 
 possessed. Nor might we reasonably look to him 
 for these. Knox was a man raised up to do 
 battle in fierce times, with rude and rough adver- 
 saries ; and though not without kindly sympathies 
 and gentle susceptibilities, he was not so placed 
 as to develope them in full proportion with other 
 attributes of his noble soul. But the worship of 
 the Church of Scotland did not suffer by this 
 deficiency in the author of its forms. Happily 
 for Knox, on this and other accounts, he came 
 early in his apostolic career, under the benign 
 irradiation of a clear and beautiful mind, adorned 
 
 * See the "Writings of John Knox, published by the Presbyterian 
 Board, Philadelphia. 
 
yb A CHAPTER ON LITURGIES. 
 
 with some of the graces in which himself was 
 wanting: the mind of Calvin.* 
 
 In the year 1554, finding it no longer safe to 
 remain in Scotland, where the Protestant cause 
 was suffering violence under the reign of Mary, 
 Knox repaired to Geneva, a place where he 
 already had many friends and well-wishers among 
 his Reformed brethren. By Calvin he was re- 
 ceived with open arms ; and in the intimate society 
 of that remarkable man, he passed much time. 
 With occasional absences, during one of which 
 he visited the English refugees at Frankfort, and 
 during another returned for some months to Scot- 
 land, Knox spent parts of six years in the city of 
 Geneva, dwelling in the bosom of his own family, 
 pursuing various studies under the direction of 
 his illustrious master, and having charge of a 
 
 * " The world has been accustomed to impute a stoic coldness and 
 severity to his character, but the whole tenor of his life contradicts 
 this imputation. The deep feeling for, and knowledge of, the suffer- 
 ings of others, which he derived from his own experience, and which 
 was not dulled in his old age, are exemplified by a variety of instances. 
 Passages occur even in the ' Institutes,' which prove his gentleness of 
 spirit, his sympathy with mankind, and knowledge of the human 
 heart. There was nothing stern, formal, or repulsive in his manners. 
 Women never shrank from frequent or familiar conversation with 
 him on subjects of religion. And that which will say still more in 
 his favour, his colleagues in office often spoke, after his death, in 
 terms of the highest praise, of his gentleness, and agreeable, loving 
 temper."— Henky's Life of Calvin, i. 278. 
 
JOHN KNOX CHURCH OF SCOTLAND. 97 
 
 small congregation of English exiles, who like 
 him had fled to the capital of the Protestant 
 world. The greatest affection united him with 
 the members of his little flock ; and he was happy 
 in the friendship of Calvin and other pastors of 
 Geneva. So much was he delighted with the 
 purity of religion established in that city, that he 
 warmly recommended it to his religious acquaint- 
 ances in England, as the best Christian asylum to 
 which they could flee. " In my heart," says he, 
 in a letter to a friend, " I could have wished, yea, 
 and cannot cease to wish, that it might please 
 God to guide and conduct yourself to this place ; 
 where, I neither fear nor am ashamed to say, is 
 the most perfect school of Christ that ever was 
 in the earth since the days of the apostles. In 
 other places, I confess Christ to be truly preached; 
 but manners and reUgion to be so sincerely re-^ 
 formed, I have not yet seen in any other place 
 beside."* 
 
 As on all important points of faith and dis- 
 cipline these great Reformers perfectly agreed, so, 
 too, in respect to forms of public worship their 
 practice was harmonious. Calvin, as we have 
 
 * M' Crib's Life of Enoa^, period V. 
 H 
 
98 A CHAPTER ON LITURGIES. 
 
 already seen^ had ten years before the arrival of 
 Knox inaugurated the Reformed service in the 
 Churches of Geneva ; according to the mode and 
 manner which he deemed most agreeable to the 
 word of God and primitive custom. Knox, in 
 his Letter of Instruction written from Geneva to 
 the Protestants of Scotland, takes for the model 
 of his directions that Liturgy which he finds in 
 use among his Genevan brethren, and recom- 
 mends the same general order to be observed in 
 their assemblies. For beauty of thought and pro- 
 priety of counsel, this letter deserves quotation. 
 " Your beginning," says the Reformer, " should 
 be by confessing of your offences, and invocation 
 of the Spirit of the Lord Jesus to assist you in all 
 your godly enterprises. And then let some place 
 of Scripture be plainly and distinctly read, as 
 much as shall be thought sufficient for a day or 
 time. In reading the Scriptures, I would ye 
 should join some books of the Old and some of 
 the New Testament together, as Genesis and one 
 of the Evangelists, Exodus with another, and so 
 forth ; ever ending such books as ye begin, as the 
 time will suffer; for it shall greatly comfort you 
 to hear that harmony and well-tuned song of the 
 Holy Spirit speaking in our fathers from the 
 
JOHN KNOX CHURCH OF SCOTLAND. 99 
 
 beginning. It shall confirm you in these danger- 
 ous and perilous days to behold the face of Christ 
 Jesus, and his loving spouse and Church, from 
 Abel to himself, and from himself to this day, in 
 all ages to be one. Like as your assemblies ought 
 to begin, with confession and invocation of God^s 
 Holy Spirit, so would I that they never finished 
 without thanksgiving, and common prayers for 
 princes, rulers, and magistrates ; for the liberty 
 and free passage of Christ^s Gospel; for the 
 comfort and deliverance of our afflicted brethren 
 in all places now persecuted, but most cruelly 
 within the realm of France and England; and 
 for such other things as the Spirit of the Lord 
 Jesus shall teach you to be profitable either to 
 yourselves, or yet to your brethren, wheresoever 
 they are.^^* 
 
 The necessities of the English Church at Frank- 
 fort, to which Knox ministered for a short time, 
 led him in 1554 to draw up an Order of Worship, 
 closely modelled upon the Genevan service, f 
 
 * Knox, A most Godly Counsel^ etc. 
 
 t See " A Brief Discourse of the Troubles begun at Frankfort in 
 Germany, A. D. 1554, about the Book of Common Prayer and Cere- 
 monies." First published 1575. Keprinted in "The Fhenix; or, a 
 Revival of Scarce and Valuable Pieces from the Remotest Antiquity, 
 down to the Present Times." London, 1707. 
 
100 A CHAPTER ON LITURGIES. 
 
 When, after a short stay at Frankfort, the Re- 
 former went back to Geneva, and took charge of 
 the Enghsh congregation in that city, this form 
 was unanimously adopted, and in February, 1556, 
 was published.* The design of its publication 
 was not simply to supply the wants of the con- 
 gregation at Geneva, but rather, as we learn from 
 the Preface, with a view to its extensive use in 
 England and Scotland. And upon the return of 
 Knox to Scotland, he obtained the general adher- 
 ence of the Scottish churches to this Order. It 
 was adopted by Act of the General Assembly as 
 early as 1560,t and in subsequent years repeatedly 
 approved, as the established form of worship. 
 
 "We, therefore," says the Preface to the Book 
 of Common Order, dated at Geneva, in February, 
 1556, "not as the greatest clerks of all, but as 
 the least able of many, do present unto you, which 
 desire the increase of God's Glory, and the pure 
 Simplicity of his Word, a Form and Order of a Re- 
 formed Church, limit within the Compass of God's 
 
 * The title of this book, as subsequently reprinted (in 1600), was, 
 " The Book of Common Order, or the Order of the English Kirk at 
 Geneva, whei'eof John Knox was Minister : Approved by the famous 
 and learned man, John Calvin. Received and used by the Reformed 
 Kirk of Scotland, and ordinarily prefixed to the Psalms in Metre." — 
 DuNLOP's Confessions, ii. 383. 
 
 t The First Book of Disci2)Uney\o%Q. 
 
JOHN KNOX CHURCH OF SCOTLAND. 101 
 
 Word, which our Saviour hath left unto us as only 
 sufficient to govern all our actions by. — And. also, 
 knowing that negligence in reforming that Reli- 
 gion which was begun in England, was not the 
 least cause of God's Rod laid upon us, having 
 now obtained, by the merciful Providence of our 
 heavenly Father, a free Church for all our nation 
 in this most worthy City of Geneva, we presented 
 to the judgment of the famous man, John Calvin, 
 and others learned in these Parts, the Order 
 which we minded to use in our Church; who 
 approving it as sufficient for a Christian Con- 
 gregation, we put the same in Execution, nothing 
 doubting but all godly men shall be much edified 
 thereby."* 
 
 It was not designed that the use of these prayers 
 should be confined to the services of the Sabbath. 
 The Church of Scotland, in the early days of the 
 Reformation, enjoined more frequent celebration 
 of Divine Service. It recommended that where 
 practicable, and especially " in great towns, there 
 be either Sermon or Common Prayers, with some 
 Exercise of reading of Scriptures, every day."t 
 
 * The Preface : " To our brethren in England and elseivhcre, 
 
 which love Jesus Christ unfeiffnedli/."—T)v:sLO-p's Confessions, ii. 385. 
 
 t The First Book of Discipline, ch. xi. — ^When Mr. Kobert Bruce 
 
102 A CHAPTER ON LITURGIES. 
 
 On Sundays, besides the service of prayer and 
 preaching in the morning, there was a catechetical 
 exercise for the young in the afternoon. On one 
 day of the week, also, was held a meeting, for 
 free and familiar exposition of the Scriptures ; in 
 which " every man had Liberty to utter and de- 
 clare his mind and knowledge to the Comfort 
 and Consolation of the Kirk."* These exercises, 
 answering precisely to our meetings for conference 
 and prayer, were termed more scripturally by our 
 fathers, " prophesyings," or "interpretations."! 
 The Lord's Supper was administered four times 
 a year. J 
 
 These facts enable us to form some idea of the 
 arrangements for public worship, which our Re- 
 formers attempted to provide in all the Churches 
 
 was relegated to Inverness, a. d. 1605, lie " remained there four years, 
 teaching every Sabbath before noon, and every Wednesday, and 
 exercised at the reading of the j^rayers every other nights — Calder- 
 wooD, p. 496. 
 
 * The First Book of Discipline^ ch. xii. 
 
 t The practice was borrowed, as we have seen, from the Genevan 
 Church : it was adopted very generally in the Church of England 
 also, and remained until arbitrarily broken up by Queen Elizabeth. 
 — See Memoirs of Archhp. Grinded. 
 
 X In 1711, the General Assembly recommended to the Presbyteries 
 a more frequent celebration of the Lord's Supper : " that it be duly 
 observed in theu' bounds through the several months in the year;" 
 but it does not appear that this action was followed up. — See Com- 
 Xjoidium of the Laws of the Church of Scotland, Part Second, p. 164. 
 
JOHX KNOX CHURCH OF SCOTLAND. lOo 
 
 of Scotland. That they succeeded in establishing 
 them everywhere, we have no reason to believe. 
 But in many places, the scheme was carried out. 
 In many towns and villages, the church-going 
 bell was to be heard, not alone upon the Sabbath, 
 but often, or even daily, through the week. The 
 church was regarded, not simply as a place of 
 weekly congregation, but as a sanctuary and 
 asylum, always open to the solitary worshipper, 
 who sought opportunity of quiet devotion. Fre- 
 quently, too, was opportunity afforded of hearing 
 the word read, and uniting with the assembly of 
 the faithful in the hymn of praise and the voice 
 of prayer. We love to look back on those days 
 of open churches and daily worship. There were 
 prevalent sins and errors in those days ; ignorance 
 and superstition yet remained to be rooted out; 
 but in the measures adopted for their eradication, 
 and the promoting of truth and godliness, we 
 discover wisdom and judiciousness, unrestrained 
 by the fear of infringing on established custom, 
 or offending unconquerable prejudice. 
 
 We proceed to give the form of Divine Service 
 appointed in the Scottish Order of Worship, for 
 the morning of the Lord's Day. 
 
104 A CHAPTER ON LITURGIES. 
 
 THE ORDER OF PUBLIC WORSHIP. 
 
 When the congregation is assemhled at the hour 
 appointed, the minister useth one of these two con- 
 fessions, or like in effect, exhorting the people 
 diligently to examine themselves , following in their 
 hearts the tenor of his words. 
 
 THE CONFESSION OF OUE SINS. 
 
 O Eternal God, and most merciful Father ! 
 We confess and acknowledge here before thy 
 Divine Majesty, that we are miserable sinners, 
 conceived and born in sin and iniquity, so that in 
 us there is no goodness. For the flesh evermore 
 rebelleth against the spirit; whereby we con- 
 tinually transgress thine holy precepts and com- 
 mandments, and so purchase to ourselves, through 
 thy just judgment, death and condemnation. Not- 
 withstanding, O Heavenly Father, forasmuch as 
 we are displeased with ourselves for the sins that 
 we have committed against thee, and do unfeign- 
 edly repent us of the same : we most humbly 
 beseech thee, for Jesus Christ's sake, to show 
 thy mercy upon us, to forgive us all our sins, and 
 to increase thine Holy Spirit in us ; that we, 
 acknowledging from the bottom of our hearts our 
 
JOHN KNOX CHITRCH OF SCOTLAND. 105 
 
 own unrighteousness, may from henceforth not 
 only mortify our sinful lusts and affections, but 
 also bring forth such fruits as may be agreeable 
 to thy most blessed will; not for the worthiness 
 thereof, but for the merits of thy dearly beloved 
 Son Jesus Christ, our only Saviour, whom thou 
 hast already given an oblation and offering for 
 our sins, and for whose sake we are certainly per- 
 suaded that thou wilt deny us nothing that we 
 shall ask in his Name according to thy will. For 
 thy Holy Spirit doth assure our consciences that 
 thou art our merciful Father, and so lovest us, 
 thy chikken, through him, that nothing is able 
 to remove thine heavenly grace and favour from 
 us. To thee, therefore, O Father, with the Son 
 and with the Holy Ghost, be all honour and glory, 
 world without end. Amen. 
 
 ANOTHER COI^FESSION OF SINS. 
 
 Almighty God, we are unworthy to come into 
 thy presence, by reason of our manifold sins and 
 wickedness; much less to receive any grace or 
 mercy at thine hands, if thou shouldst deal with 
 us according to our deservings. For we have 
 sinned, O Lord, against thee, and have offended 
 thy holy Majesty. We were conceived in sin. 
 
106 A CHAPTER ON LITURGIES. 
 
 and in iniquity was every one of us born. All 
 the days of our life we have continued in sin and 
 wickedness, to follow the corruption of our fleshly 
 nature. Therefore, O Lord, if thou shouldst 
 enter into judgment with us, just occasion hast 
 thou not only to punish these our mortal bodies, 
 but also to punish us both in body and soul 
 eternally, if thou shouldst deal with us according 
 to the rigour of thy justice. But yet, O Lord, 
 as we acknowledge our sins and offences, together 
 with the fearful judgment that justly, by reason 
 thereof, thou mayst pour upon us : so also, we 
 acknowledge thee to be a merciful God, a loving 
 and a favourable Father, to all them that un- 
 feignedly turn unto thee. Wherefore, O Lord, 
 we thy people, the workmanship of thine own 
 hands, most humbly beseech thee, for Christ thy 
 Son's sake, to show thy mercy upon us, and for- 
 give us all our offences. Impute not unto us the 
 sins of our youth, neither yet receive thou a 
 reckoning of us for the iniquity of our old age. 
 But as thou hast showed thyself merciful to all 
 them that have truly called unto thee, so show 
 the like favour unto us thy poor servants. Endue 
 our hearts, O God, with such a true and perfect 
 acknowledging of our sins, that we may pour 
 
JOHN KNOX CHURCH OF SCOTLAND. 107 
 
 forth before thee the unfeigned sighs of our 
 troubled hearts and afflicted consciences for our 
 offences committed against thee. Inflame our 
 souls with such zeal and fervency towards thy 
 glory, that all the days of our life our only study 
 and labour may be to serve and worship thee, in 
 spirit and in truth. Preserve us from all impedi- 
 ments that in anywise may hinder us ; but espe- 
 cially from the craft of Satan, from the snares of 
 the world, and from the naughty lusts and affec- 
 tions of the flesh. Make thy Spirit, O God, once 
 to take such full possession of our hearts, that 
 not only the actions of our life, but also the words 
 of our mouth, and the least thought of our mind, 
 may be guided and ruled thereby. 
 
 And finally, grant that all our time may be so 
 spent in thy true fear and obedience, that we may 
 end the same in the sanctification of thy blessed 
 name, through Jesus Christ our Lord ; to whom, 
 with thee and the Holy Ghost, be all honour and 
 glory, both now and for ever. Amen. 
 
 Tills done, the people sing a Psalm all together, 
 in a plain tune ; which ended, the minister prayeth 
 for the assistance of God^s Holy Spirit, as the 
 same shall move his heart, and so proceedeth to 
 
108 A CHAPTER ON LITURGIES. 
 
 the sermon, using after the sermo7i this prayer 
 following, or such like. 
 
 A PRAYER FOR THE WHOLE ESTATE OF CHRIST'S 
 CHURCH. 
 
 Almighty God and most merciful Father, we 
 humbly submit ourselves, and fall down before 
 thy Majesty, beseeching thee, from the bottom of 
 our hearts, that this seed of thy word, now sown 
 among us, may take such deep root, that neither 
 the burning heat of persecution cause it to wither, 
 neither the thorny cares of this life do choke it, 
 but that, as seed sown in good ground, it may 
 bring forth thirty, sixty, and an hundred fold, as 
 thine heavenly wisdom hath appointed. And 
 because we have need continually to crave many 
 things at thine hands, we humbly beseech thee, 
 O heavenly Father, to grant us thine Holy Spirit 
 to direct our petitions, that they may proceed 
 from such a fervent mind as may be agreeable to 
 thy most blessed will. And seeing that our in- 
 firmity is able to do nothing without thine help, 
 and that thou art not ignorant with how many 
 and great temptations we poor wretches are on 
 every side enclosed and compassed, let thy strength, 
 O Lord, sustain our weakness, that we, being 
 
JOHN KNOX CHURCH OF SCOTLAND. 109 
 
 defended with the force of thy grace, may be safely 
 preserved against all assaults of Satan, who goeth 
 about continually like a roaring lion, seeking to 
 devour us. Increase our faith, O merciful Father, 
 that we do not swerve at any time from thine 
 heavenly word ; but augment in us hope and love, 
 with a careful keeping of all thy commandments, 
 that no hardness of heart, no hypocrisy, no con- 
 cupiscence of the eyes, nor enticements of the 
 world, do draw us away from thine obedience. 
 And seeing we live now in these most perilous 
 times, let thy Fatherly providence defend us 
 against the violence of all our enemies, who do 
 everywhere pursue us ; but chiefly against the 
 wicked rage and furious uproars of that Romish 
 idol and enemy to thy Christ. 
 
 Furthermore, forasmuch as by thine holy apostle 
 we are taught to make our prayers and supplica- 
 tions for all men, we pray not only for ourselves 
 here present, but beseech thee also to reduce all 
 such as yet be ignorant from the miserable cap- 
 tivity of blindness and error to the pure under- 
 standing of thine heavenly truth : that we all, 
 with one consent and unity of mind, may worship 
 thee our only God and Saviour; and that all 
 pastors, shepherds, and ministers, to whom thou 
 
110 A CHAPTEIl ON LITURGIES. 
 
 hast committed the dispensation of thine lioly 
 word, and cliargc of thy chosen people, may hoth 
 in their life and doctrine he found faithful, setting 
 only hefore their eyes thy glory; and that hy 
 them all poor sheep which wander and go astray 
 may be gathered and brought home to thy fold. 
 
 Moreover, because the hearts of rulers are in 
 thine hands, wc beseech thee to direct and govern 
 the hearts of all kings, princes, and magistrates, 
 to whom thou hast committed the sword; espe- 
 cially, O Lord, according to our bounden duty, 
 we beseech thee to maintain and increase the 
 noble estate of the Queen's Majesty, and her 
 honourable council, with all the estate and whole 
 body of the commonwealth. Let thy fatherly 
 favour so preserve her, and thine Holy Spirit so 
 govern her heart, that she may in such sort exe- 
 cute her office that thy religion may be purely 
 maintained, manners reformed, and sin punished, 
 according to the precise rule of thine holy 
 word. 
 
 And for that we be all members of the mystical 
 body of ('hrist Jesus, we make our requests 
 unto thee, O heavenly Father, for all such as are 
 afflicted with any kind of cross or tribulation, as 
 war, plague, famine, sickness, poverty, imprison- 
 
JOHN KNOX CHURCH OF SCOTLAND. Ill 
 
 ment, persecution, banisliment, or any other kind 
 of thy chastisements, whether it be grief of body 
 or unquietncss of mind ; that it would please thee 
 to give them patience and constancy, till thou 
 send them full deliverance out of all their troubles. 
 And, finally, O Lord God, most merciful Father, 
 we most humbly beseech thee to show thy great 
 mercies upon those our brethren who are perse- 
 cuted, cast in prison, and daily condemned to 
 death, for the testimony of thy truth : and though 
 they be utterly destitute of all man's aid, yet let 
 thy sweet comfort never depart from them, but 
 so inflame their hearts with thine Holy Spirit, 
 that they may boldly and cheerfully abide such 
 trial as thy godly wisdom shall appoint ; so that 
 at length, as well by their death as by their life, 
 the kingdom of thy Son Jesus Christ may in- 
 crease and shine through all the world ; in whose 
 name we make our humble petitions unto thee, as 
 he hath taught us, saying, 
 
 Our Father, which art in heaven, hallowed be 
 thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done 
 on earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day 
 our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we 
 forgive our debtors. And lead us not into tempta- 
 tion, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the 
 
112 A CHAPTER ON LITUKGIES. 
 
 kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. 
 Amen. 
 
 Almighty and everlasting God, vouchsafe, we 
 beseech thee, to grant us perfect continuance in 
 the lively faith, augmenting the same in us daily, 
 till we grow to the full measure of our perfec- 
 tion in Christ, whereof we make our confession, 
 saying, 
 
 I believe in God the Father Almighty, Maker 
 of heaven and earth; and in Jesus Christ his 
 only Son our Lord, who w^as conceived by the 
 Holy Ghost, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered 
 under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead and 
 buried; He descended into hell; the third day 
 He rose again from the dead ; He ascended into 
 heaven, and sitteth on the right hand of God the 
 Father Almighty; from thence He shall come to 
 judge the quick and the dead. I believe in the 
 Holy Ghost ; the holy Catholic Church ; the com- 
 munion of saints ; the forgiveness of sins ; the 
 resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. ' 
 Amen. 
 
 Then tlie people sing a psalm , ivliich ended, the 
 7ninister pronounceth one of these blessings, and so 
 the congregation departeih. 
 
JOHN KNOX CHURCH OF SCOTLAND. 113 
 
 The Lord bless ns, and save us ; the Lord 
 make his face to shine upon us, and be merciful 
 unto us ; the Lord turn his countenance towards 
 us, and grant us his peace. 
 
 The grace of our Lord Jesxjs Christ, the love 
 of God, and the communion of the Holy Ghost, 
 be with you all. Amen.* 
 
 A GODLY PRAYER, TO BE SAID AT ALL TIMES. 
 
 Honour and praise be given to thee, O Lord 
 God Almighty, most dear Father of heaven, for 
 all thy mercies and loving-kindness showed unto 
 us, in that it hath pleased thy gracious goodness 
 freely and of thine own accord to elect and choose 
 us to salvation before the beginning of the world. 
 
 * It shall not be necessary for the minister daily to repeat all these 
 things before mentioned, but, beginning with some manner of confes' 
 sion, to proceed to the sermon; which being 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 according to the time 
 and matter ivhich he hath intreated of And if there shall be at any 
 time any present plague, famine, pestilence, war, or such like, which 
 be evident tokens of God's wrath, as it is our part to acknowledge our 
 sins to be the occasion thereof, so are we appointed by the Scriptures 
 to give ourselves to mourning, fasting, and prayer, as the means to 
 turn away God's heavy displeasure. Therefore it shall he convenient 
 that the minister at such time do not only admonish the people thereof, 
 but also use some form of prayer according as the present necessity 
 requireth; to the which he may appoint, by a common consent, some 
 several clay after the sermon weekly to be observed. 
 T 
 
114 A CHAPTER ON LITURGIES. 
 
 And even like continual thanks be given to thee 
 for creating us after thine own image; for re- 
 deeming us with the precious blood of thy dear 
 Son, when we were utterly lost; for sanctifying 
 us with thine Holy Spirit in the revelation and 
 knowledge of thine holy word; for helping and 
 succouring us in all our needs and necessities; 
 for saving us from all dangers of body and soul ; 
 for comforting us so fatherly in all our tribula- 
 tions and persecutions ; for sparing us so long, 
 and giving us so large a time of repentance. 
 These benefits, O most merciful Father, like as 
 we acknowledge to have received of thine only 
 goodness, even so we beseech thee, for thy dear 
 Son Jesus Christ's sake, to grant us always 
 thine Holy Spirit, whereby we may continually 
 groAv in thankfulness towards thee, and be led 
 into all truth, and comforted in all our adversities. 
 O Lord, strengthen our ftiith ; kindle it more in 
 ferventness and love towards thee, and our neigh- 
 bours, for thy sake. Suffer us not, most dear 
 Father, to receive thy word any more in vain ; 
 but grant us always the assistance of thy grace 
 and Holy Spirit, that in heart, word, and deed, 
 we may sanctify and do worship to thy name. 
 Help to amplify and increase thy kingdom ; 
 
JOHN KNOX CHURCH OF SCOTLAND. 115 
 
 that whatsoever thou sendest, we may be heartily 
 well content with thy good pleasure and will. 
 Let us not lack the thing, O Father ! without the 
 which we cannot serve thee ; but bless thou so 
 all the works of our hands, that we may have 
 sufficient, and not be chargeable, but rather help- 
 ful unto others. Be merciful, O Lord, to our 
 offences ; and seeing our debt is great, which thou 
 hast forgiven us in Jesus Christ, make us to 
 love thee and our neighbours so much the more. 
 Be thou our Father, our Captain and Defender 
 in all temptations ; hold thou us by thy merciful 
 hand ; that we may be delivered from all incon- 
 veniences, and end our lives in the sanctifying 
 and honouring of thine holy name, through Jesus 
 Christ our Lord and only Saviour. Amen. 
 
 Let thy mighty hand and outstretched arm, O 
 Lord, be still our defence ; thy mercy and loving- 
 kindness in Jesus Christ, thy dear Son, our sal- 
 vation ; thy true and holy word our instruction ; 
 thy grace and Holy Spirit our comfort and con- 
 solation, unto the end and in the end. Amen. 
 
 O Lord, increase our faith. Amen. 
 
VI. 
 
 " There is no warrantable form [of celebrating the Lord's Supper] 
 directed or appro ven by the Kirk, besides that which is extant in print 
 before the Psalm Book ; according to which, as I have always done, 
 I now minister that sacrament." — A Scottish Clergyman in 1620. 
 
 In a hall of the ancient baronial house of Calder, 
 West Lothian, there hangs a portrait of John 
 Knox, with this inscription : " The first Sacra- 
 ment of the Supper given in Scotland after the 
 Reformation, was dispensed in this hall."* 
 
 It seems probable that the occasion to which 
 this language refers, if not actually the earliest 
 celebration of that ordinance in Scotland, was the 
 first after Knox's return from Geneva, in August, 
 1555. Then, by the persuasion of our Reformer, 
 the adherents of the Protestant faith, who had 
 hitherto compromised with Popery so far as to 
 attend mass for the sake of appearances, were led 
 to an open breach with Rome; and from this 
 period may, in some sense, be dated the public 
 manifestation of the Reformed movement in 
 Scotland. 
 
 * M'Crie's life of Knox y p. 118, note. 
 
THE FIRST SACRAMENT IN SCOTLAND. IIT 
 
 This, too, was the first administration of the 
 Lord's Supper by John Knox, according to the 
 form and manner which he had seen practised 
 at Geneva, and which afterwards became the 
 appointed order of administration in the Church 
 of Scotland. 
 
 It needs no vivid fancy to picture a scene of 
 striking interest, as occurring under these cir- 
 cumstances at that sacramental season in Calder- 
 house. Standing behind the sacred table was the 
 venerable figure of the Reformer, small in stature, 
 but not without dignity of bearing, and a gravity 
 of aspect increased by the length of the flowing 
 beard, which reached almost to his waist. His 
 pallid, sickly countenance is lighted up by the 
 fire of a keen, penetrating eye ; as, in uttering 
 the exhortations of the communion form, he looks 
 around him on the small but crowded company 
 who are collected in that hall. Some of these are 
 men of no mean fame. Observe, as he goes up 
 to receive the holy emblems, the young Lord 
 James Stuart, now in his twenty-second year; 
 destined at no distant day to assume the regency 
 of the kingdom, as the famous Earl of Murray. 
 Already, in sternness of temperament and austerity 
 of manners, that savour of his priestly education. 
 
118 A CHAPTER ON LITURGIES. 
 
 he resembles not a little his admired and beloved 
 master. Now, the young Lord Erskine advances 
 to the table; a gallant nobleman, of free and 
 generous soul, upon whom the honours of the 
 regency will also devolve, but whose gentle spirit 
 will break under the trials of troublous times.* 
 Next comes another youth, the future Earl of 
 Argyle : a faithful disciple and ardent advocate 
 of the doctrines of the Reformers. 
 
 Others were present as eager listeners and atten- 
 tive spectators ; but upon these three young men, 
 the sacred rite they witnessed for the first time 
 produced permanent impressions that led to great 
 results. The simplicity, the solemnity, the Scrip- 
 tural beauty of the ordinance, touched their in- 
 most hearts. The admonitions which accompanied 
 it carried the truth with power to their souls. 
 Henceforth these men will retain, through turbu- 
 lent scenes, and amid the temptations of office, a 
 faithful adherence to that Gospel which they have 
 heard proclaimed at the table of the Lord's Supper 
 in the hall of C alder-house. 
 
 Not without interest, then, shall we read these 
 prayers and exhortations of the sacramental ser- 
 
 * Hume's History of England, ch. xl. 
 
THE FIRST SACIIAME]S^T IN SCOTLAND. 119 
 
 vice, whose first utterance three centuries ago fell 
 on the ears of men with such power and force. 
 We shall seem to hear, after their long silence, 
 the tones of an earnest voice pronouncing these 
 impressive words, which, it may be, have not 
 utterly lost their efficacy to edify and instruct.* 
 
 THE MANNER OF THE ADMINISTRATION 
 OF THE LORD'S SUPPER. 
 
 The day lohen the Lord's Supper is ministered, 
 which is commonly used once a month, or so oft as 
 the co7igregation shall think expedient, the minister 
 useth to say as follow eth. 
 
 Let us mark, dear brethren, and consider how 
 Jesus Christ did ordain unto us his holy supper, 
 according as St. Paul maketh rehearsal in the 
 eleventh chapter of the First Epistle to the Corin- 
 thians, saying, I have received of the Lord that 
 which also I delivered unto you, to wit, that the 
 Lord Jesus, the same night in which he was 
 betrayed, took bread, and when he had given 
 thanks he brake it, and said. Take, eat ; this is 
 my body, which is broken for you : this do in 
 
 * DuNLOP's Coll. of Confessions, etc., of Public Authority in the 
 Eirk of Scotland, ii. 445. 
 
120 A CHAPTER ON LITURGIES. 
 
 remembrance of me. Likewise, after supper, he 
 took the cuj), saying. This cup is the new testa- 
 ment, or covenant, in my blood : this do, as oft 
 as ye shall drink thereof, in remembrance of me. 
 For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink of 
 this cup, ye do show the Lord's death till he 
 come. Wherefore whosoever shall eat this bread, 
 and drink this cup of the Lord unworthily, he 
 shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. 
 Then see that every one prove and try himself, 
 and so let him eat of this bread and drink of this 
 cup ; for he that eateth or drinketh unworthily, 
 eateth and drinketh his own condemnation, for 
 not having due regard and consideration of the 
 Lord's body. 
 
 This done, the minister proceedeth to the ex- 
 hortation. 
 
 Dearly beloved in the Lord, forasmuch as we 
 be now assembled to celebrate the holy communion 
 of the body and blood of our Saviour Christ, let 
 us consider these words of St. Paul, how he ex- 
 horteth all persons diligently to try and examine 
 themselves before they presume to eat of that 
 bread, and to drink of that cup. For as the 
 benefit is great, if with a true penitent heart and 
 
THE FIRST SACRAMENT IN SCOTLAND. 121 
 
 lively faith we receive that holy sacrament (for 
 then we spiritually eat the flesh of Christ and 
 drink his blood, then we dwell in Christ, and 
 Christ in us, we be one with Christ and Christ 
 with us), so is the danger great if we receive the 
 same unworthily; for then we be guilty of the 
 body and blood of Christ our Saviour; we eat 
 and drink our own condemnation, not discerning 
 the Lord's body; we kindle God's wrath against 
 us, and provoke him to plague us with divers 
 diseases and sundry kinds of death. 
 
 And therefore, in the name and by the authority 
 of the eternal God, and of his Son Jesus Christ, 
 I excommunicate from this table all blasphemers 
 of God, all idolaters, all murderers, all adulterers, 
 all that be in malice or envy, all disobedient 
 persons to father or mother, to princes or magis- 
 trates, pastors or preachers, all thieves and de- 
 ceivers of their neighbours, and, finally, all such 
 as live a life directly fighting against the will of 
 God ; charging them, as they will answer in the 
 presence of Him who is the righteous Judge, that 
 they presume not to profane this most holy table. 
 And yet this I pronounce not to seclude any 
 penitent person, how grievous soever his sins 
 before have been, so that he feel in his heart 
 
122 A CHAPTER ON LITURGIES. 
 
 unfeigned repentance for the same ; but only such 
 as continue in sin without repentance. Neither 
 yet is this pronounced against such as aspire to a 
 greater perfection than they can in this present 
 life attain unto; for albeit we feel in ourselves 
 much frailty and wretchedness, so that we have 
 not our faith so perfect and constant as we ought, 
 being many times ready to distrust God's good- 
 ness, through our corrupt nature; and also that 
 we are not so thoroughly given to serve God, 
 neither have so fervent a zeal to set forth his 
 glory, as our duty requireth, feeling still such 
 rebellion in ourselves, that we have need daily to 
 fight against the lusts of our flesh; yet never- 
 theless, seeing that our Lord hath dealt thus 
 mercifully with us, that he hath printed his 
 Gospel in our hearts, so that we are preserved 
 from falling into desperation and unbelief; and 
 seeing also that he hath endued us with a will 
 and desire to renounce and withstand our own 
 affections, with a longing for his righteousness, 
 and the keeping of his commandments : we may 
 be now right well assured that those defaults and 
 manifold imperfections in us shall be no hindrance 
 at all against us, to cause Him not to accept 
 and account us as worthy to come to his spiritual 
 
THE FIRST SACRAMENT IN SCOTLAND. 123 
 
 table. For the end of our coming thither is not 
 to make protestation that we are upright or just 
 in our lives, but contrariwise, we come to seek 
 our life and perfection in Jesus Christ, acknow- 
 ledorino^ in the meantime that we of ourselves be 
 the children of wrath and condemnation. 
 
 Let us consider, then, that this sacrament is a 
 singular medicine for all poor sick creatures, a 
 comfortable help to weak souls; and that our 
 Lord requireth no other worthiness on our part, 
 but that we unfeignedly acknowledge our sinful- 
 ness and imperfection. Then, to the end that we 
 may be worthy partakers of his merits and most 
 comfortable benefits (which is the true eating of 
 his flesh and drinking of his blood), let us not 
 suffer our minds to wander about the considera- 
 tion of these earthly and corruptible things (which 
 we see present to our eyes and feel with our hands), 
 to seek Christ bodily present in them, as if he 
 were inclosed in the bread and wine, or as if these 
 elements were turned and changed into the sub- 
 stance of his flesh and blood. But as the only 
 way to dispose our souls to receive nourishment, 
 relief, and quickening of his substance, let us lift 
 up our minds by faith above all things worldly 
 and sensible, and thereby enter into heaven, that we 
 
124 A CHAPTER ON LITURGIES. 
 
 may find and receive Christ, where lie dwelleth 
 undoubtedly, very God and very man, in the in- 
 comprehensible glory of his Father: To whom 
 be all praise, honour, and glory, now and ever. 
 Amen. 
 
 The exJiortation ended, the minister cometh down 
 from the pulpit, and sitteth at the table, every man 
 and looman likewise taking their place as occasion 
 best serveth : the?i he taheth bread, and giveth 
 thanks, either in these words following, or like in 
 effect : 
 
 O 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. First, 
 for that thou hast created us in thine own image 
 and similitude : But chiefly in that thou hast de- 
 livered us from that everlasting death and damna- 
 tion, into the which Satan drew mankind by the 
 means of sin, from the bondage whereof neither 
 man nor angel was able to make us free. We 
 praise thee, O Lord ! that thou, rich in mercy, 
 and infinite in goodness, hast provided our redemp- 
 tion to stand in thine only and well-beloved Son, 
 
THE FIRST SACRAMENT IX SCOTLAND. 125 
 
 whom of very love tliou didst give to be made 
 man like unto us in all things, sin excepted, in 
 his body to receive the punishment of our trans- 
 gression, by his death to make satisfaction to thy 
 justice, and through his resurrection to destroy 
 him that was the author of death ; and so to bring 
 again life to the world, from which the whole 
 offspring of Adam most justly was exiled. 
 
 O Lord ! we acknowledge that no creature is 
 able to comprehend the length and breadth, the 
 depth and height of that thy most excellent love, 
 which moved thee to show mercy where none was 
 deserved, to promise and give life where death 
 had gotten the victory, to receive us in thy grace 
 when we could do nothing but rebel against thy 
 justice. O Lord ! the blind duhiess of our cor- 
 rupt nature will not suffer us sufficiently to weigh 
 these thy most ample benefits ; yet, nevertheless, 
 at the commandment of Jesus Christ our Lord, 
 we present ourselves at this His table, which he 
 hath left to be used in remembrance of his death, 
 until his coming again : to declare and witness 
 before the world, that by him alone we have re- 
 ceived liberty and life ; that by him alone thou 
 dost acknowledge us thy children and heirs ; that 
 by him alone we have entrance to the throne of 
 
126 A CHAPTER ON LITURGIES. 
 
 thy grace ; that by him alone we are possessed in 
 our spiritual kingdom to eat and drink at his 
 table, with whom we have our conversation pre- 
 sently in heaven, and by whom our bodies shall 
 be raised up again from the dust, and shall be 
 placed with him in that endless joy, which thou, 
 O Father of Mercy ! hast prepared for thine elect 
 before the foundation of the world was laid. And 
 these most inestimable benefits we acknowledge 
 and confess to have received of thy free mercy 
 and grace, by thine only beloved Son Jesus 
 Christ: for the which, therefore, we thy con- 
 gregation, moved by thine Holy Spirit, render 
 all thanks, praise, and glory, for ever and ever. 
 Amen. 
 
