BX 9185 .B36 1884
Bannerman, David Douglas.
The worship of the
Presbyterian church
TIE WOESIIP tmu%.Ai
OF
THE PEESBYTEEIAN CHUECH,
WITH SPECIAL KEFEEENCE TO
THE QUESTION OF LITURGIES.
BY
KEY. D. D. BANNERMAN, M.A.,
AUTHOR OF " GROUNDS AND METHODS OF ADMISSION TO
SEALING ORDINANCES."
ANDREW ELLIOT, 17 PEINCES STREET.
1884.
EDINBURGH :
PRINTED BY LORIMER AND GII.LIKS,
31 ST. ANDREW SQUARE.
PKEFATORY NOTE.
In the Spring of last year I had occasion to write a
Paper for the Perth Theological Society, on " The
Place and Use of a Liturgy or Book of Common Order
in a Presbyterian Church." This was read at a
meeting of the Society on 18th June, 1883. Shortly
afterwards I was asked to give an Address at a
Provincial Church Congress, to be held in Glasgow in
November, under the auspices of the Free Church
Synod of Glasgow and Ayr ; the topic prescribed by
the Programme Committee being " The Ideal of
Presbyterian Worship."
What is now printed is, with some additions, what
was given in those two Papers. It is published as a
contribution to the discussion of an important subject,
which has been awakening considerable interest of
late in several branches of the Presbyterian Church on
both sides of the Atlantic.
D. D. B.
St. Leonard's, Perth,
February, 1884.
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER I.
PAGE
The Ideal of Presbttekian Wokship.
(1.) Spiritual — Conscious and intelligent participation by
worshippers — " What is prayer ? " ..... 1-3
(2.) Scriptural — Scripture rule of worship from stand-
point of Reformed or Calvinistic Church, as compared with
Lutheran and Anglican — No new element — New Testament
canons for worship as to its circumstances and arrangements
— Westminster Confession — Illustration in case of instru-
mental music, ......... 4-6
(3.) The Word of God central in worship — "Lecturing"
— Dignity and seemliness of service — First Book of Discip-
line, . 6-8
(4.) Congregational — All to join — Individuality to be
developed in congregation as a whole, as well as in members
separately — " Uniformity and purity of worship " — Different
"environment,". ....... .9-12
(5.) Simple and elastic — Capacity of adaptation to cir-
cumstances and emergencies, 12f.
CHAPTER II.
Duty op the Church as such in Reference to the Order
and eorms of worship — liturgies.
A "liturgy" maybe opposed or approved according to
definition — Use of term in Scripture; in Primitive Church.
Dr. Bannerman's definition — Such liturgies to be always
opposed, 14-16
V
vi CONTENTS.
PAGE
Heads of argument against liturgies of Anglican type —
Scripture principles and example — Nature and constitution
of Church of Christ — Spirit of Gospel dispensation, . 17-19
Early Christian worship — Justin Martyr's account — Free
prayer and " Amen " said by people, .... 19-21
Psahns and hymns in early Church — Growth of litur-
gies, 21-24
Practical evils arising from fixed liturgies — Illustrations
— Dr. Phillips Brooks — Prof. Lorimer of Edinburgh— Siege
y ' of Paris — Funeral service of Church of England, . . 24-9
CHAPTER III.
Theory and Practice of Scottish Church as to Public
Worship ; the Scottish Metrical Psalms ; West-
minster Directory for Worship.
Ought the Reformed Church to leave everything free as
regards order and forms of worship ? — Answer given by
Scottish Church and others — Advantages of such a system —
Spiritual life and spiritual sympathy, ..... 30-3
Psalmody at the Reformation — The Scottish Metrical
Psalter : its authors and history — Characteristics and associa-
tions— Forms a national liturgy of praise and prayer — The
"Paraphrases," 34-40
•V Westminster Directory : its merits ; much of it practic-
ally in abeyance ; revision called for — Unwritten tradition
of Scottish worship, 40-43
This state of things greatly preferable to a fixed and
invariable liturgy ; but is there a middle ground ? , . 43f.
CHAPTER IV.
Liturgies or Books of Common Order as usEa by the
Majority of the Reformed Churches ; Dangers
and Advantages.
An optional liturgy, a lawful arrangement for the
"seemly form and order" of public worship in Presby-
CONTENTS. vii
PAGE
terian Church — In use in Scottish Church till Westmin-
ster Assembly — Why given up then, . . . . 45-7
Edwards on Lawfulness of set forms of prayers — Dr. John
Duncan — Dr, Chalmers, 48f.
Assuming the lawfulness of an optional liturgy, what is
to be said of it on grounds of expediency, . . . .49
Objection first : *' Un-Presbyterian ; Covenanters against ^
liturgies " — Answer : Historically incorrect — Jenny Geddes
— Facts of the case — Absence of read prayers, one of the
grievances of the Covenanters — Dickson of Irvine on the
old liturgy and the new — Prelates condemned for " inter-
dicting morning and evening prayers" — Alexander Hender-
son at Glasgow Assembly, 49-55
Objection second : " Wrong tendency — Externalism —
Practically playing into hands of Prelatists," . . .56
Answer : Dangers admitted ; but hold chiefly in case of
fixed and enforced liturgy — Historic position of Reformed
Church in Scotland and elsewhere in this matter — Alexander
Henderson as representative and exponent of it — His
criticism of Laud's liturgy — His opposition to views and
practices of English sectaries in worship — Controversy on
subject — "Discountenancing read prayers" — Conference on
innovations in Lord Loudon's chambers — Kobert Baillie's
troubles at Kilwinning — Henderson's statement for West-
minster Assembly, ....... 56-63
Scottish Collects of 1595 — Alexander Henderson's opinion
of the prayers of old Scottish liturgy — Mr. Gladstone on
Scottish worship, ........ 64-6
Objection third : " Practically hurtful — Liturgy and free
prayer cannot live together — Staff will be made a crutch " 67f.
Answer : Risks admitted — Argument conclusive against
liturgy of Anglican type, but not against historic position
of Reformed Church — Individual "offices" — Evidence
of experience — Nature of Knox's liturgy — Its rubrics —
Practical results in Church — Robert Bruce in Edinburgh
and Inverness — Alexander Henderson in Glasgow Assembly
— Moravian Brethren — Dutch Reformed Church, . 69-75
viii CONTENTS.
Advantages of such an optional liturgy in way of help,
stimulus, and guidance — People's share in worship — The
Lord's Prayer and the "Amen" — Use of Apostle's Creed in
old Scottish Church — Service-book for special occasions —
" Rights of Christian people " in baptism and marriage, . 76-9
Early Christian liturgies and those of Reformation period
—The Reformation "Confession of Sins" of 1525— The
Communion of Saints, ....... 79-82
APPENDICES.
Appendix A. — John Knox's use op Apostles' Creed and
Prayers of Book of Cojoion Order in his last
illness, 83-8
The "prayer for the sick " and " evening prayer," , 88-90
Appendes B. — Scottish Collects of 1595 — History and
Characteristics — Thomas Bassandyne before Assembly
of 1568— Scottish Words 91-4
I. Prayers relating to individual Christian life and
experience, 94-101
II. Prayers for blessing in use of means of grace, . 101-104
III. Prayers for the Church, 105-109
IV. Prayers for the nation and its rulers, . . . .109
V. Prayers bearing on a Christian's relations to other
men, 109-112
VI. Thanksgiving and Praise to God, . . . 112f.
Appendix C. — The Reformation Confession of Sins,
1525 — History — Confession of Sin in Anglican Prayer-
Book — German Text — French Versions, . . 113-118
THE WORSHIP
OF
THE PEESBYTEEIAN CHUKCH.
CHAPTER I.
THE IDEAL OF PRESBYTERIAN WORSHIP.
WHAT is the ideal of Presbyterian worship ?
Without pretending to give a complete
answer, or to divide it in a perfectly logical way,
I think that the following points enter into the
ideal of worship, as regarded from the standpoint
of the Presbyterian or Eeformed Church ^: —
I. The worship must be Spiritual; and
II. It must be Scriptural.
The whole ideal might be described under
these two heads. But where those two great
1 I use the word '* Reformed" here in the sense in which it is
universally employed on the Continent, — namely, to denote the
Churches whose Confessions of Faith are of the Calvinistic, a
distinguished from the Lutheran type.
B
THE IDEAL OF WORSHIP.
conditioDS are observed, certain other features
become practically so outstanding as to deserve
separate notice.
III. The Word of God, by which the worship
is moulded, has the central place in it.
lY. The worship is Congregational ; and
V. It is simple and elastic.
I. The Worship must be Spiritual.
The whole question of worship is ruled by that
saying of our Lord's, which often meets one in
such a striking way amid the corruptions of
Romanism in Italy, written in clear letters over
the door of some Waldensian mission Church :
" God is a Spirit ; and they that worship Him
must worship Him in spirit and in truth." ^
We worship God when we hold such fellow-
ship with Him as " the Father of our spirits,"
" the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ ;"
He speaking to us, and we to Him. The first
essential condition of private or public worship,
from the standpoint of the Church of the Refor-
mation, is that it be not a form merely, but a
reality, — that there be a conscious intelligent
forthgoing of the spirit of the worshipper to God
in all the parts of the service. " Pray^," as the
first clause of that familiar answer in the Cate-
^ John iv. 24 ; comp. Phil, iii. 3.
SPIRITUAL AND SCRIPTURAL. 3
chism puts it, "is an offering up of our desires
unto God."^ If the things said are not our
desires, it is not prayer at all so far as we are
concerned.
This principle has many applications ; but
these are so obvious that I omit them, and pass
on to the second condition of worship, from the
standpoint of the Reformed Church : —
II. It must be Scriptural,
By this I mean, with respect to the substance
of the worship, that it must be offered to God as
revealed in His Word ; and, with respect to the
form of it — with which we have more especially
to do here — that the worship, as to its elements,
must be authorised by Scripture ; and, as to the
adjustment of those elements, must be in accord-
ance with the two great Scriptural canons for
New Testament worship, "Let all things be
done unto edification"; and "Let all things be
done in good (or seemly) form, and according to
order." ^
^ " Prayer is an offering up of our desires unto God for things
agreeable to His will, in the name of Christ, with confession of
our sins, and thankful acknowledgment of His mercies." —
Shorter Oatechism, ques. 98.
^ UdvTa irpbs olKodofMTjv yeviado}. Uavra evaxvi^^^^^ '^^'^ fi<^Ta
rd^LU yeveadu. — 1 COE. xiv. 26, 40. 'EvaxV/J-o^'^s in classic Greek
is commonly used in reference to personal demeanour and bearing.
It may often be translated, " with dignity," " like a gentleman."
4 SCRIPTURE RULE OF WORSHIP.
Scripture, as it is read in the Reformed or
Calvinistic Church, " forbids the worshipping of
God by images, or in any other way not appointed
in His Word."^ We are bound to produce
distinct Scriptural authority "for every substan-
tial element or feature of our religious services."
Now, I believe this Calvinistic principle of
Church worship, as distinguished from the
Lutheran or Anglican one, — which claims power
for the Church to introduce rites and ceremonies
in the worship of God, if only they are not
expressly forbidden in Scripture, — to be
thoroughly sound and of much practical import-
ance, provided always that it be taken with the
necessary limitation so clearly stated in the
Westminster Confession, that " there are some
circumstances concerning the worship of God
and government of the Church common to human
actions and societies, which are to be ordered by
the light of nature and Christian prudence "
(i.e., Christian common-sense), ''according to the
general rules of the Word, which are always to
be observed." ^ It is good that each proposal
1 Shorter Catechism, ques. 51.
2 Conf. i. 6. — Thus, for instance, instrumental music, as an
accompaniment to the voice, is a " circumstance common to the
human action " of singing among all nations. It occurs as such
in connection with singing to the praise of God in Bible history,
altogether apart from the Tabernacle or Temple service — as, for
example, in the case of Miriam and the Israelites at the Ked
NO NEW ELEMENT.
for change in worship should be challenged by
this warder at the door of the Church, and
should have to give a strict account of itself,
and even of its parentage and connections. If
what is proposed prove to be really a new element
in worship, a new way of worshipping God by
man's device, let it be kept out by all means.