 TJiis done, the minister hreaketh the bread, and 
 delivereth it to the people, who distribute and 
 divide the same among themselves, according to 
 our Saviour Chrisfs commandment, and likewise 
 giveth the cup. During the which time some place 
 of the Scriptures is read, which doth lively set forth 
 the death of Christ, to the intent that our eyes 
 and senses may not only be occupied in those out- 
 ward signs of bread and wine, which are called 
 the visible word, but that our hearts and mind 
 
THE FIRST SACRAMENT IN SCOTLAND. 127 
 
 also may he fully fixed in the contemplation of the 
 Lord^s death, which is hy this holy sacrament 
 represented ; and after this action is done, he 
 giveth thanks, saying : 
 
 Most merciful Father, we render to tliee all 
 praise, thanks, and glory, for that it hath pleased 
 thee, of thy great mercies, to grant unto us, 
 miserable sinners, so excellent a gift and treasure, 
 as to receive us into the fellowship and company 
 of thy dear Son Jesus Christ our Lord, whom thou 
 hast delivered to death for us, and hast given him 
 unto us as a necessary food and nourishment unto 
 everlasting life. And now, we beseech thee also, 
 O heavenly Father, to grant us this request, that 
 thou never suffer us to become so unkind as to 
 forget so worthy benefits ; but rather imprint and 
 fasten them sure in our hearts, that we may grow 
 and increase daily more and more in true faith, 
 which continually is exercised in all manner of 
 good works; and so much the rather, O Lord, 
 confirm us in these perilous days and rages of 
 Satan, that we may constantly stand and con- 
 tinue in the confession of the same, to the advance- 
 ment of thy glory, who art God over all things, 
 blessed for ever. So be it. Amen. 
 
128 A CHAPTER ON LITURGIES. 
 
 The action thus ended, the people sing the hun- 
 dred and third Psalm, or some other of thanks- 
 giving ; ivhich ended, one of the hlessings before 
 mentioned is recited, ayid so they rise from the 
 table, and depart. 
 
VI. 
 
 %xms 0f t|e Sc0ttbl] f itttrp. 
 
 "For my part I am apt to think,— that our prayers stood so long, 
 Avas a favour by God granted us at the prayers of these men ; who 
 prayed for these prayers, as well as in them. And that they fell so 
 soon, was a punishment of our negligence, who had not taught even 
 those that Kked them well, to use them aright." — Anon., 1650. 
 
 Such were the forms of worship introduced into 
 the Church of Scotland at the Reformation, and 
 observed with more or less uniformity* through 
 the century succeeding. How general that observ- 
 ance, and how affected by subsequent legislation 
 of the Church, let us proceed briefly to examine. 
 
 The Church of Scotland was represented at the 
 Westminster Assembly (or " Synod of the Church 
 of England/' as it was then called) by commis- 
 sioners appointed for that purpose. These deputies 
 in 1645 reported the proceedings of the English 
 
 * Absolute uniformity was never intended. " There be two sorts 
 of policy," says the First Book of Discipline (1560) ; " the one utterly 
 necessary, as that the word be truly preached, the sacraments rightly 
 ministered, common prayers publicly made, etc. The other is pro- 
 fitable merely, not necessary; as that psalms should be sung, that 
 certain places of the Scriptures be read; that this day or that, or 
 how many in the week, the Kirk should assemble ; of these and such 
 others we cannot see how a certain order can be established." — Ch. xi. 
 K 
 
130 A CHAPTER ON LITURGIES. 
 
 Synod, submitting to the General Assembly the 
 Confession of Faith, Book of Discipline, and 
 Directory of Worship which they had assisted in 
 framing. And in the same year, by act of General 
 Assembly, those formularies were " approved,^^ and 
 adopted as standards of the Church of Scotland.* 
 
 The object of this legislation was clearly to fall 
 in with the action of the Westminster Divines, in 
 promoting uniformity among the churches, and 
 giving evidence of their perfect agreement. While 
 doing this, however, the Church made sacrifice of 
 her own peculiar standards ; f those which had 
 been prepared for her by the earliest of the Re- 
 formers, and had continued in use until that day. 
 Along with her ancient Confession of Faith, Books 
 of Discipline, and Catechism, she gave up the 
 Book of Common Order, which had hitherto been 
 the directory of her worship. 
 
 * Compendium of the Laws of the Church of Scotland, Part Second, 
 p. 326.— Act Sess. 10, Feb. 3rd, 1645. 
 
 f This readiness to concede whatever might be necessary for union 
 and harmony, appears not to have been staggered by the unreason- 
 ableness of any demand. At the fourteenth Session of 1645, the 
 General Assembly resolved " that ministers bowing in the pulpit, 
 though a lawful custom in this Kirk, be thereafter laid aside, for the 
 satisfaction of the desires of the reverend divines in the Synod of 
 England, and for uniformity with that Kirk." — Comp. of the Laivs, 
 etc.. Part II. p. 327. This " bowing" to the people, at the commence- 
 ment of the sermon, we have seen practised in some churches of 
 Saxony. 
 
TRACES OF THE SCOTTISH LITURGY. 131 
 
 That this concession, made for the sake of unity, 
 involved no condemnation of her former practice, 
 the Church of Scotland took particular pains to 
 declare. " It is also provided," says the decree 
 by which conformity to the Westminster standards 
 was enjoined, " that this act shall be no prejudice 
 to the order and practice of this Kirk, in such 
 particulars as are appointed by the Books of Dis- 
 cipline and acts of General Assemblies, and are 
 not otherwise ordered and appointed by the Direc- 
 tory."* And another law forbids, under pain of 
 ecclesiastical censure, " all condemning of one 
 another, in such lawful things as had been tmiver- 
 sally received, mid hy perpetual custom practised 
 by the most faithful ministers of the Gospel and 
 opposers of corruptions in the Kirk, sitice the first 
 heginning of reformation to these times." f 
 
 It is evident from this language, that while the 
 Church of Scotland consented to lay aside her 
 proper and peculiar order of worship, with the 
 hope of a general union of the British Churches 
 in the newly proposed Directory of the West- 
 minster Divines, she neither condemned nor 
 abrogated that ancient formulary; but, on the 
 
 * Compendium, etc., Part II. p. 327. Anno 1615. 
 t Ibid, p. 326. Anno 1613. 
 
lo2 A CHAPTER ON LITURGIES. 
 
 contrary, took special care to avoid the appearance 
 of any sucli repudiation, by a distinct ratification 
 of those acts and regulations, which had been 
 passed in former Assemblies, approving the Book 
 of Common Order. 
 
 We may now glance at the records of ecclesias- 
 tical action respecting the Order of Geneva, taken 
 by the Church of Scotland on various occasions 
 from the Reformation to the days of the West- 
 minster Assembly. 
 
 In 1557, the year after its publication, the Order 
 of Geneva was authorized, by the Lords of the 
 Congregation, to be used in all churches.* 
 
 In 1560, the First General Assembly directed 
 that " the Sacramentis suld be minis terit efter the 
 Order of the Kirk of Geneva '^•\ They mention 
 it again as " the Book of our Common Order." 
 They require that " a list of persons thought best 
 qualified to preach, minister sacraments, and read 
 the common prayers publickly in all kirks and 
 congregations, be given in by ministers and com- 
 missioners." + 
 
 In 1562, it was again confirmed by the General 
 
 * Bishop Sage, " The Fundamental Charter of Presbytery Ex- 
 amined,^' p. 167. 
 
 t First Booh of Discipline, ch. xi. Dunlop's Confessions, ii. 
 X Compendium of Church Laivs, etc., Part II. p. 1. 
 
TRACES OF THE SCOTTISH LITURGY. 133 
 
 Assembly, " that an uniform order should be kept 
 in the ministration of the sacraments, solemniza- 
 tion of marriage, etc., according to the Kirk of 
 Geneva."* 
 
 In 1564, a further act was passed, ^' ordaining, 
 that every minister, exhorter, and reader, shall 
 have one of the psalm-books lately printed in 
 Edinburgh, and use the order therein contained, 
 in prayers, marriage, and ministration of the 
 sacraments, in the Book of Common Order." f 
 At another session of the same year, it was pro- 
 vided " that ministers have psalm-books, and use 
 orders therein in prayers, marriage, and ministra- 
 tion of the sacraments." J 
 
 In 1567, it was ordered, that the Book of 
 Common Order, with Knox's prayers, be translated 
 into Gaelic." § 
 
 In 1601, the General Assembly prohibited the 
 making of any alterations or additions in the 
 order of worship without submission of the pro- 
 posed changes to itself; and nothing was there- 
 after added. II 
 
 * Sage, '■'■ Presbytery Examined," p. 167. 
 
 t Comp. of Church Laws, p. 14, 
 
 X Hid., p. 15. 
 
 § Lorimer's Frot. Churches of France and Scotland, p. 144. 
 
 II " It being meinit be sundrie of the Brethren, that there was 
 
134 A CHAPTER ON LITURGIES. 
 
 After this date, we find no legislation on the 
 subject. But that up to this period, and for the 
 quarter of a century succeeding, the Book of 
 Order was in common use, there is sufficient 
 proof. 
 
 A Romish author writing in 1561, mentions it 
 as the established form of prayers at that time.* 
 When Queen Mary fled from Scotland to Eng- 
 land, in 1568, " she feigned her willingness to 
 give up with the mass, and to adopt the English 
 Common Prayer-Book, provided Elizabeth would 
 assist her in regaining her crown. Lord Herries 
 having made this proposal in her name. Sir Francis 
 Knollys, the English Ambassador, replied, ^ that 
 if he meant thereby to condemn the form and 
 order of Common Prayer now used in Scotland, 
 agreeable with divers well reformed churches : 
 then he might so fight for the shadow and image 
 of religion, that he might bring the body and 
 truth into danger.' " f 
 
 sundrie Prayers in the Psalme Booke, quhilk wold be alterit, in re- 
 spect they ar not convenient for the mean Tyme :— In the quhilk 
 Head the Assembly has concludit, that it is not thocht good that the 
 Prayeris alreadie conteinit in the Psalme Booke be alterit. But gif 
 ony Brother wold have ony uther Prayers eikit quhilkis are meit for 
 the Tyme, ordaynes the samen first to be tryit and allowit be the 
 Assembly."— DuNLOP's Coll., ii. 513. 
 
 * M'Crie's Life of Knox, App. p. 431. 
 
 t Ibid., p. 432. . 
 
TRACES OF THE SCOTTISH LITURGY. 135 
 
 When, in 1620, a Scottisli clerj^man was called 
 before the Ilij^li Commission, and accused of 
 neglecting to minister the Eucharist to the pco])le 
 according to the Anglican forms, he answered : 
 " There is no warrantable form directed or ap- 
 proven by the Kirk, besides that which is now 
 extant in print bciforc the Psalm Book ; that is, 
 the Old Liturgy; according to which, as I have 
 always done, I now minister that sacrament.'^* 
 
 A writer of the seventeenth century states, that 
 this form of worship continued to be used " (3ven 
 after the beginning of the horrid revolution (of 
 lG48j in the days of King Charles I. ; and many 
 old people yet alive remember well" to have heard 
 it read in the churches. f 
 
 Finally, in 1644, under the title of " Tlie New 
 Book of Scotland," an edition of the Order with 
 some alterations was published, separate from 
 the Psalm Book, to which hitherto it had been 
 attached.:]: 
 
 Thus we have shown, that as well by law as by 
 
 * Caldrhwood, 748.— An edition of 1G3.'3, at Edinburgh, is men- 
 tioned by M 'Gavin, editor of Knox' n Hist, of the liej'ormation^ 
 Glasgow, 1844. 
 
 t Saok, Vrenhytcry F/xamincd^ p. 3ol, 
 
 X John Knox'h Lituugy, an article in the Edinburgh Review, 
 18o2. 
 
136 A CHAPTER ON LITURGIES. 
 
 custom, the form of worship introduced by John 
 Knox continued to be the established and received 
 Order of the Church of Scotland, until the period 
 of her conformity with the standards of the West- 
 minster Assembly.* 
 
 In England, also, the traces of this Liturgy, 
 and of its frequent use, are to he met with along 
 the latter part of the sixteenth century, and for 
 some years later. And what is not a little re- 
 markable, this use was not confined to those who 
 sympathized with the Christians of Scotland in 
 their opposition to prelacy and the English ritual. 
 We find the prayers of Knox's Liturgy adopted 
 even in the Church of England, for purposes of 
 private devotion, f 
 
 Knox and his colleagues at Geneva, when they 
 first published the Order of Worship drawn up for 
 the English congregation of that city, dedicated it 
 to their brethren in England ;+ and the proba- 
 
 * The latest publication of this formulary was in 1840, when it 
 appeared at London, in a small volume edited, with a short preface, 
 by the distinguished Scottish minister, Dr. Cunmiing. His strongly 
 recommendatory notices of these forms we shall have occasion to refer 
 to again. Prefixed to the Psalm-book now in use at the Scottish 
 National Church in London, is a portion of Knox's Liturgy. 
 
 t Frivate Frayers published during the reign of Queen Elizabeth. 
 Parker Society, 1851. 
 
 X Freface to the Book of Common Order. Dunlop's Confessions^ 
 ii. 385. 
 
TRACES OF THE SCOTTISH LITURGY. 137 
 
 bility seems strong, that it came into immediate 
 and extensive use among the Protestants of that 
 kingdom who refused or hesitated to conform with 
 the Established Church. Both in London and 
 on the Continent there were printed at this period 
 a multitude of editions of the Psalms and Prayers 
 used in Scotland.* 
 
 During the reigii of Mary, there was a con- 
 gregation formed at London by the Protestants, 
 who met in secret, for fear of persecution, to cele- 
 brate Divine w^orship according to the Scottish 
 forms. t In the time of Elizabeth we find similar 
 conventicles, where the same rites were observed.:]: 
 And it is natural to infer, that all the congrega- 
 tions of Dissenters or Separatists existing at that 
 period, were in the habit of using these services, 
 which had been adopted by the Churches of 
 Geneva and Scotland, to whose doctrine and dis- 
 cipline they were strongly attached. § 
 
 In the years 1584 and 1586, attempts were 
 made in Parliament to obtain sanction for " the 
 
 * Lorimer's Frotestant Church of France^ p. 144. 
 
 t Grindal's Remains^ p. 204, 
 
 :J: Strype's Whitgift, iii. 278. Grindal's Remains, p. 204. 
 
 \ At an examination of Nonconformist preachers during the reign 
 of Elizabeth, 1588-9, no fewer than nine ministers are named as 
 having been guilty of performing worship according to the " Form 
 used at Geneva." — Strype's Whitgift, iii. 278. 
 
138 A CHAPTER ON LITrEGIES. 
 
 Form of Prayers and Administration of the Sacra- 
 ments used in the English Church at Geneva; 
 approved and received by the Church of Scot- 
 land/'* Though the attempt was unsuccessful, 
 it became customary to publish the substance of 
 these prayers in connexion with the Liturgy of 
 the Church of England, appended to the autho- 
 rized editions of the Sacred Scriptures ; and they 
 are to be found so printed in various editions of 
 the Bible, from the year 1590 to the year 1640. 
 It was evidently designed that these forms should 
 be used in secret or social worship only; indeed, 
 they are headed with the title : *^ A Forme of 
 Prayer to be used in private houses every Morning 
 and Evening." But a comparison of these prayers 
 with those of Knox's Liturgy will prove them to 
 be identical. 
 
 Such are the traces of the existence and use of 
 the Scottish Liturgy, down to the middle of the 
 seventeenth century. Until supplanted by the 
 Directory of Worship, it remained the chosen and 
 
 * Hooker's JForks, ii. 159, note. Strype's Jfliifffift, i. 347, 
 487. "A new platform of ecclesiastical government, agreeable to 
 that of Geneva, and another form of Common Prayer prescribed 
 therein, in the room of the old one, for this Church."— In Parlia- 
 ment, 27 Elizabeth. The title of this book is given thus by Strype : 
 "The Sacred Discipline of the Church described in the Word of 
 God, 1584." 
 
voluntary formulary of the Calvinistic party in 
 England, as well as the prescribed order of the 
 Church of Scotland. But after the period of the 
 Westminster Assembly, we find no mention of it, 
 nor is there reason to doubt that it then fell into 
 complete disuse. 
 
VIII. 
 
 " Juxta laudabilem Ecclesiae Scotise Eeformatse formam et i-itum." 
 
 Archbishop Grind al, 1582. 
 
 On a Sunday morning, in the month of June, 
 1567, some peaceable citizens of London were 
 gathered to the number of about one hundred, in 
 a hall engaged for the purpose, to worship God 
 after the dictates of their conscience. INIost of 
 them evidently belonged to the class of trades- 
 people and mechanics ; but a few might be recog- 
 nised as ministers of the Gospel; being such as 
 the recent laws of conformity had ejected from 
 their livings and forbidden to preach. Their pre- 
 sent meeting was in disregard of an unjust enact- 
 ment prohibiting all religious assemblies else- 
 where than in consecrated buildings. As each 
 worshipper entered the room, he stood for a 
 moment reverently with bowed head in silent 
 prayer ; till at length one of them, dressed in the 
 peculiar garb of the Calvinistic preachers, advanc- 
 ing to the Communion-table, began the services 
 
WORSHIP OF THE EARLY PURITANS. 141 
 
 of tlie occasion; and stretching forth his hands, 
 solemnly uttered the invocation of the Psalmist : 
 
 " Our help is in the Name of the Lord, who 
 made heaven and earth. Amen." 
 
 These words were appropriate for the opening 
 of an act of worship, and in fact belonged to the 
 ritual of the Reformed service. But they had a 
 timely meaning for those poor "Londoners" thus 
 congregated in secrecy, and now just about to be 
 seized and cast into prison for conscience' sake 
 and the Gospel's. Well for them if they could of 
 a truth put their hope of help in that high Name 
 of the Lord who made heaven and earth; for 
 they were to find little mercy and forbearance 
 at the hands of men calling themselves his ser- 
 vants. 
 
 It was under the reign of Elizabeth that the 
 incidents we are relating occurred ; but nineteen 
 years after the formal establishment of the Pro- 
 testant religion in the realm. The poor Calvinists 
 who were thus meeting in private for their reli- 
 gious rites,* were most of them among the original 
 
 * " These latter separated themselves into private assemblies, 
 meeting together, not in churches, but in private houses, where they 
 had ministers of their own. And at these meetings, rejecting wholly 
 the Book of Common Prayer, they used a book of prayers framed at 
 Geneva for the congregation of English exiles lately sojourning there. 
 
142 A CHAPTER ON LITURGIES. 
 
 converts from Popery and receivers of the doctrine 
 of the Reformers. In fact, they had heard the 
 pure faith preached by the earliest of its advocates, 
 and perhaps witnessed the good profession of many 
 who perished as martyrs in the bloody reign of 
 Mary. Not much wonder if such men preferred 
 the simple form of worship which they adopted 
 when relinquishing Romish superstition, to rites 
 and ceremonies savouring, to their plain taste, of 
 the old pernicious leaven. 
 
 Such was their occupation, when this little 
 assembly was disturbed by an unexpected intru- 
 sion. Several sheriffs, hastily entering the room, 
 broke up the meeting, and arrested some four- 
 teen or fifteen among them, who were ministers 
 of the Gospel, dispersing the rest, while their 
 companions were carried off to prison. There 
 they lay until sent for the next day to appear 
 before " the Lord Mayor, the Bishop of London, 
 and others the Queen's Commissioners," on charge 
 of disobedience to the laws of the realm. Their ex- 
 amination before these worshipful authorities must 
 have presented a singular spectacle. Here were 
 
 Which book had been overseen and allowed by Calvin, and the rest 
 of his divines there ; and indeed was for the most part taken out of 
 the Geneva form."— Strype's Life of Arch. Grinded, b. i., c. 10. 
 
WORSHIP OF THE EARLY PURITANS. 143 
 
 men of good character and favourable appearance 
 summoned on no charge of crime save that of 
 peacefully assembling in Christian worship ; and 
 this before a Protestant prelate who, as we shall 
 see, in former days of persecution, had himself 
 taken part in the very same rites of worship, 
 similarly performed in a foreign city to which he 
 had retreated. We have had the good fortune to 
 come across a full account of this extraordinary 
 trial, as written down from the lips of the men 
 themselves ; it is contained in a rare pamphlet 
 entitled, " The Examination of certain Londoners 
 before the Ecclesiastical Commissioners, June 
 20th, 1567." 
 
 The colloquy between these honest and brave- 
 hearted men, and the well-meaning, though vacil- 
 lating Grindal, then Bishop of London, is as 
 quaint and striking as that recorded by Bunyan 
 between Faithful and his judges in Vanity Fair. 
 Here is the main part of it, in their own old- 
 fashioned words : * — 
 
 " When we were come in," say the Londoners, 
 " we did our obeisance, and they bade us come 
 near, and the Bishop's registrar called us by 
 
 * " The Examination of certain Londoners" etc., in Grindal's 
 Life and Remains. London : Parker Society. 
 
144 A CHAPTER ON LITURGIES. 
 
 name ; John Smith, William Nixson, William 
 White, James Ireland, Robert Hawkins, Thomas 
 Boweland, and Richard Morecroft. The Bishop 
 said. Is here all ? One answered. No, there are 
 ten or eleven in the Compter. 
 
 Bishop. I know that well enough. 
 
 The Bishop said unto the Mayor, My Lord, 
 will you begin? The Mayor said unto him, I 
 pray you begin. 
 
 Bishop. Well, then, here you have showed 
 yourselves disorderly, not only in absenting your- 
 selves from your parish churches, and the assem- 
 blies of other Christians in this commonwealth, 
 which do quietly obey the Queen^s proceedings, 
 and serve God in such good order as the Queen's 
 grace and the rest having authority and wisdom 
 have set forth and established by Act of Parlia- 
 ment : but, also, ye have gathered together and 
 made assemblies, using prayers and preachings, 
 yea, and ministering the sacraments among ^^our- 
 selves. And thus, you gather together many 
 times ; yea, and no longer ago than yesterday 
 you were together to the number of an hundred ; 
 whereof there were about fourteen or fifteen of 
 you sent to prison. And our being here is to will 
 you to leave off", or else you shall see the Queen's 
 
WORSHIP OF THE EARLY PURITANS. 145 
 
 letter, and the Council's hands at it. (Then he 
 opened it, and showed it us, hut would not read 
 it. The eiFect of it, he said, was to move us to 
 be conformable by gentleness, or else at the first 
 we should lose our freedom of the city, and abide 
 that would follow.) * * * In this severing 
 yourselves from the society of other Christians, 
 you condemn not only us, but also the whole state 
 of the Church reformed in King Edward's days, 
 which was well reformed according to the word 
 of God, yea, and many good men have shed their 
 blood for the same, which your doings condemn. 
 
 Haiokins. We condemn them not, in that we 
 stand to the truth of God's word. 
 
 But he would not suffer us to answer to it. 
 
 Bishop. But have you not the Gospel truly 
 preached, and the sacraments ministered accord- 
 ingly, and good order kept, although we difier 
 from other churches in ceremmiies, and in indif- 
 ferent things, which lie in the prince's power to 
 command for order's sake ? How say you, Smith ? 
 You seem to be the ancientest of them ; answer 
 you. 
 
 Smith. Indeed, my Lord, we thank God for 
 reformation; and that is it we desire, according 
 to God's word. (And there he stayed.) 
 
146 A CHAPTER ON LITURGIES. 
 
 WJiite. I beseech you, let me answer. 
 
 Bishop. Nay, William White, hold your peace ; 
 you shall be heard anon. 
 
 Nixso7i. I beseech you, let me answer a word 
 or two. 
 
 Bishop. Nixson, you are a busy fellow, I know 
 your words ; you are full of talk ; I know from 
 whence you came. 
 
 Hawkins. I would be glad to answer. 
 
 Bishop. Smith shall answer. Answer you. 
 Smith. 
 
 Smith. Indeed, as you said even now, for 
 preaching and ministering the sacraments, so long 
 as we might have the word freely preached, and 
 the sacraments administered without the preferring 
 of idolatrous gear about it, we never assembled 
 together in houses. But when it came to this 
 point, that all our preachers were displaced by 
 your law, that would not subscribe to your apparel 
 and your law, so that we could not hear none of 
 them in any church by the space of seven or eight 
 weeks, except Father Coverdale, of whom we have 
 a good opinion, (and yet, God knoweth, the man 
 was so fearful, that he durst not be known unto 
 us where he preached, though we sought it at his 
 house : then we bethought us what were best to 
 
WORSHIP OF THE EARLY PURITANS. 147 
 
 do. And we remembered that there was a con- 
 gregation of us in this city in Queen Mary's days ; 
 and a congregation at Geneva, which used a book 
 and order of preaching, ministering of the sacra- 
 ments and discipline, most agreeable to the word 
 of God ; which book is allowed by that godly and 
 well-learned man. Master Calvin, and the preachers 
 there ; which book and order we now hold. And 
 if you can reprove this book, or anything that we 
 hold, by the word of God, we will yield to you, 
 and do open penance at Paul's Cross ; if not, we 
 will stand to it by the grace of God. 
 
 Bishop. This is no answer. 
 
 White. You may be answered, if you will give 
 leave. * * * J delivered a book to Justice 
 Harris, which is the order that we hold. Reprove 
 the same by the word of God, and we will leave 
 it and give over. 
 
 JBishojj.'We cannot reprove it. But to gather 
 together disorderly, to trouble the common quiet 
 of the realm against the prince's will, we like not 
 the holding of it. 
 
 Haivkins. Why, that which we do, we do it 
 by the commandment of God ; we have the 
 example of the first and apostolic Church for our 
 warrant, as in the 16th to the Homans, vcr. 17. 
 
148 A CHAPTER ON LITURGIES. 
 
 ^^ I beseech you, brethren, mark them that cause 
 divisions, and give occasions of evil, contrary to 
 the doctrine which ye have learned, and avoid 
 them." 
 
 Dean. Yea, but the manner w^hich ye hold is 
 unorderly, and against the authority of the prince. 
 
 Hawkins, Why, the truth of God is a truth, 
 wheresoever it be holden, or whosoever doth hold 
 it ; except ye will make it subject to places and 
 persons, and to the authority of the prince. It 
 had been better w^e had never been born, than to 
 suffer Got) to be dishonoured, and his word defaced 
 for princes' pleasures. 
 
 Bishop. All the learned are against you ; will 
 you be tried by them ? 
 
 White. We will be tried by the word of God ; 
 which shall judge us all at the last day. * * * 
 We will be tried by the best Reformed Churches. 
 The Church of Scotland hath the word truly 
 preached, the sacraments truly ministered, and dis- 
 cipline according to the word of God ; and these 
 be the notes by which the true Church is known." 
 
 So, after some further discussion, ended this 
 curious examination : to the end of which the re- 
 porter adds these words : " From hence to prison 
 
WORSHIP OF THE EARLY PURITANS. 149 
 
 they went, all or most of them. Such was the 
 great charity of the bishops ! And till their day 
 of deliverance they never knew one good word 
 they spoke for them, though divers of them had 
 wives and children, and were but poor men." 
 
 A whole year these innocent Christian people 
 lay in prison ! and that under the Protestant 
 reign of ^' that bright Occidental Star, Queen 
 Elizabeth of most happy memory." Alas, for the 
 rarity of Christian charity ! Out of their doleful 
 bondage they could utter no voice of remonstrance ; 
 but at length, with tardy compassion, the bishop 
 obtained an order for their release : and they 
 were discharged, to the number of twenty-four men, 
 besides seven women f 
 
 When these sufferers and their brethren made 
 some complaint of this treatment, in a supplication 
 to the Privy Council for relief from the hindrances 
 to which they were subjected, they seem to have 
 been considered rather unreasonable ! Here is the 
 tenor of their petition : 
 
 " We beseech your honours, for God's cause, 
 favourably to consider of these few lines. The 
 effect is to certify you, that whereas a certain of 
 us poor men of the city were kept in prison one 
 whole year for our conscience' sake, because we 
 
150 A CHAPTER ON LITURGIES. 
 
 would serve our God by the rule of his holy word, 
 without the vain and wicked ceremonies and 
 traditions of papistry ; and being delivered forth 
 the 23rd of April last past, by authority of the 
 honourable Council's letter, as the bishop declared 
 to us all at his house, the third of May, saying, 
 that means had been made to your honours for our 
 liberty ; the effect thereof, he said, was, that we 
 were freed from our parish churches, and that we 
 might hear such preachers that we liked best 
 of in the city : also, w hereas we requested to have 
 baptism truly ministered to our children according 
 to the word and order of the Geneva book : he 
 said that he would tolerate it, and appoint two or 
 three to do it ; immediately after, at our request, 
 he appointed two preachers, called Bonham and 
 Crane, under his handwriting, to keep a lecture. 
 
 *^ But now of late, because Bonham did marry a 
 couple, and baptize one of our children, by the order 
 of the said book, which is most sincere, he hath 
 commanded him to be kept close 'prisoner ; and 
 Mr. Crane also he hath commanded not to preach 
 in his diocese. 
 
 "By these means were we driven at first to 
 forsake the churches, and to congregate in our 
 houses. Now we protest to your honour, we 
 
WORSHIP OF THE EARLY PURITANS. 151 
 
 never yielded to no condition in our coming forth 
 of prison, but minded to stand fast in the same 
 sincerity of the Gospel that we did when we were 
 in prison, approved and commanded of God in 
 his word. And therefore we humbly beseech your 
 honours to let us have your furtherance and help 
 in so good a cause : that our bodies and goods be 
 no more molested for standing in this good purpose 
 which we most heartily desire to see flourish 
 throughout this realm, to God's high honour, the 
 preservation of your honourable personages, and 
 safeguard of this realm." 
 
 No redress followed upon this humble remon- 
 strance, which indeed seems to have been designed 
 rather to vindicate the consistency of the petition- 
 ers, than to obtain redress. There is the ring of 
 true metal about these words, which would have 
 done credit to old martyrs and confessors : '^ Now 
 we protest to your honours, we never yielded to 
 no condition in our coming forth of prison, but 
 minded to stand fast in the same sincerity of 
 the Gospel that we did when we were in prison, 
 approved and commanded of God in his word." 
 
 We hasten to point out the bearing of these 
 facts respecting the early Puritans, upon the 
 subject of our present researches. It is apparent 
 
152 A CHAPTER ON LITURGIES. 
 
 from their own statements here quoted, that 
 these sufferers for the. Gospel, in their first humble 
 and secret assemblies, forbidden by law and 
 exposed to sudden disturbance, followed the order 
 and manner of the Scottish and Genevan ritual. 
 The fathers of Nonconformity in England were 
 no advocates of loose and irregular practises in the 
 celebration of religious rites. They discarded 
 the offensive Liturgy of the prelates, not to abandon 
 all forms, but to substitute a pure, simple, and 
 evangelical form, which had been established and 
 approved by all the '' best reformed churches." 
 
 And there is reason to believe that this adoption 
 of the Calvinistic mode of worship, was universal 
 among the first congregations of the Nonconform- 
 ists. In the preceding chapter we have seen, 
 that many, if not all, of those preachers who, under 
 the reign of Elizabeth, were tried and punished 
 for the crime of separation from the Established 
 Church, had been in the habit of performing 
 -worship according to the " Form used at Geneva." 
 It was not until a much later day, that this 
 invaluable Liturgy began to fall into neglect ; and 
 that doubtless owing rather to the disorders of the 
 times, than to any change of sentiment regarding 
 the proper celebration of Divine worship. Even 
 
"WORSHIP OF THE EAULY PURITANS. 153 
 
 as we shall hereafter see, in the days of Calamy 
 and Baxter, that prejudice against ritual services 
 which is commonly imputed to the Puritans, had 
 not yet spread throughout their body. 
 
 While we honour and admire the earnest piety 
 and firm principle of these excellent men whose 
 trials we have here depicted, it must be conceded 
 that in some respects their views were narrowed 
 by strong and unreasonable antipathies. There 
 was already manifest a disposition to oppose and 
 condemn innocent and even commendable practices 
 belonging to that system of worship from w^hich 
 they dissented. Thus among certain articles or 
 statements of errors requiring redress, in the 
 Anglican Church, drawn up by some of the early 
 Nonconformists, we find the following : — 
 
 "No sacrament ought to be administered 
 without being preceded by a sermon, preached and 
 not read. 
 
 *' Sermons ought not to be preached at the 
 burial of the dead. 
 
 " The Holy Scriptures ought not to be read in 
 the churches. 
 
 " No one ought to be confined to set forms of 
 prayer." * 
 
 * Zurich Letters, p. 417. 
 
154 A CHAPTER ON LITURGIES. 
 
 The last of these requirements, though perfectly 
 compatible with the free use of a Liturgy, was 
 severely condemned by the learned theologian 
 Gualter, minister at Zurich in Switzerland ; who, 
 on being informed of the opinions advanced by 
 these preachers, wrote in the following terms : — 
 
 ^^ Where they say that no one ought to be tied 
 down to set forms of prayer, I know not in what 
 sense they make the assertion. If they mean this, 
 that we are not superstitiously to attach any virtue 
 to preconceived words of prayer, or to certain 
 forms of prayer, I am also of the same opinion ; 
 for this rather belongs to exorcists and conjurors. 
 But if they condemn certain forms of public 
 prayer, I should say that they are mad wdth their 
 wits about them. * * * For that such prayers 
 have been in use in all ages, no one can deny ; and 
 it is more than necessary that they should be 
 retained. * * * But yet this does not prevent 
 individuals from offering their prayers in private 
 for themselves. * * * And ministers also may sub- 
 join, at the close of their sermons, prayers suitable 
 to the subject of which they have been treating."* 
 
 But here we leave the persecuted Nonconformists 
 of the days of Queen Elizabeth, and turn to look 
 
 * Zurich Letters, p. 446. 
 
WORSHIP OF THE EARLY PURITANS. 155 
 
 at their Episcopal opponent, before whose tribunal 
 they found so little compassion for their weak- 
 nesses, and toleration of their conscientious per- 
 suasions. 
 
 Poor Bishop Grindal ! it was hard for so well- 
 meaning and truly pious a man as he certainly 
 was, to be thus placed in the position of a relentless 
 persecutor of the faithful. He could find no fault 
 with their doctrines, which were as thoroughly 
 orthodox as his own. Nay, he had nothing to 
 impugn in their book of worship, as he avows 
 when they offer to defend it: "We cannot 
 reprove it." Moreover, as intimated already, the 
 good bishop could not but remember that only some 
 thirteen years before, he had taken part in these 
 very rites which he was now condemning ; when 
 uniting at Strasburg and Frankfort, with other 
 English exiles, in celebrating religious worship.* 
 
 But another feature of the case deserves to be 
 noted. In 1563, only four years earlier than the 
 period on which we have been dwelling, the 
 Plague broke out in England, and soon extending 
 to London, committed great ravages there. Grindal 
 
 * See Strype's Life of Grindal. The archbishop entertained 
 the highest veneration for the Churches and pastors of Geneva 
 in his day. He calls that city, " A nursery unto God," — B. ii., c. 14. 
 
156 
 
 A CHAPTER ON LITURGIES. 
 
 was called upon to draw up a Form of Prayer and 
 Fasting suitable to the time of this severe visitation. 
 And in performing this duty, what does the 
 worthy bishop do, but go to the old Order of 
 Geneva, the Calvinistic Liturgy which he had 
 seen used at Frankfort, and which he afterwards 
 condemned the use of in his own diocese of London; 
 and from that he takes, Avhole and entire, the 
 beautiful prayer there appointed for an exigency 
 against which his own Book of Common Prayer 
 contained no provision !* Surely these recollections 
 must have sorely troubled the goodman^s conscience 
 when sitting in judgment upon the unfortunate 
 "Londoners" guilty of using that Order of 
 Geneva, which he himself had " used " to such 
 good purpose on so memorable an occasion. 
 Perhaps to this reminiscence the poor defendants 
 owed his concession : " We cannot reprove it."t 
 
 All this leads us to look with some interest upon 
 the Form of Prayer in question. The original, 
 
 * He was required to do this work in great haste (see Strype, 
 b. i., 0. 7) ; which may somewhat account for the plagiarism. 
 
 t "In the year 1582, Archbishop Grindal, by a formal deed, 
 declared the validity of the orders of ]Mr. John Morrison, who 
 had been ordained by the Synod of Lothian, according to the 
 laudable form and rite of the Reformed Church of Scotland. 
 Says the instrument : ' Per generalem synodum sive congregationem 
 illius comitatus, juxta laudabilem ecclesitc Scotiae Reformatte formam 
 
WORSHIP OF THE EARLY PURITANS. 157 
 
 composed by Calvin, will be found in his Works.* 
 Grindal's translation we give in the main as fol- 
 lows if premising that the prayer thus credited to 
 the bishop was the basis upon which other forms 
 of prayer, in times of public danger, w^ere after- 
 wards drawn up during the Queen's reign : — 
 
 O Almighty, most just and merciful God ! we 
 acknowledge ourselves unworthy to lift up our 
 eyes unto heaven, as we present ourselves before 
 thee. For our consciences accuse us, and our sins 
 reprove us ; and we know that thou who art a 
 righteous Judge, must needs punish them that 
 transgress thy law. O Lord ! when we look back 
 and examine our whole life, we find nothing in 
 ourselves that deserveth any other reward than 
 eternal condemnation. But since thou, of thine 
 unspeakable mercy, hast commanded us in all our 
 necessities to call upon thee; and hast also 
 
 et ritum, ad sacros ordines et sacrosanctum mirdsterium per manuum 
 impositionem admissus et ordinatus. Nos igitur formam ordinationis 
 et prsefectionistuee hujus modi, modo prtemisso factam, quantum in nos 
 est, et dejurepossumus, approbantes etratificantes/"etc. — Strype's 
 Life of Grindal, quoted inM'CRiE's Life of John Knox, p. 49, note. 
 