If, on the other hand, it prove to be simply a
circumstantial variation, a new arrangement for
Sea (Exod. xv.). Therefore, instrumental music, if kept strictly
in a subordinate place, as a mere aid and accompaniment to the
voice, may be fairly held to be in accordance with the Calvinistic
rule for worship.
In point of fact, this has been the conclusion of almost every
Presbyterian Church which has had to face the question of instru-
mental aid to praise, separately and on its own merits. Previous
to the Reformation, instrumental music had been grossly abused
in the Church of Rome. It had been one of the chief means of
silencing the voice of the people in the House of God altogether.
No one can wonder, therefore, that the Reformers in some
countries were disposed to sweep it away en masse with other
flagrant abuses in worship with which it was associated. They
did so, undoubtedly, in some cases, by bringing it somewhat
hastily under the Calvinistic principle of Church worship above
stated. But it is worth noting how, with hardly a single excep-
tion, every Reformed Church in Britain, America, or the Conti-
nent of Europe, which in calmer times has had to consider the
subject of instrumental music in worship, has come deliberately
-to the same conclusion — namely, that while all due regard should
be paid in such matters to the peace of congregations and the
associations of devout worshippers, there is nothing either in the
Word of God or in the principles and constitution of the Presby-
rterian Church, to preclude the use of instrumental music in
public worship as an aid to vocal praise.
6 GOUS WORD TO BE CENTRAL.
the seemly and profitable use of an old ordinance,
let it be admitted, where that is for edification ;
but let it be kept carefully in the subordinate
place to which alone it has a right by its own
account of itself in asking admission. ^
Here again one is tempted to enlarge and
illustrate ; but I pass to the third characteristic
of Presbyterian worship, which emerges wherever
the two great conditions already named are at
all realised in practice.
III. The Word of God, by which the Worship
IS Moulded, has the Central Place in it.
God, speaking to men in the Scriptures, has
called them into fellowship with Himself in
Jesus Christ and with each other in His Church.
We meet together in God's house, not only for
common praise and prayer, but very specially
that we may hear Him speaking further to us,
opening to us the Scriptures by His Spirit
through His ordinance of the ministry. He has
many things to say, and we are dull of hearing.
1 This point is well put in a report on instrumental music
submitted to last General Assembly of the Free Church of Scot-
land (see "Blue Book, 1883," Append, xxxvii. p. 26). For a
thorough discussion of the whole subject of the ^extent and
limits of Church power in reference to public worship, see the
chapter on *• Rites and Ceremonies " in Dr. Bannerman's work,
The Church of Christ, i. 335-75.
''lecturing:'
And we need ever afresh to be " stirred up by
being put in remembrance."
The strength of the Presbyterian service, as
almost all admit, has lain here : in its practical
carrying out of the great Reformation principle
of the supremacy of Scripture ; in its direct
appeal at once to the intellect, the heart, and
the conscience, through the reading and preach-
ing of the Word of God as such. I do not
dwell on this characteristic just because it is so
unmistakable. Two things only I wish to say
before passing on:
\8t. The method of " lecturing " or expository
preaching, which has always been in special
favour with the Scottish Church in her best
days, is of the highest value in this connection,
inasmuch as, if conscientiously and intelligently
used, it secures, as nothing else can, variety and
freshness. It makes both the preacher and his
hearers feel that the Book of Revelation, like
the Book of Nature, is Divine, because it is
inexhaustible.
2'7icZ. The belief in the supremacy and divinity
of Scripture, wherever that belief has been
a living thing in the Reformed Church, has
done much to secure the essential dignity and
seemliness of the whole service. It has done so
in Scotland, wherever the spirit of our first
Reformers has prevailed. There are several
8 " THE MAJESTY OF GODS WORDP
striking passages in the "First Book of Dis-
cipline " which bring this out. The book was
drawn up in 1560, by Knox, Willock, Row, and
other leading men. In speaking, for instance,
of the due repair of the parish Churches, they
say : " Lest that the Word of God and minis-
tration of the Sacraments hy unseemliness of the
place come in contempt, of necessity it is that
the Kirk and place where the people ought
publicly to convene be with expedition repaired,
. . . and have such preparation within as apper-
^ taineth as well to the majesty of the Word of God,
as unto the ease and commodity of the people."
''We desire," they say again, ''that burial (i.e.,
the actual interment of the dead) be so honour-
ably handled that the hope of our resurrection
may be nourished. . . . Burial should be without
the Kirk in a fine air, and the place walled and
keepit honourably."^
It is not on John Knox nor on the Fathers of
the Scottish Church that the blame should be
laid for barn-like Churches, irreverent funerals,
or ill -kept churchyards in Scotland. The
Moderatism of the eighteenth century and the
meanness of heritors trained and influenced by
Moderatism, have had much more to do with the
matter. *
^ Dunlop, Collection of Confessions, vol. ii. 598, 623.
CONGREGATIONAL WORSHIP. 9
IV. The Worship must be Congregational.
By this I mean two things. First, that all
the congregation must join in all the parts of
the service, o<jy] ^vvaixL<5 outol's — to use a phrase
of Justin Martyr's — '' according to their ability."
This is certainly a point on which, as I may
show presently, Presbyterian worship in the con-
crete is open to just criticism. But a,*"; certainly
it belongs to the ideal of worship from the
standpoint of the Presbyterian Church.
But, secondly, I mean that the worship of
each particular congregation ought to be worthy
of that congregation as a whole in view of its
special history, character, and gifts. The true
genius of Presbyterianism aims at the natural
and wholesome development of individuality
within due limits in the congregation, as well as
in each Christian man and woman who is a
member therein.
Our elders in Scotland promise, in accordance
with Act 11 of Assembly 1700, to "observe
uniformity of worship and of the administration
of all public ordinances within this Church, as
the same are at present performed and allowed."
The formula for ministers, which dates from
1711, is in this respect more general in its terms,
as if a somewhat wider discretion, as to details of
worship, were left with them. They " own the
lo PURITY OF WORSHIP.
purity of worship presently authorised and prac-
tised in this Church ... as founded on the Word
of God and agreeable thereto ;" and they " pro-
mise that in their practice they will conform
themselves to the said worship, . . . and follow
no divisive courses therefrom."^ Neither minis-
ters nor elders promise to observe identity in the
details of worship. And a very interesting
variety in " the administration of public ordin-
ances/' within certain limits, has always prevailed
and been " allowed in this Church." What our
ministers are bound to is, that they conform
themselves as regards the public services of God's
house to the well-known type of Presbyterian
worship founded on the great Scriptural principle
concerning purity of worship, as held by the
Reformed Church, with its equally Scriptural
canon of interpretation as to the " circumstances
of worship,"^
The individuality of a congregation in a purely
mining district is quite distinct from that of a
congregation in a pastoral one ; and both of
these, again, are very different in history and
character from a congregation in a fishing village,
^ See ''Report of Scottish Sub-Committee on Creeds and
Formulas of Subscription to General Presbyterian Council at
Philadelphia in 1880," in " Proceedings of Council,^* 973 f., 987 f.
Comp. "Act anent Questions and Formula, 1846, xii," in "Free
Church Standards."
2 Comp. " Report on Instrumental Music," ut supra, p. 6.
CONGREGATIONAL INDIVIDUALITY, ii
or from a West-end city charge. Given an
equally high spiritual condition in all the four
cases, the congregational individuality will and
should develop itself differently in worship in
each of them respectively.
It will be objected, perhaps : " This is making
class distinctions where none ought to be admit-
ted." But the answer is very plain. It is not
making distinctions. It is simply recognising
facts in Providence, which are there, whether you
recognise them or not, and seeking to act accord-
ingly. In what is highest and deepest in their
worship, in the great essentials of it, all Christian
congregations, worshipping in a spiritual and
Scriptural way, are one, and rejoice to know and
feel that they are so. But, in the circumstantials
of their worship, there may be, and there ought
to be, a good deal of difference.
The whole '' environment " of the members of
a West-end congregation in Edinburgh or Glas-
gow is, by necessity of nature, very different
from that of a congregation amid the mining
" rows " of Ayrshire or the Lothians, or in the
Highlands of the north or of the south of Scot-
land. No slight to the one nor exaltation of
the other, in a moral or spiritual point of view,
is at all implied in our recognising that fact.
The members of the city congregation and of the
country one live in different sorts of houses ; they
12 SIMPLICITY OF WORSHIP.
hear and join in a different kind of music during
the week. If they are to be themselves on the
Lord's Day, it follows that the house which they
rear for the worship of God, and the form in
which they praise Him there will, in some res-
pects, be different also. What would be most
creditable to the one congregation, and would
justly command the respect and touch the heart
of the most intelligent and cultured stranger
worshipping with them, would be most unworthy
of the other. It would have quite a different
aspect and meaning there.
V. The Woeship must be Simple and
Elastic.
This follows necessarily from what has already
been said. If the worship is to be congregational,
it must, speaking generally, be strictly simple.
The spirit of Presbyterianism demands that,
above all, the common man^ shall have his full
place in the worship of the congregation — not as
a concession, but as of right. With all due care,
therefore, for the dignity and good taste of the
service — which are perfectly compatible with its
simplicity, — it must not, in prayer or praise, go
1 I borrow a phrase from a fine passage on what is meant by
Presbyterianism, in Principal Kainy's " Three Lectures on the
Church of Scotland," ed. 1883, p. 36.
ADAPTABILITY, 13
beyond what may be fairly asked of an ordinary,
earnest, and intelligent member of the Church.
And the service must be elastic enousfh to
meet all the emergencies of life for the indivi-
dual, the congregation, and the Church at large.
It must be able to adapt itself to the need of the
humblest, and to command the respect and interest
of the most cultured. It must suit the case of
every company of worshippers by sea and land,
in the city and the wilderness, in time of war
and time of peace.
So much for the ideal roughly sketched. In
the following chapters I propose to say something
as to the practical steps which the Church as
such may and should take to secure these ends.
14 DUTY OF CHURCH AS SUCH.
CHAPTER II.
DUTY OF THE CHURCH AS SUCH IN REFERENCE
TO THE ORDER AND FORMS OF WORSHIP :
LITURGIES.
TN considering this subject, it is of special
-■- importance to define our terms. From the
standpoint of the Presbyterian or Reformed
Church, a "liturgy" may be either opposed or
approved, according to what you understand by
it. The word " liturgy " (XeiTovpyla) is a Scrip-
tural one, occurring six times as a substantive in
the New Testament. It is always used there to
denote the worship or service of God, and is
rendered in our English Version " ministration,"
" ministry," or more often " service."^ By an
easy transition, it came afterwards to mean the
order of Divine service, or the form of words used
in worship.
There were two parts of the worship of the
primitive Church which naturally tended to
assume a more or less fixed shape before the
1 Luke i. 23 5 2 Cor. ix. 12 ; Phil. ii. 17, 30 ; Heb. viii.
6, 9, 21.
LITURGIES. 15
rest. These were the two Sacraments of Christ's
appointmeiit. On the one hand, what is usually
known as the "Apostles' Creed " grew by degrees
out of Baptism in the name of the Trinity, with
the corresponding confession of faith made by
converts from heathenism; and on the other, the
Communion Service in the different Churches
crystallised naturally into a regular form round
our Lord's words of institution. " The liturgy,"
in the early centuries, meant the order of Com-
munion. It is in this sense that the word is
used when we speak of "the liturgy of Jerusalem"
(or " of St. James "), "the liturgy of Alexandria"
(or " of St. Mark "), &c. It is of these in their
original forms that President Hitchcock says
truly : " At first the liturgies were oral, flexible,
and varied. Not till after the Nicene epoch
were they reduced to writing. Later still was
the Roman usurpation with intolerance and
exclusion of other forms." ^
Popularly, the word " liturgy " has now come
to mean a prescribed form of words for all the
parts of public worship, a fixed ritual like that
of the Church of England or the Church of
Eome. That is probably what is conveyed to
the minds of most people in Scotland when any
one speaks of a liturgy. Some writers, again — ■
as, for instance, Dr. K. M. Patterson, in an able
^ Proceedings of Council at Philadelphia, p. 74.