 * Opuscula, Liturgy of the Church of Geneva. Compare A 
 Godly Prayer, in the'Bookof Common Order ; Dunlop's Confessions, 
 ii. 481. Also, A Prayer on the Lord's Bay after Sermon, in the 
 Reformed Dutch Liturgy. And A Prayer for the Queen's Majesty, in 
 the " Private Prayers" of the Parker Society, p. 447. 
 
 t Conforming in some few passages more closely to the original. 
 
158 A CHAPTER OF LITURGIES. 
 
 promised that thou wilt hear our prayers, not for 
 any merit of our own, for we have none, but for 
 the merits of thy Son, whom thou hast ordained 
 to be our only Mediator and Intercessor : There- 
 fore, we lay aside all confidence in man, and flee 
 to the throne of thy mercy, by the intercession of 
 thy only Son our Saviour, Jesus Christ. 
 
 O Lord ! we do lament and bewail, from the 
 bottom of our hearts, our past unthankfulness 
 towards thee. We remember that besides those 
 benefits of thine which we enjoy in common with 
 all men as thy creatures, thou hast bestowed upon 
 us many special blessings, of which w^e are not 
 able in heart to conceive the value, much less in 
 words worthily to express it. Thou hast called us 
 to the knowledge of thy Gospel. Thou hast re- 
 leased us from the hard servitude of Satan. Thou 
 hast delivered us from all idolatry, wherein we were 
 sunken ; and hast brought us into the clear and 
 comfortable light of thy blessed word. But we, 
 most unmindful in our prosperity of these thy 
 great benefits, have neglected thy commandments, 
 have abused the knowledge of thy Gospel, have 
 followed our carnal liberty, have served our own 
 lusts, and through our sinful lives have failed 
 suitably to serve and honour thee. 
 
WORSHIP OF THE EARLY PURITANS. 159 
 
 And now, O Lord ! compelled by thy correction, 
 we do most humbly confess that we have sinned, 
 and have most gi'ievously displeased thee. And if 
 thou, O Lord ! provoked with our disobedience, 
 shouldst now deal with us as we have deserved, 
 there remaineth nothing to be looked for, but con- 
 tinual plagues in this world, and hereafter eternal 
 death and condemnation, both of body and of soul. 
 For if we should excuse ourselves, our own 
 consciences would accuse us before thee, and our 
 own disobedience and wickedness would bear 
 witness against us. Yea, even thy plagues and 
 punishments, which thou dost now lay upon us in 
 sundry places, teach us to acknowledge our sins. 
 For seeing that thou art just, O Lord ! yea, even 
 justice itself, thou dost not punish any without 
 desert. And now, O Lord ! we see thy hand 
 terribly stretched out to plague us, and punish us.* 
 Yet, although thou shouldst punish us more 
 grievously still ; though thou shouldst pour upon 
 us all those testimonies of thy just wrath, which in 
 time past thou pouredst on thy chosen people Israel ; 
 yet could Ave not deny that we had justly deserved it. 
 
 . * This praj-er was written bj' Calvin for the Church of Geneva in 
 154:1, " when Germany was infested both with war and pestilence." 
 " Precationes, quibus in iis uterentiir, conscripsi." — Calv. Ep., 
 quoted by Bingham, Works, ii. 748. 
 
160 A CHAPTER ON LITURGIES. 
 
 But, O merciful Lord ! tliou art our God, and 
 we are thine inheritance ; thou art our Creator, 
 and we the work of thy hands; thou art our 
 Pastor, we are thy flock ; thou art our Redeemer, 
 and we the people whom thou hast redeemed; 
 thou art our Father, we are thy children. Lord ! 
 be not wroth against us ; punish us not in thy 
 sore displeasure. 
 
 Remember, O Lord ! that thy name hath been 
 named upon us; that we bear thy seal and the 
 tokens of thy service. Perfect the work thou hast 
 begun in us ; that all the world may know thou 
 art our God and merciful Deliverer. Thou knowest 
 that the dead who are in their graves cannot 
 praise thee ; but the sorrowful spirit, the contrite 
 heart, the conscience broken with a sense of sin, 
 and panting for thy grace, shall give thee praise 
 and glory. Thy people Israel ofttimes offended 
 thee, and thou didst justly afflict them ; but as oft 
 as they returned to thee, thou didst receive them 
 in mercy ; and though their sins were never so 
 great, yet didst thou turn away thy wrath, and 
 the punishment prepared for them ; and that for 
 thy covenant's sake, which thou madest with thy 
 servants Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Thou hast 
 made a better covenant with us, O heavenly 
 
WORSHIP or THE EARLY PURITANS. 161 
 
 Father ! a covenant on which we may lean as we 
 appear before thee : through the mediation of thy 
 dear Son Jesus Christ our Saviour, with whose 
 most precious blood it pleased thee that this 
 covenant should be written, sealed, and confirmed. 
 Wherefore, O heavenly Father ! we now, casting 
 away all confidence in ourselves or any other 
 creature, do flee to this most holy covenant and 
 testament ; wherein our Lord and Saviour Jesus 
 Christ, once oflcring himself a sacrifice for us on 
 the cross, hath reconciled us to thee for ever. 
 Look, therefore, O merciful God ! not upon tlie 
 sins which we continually commit, but upon our 
 Mediator and Peacemaker, Jesus Christ: that 
 by his intercession thy wrath may be pacified, and 
 we again by thy fatherly countenance relieved and 
 comforted. Receive us also into thy heavenly 
 defence, and govern us by thy Holy Spirit. 
 Frame in us newness of life, wherein to laud and 
 magnify thy blessed name for ever, and to live 
 every one of us according to the several states of 
 life whereunto thou hast ordained us. 
 
 And, O heavenly Father ! although, by reason 
 of our past sins, we are unworthy to crave anything 
 of thee : yet because thou hast commanded us to 
 pray for all men, we most humbly beseech thee, 
 
 M 
 
162 A CHAPTER ON LITURGIES. 
 
 save and defend thy holy Church. Be merciful 
 to all commonwealths^ countries, princes, and 
 magistrates ; and especially to this our realm, 
 and to our most gracious governor, Queen Eliza- 
 beth. Increase the number of godly ministers. 
 Endue them with thy grace, to be found faithful 
 and prudent in their office. Defend the Council 
 of the Queen's majesty, and all that be in 
 authority under her, or that serve in any place by 
 her commandment. We commend also to thy 
 fatherly mercy all that be in poverty, exile, 
 imprisonment, sickness, or any other kind of 
 adversity ; and chiefly those whom thy hand hath 
 now touched with any contagious and dangerous 
 sickness ; which we beseech thee, O Lord ! of thy 
 mercy, when thy blessed will is, to remove. And 
 in the meantime grant grace and true repentance, 
 steadfast faith, and constant patience : that 
 whether we live or die, we may always continue 
 thine, and ever bless thy holy name, and be 
 brought to the fruition of thy Godhead. Grant 
 these, and all our humble petitions, O merciful 
 Father ! for the sake of thy dear Son Jesus Christ 
 our Lord. Amen. 
 
TX. 
 
 'guttfs icforntcir fiiimi 
 
 "We are satisfied in our judgments concerning the lawfulness of a 
 liturgy, or form of public worship ; provided that it be for the 
 matter agreeable unto the Word of God, and fitly suited to the 
 nature of the several ordinances and necessities of the Church." 
 
 First Addkess of the Ministers. 
 
 The Conference which took place at the Savoy in 
 1660, between twelve leaders of the Nonconform- 
 ist party and an equal number of prelates of the 
 Church of England, was the last ostensible effort 
 to reconcile their differences, and bring about a 
 formal agreement. But in reality, as we review 
 the transactions of that meeting, it is easy to 
 perceive that on neither side did there exist an 
 intention to reach by compromise and concession 
 these desirable ends. The scheme of reconciliation 
 was a political device, and failed to receive the 
 cordial co-operation of either of the conflicting 
 parties. The bishops stood upon their dignity, 
 determined to yield nothing, while the Puritans 
 were as rigid in their demands. The former 
 aimed only at an apparent compliance with the 
 royal requisition, while evading even the most 
 
164 A CHAPTER ON LITURGIES. 
 
 trivial alteration of existing institutions. The 
 latter, hopeless of realizing their proposed amend- 
 ments, were chiefly anxious for an " opportunity 
 of leaving upon record their testimony against 
 corruptions," and their desires for "a just and 
 moderate reformation^' of abuses. 
 
 Accordingly, Baxter and his colleagues, who 
 represented the Nonconformist interests at the 
 Savoy Conference, brought in a list of exceptions 
 to the Prayer Book, many of which were reason- 
 able, and ought to have been readily granted, 
 while others were certainly impracticable or un- 
 called for. The unbending temper of the bishops 
 made no discrimination between these classes of 
 objections, and their treatment of them was calcu- 
 lated to awaken a corresponding disposition in 
 their opponents. 
 
 No hope of emendation in the Prayer Book 
 could long be entertained by the Puritan divines 
 who assembled at the conference of the Savoy. 
 Indeed, " where undistinguishing admiration is 
 directed to works of merely human composition, 
 it cannot be expected that any alterations will be 
 regarded otherwise than in the light of captious 
 and unnecessary innovations."* The chief object 
 * Orme's life and Times of Baxter, p. 220. 
 
Baxter's reformed liturgy. 165 
 
 of the Nonconformists then became, to obtain the 
 liberty of using among themselves such forms of 
 worship as they could agree upon, leaving the 
 Prayer Book to stand as it was. In other words, 
 they desired the adoption of a Reformed Liturgy 
 in addition to that ritual already in use, in order 
 that those who couhl not conscientiously receive 
 the one might adopt the other. 
 
 We cannot see that this proposition deserved 
 the ridicule with which it was regarded by the 
 prelatical party. If the winning over of so large 
 and respectable a body of men as that headed by 
 Baxter and Calamy, was an object worthy of the 
 least sacrifice, these men did not ask too much in 
 proposing such an enlargement of the mode of 
 worship as would comprehend their usages and 
 views. The party existed, and claimed considera- 
 tion for its numbers and influence. It comprised 
 multitudes of the most sincere and correct pro- 
 fessors of Christianity in the realm, with not a 
 few individuals of distinguished name. We may 
 question, therefore, whether a liberal and en- 
 lightened policy, to say nothing of a higher 
 wisdom, should not have acceded to a project 
 which, without compromising the doctrines and 
 order of the Establishment, Avas calculated to 
 
166 A CHAPTER ON LITURGIES. 
 
 draw into it so large a body of Christians. Such 
 a course was not without precedent in the history 
 of religion. Rome has suffered to remain for 
 centuries more than one ritual which she has 
 found in use among the churches over which her 
 sway has extended.* She allows at the present 
 day no inconsiderable variations from her own 
 formularies, even in the order of the Mass.f The 
 saints and the festivals of each national rite, with 
 their appropriate offices of devotion, have been 
 incorporated into her Liturgy ; while the wisdom 
 of such a course is made evident by the fact, that 
 the Roman rite gradually predominating, has in 
 most cases, after a time, replaced the provincial 
 peculiarities of worship. Nor was the alleged 
 frivolity of the Puritan objections to the Prayer 
 Book a valid reason for rejecting their demand. If 
 these exceptions were so imimportant, doubtless 
 a moderate and conciliatory treatment would in 
 time have softened prejudice and induced con- 
 formity. But, unfortunately, alike for the Estab- 
 
 * " Debet unaquoeque ecclesia custodire ritus suos, sed receptos a 
 majoribus, longoque usu prasscriptos, et legitima auctoritate appro- 
 bates."— Bona, Ecf. Lit.^ lib. vi. 
 
 t In the Ambrosian and Galilean rites more particularly : for the 
 former of which consult " II modo di servire la Santa Messa, secondo 
 il Rito Ambrosiano e Eomano." Milan, 1849. 
 
Baxter's reformed liturgy. 167 
 
 lishment and the Dissenters, no such spirit reigned 
 in the councils of the Savoy. 
 
 The Puritans have been the objects of further 
 obloquy in consequence of a misapprehension of 
 their demands. It has been said that they required 
 the abolishment of the Prayer Book, and the sub- 
 stitution of a hastily-prepared ritual of their own. 
 The impracticable nature of such a request w^ould 
 reduce the transactions of the Savoy to a mere 
 farce, or a designed mockery. But this statement 
 is incorrect. Baxter, in his address introducing 
 the proposed Nonconformist Liturgy, prays that 
 it may be adopted as well as the old, and that 
 either of them be used, at the discretion of the 
 minister.* The great purpose for which he and 
 his brethren had sought the appointment of such 
 a Conference, was to obtain " an addition or 
 insertion of some other varying forms in Scripture 
 phrase, to be used at the minister's choice."! 
 This object the royal declaration convoking the 
 assembly of the Savoy clearly ratifies and approves. 
 It commands the preparation of " some additional 
 forms^ in the Scripture phrase as near as may be, 
 suited unto the nature of the several parts of 
 
 * Cardavell, Conferences on the Book of Common Prayer^ p. 261. 
 t First Address of the Ministers^ in Cardwell, p. 282. 
 
168 A CHAPTER ON LITURGIES. 
 
 worship, and that it he left to the minister^ choice 
 to use one or other at his discretion."* Nothing 
 more than this did the Puritan divines attempt; 
 but the bishops refused utterly to entertain the 
 proposal, t 
 
 On the general subject of Liturgies, the senti- 
 
 * King Charles's Declaration, etc. In Cardwell, pp. 294, 295. 
 
 t "That which hath been is now." In our own day the wisdom 
 of this proposal, made by Baxter and his colleagues, and spurned by 
 the entire bench of the prelates, is receiving confii-mation where 
 least expected. A scheme of improvement in the worship and dis- 
 cipline of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States, has 
 for some months past engaged the attention of the bishops of that 
 Church. We cannot pause to specify the reforms advocated by the 
 ' Memorial of sundry Presbyters," which was presented to that body, 
 and Avhich forms the subject of their deliberations. But in an 
 "Exposition" of that memorial, prepared by a clergyman of high 
 character and standing, who is regarded as the principal author of 
 this movement, a remarkable feature is to be observed. The identical 
 privilege sought by Baxter and his brethren, — that of discretion- 
 ary variation and substitution in the use of the Liturgy, — is here 
 demanded by an eminent minister of the Episcopal Church. Nay, 
 the very improvement solicited then, — the addition of " some forms 
 in the Scripture phrase as near as may be, to be used at the 
 minister's choice," — is here suggested, almost in the same language. 
 " Let there be an Appendix,^' urges the distinguished author of the 
 Exposition, " for the benefit of those who might choose to use it ; 
 containing * * * Scripture hymns and anthems, jtpr«ye/-« * * * v^hich 
 also might be very much in Scripture words." Surely, the justice 
 and propriety of those demands, which were so contemptuously 
 slighted by the prelates of Baxter's day, could not be more strikingly 
 vindicated than by such a resuscitation. All honour to the candid, 
 enlightened, and truly Christian spirit which inspired this move- 
 ment in the mind of its excellent projector. If such counsels could 
 have reigned at the Savoy two centuries ago, what dissensions and 
 controversies would not have been spared the Church of Christ ! 
 
169 
 
 ment of the Nonconformist ministers is iiiUy 
 represented in their letter to the king. '' We are 
 satisfied in our judgments,'^ say they, ^^concern- 
 ing the lawfuhiess of a liturgy, or form of public 
 worship ; provided that it be for the matter agi-ee- 
 able to the Word of God, and fitly suited to the 
 nature of the several ordinances and institutions 
 of the Church ; neither too tedious in the whole, 
 nor composed of too short prayers, unmeet repeti- 
 tions or responsals ; not to be dissonant from the 
 liturgies of other reformed Churches; nor too 
 rigorously imposed ; nor the minister so confined 
 thereunto, but that he may also make use of those 
 gifts for prayer and exhortation which Christ 
 hath given him for the service and edification of 
 the Church."* 
 
 The task of preparing such a formulary of 
 worship as would meet the wishes and wants of 
 the Nonconformist churches, was unanimously 
 assigned by his colleagues to Richard Baxter. 
 He was a man of pre-eminent and acknow- 
 ledged qualifications for the work. His devotional 
 writings had been numerous, and most acceptable 
 to the churches. His gifts for the conception and 
 utterance of the language of prayer were remark- 
 * First Address^ etc. In Card well, p. 282. 
 
170 A CHAPTER ON LITURGIES. 
 
 able even in an age when such endowments were 
 cultivated to a very high degree. " His prayers/^ 
 says a contemporary, ^^were an effusion of the 
 most lively, melting expressions of his intimate, 
 ardent affections to God : from the abundance of 
 the heart his lips spake. His soul took wing for 
 heaven, and rapt up the souls of others with him. 
 Never did I see or hear a holy minister address 
 himself to God with more reverence or humility, 
 with respect to his glorious greatness : never with 
 more zeal and fervency, correspondent to the 
 infinite number of his requests, nor with more 
 filial affiance in the Divine mercy."* 
 
 It required, indeed, this great facility of devo- 
 tional composition, if we may so speak, to enable 
 Baxter, in the short space of a fortnight, to 
 prepare a Liturgy of such amplitude and excel- 
 lence. In the haste of the convocation, no longer 
 time was allowed him ; " nor could he make use 
 of any book, except a Bible and a Concordance ; 
 but he compared it all with the Assembly's 
 Directory, and the Book of Common Prayer." 
 Whatever traces of this imperfect execution the 
 work may have borne, however, do not appear to 
 
 * Dr. Bates, quoted in Orme's Life and Times of Baxter, p. 407. 
 
171 
 
 have come to the notice of the bishops ; for they 
 never bestowed the trouble of a glance at its 
 contents, when submitted to their inspection. As 
 subsequently given to publication, it underwent 
 considerable improvement by the careful revision 
 of the author ; and certainly shows little evidence 
 of haste in its present condition. " AVithout pro- 
 nouncing on the comparative excellencies of this 
 liturgical work, or intimating that it is everything 
 that such a work should be, it is not too much to 
 say, that it is remarkable for simplicity, appro- 
 priateness, and fulness. The forms of prayer 
 contain variety without repetition, and are so 
 scriptural that they are made up almost entirely 
 of scriptural language ; references to which he has 
 thrown into the margin. Few better liturgies 
 probably exist."* 
 
 In transferring to our pages the Reformed 
 Liturgy, we have reduced its somewhat unreason- 
 able dimensions, by the preference of those shorter 
 prayers which are furnished " where brevity is 
 necessary," to the more expanded forms ; and by 
 some further abridgment where it has seemed^ 
 needful. 
 
 * Orme's Life^ etc., p. 748. 
 
112 A CHAPTER ON LITURGIES. 
 
 THE ORDINARY PUBLIC WORSHIP ON 
 THE LORD'S DAY. 
 
 The congregation heing reverently composed, 
 let the minister first crave God's assistance and 
 acceptance of the Worship, to he performed in 
 these or the like words : 
 
 O Eternal, Almiglity, and most gracious God ! 
 heaven is thy throne, and earth is thy footstool ; 
 holy and reverend is thy name ; thou art praised 
 by the heavenly hosts, and in the congregation of 
 thy saints on earth ; and wilt be sanctified in all 
 that come nigh unto thee. We are sinful and un- 
 worthy dust ; but being invited by thee, are bold, 
 through our blessed Mediator, to present ourselves 
 and our supplications before thee. Receive us 
 graciously, help us by thy Spirit ; let thy fear be 
 upon us; put thy laws into our hearts, and 
 write them in our minds ; let thy word come unto 
 us in power, and be received in love, with atten- 
 tive, reverent, and obedient minds. Make it to us 
 the savour of life unto life. Cause us to be fervent 
 in prayer, and joyful in thy praises, and to serve 
 thee this day without distraction : that we may 
 find that a day in thy courts is better than a 
 
Baxter's reformed liturgy. 178 
 
 thousand, and that it is good for us to draw near 
 to God ; through Jesus Christ our Lord and 
 Saviour. Amen. 
 
 Next, let one of the Creeds he read by the 
 minister, saying : 
 
 In the profession of this Christian Faith we are 
 here assembled. 
 
 I believe in God the Father, etc. 
 I believe in one God, etc. 
 
 And sometimes Athanasius^ Creed, 
 
 THE TEN commandments. 
 God spake these words, and said, etc. 
 
 For the right informing and affecting the people, 
 and moving them to a penitent believing Confession, 
 some of these Sentences may he read. 
 
 By one man sin entered into the world, and 
 death by sin, and so death passed upon all men, 
 for that all have sinned. 
 
 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory 
 of God. 
 
 God so loved the world, that he gave his only- 
 begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him, 
 should-not perish, but have everlasting life. 
 
174 A CHAPTER ON LITURGIES. 
 
 He that believeth on Him shall not be con- 
 demned, but he that believeth not is condemned 
 already, because he hath not believed in the name 
 of the only-begotten Son of God. 
 
 Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the 
 law, being made a curse for us. 
 
 Verily, I say unto you, Except ye be converted 
 and become as little children, ye shall not enter 
 into the kingdom of heaven. 
 
 Say unto them, As I live, saith the Lord God, 
 I have no pleasure in the death of the vs^icked ; 
 but that the wicked turn from his way and live : 
 Turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways ; for why 
 will ye die, O house of Israel ? 
 
 I say unto you, there is joy in the presence of 
 the angels of God, over a sinner that repenteth. 
 
 I will arise and go to my father, and say unto 
 him. Father, I have sinned against heaven, and 
 before thee, and am no more Avorthy to be called 
 thy son. 
 
 THE CONFESSION OF SIN, AND TRAYER FOR PARDON 
 AND SANCTIFICATION. 
 
 O most great, most just and gracious God : 
 thou art of purer eyes than to behold iniquity, 
 thou condemnest the ungodly, impenitent, and 
 
Baxter's reformed liturgy. 175 
 
 unbelievers; but hast promised mercy, through 
 Jesus Christ, to all that repent and believe in 
 him. We confess that we were conceived in 
 sin, and are by nature children of wrath; and 
 have all sinned and come short of the glory of 
 God. We have neglected and abused thy holy 
 worship, thy holy name, and thy holy day. We 
 have dealt unjustly and uncharitably with our 
 neighbours, not loving them as ourselves, nor 
 doing to others as we would they should do to us. 
 We have not sought first thy kingdom and righte- 
 ousness, and been contented with our daily bread, 
 but have been careful and troubled about many 
 things, neglecting the one thing needful. Thou 
 hast revealed thy wonderful love to us in Christ, 
 and offered us pardon and salvation in him : but 
 we have made light of it, and neglected so great 
 salvation, and resisted thy Spirit, word, and 
 ministers, and turned not at thy reproof: we have 
 run into temptations ; and the sin which we 
 should have hated, we have committed in thy 
 sight, both secretly and openly, ignorantly and 
 carelessly, rashly and presumptuously, against thy 
 precepts, thy promises and threats, thy mercies 
 and thy judgments. Our transgressions are mul- 
 tiplied before thee, and our sins testify against 
 
176 A CHAPTER ON LITURGIES. 
 
 US ; if thou deal with us as we deserve, thou wilt 
 cast us away from thy presence into hell, where 
 the worm never dieth, and the fire is not quenched. 
 But in thy mercj^, thy Son, and thy promises is 
 our hope. Have mercy upon us, most merciful 
 Father ! Be reconciled to us, and let the blood 
 of Jesus Christ cleanse us from all our sins. 
 Take us for thy children, and give us the Spirit of 
 thy Son. Sanctify us wholly, shed abroad thy 
 love in our hearts, and cause us to love thee with 
 all our hearts. O make thy face to shine upon 
 thy servants ; save us from our sins, and from the 
 wTath to come ; make us a peculiar people to thee, 
 zealous of good works, that we may please thee, 
 and show forth thy praise. Help us to redeem 
 the time, and give all diligence to make our 
 calling and election sure. Give us things necessary 
 for thy service, and keep us from sinful discontent 
 and cares. And seeing all these things must be 
 dissolved, let us consider what manner of persons 
 we ought to be, in all holy conversation and 
 godliness. Help us to watch against temptations, 
 and resist and overcome the flesh, the devil, and 
 the world ; and being delivered out of the hand 
 of all our enemies, let us serve thee without fear, in 
 holiness and righteousness before thee all the days 
 
177 
 
 of our life. Guide us By thy counsel, and after 
 receive us into tliy glory, through Jesus Christ 
 our only Saviour. Amen. 
 
 Our Father which art in heaven, etc. 
 
 For the streyigtliening of faith, and raising the 
 Penitent, some of these Sentences of the Gospel 
 may he here read. 
 
 Hear what the Lord saith to the Absolution and 
 Comfort of Penitent Believers. 
 
 The Lord your God is gracious and merciful, 
 and will not turn away his face from you, if ye 
 return unto him. 
 
 If any man sin, we have an advocate with the 
 Father, Jesus Christ the righteous, and he is the 
 propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only, 
 but also for the sins of the whole world. 
 
 Be it known unto you, men and brethren, that 
 through this man is preached to you the forgive- 
 ness of sins ; and by him all that believe are 
 justified from' all things, from which they could 
 not be justified by the la^v of INIoses. 
 
 Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy 
 laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke 
 upon you, and learn of me, for I am meek and 
 
178 A CHAPTER ON LITURGIES. 
 
 lowly in heart, and ye 'shall find rest unto your 
 souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light. 
 
 Whosoever will, let him take of the water of 
 life freely. 
 
 All that the Father hath given me, shall come 
 to me ; and him that cometh to me^ I will in no 
 wise cast out. 
 
 I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and 
 their sins and iniquities I will remember no more. 
 
 Hear also what you must be and do for the time 
 to come, if you would be saved. 
 
 If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature ; 
 old things are passed away, behold all things are 
 become new. 
 
 There is no condemnation to them that are in 
 Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but 
 after the Spirit. For they that are after the 
 flesh, do mind the things of the flesh ; but they 
 that are after the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. 
 
 The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long- 
 suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, 
 temperance ; against such there is no law. And 
 they that are Christ's, have crucified the flesh 
 with the affections and lusts. 
 
 Love not the world, neither the things that are 
 
179 
 
 in the world ; if any man love the world, the love 
 of the Father is not in him. For all that is in 
 the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eye, 
 and the pride of life, is not of the Father, hut is 
 of the world. 
 
 For the grace of God that bringeth salvation, 
 hath appeared unto all men, teaching us that, 
 denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should 
 live soberly, and righteously, and godly, in this 
 present world ; looking for the blessed hope, and 
 the glorious appearing of the great God and our 
 Saviour Jesus Chkist ; who gave himself for 
 us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and 
 purify to himself a peculiar people, zealous of 
 good works. 
 
 Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye steadfast, 
 unmovable, always abounding in the work of the 
 Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour 
 is not in vain in the Lord. 
 
 Then may he said the ninety-fifth or the hundredth 
 Psalm, or the eighty -fourth. . 
 
 And next the Psalms in order for the day ; and 
 next shall he read a chapter of the Old Testament, 
 such as the minister findeth most seasonable ; or 
 
180 A CHAPTER ON LITURGIES. 
 
 with the liberty expressed in the admonition before 
 the second book of Homilies. 
 
 After which may be sung a Psalm, or the Te 
 Deum said ; then shall be read a chapter of the 
 New Testament, and then the Prayer for the King 
 and Magistrates. And after that, the sixty- 
 seventh, or ninety -eighth, or some other Psalm, 
 may be sung or said, or the Benedictus, or Magni- 
 ficat. Afid the same order to be observed at the 
 JEvening Worship, if time allow it. 
 
 Next after the Psalm the Minister shall (in 
 the pulpit) first reverently, prudently, and fer- 
 vently pray, according to the state and necessities 
 of the Church, and those especially that are 
 present, and according to the subject that he is to 
 preach on. And after Prayer, he shall preach 
 upon some text of Holy Scripture, suiting his 
 matter to the necessities of the hearers, and the 
 manner of delivery to their quality and benefit. 
 
 After Sermon he shall pray for a blessing on 
 the vrord of instruction and exhortation, which 
 was delivered ; and in his Prayers (before or after 
 Sermon) ordinarily he shall pray for the conversion 
 of Heathens, Jews, and other infidels ; the subver- 
 sion of idolatry, infidelity, Mahometanism, heresy. 
 
181 
 
 papal tyranny and superstition, schism and pro- 
 faneness, and for the free progress of the Gospel, 
 the increase of faith and godliness, the honouring 
 of God's name, the enlargement of the kingdom 
 of Christ, and the obedience of his saints through 
 the nations of the earth. And in special for these 
 nations ; for the King's Majesty, and the rest of 
 the Royal Family, for the Lords of his Majesty's 
 Council, the Judges and other Magistrates of the 
 land, for the Pastors of the Church, and all Con- 
 gregations committed to their care and govern- 
 ment. Always taking heed that no mixtures of 
 imprudent, disorderly expressions, of private dis- 
 content and passion, of unreverent, disobedient, 
 seditious, or factious intimations, tending to cor- 
 rupt, and not to edify the people's minds, do turn 
 either prayer or preaching into sin. And ordi- 
 narily in Church-communion, especially on the 
 LoRD's-day (which is purposely separated for 
 the joyful commemoration of the blessed work of 
 man's redemption), a considerable proportion of 
 the public worship must consist of thanksgiving 
 and praises to God, especially for Jesus Christ, 
 and his benefits ; still leaving it to the Minister's 
 discretion to abbreviate some parts of worship, 
 when he seeth it needful to be longer on some other. 
 
18^ A CHAPTER ON LITURGIES. 
 
 THE GENERAL PRAYER. 
 
 O most holy, blessed, and glorious Trinity, 
 Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, Three Persons and 
 One God, our Creator, Redeemer, and Sanctifier, 
 our Lord, our Governor and Father, hear us, and 
 have mercy upon us, miserable sinners. 
 
 O Lord our Saviour, God and man! vrho, 
 having assumed our nature, by thy sufferings, and 
 death, and burial, wast made a ransom to take 
 away the sins of the world; who being raised 
 from the dead, ascended and glorified, art made 
 Head over all things to the Church, which thou 
 gatherest, justifiest, sanctifiest, rulest, and pre- 
 servest, and which at thy coming thou wilt raise 
 and judge to endless glory : We beseech thee to 
 hear us, miserable sinners. 
 
 Make sure to us our calling and election, our 
 unfeigned faith and repentance ; that being justi- 
 fied, and made the sons of God, we may have peace 
 with him, as our reconciled God and Father. 
 
 Let thy Holy Spirit sanctify us, and dwell in 
 us, and cause us to deny ourselves, and to give 
 up ourselves entirely to thee, as being not our 
 own, but thine. 
 
 As the world was created for thy glory, let thy 
 
183 
 
 name be glorified throughout the world ; let self- 
 love, and pride, and vain-glory be destroyed ; cause 
 us to love thee, fear thee, and trust in thee with 
 all our hearts, and to live to thee. 
 
 Let all the earth subject themselves to thee, 
 their King. Let the kingdoms of the world 
 become the kingdoms of the Lord, and of his 
 Christ. Let the atheists, idolaters, Mahometans, 
 .Jews, and other infidels, and ungodly people, be 
 converted. Send forth meet labourers into the 
 harvest, and let the Gospel be preached through- 
 out all the world. Preserve and bless them in 
 thy work. Sustain in patience, and seasonably 
 deliver the churches that are oppressed by idola- 
 ters, infidels, Mahometans, or other enemies, or 
 by the Roman Papal usurpations. 
 
 Unite all Christians in Jesus Christ, the true 
 and only universal Head, in the true Christian 
 and Catholic Faith and Love ; cast out heresies 
 and corruptions, heal divisions, let the strong re- 
 ceive the weak, and bear their infirmities ; restrain 
 the spirit of pride and cruelty, and let nothing be 
 done in strife, or vain-glory. 
 
 Keep us from atheism, idolatry, and rebellion 
 against thee; from infidelity, ungodliness, and 
 sensuality ; from security, presumption, and 
 
184 A CHAPTER ON LITURGIES. 
 
 despair. Let us delight to please thee, and let thy 
 word be the rule of our faith and lives ; let us 
 love it, and understand it, and meditate in it day 
 and night. 
 
 Let us not corrupt or neglect thy worship ; nor 
 take thy holy Name in vain. Keep us from 
 blasphemy, perjury, profane swearing, lying, con- 
 tempt of thy ordinances, and from false, unworthy, 
 and unreverent thoughts and speeches of God, or 
 holy things ; and from the neglect and profana- 
 tion of thy holy day. 
 
 Put it into the hearts of the Kings and Rulers 
 of the world to submit to Christ, and rule for 
 him as nursing fathers to his Church ; and save 
 them from the temptations that would drown 
 them in sensuality; or would break them upon 
 Christ as a rock of offence, by engaging 
 them against his holy doctrine, ways, and ser- 
 vants. 
 
 Have mercy on thy servant Charles, our king, 
 protect his person, illuminate and sanctify him 
 by thy Spirit, that above all things he may seek 
 thine honour, the increase of faith, and holy obe- 
 dience to thy laws; and may govern us as thy 
 minister, appointed by thee for the terror of evil- 
 doers, and the praise of them that do well ; that 
 
Baxter's reformed liturgy. 185 
 
 under him we may live a quiet and peaceable life, 
 in all godliness and honesty. 
 
 Have mercy upon all the Royal Family, upon 
 the Lords of the Council, and all the Nobility, the 
 Judges, and other Magistrates of these lands. Let 
 them fear thee, and be ensamples of piety and 
 temperance, haters of injustice, covetousness, and 
 pride, and defenders of the innocent : in their 
 eyes let a vile person be contemned, but let them 
 honour them that fear the Lord. 
 
 Let every soul be subject to the higher powers, 
 and not resist ; let them obey the king, and all in 
 authority, not only for wrath, but for conscience' 
 sake. 
 
 Give all the Churches able, holy, faithful 
 pastors, that may soundly and diligently preach 
 thy word, and guide the flocks in ways of holiness 
 and peace, overseeing and ruling them not by 
 constraint, but willingly, not for filthy lucre, but 
 of a ready mind ; not as being lords over thy 
 heritage, but the servants of all, and ensamples 
 to the flock; that when the chief Pastor shall 
 appear, they may receive the crown of glory. 
 
 Let the people know those that are over them 
 in the Lord, and labour among them preaching 
 to them the word of God ; let them highly esteem 
 
186 A CHAPTER ON LITURGIES. 
 
 them ill love for their works' sake, account them 
 worthy of double honour, and obey them in the 
 Lord. 
 
 Let parents bring up their children in holy 
 nurture, that they may remember their Creator in 
 the days of their youth; and let children love, 
 honour, and obey them. Let husbands love their 
 wives, and guide them in knowledge and holiness ; 
 and let wives love and obey their husbands. Let 
 masters rule their servants in thy fear, and ser- 
 vants obey their masters in the Lord. 
 
 Keep us from murders, and violence, and in- 
 jurious passionate words and actions. 
 
 Keep us from fornication and all uncleanness, 
 from chambering and wantonness, from lustful 
 thoughts and filthy communications, and all un- 
 chaste behaviour. 
 
 Keep us from stealing, or wronging our neigh- 
 bour in his property, from perverting justice, from 
 false witnessing and deceit, from slandering, back- 
 biting, uncharitable censuring, or other wrong to 
 the reputation of our neighbours. 
 
 Keep us from coveting anything that is our 
 neighbours'. Let us love our neighbours as our- 
 selves, and do to others as we would they should 
 do to us. 
 
Baxter's reformed liturgy. 187 
 
 Cause us to love Christ in his members with 
 a pure and fervent love, and to love our enemies, 
 and do good to all, as we are able ; but especially 
 to the household of faith. 
 
 Give us our necessary sustentation and provi- 
 sion for thy service, and contentedness therewith ; 
 bless our labours, and the fruits of the earth in 
 their season, and give us such temperate weather 
 as tendeth hereunto. Deliver us and all thy ser- 
 vants from such sickness, wants, and other dis- 
 tresses, as may unseasonably take us off thy service. 
 Keep us from gluttony and drunkenness, sloth- 
 fulness, unlawful gain, and from making provi- 
 sion for the flesh to satisfy its lusts. 
 
 When we sin, restore us by true repentance 
 and faith in Christ; let us loathe ourselves for 
 our transgressions; forgive them all and accept 
 us in thy well-beloved Son; save us from the 
 curse and punishment which they deserve, and 
 teach us heartily to forgive others ; convert our ene- 
 mies, persecutors and slanderers, and forgive them. 
 
 Cause us to watch against temptations, to resist 
 and overcome the flesh, the devil, and the world ; 
 and by no allurements of pleasure, profit, or honour, 
 to be drawn from thee to sin; let us patiently 
 sufler with Christ, that we may reign with him. 
 
188 A CHAPTER ON LITURGIES. 
 
 Deliver vis and all thy people from the enmity 
 and rage of Satan and all his wicked instruments; 
 and preserve us to thy heavenly kingdom. 
 
 For thou only art the universal King ; all power 
 is thine in heaven and earth ; of thee, and through 
 thee, and to thee are all things, and the glory shall 
 be thine for ever. Amen. 
 
 The Sermon and Prayer being ended, let the 
 minister dismiss the congregatio7i with a Benedic- 
 tion, in these or the like words : — 
 
 Blessed are they that hear the word of God, 
 and keep it. 
 
 The Lord bless you, and keep you ; the Lord 
 make his face to shine upon you, and be gracious 
 unto you ; the Lord lift up his countenance upon 
 you, and give you peace. 
 
 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the 
 love of God the Father, and the communion of 
 the Holy Ghost, be with you all. Amen. 
 
 A THANKSGIVING FOR CHRIST AND HIS GRACIOUS 
 BENEFITS. 
 
 Most glorious God, accept, through thy beloved 
 Son, though from the hands of sinners, the 
 
Baxter's reformed liturgy. 189 
 
 thanksgiving which thy unspeakable love and 
 mercies, as well as thy command, do bind us to 
 offer up unto thee. Thou art the Father of 
 mercies, and the God of all consolation, full of 
 compassion, gracious, long-suffering, plenteous in 
 goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, 
 forgiving iniquity, transgression, and sin. For 
 thy glory thou didst create us after thine image ; 
 thou madest us a little lower than the angels, and 
 crownedst us with glory and honour, giving us 
 dominion over the works of thy hands, and put- 
 ting all these things under our feet. And when 
 we forsook thee, and broke thy covenant, and 
 rebelled against thee, and corrupted ourselves, 
 and tiu'ned our glory into shame ; thou didst not 
 leave us in the hands of death, nor cast us out 
 into utter desperation : but thou didst so love the 
 sinful world, as to give thy Son to be our Saviour. 
 He took not upon him the nature of angels, but 
 of man : the Word was made flesh, and dwelt 
 among us. This is the unsearchable mystery of 
 love which the angels desire to pry into : he was 
 tempted, that he might succour them that are 
 tempted, and conquered the tempter, that had 
 conquered us ; he became poor that was Lord of 
 all, to make us rich. He did no sin, but fulfilled 
 
190 A CHAPTER ON LITURGIES. 
 
 all righteousness, to save us from our unrighte- 
 ousness. He made himself of no reputation, but 
 was reviled, scorned, and spit upon, enduring the 
 cross, and despising the shame, to cover our shame, 
 and to bring us unto glory: thou laidst upon 
 Him the iniquity of us all. He was bruised and 
 wounded for our transgressions, that we might be 
 healed by His stripes. He gave himself a ransom 
 for us, and died for our sins, and rose again for 
 our justification. We thank thee for His death 
 that saveth us from death, and that He bore the 
 curse to redeem us from the curse; and for His 
 life which opened to us the way to life. Thou 
 hast given Him to be Head over all things to the 
 Church, and hast given the heathen to be His 
 inheritance, and given Him a name above every 
 name, and given all power and judgment unto 
 Him. We thank thee for the new and better 
 covenant, for thy great and precious promises : 
 That thou hast given us eternal life in Christ. 
 That we have the clear and sure revelation of thy 
 will in the Holy Scriptures. That thou foundest 
 thy Church upon apostles and prophets, Jesus 
 Christ himself being the head corner-stone. 
 And hast committed to thy ministers the word of 
 reconciliation, that as ambassadors speaking in 
 
191 
 
 the stead of Christ, they might beseech us to be 
 reconciled unto thee. We thank thee that by 
 them thou hast opened our eyes, and turned us 
 from darkness unto light, and from the power of 
 Satan unto God. All thy paths, O Lord, are 
 mercy and truth to such as keep thy covenant. 
 We come into thy house in the multitude of thy 
 mercies : O give thanks unto the Lord, for he is 
 good, for His mercy endureth for ever. Glory ye 
 in His holy name, let the hearts of them rejoice 
 that seek Him. Blessed are the people that know 
 the joyful sound; they shall walk, O Lord, in 
 the light of thy countenance. In thy name they 
 shall rejoice all the day, and in thy righteousness 
 and favour shall they be exalted ; blessed are they 
 that dwell in thy house, they will be still praising 
 thee. O satisfy us early with thy mercy, that we 
 may rejoice and be glad in thee all our days. 
 Guide us by thy counsel, and afterwards receive 
 us unto thy glory; where, with all the blessed 
 host of heaven, we may behold, admire, and per- 
 fectly and joyfully praise thee, our most glorious 
 Creator, Redeemer, and Sanctifier, for ever and 
 for ever. Amen. 
 
X. 
 
 ®!]e Ciitoiuisttt lornis in tlje gooli of Common 
 
 *' Though thousands were debtors to him [Calvin], as touching 
 Divine knowledge, yet he to none, only to God." — Hooker. 
 
 Of the many -vveiglity treatises which have been 
 written on the Book of Common Prayer, there are 
 but few that do justice to the part taken by the 
 Protestant divines of the Continent in its compila- 
 tion. Admirers of the breviary and missal, delight- 
 ing to trace the correspondence of their Liturgy 
 with mediaeval forms, are apt to omit all reference 
 to these more modern sources. Even where their 
 ingenuity is puzzled to find analogy for its offices 
 in Romish or Eastern sacramentaries, they will la- 
 boriously avoid recognition of the true but despised 
 origin. Yet the fact is established beyond question, 
 that several of the Foreign Reformers shared in 
 the authorship or revision of the English Prayer 
 Book. Calvin, Knox, Luther, Melancthon, Bucer, 
 Martyr, were engaged in the work ; and to their 
 aid must be traced some of its finest passages. 
 
THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER. 193 
 
 Melancthon and Bucer were indeed the authors 
 of no inconsiderable portion of the Anglican forms. 
 In 154:3, those Keformers drew up a system of 
 doctrine and worship for the Protestant Arch- 
 bishopric of Cologne. This they did at the 
 solicitation of Hermann, " that pious Confessor, 
 late Elector and Archbishop of Colen, who, for 
 adhering to the Protestant religion, and setting 
 on foot the Reformation of his country, was 
 deprived by the Pope and Emperor."* The work 
 which they thus prepared, was published in Latin 
 at Bonn, in 1545, under the title, '^ Nostra 
 Hermanni Archepisc. Coloniensis Simplex et Pia 
 Deliheratio et Christiana in Verho Dei fundata 
 Reformatio.''^ A translation was published at 
 London, 1547, entitled ^''Reformation of Doc- 
 trine," etc. 
 
 The Liturgy of Cologne was in the hands of the 
 English Reformers when they were engaged upon 
 the Book of Common Prayer; and "from this 
 Liturgy," says Archbishop Laurence, " our offices 
 bear evident marks of having been freely 
 borrowed — liberally imitating, but not servilely 
 copying it.^'f 
 
 * Strype, Eccl. Mem. Eclw. VI. 
 
 t Laurence on the Thirty-nine Articles^ etc., pp. 377, 378. 
 O 
 
194 A CHAPTER ON LITURGIES. 
 
 From Bucer and Melancthon's Liturgy, the Bap- 
 tismal offices of the Prayer Book are substantially 
 taken. In the Communion service, the Confession 
 of Sins, the Absolution and succeeding sentences, 
 and the Thanksgiving in the Post-Communion 
 service, are of similar origin.* Nearly the whole 
 of the form of Solemnization of Matrimony will be 
 found in the Cologne Ritual ; and a large portion 
 of the Order for the Burial of the Dead. The 
 anthem, ^^ O Lord God, most holy," etc., is from 
 
 Luther.f 
 
 These are not the only traces of the Cologne 
 Liturgy to be met with in the Anglican Prayer- 
 Book : plainly showing in what estimation that 
 formulary was held by the compilers, and what fre- 
 quent reference they had to its excellent services. 
 But although we may fairly claim the Liturgy 
 of Cologne as a fruit of the Calvinistic Reforma- 
 tion, — for Bucer, who had the chief hand in it, 
 was a disciple of Calvin, — our business for the 
 present is more strictly with the Genevan 
 divines ; and we proceed to inquire what Calvin 
 
 * Warter, Teaching of the Prayer Book, 104. The second of the 
 Exhortations is extracted from a work of the Reformer Peteh 
 Martyr. See Liturgical Services, etc., Parker Society, p. 186, note. 
 
 t Laurence, 381. 
 
THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER. 195 
 
 and Knox contributed to the preparation of the 
 Book of Common Prayer. 
 
 The Fathers of the English Reformation were 
 far from entertaining those unfraternal sentiments 
 towards the ministry and churches of Scotland and 
 the Continent, which in our day disgrace the cause 
 of Protestantism. They acknowledged the claims 
 of their Presbyterian brethren to respect and 
 fellowship; and by advancing to office persons 
 who had obtained Presbyterian orders, they gave 
 practical evidence of this recognition. So Cranmer 
 for many years reserved a chair in the university 
 of Cambridge for the illustrious Melancthon, 
 hoping that he might be attracted to England.* 
 So Martyr and Bucer were called to professorships 
 at Oxford and Cambridge, and were consulted and 
 appealed to on every important topic of ecclesi- 
 astical doctrine and discipline that arose diuing 
 their residence. 
 
 When, in the year 1551, John Knox visited 
 England, he was invited to assist in the revision of 
 the Prayer Book, then in progress. f There were, 
 doubtless, many parts of that formulary which 
 
 * Rev. Dr. Butler, Tlie Common Prayer Book Interpreted, p. 6Q. 
 t Knox had already been appointed one of the chaplains of 
 Edward VI.— Strype's Cranmer, 299. 
 
196 A CHAPTER ON LITURGIES. 
 
 must have been repugnant to the severe judgment 
 of the Scotch Reformer : but it was not to be 
 expected that all his suggestions would be followed 
 out. So much influence, however, had he among 
 the revisors, that he procured an important change 
 in the Communion Service : completely excluding 
 the notion of the real presence in the sacrament.* 
 The following year, he was employed on a revision 
 of the Articles of Religion, previous to their ratifi- 
 cation by act of Parliament, f 
 
 Calvin, too, was consulted in the compilation of 
 the Prayer Book ; and, though not so directly en- 
 gaged upon it, was the author of several of its 
 forms. The introductory portion of the daily 
 service is due to him. According to the first Book 
 of Edward VI., that service began with the Lord's 
 Prayer. J The foreign Reformers consulted, § 
 recommended the insertion of some preliminary 
 forms ; and hence the origin of the Sentences, 
 the Exhortation, the Confession, and the Absolu- 
 
 * M'Ckie's Life of Knox, pp. 67, 68. 
 
 t Strype's Cranmer, p. 273. 
 
 X Liturgies of King Edward VI., Parker Society, 1844. — 
 Card'vvell's Two Liturgies of Edward VI. 
 
 § Bishop Brownell's Comm. on the Prayer Boole, p. 73. These 
 Keformers were Peter Martyr and Martin Bucer, who were then in 
 England. Short's Kist. of the Church of England, p. 281. 
 
THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER. 197 
 
 tion. These elements were borrowed, not from 
 any ancient formulary, but from a ritual drawn up 
 by Calvin for the Church at Strasburg.* They 
 " were taken in great part^" says an Episcopalian 
 writer, '^from a Liturgy composed by Calvin. 
 The Ten Commandments were also introduced 
 into the Communion Service, probably from the 
 same source. "f We may add that the Responses 
 which follow the rehearsal of the Commandments 
 in that service, are taken from PoUanus, who 
 translated the Strasburg Liturgy, and published 
 it at London in 1556.:{: 
 
 To diminish the credit due to the compilers of 
 the Prayer Book for this judicious and liberal use 
 of Calvin's Liturgy, it has been urged that their 
 selection was confined to the introductory and 
 subsidiary parts of Divine worship. We shall 
 only specify, in answer, a seventh instance of their 
 indebtedness to the Calvinistic Forms. The very 
 words of the distribution of the sacred elements, 
 in the celebration of the Lord's Supper, are taken 
 
 * La Forme des Prieres et Chants EccUsiastiques. Strasbourg, 
 154o, 8vo. See a Notice sur la Vie et les Ouvrages de Calvin, in the 
 thii'd volume of La France Protestante : Paris, 1853. 
 
 f The Common Frayer Booh Interpreted, p. 55. 
 
 X See Archbishop Laurence's Sermons on the Thirty-nine Articles, 
 p. 209 ; and Strype's Eccl Mem. Edw. VI., b. i. c. 29. 
 
198 A CHAPTER ON LITURGIES. 
 
 from a Calvinistic Liturgy : that of the distin- 
 guished A'Lasco^ who derived it chiefly from the 
 Liturgy of Strasburg. The sentences, " Take and 
 eat this/' etc., " Drink this,^' etc., were " suggested," 
 says an Episcopalian writer, " from the ritual of a 
 church of foreigners then resident in England, 
 who were most remarkable for their rejection of 
 ancient practices."* 
 
 " The truth is," observes Jeremy Taylor, " that 
 although they framed the Liturgy with the 
 greatest consideration that could be, by all the 
 united wisdom of Church and State, yet, as if pro- 
 phetically to avoid their being charged by after ages 
 with a crepusctdum of religion — a dark, twilight, 
 imperfect Reformation — they joined to their own 
 star all the shining tapers of the other reformed 
 churches, calling for the advice of the eminently 
 learned and zealous Reformers in other kingdoms, 
 that the light of all together might show them a 
 clear path to walk in."t 
 
 It is curious, and not a little amusing, to observe 
 the treatment which these Calvinistic portions of 
 the Prayer Book receive at the hands of High 
 
 * Rev. Dr. Butler, The Common Prayer Book Interpreted, ^.12^. 
 See also Card well's Eist. of Conferences, p. 6. 
 t Bishop Taylou's Works, vii. 288. Butler. 
 
THE BOOK OF COMMON PKAYER. 199 
 
 Church ritualists. Their object being to make 
 out, as far as possible, the remote antiquity of its 
 forms, they seek for each of them some parallel in 
 Roman or Eastern liturgies. Wherever they can 
 trace similarity of use and resemblance of form, 
 they infer, not unreasonably, a designed imitation. 
 Only when successful in tracing back a form to 
 " Catholic usage," is their critical search satisfied. 
 But in approaching these Calvinistic innovations, 
 our ritualist is sadly at fault. Loath to refer them 
 to their unmistakeable sources, he takes a new 
 journey into the past, and overhauls his accumulated 
 stores of missals, pontificats, and sacramentaries, 
 but comes back with nothing that ingenuity 
 can twist into a resemblance of paternity. We 
 shrink from the cruelty of informing him at last, 
 that these forms are the offspring of a system 
 which, however venerated by his fathers,* is 
 identified to his mind with heresy, false doctrine, 
 and schism, from which he piously prays, "De- 
 liver us." 
 
 We have said that no ancient Liturgy opens with 
 a general confession of sins and supplication of 
 
 * '* A Nursery unto God," is the title given by Ai'chbishop 
 Grindal to the city of Geneva. 
 
200 A CHAPTEK ON LITURGIES. 
 
 forgiveness.* The Anglican ritual, at the be- 
 ginning of each of its chief services, the Common 
 Prayer and the Communion, presents this feature. 
 Without analogy elsewhere, it finds a parallel 
 in the Liturgies of the Reformed Churches. 
 Tractarian authors, warned perhaps by intuitive 
 suspicion of its origin, deplore the insertion. Not 
 less do they lament the introduction of the 
 Decalogue in the Communion Office. But though 
 these elements of the Protestant Episcopal worship 
 may have no warrant in " Catholic usage,^' they 
 are to us significant memorials of a state of 
 amity once existing between the Church of 
 England and the Protestant communions on the 
 Continent. 
 
 There was certainly on the part of the English 
 Reformers, no lack of willingness to transcribe 
 those customs which were commendable in other 
 Protestant Churches. We have seen how, in 
 1563, Archbishop Grindal translated from Calvin's 
 Liturgy the form of prayer used during a visitation 
 
 * Consult Palmer's Origines Liturgic<B : Bkett. 
 
 " Great interest attaches to that [Calvin's] Confession, since from 
 its position, as well as its wording, it manifestly gave occasion to the 
 General Confession of our own Prayer Book." — Private Frayers in 
 the reign of Queen Elizabeth, Parker Society, p. 488, note. See 
 Laurence's Bampton Lectures, pp. 207, 208. 
 
THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER. 201 
 
 of the Plague ; a form which became the model of 
 other similar services in after years.* Near the 
 same period we find Bishop Pilkington enjoining 
 the use of Calvin's Daily Prayers at E-ivington 
 School, instituted and founded by him.f The 
 Liturgy of John Knox was then, and continued 
 long after, in common use, as a manual of private 
 devotion. Under the form of a collection of 
 " Christian Prayers and Godly Meditations," it 
 had been published in 1569, by royal authority.:!: 
 Only a few years later, it became customary to 
 print, by authority, the Calvinistic Prayers, 
 together with the Psalms in metre, as an appendix 
 to the Bible ; in some editions of which we find 
 the Common Prayer prefixed to the Sacred Books, 
 while Knox's Liturgy is appended. This re- 
 markable feature may be observed in Bibles 
 
 * Vide p. 155. 
 
 t Bishop Pilkington, TForlcs, p, 671. 
 
 X " Christian Fraycrs and Meditations^^ London, 1569. A copy 
 of this very rare book is in the possession of the Rev. Dr. Bethune, 
 New York. It is republished in the Parker Society's volume of 
 "Private Prayers," pp. 429 — 561. These Praj'ers comprise almost 
 the whole of Calvin and Knox's Liturgies, intermingled with the 
 Litany and various collects. A special edition of them, most skilfully 
 ornamented in the style of the ancient books of devotion, was printed 
 in 1578, for the private use of Queen Elizabeth ; hence it was 
 designated "The Queen's Prayer Book." 
 
S02 A CHAPTER ON LITURGIES. 
 
 printed as early as the year 1596^ and as late as 
 1640.* 
 
 The practice of singing metrical psalms, intro- 
 duced about this time, was also borrowed from the 
 Calvinistic worship; it became popular at once, 
 and has continued to form an important part of 
 religious observance. t 
 
 The Catechism for Children, now in use, was 
 compiled by Cranmer in 1548, and taken chiefly 
 from a Lutheran formulary.^ Previous to this, 
 the Catechism of Erasmus had been introduced, 
 and in 1547 was ordered to be used at Winchester 
 College and elsewhere. Calvin's Catechism, how- 
 ever, soon came into general use, and in 1578 was 
 
 * Barker's Bible of 1590, small quarto, black letter, with 
 notes. The same, of 1640, octavo, with references. — Library of the 
 American Bible Society. 
 
 The following are the titles of the Calvinistic Prayers appended to 
 these editions : " A Forme of Prayer to be used in private houses 
 every morning and evening. Morning Prayer. Evening Prayer. 
 A Godly Prayer to be said at all times. A Confession for all 
 estates and times. (Conf. of Sins.) A Prayer to be said before a 
 man begins his work. A Prayer for the whole estate of Christ's 
 Church." 
 
 t " The day of September [1559] the new Morning Prayers 
 
 began now first at St. Antholin's in Bridge-row, ringing at five in the 
 morning ; and then a Psalm was sung, as was used among the 
 Protestants of Geneva, all men, women, and young folks singing 
 together ; which custom was about this time brought also into St. 
 Paul's."— Strype's Life of Archbishop Grindal, b. i. c. 3. 
 
 X Warter on the Frayer Book. 
 
THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER. 203 
 
 ordered by statute to be used at the University of 
 Oxford.* 
 
 A custom which, at first glance, would appear 
 almost incompatible with the Anglican system, 
 was in the year 1572 adopted and established by 
 ecclesiastical law. We refer to those meetings of 
 the clergy for conference and religious improve- 
 ment, v^^hich were termed Exercises or Prophesy- 
 ings. This feature of Calvinism had been borrowed 
 by the Church of Scotland as early as ISGO.f 
 It was established and regulated by the First 
 Book of Discipline ; whence the '' directions " 
 issued in various dioceses of the Church of England 
 were evidently drawn.:}: These meetings received 
 the countenance of Parker, Chaderton, Parkhurst, 
 and in fact most of the English prelates, who 
 found much good to arise from their prevalence.! 
 Some incidental abuses, however, having been 
 
 * Card-well's Doc. Annals of the Church of England, vol. i. 
 p. 300, note. 
 
 t The First Book of Discipline^ ch. xii. Dunlop's Confessions^ 
 ii. 587. 
 
 X Card well's Doc. Annals of the Church of England, vol. i. 
 p. 389. " The practice had been adopted in the first instance in 
 Scotland, and rules had been provided for it by the Convention 
 [Council] of 1560," p. 390, note. 
 
 ^ "Exercises among the ministers and curates of churches, called 
 Prophesyings, from the Apostle's word, 1 Cor. xiv., were now used in 
 most dioceses."— Strype's Annals., vol. ii. p. 472. 
 
S04 A CHAPTER. ON LITURGIES. 
 
 alleged against the practice^ as that " laymen and 
 Nonconforming ministers were allowed to take 
 part in the dehates ; that speeches had been made 
 against the government and the services of the 
 Church ;"* the Queen was led, in 157T, to issue 
 an order for the complete suppression of the 
 " exercise called ^ Prophesying.' "f Great grief 
 was felt, upon this arbitrary proceeding, by the 
 most pious and eminent ministers of England ; 
 and his refusal to concur in it was the occasion 
 upon which the excellent Grindal, then Archbishop 
 of Canterbury, lost the favour of his royal mistress.:^ 
 At a later period. Lord Bacon, in a letter to King 
 James, questioned whether it were not advisable 
 to renew an exercise which had been practised in 
 the Church for some years, and had been sup- 
 pressed in opposition to the opinion of "the 
 greatest and gravest prelate of the land."§ 
 
 Thus did the Reformers of England, anxious 
 not only to embellish their own purified system of 
 religion, but also to establish its harmony with 
 
 * Strype's Grindal^ p. 326. Neal's Ptiritans, vol. i. p. 231. 
 
 t Queen Elizabeth's Letter to the Bishops^ etc. Cardwell, 
 i. 428. 
 
 X Life and Remains of Grindal. 
 
 § Works, vol. i. p. 357. — Considerations touching the pacif. cation 
 of the Church of England. 
 
THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER. 205 
 
 Others, adopt many of the prominent excellencies 
 of our own Calvinistic worship. Some of those 
 features have been removed, but others remain. 
 The opening services of the Common Prayer and 
 the Communion are still retained, with the full 
 stamp of their Presbyterian origin upon them. 
 Those kindly sympathies which they commemorate 
 have long since ceased to flow ; and a brazen wall 
 of separation has been erected by the bigotry of 
 ages to shut out from the tender mercies of 
 Episcopacy all Protestant Communions. The 
 Churches of the Reformation, so frequently and so 
 affectionately named in the times of Cranmer, and 
 Grindal, and Hooker, are now seldom spoken 
 of but with opprobrium. The advances of their 
 sisterly aff'ection are generally repulsed with over- 
 bearing arrogance. Their worship is despised, 
 their orders are a theme of jest, their struggles and 
 sufferings* viewed with indifference or contempt. 
 Yet, whenever as strangers we kneel at the altars 
 
 * When intelligence of the Massacre of St. Bartholomew's Eve 
 (August 2ith, 1572) reached England, a form of penitential and 
 intercessory prayer was appointed to be observed in all the Churches, 
 on account of the afflictions undergone by the Protestant brethren in 
 France. See Strype's Far/cer, ii. 131 ; Cakdwell, i. 374, note. 
 Would any such disaster to the Churches of Protestantism in our 
 day elicit from the same source a token of sympathy, or a Avord of 
 regret ? [In reference to this note and the text, see Editor's Preface.] 
 
206 A CHAPTER OF LITURGIES. 
 
 of this unfriendly Churcli, and listen to these 
 forms of Scripture sentence and commandment, of 
 confession and absolution, we seem to hear again 
 the welcome of Christian recognition, which the 
 Fathers of our system received, when they joined 
 the Reformers of England in works of faith and 
 labours of love. 
 
XI. 
 
 "Antiquity, while it adds weight to a ritual composed even of 
 sacred elements, adds yet more to one whose composition is essentially 
 human. Such a Liturgy should be re-touched only at long intervals, 
 and with great circumspection by the Church." 
 
 ViNET. Fast. Theology. 
 
 We approach this branch of our subject with the 
 more interest and satisfaction, because of all the 
 Calvinistic Churches represented in these United 
 States, the Reformed Dutch denomination alone 
 has faithfully retained her ancient forms of wor- 
 ship. The earliest member of the Presbyterian 
 family transplanted to these Western shores, she 
 exhibits to us in this respect more perfectly than 
 any other the natural outgrowth of the system 
 from which she sprung. But besides preserving 
 thus far inviolate a formulary handed down from 
 the first days of the Reformation, the Reformed 
 Dutch Church bears also, at the present moment, 
 an aspect of peculiar hopefulness and promise for 
 the future. The subject of a re-arrangement of 
 that ritual, which in some of its offices has become 
 virtually obsolete, because unsuited to the require- 
 
208 A CHAPTER ON LITURGIES. 
 
 ments of the times, is now receiving serious 
 consideration from a committee under appoint- 
 ment of the General Synod; and will probably 
 be acted upon in the course of a very few 
 months. To this quarter, then, the advocates 
 of improvement in the worship of our churches 
 may look, with some definite expectation, for a 
 fulfilment of the great desideratum of a Presby- 
 terian Liturgy. 
 
 The Liturgy of the Church of Holland is, with 
 a few trifling exceptions, completely and accurately 
 rendered in our American translation.* It may be 
 divided into two parts : of which the one is a 
 collection of prayers for the ordinary services of 
 worship; and the other, of Forms in the admi- 
 nistration of the Sacraments and Ordinances of 
 religion.f The former of these divisions, or that 
 which relates to the ordinary services of the 
 Sabbath and week-day assemblies, has fallen into 
 desuetude among the churches of this country ; as 
 
 * We have noticed but two omissions ; the one being a praj-er in 
 the marriage service, and the other an article on " The Consolation of 
 the Sick." 
 
 t The Liturgy of the Eeformed Dutch Church ; or, the 
 Forms used therein.— 1. Christian Prayers to be used in the Assembly 
 of the Faithful, and on other o'ccasions. II. Administration of the 
 Holy Sacraments. III. Church Discipline. IV. Ordination of Church 
 oflacers. V. Celebration of Marriage. VI. Of Comforting the Sick. 
 
THE REFORMED DUTCH LITURGY. 209 
 
 indeed in Holland, where these forms went out of 
 use toward the close of the seventeenth century, 
 or contemporaneously with our own Scottish 
 forms * In fact, it may be doubted whether in 
 this country they have ever been used at all. The 
 deficiency has been supplied in part by a species 
 of brief directory embodied in the Constitution of 
 the American Church, under the head of ^^ Customs 
 and Usages." An examination of that directory 
 will show, that notwithstanding the abandonment 
 of the use of written prayers in the Sabbath 
 services, there has not been a total relinquishment 
 of the liturgical character of worship.t The main 
 elements of the Crdvinistic service are there 
 
 * T. D. W., in the Chr. Intelligencer, Nov. 5th, 1852. 
 
 t Constitution of the Reformed Dutch Church of North 
 America; Chapter III. '•^ Of Customs and Usages;" Article I. 
 Section 4th. 
 
 " For the purpose of uniformity in the order of worship, the 
 following is to be observed by all the churches : — 
 
 " 1st. After a space for private devotion, the minister shall intro- 
 duce the public worship in the morning by invoking the Divine 
 presence and blessing. 2nd. Salutation. 3rd. Reading the Ten 
 Commandments, or some other portion of Scripture, or both. 4th. 
 Singing. 5th. Prayer. 6th. Singing. 7th. Sermon. 8th. Prayer. 
 9th. Collection of Alms. 10th. Singing. 11th. Pronouncing the 
 Apostolic Benediction. 
 
 "The order of the afternoon and evening services shall be the same 
 as in the morning, excepting the reading of the Ten Commandments. 
 The last service on the Lord's day shall conclude with the Christian 
 Doxology." 
 
 P 
 
210 A CHAPTER ON LITURGIES. 
 
 retained, viz. : the Lord's Prayer, Ten Command- 
 ments, and Creed, * besides the features of a 
 " Salutation" at the commencement of the service, 
 and a Doxology at the close. In Holland univer- 
 sally, and in America to some extent, the clergy 
 wear an official dress during the performance of 
 their public functions.! 
 
 But while it is true that the forms of common 
 prayer have thus fallen into disuse, what is 
 perhaps more important, the administration of the 
 sacraments and ordinances remains unimpaired, 
 according to the original model of the Reformation. 
 The Constitution of the Dutch Church enjoins upon 
 ministers the use of the forms of Baptism, Com- 
 munion, and Ordination ; which, accordingly, are 
 celebrated to this day in the order and manner of 
 their liturgical prescription. 
 
 It is contemplated in the revision now in process, 
 to supply those deficiencies which render a portion 
 
 * "Wc are not aware that the Creed is at present used in any of 
 the Dutch Reformed Churches at the ordinary services of worship ; 
 as it certainly was used until of late years. But it still occupies a 
 conspicuous place in the Communion Office. 
 
 t We do not know whether it be the old Geneva gown that is 
 worn at present in Holland, as it was until within a century past. 
 The academic gown is used in this country. A writer in the Neiv 
 Brunswick Revietv for February, 1855, mentions the fact that during 
 the celebration of the Communion, elders in the Churches of Holland 
 wear a distinctive dress. 
 
THE "REFORMED DUTCH LITURGY. 211 
 
 of this formulary unfit for present use, without 
 material alteration of those parts which are still 
 used. As it now stands, the Reformed Dutch 
 Liturgy is, we believe, precisely what it was in 
 the year 1619, and substantially as when first 
 adopted in 1568. The greater part of its forms 
 indeed date back to the year 1541, and like almost 
 everything else in the ritual of the Reformed 
 Churches, must be ascribed to the great Reformer 
 Calvin. 
 
 A brief history of the compilation of this Liturgy 
 may not be without interest to the reader. For 
 the leading facts here given, we are indebted to 
 the systematic and reliable work of the German 
 ritualist Ebrard.* 
 
 Li 1541, if not earlier, Calvin composed for 
 the congregation to which he had ministered 
 
 * Eeformirtes Kirchenbuch ; Vollstandige Sanimhing der in 
 der Eefonnirten Kirehe eingefuhrten Kirchengebete und Fonmilare. 
 Von Aug. Ebrard, Prof, der Theologie zii Zurich : Ziirich, 1847, 
 1 vol. small quarto, pp. 323. We are indebted, also, for some of the 
 statements here given, to the author of two very valuable articles 
 published in the Christian Intelligencer newspaper, New York, 
 October 28th and November 4th, 1852, under the head of "The 
 Liturgy and Forms of Worship." These articles, bearing the initials 
 T. D. W., are attributed to the pen of the learned and excellent 
 senior pastor of the Collegiate Reformed Dutch Church in the city of 
 New York; than whom no better authority on the subject could 
 be desired. 
 
21£ A CHAPTER ON LITURGIES. 
 
 awhile at Strasburg, a form of worship, which 
 was printed in 1545 at that city.* This formulary 
 resembled closely his Liturgy of Geneva, but 
 seems to have contained some features not to be 
 found in that latter.f It lies at the foundation of 
 the Dutch and German Reformed rituals ; and, 
 as we have had occasion to notice elsewhere,^ was 
 the source of several portions of the English Book 
 of Common Prayer. 
 
 In 1546, Valerandus Pollanus, successor of 
 Calvin as minister of the congregation at Stras- 
 burg, published a liturgy for his people, which 
 appears to have been identical with Calvin's. 
 For, in 1551, having passed over with his flock 
 to England, where they established themselves 
 at Glastonbury, in Somersetshire, Pollanus pub- 
 lished " a translation of Calvin's Liturgy of 
 Strasburg," as it was used by his congregation. § 
 It is this version that was used by Cranmer and 
 
 * In a preceding chapter we have referred to this document, 
 which, however, it has not been our good fortune to possess. We 
 find it described in the very thorough bibliographical notice of the 
 works of Calvin, in volume third of the France Protestante, 
 Paris, 1853. 
 
 t As, for instance, a form of Absolution after the Confession of 
 Sins, in the service for the Lord's day. 
 
 + Vide p. 197. 
 
 § Private Prayers in the Reign of Queen Elizabeth : Parker 
 Society, 1851 ; p. 458, note. See Stripe, Mem. IL, i. 378, etc. 
 
THE REFORMED DUTCH LITURGY. 218 
 
 his colleagues in drawing up the Common Prayer 
 Book. 
 
 Shortly after this publication, A'Lasco, the dis- 
 tinguished superintendent of the German and 
 Walloon congregation, which had been formed at 
 London,* prepared in Latin a Liturgy on the 
 basis of that which PoUanus had translated from 
 Calvin; and this composes the substance of the 
 Holland Liturgy, as well as that of the Palatinate. t 
 
 A'Lasco's liturgy, thus founded on PoUanus's 
 translation, was rendered into the Dutch language 
 in 1556 by John Utenhoven, an eminent Christian 
 layman of the period. J The Latin edition mean- 
 while was published at Frankfort in 1555, entitled. 
 
 * JoHx A'Lasco, a Eoman Catholic Bishop, uncle to the king of 
 Poland, converted to the Reformed faith, came to England in 1548, 
 upon the invitation of Cranmer. He returned to Embden in Fries- 
 land, in 1549 ; but circumstances soon compelled his return to 
 England, where he was appointedin July, 1556, superintendent of the 
 foreign Protestant congregation, established at London. See Burnet 
 and Strype. 
 
 t Ebrard's Ref. Kirchenhuch, Preface, p. xxix. 
 
 X John Utenhoyex, a native of Ghent and a man of rank, was 
 an elder and assistant to John A'Lasco, in the Walloon Church at 
 London. See Strype, Eccl. Mem. Edw. VI., b. i. c. 20. In 1549 he 
 visited Zurich, when Bishop Hooper gave him letters to the celebrated 
 Bullinger, introducing him as " a man illustrious both by his birth 
 and virtues, most sincere in the true religion, and entirely opposed 
 to all the mischiefs of sectarianism ; he is, moreover, exceedingly 
 intimate with Master John A'Lasco." — Original Letters relative to 
 the English Reformation : Parker Society, Letter XXIX. 
 
214 A CHAPTER ON LITURGIES. 
 
 "The Form of Ecclesiastical Service in the German 
 Church of foreigners, established at London in 
 England."* 
 
 But before this, in 1554, an abridgment of A' 
 Lasco's yet unpublished Liturgy had been made 
 by Martin Micronius; and this was printed in 
 the Dutch language at Embden, in Hanover, 
 under the title, " Christian Ordinances of the 
 Netherlands Congregations of Christ; with the 
 approbation of the INIinisters and Elders of the 
 Church of Christ of the Low Dutch at London ; 
 diligently collected and arranged by Martin 
 Micronius."t 
 
 A few farther modifications brought this formu- 
 lary into its present shape. Composed originally 
 by Calvin in French, translated by Pollanus into 
 the English, re -arranged by A^Lasco in Latin, 
 then translated by Utenhoven into the Dutch, and 
 abridged by Micronius, it was finally reviewed by 
 Dathenus, and adopted in 1566 as the standard of 
 worship in the Reformed Church of Holland. 
 
 It was not, however, until the year 1574, that, 
 by a decree of the Synod of Holland and Zealand, 
 
 * Forma ac tota ecclesiastici ministerii in percgvinorum, potis- 
 simum vero Germanorum Ecclcsia, instituta Londini in Anglia." 
 
 t " Christelicke Ordinantien der Nederlandschen Ghemeijnten 
 Christi," etc. Ebrard. 
 
THE REFORMED DUTCH LITURGY. 215 
 
 this Liturgy was imposed as a prescribed service 
 upon the churches. Having been already approved 
 by the Synod of Wesel, it was in that year con- 
 firmed, and order was given that it be used by all 
 the ministers. Some of the offices are of more 
 modern date. The *^ Consolation of the Sick" 
 was introduced in 1587 ; and the form of baptizing 
 adults in 1604. 
 
 The numerous congregations of refugees from 
 Holland which were formed in England during 
 the Spanish persecution in that country,* used 
 this order of worship. At one period of the reign 
 of Queen Elizabeth, there were no fewer than 
 eight congregations of Dutch Protestants in the 
 city of London alone. The number diminished, 
 however, before many years, and for more than a 
 century there existed but one such congregation ; 
 now, we believe, entirely extinct. 
 
 The forms of worship peculiar to the Holland 
 churches, which were observed at London, as well 
 
 * Great numbers of pious foreigners, Dutch and of other nations, 
 were now in and about London ; many whereof were driven out of 
 their own countries by the Popish persecution. These had a place 
 assigned them for their safe assembling themselves together for the 
 public worship of God, being a large and fair part of the church of 
 the Augustin friary dissolved."— Strype, Eccl. Mem.., Edw. VI., 
 b. i. c. 29. 
 
216 A CHAPTER ON LITURGIES. 
 
 as in other towns of England, with the full appro- 
 bation and sanction of the Anglican Reformers, 
 commended themselves, by their scriptural purity 
 and beauty, to the respect of all Protestant com- 
 munions ; and it is a curious fact, recorded in the 
 history of the Huguenots, that when, about the 
 middle of the eighteenth century, all assemblies 
 for worship, according to the rites of the French 
 Reformed Church, were forbidden, the Protestants 
 of Paris w^ere accustomed to meet and celebrate 
 Divine service after the forms of the Church of 
 Holland ; by which course they evaded the letter 
 of the law, and at the same time beautifully ex- 
 emplified the harmony of these sister Churches in 
 their doctrines and ordinances * 
 
 The Liturgy of the Reformed Dutch Church 
 was first translated into English for the use of 
 several English and Scottish congregations formed 
 in Holland.! The translation now in use was 
 effected toward the latter part of the past century, 
 by the Rev. Dr. Livingston, and is remarkably 
 faithful and correct. 
 
 * De Felice, History of the Protestants of France, p. 523. 
 
 t An edition published at Amsterdam, 1772, for the use of the 
 English Established Church in that city, is before us. It is bound 
 up with the metrical Psalms of David, by Tate and Brady. 
 
THE REFORMED DUTCH LITURGY. 217 
 
 As the larger portion of the Reformed Dutch 
 Liturgy is derived from sources which have ah'eady 
 been adduced, we content ourselves with two brief 
 selections from it.* The following prayers from 
 the Baptismal Service are the more interesting to 
 uSj because it is to be feared that in the present 
 revision they will undergo modification, to suit 
 the low conceptions of the value of this rite and 
 the efficacy of the grace accompanying it, that 
 prevail in the churches :t 
 
 INVOCATION 
 
 O Almighty and Eternal God : We beseech 
 thee that thou wilt be pleased, of thine infinite 
 mercy, graciously to look upon these children ; 
 and incorporate them by thy Holy Spirit into 
 thy Son Jesus Christ : That they may be buried 
 with him into his death, and be raised with him 
 in newness of life : That they may daily follow 
 
 * The penitential tone pervades all the prayers of the Dutch 
 Liturgy. Confession of sin and supplication for pardon occupy the 
 chief place in every form. It is a singular fact, that the prayer 
 which Calvin composed for a special fast (in 1-541, "when Germany 
 was infested hoth with war and pestilence," Cali\ Ep.), took, in the 
 Dutch Liturgy, the place of a regular Sunday morning supplication ; 
 thus giving a character of sorrow and dejection to the whole service 
 throughout the year. "We have quoted this prayer in full on p. 157. 
 
 t See Editor's Preface. 
 