1 6 LITURGIES OF ANGLICAN TYPE.
article on '^ Presbjrterian Worship " lately pub-
lished ^ — use the term liturgy in a somewhat
arbitrary and restricted sense, to denote a ser-
vice in which responsive prayers and readings of
Scripture form the main feature. That, of course,
is not what is meant by such authors as the late
Mr. Baird, or Dr. Charles Hodge in writing on
the subject of " Presbyterian Liturgies " ; nor by
President Hitchcock when he says that '' the
Directory of Worship set forth by the West-
minster Assembly concedes the liturgical idea." ^
Dr. Bannerman, in his comprehensive treatise
on the Church, lays down three marks of the
kind of liturgy which he opposes. First, it
involves a scheme of fixed forms for the ordinary
worship of the Church at all times. Secondly,
these are used alone, to the absolute exclusion
of the possibility of free prayer. Thirdly, the
use of these forms is made co'inpulsory by ecclesi-
astical authority.^ It was a liturgy of that kind,
with equally objectionable accompaniments, which
Charles I. and Archbishop Laud tried to force
upon the Church of Scotland in 1687, with what
results all the world knows. Practically, it is a
liturgy of that type which we see at present
established in the Episcopal Church of England,
^ Presbyterian Pevieiv, Oct. 1883, p. 745.
' Proceedings of Council at Philadelphia, p. 74.
3 Church of Christ, i. 383.
ARGUMENT AGAINST. 17
and in the Scottish Episcopal Church. Such a
liturgy must always meet with unanimous opposi-
tion from all true Presbyterians. No plea of
beauty and impressiveness as to the words
employed, nor venerable associations as to their
origin and ancient use, can ever justify a form of
service involving the three elements above stated.
It is hardly needful to bring forward in detail
the arguments which prove the unlaw^fulness of
such a liturgy. They are to be drawn from the
general principles of God's Word bearing upon
the subject of worship, from the example of our
Lord and his Apostles, from the nature and con-
stitution of the Church of Christ, and the rights
and liberties of her members, — from the whole
spirit and character of the Gospel dispensa-
tion. ^
The essentially free and spiritual character of
the true worship of God plainly forbids any such
use of prescribed formulae in prayer as would
exclude or even discourage the natural utterance
of the heart according to the varying circum-
stances of the believing man, the believing
family, and the believing congregation. If they
are to pray to God '' e corde " and " ex animo,"
they must often pray in the fullest sense "ex
tempore," according to the time and the situation
^ Bannerman, Church of Christ, i. 385-91; with the full
references given there to the literature of this subject.
C
1 8 EVILS OF FIXED LITURGIES.
in which they now find themselves under His
providence. No prayer-book, however excellent
and comprehensive, can possibly make provision
for this. No Christian minister and cono^reo'ation
who have felt in their own experience how the
free Sj)irit of God, '' the Spirit of grace and sup-
plications," " the Lord and Giver of life," meets
the necessities of such an hour by His inspiring
and suggesting influences, will ever consent to
forego a privilege so great and precious.
No one, again, who candidly studies the teach-
ing of Scripture on this subject can fail to recog-
nise the place and honour which it gives to free
prayer ; nor can they, in the light of that teach-
ing, approve of any liturgical arrangement which
would tend to shut it out from the public services
of God's house. For the Church, by any such
arrangement, to hinder or discourage her ministers
from acquiring and improving the gift and grace
of free prayer, is to undertake a very grave
responsibility. To bind the consciences of her
ministers and members in all the public services
to certain set forms of prayer, is a serious inter-
ference with the liberty wherewith Christ has
made His people free.
We find no Scripture evidence whatever that
fixed and invariable forms of prayer were used
3ither in the Old Testament Church or in the
New There is, on the other hand, very clear
EARLY CHRISTIAN WORSHIP. 19
Scripture evidence that free prayer was used in
the public worship of the Church under both
dispensations.^ The same thing holds, both nega-
tively and positively, of the worship of the post-
Apostolic Church in the first three or four centuries.
In Justin Martyr's interesting account of the
simple worship of the Christians of the first half
of the second century nothing is more obvious
than that with them prayer was free. " There
is then brought to the president of the brethren,"
he says, in describing the administration of the
Lord's Supper, "bread and a cup of wine mixed
with water. And he, taking them, gives praise
and glory to the Father of the universe through
the name of the Son and of the Holy Ghost, and
offers thanks at considerable length for our being
counted worthy to receive these things at His
hands. And when he has concluded the prayers
and thanksgivings, all the people express their
assent by saying ' Amen.' This word * Amen '
answers in the Hebrew language to ' So be it.'
And when the president has given thanks, and
all the people have expressed their assent, those
who are called by us deacons give to each of those
present to partake of the bread and wine mixed
with water, over which the thanksgiving was pro-
1 Comp. Bannerman, ut supra, 386-88 ; M'Crie, Revieio of
Simeon on the English Liturgy in Miscellaneous WorTcs, 210-14 ;
Robinson, Case of Liturgies, 49-76.
20 EARLY CHRISTIAN WORSHIP.
noimced." In a subsequent chapter Justin says :
" On the day called Sunday, all who live in cities
or in the country gather together to one place,
and the memoirs of the apostles, or the writings
^of the prophets, are read as long as time permits.
Then we all rise together and pray ; and as we
before said, when our prayer is ended, bread and
wine and water are brought, and the president in
like manner offers prayers and thanksgivings,
according to his ability (oV?; SvvaiJii<s avTw), and
the people assent, saying ' Amen.' " ^ It might
^ Justin Martyr, Apol. i. 65, 67. I quote from Dr. Marcus
Dods' translation in the "Ante-Nicene Library," edited by Dr.
Roberts and Professor Donaldson, ii. 63-65. The undeniable pre-
sence of free prayer — and that at the Communion service — in this
first picture of Christian worship drawn by a Christian hand in
the sub-Apostolic Church, has given a good deal of trouble to
some advocates of fixed liturgies. " The words, * as well as he is
able'" Principal Daniel reluctantly admits, "would seem to
imply that some portions of the service at least were extemporised ;
but, even if such were the case, this liberty was unquestionably
very soon taken away." The Prayer-Bool:, 8th ed. p. 7. One
would be glad to know when and by what authority *' this liberty
was taken away" from the Church. Certainly Tertullian, at the
end of the second century, or the beginning of the third, knew
nothing of such a change when he said, speaking of the public
worship of Christians : " We pray without a monitor, because we
pray from the heart," Apol. 30. " Whatever part of the Christ-
ian service this may refer to," says Dr. Jacob, "Sine monitore
quia de pectore oramus, must mean extemporaneous prayer,"
Eccles. Polity of Neto Testament, p. 222. For a very able
and fair discussion by an Episcopalian writer of the question of
the practice of the early Church in this matter, see the whole
section, pp. 215-29.
PSALMS IN EARLY CHURCH. ii
be well if all the members of our congregations
did their part in that respect stil], as the presi-
dents seek to do theirs, oav] Svi/ajULig avroig, " to
the best of their ability."
As has been already pointed out, forms of
prayer and orders of service naturally grew up by
degrees in various Christian communities for such
parts of worship as Baptism and the Lord's Supper.
The materials both for praise and prayer multi-
plied as the spiritual life and gifts of the office-
bearers and members of the Church were
developed and bore fruit.
Throughout the Roman Empire, Christian
congregations sprang, as a rule, out of the
Jewish synagogues. The Psalms were, therefore,
naturally the first, and for a time almost the
only materials of praise. Besides what follow^ed
from their place in inspired Scripture, they
embodied for the Hebrew Christian the hallowed
memories of more than a thousand years. For
Christians both of Jewish and Gentile origin
they represented and embodied in a living and
practical way the great truth that God's believ-
ing people, under all changes of dispensation, are
essentially one in all that is deepest and highest
in their spiritual experience. The Psalms, to the
early Christians, formed an unbroken link between
'' the Church in the wilderness," the Church
militant under the Gospel, and the Church of
PSALMS AND HYMNS.
the redeemed above. In them, as in the praises
of heaven heard by the Apostle in his vision in
Patmos, " the song of Moses, the servant of God,"
was joined with " the song of the Lamb."-^ It is
true, indeed, that the first mention of praise in
Christian worship, beyond the pages of the New
Testament, is of *'a hymn to Christ as God."^
The " Gloria in Excelsis" and the '' Ter Sanctus"
occur in some of the oldest known liturgies ; and
the '' Te Deum" in its earliest forms follows not
long after. ^ But such noble Christian hymns as
these had to be made before they could be sung ;
and it was not in every generation that Christian
singers capable of making them were raised up.
Such hymns had to approve themselves to the
judgment and heart of the Church, as worthy of
a place in public worship, before they could be
generally received and used. This did not take
^ Rev. XV. 3.
^ In the well-known letter of Pliny to Trajan, written in the
first decade of the second century. Justin Martyr also in
speaking of Christian worship (circa 140 A.D.) says, "We offer
thanks to the Maker of the universe by solemn invocations and
hymns " (5ta \6'^qv iro/xwas Kal Vf^vovs iriinroixev) Apol. i. 13. But
these "hymns to the Maker of the universe," may have been
like that which our Lord and His disciples sang together before
going out to Gethsemane (Matt. xxvi. 30), which was in all like-
lihood one of the Paschal Psalms, or Hallel, Ps. cxiii.-cxviii. The
word "hymn" in the early Christian Church was ofren used of
the Hebrew Psalms as well as of what would now be called hymns.
3 Parts of the ** Te Deum" are probably of still earlier date.
Cyprian (a.d. 252) makes an unmistakable quotation from it.
GROWTH OF LITURGIES, 23
place to any great extent until the grand outburst
of sacred song in the Western Church in the
days of Ambrose and Augustine.
In like manner the materials for Christian
devotion gathered and took form by degrees.
The gifts of " the Spirit of grace and supplica-
tions" must have been long used and improved
in the Churches ere those noble utterances took
shape which we now find — mingled, indeed, with
elements of error and superstition — in the litur-
gies of Jerusalem and Alexandria.-^ Such
petitions and intercessions carried their own
witness as given by the Spirit of prayer. They
were felt to be fitting channels for the warmest
and highest devotion. Some of them may have
come from the prayers of the synagogue service,
with Christian additions; others bear the stamp
of the times of Roman persecution, such as the
touching requests '' for our fathers and brethren
who are in captivity and exile, who are in mines,
and under torture, and in bitter slavery." Such
prayers won their way, first into the heart and
memory of the Church, and then found their
place in its earliest written forms of service.
Certain petitions, confessions and thanksgivings
came into common use, and gathered round them
hallowed associations in certain Churches, from
1 These liturgies are conveniently accessible in the *'Ante-
Nicene Christian Library," vol. xxiv. (Clark's Series, Edin.).
24 EVILS OF FIXED LITURGIES.
their suitableness and beauty, and from their
having been used by martyrs and confessors, or
venerable and beloved ministers of Christ. One
or two of the oldest liturgies now extant may
thus, as regards some of their elements, go back
to the fourth, or even to the third century. But
they were then "oral, flexible, and varied." We
must travel onwards from the days of our Lord
over at least five hundred years, to a period of
growing declension and decay, before we find any-
thing like a system of prescribed and invariable
prayers, making its appearance in the ordinary
worship of the Christian Church.
The practical disadvantages of an enforced
liturgy of this fixed and invariable stamp are
very great. They are of a twofold kind, arising
both from the inherent defects of the system
itself, and from the general helplessness, and
inability to go beyond the prayer-book on an
emergency, which are seen in the ministers
trained under the system. One or two concrete
instances of this may perhaps bring out what I
mean better than any general remarks.
Few names connected with the Episcopal
Church of the United States are better known in
this country than that of Dr. Phillips Brooks,
rector of Trinity Church, Boston. At £i recent
congress of the American Episcopal Church, Dr.
Brooks pled strongly for greater freedom in
DR. PHILLIPS BROOKS. 25
prayer, and gave this illustration of the evils of
their present system : — A large Episcopal con-
vention was assembled, when news came that a
great city (Chicago ?) was on fire, and that thou-
sands of people were houseless and exposed to
extreme danger. With a natural and praise-
worthy impulse, all agreed to adjourn the meeting,
and to join in prayer for their fellow-countrymen
suffering under such a calamity. The business
in hand was adjourned accordingly, when, behold,
a fatal difficulty emerged. There was no form
of prayer in the Liturgy for such a case, and it
was, of course, impossible to depart from it.
The assembled bishops and clergy had to con-
tent themselves with going devoutly over the
Litany, " laying before God almost every woe but
the woe of a burning city." '' Surely," the elo-
quent preacher went on, " bishops, clergy, and
laity should have liberty to pour out their souls
to God, wherever they be, for the very things
they need, instead of compelling them to go in a
roundabout way praying for other things, and
trusting Omniscience to give them the things
which are in their hearts ? " ^
* Catholic Presbyterian, vii. 54. I noticed a similar case
lately, reported in an American paper published in San Fran-
cisco. It had been arranged, it appears, in the English
Episcopal Church of Yokohama, Japan, to have a day of special
prayer for missions. Considerable pains had been taken to have
a full meeting. The day arrived ; the people assembled early,
but only to be told that it would be impossible to pray for
26 PROFESSOR LORIMER.
I give another illustration in the words of
Professor Lorimer, of Edinburgh University, in
his little treatise, '' A National Church demands
a National Liturgy " -^ : —
" There are few Episcopalians, I should think, who
do not feel the entire exclusion of extempore prayer
from the Liturgy of the Church of England to be a
grave defect. "We had a striking and very painful
instance of its inconveniences quite recently. The
Princess Alice died on a Saturday, in circumstances
which called forth an outburst of universal grief and
sympathy. On Sunday morning every heart was fidl,
and every mouth would gladly have spoken. Yet in
the metropolis of Scotland, where feelings of warm
personal affection for the Koyal Eamily, and for the
Queen and Princess more especially, were exception-
ally strong, even in the Church where the Bishop pre-
sided and preached, not the slightest reference was
made to the sad event. As the Princess' name did not
occur in the Liturgy, her death was not marked even
by its omission, which was the only notice that was
taken of her father's death (Prince Albert's) in similar
circumstances. Surely even the pedantry of Eitualism
need not exclude expressions of grief for the departed,
or words of supplication for the bereaved. There was
not a Presbyterian Church in Scotland, of any denomi-
nation, in which the Queen was not fervently prayed
_ ^fc
missions that day, because the prayers had not arrived by the
steamer ! It was all the fault of the Bishop of London.
1 Edinburgh, 1879, p. 33.
IRELAND AND FRANCE. 27
for on both occasions; and there was not a Presby-
terian who, had not his lips been sealed by prejudice
would not have said a fervent 'Amen.' "
Statements from Episcopalians to the same
effect could be cited to almost any extent.
'' Could the prayer-book of the Irish Episcopal
Church," asks an eloquent Irish writer, " express
the agonised desires of the God-fearing people of
that misguided land, when ferocious crimes were
following one another too fast to be counted,
through whole provinces, with anything ap-
proaching to the effect of sentences springing
straight from the heart, and shaped by the very
chisel of the events themselves ?"^
All our readers will remember the painful
interest awakened throughout Britain by the siege
of Paris and the horrors of the Commune. No
one can doubt that the members of the Church
of England shared deeply in that interest, and
would fain have expressed it in prayers such as
the hearts of all Christians prompted, and in
which men of all political views could have freely
joined. But there was, of course, no provision
for this in the Liturgy. Many suggested that a
special prayer sbould be issued by authority.
After some delay, there appeared in the papers
an instructive correspondence between the Bishop
of London and the Archbishop of Canterbury,
^ Catholic Presbyterian, x. 267.
28 ENGLISH FUNERAL SERVICE.
as to whether it would be possible to have some
public prayer in reference to what was engaging
so much thought and feeling in the country. It
was decided that there was no precedent for it ;
and that it was impossible for the Church of
England to pray about any war unless Eng-
land herself was actually engaged in it. A form
of prayer had been drawn up with the view of
its being used in public. All that the two
prelates could do in the circumstances, was to
suggest that this prayer — a somewhat bald and
meagre composition, as many thought — might be
used by the people of the Church to help them
in their private devotions.^
Fine as the funeral service of the Church of
England is in many ways, you can hardly fail to
see its defects, if you suppose yourself bound to
use this formula at every grave, and to use
nothing else. It contains, for example, no
expression whatever of sympathy for the bereaved
family or friends of the dead. It does not supply
a single w^ord of prayer for them in their
affliction. A respected minister of our Church
told me lately of an instance which occurred
some years ago, in which he had been painfully
struck with this. A young mother had died,
leavinof two infant children. She \^s much and
justly beloved. Her husband was lying dan-
1 See Daily Eevieiv, 9th Aug., 1870.
ENGLISH FUNERAL SERVICE. 29
gerously ill at the time in a foreign land. The
large company of near relatives and friends who
gathered to the funeral, as well as the officiating
clergyman himself, were under the full influence of
the feelings naturally awakened by the touching
circumstances. But there could not be one
petition offered for blessing on the motherless
children, nor for support and comfort to the
bereaved husband and father under the sad
tidings which were at that moment on their way
to him. There had to be silence before God as
to the very things which were most in the hearts
of the mourners, because " it was not in the
bond" by which prayer is straitened in the
Church of England.
But do considerations such as these end the
discussion which we have in hand regarding the
duty of the Church as such in reference to the
order and forms of public worship ? Has the
Reformed Church done her whole duty in this
direction, when she protests, as she has good
reason to do, against all enforced liturgies, and
against all liturgies of the fixed and stereotyped
kind with which we have now been dealing ?
Ought she to leave everything free in the matter
of public worship ? To that question we propose
to address ourselves in the next chapter.
30 WORSHIP IN SCOTTISH CHURCH.
CHAPTER III.
THEOEY AND PEACTICE OF SCOTTISH CHUECH AS
TO PUBLIC WOESHIP : THE SCOTTISH METEI-
CAL PSALMS : WESTMINSTEE DIEECTOEY FOE
WOESHIP.
HAS the Reformed Church done her whole
duty in reference to the order and forms
of public worship, when she protests, as she has
such good reason to do, against all enforced
liturgies, and against all liturgies of the fixed
and stereotyped kind with which we are familiar
in the Church of England and in the Church of
Rome? Ought she to leave everything free as
regards the order and form of the stated services
of God's House ?
" No," would seem to be the answer given by
the theory and practice of some Presbyterian
Churches, the Scottish among the rest ; " there
are certain limits within which alone the freedom
is to be exercised. The duty of the Church in
this matter is threefold. First, let tier state the
New Testament elements of worship, — praise,
prayer, the reading and exposition of the Scrip-
THE OR Y AND PR A CTICE. 3 1
tures, the preaching of the Gospel, the adminis-
tration of the Sacraments. Secondly, let her
provide her people with a psalm-book and a
hymn-book, and some instruction in the use of
them. Let them even have an organ, if they
keep it in its right place, and do not quarrel
over it. Thirdly, as to the presiding minister ;
let the Church give him full freedom within the
limits now indicated, and exhort and encourasre
him to make the best use of it. Let him, with
consent of the eldership of the congregation,
combine and arrange the given elements of
worship as he judges to be most for edification.
In the matter of public prayer, in particular, let
him meditate well beforehand, using what help
of the pen he will to guide his thoughts. Let
him consider the present circumstances and needs
of his people, preparing his heart before God,
stirring up himself to take hold of Him for them
and with them, and then let him cast himself in
faith on the promised help of the Spirit, and
pray as God enables him to frame his words."
Such a system has many advantages. It pro-
ceeds upon the principle, — a true and noble one,
— that if you appeal to Christian men by high
motives to do great things, and expect them to
do so, you will not generally be disappointed.
Our Scottish Church, for example, by her plan of
worship, calls upon each of her ministers to stir
32 ADVANTAGES OF THE SYSTEM.
up the gift of God which is in him for all the
work of the ministry to which he was solemnly
set apart by prayer '' with the laying on of the
hands of the Presbytery. "^ She shows that she
expects him not only to preach the Gospel, but
to cultivate the power of leading the public
worship of God in prayer in such a way as to
edify the earnest and living members of the
Church. He is thereby shut up, in a measure,
by the very necessities of the case, to take heed
to himself and to his own spiritual life, and to
seek the spirit of true prayer. He thus learns
to know, and to be thankful when he has in some
degree attained to that spirit, to know, and to
be humbled within himself, when he has come
short of it.
The result has been that both now and in all
periods in our history when there has been any
amount of evangelical life in the Church, in other
words, whenever there have been in existence the
spiritual motives on which such an appeal counts,
the response has never failed. There has been,
with all our defects, a decidedly high average of
attainment among the ministers of the Scottish
Church, both in preaching and in the gift of
edifying and acceptable public prayer. ^ And
1 1 Tim. iv. 14. *
2 I agree in this with what was said by Professor Bruce of
Glasgow, at the Presbyterian Council in Philadelphia. — Pro-
ceedings, 131.
SPIRITUAL SYMPATHY. -^-^^
this, as regards prayer, has been reached in a
way which, although difficult and sometimes
depressing to the feelings of a young minister,
has often been the means to him of no little
blessing. He has found himself brought con-
sciously '' en ra'pport'' in a very high sense, with
the best of his people. There has been a true
spiritual sympathy established between him and
them, wonderfully elevating and supporting, as
every minister can tell who has felt it, — not the
less real and helpful because not expressed among
us in the loud ejaculations and responses of our
Methodist brethren.
As regards the Churches of the Westminster
Confession we have, in theory at least, something
more than this in the way of help and guidance
for the minister; and, in practice, as regards
the congregation, we have in the Scottish, Irish,
and some of the American Churches, an ancient
and admirable book of praise, which has done
much to maintain the historic continuity and the
sacred associations of Scottish worship. We have
the Westminster Directory for the public worship
of God ; and we have the Scottish Metrical
Psalms. Let us look first at the latter.
When, after the long spiritual darkness of the
Middle Ages, light dawned again upon Europe in
the sixteenth century, morning, as ever, brought
gladness, and was hailed with song. Everywhere
D
34 PSALMS AT THE REFORMATION.
men broke loose from the trammels of a strange
tongue, and of enforced silence in the Churches ;
and everywhere by a strong and true spiritual
instinct recourse was had to the treasures of the
Hebrew Psalter. The words of Chrysostom
regarding the Church of his time were fulfilled
again: " David in his Psalms is first, middle, and
last in the assemblies of Christians." In Germany
and Scotland, France and England, Holland,
Switzerland, and Spain there appeared almost
simultaneously during the early days of the
Eeformation, metrical versions of the Psalter,
more or less complete, in the language of the
common people.
From the standpoint of the Church of Home
in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, psalmody
and heresy were convertible terms. The Lollards
in England and Scotland took their very name
from their psalm-singing. The French Psalms
of Beza and Marot — first suggested by Calvin —
spread like wildfire over France, and became one
of the main badges and supports of the Huguenots
during all the wars of the League. Strada, the
Spanish Roman Catholic historian of the Low
Countries, tells us that '' the raising of a Geneva
Psalm among the misbelievers was as if the
trumpet had sounded a charge." ^
But, among all the metrical renderings of the
Psalter which became current in the Reformed
THE SCOTTISH VERSION. 35
Churches, the foremost place must undoubtedly
be given to the Scottish version. It was pub-
lished in its present form about two years after
the close of the Westminster Assembly, after
long and careful adjustment and revision by a
well-chosen committee of ministers and elders
appointed by the General Assembly of the Church
of Scotland. The main body of the Psalms in
common metre are taken in substance from the
version which had been adopted by the West-
minster Assembly as part of the proposed unifor-
mity of worship in the three kingdoms, and
which was written by Francis Rous, Provost of
Eton, and Member of the Long Parliament. But
it is by no means correct to ascribe to him, as is
sometimes done, the sole authorship of the ver-
sion published in 1650 by appointment of
the General Assembly, and used thenceforth
in Scotland. Not a few of the Psalms
which it contains belong almost entirely to the
version of Sir William Mure of Rowallan, and
others to that of Alexander of Menstrie, after-
wards Earl of Stirling, both of whom, were well-
known Scottish poets in the first half of the
seventeenth century. But in many of its best
features the Scottish Psalter goes back to the
Reformation period. The Psalms which have
the strongest hold on Scottish hearts, and which
are linked with the most stirring scenes in our
36 THE SCOTTISH PSALTER.
history, belong for the most part to the days of
Knox. Thus, for example, the 100th Psalm,
" All people that on earth do dwell," was written
by William Keith, a Scottish exile in the reign
of Queen Mary, and one of the translators of the
Geneva Bible. The Old 124th, ''Now Israel
may say, and that truly," was composed by
Whittingham, the brother-in-law of Calvin, who
succeeded John Knox in the English pulpit at
Geneva, and was afterwards Dean of Durham.