^18 A CHAPTER ON LITURGIES. 
 
 him, joyfully bearing their cross, and cleave unto 
 him in true faith, firm hope, and ardent love : 
 That they may, with a comfortable sense of thy 
 favour, leave this life, which is nothing but a con- 
 tinual death ; And that, at the last day, they may 
 appear without terror before the judgment-seat of 
 Christ thy Son: Through Jesus Christ our 
 Lord, who with Thee and the Holy Ghost, one 
 only God, lives and reigns for ever. Amen. 
 
 THANKSGIYIXG. 
 
 Almighty God and merciful Father : We thank 
 and praise thee, that thou hast forgiven us and 
 our children all our sins, through the blood of 
 thy beloved Son Jesus Christ ; and received us 
 through thy Holy Spirit, as members of thy 
 only begotten Son, and adopted us to be thy 
 children, and sealed and confirmed the same unto 
 us by holy baptism. We beseech thee, through 
 the same Son of thy love, that thou wilt be pleased 
 always to govern these baptized children by thy 
 Holy Spirit; that they may be piously and 
 religiously educated, increase and grow up in the 
 Lord Jesus Christ, that they then may acknow- 
 ledge thy fatherly goodness and mercy, which 
 thou hast shown to them and us ; and live in all 
 
THE REFORMED DUTCH LITURGY. 219 
 
 righteousness, under our only Teacher, King, and 
 High Priest, Jesus Christ; and manfully fight 
 against and overcome sin, the devil, and his whole 
 dominion : To the end that they may eternally 
 praise and magnify thee, and thy Son Jesus 
 Christ, together with the Holy Ghost, the one 
 only true God. Amen. 
 
 On the whole, it will be readily acknowledged, 
 that in her present Liturgy, the Reformed Dutch 
 Church possesses an invaluable formulary of public 
 devotion. Though defective as to the ordinary 
 services of worship — w^hich, however, are con- 
 siderably in advance of the unmitigated baldness 
 of our Scottish Presbyterian service — this ritual 
 is sufficiently full in the more important offices of 
 Baptism, Communion, and Ordination. And as 
 these offices are not only furnished, but imposed, 
 the Reformed Dutch Church can hardly be charged 
 with neglecting to provide the food of devotion 
 for those of her own household. 
 
 We confess to some apprehension in looking 
 for the result of the present deliberations on the 
 revision of the Reformed Dutch Liturgy. We 
 are not without fear lest the desire of accommo- 
 dating them to the low standard of the popular 
 
220 A CHAPTER ON LITURGIES. 
 
 taste may lead to a sacrifice of the tone and spirit 
 that pervade those ancient forms. We should 
 infinitely prefer a simple return to the prayers of 
 Calvin, Knox, and Baxter,* for the supply of 
 what little is lacking ; to an adjunction of purely 
 modern and immature productions. We dread 
 the incongruities of '^ new wine in old bottles/* 
 and "new cloth unto an old garment." But we 
 shall hope for better things. 
 
 * Two suggestions may be pardoned in reference to the proposed 
 amendment of the service for the morning of the Lord's Day. And, 
 first, as to the use of the Lord's Prayer : Its proper place, accord- 
 ing to our modern arrangement, is at the close of the ^rst prayer or 
 Invocation. So long as the Calvinistic worship retained its cuimcla- 
 tive order, the sermon occupying a central position, and the principal 
 prayer occurring towards the close, it was proper that this Divine 
 form should conclude the service. But this order has been practi- 
 cally broken by placing the " long prayer" before the sermon. Hence 
 there is no longer a significance in locating the Lord's Prayer at 
 the end. 
 
 The other suggestion relates to the Apostles' Creed. The ancient 
 practice of the Dutch and Scottish Churches was (as it now is that of 
 the Continental Churches), to rehearse the Creed not only on sacra- 
 mental occasions, but in the principal service of the Lord's Day. 
 Its place seems to be at the close of the second prayer ; and, in fact, 
 it was so used at first in the church of Geneva (see the Notice siir la 
 vie de Calvin^ already quoted), though afterwards transposed to the 
 conclusion of the service. It has always been used as a prayer in 
 the Calvinistic ritual, with a preface similar to that in the Dutch 
 Keformed Communion Office. 
 
XII. 
 
 f ititrjjg Df tilt ^Mimit 
 
 "None, as I suppose, of sound judgment, will derogate from the 
 Liturgy, if the form thereof be in all parts agreeable to the word of 
 God, the example of the primitive Church, and that holy decency 
 which St. Paul commendeth."— Lord Bacon. 
 
 Distinct in some noteworthy particulars, though 
 of kindred origin and general character, the 
 Liturgy of the Palatinate deserves a brief notice 
 separate from that of the Netherlands just con- 
 sidered. In the fertile and populous region 
 of the Upper Rhine, whose plains and villages 
 have so often suffered the devastations of war. 
 Protestantism early gained a foothold, which for 
 three centuries has been firmly maintained. It 
 was in 1563 that the Elector Frederick III., " of 
 blessed ancestral Christian memory,^'* ordered the 
 preparation and publication of a Liturgy, together 
 with a summary of Christian doctrine," faithfully 
 drawn from the pure word of GoD."t The Re- 
 
 * Imprimatur of the Palatinate Liturgy published in 1684, by 
 order of the Count Palatine Charles, quoted in an article of the 
 Mercersburg Review, January, 1850, to which we ai-e chiefly indebted 
 for the translation of the prayers hereafter given. 
 
 t Ibid. 
 
22S A CHAPTER ON LITURGIES. 
 
 formers of Heidelberg, Ursinus, Olevianus, and 
 TremelliuSj* were charged with the work of 
 drawing up this formulary of doctrine and devo- 
 tion, t These theologians, being in close relations 
 of fraternity with the distinguished A'Lasco, who 
 had then recently published his Liturgy for the 
 Dutch congregation at London, took that work for 
 the basis of their compilation; which will be 
 found substaiitially to agree with the present 
 Dutch Eeformed ritual, both having been drawn 
 from the same source. But while the Dutch 
 formulary has been subjected to three or four 
 
 * Two of these personages were eminent professors in the 
 ITnivcrsitj' of Heidelberg, and each of them took a distinguished part 
 in the work of Eeformation there. Zachary Ursinus was a native 
 of Silesia, a pupil of Melancthon, appointed in 1561 to the chair of 
 theology at Heidelberg ; he died in 1583. Gaspar Olevianus was 
 the son of a baker at Treves ; he studied theology at Geneva, and 
 afterwards became mmister at Heidelberg, where he died in 1583. 
 Emmakuel Tremellius, born at Ferrara, was of Jewish extraction ; 
 he was converted by the instrumentality of Peter Martyr ; and after 
 visiting Holland and England, where he was some time professor at 
 Cambridge, settled at Heidelberg, where he was appointed Hebrew 
 professor ; he died in 1580.— Zurich Letters, Parker Society, pp. 
 386, 450, note. 
 
 t Ebrard's Eeformirtes Eirchenhuch, pp. xxix., xxx. The doc- 
 trinal part of their work was the composition of the Palatine 
 Catechism, commonly called the Heidelberg Catechism ; which was 
 adopted as the standard of the Church of Holland by the Synod of 
 Dort; early translated into English, and in 1591 published by 
 authority of the Church of Scotland for general use. — Dunlop's 
 Collection of Confessions, etc., of the Church of Scotland, Edinburgh, 
 1721; vol. ii. pp. 273-361. 
 
LITURGY OF THE PALATINATE. 
 
 processes of elimination, that of the Palatinate has 
 probably preserved more of the original matter ;* 
 and in fact we find that it corresj^onds much more 
 closely than the present Reformed Dutch Liturgy 
 with an interesting description of the services of 
 the Walloon congregation at London, given by a 
 writer of the seventeenth century. f 
 
 The first edition of the Palatinate Liturgy is not 
 extant. The second, published in lbSb,X has not 
 been materially altered in subsequent reprints. 
 
 * The substance of A'Lasco's work was drawn, as shown in the 
 preceding chapter, from Calvin's Liturgy of Strasburg. Thus it 
 seems probable that we have here in the Palatinate Liturgy a nearer 
 approach to that yet undiscovered document, than is afforded either 
 by the Dutch or the Genevan formulary. 
 
 t Quoted by T. D. W., in the Chr. Intell. Some of those practices 
 of ecclesiastical discipline which were recommended by Calvin, 
 though not introduced successfully at Geneva, seem to have been 
 followed out by the Palatinate Eeformers. " It was lately enacted at 
 Heidelberg," writes the Zurich theologian Gualter to Bishop Sandys, 
 in 1573, " that no one should be admitted to the Lord's Supper 
 without having first presented himself to his pastor." — Zurich 
 Letters, clxxxvii : Parker Society. 
 
 X " Frederick III., elector Palatinate, in the year 1560, substituted 
 the followers of Calvin's doctrines in place of the Lutheran teachers, 
 whom he displaced, and ordered his subjects to receive the rites and 
 opinions of the Genevans. His successor Lewis, in the year 1576, 
 rescinded the acts of his father, and restored the Lutheran doctrine. 
 But this again fell on the accession of John Casimir i© 1583. From 
 that time onward, the Palatinate Church held the second rank among 
 the Eeformed Churches ; and it possessed such influence over the 
 others, that the religious instructions composed for its use by Ursinus, 
 and denominated the Heidelberg Catechism, were received nearly 
 throughout the whole body."— Mosheim, vol. iii. p. 384. 
 
224: A CHAPTER ON XITURGIES. 
 
 The same formulary was adopted by the general 
 Synod of the Lower Ehine.* How generally it 
 is in use at the present day, we are not informed. 
 The order of Divine service for the Lord's day 
 in the morning, according to the Palatinate 
 Liturgy, is as follows : — 
 
 GENERAL INTEODUCTION. 
 
 Grace, mercy, and peace, from God our Father, 
 and his Beloved Son Jesus Christ our Lord, and 
 the fellowship of the Holy Ghost, be with us 
 all. Amen. 
 
 or, 
 
 The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the 
 love of God, and the communion of the Holy 
 Ghost, be with you all. Amen. 
 
 EXHORTATION TO PRATER. 
 
 To he used occasionally hy the 7nmister before 
 the Sermon, especially on loeeh-days. 
 
 Beloved in the Lord Jesus Christ : Let us 
 call upon our faithful God and Father, and 
 humbly beseech him to turn away his face from 
 our sins, by which we have continually kindled 
 his wrath against us. And whereas we are 
 
 * Ebuard, p. 30. 
 
LITURGY OF THE PALATINATE. 225 
 
 altogether unworthy to appear before his Holy 
 Majesty, let us entreat him to look upon us in the 
 face of his beloved Son Jesus Christ our Lord, 
 accept of the merits of his sufferings and death in 
 satisfaction for all our sins, and thus render us 
 acceptable unto him. Let us also supplicate him 
 that he would by his Holy Spirit enlighten us 
 with the right understanding of his word, and 
 grant us grace to receive the same with true faith 
 and humility ; that we may learn therefrom to 
 withdraw all our confidence from creatures, and 
 trust in him alone, to serve and glorify him. 
 That so our whole lives may praise his name ; and 
 that seeing he hath been pleased to call and 
 accept of us as his servants and children, and 
 heirs of future glory, we may render him that 
 love and obedience which faithful children owe 
 unto their Father, and servants to their Lord. 
 Let us therefore beseech him for these things, as 
 our gracious Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ 
 hath taught us to pray, sincerely saying : — Our 
 Father, etc.* 
 
 \_Then a Psalm is sung hy the congregation^ 
 
 * This exhortation is derived word for word from Calvin, who used 
 it as a " bidding prayer" in his daily lectiu'es. We have given it in 
 a precatory form in Sec. III. : see page 66. 
 
 Q 
 
226 A CHAPTER ON LITURGIES. 
 
 PRATEE BEFORE SERl\rON. 
 
 Heavenly Father, eternal and merciful God : 
 We acknowledge and confess before thy Divine 
 Majesty that we are poor miserable sinners, 
 conceived and born in sin and corruption, prone 
 to all evil, and unfit for any good. By our sinful 
 life, we have continually transgressed thy holy 
 commandments, provoked thy wrath against us, 
 and incurred thy just judgment unto eternal 
 death. But, O Lord, we repent in sorrow that 
 we have thus offended thee, we condemn our- 
 selves and our iniquities, and implore thee merci- 
 fully to help us in our wretchedness and woe. 
 Have mercy upon us, therefore, O most gracious 
 God and Father, and pardon all our sins, for the 
 sake of the holy sufferings of thy dear Son, Jesus 
 Christ our Lord. 
 
 And vouchsafe unto us, henceforth, the grace of 
 thy Holy Spirit ; that he may teach us heartily 
 to knoAv our unrighteousness, and make us so to 
 abhor ourselves : that sin may be slain in us, and 
 we may arise to newness of life. Thus shall we 
 produce the perfect fruits of holiness and righteous- 
 ness with which, for Christ's sake, thou art 
 well pleased. Grant also, that we may rightly 
 
LITURGY OF THE PALATINATE. 227 
 
 understand thy holy word, according to thy Divine 
 will, that we may learn from thence to with- 
 draw our confidence entirely from the creature, 
 and to put all our trust in thee. And may our old 
 man, with all his lusts, be daily crucified more 
 and more; that we may present ourselves unto 
 thee, as living sacrifices, to the honour of thy holy 
 name, the edification of each other, and the 
 furtherance of our salvation : Through our Lord 
 Jesus Christ, who hath also taught us to pray, 
 saying : — Our Father, etc.* 
 
 [^Here folloivs the Sermon.'] 
 
 On Sahhaths after the Morning Sermon, and 
 especiallij after the preparatory Sermon, the 
 minister shall say : 
 
 Beloved in the Lord, Whereas Ave see in the 
 commandments of God, as in a glass, how great 
 and manifold- our sins are, by which we merit 
 temporal and eternal punishment : therefore let 
 each one of us heartily confess the same unto our 
 faithful Father, and sincerely say with me : 
 
 * From Calvin : compare with the Liturgy of Geneva. 
 
228 A CHAPTER ON LITURGIES. 
 
 CONFESSION OF SIN. 
 
 I poor sinner, acknowledge before thee, my God 
 and Creator, that I have grievously and in manifold 
 ways sinned against thee, not only with gross 
 outward transgressions, but much more with 
 inward natural blindness, unbelief, doubts, de- 
 spondency, impatience, pride, evil covetousness, 
 secret envy, hatred, malice, and other sinful 
 affections : as thou my Lord and God well know- 
 est, and I, alas ! cannot deeply enough deplore. 
 But I repent of these things, and am sorry for 
 them, and heartily beseech thee for mercy, for 
 the sake of thy beloved Son Jesus Christ. 
 Amen.* 
 
 Then shall the minister declare unto penitent 
 believers the forgiveness of sins, and unto the 
 impenitent the judgment of God, and say : 
 
 DECLARATION OF GRACE. 
 
 Hearken now unto the comforting assurance of 
 the grace of God, promised in the Gospel to all 
 that believe. 
 
 * This confession is of Lutheran origin ; we meet with it in all 
 the German Liturgies. The interpolation was doubtless made 
 during the brief period of the ascendancy of Lutheranism at Heidel- 
 berg, mentioned in the note on page 223. 
 
LITURGY OF THE PALATINATE. 229 
 
 Thus saith our Lord Jesus Christ : For God 
 so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten 
 Son, that whosoever believeth in him might not 
 perish, but have everlasting life. 
 
 Unto as many of you therefore, beloved Brethren, 
 as abhor yourselves and your sins, and believe 
 that you are fully pardoned through the merits of 
 Jesus Christ, and resolve daily more to abstain 
 therefrom and to serve the Lord in true holiness 
 and righteousness : I declare, according to the 
 command of God, that they are released in heaven 
 from all their sins, (as he hath promised in his 
 Gospel,) through the perfect satisfaction of the 
 most holy passion and death of our Lord Jesus 
 Christ. 
 
 But as there may be some among you, who con- 
 tinue to find pleasure in your sin and shame, or 
 who persist in sin against their conscience, I 
 declare unto such, by the command of God, that 
 the wrath and judgment of God abides upon them, 
 and that all their sins are retained in heaven, and 
 finally that they can never be delivered from 
 eternal damnation, unless they repent. 
 
 And inasmuch as we doubt not that our 
 prayers are sanctified by the sufferings of Jesus 
 Christ, and therefore acceptable to God, let us 
 
230 A CHAPTER ON LITURGIES. 
 
 heartily call upon him, and say : — Our Father, 
 etc.* 
 
 peater after the morning sermon. 
 
 Almighty God, Creator of heaven and earth, 
 we give thee most hearty thanks, that thou hast 
 created us, and hast preserved, fed, and sustained 
 us and our children hitherto, and art still willing 
 to keep and govern us. But esjDCcially do we 
 thank thee that thou hast given us to know thy 
 Son Jesus Christ, and dost pardon our sins for 
 the sake of his hitter passion and death. 
 
 We beseech thee to renew us in the image of thy 
 Son Jesus Christ, by the preaching of thy word, 
 and the power of the Holy Ghost, that so we 
 may, both in soul and body, live with thee, to 
 praise thee, for which we were created. Defend 
 us against the malice of Satan, lest he pluck thy 
 holy word out of our hearts, as he did unto our 
 first parents Adam and Eve. 
 
 And whereas thou hast ordained civil authorities, 
 by which thou dost govern us, we beseech thee, 
 
 * Here we have the " Declaration of Pardon" from A'Lasco, (and 
 possibly from Calvin,) described by a Dutch author of the seven- 
 teenth century as used in the "Walloon Church at London. According 
 to his description, the recital of the Creed followed upon this 
 declaration. 
 
LITURGY OF THE PALATINATE. S3 1 
 
 who hast the hearts of rulers in thy hands, for 
 * * * * Grant unto our governors grace and 
 peace, that they may direct their authority to the 
 end, that our Lord Jesus Christ, unto whom all 
 power in heaven and earth is given, may reign 
 over them and their subjects : so that this people, 
 who are the creatures of thy hands, and the sheep 
 of thy pasture, and for whom the Lord Jesus 
 shed his blood, may be governed in holiness and 
 righteousness ; and that we may, for thy sake, 
 show unto them all becoming honour and faithful- 
 ness, and thus, under their protection, lead an 
 honest, peaceable, and Christian life. 
 
 Grant thy blessing and favour also upon the 
 fruits of the earth, that we may thus know thee as 
 our Father, and the fountain of all mercy and 
 blessing. Preserve us also from war, famine, and 
 the swift- spreading pestilence. Neither pray we 
 for ourselves alone, but for all men in the whole 
 world, that thou wouldst graciously have com- 
 passion upon them. And especially for those who 
 have fellowship with us in the Body of Jesus 
 Christ, and who suffer for the Truth's sake. Be 
 pleased, O Father of all grace, to restrain the 
 wrath of thine enemies, who persecute thy Son 
 Jesus Christ in his members; and strengthen 
 
232 A CHAPTEE, ON LITURGIES. 
 
 the persecuted with victorious steadfastness, and 
 the power of thy Holy Spirit, that they may 
 joyfully receive these sufferings from thy hand, 
 and in the midst of tribulations experience that 
 peace which passeth all understanding. 
 
 Comfort and sustain the poor, the sick, widows 
 and orphans, all prisoners, and such as are with 
 child, together with all troubled and tempted 
 souls, and grant unto them thy peace, through 
 our Lord Jesus Christ, according to his assured 
 promise : Verily, verily, I say unto you, all things 
 that ye shall ask the Father in my name, will he 
 give unto you ; and who hath farther instructed 
 us to pray : — Our Father, etc. 
 
 After the Prayer a short Psalm may be sung, 
 and the congregation dismissed to their homes 
 tvith the 
 
 BENEDICTION. 
 
 The Lord bless thee, and keep thee. The Lord 
 make his face shine upon thee, and be gracious 
 unto thee. The Lord lift up his countenance 
 upon thee, and give thee peace. Amen. 
 
XIIT. 
 
 " It has even occurred to me to doubt, whether the well-known 
 doctrine of our beloved Church, with regard to Liturgies, may not 
 have been so rigidly interpreted, and so unskilfully applied, as to lead 
 to practical misapprehension and mischief in regard to the devotional 
 part of the services of our sanctuaries." 
 
 Miller on Public Prayer. 
 
 It was at the close of the American Revolution, 
 when the various denominations of Christians in 
 this country occupied themselves with a re-con- 
 struction of their various ecclesiastical systems, 
 that our Church, like others, revised her standards, 
 and brought them to their present substance and 
 shape. And the fact is not a little worthy of 
 remark, that in the process of this revision, an 
 effort was made by some of the most prominent 
 men of our denomination, to introduce, as a 
 modification of the directory of worship, a collec- 
 tion of devotional forms ; based on the same 
 general principles, but presenting a liturgical 
 aspect, and possessing many features of originality 
 and interest. 
 
234 A CHAPTER ON LITURGIES. 
 
 Let US briefly state the circumstances under 
 which this attempt was made. In 1786, the 
 Synod of New York and Philadelphia appointed 
 a Committee to modify and arrange the book of 
 government and discipline, and adapt it to the 
 use of the Church under the new civil dispensa- 
 tion.* Another Committee was appointed to per- 
 form a similar work in respect to the Directory of 
 Worship : it consisted of the Rev. Drs. John 
 Rodgers and MacWhorter, and the Rev. Messrs. 
 Alexander Miller and James Wilson. The same 
 individuals were directed to print the draught of 
 the form of government and discipline. The 
 whole appeared in 1787, in the shape of a pamphlet 
 of one hundred and forty-three pages ; of which 
 the copy we have consulted is, perhaps, the only 
 one extant. t 
 
 In this document, the various parts of public 
 prayer, instead of being made the subject of direc- 
 tions as to the manner of conducting them, are 
 provided for in liturgical forms. Such was the 
 arrangement under which the Committee appointed 
 
 * Hodge's History of the Pres. Church in the If. S., pt. ii. p. 498. 
 
 t A Draught of the Form of the Government and Discipline 
 [and of the Directory of Worship] of the Frcsbyterian Church in the 
 United States of America. New York : Printed by S. and J. Loudon, 
 No. 5, Water-street, MDCCLXXXYII. 143 pp. 8vo. 
 
DIRECTORY OF WORSHIP REVISED. 235 
 
 to revise the Directory returned it for tlie Synod's 
 adoption. They judged that^ for the ministrations 
 of the Sanctuary, it were better to provide samples 
 than recipes ; specimens of what these services 
 ought to be, rather than descriptions of the mode 
 of making them. 
 
 When the Directory, thus altered, came up be- 
 fore the Synod for approval, and the question was 
 raised, whether these forms should stand as they 
 appeared on the draught — or whether the several 
 parts and subjects of prayer should be stated as 
 formerly, in thesi, that is, in a doctrinal form — a 
 variety of opinions were expressed. The latter 
 method was ultimately carried by a majority ; but 
 many, among whom was the late Dr. Green,* 
 voted for a retention of the forms ; on the ground, 
 that an exemplification of any matter of instruc- 
 tion must be considered the best mode of making 
 it intelligible and plain. Of course, the idea of a 
 confinement to forms was entertained by no one. 
 
 These proposed changes in our Book of Wor- 
 ship, as they did not prevail at the time of their 
 introduction, being rejected by a majority of votes, 
 possess, of course, no authoritative value. Yet we 
 
 * Memoir of the Ecv. Dr. Gkeen. New York, R. Carter : pp. 
 182, 184. 
 
2S6 A CHAPTER ON LITURGIES. 
 
 cannot regard them without interest; for they 
 represent the views of some of the leading men of 
 the Church at that period, and furnish an ex- 
 emplification of the manner in which, according to 
 their judgment, the Presbyterian order of worship 
 may best be observed. They prove, also, that by 
 the interpretation of competent minds, the prin- 
 ciples of the Church do not conflict with the dis- 
 cretionary use of liturgical forms. 
 
 The preface to this interesting document 
 expresses ^^ high respect for the other Protestant 
 Churches of this country, though several of them 
 difler from" our communion "in some forms of 
 government and modes of worship ; particularly 
 for the regular Congregational Churches to the 
 eastward ; for the Associate, Low Dutch, and 
 German Reformed Churches ; and for the Lutheran 
 and Episcopal Churches. With any of the above 
 denominations," it continues, " the people of the 
 Presbyterian Church are recommended to worship 
 where there is no regular service of their own." 
 
 Such courtesies of denominational intercourse 
 seem to have been quite in vogue during the early 
 years of our national existence. Having suffered 
 in common the evils of war and disorder, " the dif- 
 ferent religious denominations of Christians," to 
 
DIRECTORY OF WORSHIP REVISED. 237 
 
 use the language of the Preface to the Common 
 Prayer Book, " were left at full and equal liberty 
 to model and organize their respective Churches, 
 and forms of worship and discipline, in such 
 manner as they might judge most convenient for 
 their future prosperity. '^ And they Avent about 
 this work in a spirit of kindliness and fraternity 
 towards one another. It may be doubted whether 
 time and growth have improved the temper of 
 ecclesiastical bodies, or even maintained as liberal 
 and conciliatory a spirit. 
 
 The Preface goes on to recommend " greater 
 regularity in reading the Scriptures as a part of 
 public worship ;" and advises as '* decent, and not 
 improper, for the whole congregation to stand up 
 during the reading of the Scriptures ; as was the 
 usage under the Old Testament dispensation, and 
 among the primitive Christians." 
 
 To show the nature of the forms contained in 
 this work, we shall select some portions of them, 
 and begin with the 
 
 SERVICE FOR THE LORD'S DAY MORNING. 
 
 " After the congregation is assembled, the 
 minister shall begin the service with prayer, to 
 the following purpose : 
 
238 A CHAPTER ON LITURGIES. 
 
 '' Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty ! who 
 art, and wast, and art to come. We, who are un- 
 worthy of the least of all thy .mercies, humbly 
 present ourselves in thy courts. We come to thee 
 our Creator and Redeemer, with homage, adora- 
 tion, and praise. Enable us, O Lord ! by thy 
 good Spirit, to attend to the holy duties to which 
 thou art calling us at this time, without distraction 
 of mind, and with reverence and godly fear. 
 Admit us, we beseech thee, with humble boldness 
 to enter into the holiest, by the blood of Jesus, by 
 the new and living way which he hath consecrated 
 for us through the vail. Instruct us from thy 
 word. May we read it with wise and understand- 
 ing hearts. Prepare us for singing thy praises : 
 may we make melody in our hearts, and offer up 
 an acceptable service. Teach us to pray ; inspire 
 us with a spirit of devotion ; enable us to exercise 
 faith in all the parts of Divine worship. And let 
 all be done to the glory of the Father, and of the 
 Son, and of the Holy Ghost ; and graciously ac- 
 cept us, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen." 
 
 " This, and all the other prayers in the Direc- 
 tory, may and ought to be varied, according to the 
 variety of circumstances which may occur, agree- 
 
DIRECTORY OF WORSHIP REVISED. 239 
 
 ably to the views and judgment of every minister. 
 Thus the spirit of prayer will be encouraged, and 
 the undue restraint of this spirit, which is the too 
 frequent effect of forms of prayer, will be guarded 
 against." 
 
 The Prayer before Sermon is too long for 
 transcription in this place. It was evidently 
 designed rather to supply matter of selection, than 
 for use as a whole. 
 
 The direction at the close reads thus : — 
 '^ As the prayer which Christ taught his 
 disciples is both a pattern for prayer, and itself a 
 most comprehensive prayer, we recommend it to 
 be used in the prayers of the Church ; and we 
 think the most proper place for this purjjose is, 
 either at the conclusion of the introductory prayer, 
 or at the end of this."* 
 
 Would that this counsel of our fathers might 
 be heard and regarded throughout our churches ! 
 Then should we not listen in vain from year to 
 year for the utterance of those blessed words in 
 our pulpits, which in the closet are so precious to 
 every believer. 
 
 * This paragraph was not new in the Draught of 1787, but was 
 taken, word for word, from the old Dire(?tory. For what reason it 
 came to be omitted in our present formulary, we cannot conjecture. 
 
240 A CHAPTER 01^ LITURGIES. 
 
 ADMINISTRATION OF BAPTISM. 
 
 We pass on to the service for the administra- 
 tion of Baptism. The Invocation at the begin- 
 ning of this service reads as follows : — 
 
 *' Most merciful God ! we pray for thy blessing 
 upon these parents and their child. The souls 
 of parents and of children are thine own. Enable 
 these parents, with faith and love, to offer up 
 their child to thee, in this holy ordinance of 
 baptism. Sanctify this child by thy grace. May 
 his original guilt be done away, through the blood 
 of the Lamb that was slain. Wash this child 
 in the laver of regeneration. Ingraft him into 
 Christ, and make him an heir of glory. Join 
 the inward baptism of the Spirit with the out- 
 ward baptism of water. Graciously bless and 
 sanctify this holy ordinance to the spiritual benefit 
 of this child. Ratify in heaven what we now do 
 on earth. Hear us, O our God ! accept and 
 answer us, only for the sake of our Divine 
 Redeemer. Amen. 
 
 " Then the minister, either taking the child in 
 his arms, or leaving it in the arms of the parent, 
 shall call the child by its name," and so proceed 
 with the rite of baptism. 
 
DIRECTORY OF WORSHIP REVISED. Ml 
 
 "This being performed^ he shall pray to this 
 or the like purpose : 
 
 " O Thou most glorious, condescending, and 
 gracious God ! Father, Son, and Holy Ghost : 
 We give thee hearty thanks for the covenant of 
 thy grace, and for all the institutions of thy 
 mercy. Follow with thy blessing this holy ordi- 
 nance of baptism, which has now been adminis- 
 tered in thy name. Enable these parents to live 
 in the faithful discharge of every Christian duty 
 toward this child. Receive him into thy Fatherly 
 care and protection. May he live and grow up 
 before thee, and do worthily in his day and gene- 
 ration. Sanctify him by thy Spirit ; uphold him 
 by thy power. May he j)rove a useful member 
 of thy Church here, and be kept by faith unto 
 salvation : Through JEsrs Christ our Lord. 
 Amen." 
 
 ADMINISTRATION OF THE LOED'S SUPPER. 
 
 Our third selection shall be from the service 
 for the administration of the Lord's Supper. The 
 prayer before the distribution of the elements is 
 prefaced thus : — 
 
 " Let the minister take a portion of the bread 
 in one hand, and one of the cups in the other. 
 
242 A CHAPTER ON LITURGIES. 
 
 and then pray for a blessing, to this or the like 
 effect : 
 
 " O thou Eternal God ! Father, Son, and Holy 
 Spirit: We adore thee as the fountain of being 
 and blessedness. We praise thee that thou hast 
 formed a Church in this fallen world; that we 
 are called to be members of it; and that thou 
 hast appointed various ordinances to be observed 
 therein. And now. Lord ! we are invited to 
 come and eat of Wisdom's bread, and to drink of 
 the wine that thou hast mingled. Cause us to 
 hunger and thirst after righteousness, that we 
 may be filled. Draw us, and we will run after 
 thee. Bring us unto thy presence, that we may 
 be glad and rejoice in thee, and remember thy 
 love more than wine. 
 
 " Most gracious God ! we give thee glory for 
 all the purposes of thy love; for the mission, 
 sufferings, and death of Jesus Christ ; in whose 
 name alone we have access to the throne of thy 
 grace, and hope for everlasting life. We thank 
 thee for this holy ordinance. We devoutly pray 
 for thy blessing upon us, in our attendance at 
 this feast of love. 
 
 '^ Bless, O Lord ! these elements of bread and 
 wine. May we receive them as the symbols of 
 
DIRECTORY OF WORSHIP REVISED. 243 
 
 the broken body and shed blood of our Lord and 
 Saviour Jesus Christ. May we by faith eat the 
 flesh and drink the blood of the Son of God. Let 
 the cup of blessing which we bless, be to us the 
 communion of the blood of Christ ; let this bread 
 which we break, be to us the communion of the 
 body of Christ. 
 
 '' Most merciful Father ! keep our hearts and 
 minds in this solemn duty ; and preserve us from 
 the suggestions of the evil one. May our souls 
 feel the lively exercise of every grace. Join us 
 to thee in a new and everlasting covenant, and 
 make us one spirit with thyself. May thy conti- 
 nual grace further and assist us in the performance 
 of every duty of the Christian life. Seal unto us 
 the remission of all our sins, the gift of the Holy 
 Ghost, and the promise of eternal life. 
 
 *' And now unto Him that is able to keep us 
 from falling, and to present us faultless before the 
 presence of his glory with exceeding joy : To the 
 only wise God our Saviour, be glory and majesty, 
 dominion and power, both now and for ever. 
 Amen." 
 
244 A CHAPTER ON LITURGIES. 
 
 FOEM OF ADMISSION TO THE CHUECH. 
 
 A subject ill which our present directory of 
 worship leaves much to be desired, is the ^'Ad- 
 mission of Persons to Sealing Ordinances of the 
 Church." The want of any provision for that 
 service, has been generally remedied among us 
 by the adoption of voluntary and extraneous forms, 
 such as are in use among our Congregational 
 brethren. This deficiency the Draught of 1787 
 admirably supplies. We quote it at some length. 
 
 The Form of Admission to the Church is intro- 
 duced with these observations : — 
 
 " Those who are to be admitted to sealing 
 ordinances, shall be examined as to their know- 
 ledge and belief of the following things : 
 
 " That the Scriptures of the Old and New 
 Testaments are the word of God, the only in- 
 fallible rule of faith and practice. 
 
 " That these contain, sufficiently and plainly, 
 every doctrine needful for salvation. 
 
 " That there is one only living and true God, 
 possessed of every perfection and excellency : 
 Creator, Preserver, and Governor of the uni- 
 verse. 
 
DIRECTORY OF WORSHIP REVISED. 245 
 
 ^' That there are three Persons in the God- 
 head : the Father^ the Son, and the Holy Spirit ; 
 and that these three are one. 
 
 " That all men are in a lost estate, and, as 
 sinners, stand justly condemned by the law of 
 God, and are liable to his wrath and curse. 
 
 " That Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son 
 of God, who is God and man in one Person, 
 came into this world to seek and to save them 
 that are lost. 
 
 '^ That He suffered and made atonement in their 
 room and stead. 
 
 " That He died for their offences, and rose again 
 for their justification. 
 
 " That He sitteth at the right hand of God in 
 heaven, making continual intercession for them. 
 
 " That the enlightening and sanctifying in- 
 fluences of the Holy Ghost are absolutely neces- 
 sary to lead us into the saving understanding of 
 the Sacred Scriptures; to renew the heart; and 
 to enable a Christian to live godly in the world. 
 And that watchfulness over the life, holy medita- 
 tion, a conscientious attendance upon public, pri- 
 vate, and secret worship ; together with the steady 
 practice of righteousness, truth, sincerity, and 
 charity toward men, and of sobriety, chastity. 
 
246 A CHAPTER ON LITURGIES. 
 
 and temperance toward ourselves ; are the indis- 
 pensable duties of every Christian. 
 
 " When the knovs^ledge of those who are to be 
 admitted to sealing ordinances is judged to be 
 satisfactory, and nothing appears in their life 
 and conversation to hinder their admission, the 
 minister shall, either in private, or in the pre- 
 sence of the Session, or in the presence of the 
 congregation, as shall be most expedient, ask the 
 profession of their faith, in the following or like 
 manner : 
 
 " Do you believe Jesus Christ to be the Son 
 of God ? Do you assent to the covenant of grace, 
 and acknowledge the obligation of your baptismal 
 engagements? Do you take God, the Father, 
 Son, and Holy Ghost, to be your God ? Do you 
 renounce your former sins ? And do you promise, 
 through grace, to live in the diligent practice of 
 all the duties required in the Gospel ? 
 
 ''It is not improper that this be accompanied 
 with suitable exhortation and prayer. And the 
 persons so professing their faith are, immediately 
 thereupon, entitled to sealing ordinances. 
 
 " Unbaptized persons are not members of the 
 visible Church — they are not Christians : There- 
 fore, when they offer themselves, they are to be 
 
DIRECTORY OF WORSHIP REVISED. 247 
 
 considered as candidates for admission into the 
 Church, and are to be taught the doctrines of the 
 Gospel as above directed. 
 
 ^^ When their knowledge shall be deemed satis- 
 factory, and nothing appears in their life against 
 their admission, it is most expedient, in ordinary 
 cases, that they should publicly profess their faith, 
 in the presence of the congregation [in the same 
 or like manner as directed above in the admis- 
 sion of young Christians to sealing ordinances]: 
 after which they ought to be immediately baptized, 
 and admitted to all the privileges of the Church." 
 
 MARRIAGE SERVICE. 
 
 We close these quotations with the two prayers 
 of the Marriage Service, w^iich in other respects 
 is similar to that of our Directory. The Invoca- 
 tion reads as follows : — 
 
 " Most holy and gracious God ! Maker of our 
 bodies, and Father of our spirits : We praise thee 
 that thou hast made us rational creatures, capable 
 of enjoying the various blessings of the social life. 
 We thank thee for the institution of Marriage; 
 and that thou hast made it honourable in all. 
 Be pleased to bless these persons who are about 
 
24:8 A CHAPTER ON LITURGIES. 
 
 to be joined in this holy relation. May they, 
 being united to each other in the marriage cove- 
 nant, be united to the Lord Jesus in that cove- 
 nant which is ordered in all things and sure. 
 Enable them to enter on this important relation 
 in the fear of the Lord ; having abundant cause 
 to rejoice in that providence which hath formed 
 it between them. We pray for thy gracious pre- 
 sence with us i the pardon of our sins ; and the 
 acceptance of our persons and our services : For 
 the sake of Jesus Christ thy Son, our only Lord 
 and Saviour. Amen." 
 
 The concluding prayer reads thus : 
 " Most merciful God ! in whom all the families 
 of the earth are blessed : We pray for thy favour 
 to descend on these persons, whom now, in thy 
 holy providence, thou hast brought into the mar- 
 riage relation. Bless them with all spiritual and 
 temporal benedictions. May they dwell together 
 in love, as joint heirs of the grace of life, that 
 their prayers be not hindered. To thine indul- 
 gent providence, O Lord ! we commit them, be- 
 seeching thee that goodness and mercy may follow 
 them all the days of their life. We thank thee 
 for this joyful occasion ; and that the voice of the 
 
DIRECTORY OF AVORSHIP REVISED. 249 
 
 bridegroom and of tlie bride is still heard in the 
 land. May we rejoice in thy fear. Keep us from 
 sin. Pardon all our transgressions. Help us to 
 live faithful to the duties of our various relations. 
 Guide us by thy counsel through this world : and 
 afterwards receive us to glory. And now unto 
 the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Ghost, be 
 ascribed endless praises. Amen." 
 
 Such was the character of the liturgical pre- 
 paration submitted to the Synod of 1787, as a 
 substitute for the Directory of Worship. Its rejec- 
 tion does not seem to have been based upon the 
 ground of its liturgical form, as foreign to the 
 spirit of the Church ; but proceeded, we may sup- 
 pose, from an unwillingness to alter to such an 
 extent any of the existing standards, which were 
 only modified so far as the conditions of the times 
 demanded. It does not appear that any discus- 
 sion took place on the subject. It was dropped ; 
 and the previous method of providing for religious 
 worship was recurred to. 
 
 The bearing of these facts upon the lawfulness 
 of a discretionary use of liturgies in the Presby- 
 terian Church, will hardly require indication. 
 The men who composed these forms of worship 
 
250 A CHAPTER ON LITURGIES. 
 
 for the edification of the Church, were prohably 
 unacquainted with what had been done ages 
 before in the same direction. The Liturgies of 
 Calvin and Knox had remained unknown for a 
 century and more, beyond the range, perhaps, of 
 occasional antiquarian researches. It was, therefore, 
 no imitation of obsolete customs that prompted 
 our American Divines in drawing up this formu- 
 lary ; but a wise and judicious interpretation of 
 the laws and the spirit of Presbyterianism itself. 
 
XIV. 
 
 "It is not, surely, because we think that prayers are nowhere to be 
 had but at Eome ? That were a foul scorn and indignity cast upon 
 all the Eeformed Churches and our own : — If we imagine that all the 
 godly ministers of England are not able to new mould a better and 
 more pious Liturgy than this, which was conceived and infanted by 
 an idolatrous mother." — Milton. 
 
 The facts elicited in the course of these inquiries 
 will, we apprehend;, readily satisfy any mind, that 
 our Church possesses a devotional literature of 
 her own, rich and copious. 
 
 What practical suggestions may arise from the 
 review here taken, need not now be stated at any 
 great length. They are such as will enter largely 
 into the discussion of the whole subject of public 
 worship, a discussion which is already commencing, 
 and for which the times are ripe. 
 
 It is widely becoming manifest to our Churches, 
 that comeliness and decorum in the house of God 
 are not less worthy to be sought, than in the 
 habitations of men; that a reverent approach 
 to the Divine Majesty, and a careful choice of 
 language in addressing the throne of grace, are 
 
252 A CHAPTER ON LITURGIES. 
 
 proper matters of study ; and may command^, at 
 least, the same solicitude that might be given to 
 the forms of expression employed in addressing 
 the great and honoured among men. 
 
 The experiment of that mode of dealing with 
 the subject of Public Worship, by which every- 
 thing is left to the unaided individuality of the 
 minister, has been fully tried. For nearly two 
 centuries, in the face of all historic precedent, at 
 variance with all other denominations of Christians, 
 and in conflict with their own earlier principles 
 and practice, the Calvinistic Churches of Great 
 Britain and the United States have faithfully 
 adhered to this method, unknown in ecclesiastical 
 experience before the sittings of the AVestminster 
 Assembly. We believe that the times are drawing 
 near, when by general attestation that method 
 will be pronounced defective. 
 
 No candid person, familiar with the actual con- 
 dition of our churches, can refuse to confront this 
 fact : That by so much as the Public Worship of 
 God may be rendered attractive; may awaken 
 interest, and excite and sustain devotional feeling ; 
 by so much have we lost power and influence as 
 a Church. We conceive it to be plain beyond 
 denial, that while the earnest and practical piety 
 
CONCLUSION. 253 
 
 of its members, the learning, ability, and fidelity 
 of its clergy, obtain for Presbyterianism a com- 
 manding position of respect and influence; the 
 effect of its external modes of worship, as at 
 present generally conducted, is rather to impair 
 than to augment the force of these advantages. 
 Evidently, the young are not drawn into our con- 
 gregations by any beauty or impressiveness of 
 our services; their attachment is not won and 
 strengthened by interest in the devotional exercises 
 of the sanctuary. In a word, it is nothing else 
 than the power of preaching that brings men and 
 holds them to the bosom of our Church. 
 
 Would we exchange this state of things for its 
 reverse ? Would we relinquish the spirit for the 
 form ; and choose instead of an active and living 
 membership, and an able and faithful clergy, with 
 all external irregularities and imperfections, the 
 beautiful but soulless corpse of formalism? As- 
 suredly, no ! Yet this consideration does not re- 
 concile us to existing defects, nor to the retention 
 of them when fairly experienced and palpably 
 exposed. The fact that they are comparatively 
 unessential, and merely superficial, augments the 
 urgency of an immediate redress. 
 
 As we started, however, upon a discussion 
 
254 A CHAPTER ON LITURGIES. 
 
 purely historical, so we limit our conclusions as to 
 the results of these inquiries. Example, we have 
 seen, abundantly warrants the use of liturgical 
 forms in the Presbyterian Church. History gives 
 forth but one utterance on the subject. Wherever 
 Protestant Communions have been established, 
 the institution of worship has been secured by 
 formularies, in whose production the most able 
 minds to be enlisted have been employed. 
 
 The Calvinistic Churches constitute no excep- 
 tion to this general rule. Those primitive Chris- 
 tians of the Alpine Valleys, the Waldenses, from 
 time immemorial possessed and used a liturgical 
 form. The Genevan Church was early favoured 
 with a correct and well-conceived order of worship ; 
 and that order was adopted in succession by all 
 the national Presbyterian Churches of kindred 
 faith and discipline. France, Scotland, Switzer- 
 land, Holland, Hungary,* Western Germany, 
 almost at the same period, embraced this mode of 
 
 * Ebrard, whose statements are generally so reliable, ignores 
 entirely the existence of a Liturgy in the Hungarian Church ; as 
 indeed he seems quite unacquainted with that of Scotland. But the 
 historian Lampe speaks distinctly of such a ritual in use among the 
 Hungarian Churches of the Reformed or Calvinistic order ; and 
 quotes largely from a "Liturgy of the Lord's Supper" published at 
 Saros-Patak in 1658. He gives a full description of the mode of 
 celebrating the Communion ; which seems to have closely resembled 
 
CONCLUSION. 255 
 
 worship. It was long before even the Indepen- 
 dents of England relinquished its use. To this 
 day. Great Britain and America offer the sole 
 instances of Calvinistic Churches without a 
 Liturgy. 
 
 But we shall doubtless be called upon to account 
 for the total abandonment of these forms in Scot- 
 land, where they were established at so early a 
 period, and sanctioned by repeated ecclesiastical 
 enactments. If truly consonant with our system 
 of faith and practice, why has the liturgical 
 element there so utterly disappeared ; leaving 
 only a violent hostility to everything that savours 
 of a liturgical nature ? The feeling which has 
 long prevailed in Scotland on this subject, though 
 now happily softening, is evidently the traditional 
 consequence of events long past, but vividly 
 remembered by the popular mind. '' It has 
 arisen," says a Scottish writer, ^' out of the 
 fearful evils and abuses flowing from the shame- 
 less and idolatrous forms of Popery, mumbled 
 
 that of the Strasburg Church. The order is as follows : 1. Exhort- 
 ation. 2. Confession of Sins. 3. The Creed. 4. Absolution. 5. 
 Singing of a Psalm. 6. Eecital of the words of the Institution. 
 7. Participation, during which Psalms are sung. 8. Closing Address. 
 9. Thanksgiving, and Benediction. — Lampe, Hist. Eccles. Hangar. ^ 
 Appendix. 
 
256 A CHAPTER ON LITURGIES. 
 
 over by a lazy and corrupt priesthood, without 
 feeling, and almost without decency; succeeded 
 by the cruel and insane attempts to force upon a 
 reluctant people forms containing sentiments and 
 rites which they abhorred." * " This morbid 
 terror for everything approaching to form/' says 
 another, " grew partly out of the unjustifiable 
 efforts of Laud and his master to force a justly 
 obnoxious Liturgy on a free people." f The 
 feeling is undoubtedly beginning to give way to a 
 more enlightened and Christian appreciation of the 
 intrinsic merits of the question, viewed apart from 
 prejudices which ought long since to have been 
 buried and forgotten. 
 
 We have been led to regard it as in some sense 
 a providential indication, that while completing 
 these sketches and studies, which have occupied 
 the leisure moments of a succession of years, we 
 have seen springing up in various quarters the 
 first signs of interest respecting a matter so long 
 and so utterly neglected. Religious journals, 
 whose indignant frown would a few months since 
 
 * The Editor of the volume entitled '■^Family Worship; a Series 
 of Prayers, by 180 Clergymen of the Church of Scotland" Glasgow, 
 1841 ; Preface, p. v. 
 
 t From aa article on John Knox's Liturgy, in the Edinburgh 
 Keview, April, 1852. 
 
CONCLUSION. 257 
 
 have repelled the mooting of certain questions, 
 are now engaged in their serious and attentive 
 consideration. Ecclesiastical bodies in correspon- 
 dence with our own, have begun to take action 
 upon the revival of their ancient forms of worship, 
 hitherto regarded with indifference.* Prominent 
 di\ines are expressing, though privately and cau- 
 tiously, views which as yet they do not venture 
 to carry into practice. 
 
 We cannot refer these facts to a growth of for- 
 malism. Those who take gi'ound against us, will 
 undoubtedly find it their easiest method to dispose 
 of the subject by such a reference. But so far as 
 we can trace the desire now manifesting^ itself for a 
 
 * We allude to the Dutch and German Eeforraed Churches ; both 
 of them Calvinistic as respects their doctrine, and Presbyterian in 
 order and discipline. 
 
 We may add, that the Presbyterian Church of Scotland took a step 
 in this direction, when in 1849 the General Assembly appointed a 
 Committee to prepare a Book of Devotion, with a series of Scriptural 
 lessons, for the use of colonists and seamen. This is certainly an 
 important measure ; and it may be questioned, whether a wise policy 
 would not lead our own Assembly to order the preparation of such a 
 manual. Few of us are aware of the loss already resulting from the 
 want of a formulary of this nature, suitable for use in the army and 
 navy of the United States. We have heard the remark from a Pres- 
 byterian layman who stands high in the political woi-ld, that this 
 deficiency is contributing to the rapid spread of Episcopalian ism 
 among the officers and men of both army and navy ; so much so that 
 the day may be looked for when that denomination will embrace the 
 entire military force of our country. 
 
^OS A CHAPTER ON LITURGIES. 
 
 more decent celebration of the rites and ordinances 
 of religion^, it proceeds from an honest and well- 
 founded conviction, that in departing from the 
 early practice of our Church, we have greatly lost 
 sight of the correct principles and the proper ends 
 of religious worship ; and thus have failed to do a 
 great work for the honour of God and the edifica- 
 tion of his people. 
 
 " There is, in this country," says a Scottish 
 author already quoted, "what we cannot but 
 consider a very unreasonable prejudice against the 
 use of forms in all circumstances. Yet it is a 
 well-known fact that our early Reformers prepared 
 and used forms in the worship of God. * * * 
 We need not refer to the form left us by our 
 Lord as an example of such a practice; where 
 his disciples were taught to ' say ^ the same words. 
 Indeed, what are all the passages of Scripture 
 usually adopted in extempore prayer? What 
 are the Apostolic Benedictions, but forms of 
 prayer?"* 
 
 Such language, from such a source, indicates 
 surely the commencement of a more enlightened 
 feeling on the subject in the Church of Scotland. 
 
 * Family JForship of the Church of Scotland, Preface, p. v. 
 
CONCLUSION. 259 
 
 Of this, indeed, we have elsewhere sufficient 
 evidence. The translators of Calvin's works, 
 now in course of publication at Edinburgh, intro- 
 duce the Liturgy of that E-eformer as " possessing 
 a considerable degree of interest ; both as exhibit- 
 ing the Form of Church Service which, under his 
 auspices, was adopted at Geneva, and also as 
 containing at least the germ of what still appears 
 to some a very iinportant desideratum — a regular 
 Form of Public Worship, with such a degree of 
 latitude in the use of it as leaves full scope for 
 ministerial freedom."* 
 
 To the same effect is the opinion expressed by 
 a prominent lay -member of the Scottish Church, 
 the present Duke of Argyle. Attributing the 
 alienation of so many of the leading families of 
 Scotland from her Church, he does not hesitate to 
 say : " A partial use of liturgical forms of prayer, 
 to which the first Scottish Reformers had no 
 objection, and which the legislative institutions of 
 Presbytery entitle it to adopt at any moment, 
 would alone, I think, have been of immense value 
 in engaging the affections, and preventing the 
 straying of its members." f 
 
 * Calvin's Tkacts, Edinburgh, 1849 ; Preface, p. xiv. 
 
 + John Knox's Liturgy^ etc., Edinburgh Review, April, 1852. 
 
260 A CHAPTER ON LITURGIES. 
 
 The views of the Rev. Dr. Gumming, the dis- 
 tinguished minister of the Scottish Church in 
 London, are well known. " For the great mass 
 of the clergy," he says, " I believe that the partial 
 use of a form of prayer would be truly valuable." 
 And again : " I believe that the resumption — if 
 the word may be used of that which is not re- 
 scinded — of the Liturgy I now edit, by the Church 
 of Scotland, and by authority of the Ecclesiastical 
 Courts, would be attended with great good. It 
 could by no possibility do mischief. Even if it 
 should not find its Avay to the approval and adop- 
 tion of those who are more prominent in character 
 and powerful in influence, in the General Assembly 
 of the Scottish Church, it may be of great service 
 as a model of spiritual, scriptural, and truly 
 solemn Church Service for every clergyman."* 
 
 An able article in the Edinburgh Review, for 
 April, 1852, concludes an examination of the 
 Liturgies of the Reformers, with the following 
 remarks : " Of the opinions of individuals, so 
 long as those opinions are not publicly expressed, 
 we are not entitled publicly to speak : but thus 
 much we may say, that we have good grounds 
 for thinking that the views which we have pro- 
 
 * Treface to an edition of Kxox's Liturgi/y London, 18-iO, pp. vii., ix. 
 
CONCLUSION. 261 
 
 pounded are neither new nor strange to many of 
 the more liberal, and some of the most influential 
 ministers of the Church of Scotland. Dr. Gumming 
 fired no random shot when he said, in speaking 
 of the combination of formal and extempore 
 prayer in Knox's Liturgy, ' This arrangement 
 would have conciliated the great bulk of the 
 Scottish clergy in the seventeenth century, and I 
 believe would be generally acceptable in the nine- 
 teenth.^ If the clergy and people of Scotland 
 could once be satisfied (and we see no reason why 
 they should not) that formal prayer would never 
 be allowed to transgress the limits which Coleridge 
 has assigned to ceremonies generally, viz.: of 
 ' pure glass to see Heaven through, not dyed in 
 the gorgeous crimsons and purple, blue and green 
 of the drapery of saints and saintesses,' then we 
 believe it might be re-introduced, with an univer- 
 sality of consent, that would silence the tongue of 
 even Jenny Geddes herself.'^* 
 
 We look for no ecclesiastical enactments in 
 America, to bring about the desired improvement 
 in our forms of public worship. But there are 
 certain measures which in strict conformity with 
 existing laws, and in the faithful following out of 
 * John Knox's Liturgy^ Edinburgh Review, April, 1852. 
 
262 A CHAPTER ON LITURGIES. 
 
 acknowledged principles, we may hope to see 
 widely adopted toward this end. These measures 
 we shall classify under two heads, — immediate 
 and ultimate. 
 
 Of immediate practicability, and of primary 
 importance, are : — First, the resumed use of those 
 ancient. Scriptural, and Apostolic Elements of 
 Worship ; those forms which as much belong to 
 our service as the Benediction with which it 
 closes ; forms which not without intent are ap- 
 pended to our authorized standards,* as they 
 are also enjoined upon our children for frequent 
 rehearsal if we speak of the Lord's Prayer, the 
 Ten Commandments, and the Apostles' Creed. 
 It is no slight error of our churches to have 
 abandoned so generally these forms, the basis of 
 our denominational order of worship. + As there 
 can be no question of the propriety, so we have 
 little doubt as to the possibility of at once recurring 
 to their use.§ 
 
 * Constitution of the Presbyterian Church in the United States^ 
 pp. 397—399 ; after the Shorter Catechism. 
 
 t Directory for Worshipj c. ix. 
 
 X This is more true of our own countr)' than of Scotland ; where 
 we are told it is not uncommon to hear the Decalogue and the Lokd's 
 Prayer repeated in Divine service. 
 
 § The proper location of these forms in our service for the ]^^orning 
 of the Lord's Day, is : The Lord's Frayer, at the close of the first 
 
CONCLUSION. 
 
 263 
 
 The second step which we regard as practicable 
 and important at the present moment, is the 
 regular and continuous reading of Holy Scripture, 
 at every religious service, and in sufficient portions. 
 The prevailing neglect of this part of Divine 
 Avorship, it is difficult to account for ; especially 
 when taking into view the repeated and distinct 
 injunctions of our Church on the subject.* There 
 
 Prayer, or Invocation. The Ten Commandments, after the Invoca- 
 tion and Lord's Pra5^er. The Creed, at the end of the second or 
 "long prayer;" prefaced with a short petition, like that on p. 43, 
 or p. 70. It will be observed that in the Calvinistic worship, the 
 Creed is generally used as a prayer. 
 
 * The Fii-st Book of Discipline of the Church of Scotland, Anno 
 1560, speaks thus : " We think it most expedient that the Scripture 
 be read in order ; that is, that some one Book of the Old and New 
 Testament be begun and orderly read to the end. For this skipping 
 and divagation from place to place of Scripture, be it in reading, or be 
 it in preaching, we judge not so profitable to edify the Kii'k, as the 
 continual following of one text." — Ch. xi. Dunlop's Conf., ii. 585. 
 
 t The Directory for Public Worship, adopted by the Church of 
 Scotland in 1645, orders : " How large a portion shall be read at once, 
 is left to the wisdom of the minister ; but it is convenient that 
 ordinarily one chapter of each Testament be read at every meeting ; 
 and sometimes more, when the chapters be short, or the coherence of 
 matter requireth it. It is requisite that all the canonical books be 
 read over in order, that the people may be better acquainted with the 
 whole body of the Scriptures ; and, ordinarily, where the reading in 
 either Testament endeth on one Lord's day, it is to begin the 
 next." — Of Public Reading of the Holy Scriptures. 
 
 The American revision of the Directory modifies considerably the 
 force of this regulation. Long neglect of the practice prescribed, led 
 doubtless to this change in the letter of the law. Thus reads the 
 American Directory : '* The Holy Scriptures of the Old and New 
 Testaments shall be publicly read, from the most approved translation 
 
264 A CRArXER ON LITURGIES. 
 
 are doubtless some ministers who habitually read 
 one portion of Scripture at each service; and 
 perhaps a few who adhere to the ancient rule of 
 reading two selections, one from each Testament. 
 But this is rare; and very commonly the duty is 
 altogether omitted in the second or afternoon 
 service. The fact is deeply to be deplored. The 
 reading of Scripture is a constituent part of 
 Divine worship. In the Temple and Synagogue 
 it occupied a very considerable place. All Christian 
 Church es, primitive and degenerate, have been 
 unanimous in this custom. There can be no 
 justification of its neglect ; which has risen purely 
 out of that strange disposition to slight whatever 
 is regular and prescriptive in the rites of religion ; 
 a radicalism that has destroyed the beauty of our 
 Sanctuaries, and that finds no defence save in an 
 invincible prejudice.* 
 
 in the vulgar tongue, that all may hear and understand. How large 
 a portion shall be read at once, is left to the discretion of every 
 minister ; however, in each service, he ought to read, at least, one 
 chapter; and more, when the chapters are short, or the connexion 
 requires it." — Ch. iii. 
 
 * This unreasoning and unreasonable ultraism, which in Zurich 
 of old excluded the use of vocal music, in Scotland now opposes the 
 use of organs, and the reading of sermons, and in our own country 
 objects to the wearing of the gown. Yet in Scotland and in Zurich 
 the gown has always been worn, and in America the organ is used, 
 and sermons are read without exciting displeasure. 
 
CONCLUSION. 26b 
 
 A third measure proposed is a more strict ad- 
 herence to the prescribed order of the Directory of 
 Worship. The topics of prayer and their succes- 
 sions are clearly laid down in that formulary. 
 Without supplying the need of a Liturgy^ it was 
 designed to prevent irregularity, and to secure 
 uniformity in the performance of public prayer.* 
 The rigid observance of that order, is incumbent 
 upon every minister who oificiates in the Presby- 
 terian Church. Such an observance would at 
 least remove the more glaring objections to 
 unwritten prayer ; wandering and diffuseness in 
 some portions, and in others the total omission of 
 important topics. f 
 
 In addition to these measures, there are others 
 which we hope to see ultimately prevail. We look 
 for the time when our congregations shall take 
 
 * What the compilers of our Directory meant it to be, we may- 
 learn from their own Preface : " Our meaning therein being- only 
 that the general heads, the sense and scope of the prayers, and other 
 parts of public worship beinff kiioicn to all, there may be a consent of 
 all the churches in those things that contain the substance of the 
 service and the worship of God ; and the ministers may be thereby 
 directed, in their administrations, to keep like soundness of doctrine 
 and prayer, and may if need be have some help and furniture." — 
 Compendium of Laws of the Church of Scotland, Part I. p. 280. 
 
 t kSuch as intercession for rulers and magistrates ; a duty most 
 clearly enjoined by Scripture, which, nevertheless, is very generally 
 neglected among us at the present day. 
 
266 A CHAPTER ON LITURGIES. 
 
 part in the public prayers of the Church, by an 
 audible Ameii at the close of each prayer ; and by 
 the recital of the Lord's Prayer and the Creed 
 after the minister. We hope, also, to see the 
 want of a formulary of Public Prayer and the 
 administration of ordinances supplied, by a 
 compilation of the best forms of devotion which 
 have been used in our Church and in other 
 Churches ; furnishing sufficient variety for volun- 
 tary selection. This should not be the work of 
 a single individual, nor can it be well accomplished 
 within a short term of years. The endeavours of 
 all who are favourable to such a production should 
 be combined, and the general wants of our clergy 
 should be consulted. And while we have little 
 expectation that such a formulary, however perfect, 
 will ever be adopted as a standard of the Church, 
 we see not why at some future period it may not 
 be recognised and sanctioned as a lawful aid to 
 those who may desire its use. 
 
additio;n;al sections. 
 
 The cursory nature of our sketches of the history 
 of the Calvinistic rituals, forbids anything more 
 than a mention of those which were adopted 
 in Switzerland, whether original, or based upon 
 Calvin's formulary. Prior to the Genevan Reforma- 
 tion, Leo Judah and Zwingle had prepared a 
 Liturgy for the Canton of Zurich as early as 
 1525. It was founded on the Romish Missal, 
 and resembles rather the Lutheran than the 
 Calvinistic mode of worship.* 
 
 The Bernese ritual resembles that of Zurich. 
 The Cantons of St. Gall and Basle have also their 
 Liturgies; likewise pervaded by the Zwinglian 
 spirit. These formularies differ from the Cal- 
 vinistic, in several features. (1.) The "long 
 
 * This Liturgy is partly given in Niemaj'er's Collectio Confessiorum. 
 In the Mercerburg Review for January, 1855, will be found a very 
 thorough analysis of it. 
 
268 A CHAPTER ON LITURGIES. 
 
 prayer" precedes instead of following the sermon. 
 (2.) The Confession of Sins, on the contrary, 
 is used after sermon. (3.) The sacramental 
 services partake more of the old liturgical 
 character than the doctrinal, peculiar to those of 
 the Calvinistic type.* The Canton of Vaud early 
 adopted a Liturgy, modelled after the Genevan, 
 and in some respects improved. It is substantially 
 this form that has been lately introduced into the 
 Waldensian Church of Piedmont. 
 
 But of all the Swiss Liturgies, none compares 
 for interest and value with that of the Canton of 
 Neufchatel, as revised and improved in the early 
 part of the last century. f This production, based 
 upon the Calvinistic forms, but containing much 
 that is novel, is decidedly the most complete and 
 well arranged ritual in the French language. As 
 it is accessible to our readers in an English garb, 
 having been translated for the use of the Huguenot 
 Church at Charleston, South Carolina,^ we shall 
 
 * Ebrarb, Eeformirtes Kirchenbuch, c. iv. 
 
 t "La LiTUKGiE, ou la manitre de cdebrer le Service Divin ; qui 
 est etablie dans les Eglises de la Frincipaidd de Neufchatel et 
 V ALL AN GIN. A Baslc, chcz Jean Pistorius. MDCCXIII. 
 
 X The Liturgy, or Forms of Divine Service, of the French Frotes- 
 tant Church of Charleston, S. C. Translated from the Liturgy of the 
 Churches of Neufchatel and Vallangin : AVith some additional Prayers. 
 Charlestown : 1853. New York : A. Randolph, 683, Broadway. 
 
ADDITIONAL SECTIONS. 269 
 
 do no more than state the leading characteristics. 
 The chief service for the Lord's Day begins with 
 a canticle or Psalm, during which the minister 
 and people stand. Then follows the sentence 
 which introduces all the Reformed services : 
 " Our help is in the name of the Lord/' etc. 
 A prayer of Invocation precedes the reading of 
 the Ten Commandments, during which the people 
 stand. After this, sentences of Scripture are read 
 calling to penitence and acknowledgment of sin; 
 followed by the Confession of Sins, and the Lord's 
 Prayer ; the people kneeling. Then portions 
 of Scripture are read, out of both Testaments ; 
 between which the '' Gloria in Excelsis " is suns'. 
 The " Long Prayer" follows the second portion of 
 Scripture ; commencing with the Apostles' Creed.* 
 Then a Hymn, the Sermon, another Hymn, and 
 the concluding Prayer, with Benediction. 
 
 The Form for the Administration of the Lord's 
 Supper, is largely borrowed from the Anglican 
 Liturgy. 
 
 * The short petition which prefaces this form is as follows : "0 Lord 
 God ! We render thanks unto thee, that thou hast called us to the 
 knowledge and profession of the Christian faith. We beseech thee to 
 preserve and increase it in us ; to the end that, continuing steadfast in 
 the same, we may sincerely unite in the confession of the Church 
 Universal : I believe in God," etc. 
 
270 A CHAPTER ON LITURGIES. 
 
 It is unfortunate that the American translation 
 of this remarkable work should preserve so much 
 of a foreign idiom. Any one who would re- 
 translate it into pure Saxon English, would 
 contribute much toward realizing the idea of a 
 Presbyterian Liturgy. 
 
 II. 
 
 There is good reason to believe, that the ancient 
 and Apostolic Church of the Waldenses of 
 Piedmont possessed a Liturgy of her own, prior 
 to the Reformation. Allusion to such a formulary 
 occurs in some of the documents belonging to the 
 history of that Church ; and indeed a copy of it 
 has been preserved, until within a very few years, 
 in the public library of the city of Geneva. 
 Mr. Jackson, an English traveller in the early 
 part of the present century, saw at that library " a 
 short Liturgy in the Vaudois dialect ; a small 
 octavo on vellum, bound in crimson velvet." He 
 examined the work, and " thought it quite 
 complete."* The corrected catalogue of the 
 
 ♦ lie marks on the Vaudois of Piedmont, App., p. 276. 
 
ADDITIONAL SECTIONS. 2T1 
 
 library of Geneva, drawn up by M. Jean Senebier, 
 mentions among the Waldensian manuscripts '* a 
 Liturgy in the Vaudois dialect, small octavo," etc. 
 As late as the year 1845, the Rev. Robert W. 
 Stewart, of Scotland, says : " I have seen in the 
 public library at Geneva a duodecimo volume in 
 which it [the ancient Waldensian Liturgy] is said 
 to be preserved entire : though I had not an 
 opportunity of examining it, as it is very carefully 
 kept under lock and key."* 
 
 The writer, being at Geneva in the summer of 
 1853, made a thorough search for this document, 
 with the aid of the obliging librarian. But his 
 efforts to discover this precious relic were unsuc- 
 cessful. It is to be feared, that the old Waldensian 
 Liturgy has shared the fate of the long-lost 
 manuscripts at Cambridge. 
 
 Since the Reformation, the Waldensian pastors 
 have made use of the several Swiss Liturgies 
 which have been modelled upon that of Calvin. 
 In I800, the Rev. Mr. Blair states that the " old 
 Genevan Liturgy of 1754 was read in the Valleys by 
 seven pastors, the Neufchatel by six, and the Lau- 
 sanne by two."t But with a view to secure greater 
 
 * Lectures on Foreign Churches. Edinburgh, vol. i. p. 225. 
 t Sist. of the Waldenses, vol. ii. p. ool. 
 
272 A CHAPTER ON LITURGIES. 
 
 uniformity in the celebration of Divine service, the 
 Waldensian Church has latterly adopted a formu- 
 lary compiled out of those already in use.* 
 
 The Rev. Dr. Gilly, Prebendary of Durham, 
 England, a venerable benefactor of the Waldensian 
 Churches, who has done more than any other 
 living man to make known their condition, and 
 to excite interest in their behalf, in a letter to 
 the writer says : " The Vaudois Liturgy of w^hich 
 you speak w^as compiled by the pastors of the 
 Waldensian Church at my suggestion. I thought 
 it right that they should have a formulary of their 
 own, to avoid the risk of using foreign Liturgies, 
 which might become corrupt in course of time ; 
 and when the compilation was completed, I 
 defrayed the expense of printing a sufficient 
 number of copies in folio for the use of the 
 Churches in the Valleys. This formulary is 
 susceptible of improvement. But the prayers are 
 simple, and expressive of a pure and scriptural 
 faith in the essential doctrines of atonement and 
 justification." 
 
 * This was published in 1842 under the title, "Z« Llturgie 
 Vandoise, ou la mantere de ctltbrer le Service Divin, comme elle est 
 etablie dansj' Eylise Evangelique des Vallees du Fitmont." 
 
ADDITIONAL SECTIONS. 273 
 
 III. 
 
 (taken FEOM his COMMENTAEIES ON" THE MINOE 
 PEOPHETS, ETC.) 
 
 Almighty God ! who shinest upon us in thy 
 word, to reveal the way of salvation : Grant that 
 with open eyes we may behold thy truth : and as 
 by nature we are blind, open thou our eyes, and 
 let the inward light of thy Spirit lead us to the 
 clear shining of thy word. Let not the flame of 
 faith, once kindled in our hearts by thy grace, 
 ever be extinguished; but continually feed and 
 refresh it : Until at length we shall see thee face 
 to face ; and being transformed into thine image, 
 we shall enjoy the fulness of that glory, where 
 Christ our Lord hath been received already. 
 Amen. 
 
 Almighty God ! who beholdest thy creatures 
 encompassed with such darkness of ignorance, 
 that often they distrust thy providence, thinking 
 themselves forsaken when thou dost not imme- 
 diately relieve them : O grant that with uplifted 
 minds we may contemplate those things which thy 
 holy word reveals : not doubting that thou lookest 
 
274: A CHAPTER ON LITURGIES. 
 
 upon us, and givest thine angels charge to keep 
 us, to bear us up in their hands, and to guide us 
 in all the crooked windings of this life. So may 
 we wholly commit ourselves to thy rule, and 
 suffer thee to draw and direct us in the ways of 
 thine appointment, ever reaching toward the mark 
 set before us : Until at length we be gathered into 
 the rest obtained for us by the blood of thine only 
 begotten Son. Amen. 
 
 Almighty God ! who buildest not now a temple 
 of wood and stone among us, but by the fulness of 
 thy Godhead dwellest in thine only begotten 
 Son : O grant that as he fills the world by his 
 power, and dwells within our hearts, we may not 
 profane his sanctuary by our sins ; but so strive to 
 consecrate ourselves to thy service, that thy name 
 through his may be continually glorified : Until 
 at length we are received into that eternal 
 inheritance, where we shall see face to face thy 
 glory now beheld in the Gospel. Amen. 
 
 Almighty God ! who hast made known thyself 
 to us so plainly, not only by thy Law and Prophets, 
 but also by thine only begotten Son : O grant 
 that we, continuing firm and steadfast in our 
 
ADDITIONAL SECTIONS. 215 
 
 holy vocation, may ever advance in it, and hasten 
 to the goal. And so humble us under thy mighty 
 hand, that we may know thy fatherly correction, 
 and profit by thy discipline : Until at length, being 
 purified from all our guilt, we shall come to enjoy 
 that immortal life revealed to us by Christ, and 
 be able perfectly to rejoice in thee. Amen. 
 
 Almighty God ! who seest us continually tossed 
 about with divers trials of our faith : O grant 
 that we may stand firm on the promise of thy love 
 and favour, which thou hast made and confirmed 
 to us in thy well-beloved Son. Let us not 
 despair in our deepest troubles ; but resting on thy 
 goodness, utter forth our groans to thee, until the 
 time of our deliverance come. Neither suffer us 
 to envy the transient happiness of thy foes ; but 
 patiently wait for thine appearing : when at length 
 Christ shall reveal the true glory of thy Church, 
 when he shall come at the last day for our salvation. 
 Amen. 
 
 Almighty God ! who knowest that by nature 
 we do not willingly submit to the scorn and 
 contempt of the world : O grant that with our 
 hearts raised toward heaven, we may become 
 indifferent to all reproaches. Let not our faith be 
 
216 A CHAPTER ON LITURGIES. 
 
 shaken by the revilings of profane men, while we 
 serve thee under the Cross. May we with patience 
 wait, until Christ shall appear in the splendour 
 of his priesthood and his kingdom. And mean- 
 while lead us to contemplate the excellence where- 
 with thou hast adorned thy Church ; and thus be 
 encouraged to disregard the arrogance of the 
 world, and to connect ourselves with the few and 
 the despised who faithfully follow thy word. 
 Enable us to believe assuredly, that remaining 
 grounded in the pure doctrine of the Gospel, thou 
 wilt raise us up to heaven ; yea, and above all 
 heavens ; where we shall enjoy that blessedness 
 which thine only begotten Son hath obtained for 
 us through his own blood. Amen. 
 
 IV. 
 
 from calvin, knox, and the reformed dutch 
 liturgy. 
 
 Our help is in the Name of the Lord, who made 
 heaven and earth. Amen. 
 
 Dearly beloved Brethren : We are here ga- 
 thered together in the sight of God, and in the 
 
ADDITIONAL SECTIONS. 277 
 
 face of his congregation, to join these parties 
 together in the honourable estate of matrimony; 
 which was instituted and authorized by God him- 
 self in Paradise, man being then in the state of 
 innocence. For what time God made heaven 
 and earth, and all that is in them, and had created 
 and fashioned man after his own similitude and 
 likeness, he said : " It is not good that man 
 should be alone, I will make him an help-meet 
 for him.'^ And God brought a deep sleep upon 
 him, and took one of his ribs, and shaped Eve 
 thereof; giving us thereby to understand, that 
 man and wife are one body, one flesh, and one 
 blood : signifying also unto us the mystical union 
 which is between Christ and his Church. For 
 the which cause man leaveth his father and 
 mother, and taketh him to his wife, to keep 
 company with her ; whom also he ought to love, 
 even as our Saviour loveth his Church, that is 
 to say, his elect and faithful congregation, for the 
 which he gave his life.* 
 
 You then, M. and N., knowing that God hath 
 so ordained it, do you wish to live in this holy 
 estate of marriage, which God hath so highly 
 
 * This Exhortation is from Knox's Book of Common Order. It 
 is almost literally from Calvin's Liturgy. 
 
278 A CHAPTER ON LITURGIES. 
 
 honoured: and do ye desire to have this your 
 purpose confirmed ? 
 
 Answer. Yes. 
 
 I require and charge you, as ye will answer at 
 the Day of Judgment, when the secrets of all 
 hearts shall be disclosed, that if either of you do 
 know any impediment why you may not be law- 
 fully joined together in matrimony, ye confess it. 
 For be ye well assured, that so many as be coupled 
 otherwise than God's word doth allow, are not 
 joined together by God, neither is their matri- 
 mony lawful.* 
 
 If no impediment he hy them declared, then the 
 minister saith to the whole congregation : 
 
 I take you to witness that be here present, 
 beseeching you all to have good remembrance 
 hereof; and moreover, if there be any of you 
 which knoweth that either of these parties be 
 contracted to any other, or knoweth any other 
 lawful impediment, let them now make declaration. 
 
 If no cause he alleged, the minister proceedeth, 
 saying : 
 
 * This paragraph seems to have been borrowed by Knox from the 
 English Book of Common Prayer; it is the only quotation from that 
 work that occurs in this service. 
 
ADDITIONAL SECTIONS. 279 
 
 Since there is no impediment, our Lord God 
 confirm your holy purpose, and your beginning 
 be in the name of the Lord, who made heaven 
 and earth.* 
 
 Then the minister addressi7ig the bridegroom, 
 saith : 
 
 Dost thou, M., here declare before God, and in 
 the presence of this congregation, that thou hast 
 taken and now takest N. here present for thy 
 lawful wife, promising to keep her, love her, 
 cherish and maintain her, as is the duty of a true 
 and faithful husband; never to forsake her, and 
 briefly to live in an holy conversation with her, 
 keeping faith and truth to her in all things, 
 according as the word of God and his holy 
 Gospel doth command ? 
 
 Ansiver. Even so I take her, before God and 
 in the presence of this his congregation. 
 
 The minister to the spouse also saith : 
 
 Dost thou, N., here declare, before God and in 
 the presence of this congregation, that thou hast 
 taken and dost now take M. here present for thy 
 lawful husband, promising to love, honour, and 
 
 * Calvin. 
 
280 A CHAPTER ON LITURGIES. 
 
 obey him, never to forsake him, to live holily 
 with him, keeping faith and truth to him in all 
 things, as God's word and his holy Gospel doth 
 command ? 
 