The author of the " Second Versions" of Psalms
102, 136, 143 and 145 was John Craig,
once a Dominican monk at Bologna, afterwards
one of Knox's most trusted friends, who died
minister of Holyrood and of the king's household.-^
No version of the Psalms in any country has
ever obtained a greater hold of the national mind
and heart than the Scottish ; none, probably, has
so powerful an influence in the present day, and
none better deserves it. Its faults lie on the
surface. It is not unfrequently rough and
^ See Dr. David Laing's valuable dissertation on this subject
in Appendix to his edition of " Baillie's Letters and Journals,"
iii. 525-56 ; Livingston, Scottish Metrical Psalter of 1635, 27,
33. The same thing is true of many of the best and most
popular of our Psalm tunes. They go back to the Reformation
Church Psalters. Thus, for example, the three melodies named by
E/obert Burns in the " Cottar's Saturday Night " are * Martyrs,"
"Elgin," and "Dundee." They were the Psalm tunes commonly
used by his father in family worship. And they belong, all
three, to the days of Knox and Melville.
THE SCOTTISH PSALTER. 37
uncouth to modern ears. Some of its phrases
and rhymes quoted in an isolated way may easily
raise a smile. But, as a whole, it has surpassing
merits, which are seen and felt the more care-
fully it is studied. In respect of faithfulness to
the inspired original, in a certain high and grave
simplicity, in strength and dignity, the Scottish
Metrical Psalter is not unworthy of the name,
given it by competent judges, of " the prince of
versions." Rugged as its verses sometimes are,
they are never weak. Along with its simple
ballad metres, it has the noble directness, the
unsought felicities of expression which mark the
best of our Scottish ballads.-^ Passages meet
you on almost every page which are fully equal
in this respect to the one fine passage in the
version of Sternhold and Hopkins, ''The Lord
descended from above, and bowed the heavens
high." And it has been often remarked how,
when the theme of the Psalm is the loftiest and
most fitted for worship, the Scottish version seems
to rise in power and beauty along with it.
This Psalter has gathered round it for Scottish
^ It is on such grounds that Wordsworth, with the instinct of
a true poet, brings in two lines from the Scottish version of the
88th Psalm as the dirge sung by the funeral procession among
the mountains, which is described in a fine passage in the
*' Excursion " :—
" Wilt Thou show wonders to the dead ? Shall they rise and Thee bless ?
Shall in the grave Thy love be known, in death Thy faithfulness? "
THE SCOTTISH PSALTER.
hearts the associations of all that is best and
highest in our history for more than three hun-
dred years. Every student of that history knows
how these Psalms meet us in it again and again
as the stay and solace of Christian men in hours
of darkness and peril, as the natural utterance of
joy and triumph. Our Scottish martyrs went to
their doom with these Psalms upon their lips,
echoed back by the sorrowing and awe-stricken
crowds which gathered round the scaffold. It
was with these Psalms to nerve them that Scot-
tish peasants stood up fearlessly before the cara-
bines of a savage soldiery at their own doors.
And then, when the work was done, and the last
file of troopers had disappeared over the muir-
land, women stole out in the darkening to dress
the bodies, and that most touching of all melodies
— " plaintive ' Martyrs,' worthy of the name," —
rose over them from trembling voices : —
" Tlieir blood about Jerusalem like water they have shed ;
And there was none to bury them when they were slain
and dead.
* * * -x- *
Against us mind not former sins ; Thy tender mercies
show ;
Let tliem prevent us speedily, for we're brought very
low. k
For Thy name's glory help us, Lord, who hast our
Saviour been :
Deliver us ; for Thy name's sake, oh, purge away our sin.
THE PSALMS AND PARAPHRASES. 39
Oh, let the prisoner's sighs ascend before Thy sight on
high ;
Preserve those, in Thy mighty power, that are designed
to die."
These were the Psalms that ascended from
great Communion gatherings on the moors and
hillsides in the days of the " Armed Conventicles."
" Then rose the song, the loud
Acclaim of praise ; the wheeling plover ceased '
Her plaint ; the solitary place was glad ;
And on the distant cairns the watcher's ear
Caught doubtfully at times the breeze-borne note." ^
This Scottish Psalter forms a wonderful bond
of union and sympathy among Scotsmen all the
world over. It is in fact a national liturgy of
praise and prayer in the best sense of the word.^
^ Graham, Tlie Sabbath.
2 Inseparably Unked in this respect with the Psalter, are those
fifteen or twenty noble hymns which, rising by their native virtue
above the mass of the " Paraphrases," have for nearly a hundred
and fifty years held a place in Scotland — except in the Highlands
— second only to that of the Psalms. I refer to such hymns as
" 0 God of Bethel," " Where high the heavenly temple stands/'
" 'Twas on that night," "Hark, how the adoring hosts above,"
"How bright these glorious spirits shine." These were first
printed by permission of the General Assembly in 1745, and had
won their place in Scottish worship, along with the Psalms, for
generations before a separate hymn-book was adopted by any
Presbyterian Church in Scotland. — See Laing, ubi supra, p. 555.
Acts of Assembly, 1745, vi. 9 ; 1747, 15th May; 1748, 21st May ;
1750, 11; 1751, 10, &c.
40 THE SCOTTISH PSALTER.
Those who have had the privilege of ministeriDg
to their fellow-countrymen and country-women in
the Colonies, or at sea, can testify to its power.
They have seen and shared in the thrill that ran
through the little gathering on shipboard, in the
woods, or in the wilderness, and have seen tears
come to eyes not prone to weeping, when
the old Psalms were given out : " I to the hills,"
" 0 thou, my soul, bless God the Lord," " The
Lord 's my Shepherd," *' Pray that Jerusalem may
have ; " and when there rose up from the little
congregation the grave, sweet, familiar melody of
"French," or " Coleshill," "Dunfermline," or
" St. Paul's."
But let us turn now to the " Directory for the
Public Worship of God, agreed upon by the
Assembly of Divines at Westminster, with the
assistance of Commissioners from the Church of
Scotland, as a part of the Covenanted Uniformity
in Religion betwixt the Churches of Christ in the
kingdoms of Scotland, England, and Ireland."
This is a document which deserves to be much
more carefully studied than it usually is. It
contains a great deal that is of very high and
permanent value, both in the way of direct guid-
ance, and of suggestion in matters of worship.^
* Nothing, for example, could be more admirable than the
three general rules which it gives to a minister in the section
** Of the Preaching of the Word," as to how he should handle
THE WESTMINSTER DIRECTORY. 41
It cannot, however, be said to be of full authority
even in the Churches which hold the Westminster
Standards. Much of it has practically fallen into
abeyance. Some of its rules are generally, or
often, disregarded to our loss ; as, for instance,
its injunction that marriages should be celebrated
in the Church, and its recommendation that the
Lord's Prayer should be regularly used in public
worship. One or two of its decisions, on the
other hand, are now disregarded with advantage.
Thus, for example, the Directory expressly en-
joins that no service shall be held at funerals,
either in the house or at the grave, referring as
the reason for this to various abuses which had
his text. " His care ought to be : Fint, That the matter be the
truth of God. Secondly, That it be a truth contained in that
text. Thirdly, That he chiefly insist upon those doctrines which
are principally intended, and make most for the edification of
the hearers."
Hall, an Episcopalian writer, in a useful work, "Reliquiae
Liturgicas" (5 vols., Bath, 1847), gives an account of the West-
minster Assembly. It is a little coloured by denominational
prepossessions, and exhibits some inaccuracies as to facts ; but it
is marked throughout by a sort of surprised candour. Of the
"Directory for Public Worship," he says: "With all these
deductions from its usefulness " (viz., " the rejection of the
Apocrypha, the discontinuance of private baptism ; of god-fathers
and god-mothers ; of the sign of the cross ; of the wedding-ring,"
and other like things, which Mr. Hall feels to be serious defects),
" the Directory is a fine composition, very simple, and often very
solemn, and doubtless — by whomsoever composed — the result of
no little thoughtfulness and care." — Introd. xxxviii.
42 THE DIRECTORY FOR WORSHIP.
arisen in connection with such observances. The
former part of this prohibition has been almost
from the first, in Scotland and elsewhere,
universally disobeyed, and the latter part, especi-
ally of late years, very generally.-^
In these circumstances, a careful revision
and re-publication of the Directory by Church
authority would be a very seasonable thing, and
might in many ways lead to much good. It is
obviously desirable that what is theoretically, to
some extent, supposed to be the law of the
Church as to public worship, and her actual
practice in that department, should be brought
into harmony with each other.
Practically, the main result of the Westminster
Directory has been the general unwritten tradi-
tion of Scottish worship, which is based mainly
upon it, although with distinct traces of the
earlier system of the " Book of Common Order,"
where that was not followed at Westminster, and
with evidence also of some later influences, to
which I need not advert here. I refer to that
'' order of service," substantially the same over
all Scotland to a wonderful extent, with which
most of us in this country are so familiar.
There are a few local variations, such as be^^in-
^ See the excellent edition of the ** Book of Common Order,
and the Directory, with Historical Introductions and Notes," by
Drs. Sprott and Leishman, Edin. 1868, 313, 318,
UNWRITTEN TRADITION. 43
ning with a short prayer ; which, by the way,
ought to be the rule and not the exception,
according both to the Book of Common Order
and the Directory ; but, speaking generally, the
order is: Singing; prayer; reading of Scripture ;
singing (prayer) ; sermon (singing ; Baptisms, if
any) ; prayer ; singing ; benediction.
Beyond this unwritten *' ordinance of the
fathers," — from which few young ministers would
venture to vary, and still fewer would not
speedily repent it if they did, — the pastor in a
British or an American Presbyterian Church is
practically left to himself as to what he reads
from Scripture, as to the material, style, and length
of his prayers, his order of Baptism and of the
Communion, his marriage and funeral services.
Now, if our choice lay simply between this
state of things, and our being bound hand and
foot to a prayer-book after the fashion of the
Church of England, I have no hesitation what-
ever in saying that we should remain as we are,
and that for the reasons indicated in the second
chapter of this little work. But the question at
once suggests itself : Is there no middle ground ?
Does the Church do all her duty both to her
ministers — especially her younger ministers — and
to her people, which does no more in this
department than is done at present by the
Scottish and some other Presbyterian Churches ?
44 AN OPTIONAL LITURGY.
Suppose you have an optional or discre-
tionary liturgy, in connection with which free
prayer shall not only be permitted, but positively
enjoined and set in the place of honour ; such a
service-book, with improvements, as Knox and
Calvin framed at Geneva, and the Church of
Scotland used for a hundred years after ; such a
liturgy as the Waldensian Church possesses,^ and
as the Dutch Eeformed Church uses to this day,
both in its Dutch and in its English-speaking
branches in Europe, Africa, and America, — what
are the advantages and disadvantages of such a
plan as compared with that which prevails in
those British and American Churches with which
we are more familiar ?
^ " La Liturgie Vaudoise, ou la Manifere de Cdl^brer le Service
Divin, comme elle est dtablie dans r;^glise Evange'lique des
Valines du Pidmont. Par ordre du Synode." The copy of this
liturgy which lies before me was presented, as the inscription
upon it bears, " to the Library of the Free Church of Scotland
at Edinburgh, by the Moderator of the Waldensian Church,
M. Bonjour, pastor of the parish of St. Germain, 15th July,
1844." The Synod, or Supreme Court of the Waldensian
Church, appointed a committee in 1878 to revise this liturgy,
and bring it more into accordance with the present needs of all
their congregations both in the Valleys and in Italy. The revised
Service-book is to be submitted for approval to the Synod which
meets in September, 1884.