 Ansiver. Even so I take him, before God and 
 in the presence of this his congregation. * 
 
 Then the minister saith : 
 
 The Father of all mercies, who of his grace 
 hath called you to this holy estate, for the love 
 of Jesus Christ his Son, who by his presence 
 sanctified marriage, anoint you with his holy 
 Spirit, to serve and honour Him together with 
 one common mind. Amen, f 
 
 Hear now from the Gospel how our Lord 
 would have this holy contract observed, and how 
 firm and sure a union it is : 
 
 The Pharisees also came unto him, tempting 
 him, and saying unto him. Is it lawful for a man 
 to put away his wife for every cause? And he 
 answered and said unto them. Have ye not read, 
 that he which made them at the beginning, made 
 them male and female ; and said. For this cause 
 shall a man leave father and mother, and shall 
 cleave to his wife : and they twain shall be one 
 
 * Knox. t Calvin. 
 
ADDITIONAL SECTIONS. 281 
 
 flesh? Wherefore they are no more twain, but 
 one flesh. 
 
 What therefore God hath joined together, let 
 no man put asunder. 
 
 Let us pray. 
 
 Almighty God ! who showest thy power and 
 goodness in all thine ordinances and works ; who 
 hast said from the beginning that it is not good 
 that man should be alone, and for that cause 
 madest a help-meet for him., ordaining that these 
 two should be one : We beseech thee that thou 
 wilt give thine Holy Spirit to these two persons 
 whom thou hast called to the holy estate of mar- 
 riage ; that they may holily live together, with a 
 true and firm faith, according to thy holy will. 
 Bless them, O Lord ! as thou blessedst those 
 faithful fathers thy friends and servants, Abraham, 
 Isaac, and Jacob ; make them partakers of that 
 covenant which thou confirmedst to those thy 
 servants, that having holy lineage they may bring 
 them up to thy praise and glory. Hear us. Father 
 of all mercies, through Jesus Christ, in whose 
 name we pray: — Our Father, etc.* 
 
 * This prayer is from the Dutch Eeformed Liturgy ; it is imitated 
 from Calvin. The American editions have omitted this prayer, pro- 
 bably through the carelessness of printers. It is prefaced with this 
 
282 A CHAPTER ON LITURGIES. 
 
 Blessed is every one that feareth. the Lord, that 
 walketh in his ways. 
 
 For thou shalt eat the lahour of thine hands : 
 happy shalt thou be, and it shall be well with 
 thee. 
 
 The Lord shall bless thee out of Zion, and 
 thou shalt see the good of Jerusalem all the days 
 of thy life. 
 
 Yea, thou shalt see thy children's children, and 
 peace upon Israel.* 
 
 The Lord sanctify you 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.f 
 
 direction : " Afterwards shall the minister command the married 
 persons to kneel down, and exhort the Church to pray for them." — 
 From a Translation of the Dutch Reformed Liturgy used by the 
 English congregation at Amsterdam : edit. 1772. 
 
 * Knox's Liturgy, and that of the Dutch Reformed Church. 
 
 t Ibid. 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 ^it §m\\im U \d.k a fitur|g? 
 
Slie ^tMn |lo0ni 0f i\t ptet fall ani Cia 
 
 PRESENT 
 
 Wellsford, Warrington, Herbert, Fexwicke, and Marston. 
 
 Herhert. Haye any of you seen tbis Biblical 
 LiTTJKGT, which Mr. Thomas of Stockwell has pub- 
 lished ; and which he has introduced, I am told, into 
 one at least of his Sunday services ? 
 
 Warrington. I have. I have looked through it 
 rather carefully. It consists of twenty distinct ser- 
 vices ; each illustrative of some one truth, and all 
 entirely composed of passages of Scripture. These 
 passages are occasionally of considerable length ; some- 
 times verses and portions of verses are interlaced, 
 constituting a piece of Scriptural Mosaic, containing 
 a certain figure (or idea), towards which each little 
 square contributes its modicum of meaning. 
 
 Fenwicke. A delicate and rather dangerous opera- 
 tion that ! 
 
 Warrington. It is. Individual expressions may be 
 wrested from their connexion, and made to utter what 
 they do not mean. Like the "cross readings" of a 
 newspaper, Scripture, by such a process, might be 
 
286 THE BIBLICAL LITURGY. 
 
 made to say anytlaing. I do not think, however, that 
 Mr. Thomas has greatly erred in this respect ; though, 
 in one or two instances, his doctrinal system must be 
 granted him to justify the juxtaposition of some pas- 
 sages. As that, however, is our own evangelical 
 system, we should not think that he misinterpreted 
 the E-ecord. In my opinion, he has made a mistake 
 in not taking certain allowable liberties. He adheres 
 far more closely to the verhatwi et literatim principle 
 than he need to have done. He extracts, he does not 
 adapt. He never changes number or person, or turns 
 a positive statement into a prayer, which the liturgical 
 use of Scripture would have warranted; so that we 
 have not only at times incongruous expressions, but 
 very often the loss of the spirit of a passage from 
 fidelity to the letter. 
 
 Herlert. Are the twenty services very diversified 
 in form, as well as difierent in subject ? 
 
 Warrington. ISo. They are all, I think, constructed 
 on exactly the same model. Each includes statements 
 of the truth to be set forth ; illustrations of different 
 aspects of it ; devout utterances rising out of its con- 
 templation or reception; a prayer and hymn (the 
 latter to be chanted), both in harmony with it ; the 
 Lord's Prayer, and a doxology. Such, I think, is the 
 form of each service. I ought to have said, however, 
 that while there is much that is to be read by the 
 minister alone, there are passages which constitute 
 responses for the people. Towards the conclusion of 
 each service, too, the congregation has " to rise ;" and 
 several times as it proceeds the "Amen" is directed 
 to be sung. The work appears to me to do great 
 
ITS EXCELLENCIES AND DEFECTS. 287 
 
 credit to tlie compiler. It shows immense industry 
 in selecting the Scripture passages, great skill in 
 their arrangement and combination, and a fine sense 
 of the true and the beautiful in bringing out the 
 aspects and uses of the one truth contemplated in 
 each service, and in providing appropriate answer- 
 ing utterances of the soul as affected by the Divine 
 idea. It strikes me, however, that the work is open 
 to many grave objections. Looking at a single service, 
 in relation to its public use, I see two or three prac- 
 tical errors : — the minister has occasionally too much 
 to read at one time; the actual union between him 
 and the people in the service, their vocal oneness, so 
 to speak, is thus broken, or its manifestation impro- 
 perly suspended. Then, there does not seem any 
 reason why they should " rise" at the particular time 
 they are directed to do so, — it seems a change merely 
 for the sake of change : there is, however, to me a 
 reason, in the very nature of things, why they should 
 not sit in the previous part of the service ; — to make 
 responses in that posture is not in keeping with a 
 sense of propriety. But I have an objection, in prin- 
 ciple, to the book as a whole. It is not what I think a 
 Liturgy, properly so called, ought to be, — the Church's 
 Common Praye7\ the expression of those feelings 
 and wants which the faithful assemble together for 
 the purpose of unitedly uttering to Grod. Each of 
 these twenty services is, as I have said, a sort of 
 presentation of one subject; but something bearing 
 on the half or the whole of them ought to come 
 before us every time we meet for worship. In ap- 
 proaching the footstool of heavenly grace, the soul 
 
288 objectio:ns and replies. 
 
 cannot be limited to one idea, however great ; or to 
 one want, however pressing. It is essential to prayer 
 that it has scope, range, large variety, rapid transition ; 
 everything, in fact, characteristic of the play of the 
 feelings, rather than of a process of the intellect. 
 Mr. Thomas's " Services" have much more the cha- 
 racter of instruction than worship. My mind is drawn 
 upon rather than my heart. My faculties are exer- 
 cised — I get ideas — instead of my soul being drawn 
 forth, and my conscience and affections awakened. 
 The book seems to me like an improved (or new) 
 method of reading the Scriptures. It is so constructed, 
 too, as to appear like a series of sj^ecial services, — 
 services adapted to times and occasions ; to Sundays, 
 on whatever principle determined, when some parti- 
 cular truth or fact would be understood to have a 
 distinct prominence given to it ; — but it is not a 
 " Liturgy," in the sense of being public, common 
 prayer. 
 
 Wellsford. I think you do injustice to the compiler 
 by applying to his work not only a standard unsuit- 
 able to it, but one against which he distinctly protests. 
 He tells you that he uses the word, "Liturgy," 
 simply as meaning " public service,", as the term is 
 derived from Xeiro^, public, and ipr^oi^, ivorJo. Others 
 may have used it for a certain kind of public service ; 
 he uses it to describe that which he has provided. He 
 may properly enough call it a Liturgy, though it may 
 not furnish what yotc think prepared public forms 
 should supply. I admit that it has too much the air 
 of instruction. The author, indeed, says that one of 
 its uses is " theological instruction," and that it may 
 
BAXTER AND BISHOP ANDREWS. 289 
 
 be " a help to the Biblical student," and " to Sabbath 
 school teachers and preachers." But he also says, 
 that he wishes to bring out " the heart-element of 
 the Bible," — " its devotionalizing power." You forget, 
 too, that these services are simply introductory ; that 
 after each there is to be reading, psalmody, and free 
 prayer, — the latter of which would be the " Common 
 Prayer" you so much desiderate, and would allow 
 to the feelings all the range and discursiveness you 
 could require. As to the Scriptural extracts being 
 strictly literal, that is surely to err on the right side. 
 
 Warri7igton. I admit it; at the same time a few 
 small liberties would have avoided some great defects. 
 I have once heard the Liturgy used, and I was struck 
 with a sense of incongruity on hearing in a prayer — 
 the people and minister joining in the act — the words, 
 " For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of 
 our Lord Jesus Christ .... that he would grant you," 
 etc. Baxter would have avoided that. His Beformed 
 Liturgy consists of prayers not only founded upon 
 Scripture, but consisting often of a series of Scriptural 
 expressions ; they are all made, however, and without 
 violence, to utter the language of prayer. Some 
 portions of Baxter's work are admirable specimens 
 of Scriptural collocation ; especially a piece called 
 " The Churches' Praise for our Eedemption," and a 
 hymn, in four parts. In a " Course of Prayers for a 
 Week," extracted from the G-reek Devotions of Bishop 
 Andrews, translated and arranged by the writers of 
 the Oxford Tracts, T^o. 88, there are some passages 
 of great beauty, consisting almost entirely of Scripture 
 texts, but so turned as to become a direct address 
 u 
 
290 THE DESK. 
 
 to God. Other portions of the work I cannot praise. 
 I once saw the proof-sheets of four " Services," form- 
 ing a small " Biblical Liturgy," which I very much 
 liked. The principle of construction was exactly the 
 same as that of this new one ; but the services were 
 more comprehensive and general — more like what I 
 call Common Prayer. Those services were never 
 published. Having heard the new Liturgy used, I 
 may say that the actual sight of a congregation sitting 
 loJiile malcing responses was far more repulsive and 
 intolerable than my previous idea of it. As the 
 minister and people were doing the same thing, it 
 seemed to me that he might as well sit as they. 
 
 Herbert. Did he read the Liturgy in the pulpit ? 
 
 Warrington. Yes. 
 
 Marston. Where in the world would you have him 
 to read it ? 
 
 Herbert. Why, I have long been of opinion that if 
 the worship of our churches M^as conducted in a dif- 
 ferent place from the pulpit, that single circumstance 
 would of itself have many and important results. Let 
 the worship remain just what it is, — reading and 
 prayer conducted exclusively by the minister, — yet, 
 if he stood somewhat lower than in preaching, and 
 thus, as it were, spake with the people, and as one of 
 them, unto God, it would be, I believe, beneficial in 
 its influence both on him and the congregation. It 
 would give to the worship greater importance by 
 attaching to it a more distinct character, and giving 
 it a completeness in itself. There would be a relief, 
 too, to the minister in the mere change of position 
 from the desk to the pulpit ; and there would grow 
 
THE PULPIT. 291 
 
 up in the minds of tlie people classes of feeling appro- 
 priate to each part of the service. The proper and '■ 
 specific idea of the pulpit is, that from it the people \ 
 are to he addressed. The minister goes into it to I 
 preach ; that is his object, and everything that takes j 
 place after his entering it and until he does preach, j 
 is a parenthesis, — something that comes in between j 
 his taking his position and fulfilling his function. It \ 
 is endured as a delay, not enjoyed as a delight. I ; 
 could wish to separate the pulpit, with all its associa- 
 tions, from the worship of the Church. I think the 
 people would then listen to the prayers, less in the 
 spirit of " hearers" than many of them do at present. 
 This would be a blessed preparation for hearing when 
 the proper time came ; and the state of mind proper 
 to hearers, as such, would come into action tJien, and 
 not before. 
 
 Marston. Tou seem to expect great results from 
 very small things. The feeling with which people 
 listen to a prayer depends far more on the man tliat 
 prays than on the place he prays from. If prayer is « 
 what it ought to be, it will excite devotion and warm 
 the heart as much from the pulpit as from anywhere 
 else. If it is " preaching," in the form of an address 
 to God, (as some prayers, I admit, are,) it would be 
 listened to as such, if the man stood on the floor of 
 the church, and his voice issued from the midst of 
 the multitude. But perhaps you think that your 
 change of position would aflfect our ministers also, and 
 lead some of them more literally to pray than they 
 often do ? 
 
 Herhert. Yes, I think so. 
 
292 SURPLICES AND GOWNS. 
 
 Marston. Perhaps you would like surplices and 
 gowns, and other trumpery, — a change of dress for 
 the minister, as well as a change of place ? 
 
 Kerhert. No, I care nothing about that, — at least 
 nothing about differences and changes of dress. Some 
 sort of official gown, I not only have no objection to, 
 but I rather prefer. There is a decent propriety, I 
 think, in the Presbyterian Churches, in not only the 
 minister, but even the precentor, having his official 
 dress. I confess I don't like to see a man go into the 
 pulpit as an auctioneer goes into his rostrum ; or as a 
 lecturer ascends the platform, and comes before an 
 audience. But Dissenters have no idea of a congre- 
 gation being anything else hut an audience. Hearing 
 with them is everything. In fact, they have very 
 little else to do. 
 
 Marston. If you and others had your way, I fear 
 they would soon have something else to do, which 
 would change them from an "audience" into "actors !" 
 I don't know what will be the end of it; but the 
 changes which have come, and which are coming, over 
 us, are, I think, very ominous. What with Gothic 
 chapels, and mediaeval architecture, and anthems, and 
 chanting, and now Liturgies, we seem to be on the 
 high road of thorough apostacy from the simplicity of 
 our fathers. AVhy, even the English Presbyterian 
 Church is just now agitated about the introduction of 
 organs ! " What next, — and next ? " If you wear a 
 gown, I don't see why you should object to a surplice. 
 If you have a desk, why not an altar ? If the 
 minister is to go from one place to another, where 
 will you stop ? You may go on till you have intro- 
 
THE MODERN APOSTOLIC CHURCH. 293 
 
 duced amongst us all the keelings and bowings, and 
 turnings and twistings of the Puseyite or the Papist, 
 or of poor Irving' s Holy Apostolic Church ! 
 
 Serlert. Don't calumniate the dead as well as the 
 living. Irving is no more answerable for what his 
 followers have become, than we who advocate some 
 improvement in worship are open to the charge of 
 being apostates and renegades. The fact, however, 
 by the way, of a number of men, headed by a Presby- 
 terian minister, and at first apparently setting every- 
 thing like form and order at defiance, — the fact that 
 they should come to adopt such a system of worship 
 as now distinguishes them, is at least remarkable, and 
 would seem to tell us something about the yearnings 
 and tendencies of human nature, when strongly moved 
 by religious excitement, and led to desire not merely 
 personal edification, but a felt and manifested Church- 
 life. I think the extravagancies of the Irvingites 
 very absurd, and their variety of robes, their lawn 
 and lace, their purple and blue and white and crimson, 
 their lights and incense very ridiculous, and, indeed, 
 a great deal more ; but I can learn something even 
 from tlie7n. They have a far better idea of the difier- 
 ence between, and the varieties of, worship and teach- 
 ing, than we have. Their full morning Eucharistic 
 service, with a brief simple exhortation to the faithful, 
 falls in very much with my notions ; in the afternoon 
 they begin with a sermon, or discourse, and end with 
 prayers ; in the evening, worship is short and sub- 
 ordinate — the pulpit is the more prominent object — 
 the p^eaclier, properly so called, addresses himself to 
 the world, and explains, defends, denounces, exhorts, as. 
 
294 ULTRA DEMOCRACY. 
 
 the case may be. I don't believe as they believe ; but 
 I do say, that they have got principles and ideas, 
 which might be acted upon in other communities, 
 and which some that I know might be a trifle the 
 better for. As to your talking about " the simplicity 
 of our fathers," that, you will remember, consisted in 
 this : — in their wearing gowns ; their admission of the 
 lawfulness, and their readiness to consent to the use, 
 of a Liturgy ; their providing, in the one they con- 
 structed, for the rehearsal of the Apostles' and the 
 Athanasian Creed, the Ten Commandments, and the 
 Lord's Prayer; with their approval of some other 
 things which you would not approve ! Tour notion 
 of "simplicity" comes from your modern ultra demo- 
 cracy, which would strip off official external distinc- 
 tions from everything whatever, secular and sacred ; 
 which despises authority, and dislikes order; which 
 looks at everything in the light of the understanding, — 
 judges of everything by a low, huxtering, utilitarian 
 test, — has no sense or feeling of the beautiful, — no 
 perception of the power and worth of significant 
 forms; — a thing only half human; — strong-willed, 
 hard-headed, but without heart, sentiment, or rever- 
 ence! 
 
 Marston. You're getting excited ! and, like all men 
 under excitement, are about as one-sided and half- 
 human as that imaginary thing which has been the 
 object of your attack. To your last flight I answer — 
 nothing; to your statement connected with it — this : — 
 that, whatever might be the willingness of Puritans 
 and Nonconformists to fall in with things which they 
 could not hope to alter, when they were in the act 
 
THE APOSTOLIC MODEL. S95 
 
 of trying to arrange with the old Church, so as not to 
 be excluded from it, they should rather be judged as 
 to what they were, by what they afterwards actually 
 did, — by the kind of worship which they established 
 and followed in their own Communion, where they 
 had the power of freely acting on their avowed prin- 
 ciples, and of introducing and perpetuating whatever 
 they preferred. I iniglit suggest, too, that there are 
 those who do not recognise our proper ancestors in 
 the Presbyterian clergy of the Savoy Conference. 
 But however that may be, I further say, that I have 
 no more to do with the errors of the seventeenth than 
 of the nineteenth century. I repudiate both. I am 
 one of those who care just as much for " the Fathers 
 of Nonconformity," as for any other " Fathers," — and 
 no more. I go direct to the yr«w<:/-fathers ! I fix on 
 the apostolic age. I say keep to that ; — confine your- 
 self to the New Testament. Let everything be done 
 according to the pattern found there. You will find 
 there neither gowns nor Liturgies. "Was there any 
 diff'erence then, I wonder, between desk and pulpit, 
 and any going from one to the other ! Look at Paul, — 
 the model minister for all time, if there ever was one, — 
 what was he ? A preacher, — emphatically a preacher. 
 Mark his appearance, dress, discourse, in the syna- 
 gogues of Antioch or Thessalonica ; — hear how he 
 reasons and argues, and addresses the understanding ; 
 and what an honourable testimony is borne to those 
 who searched the Scriptures to see if the things which 
 even he said were true! — That's the proper idea, — 
 you cannot improve upon that, — a preacher in the 
 pulpit, with Bereans in the pew! Everything else is a 
 
296 HALF TRUTHS. 
 
 perversion ; — an impertinence to be rebuked, or a peril 
 to be sliunned. As to forms of prayer — to return to 
 our original subject of conversation — I reallj must 
 say that the very idea of such forms strikes me as an 
 absurdity. How can that be prayer, in any proper 
 sense of the word, which consists of what is provided 
 for one mind by another ! — " Prayer is tlie souVs sincere 
 desire,'' as Montgomery says : " prayer is the glanciug 
 of an eye, the falling of a tear," and so on ; that is, it 
 is something real, genuine ; something that must 
 originate from tvithin, — which cannot be brought to 
 you, but which is itself to be hrought out, and which 
 must be the expression and manifestation of what is 
 hidden and Divine. I do seriously think that to take 
 a form of words, the work of another head and hand, 
 a thing originating from without, brought and placed 
 before your eye by external force, — I do say that to 
 call that grayer, is an error alike in thought and 
 language, — it's an abuse and a perversion ! 
 
 Warrington. I believe I must now come in between 
 you two, for both of you seem to be getting excited ; 
 — to be mastered by, instead of being masters of, your 
 enthusiasm ! As for you, Marston, after the way in 
 which you have just launched out, I really don't see 
 that you can consistently find fault with AVellsford's 
 excitement. As to some things that you have said, 
 they are partially true ; but half truths are often as 
 dangerous as whole errors. You can conclude nothing 
 from Paul's conduct in a Jewish synagogue, as to 
 what he sanctioned in the Christian assemblies of the 
 Church. Even in the synagogue, however, (as in 
 Antioch in Pisidia,) he first joined in the order of 
 
PRIMITIVE WORSHIP. 297 
 
 service, which, I suppose, would be in great part 
 Liturgical. The worship ended, he addressed the 
 assembly; and of course had to argue, and demonstrate, 
 and appeal to the understanding, because he was the 
 advocate and apostle of the new Faith. Preaching, 
 and such preaching, was absolutely necessary to the 
 introduction and establishment of the new interpreta- 
 tion of the Prophets, and the new form of truth which 
 he was commissioned to make known. In such cir- 
 cumstances, too, the conduct of the Bereaus was ap- 
 propriate and praiseworthy ; it was fitting in men 
 who heard something for the first time, and heard it 
 with wonder and doubt. "When, however. Christian 
 believei's came together, — when they met, as such, and 
 for worship, — it is not to be supposed that Paul's 
 preaching would be like that in the synagogue, or 
 that the much-lauded Berean spirit would be proper 
 then. Christians met with mutual and entire faith 
 in the common salvation, to hear something for edifica- 
 tion and comfort, and to join in exercises which would 
 afi'ord utterance to their new life. Tou can gather 
 very little from the New Testament as to the way in 
 which the worship of the Christian church was con- 
 ducted. In some places there was evidently a good 
 deal of disorder, which I suppose you would not 
 imitate. Not seldom, perhaps, a church was mainly 
 "taught" and "admonished" by "psalms and hymns 
 and spiritual songs," which you onight imitate, but 
 won't. In quiet and well-ordered assemblies, even 
 in the Apostolic age, I am not sure that worship might 
 not soon take a well-understood form ; — nature and 
 necessity would not only favour this, but old associa- 
 
298 ISOLATED ACTS NOT LAWS. 
 
 tions, the precedents alike of temple and synagogue, 
 would contribute to it. There was always, I believe, 
 on the first day of the week, " the breaking of bread ;" 
 this, I can imagine, was the great object for which 
 the Church met, its high service, — and the address or 
 exhortation of the bishop or presbyter would be a 
 very simple and spiritual affair. Paul, on one such 
 occasion, preaching till midnight, is not a precedent 
 having in it the nature of fixed law ; neither is his 
 example this, when, a few days afterwards, he kneeled 
 down on the sea-shore and prayed with his friends. 
 You can no more establish from the one fact the sin- 
 fulness of reading a sermon, or of ending a Sunday 
 evening service before twelve o'clock, than you can 
 draw from the other an inference against forms of 
 prayer. I believe in free prayer, and free preaching 
 too, as much as you do ; and, in circumstances similar 
 to Paul's, Christians, the world over and throughout 
 all time, will be ready, I doubt not, to preach and 
 pray as he did; but it does not follow, that in no 
 other circumstances, and at no time, can any difierent 
 mode of either praying or preaching be allowed ; — 
 neither does it follow that there was nothing else any- 
 where, in the Apostolic age, among all the assemblies 
 of the saints. I have sometimes thought that that 
 glorious choral hymn in the fifth chapter of Eevela- 
 tion, though represented as sung in Heaven, might be 
 but the reverberation, so to speak, of what was habitu- 
 ally heard in the Church on earth. That early state- 
 ment, too, of Christian customs, which we have in 
 Pliny's letter to Trajan, is very remarkable. Larduer 
 refers the letter to tlie year 108, and translates the 
 
PLINY AND JUSTIN MARTYE,. 299 
 
 words I particularly refer to—" they (the Christians) 
 affirmed .... that they were wont to meet together, 
 .... and sing among themselves alternately a 
 hymn to Christ." The service alluded to was no doubt 
 the Eucharist, the primitive breaking of bread ; and 
 the word " invicem'' cannot mean less, I suppose, than 
 something antiphonal in the mode of conducting some 
 part of the service. This, however, would imply the 
 use of a fixed form, as, without this, such alternate 
 singing would be impracticable. I am well aware that 
 you may say, in reply, that this proves nothing as to 
 forms of prayer; and you may refer to the worship of 
 the second century, and to Justin IMartyr, who says 
 that the bishop offered prayers and thanksgivings, 
 before the Eucharist, "in the best way he could."* 
 I am not careful to go into these matters. I have no 
 question with you as to there being free prayer in the 
 primitive church, and that there should everywhere 
 be free prayer still ; all I assert is, that I believe there 
 was a tendency from the very first to some fixed form 
 of service. I think that prayer would come to be 
 affected by this, and might be so without sin. An 
 Apostolic Liturgy, the basis of all others, as some 
 fondly dream, is, as I think, altogether out of the 
 question ; but I can admit the probability of a great 
 many early unwritten Liturgies, different churches 
 falling into regular forms of service, which the people 
 could go through without book, especially when 
 such books were perilous possessions ; and though 
 when liturgies were reduced to writing they became 
 more and more monstrous and unnatural, as may be 
 * Quoted in Bunsen's Hippolytus, vol. iv. p. 150, first edit. 
 
oOO THE PAST AND THE PRESENT. 
 
 seen by anybody in Neale's History of tlie Eastern 
 Church, and similar works, yet I am not snre that we 
 do not lose something by repudiating liturgical ser- 
 vices altogether. To return, however, to the Apostolic 
 age. I was saying that the brethren met together to 
 break bread, and that, then, I thought, the address of 
 the bishop would be a very simple and spiritual exhor- 
 tation. At other times there was the preaching of the 
 gospel, properly so called, to the unconverted ; and in 
 certain circumstances, in the Church itself, there was 
 bold, argumentative defence of the truth, and exposi- 
 tion of it, for the instruction of the faithful and their 
 protection against error. But these things are dif- 
 ferent from Christian worship as such, and as it would 
 be conducted by a number of simple Christian men 
 met together in unity of spirit and in the bond of 
 peace. I am well aware that we can hardly draw a 
 parallel between our great public mixed congregations, 
 and a select society of primitive believers ; but I am 
 strongly inclined to think that on the mornings of the 
 Lord's day we should exclusively regard the Church, 
 spiritual persons, whether commuuicants or not, — that 
 we should conduct everything as if none other were 
 present, — give peculiar prominence to worship, to 
 Scripture, prayer, and "the service of song;" and be 
 content with a short, calm, yet earnest exhortation, — 
 the Christian heart, in the officiating minister, utter- 
 ing itself, in a few pregnant, heavenly words, directly 
 to the heart, the Christian consciousness, of the 
 assembled Church. On other parts of the day, to 
 meet tlie state of other classes of persons, I would 
 have worship to be less full, less rich, and less promi- 
 
ALL CHURCHES ONE SIDED. 301 
 
 nent ; and I would have some one with gifts specially 
 adapted to the task, to bring the powers and forces of 
 his intellect to the work of preaching, in its various 
 forms of declaring the gospel, expounding truth, com- 
 bating -error, reproving sin, handling even politics, 
 literature, science, speaking to the age in its own lan- 
 guage and on its own topics, — and so flashing the light 
 of the Church on all the outlying and surrounding 
 world. 
 
 But all Churches are one sided. We take our 
 models from one aspect of things, or from things fitted 
 for particular epochs. The faith was at first to be 
 propagated by preaching, and grand reformations and 
 changes in the Church have always been effected by 
 the same instrumentality. Apostles and Eeformers, 
 in this one aspect of their power, have thus come to 
 furnish to some communities the exclusive type of the 
 ministerial function. The modern minister is to be a 
 preacher; a Luther thundering against abuses, or a 
 "Whitfield converting multitudes, — people are to as- 
 semble to liear, — but the worship of the faithful, who 
 neither need to be' converted nor reformed, has been 
 lost sight of ! Other communities, again, treating the 
 world as if it were the Church, and applying to assem- 
 blies of the ignorant and ungodly laws and rules which 
 belong only to spiritual fraternities, make worship every- 
 thing, in spite of the inherent spiritual incapacity of the 
 multitude for it. In the same way, they make preach- 
 ing nothing ! — They thus delude and betray, where 
 they ought to teach, to enlighten, and to convert ; they 
 prostitute, so to speak, all that is sacred in Divine 
 service by making it common — without explanation 
 
30^ PREACHERS AND PLATFORMS. 
 
 and without reserve — to worldly crowds ! As to your 
 idea of keeping to the " pattern" of the Apostolic age, 
 you don't do it. You take a part of the pattern, and 
 talk about it as if it were the whole ; and you do 
 many things for which you have no pattern at all, or 
 which are palpable modern deviations from it. Tou 
 never can make the system of one individual minister 
 in a church, — he, too, a preacher, and little else, — 
 square with the fact of the plurality of elders in the 
 first churches. So of ordination services, and other 
 things, as too commonly practised amongst us. The 
 communion of saints, the worship of the church, ser- 
 vice and sacrament devoted to simple godly edification, 
 are not much to be met with anywhere, especially in 
 the neighbourhood of popular preachers and gazing 
 crowds. The modern preacher is very often too much 
 of a lecturer, and the chapel or church is too much 
 regarded and attended as a lecture-room. Some of 
 our reformers advocate, I believe, the removal of the 
 pulpit, — not to make way for the more emphatic dis- 
 charge of praise and prayer, (that I could understand,) 
 — but to substitute a platform, and to invite discus- 
 sion, and thus to turn the meetings of God's priest- 
 hood, the Christian people, when they should come 
 together to worship, into something like those of a 
 debating society ! All my religious instincts and sen- 
 sibilities are lacerated and outraged by such an idea ! 
 There are times and places, proper enough, for logical 
 disputation, or other forms of mental exercise ; but do 
 let us have both the one and the other for meeting as 
 Christians, to feel and act as if the Bible needed no 
 commentary, as if the Gospel had never been doubted. 
 
SERMONS AND PRAYERS. 303 
 
 or the institutions of the Church misunderstood. But 
 all reformers depend on the intellect, — on argument, 
 agitation, eloquent discourse, and so on, — and they 
 lose sight of the other half of things, the repose of 
 faith and the luxury of devotion. AVhat I want is, to 
 see the Church fully up to its entire duty, — that it 
 should understand its whole character. I wish it, at 
 stated times, to give full prominence to what concerns 
 itself — that with which the world can have little sym- 
 pathy ; and at other times " to hold forth the word of 
 life," to let preaching have full play; when, if the man 
 have it in him, his sermons may be distinguished by 
 the passion of Peter, the logic of Paul, and the elo- 
 quence of Apollos. Now, in strictly and purely Church 
 worship, I am not sure that you would not come near 
 to the practices of Apostolic times if you had a regular 
 form of service in which the people should have their 
 allotted part ; — if it were only their repetition of the 
 Lord's Prayer, or their uniting in a loud "Amen." 
 As to your saying, that by a form of prayer externally 
 brought to you by another you cannot pray, you con- 
 demn yourself, — so far, at least, as to prove that in 
 public you never pray at all, except when you yourself 
 officiate. For, if ever a form of prayer, made by ano- 
 ther, is externally brought to you for you to pray with, 
 this is most certainly the case when you have to listen 
 to a prayer made at the moment with the idea of your 
 joining in it. To yoio in the pew, the free prayer of 
 the pulpit is a form ; and you must excuse my think- 
 ing that it comes to you in a way less fitted for your 
 utterance of "the soul's desire" than if one was used 
 with which you were familiar. The fact really is, that 
 
304 FORMS AND FREE PRAYER. 
 
 the question about public forms of prayer resolves 
 itself into this, — not whether a form is to be employed, 
 (for the people literally can have nothing else ;) but 
 whether it is to be one prepared beforehand, or one 
 composed for them at the moment. 
 
 Ilarston. I don't know that I can reply offhand to 
 your last remark. It never struck me in that way 
 before. It looks like truth, and yet my instincts tell 
 me that there is, and must be, a miserable sophism 
 lurking in it somewhere. In spite of it, however, and 
 of all else that you have now said, I must still exclaim, 
 " God forbid that there should ever come a time when 
 the Churches of our order should adopt anything in 
 the remotest degree approaching to a Liturgy ! " 
 Such a thing could only be a broken reed, — a crutch 
 for the lame ; rather, perhaps, a galvanic apparatus for 
 artificially operating on the dead, making them to 
 mumble and mutter with something of the appear- 
 ance of living men ! Don't suppose that any Liturgy 
 would long be in use without its becoming the suhsti- 
 tiUe for free prayer. The two things cannot co-exist. 
 They will not remain coadjutors and associates. The 
 one or the other will have the pre-eminence. The 
 iron and the clay will not mingle and adhere. It is 
 the impossible service of two masters, in another form. 
 It looks all very fine for Mr. Thomas to say that his 
 services are intended "to incite every spirit to rise 
 with the minister into the sphere of free and earnest 
 prayer;" and that "their aim is not to supersede, but 
 to stimulate extemporaneous devotion." Why, I 
 have little doubt, that while his service may occupy 
 twenty minutes, his own prayer will not take more 
 
CANNOT CO-EXIST. o05 
 
 than five ! Depend upon it, the efiect of a Liturgy is 
 to quench and restrain, — to depress and deaden the 
 spirit of prayer. It will do this in ministers who have 
 that spirit, if they adopt a book, for they will soon be 
 tempted to do nothing without it ; and it will encou- 
 rage others to become ministers who have it not, 
 because they will feel that they may get on with the 
 help of the form. When the Presbyterian Churches 
 lost their vitality, they either died out and disappeared, 
 or they were kept alive, or at least above ground, by 
 their ministers taking to written prayers. The Uni- 
 tarians now, I believe, with hardly an exception, 
 either read a prayer from a manuscript of their own, 
 or use a Liturgy compiled from the Church of England 
 service. The two things act and re-act upon each 
 other ; — error and worldliness take refuge in a Liturgy, 
 the use of a Liturgy confirms both. I don't speak of 
 the Established Church ; it has always had a Liturgy, 
 and good men, in every generation, have lived by it. 
 ■ But even to it the remark applies. Some of its best 
 ministers lament the restraints with which they are 
 shackled, and consciously feel, and have constantly to 
 fight against their deadening influence. In the social 
 meetings of the more pious and spiritual of the clergy, 
 their bonds are broken. "When and where they can, 
 they pray out of the fulness of the heart ; they speak 
 to God " as the Spirit gives them utterance ;" they are 
 the subjects in themselves, and the agents to each 
 other, of a warmth of devotion which they are mostly 
 strangers to in the public repetition of their set forms. 
 Hundreds, too, are acting as ministers in the Church, 
 who never would have approached in sight of the ofiice, 
 
•306 FIXITY OF RITUALISM. 
 
 or would not have retained it after taking it u^^on 
 them, if thej had been required really to ])rsLy, instead 
 of being furnished with forms of prayer which any one 
 could read. Here's a volume of Bunsen lying on the 
 table. In some remarks of his on the Church of 
 England, I find these two statements, — and if I were 
 to look I dare say I could find more like them. " The 
 G-erman Churches may be a model to the English 
 Church, in so far as they maintain the principle of the 
 free element, both as regards the prayer and the 
 sermon. ' Quench not the Spirit,' says the Apostle. 
 There is a power in the living outpouring of the spirit 
 by free prayer, and in a sermon delivered out of the 
 fulness of faith and thought, which a set form and a 
 written sermon do not possess." Again: " It must, 
 as a matter of justice, be admitted that, comparatively 
 speaking, free prayer and free preaching have been 
 much discountenanced, and almost banished from the 
 service as ' enthusiasm,' by the exclusive fixity of 
 English ritualism."* 
 
 But I did not mean to say so much of the Esta- 
 blishment. I speak only of our own Nonconformist 
 churches ; and in relation to them I am quite per- 
 suaded that nothing could be so pregnant with injury 
 and ruin to all we hold dear, as the adoption of any- 
 thing like liturgical services. If Dissenting bodies 
 are not pervaded by the warmth and vigour of spiri- 
 tual life, they are nothing, and they can do nothing. 
 The minister must be the visible and vocal sign, if I 
 may so speak, (and if you will have signs, " signifi- 
 
 * Bunsen's UijypoJytusy vol. iii. pp. 337, 338, and p. 328. 
 
THE CRYSTAL PALACE WATEH-WORKS. oOT 
 
 cant" or otherwise,) at once of the subjective life of 
 the Church, and of the objective truth by which it is 
 nourished, — of the first by an obvious j^ersonal devotion? 
 of the second by the evangelical tone of his discourses. 
 Let either of these fail, and you will have, and ought 
 to have, the beginning of the end, — and something 
 more. Tour preaching will come to be as cold as 
 your devotion, if your devotions are to be uttered 
 from a printed book ! You may as well read sermons 
 written or printed by other men, as other men's 
 written or printed prayers ! 
 
 Herbert. You have seen the water-w^orks at the 
 Crystal Palace ? 
 
 3farston. Of course ; — what of that ? 
 
 Serhert. AVhy, I have sometimes thought that 
 these and such like contrivances might furnish an 
 analogy to liturgical forms. The mechanism is not 
 the water, but it is the means through which, and in 
 virtue of which, the water rises in all its grace and 
 beauty towards heaven. Forms of prayer, separate 
 from the spirit of devotion in the worshippers, can 
 avail nothing. Employed thus, they can emit only 
 empty sound. But, subjective spiritual life being 
 supposed, — and Liturgies, you will remember, are for 
 the Church, not the world, — then, that life can more 
 readily and orderly express itself through such pre- 
 pared and adapted apparatus, than without any, or 
 with any suddenly and extemporaneously constructed. 
 A really devout and spiritual people, accustomed to 
 a Liturgy, — acquainted with its modes of utterance, — 
 feeling and knowing that they will always be appro- 
 priate, and that though familiar they are ever new, — 
 
308 THE ENGLISH LITURGY. 
 
 such a people may surely be supposed to come together 
 in the spirit of prayer aud with a preparedness to 
 pray ; and, if so, having a clear comprehension of what 
 they are to do, to hear and to repeat, the well-known 
 forms of their Common Prayer (because well known) 
 may be filled to the full with the gushing flood of their 
 inward feeling, and that feeling be carried towards 
 heaven with less danger of being marred and broken 
 by disturbing influences, than if they were exposed 
 to such accidents as have often, I dare say, sadly 
 interfered with ^our devotion when listening to some 
 unpremeditated prayers. 
 