DANGERS AND ADVANTAGES. 4S
CHAPTER IV.
LITURGIES OK BOOKS OF COMMON ORDER AS
USED BY THE MAJORITY OF THE REFORMED
CHURCHES : DANGERS AND ADVANTAGES.
THE point raised at the close of last chapter was
this : Suppose you have an optional or dis-
cretionary liturgy, in connection with which free
prayer is not only permitted, but expressly enjoined
and set in the place of honour, — what are the
advantages and disadvantages of such a plan,
as compared with that which now prevails in
most of the British and American Presbyterian
Churches ?
There can be no question at all events, — except
among the ignorant, — as to its being a lawful
arrangement for the '' seemly form and order " ^ of
the public worship of God in a Presbyterian
Church.^ In fact, the weight of precedent is all
1 The eiKTxVf^oaijvr] /cat ivra^ia referred to in 1 Cor. xiv. 40.
2 Compare Dr. Charles Hodge's strong statements to this effect,
in his chapter on " Presbyterian Liturgies " in The Church and
its Polity, Lond. 1879, 156. So also Ebrard, in the Appendix to
his valuable " Collection of Prayers and Liturgical Formularies
used in the Reformed Church," expresses his surprise at finding
46 OPTIONAL LITURGIES.
on that side. We in Scotland, since the middle
of the seventeenth century, have placed ourselves
in quite an exceptional position among the
Churches of the Keformation in not having- such
an optional liturgy. It was only at the West-
minster Assembly that the Church of Scotland
gave up the one she had hitherto employed,
embodying the prayers and forms of service for
Baptism and the Lord's Supper, for marriage, &c.,
which had been used by John Knox and Andrew
Melville, by Alexander Henderson and Samuel
Kutherford. She did this not from any doubt as
to the law^fulness and value of her own liturgy or
Book of Common Order ; but, to a large extent,
in a spirit of catholicity for which she has not
received enough of credit, to meet the preferences
of the English Puritan divines who formed the
majority of the Westminster Assembly. They
had suffered for years under the heavy j^oke of the
English prayer-book and canons, sternly enforced
with Star-Chamber penalties by men like Ban-
croft, Wren, and Laud. It was no wonder that
in the course of his researches that " the Scottish Church has no
liturgical formularies at all, not even a formulary for Baptism
and the Lord's Supper, but leaves everything free to the clergy-
man. The Church festivals also have been wholly given up by
her ; she has only tbe Sunday. The Reformed Chilrch of Hungary,
too,has no definite litnrgy:'—Eefor7nirtcsKircJi€7ihuch; voUstdndige,
Sammlung der in der reformirten Kirche cingcfiihrten Kirchengcbete
und Formulare, Zurich, 1847, 290.
LA WFULNESS. 47
there was something of a reaction in their minds
against liturgies of any kind whatever. And the
Scottish Commissioners, having before them the
grand ideal of a united Reformed Church for all
the three kingdoms, yielded in this, as on some
other points, to the prevailing feeling of their
English brethren.^ But no one in the West-
minster Assembly, except the little group of
Independents, — " the five Dissenting Brethren,"
as they were called, — ever dreamed of denying
the lawfulness, and, in some circumstances, the
expediency of an optional liturgy.
Listen to a Presbyterian divine, who was in
high esteem among those who sat in the Jeru-
salem Chamber at Westminster, — Edwards, the
author of the '' Antapologia " and the " Gan-
1 See, e.g., " The General Assembly's answer to the Right
Reverend the Assembly of Divines in the Kirk of England," in
reference to their acceptance of the Westminster Directory inl645.
" In other particulars," they say, after some reservations about
the mode of receiving the Lord's Supper ; " we have resolved
and do agree to do as ye have desired us in your letter ; that is,
not to be tenacious of old customs though lawful in themselves,
and not condemned in this Directory, but to lay them aside for
the nearer uniformity v/ith the Kirk of England, now nearer
and dearer to us than ever before ; a blessing so much esteemed
and so earnestly longed for among us, that, rather than it fail
on our part, we do most willingly part with such customs and
practices of our own as may be parted with safely, and without
the violation of any of Christ's ordinances or trespassing against
Scriptural rules or our solemn Covenants."— ^cfe of Assembly
(Church Law Soc. ed.) 131.
48 DR. JOHN D UNCAN.
grsena." He is replying to an Independent
writer : " Whereas you say, ' There is this great
controversy upon the ordinance of public worship
about the lawfulness of set forms prescribed,' I
must tell you * this great controversy' upon it is
raised only by yourselves (the five dissenting
brethren), and the Brownists; there being no
divines, and no Reformed Churches that I know
of, but do allow the lawful use of set forms of
prayer, composed and framed by others — as by
Synods and Assemblies — and do make use of
such sometimes, as the Churches of France and
Holland in the administration of Sacraments
usually do ; and those who practise them not so
much, yet at least hold them lawful. And I
challenge you in all your reading to name one
divine of note and orthodox that ever held set forms
of prayer unlawful, excepting only Independents."^
Beside this, we may place the view of a more
modern theologian, the late Dr. John Duncan of
the New College, Edinburgh : *' I do not w^onder
that the desire for forms of prayer is returning.
I could say nothing against the use of a liturgy
as a catholic question for all the Churches. But
I am definite against confinement to it ; and as
for us in Scotland, I am opposed to it in any
form at present." (This was said ab^ut twenty-
five years ago.) " But a good liturgy forms a
^ Edwards, Antapologia, Lond. 1644, 98f.
DR. CHALMERS ON PRA VERS AND HYMNS. 49
fine common bond for the Churches. I remem-
ber when in Leghorn hearing a very painful
sermon from the Bishop of ; and on leaving
the church, a friend remarked, ' I'm thankful he
can't spoil the prayers.' . . . The cultus of the
Ritualist and of the old Scotch Seceder are at
opposite extremes. In the one we have the external
form, often without the internal spirit. In the
other we have the internal element, without the
smallest reo^ard to its outward form. But it is the
ghost and the body together that make the man."-"^
Assuming, then, what really cannot be denied
with any show of reason, that on grounds of
Scripture, and from the standpoint of the
1 Colloquia Peripatetica, Edin. ed. 1870, 32, 114. It is in-
teresting to observe that the mind of Dr. Chalmers seems to
have been turning in the same direction. It is well known that
he often wrote and read his own prayers on public occasions.
In a preface written by him to a collection of prayers, largely
taken from John Knox's liturgy, Baxter, Leighton, Scougal,
and other old writers, Dr. Chalmers says : *' The attempt has
been long made to improve the psalmody of our Church by
means of a new collection for it. There are two distinct methods
of accomplishing this object, either by means of original sacred
poetry, or by a compilation from the existent sacred poetry.
Without superseding the former, we confess our preference for
the latter method ; and it is a preference we are disposed to
extend from a Book of Psalms or Hymns to a Book of Prayers,
which, while interspersed with new compositions, might be
mainly formed from the pious effusions of many different minds
that were the lights of the Church in different ages." — Cochrane,
Manual of Family and Private Devotion, loith Preface by Dr.
Chalmers, 3rd ed. p. 4.
E
50 OBJECTION FIRST: UN-PRESBYTERIAN.
Reformed Church Catholic, an optional or dis-
cretionary liturgy is a perfectly lawful thing for
any Church to adopt, let us consider what is to
be said of it on grounds of expediency. What
are its advantages and disadvantages ?
I. One objection is sure to be raised in
some quarters : '' It is un-Presbyterian. Our
forefathers were all against liturgies. Jenny
Geddes threw a stool at a Dean because he began
to read a liturgy in St. Giles."
In answer to that, I have simply to say that
the objection rests upon an utter ignorance of
history in this matter, and upon an inability to
distinguish things that differ. The Presbyterian
Churches of the Reformation — in other words,
all the Churches of the Reformation, except the
Church of England — were unanimous in favour
of an optional liturgy. At this moment the
Presbyterian Churches which have a liturgy are
far more in number than those which have not.
What the Covenanters of 1637-88 were
against was a Popish liturgy, forced upon them
in an Erastian way. That was why Jenny
Geddes was so emphatic about *' the mass "
being said " at her lug." But the Covenanters
of 1637 were not against all liturgies, for the
very good reason that they had a liturgy of
their own, which they had no intention at that
time of giving up. The morning prayers of
JENNY GEDDES. 51
that liturgy had been read in St. Giles as usual,
on the morniug of the eventful 23rd of July, by
Mr. Patrick Henderson. He was a respected
member of the party afterwards known as that
of the Covenanters, and was so much opposed to
the new liturgy that he had deliberately incurred
the loss of the position and emoluments of
Reader in St. Giles, which he had enjoyed for
many years, rather than countenance the innova-
tions.-^ Many good women — Jenny Geddes
herself in all likelihood among them — had been
joining devoutly in the prayers which had been
read that morning, as had been the case in that
Church ever since John Knox was minister in it.^
^ " Mr. Patrick Henderson, Reader in the Great Kirk of Edin-
burgh, refused to read it (an edict regarding the introduction of
Laud's Service-book) ; and for this both the Bishop and Council
of Edinburgh assured him he behoved to quit his place, whilk
he condescended unto. Yet he continued all that week in
saying of the prayers (of Knox's Service-book), and the next
Sabbath, still shedding many tears, considering the deplorable
condition of God's Kirk ; so that many of the people were much
commoved with his demeanour, considering also that he who
had been so long in that place and had acquitted himself so
faithfully and diligently in it, and who was known to be a lover
of the truth, now behoved to be put from his place for the dis-
countenancing of corruption entering into the Kirk of God.
"When the next Sabbath, 23rd July, came, the Bishop of
Edinburgh, after that the ordinar prayers had heen read in the
morning, about ten o'clock brought in the Service-book to the
pulpit." — Row, History of the Kirh of Scotland, Wodrow ed. 408.
^ It is interesting to remember that he used these prayers in
his family also when shut out by infirmity from public worship.
52 THE NEW AND THE OLD LITURGY.
That was no reason at all, of course, why they
and their fellow-countrymen and women should
consent for a moment to have Laud's Service-
book and Canons thrust upon the Church and
people of Scotland against their will. But so
far as history and Presbyterian ism are concerned,
if we went back to an optional liturgy like John
Knox's Book of Common Order, we would only
be going back to the oldest Presbyterian ways,
to the practice of the first and second Reforma-
tion in Scotland. And it was English influence,
not Scottish, at the Westminster Assembly that
led to the change.
In point of fact, it was one of the " grievances"
of the Covenanters in 1637 that the bishops had
issued a prohibition of the old Service-book. If
the Scottish people would not accept the new
one from England, they should have none at all.
Hear John Row of Carnock, a contemporary
witness, and a Presbyterian of the Presbyterians.
" All this week," he complains, " there was no
public worship in Edinburgh, neither sermon nor
prayers read morning and evening, as the custom
was. Yea, for five or six months after this, Mr.
Patrick Henderson read not the prayers." . . .
The last prayer in which John Knox joined on ^rth was the
"Evening Prayer," given at the end of the Book of Common
Order. It was read at family worship in his chamber about an
hour before he died. See Appendix A.
DA VID DICKSON ON THE TWO LITURGIES. 53
" 2^th July. — The Bishops ordain that neither
old nor new Service be in public, except sermon,
till the King's Majesty's mind be known on this
late tumult." ^
The petitions which came to the Privy Council
in Edinburgh from ministers in Ayrshire and
elsewhere, " upon a motion first made by Mr.
David Dickson, minister at Irvine, to his Presby-
tery," request that the Church and her ministers
should not have the new Service-book and Canons
intruded upon them, " declaring, at the same
time, that they were ready to alter everything
1 Row, History, 410, 483. The report of the Archbishop of
St. Andrews to the Privy Council, " anent the Service-book,"
"for himself and in name of the remanent Bishops," may be
Been in the Appendix to Baillie's Letters. It is to the effect
stated above, i. 448 ; Records of the Kirh of Scotland,
(Peterkin), 52. In the Register House, Edinburgh, there are
preserved forty-six of the petitions sent in from burghs, parishes,
and i)resbyteries against Laud's Service-book. Several extracts
from these are given by Drs. Sprott and Leishman, in the Intro-
duction to their edition of the Book of Common Order and
Directory: — **We having, for the form of worship according to
God's own Word, established among us, Acts of Parliaments and
General Assemblies yet standing, and have found the sensible
blessing of God in the exercise thereof so long enjoyed, to our
great comfort and edification." "Far different from that Book
of Common Prayer which we have enjoyed many years," &c.
" In none of them," the editors state, " have we observed any
reference to the question of a liturgy as such, whether discre-
tionary or prescribed, though they all complain of the imposition
of Laud's book as the only form of public worship in the
kingdom."— P. 28.
54 INDICTMENT AGAINST THE PRELATES.
that could be made appear by any man to be
unsound in the form of discipline and liturgy
which they had received from their ancestors.
They pointed out the principal heads of error
contained in these books (i.e., Laud's), and offered
to dispute, or rather converse, in a friendly way
about them. . . . They observed also those
unhappy controversies whereby the Church was
oppressed in the reign of Charles the Great,
while some adhered to the Ambrosian liturgy,
others, in place thereof, promoting the Gregorian
or Roman ; and with what calamities the kingdom
of Spain was in former times shaken under the
reign of Alphonso YI., who, by the advice of
the Pope's legate, proposed to suppress the
ancient Mozarabic liturgy, that he might in
place thereof introduce the Gregorian, while all
ranks of the kingdom were reclaiming against
it."i
The prohibition by the prelates of the use of
the old Scottish liturgy, or Book of Common
Order, formed part of the indictment against
them at their trial before the Glasgow Assembly
in 1638. At the close of that trial, Alexander
Henderson, as Moderator, was called upon to
pronounce the solemn sentence of deposition and
excommunication in presence of the Assembly,
1 Stevenson, History of the Church and State of Scotland
from 1625 to 1649 : Edin. 1840, 172.
THEIR INTERDICTING OLD LITURGY. 55
and of an immense audience, in the old Cathedral
of Glasgow. Before doing so, he instructed the
clerk, Johnstone of Warriston, to read aloud, for
the information of all men, an abstract of what,
after long and careful trial, had been found
proven against the bishops. After this had been
done, the Moderator singled out some of the
main points, and impressed these upon the
general audience. Apart from charges of immor-
ality, the prelates had been tried and found
guilty for three main offences : " For the super-
stition and idolatry they brought into the worship
of God ; for the tyranny they brought into the
government of the Church ; and for the heresy
they brought in upon doctrine." Under the head
of offences connected with the public worship of
the Church, Henderson lays special stress on ''their
interdicting Morning and Evening Prayers,"
as well as on "■ their bringing in innovations in
the worship of God, such as the superstitious
Service-book, tyrannous Book of Canons, and
Book of Ordination." "For these and many
other gross transgressions and slanders, at length
expressed and clearly proven in their process,
which are not seemly to be named in this place ;
and instead of their repentance, adding to all
these evils extreme contempt of this Church,
declining and protesting against this honourable,
reverend, and duly constitute Assembly, they
56 OBJECTION SECOND: WRONG TENDENCY,
have incurred and justly deserve this fearful
sentence of excommunication." ^
II. But it may be said : '' Granting that
the historical facts are as you have stated them,
still for more than two centuries the British and
most of the American Presbyterian Churches
have had no liturgy. They have flourished
without one, at least as well as other branches
of the Reformed Church, on the Continent of
Europe and elsewhere, whose worship has always
been more or less liturgical. Why should we in
this country change our ground now in this
matter, and borrow forms and prayers that belong
to the Church of England ? Is it not a move-
ment in the wrong direction ? Does it not
savour of a tendency towards the external and
ceremonial rather than the spiritual ? Besides,
practically, if you bring in anything of this kind,
will you not play into the hands of the Episco-
palians ? If people want a liturgy, they will go to
the Church of England or to the Church of Rome."
In reply to such objections, I admit at once
that a liturgy of any kind may be a snare to an
individual or to a Church. It may cover
spiritual sloth and deadness. The desire for it
may spring, in some instances, from a tendency
to externalism in religion. But thesi dangers
and disadvantages exist to a far greater extent
^ Records of the Kirh of Scotland, 179f.
ALEX. HENDERSON'S POSITION. 57
in tlie case of a fixed and enforced liturgy than
in the case of an optional one, especially if in
connection with it free prayer is not only
theoretically allowed, but positively enjoined
and set in the place of honour. Now this
latter plan is the old historic position of the
Reformed Church in Scotland and all the world
over. I believe that it is, on the whole, the
safest and strongest position, as between risks
and extremes on either side.
No wiser and more competent exponent of the
position in question could be found than Alex-
ander Henderson, the great leader of the Church
of Scotland in the days of the Covenant. He
was fully aware of the dangers which lie in
opposite directions in this matter. It was he who
led the opposition to Laud's Service-book in the
Synod of Fife and in the east of Scotland gener-
ally, as Dickson of Irvine did in the west. It
was Henderson's petition to the Privy Council
on the subject, in August, 1637, which first
drew the eyes of all men to him at Court as well
as throughout the country, and which marked
out with masterly skill and clearness the position
taken and held by the Church in all the subse-
quent struggles. In his petition, a document of
characteristic weight and brevity, he rests his
cause on the broad grounds of the spirituality
and freedom of the Church, and the Popish char-
58 ''DISCOUNTENANCING READ PRAYERS:'
acter of the new liturgy, which it was proposed
to thrust upon her without authority either from
the General Assembly or from Parliament, and
against the will of her ministers and people.
But in an accompanying paper, intended for the
consideration of individual members of Council,
Henderson goes somewhat more into detail. He
brings forward seven brief objections to the
Service-book ; the sixth of these refers to its
compulsory character, and its not only discourag-
ing but excluding free prayer in public worship :
" It establisheth a reading ministry, — whosoever
can read the Book can be a minister; and he who
is best-gifted must say no more than he readeth,
whether in prayer, Baptism, Communion, &c." ^
But, on the other hand, none were more
decided than Alexander Henderson in opposition
to that tendency towards the views and prac-
tices in worship of the English Independents
or Brownists, which began to show itself in the
Scottish Church some two years after the Glas-
gow Assembly, and to which such frequent and
disapproving references are made by Principal
Baillie in his letters. In connection with that
tendency some *' discountenanced read prayers,"
and '' scunnered at the Lord's Prayer and the
Belief." They also encouraged private con-
venticles, at which various irregularities took
1 Baillie, i. 449-51.
CONTROVERSIES ON SUBJECT. 59
place, and objected to the custom of the minister
kneeling for private devotion in the pulpit before
beginning the public service, to the use of the
doxology at the close of the Psalms, and to some
other usages of the Reformed Church in Scot-
land. ^ " Divers of our chief ministers," Baillie
writes in 1640, ''tendering very much the
credit of these very pious people, were loath
that anything concerning them should come in
public. We had sundry private meetings with
the chief that were thought to incline that way.
Mr. Henderson vented himself, at many occa-
sions, passionately, opposed to all these conceits."
Henderson, indeed, by his consistent opposi-
tion to these " novations," drew upon himself
considerable displeasure from many who were
attracted by the spiritual warmth and earnest-
ness of some who practised them. *' Some
citizens of Edinburgh declared themselves not
well satisfied with Mr. Henderson's zeal against
their practice. One Livingstone, a trafficker
with the English who were affected to our
1 Baillie, i. 249-55, 362f. ; Records of the KirJc, 286f. 304.
The "Gloria Patri" or doxology at the end of each of the
Metrical Psalms was a feature in various editions of the old
Scottish Psalter which was bound up with the Book of Common
Order. These " Conclusions," as they were called, were given
in every variety of metre in which the Psalms themselves were
rendered — thirty-two in all. — See Livingston, Scottish Metrical
Psalter of 1635. Glasgow, 1864, 35f.
6o DICKSON OF IRVINE ON READ PRA VERS.
Reformation, but withal to the discipline of
New England, in his letter to his friends abroad,
did write very despitefully of Mr. Henderson ;
this being intercepted did grieve not only the
man himself, but us all, of all ranks, who had
found him the powerful instrument of God, fitted
expressly, much above all others, to be a blessing
to our Church in this most dangerous season." ^
The matter came up, in one form or other,
at several Assemblies. In one of them a resolu-
tion was proposed, " That read prayer was not
unlawful." This was amended by David Dickson
of Irvine, to the stronger statement, *' That it
should be lawful to read prayers both in private
and public."^ At the Assembly of 1641, a
conference on the subject was held in the Earl
of Loudon's chambers in Edinburgh, by invita-
tion of two other leading elders of the Church,
the Marquis of Argyll and the Earl of Cassilis.
Alexander Henderson, George Gillespie, Samuel
Rutherford, David Dickson, Robert Blair, David
Calderwood, Andrew Cant, and other distin-
guished men were present. Baillie, who was
there, gives a full account. Some of the
brethren, '' who were suspected of innovating,
did purge themselves fully of all such inten-
tions." The innovations complained ^'of were
enumerated by Mr. Andrew Ramsay, one of the
1 Baillie i. 250. . 2 j. 253.
LIST OF THE INNOVATIONS. 6i
ministers of Edinburgh : '' Omitting ' Glory to
the Father' and kneeling in the pulpit, discoun-
tenancing read prayers, and the rest. They gave
answer to satisfaction, that betwixt us and them
there was no discrepancy at all. At last, Mr.
Henderson fell on that model, which thereafter
was voiced and printed. This happy concord,
whereof Argyll and Mr. Henderson were the
happy instruments, will, we trust, have a great
blessing to this whole land, which everywhere
began to be fashed with idle toys and scruples."^
^ i. 362. As minister of Kilwinning, Baillie had had his own
share of the "fasherie" to which he refers, "Three or four
yeomen of my flock refused to sing the Conclusion " — i.e., the
doxology. Baillie has left in writing " the sum of his confer-
ence " or private interview and reasoning with them about their
difficulty. He ascribes it without hesitation, it will be observed,
to alien influences. *' If you have so readily embraced the
scruples which private men and strangers have cast in your
mind about this one point, beware that this dispose not your
hearts to embrace more of their evil seed. I forewarn you, the
rejecting of the Conclusion is one of the first links of the whole
chain of Brownism. We have oft seen from this beginning
seducers in this land have drawn on their followers to scunner
at and reject our whole Psalms in metre; and then to refuse
our Prayers, then our Sacraments, then our preaching, then at
last our Church, our Covenant, and all. . . . Wherefor, as you
would be loath to cast away your whole Psalms ; as you would
be loath to give up your Prayers, Sacraments, preaching ; as
you would not forsake wholly our Church and your sworn Cove-
nant, and drink down all the errors of Brownism, take heed to
your spirit, whilk you find so ready to learn the first lessons of
these seducers. . . . 'It is (you say) a human Popish invention.'
We deny it to be so ; for we have given good Scriptural grounds
62 HENDERSON ON ORDER IN WORSHIP,
A very interesting little treatise, on the
" Government and Order of the Church of Scot-
land," was written by Alexander Henderson in
1641. It was a sort of manifesto on the part
of the Scottish Commissioners to the Westminster
Assembly, designed to correct mistakes which
they found to be not uncommon in England
regarding the polity and worship of the Scottish
Church. One of the statements current was
that the Scots '' had no certain rule or direction
for their public worship, but that every man,
following his extemporary fancy, did preach or pray
what seemed good in his own eyes." A similar
charge had been made before by Dr. Balcanquhal,
in a document known as the "Large Declaration,"
and had been stigmatised by the Assembly in
1689, along with a number of other statements
in the same production, as false and calumnious.^
It is refuted also by Henderson in the treatise to
which I now refer. "Against this accusation," he
says, ''the form of Prayers, administration of the
Sacraments, admission of ministers, excommunica-
for it. We grant it is part of the (English) Liturgy and Mass-
book too. But this proves it not be any worse than the Lord's
Prayer and the Belief, which are both in these evil books.
True, the Brownists will teach you to scunner at both ; yet
they will grant that many things in the Liturgy and Mass-book
also are no more the worse for standing in those evil places
than the sunbeams for shining on a dunghill." — Livingston,
uhi swpra, 36.