 Marston. Tour analogy is ingenious, but not sound. 
 You cannot get rid, with all your " water- works," of 
 the dependence of a congregation on the ofiiciating 
 minister. The devotion of a people may be as m.uch 
 disturbed by the man who is appointed to set your 
 well-constructed machinery in motion, as by one who 
 supplies a rude and imperfect apparatus at the moment. 
 He that teaches religion must have religion ; — that, 
 you know, is the essential condition to a man's being 
 a minister. In the same way, he that has to lead the 
 prayers of others must be filled with the spirit of 
 prayer himself, whether he pray with a Liturgy or 
 without one. I will not deny that I have sometimes 
 enjojed the Liturgical service of the Church of 
 England; but I have also, I must affirm, been as 
 much disturbed by the way in which that Liturgy 
 has been read, as ever I was with the worst specimens 
 of extemporary prayer. But besides this, I object to 
 your theory of public prayer. It is, I think, imperfect 
 and unspiritual. I don't admit that the only idea of 
 
TIMES OF REFRESHING. 309 
 
 public devotion is that of the people actually praying, 
 — offering up, in loords, as their own, every petition 
 presented to God. There is that spirit of prayer of 
 which you speak, — a spirit which is not always hr ought 
 to the house of Grod, even by the best and holiest of 
 men. Public prayer is to excite this as well as to 
 express it, or to aid its expression. Now, I do main- 
 tain that where the minister is what he ought to be, 
 there is more likelihood of his exciting devotion by 
 free prayer than by the use of familiar forms, however 
 unexceptionable and excellent in themselves. I have 
 heard prayers which have gradually kindled, elevated, 
 and enlarged the souls of the wrapt yet subdued 
 people, by their solemnity and richness, in a way 
 which was utterly indescribable, but which no Liturgy 
 that was ever framed could possibly effect ! The heart 
 has been touched and softened; all sorts of emotion- 
 called forth ; the truths of the common faith, implied 
 in every sentence, have been brought before the mind 
 with luminous clearness, and made to act with a pene- 
 trating power; penitence, faith, hope, joy, with all 
 other corresponding sentiments, have been evoked and 
 sustained ; the invisible has been revealed ; the world 
 has disappeared; the presence of "the Comforter" 
 has seemed a consciously felt reality ! Such seasons 
 are " times of refreshing from the presence of the 
 Lord," when the assembled Church feels "the powers 
 of the world to come." Every man with the slightest 
 spark of Christian life in him feels bettered, enriched, 
 purified, exalted ; — he is humbler, stronger ; — more 
 loving, more holy, more joyous ; — " filled," by a Divine 
 blessedness, " with," or " unto," " all the fulness of 
 
310 THE LIVIXG SACRIFICE. 
 
 God !" Yet, with all this, few or none might be con- 
 scious of directly offering up prayer^ — offering, I mean, 
 the ivords of any one of the petitions uttered, — or of 
 literally uniting in, by actually repeating, what they 
 heard of adoration, contrition, confidence, or joy. You 
 would say that they did not pray, or that they did 
 not join in prayer with the minister and with each 
 other, — that they only listened to another praying. 
 Z say that their whole spiritual nature prayed ; their 
 souls were a living sacrifice ; they themselves were a 
 petition, — presenting and constituting such a prayer 
 as you read of when it is said, " The Spirit maketh 
 intercession in us" in a manner that "cannot be 
 uttered." Depend upon it, " He that knoweth the 
 mind of the Spirit," and who can do for us " above 
 what we can either ask or think," does not regard as 
 insignificant or worthless such prayers as these, — these, 
 which are inward things, living thoughts, — thoughts 
 and things which are unuttered because they are 
 unutterable, — " a meditation of the heart," which " the 
 words of the lip" cannot express; but things, never- 
 theless, which have a voice and meaning in them 
 understood by " Hira with whom we have to do," — 
 who can interpret wliat He sees within us, translating, 
 as it were, the dumb and the inarticulate into a 
 language far more expressive, copious, and exact than 
 man or angel ever knew, — to whom the "groanings" 
 of Humanity may not only be as acceptable, but in 
 whose ear they may be as sweet and as harmonious, 
 as the song of sinless intelligence and the symphonies 
 of the upper world ! 
 
 Fenwicke. It would ill become any of us, my dear 
 
EXCEPTIONAL CASES. oil 
 
 friend, to doubt the truth of what you have said, or 
 to question the sincerity with which you have spoken. 
 "We could all, I believe, bear witness to such seasons 
 as those you have described : — seasons, however, you 
 will permit me to say, which are not common ; which 
 require for their occurrence not only men of a pecu- 
 liar order of mind, and of deep spiritual experience, 
 but also certain favourable impulses, a felicitous 
 spiritual condition of things at the moment, in*.the 
 men themselves. You have set before us what is 
 undoubtedly true ; but it is something exceptional. 
 Few men can realize it ; and in those who can, it can 
 only occur occasionally. Now, might not something 
 be said of like sort with respect to the influence of 
 liturgical forms ? In the hands of some men, — or, at 
 particular times, in the hands of the same man, — may 
 not a similar effect to what you have described, as to 
 the excitement of devotion, be produced by a Liturgy ; 
 while, at other times, and in other hands, it might be 
 as distracting, deadening, and unproductive as the 
 meaner forms of free prayer ? 
 
 Marston. Forgive my interrupting you, but I think 
 there is this difference : — the power of a known Liturgy 
 will be more felt by the individual, and according to 
 his previous state of mind ; the power of which I 
 speak is one that comes down on all generally, and 
 with a force which no state of mind hardly can resist. 
 The one furnishes a vehicle for the feeling which is 
 brought to it ; the other evokes the feeling itself. 
 
 Femcic'ke. I understand you. Eut I still venture 
 to think that a Liturgy, such as I conceive a Liturgy 
 ought to be, may be capable of exciting, deepening, 
 
312 LITURGICAL EXCITEMENT. 
 
 and diffusing the spirit of devotion, as well as of 
 bringing to it fitting forms of vocal utterance. Much 
 depends, as you say, on the officiating minister. But, 
 granting seriousness, earnestness, reality, and depth 
 of spiritual life in Mm, and an average amount 
 of religiousness in the people, there surely may be, 
 in connexion with the use of a Liturgy, the occur- 
 rence, at particular times, of such seasons as the one 
 you have described ? These would not be brought 
 about, as in your case, through the power of new and 
 penetrating forms of expression, but by those which 
 are old and familiar coming on the heart with a new 
 force, — the spiritual state of the reader thus diffusing 
 itself, by a mysterious sympathy, throughout the con- 
 gregation ! Of course, though we thus speak of sorts 
 of men, and moods of mind, and pre-requisite condi- 
 tions, we neither of us refer everything to these. We 
 never expect such results as those referred to without 
 "the power of the Holy Ghost;" and He, we know, 
 can effect his gracious designs, and impart his heavenly 
 blessings, by or through any instrumentality. At the 
 same time, we all, I suppose, believe that He does 
 not act without having a regard to^omething of the 
 nature of fixed laws, and that a fitness may be observed 
 in such instrumentality as He most honours. There 
 are certainly some modes of free prayer, as well as 
 some modes of reading a Liturgy, which never could 
 be rationally expected to produce any result whatever 
 on truly devout and spiritual worshippers, but apathy 
 or distraction, — agony or disgust ! 
 
 But there are two or three other things which have 
 not been referred to, which I should like to notice before 
 
THE CURTAINS OF THE SOUL. 313 
 
 our conversation closes. It has occurred to me, that 
 there is a point of difference between liturgical and 
 free prayer, which some minds may be so constituted 
 as to feel very acutely — I mean, that the one is so 
 much more ^personal than the other. The one is felt 
 to be general ; the other is listened to as particular ; — 
 the one is regarded as the voice of the Church, uttered 
 by the minister as its recognised organ, by which he, 
 in common with the people, is to be affected ; the 
 other is the voice of an individual, that cannot but be 
 influenced by his individual peculiarities, and which 
 can only come to be common prayer, by a strong 
 effort. But what I specially refer to is this : — in free 
 prayer, the minister has to do what is equivalent to 
 his making a public revelation of himself; he has 
 literally, as it were, to set forth before the people his 
 naked soul, in whatever condition it happens to be, 
 or, which may be far worse, he is tempted to present 
 it as in a condition in which it is not. Everything he 
 says is supposed to be (and I presume ought to be) 
 the natural outflow of his personal feeling, — the 
 utterance of his inward self. There is something 
 terrible in this to many men of sensibility and refine- 
 ment, and having, moreover, a deep sense of spiritual 
 uprightness. I can easily conceive that this may be 
 felt in exact proportion to the realized nearness and 
 presence of God — to the truthfulness and depth of a 
 man's piety. He will shrink from withdrawing, 
 before a mixed multitude, those curtains of the soul, 
 which conceal, so to speak, its inner sanctuary, — a 
 place so sacred in itself and to him, and which he 
 feels should be open only to God. He dreads, too, to 
 
814 USES OF FORMS. 
 
 utter, as from himself, what he does not at the time 
 experience; to have to "make believe" because he 
 speaks in the hearing of others ; to speak as if pro- 
 fessing that that is in him, the absence of which he 
 would own and lament if he was speaking in his secret 
 chamber ! Preaching and praying are two different 
 tilings in respect to their relation to a man's ex- 
 perience. We may preacli, and must preach, a higher 
 piety than we have attained to ; we have to set up a 
 standard which we have not reached, and which we 
 may be known not to have reached ; we must do this 
 to stimulate ourselves, as well as others, to effort and 
 progress. All that is well understood ; and no man is 
 the worse, or can be the worse thought of, for such 
 preaching, if his life be not grossly inconsistent with 
 it. But, praying above your experience, or against it, 
 when you have to do it openly as from yourself, in 
 your own words, and as what you are, is a very 
 different thing. Now, publicly authorized forms of 
 prayer are a refuge here. The most intense expres- 
 sions of all kinds may occur, — of self-abhorrence, 
 shame, contrition, — of faith, joy, rapture, — and the 
 advantage is, that no man is supposed, not even the 
 minister, to utter, in these, his special individual 
 feeling, or to reveal to others his then professed 
 spiritual condition ; — what is heard, is the proper 
 and fitting utterance of the faitliful, everywhere and 
 always, and, under the cover of tliat, each soul gives 
 to the general voice of the Church, as far as it can, a 
 particular application to itself. AVhat is thus under- 
 stood to be, and used as, the expression of the uni- 
 versal Christian consciousness, becomes the vehicle of 
 
LITURGICAL SINGING. 315 
 
 that of the individual. An extempore prayer, is the 
 prayer of one heart, moved by and expressing its own 
 life ; and, though I quite acknowledge that because of 
 the identity of the Christian life in all Christian men, 
 it will be what others would say in proportion as it is 
 genuine and true, yet, ivhen uttered in tlie hearing of 
 numhers, and for their use, it must be designedly so 
 constructed as to meet many different conditions of 
 mind. This fulness and variety is just what a well- 
 arranged Liturgy would provide ; and I do think that, 
 on many accounts, this sort of provision had better be 
 furnished by a book than a man. A book can be 
 conscions of no profane exposure of itself, and can 
 suffer none of that deleterious, reflex action, which 
 follows the conscious, or nnconscious nse of exag- 
 gerated or simnlated expressions of feeling. I know 
 the answer to all this, — that liturgical forms delibe- 
 rately provide for this very enormity ; that they put 
 words into the mouths of people who cannot utter 
 them without profanation, — who are taught to say 
 what they do not feel, — in whom the prayers are a 
 mockery, and to whom they must be a snare. This 
 objection, however, equally applies to the singing of 
 deeply spiritual hymns by a mixed multitude, in any 
 ordinary Dissenting congregation. Besides, I am 
 speaking especially of ministers ; and the principle, by 
 the way, which marks the difference between litur- 
 gical and free prayer in them, might be illustrated by 
 this Dissenting liturgical singing. A man's joining in 
 a hymn, which is supposed to be the general expres- 
 sion of the worshippers, but which is not exactly his, is 
 neither so repulsive in itself, nor so dangerous to the 
 
316 THE BOOK AND THE MAN. 
 
 man, as if he had to stand up and individually utter, 
 as his own, the very same words. It is this sort of 
 thing from which some sensitive and conscientious 
 ministers shrink. They are afraid of what might eat 
 into their souls as a canker ; what might harden the 
 heart, or make it hollow, or wear a great hole right 
 through it ! One of this class may be ready to say, — 
 " I am afraid of changing from a person to a thing ; I 
 dread lest from a living soul I should become an 
 institution. I would rather use a form, than he one !" 
 There is another point which I think deserves 
 serious consideration. However it may be accounted 
 for, there certainly is greater decorum, apparently 
 greater seriousness and greater attention to worship 
 as such, in Churches, during prayers, than in most 
 Nonconforming congregations. Even in places where 
 the minister pays great attention to worship, if he 
 happen to have some reputation as a preacher, the 
 irreverence of the " hearers " is often repulsive. I 
 have no experience myself as a popular preacher, — 
 though I am not so bad as one whom we all knew, 
 whose achievements consisted, as I have heard him 
 say, in emptying, successively, three chapels ! I had, 
 however, a letter this morning from a friend of mine, 
 who has to sustain the burden of popularity, and who 
 finds it often no light one ; and, as it touches on the 
 point now before us, I will, with your permission, 
 read an extract or two from it. "As to the subject," 
 he says, " of our last conversation, you know how 
 deeply I feel respecting it." I ought, perhaps, to 
 explain that on a recent visit of my friend to London, 
 from his residence in the North, we had a good deal of 
 
THE POPULAR PREACHER. 317 
 
 talk on the subject of Dissenting worship. " In 
 common with many of our ministers," he goes on, 
 " I attach great importance to worship. I always 
 wish, and I always try, so to conduct it, as to make it 
 the means of blessed impression to the souls of the 
 people, and a solace and refreshment to my own. As 
 ministers, you know, we cannot derive much spiritual 
 benefit from our own official acts ; but if any is to be 
 expected, I always feel that I must look for it rather 
 from the worship than the sermon. Unfortunately 
 for myself, — how strange that would sound to some 
 people, if they could hear me say it ! — unfortunately 
 for myself, I have acquired as a preacher some reputa- 
 tion, — far more, indeed, than I deserve. This I know 
 is a serious responsibility ; it is a talent, which is not 
 to be undervalued, and which may be used for and 
 sanctified to the highest ends. To myself, however, 
 it has often been a trial, and especially has it inter- 
 fered with my personal, religious enjoyment of Divine 
 service ; indeed, I may say, without exaggeration, that 
 it has been a frequent, if not constant source of acute 
 suffering, both at home and abroad. Abroad, indeed, 
 where one is advertised to preach for some object or 
 other, and people assemble expressly on account of 
 the preacher's visit, we must lay our account with 
 meeting such a state of feeling, and seeing such a 
 congregation, as are not in harmony with the idea of 
 deep, serious, quiet worship. But even 'at home, from 
 living in a large town and amidst a shifting population, 
 I suffer much. Some of my people live at a distance, 
 and are often late ; I am exposed to the constant 
 intrusion of strangers who do not know when service 
 
818 IRREVERENCE OF DISSENTERS. 
 
 begins, or are willing to be just in time for the sermon ; 
 and there is always, as everywhere, a large proportion 
 of " hearers " who regularly attend without any idea, 
 or any serious purpose, of worshipping at all. For 
 the first half-hour after the service has commenced, and 
 even longer, I am annoyed and disturbed by people 
 coming in and walking up the aisles (without shame !) 
 — by the opening of doors, the slamming of seats, the 
 ruffle of feet, — to say nothing of other noises still 
 more ignoble ! Prayer and song, which I pant to 
 enjoy, are thus often interfered with by irritating 
 distractions. There is something of stillness, cer- 
 tainly, during the very act of devotion, and I can, 
 sometimes, by a strong effort, gather up my soul, and 
 give scope and utterance to its emotions ; but that 
 has often to be done as with inward agony, from the 
 oppressive consciousness of my being listened to and sur- 
 rounded by so many not in felt sympathy with myself, 
 and from the crushing effect of previous disturbance. 
 Even at the end of the entire service preceding the 
 sermon, people come in and press forward as if every- 
 thing was just beginning! I have often wished, for 
 my own sake, that I was the minister of some retired 
 village, or some suburban district, where my flock 
 would be included within a ring fence, and staring 
 strangers would not come ! I have imagined we 
 might then all be in our place, ready to commence our 
 united worship, at the set time, without the fear of 
 foreign disturbance. A short period of tranquil 
 thought, after all were gathered together, would be a 
 blessed preparation for the high service. ^ Fraise^ 
 would then ^ wait for God in Zion!' It would be in 
 
SITTING AND STANDING. 319 
 
 the heart as a living thing ready to leap joyfully from 
 the lip when all should rise to begin some hymn of 
 Sabbath gladness. In such circumstances, free from 
 external, irritating intrusions, a deep, calm, unruffled 
 stillness settling on the spirit, and a sense of full 
 general sympathy pervading the place, I have thought 
 that ' prayer might be set forth as incense,' — psalm 
 and song be a living sacrifice, — that faith, love, and 
 filial joy might dilate the heart, — while ' the peace of 
 God, which passeth all understanding, would be shed 
 abroad by the Holy Ghost.' I will not deny that I 
 have often felt something of all this, in places and at 
 times the most unlikely, and in spite of many opposing 
 forces ; but it is not to be concealed, that, as a body, 
 our churches generally have much to learn in relation 
 to worship and a proper behaviour in the house of 
 God. There is no uniformity in the same congrega- 
 tion, with respect to posture and attitude in prayer. 
 Many would kneel if they could; most sit, leaning 
 forward and resting the head on the next pew ; some 
 stand, not indevoutly ; while others again look about, 
 — or up at the minister, — in the latter case, not, it is 
 to be feared, with the feeling of worshippers, but very 
 much in the spirit with which they afterwards listen 
 to the discourse." — So my friend goes on. My im- 
 pression is, that he underrates the devotion of our 
 churches from reasoning too much from a particular 
 case ; and that even with respect to his own con- 
 gregation he is under a mistake. In spite of all of 
 which he complains, there is in it, I believe, far more 
 of the spirit of worship than he seems to think, and 
 very often there comes down upon it, as I have myself 
 
320 THE WANTS OF THE DEVOUT. 
 
 witnessed, a feeling of awe, — a silence and a solemnity, 
 — very affecting. Still, there is substantial truth in 
 much that he says. He touches, I see, upon other 
 points, further on, respecting which, however, he does 
 not express himself at any length. I can only 
 observe, that he seems to have, like you, Herbert, a 
 horror of the pulpit as the sole place for conducting 
 our services ; — he thinks, too, there might be the 
 responsive reading of the Psalms, or of some properly 
 arranged portions of Scripture ; — he would like to give 
 the people something to do ; he would have them 
 vocally to unite in confession of sin, — or in some short 
 prayer, — or in the Lord's Prayer, or the Apostles' 
 Creed, — or, in some way or other, to have to manifest 
 a personal agency ia the service, that they might 
 regard it and enter into it with a more real and active 
 personal interest. I rather think there is a wide- 
 spread feeling of something being wanting among us. 
 There are longings, in the more cultivated and devout 
 of the community, which our worship does not satisfy. 
 Our own people and our own ministers are getting 
 more and more alive to the fact. There are many evils 
 that call for removal — many wants that require to be 
 met. How these, respectively, are to be removed and 
 met, I really don't know. Would a Liturgy at all 
 answer the purpose? Would it mitigate or increase 
 what we lament ? What sort of a Liturgy would be 
 best ? Where, if we had one, would be the proper 
 place for the exercise of free prayer, — for none of us, 
 I suppose, would give up that ? 
 
 Marston. God forbid ! You know in October last, at 
 one of the meetings of the Congregational Union, 
 
A PRESBYTERIAN PRAYER-BOOK. 321 
 
 some remarks were made on the subject of Liturgies, 
 in the large room upstairs in this very house. You 
 remember how emphatically a Trench Protestant 
 minister, who happened to be present, condemned the 
 use of forms of prayer, and testified to their blighting 
 and withering influence on the piety of the Continental 
 churches. 
 
 Wellsford. I think I can understand that, and 
 account for it, without prejudice to the general ques- 
 tion. The Presbyterian forms of prayer were merely 
 helps for the minister: they were not a liturgical 
 service for the people. As prayers, they were not 
 better than those which many ministers are able con- 
 stantly to offer of themselves, with the advantage of 
 such variety of expression as different states of feeling 
 suggest, and habit and use supply. Prom forms of 
 prayer of the sort referred to, books for ministers 
 alone, — which the people cannot purchase and never 
 see, but the unvarying strains, the meagre and mono- 
 tonous intonations of which they incessantly hear, — I 
 should expect nothing but death. Why, I was myself 
 brought up in connexion with the old Presbyterian 
 Church of Scotland, — the Established Church. The 
 minister I had to attend used some such form. He 
 had just four prayers, which I heard every Sunday, 
 (I ought to say Sabbath,) till I was twenty. I knew 
 every word of them, and their exact order morning 
 and afternoon. I never knew him vary, in any parti- 
 cular, except once, when he introduced something 
 new. I was so surprised that I said, afterwards, to 
 one of the elders, "Did you observe that?'' "Aye," 
 said he, " Andrew, that I did, — I must ask where he 
 
 T 
 
322 A RESPONSIVE LITURGY. 
 
 got it!" — Every minister, I am well aware, falls into 
 some forms of expression, and pursues some order of 
 thought, in his prayers, more or less fixed ; but such 
 as I have described would have killed anything. I 
 wonder how I survived them ! Now, something of 
 that sort is the idea of a Presbyterian prayer-book, — 
 a minister's assistant! I have no hope of improve- 
 ment from such aids ; I see no prospect of anything 
 worth having, except in a rich, responsive, liturgical 
 service properly so called. Nothing else will do in 
 this country; and no such service, I fear, however 
 well constructed, would succeed with us. I say this, 
 because I don't think that it would do anything but 
 mischief to introduce into our churches, either the 
 Liturgy itself of the Church of England, or anything 
 very like it. The tastes and associations of our people 
 are against that Liturgy, as a thing for themselves, 
 though many of them admire it and enjoy it in its 
 proper place. There is a morbid dread, too, of any 
 approach to aping the Church, — a thing which has its 
 advantages, which keeps us real, genuine, natural, and 
 which no wise man would either wish to destroy or 
 needlessly to offend. It would require, however, 
 something after the model of the Church 'service to 
 give the people a part in the worship, and I believe 
 that something might be framed out of the materials 
 from which the English Liturgy was made, (the 
 common property of Christendom,) and contributions 
 of more recent and even modern times, actually superior 
 to that service, — distinguished by more variety, fewer 
 repetitions, being less protracted as a whole, and less 
 questionable in some of its utterances. I do not 
 
BAPTIST NOEL. 3^3 
 
 think, however, that any old-established Nonconformist 
 congregation would see the excellencies of such a 
 Liturgy if it dropped down from heaven ; or could be 
 be brought to try or to bear a change so great 
 as the adoption of it would involve. K anything 
 is ever attempted, it must be in some new place, 
 and by a select people. It might be done by the 
 union of some wise and good men, for the purpose — 
 men of culture, intelligence, purified taste, deep devo- 
 tion, earnest religiousness. They might build their 
 church, and arrange their services, and realize their idea 
 of Christian worship, and trust to their example 
 influencing others in time ; but an old meeting-house 
 is not the place, nor an old congregation the subjects 
 for such an experiment. 
 
 I confess I was one of those who lamented that 
 Mr. Noel, on his secession from the Church, did not 
 bring along with him, into the regions of Nonconformity, 
 more of his former self and his former habits, instead 
 of becoming in everything so like ourselves. He had 
 the opportunity afforded him, and the power in his 
 hands, of doing a great work. If, instead of subsiding 
 into a Dissenting preacher, and going into that dingy 
 brick building of his, he had built a church, and, 
 without any prolonged period of silence, had com- 
 menced worship, with a reformed, altered, and 
 enriched liturgical service, he might have introduced 
 an element into the non-established sects of this 
 country that might have been eminently beneficial. 
 He could not, however, conscientiously do this. His 
 deep convictions drove him to the extreme of dissent. 
 His becoming a Baptist broke the spell with which he 
 
324 DR. HAAVKER. 
 
 might have wrought. No news ever took more joy into 
 a certain Episcopal palace than that ! I honour Mr. 
 Noel for what he did, though I should have been glad 
 if he had seen his way to the constitution of a church, 
 which should have combined the illustration of ritual 
 reform with the profession of Dissenting principles. 
 But he is as humble as he is sincere. He had no 
 ambition to be the leader of a new party, or the head 
 of a new sect. He lost, however, an opportunity such 
 as no man ever had before, and such as he can never 
 have again, of benefiting the Nonconformists by im- 
 proved modes and offices of worship. He might have 
 retained the best portions of the Liturgy, and have used 
 free prayer in connexion with the service, with greater 
 fulness and at greater length than he ever indulged 
 in as a clergyman. I have often wondered, by the 
 way, that the pious clergy do not give scope to their 
 feelings, and let their souls have wing, in free prayer, 
 before and after sermon, which they might do, I 
 believe, without breaking any law of the Church. 
 They all content themselves with a mere collect. I 
 once heard Dr. Hawker pray for a quarter of an hour 
 before giving out his text. Such prayers as his, 
 indeed, I should not wish often to hear. His language 
 and manner had all that audacious familiarity so 
 characteristic of his school, whether its disciples are 
 in the Church or out of it. 
 
 Ilarstoii. I should set Mr. Noel against your 
 Irvingites. Men who start off from Presbyterianism, 
 or anything else, and plunge into miracles, prophe- 
 sying, and tongues, may be expected to proceed from 
 error to error, till they dress themselves up in colours 
 
THE SAVOY CONFERENCE. 325 
 
 and lace, and turn the simple Supper of the Lord into 
 a service that makes it look very like a sacrifice, — 
 ofiered up with streaming incense and the solemn 
 pomp of liturgical celebration. Against such men I 
 place your friend Mr. Noel: — a spiritual and good 
 man; one who was brought up in the use of forms, 
 (as indeed some of the others were,) but who, because 
 really earnest and true, when he once got free from 
 them, was glad to make his way to the genuine sim- 
 plicity of unfettered prayer. His case shows, too, 
 (what I before insisted upon,) the utter impossibility 
 of liturgical forms and free prayer living long together 
 in the same house. You wonder that clergymen 
 don't use their liberty of praying at large before and 
 after sermon ! Have you forgotten what Bunsen 
 says about "quenching the Spirit," — and about "free 
 prayer having been banished from the Church by 
 the fixity of English ritualism?" The tendency of 
 Liturgies to crush free prayer, and of free prayer to 
 endanger Liturgies, was strikingly illustrated, as it 
 seems to me, in connexion with your Savoy Conference. 
 If you look narrowly into what passed then, you will 
 get, I expect, some new light about " Eeformed Litur- 
 gies," and the possible union of form and freedom. 
 The Presbyterians who wished to remain in the 
 Church, and were willing to concede the lawfulness of 
 a Liturgy, wanted, it is obvious, not only the per- 
 mission to use the Liturgy and free prayer, but they 
 wished it to be the law of the Church that the minister 
 might use free prayer at any time in the service, and 
 instead of any part of it, at his option. On this 
 principle, and on this account, it was, that Baxter 
 
S26 FORM AND FREEDOM. 
 
 drew up his several forms, making together a whole 
 service ; which forms were not only to be allowed to 
 be used, instead of the corresponding ones iu the 
 authorized Liturgy, if the minister thought fit ; but, 
 even instead of them, the minister was to be at liberty 
 to substitute prayer of his own at his option! He 
 was to pray, the direction said, "in these or like 
 words." Now, no man can doubt that, if this had 
 been granted, the great body of the Presbyterian 
 ministers would seldom have used the English Liturgy 
 at all; many probably not Baxter's. Some would 
 have preferred the second to the first, but most might 
 have liked their own prayers better than either. In this 
 way, the free element, once let in and really loved, 
 the Liturgy would have fallen before it. However 
 the "lawfulness" of the thing might be acknow- 
 ledged, it would be treated as practically "inexpedient." 
 In the same way, the Episcopal divines illustrated the 
 tendency of the opposite element. They let out how 
 antagonist it was to freedom, though it might seem to 
 countenance or concede it. Addressing the king, in 
 reply to the prayer of the Presbyterians, they thus 
 speak: "The Liturgy we applaud as unexception- 
 able, and we think it cannot be said to be too rigor- 
 ously imposed ivhen oninisters are not denied the 
 exercise of their gifts before and after sermon." Now, 
 that looks well ; it makes one wonder at the Presby- 
 terian clergy in not being content with it; and it 
 seems to authorize what you think clergymen might 
 still do if they pleased. But mark what immediately 
 follows : — " which sort of 'praying, we declare, however, 
 is hut the continuance of a custom of no great authority, 
 
ANTAGONIST TO EACH OTHER. 327 
 
 and grown into common use and sufferance only, 
 without any other foundation in the laws and canons." 
 There you see the true spirit of the advocates of 
 Liturgies ; the cloven foot of fixed ritualism ; the 
 tendency in Form to hate and murder Freedom . 
 
 I have given you the men's exact words, — with the 
 exception of using " we" for " they," the awkward 
 pronoun for " the undersigned," — and with those 
 words sounding in one's ears, it is impossible to believe 
 respecting such men, that, however permitted the 
 liberty of free prayer, they would ever have used that 
 liberty ; they would neither have done so themselves, 
 nor encouraged others to do so ; their system would 
 have been to discountenance the thing, and to repress 
 the spirit out of which it sprang. This, I suppose, 
 they did ; and the past history and the present state 
 of the English Church testify to their success. Hence 
 the silencing and " quenching" process engendered by 
 forms, and the universal substitution of a collect and 
 a pater-noster in the pulpits of the Establishment, on 
 those occasions when there might be the allowed or 
 authorized utterance of free prayer. You have warn- 
 ings plenty, I think, on all sides, and yet you persist 
 in seeking after some possible fusion of contrary 
 things, — longing rather for what you will never get — 
 an impossible amalgam. Let us, as ministers, grow in 
 the life of Grod, and cultivate the spirit of prayer; 
 let our churches do the same ; and then, believe me, 
 neither the one nor the other of us will ask for any- 
 thing beyond what we have. 
 
 Warrington. I am not willing to think exactly as 
 you do. To improve the forms, as well as to culti- 
 
328 DIFFERENCE AND AGREEMENT. 
 
 vate the spirit of devotion, I do not think either un- 
 necessary or hopeless. But a conversation like this 
 might last till midnight. There are many things we 
 have not touched, some of which I should like to dis- 
 cuss with you at a future opportunity. Other duties, 
 however, press at present. Important committees are 
 now meeting, which most of us must attend. "We 
 must now part. We may meet again. In the mean- 
 time, let us be thankful that the liturgical tendencies 
 of which we have been speaking, spring, in the minds 
 of our ministers who experience them, not from any 
 decay of piety ; not from any secret departure from 
 the truth; not from worldliness, shame, or any other 
 unworthy feeling ; but, as I believe, from a deep reve- 
 rential spirit, an earnest devotion, and an anxiety 
 to make full proof not only of "their ministry" as 
 preachers to the world, but of their pastoral function 
 as the guides and leaders of the worship of the Church. 
 That, at least, is my own deep and settled conviction. 
 All the rest. And it is ours. 
 
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 mentaries we already possess on the "Word of God. By the republication of 
 them in this country, and especially at so cheap a price, you are conferring a 
 great benefit upon the comiwinity. The revision of the practised hand of my 
 friend, the Rev. I. Cobbin, is a guarantee for the accuracy of your edition, 
 and secures to it a great advantage over others." 
 
 ^ 
 
 /•I^^M^ 
 
 From the Rev. W. Lindsay Alexander, d.d., Edinburgh. 
 
 " I have long regarded the Notes of the Rev. Albert Barnes on the Gospels 
 and Epistles as the best Commentary for popular use extant on the New- 
 Testament. They are, for the most part, simple, clear, concise, and accurate ; 
 embodying the results of much reading, without any offensive parade of 
 learning. It would be well that they were in the hands of all who read the 
 New Testament. Of the Edition superintended by Mr. Cobbin, I have only 
 to say, that as far as I have examined it, I have found it correct, and that it 
 is iu a convenient and readable shape." 
 
 From the Rev. George Ol.vyton, Walworth. 
 
 •* Having made myself acquainted with Cobbin's Edition of Albert Barnes* 
 New Testament, I cordially concur with others of my brethren in giving to 
 the Work ray warmest recommendation." 
 
Uniform with the Commentaries of Matthew Henry & Scott 
 COBBIN'S QTJAETO EDITION 
 
 OP 
 
 BAKNES ON THE NEW TESTAMENT, 
 
 EDITED BY 
 
 INGRAM COBBIN, M.A., & E. HENDERSON, D.D. 
 
 In 2 vols, cloth (1744 pp., with 4 Maps, Portrait of Author, and many 
 Engravings), 14s. each. Or in 1 vol. half-bound calf, marble edges, 
 31s. 6d.; morocco, gilt edges, 45s. 
 
 •• .... All the sizes in their own way are good ; hut the Edition before us 
 teas absolutely indispensable, to place the American on a level with the British 
 comme7itators, Henry, Whitby, Scott, and others; and now, through the zealous 
 enterprise of the present publishers, this is in a fair way of accomplishment. 
 The Volume is in every respect so complete that it leaves nothing farther to be 
 desired. The paper is first-rate, and the printing is exquisite." — Christian Witness. 
 
 " With regard to this particular Edition, we are happy to be able to speak 
 of it in terms of unqualified commendation. The Quarto size is decidedly the 
 best for library use, and the public may fully rely on the accuracy of 
 Mr. Cobbin in superintending the press. The typography and paper, moreover, 
 are exceedingly good; and the headings and improved readings enhance the 
 value of this Edition." — Evangelical Magazine. 
 
 " This is the best Edition which we have seen of this deservedly highly- 
 esteemed work. . . . We must say that his Notes generally are very excellent, 
 and contain a large amount of highly valuable information not given by previous 
 commentators. They abound with judicious verbal criticisms, valuable illustra< 
 tions from oriental usages, and admirable practical reflections." — Wesleyan Mag. 
 
 *'.... The present volume is printed in Quarto, and, whether we regard the 
 paper or the typography, is one of the handsomest and cheapest works ever 
 issued from the press." — Bell's JFeekly Messenger. 
 
 The Cheapest Edition ever Published. 
 
 fnfv\ ^m\ of fHlJarfgPS, 
 
 With Essay on Popery and Additions to the Present time, (including 
 Persecutions in France, Austria, Hungary, Madagascar, etc.), 
 
 BY REV. INGRAM COBBIN, M. A. 
 
 Complete in 1 vol. 8vo (1122 pp.), Avith copious Index, Frontispiece and 
 Vignette by Gilbert, and 12 full-page illustrations by other artists. 
 Price 10s. 6d. cloth, or 12s. 6d. well bound in half-calf, cloth sides. 
 
 "The most complete and elegant edition of Foxe's great work that has issued 
 
 from the English press Never before has Foxe's Book of Martyrs been 
 
 entitled to be regarded as a comfortable library book." — Evangelical Magazine. 
 
 " . , . . Mr. Cobbin's preface is a valuable contribution to it, giving a 
 forcible account of the Romish system in its fundamental errors and deficiencies. 
 ... At the end of the work, four or five sections are added by Mr. Cubbin . . . 
 and much enhance the value of the work " — Evangelical Christendom. 
 
BINNEY'S EDITION OF TODDS STUDENTS GUIDE, 
 
 In post 8vo, large type, 35. cloth; 3s. 6c?. cl. extra, gilt ; 65. 6c?. morocco. 
 
 Designed to aid in forming and strengthening the Intellectual and 
 Moral Character and Habits of Students in all Professions. 
 
 BY THE REV. JOHN TODD. 
 
 With, an Introductory Preface by the Rev. T. Binney. 
 
 " If j'oung men will seriously peruse this book, and adopt and carrj' out such of 
 its rules as they may find practicable, they wOl do so, they may depend upon it, 
 with great advantage. It will help them to get into the right track in pursuit of 
 their object, and so to conduct their tliinkhig and reading as to get out of them the 
 greatest amount of good — to get it with comparative facihty, and to secure it as a 
 lasting possession." — T. Binney. 
 
 fife anir |leiii;iiiis of |lic|)arir Cttil . 
 
 ARRANGED AND REVISED 
 
 BY JOSIAH PRATT, B.D., F.A.S. 
 
 New Edition in large type, post 8vo, 35. 6c?. cloth ; 'Js. Turkey 
 morocco. The Remains separate, 2^. cloth. The Sermons, 
 uniform, 25. 6c?. cloth ; 55. 6c?. Turkey morocco. 
 
 BY THE REV. INGRAM COBBIN. M.A. 
 
 With many Illustrations. 25. Qd. cloth extra, gilt ; bs. morocco. 
 
 Jfofe's Jv0ttstaiit Hailm-s. 
 
 WITH AN INTRODUCTORY PREFACE 
 
 BY THE REV. ROBERT MAGUIRE, M.A. 
 
 Square 16rao. With 16 Engravings, 25. cloth. 
 
 Just Published, in large type, crown Svo, price 6d. 
 
 C|e dBnglisIj Saibatj), 
 
 Considered in its Physical, Spiritual, and Social Bearings. 
 BY W. B. MACKENZIE, M.A., 
 
 Minister of St. James's, Holloway. 
 
 " A very valuable contribution to our increasing stock of Sabbath literature. The 
 subject is considered in its pliysical, spiritual, and social bearings, and, in the dis- 
 cussion of these, Mr. Mackenzie blends facts and ai-guments in a manner alike 
 impressive, interesting, and instructive." — Record. 
 
 London: Knight & Son, Clerkenwell Close. 
 
Princeton Theological Seminary-Speer Library 
 
 1 1012 01100 2336 
 
 DATE DUE 
 
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 PRINTED IN U.S.A.