1 Hecords of the KirTc of Scotland, 265f.
REFORMED CHURCH POSITION. (i2>
tion, solemnising of marriage, visitation of the
sick, &c., which are set down before their Psalm-
book, and to which the ministers are to conform
themselves, is a sufficient witness : for although
they be not tied to set forms and words, yet are
they not left at random; but for testifying their
consent and keeping unity, they have their Direc-
tory and prescribed Order." Again, in repl3'ing
to a charge of enmity to monarchical government,
Henderson appeals to the authorised liturgy of
the Church of Scotland, as well as to her other
standards : '' Their Confession of Faith, the
Doctrine and Prayers of their Church, their late
Declarations and Remonstrances, express as much
respect and reverence to magistracy as any
Christian Prince will require." ^
Additional evidence could be easily given to
show that the historical position of the Scottish
Church in this matter, deliberately taken up by
her best representatives both at the first and
second Reformation, was that of a discretionary
liturgy, regarded and used as at once a basis,
guide, and stimulus for the exercise of free
prayer on the part of her ministers, elders, and
people. Certainly we should not borrow the
dress or the ornaments of other Churches of an
alien stock. There are few things more objec-
^ Government and Order of Church of Scotland, 1641. To the
Header, 3f.
64 THE SCOTTISH COLLECTS OF 1595.
tionable than to find scraps from the English
Prayer-book forming a sort of mosaic with the
feeble prose of a young minister's prayer. But
why should we not wear, in our own fashion, the
common garb of that great family of the Churches
of the Reformation to which we belong ? Why
should we not develop the native Church order
of our own Church in the matter of worship,
wisely and cautiously, on its own historic lines V-
Few people are aware, for instance, that in
the last decade of the sixteenth century, when
the Church of Scotland was in the very flower of
its Presbyterianism, and the star of Andrew Mel-
ville rode highest, there were in use here by
Church authority no fewer than one hundred "
and forty-nine collects. They are printed in the
edition of the Book of Common Order, pub-
lished in 1595,^ the same in which the full set
1 Comp. Ebrard, ReformirUs Kirchenhuch, iv.
^ The general title of the book is, "The CL. Psalms of'
David in Metre, with Prayers and Catechism according to the
Form used in the Kirk of Scotland : Edinburgh, Henry Char-
teris, 1595." It has a double date, the prose part of the volume
being dated 1596. The two parts might be sold separately ;
the object being, as stated in the Preface, " the ease of men in
travel, and being from their home, who gladly would carry a
thin book, as this of the Prayers is, that cannot easily carry
the whole Psalms." The General Assembly kept a vigilant e.ye
upon all alterations of the prayers in their authorised formu-
laries. Twice over, in 1638 and 1640, Kaban, an Aberdeen
printer, was called to account by the Assembly for some verbal
changes made by him in one of the prayers in his edition of
THE SCOTTISH COLLECTS OF 1595. 65
of the doxologies first appeared, under the name
of *' Prayers on the Psalms." But they are
regular collects, and many of them of a very
high order, marked by great power and chaste-
ness of expression, and framed upon the most
approved model for a collect, each having an
'' Invocation," a " Petition," and a " Conclusion."
They are, I have little doubt, among the prayers
specially referred to by Alexander Henderson,
half-a-century after their publication. He had
been asked by the General Assembly to draft a
new form of service in which the Churches of
England and Scotland might agree, but, with his
usual wisdom, declined the task, for two main
reasons : First, because such a movement, to be
successful, must be initiated by the two Churches
together, and the Scottish Church, in particular,
ought carefully to avoid even the appearance of
dictating to the English ; but, secondly, " I
the Book of Common Order. — Sprott and Leishman, xviii.f.
Comp. Acts of Assembly, 1601, 16th May, in Book of the Uni-
versal Kirk of Scotland, 497. It was of the year after that in
which these collects appeared that Calderwood writes : " This
year (1596) is a remarkable year to the Church of Scotland,
both for the beginning and for the end of it. The Church of
Scotland was now come to her perfection, and the greatest
purity that ever she attained unto, both in doctrine and disci-
pline, so that her beauty was admirable to foreign Churches.
The assemblies of the saints v/ere never more glorious nor profit-
able to every one of the true members thereof than in the
beginning of this year. — Eist. (Wodrow ed.), v. 387.
F
66 MR. GLADSTONE ON SCOTTISH WORSHIP.
could not," he said, " take upon me to set down
other forms of prayer than we have in our Psalm-
book, penned by our great and divine Reformers."^
It is true that the strength of our Presbyterian
Church as regards its worship, apart from preach-
ing, has lain in its spirituality, its Scriptural
freedom and power of adaptation to circumstances,
and in a certain grave and dignified simplicity.
This has always been recognised by all who were
competent to discern and appreciate such features
in worship. " I hope," Mr. Gladstone said,
writing in January, 1883, to a minister of the
United Presbyterian Church, ''that the tendency
in Scotland to an increase of ritual will not be
indulged without reserve ; for there was a solemn
and stern simplicity in the old form of Presby-
terian worship, which was entitled to great
respect, and which was a thing totally different
from the mean nakedness and the cold worldli-
ness and indifference so widely dominant in
English services fifty years ago."^
This is a needful warning. But what is
implied in the suggestion of an optional liturgy
of the type of the Book of Common Order would
not, if rightly and deliberately gone about,
impair the simplicity and elasticity of our
^ Baillie, ii, 2. For some specimens of these Scott^ Collects
of 1595, see Appendix B.
2 Letter to the Kev. Andrew Duncan, Author of The Scottish
Sanctuary, as it ivasand as it is: Hawarden, 3rd January, 18S3.
OBJECTION III: PRACTICALLY HURTFUL. 67
service, and would very specially guard its
dignity. Think, for example, how marriage
services and Baptisms are often conducted by
Presbyterian ministers, who do not even guide
themselves by the Directory for Worship. Can
anything more undignified be easily conceived ?
Think how not uufrequently the solemnity of
the Lord's Table is marred, and the edification of
the communicants hindered, by rambling, diffuse-
ness, and irrelevancy in prayer and address. In
most of the cases to which I refer, these evils
would have been averted, or very greatly
lessened, had the Church set some high and
simple model of such services before the young
minister, which he might use, or upon which
he might mould himself, before his ministerial
habits were formed, and before a fatal facility of
alovenly utterance was acquired.
III. But an objector may say : " Argue as
plausibly as you will from a theoretical point of
view ; practically, the two systems of liturgy and
free prayer cannot live together. You must
make your choice between the one and the other,
with the benefits and the drawbacks attaching to
each respectively. It is like the relation between
the system of endowments for a Church, and
the system of support by voluntary Christian
liberality. Theoretically, one would suppose that
an endowed Church, being saved the burden of
68 -I^/SA'S ADMITTED.
upholding her own ministry and Church fabrics,
would do so much the more for other objects.
But, practically, the reverse seems to be true.
The unendowed Churches both support them-
selves, and do much more for missions at home
and abroad than their wealthier neighbours who
are established by the State. So, practically, a
Prayer-book established in the Church would
kill free prayer. It has done so in the Church
of England and in the Scotch Episcopal Com-
munion. Young ministers would turn what was
meant to be a staff into a crutch, and would
never learn to walk alone. They would lean
wdiolly upon a liturgy, if you gave them one, even
of a nominally optional kind, and would fail to
cultivate the gift and grace of free prayer."
Now, I have always felt this to be a weighty
argument. It is perfectly conclusive, even if
it stood alone, against a liturgy of the Anglican
type ; and it ought to be very carefully weighed
as bearing against even an optional liturgy.
Considerations of this kind are urged by Hog of
Carnock in a temperate but powerful way, and
in a very warm and evangelical spirit, in a little
treatise written in 1710.-^ They do not seem
1 Letter on the Unlau'fiilncss of Imposing Forms of Prayer,
Edin. 1710, 10-13, 25ff., 42-67. Prof. Henry Drumijiond gives
an impressive warning against dangers of a spiritual kind arising
for members as well as ministers of the Church, both in cases
where all other parts of worship are subordinated to the sermon
THE EVIDENCE OF EXPERIENCE. 69
to me to be conclusive agaiast the old position
of the Reformed Church in this matter ; but
they certainly indicate dangers and abuses which
may arise in connection with it, and which should
be carefully guarded against by suitable means.
On the other hand, it is to be remembered :
First, that many a slothful, unspiritual minister
gets by degrees into a stereotyped form of prayer
under the present system. By a combination
of tradition and haphazard, his individual
"offices" take shape, — "if shape it may be
called, that shape hath none," — and are soon
only too well known to his unfortunate flock.
You have there, on a small scale, all the evils of
a fixed liturgy, with none of its advantages.-*-
Secondly, the evidence of experience proves
that an optional liturgy, if framed on sound
priociples, and used by the Church in a right
and ill cases where the service is largely or wholly liturgical.
— Natural Law in the Spiritual World, 2nd ed, 352f.
^ I have been credibly informed of one " Moderate" minister
in the far North, who had literally only one prayer in public
worship. It was repeated Sabbath after Sabbath without the
slightest variation. Once a-year, on the occasion of the yearly
Communion, there was one additional sentence ; that was the
sole change of which it was capable. Naturally, the spiritual
life of the parish passed over to "The Secession." Some little
urchins at the parish school, who were sometimes stigmatised in
the playground as " Blue Seceders," used to avenge themselves
upon their comrades of "the Auld Kirk" by repeating, with
perfect accuracy and amazing volubility, "Daddy 's
prayer."
70 RUBRICS OF KNOX'S LITURGY.
way, can exist side by side with, and indeed
contribute to a very remarkable development of
the gift of free prayer. John Knox's liturgy,
for example, did not hinder, but helped and
guided such a development in the Scottish
Church during the first century after the Refor-
mation. The prayers of the Book of Common
Order were regularly read in the Church
of St. Giles, Sabbath and week-day, under
Knox's own ministry and that of his successors
there. By the General Assembly which met
in December, 1564, "It was ordained that
every minister, exhorter, and reader shall have
one of the Psalm-books lately printed in
Edinburgh, and use the order contained therein
in Prayers, Marriage, and ministration of the
Sacraments.''^ But the Book of Common
Order, which they were thus instructed to use,
not only allowed but enjoined the minister to
go beyond the forms which it supplied. The
prayer before the sermon was to be always free,
no form for it being given. As regards the
1 Boole of the Universal Kirlc, i. 54; "Knox's Works" (Laiiig's
eel.) vi. 279, Comp. First Boole of Discipline, chap. xi. 1, 2, as
to the importance attached to " the Common Prayers," and the
expediency of there being "in great towns every day, either
sermon or common prayers, with some exercise of fading of
Scriptures." It is worth noting, however, that in the same
paragraph the place and honour due to free prayer are specially
guarded.
PRACTICAL RESULTS IN CHURCH. yi
special offices for the Communion, Baptism, and
Marriage, the rubrics were stricter. Certain
parts of these services were fixed, while liberty
was left as to varying others. But as regards
the ordinary worship of the Lord's Day, the
discretionary and stimulating character of the
Liturgy was emphasised throughout. The follow-
ing are some of its rubrics : '' The minister
useth one of these two Confessions, or like in
effect, exhorting the people diligently to examine
themselves, following in their hearts the tenor of
his words." " The people sing a Psalm all
together, to 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 the sermon," . . . '' which ended,
he either useth the ' Prayer for all Estates *
before mentioned, or else prayeth as the Spirit
of God shall move his heart, framing the same
according to the time and matter which he hath
entreated of." ^ The old Scottish Liturgy, in
short, was framed upon wise and Scriptural
principles ; and the natural fruits followed. It
was not a hindrance, but a help and guide to
the exercise and cultivation of the gift of free
prayer throughout the Church.
Take the case of one of the most eminent and
1 Dunlop, Collection of Confessions, ii. 417, 421, 426 ; Booh of
Common Order (Sprott and Leishraan) xxii. 79, 86, 90.
72 ROBERT BRUCE OF EDINBURGH.
gifted of Knox's successors in St. Giles, Robert
Bruce of Kinnaird. The prayers of the old
Liturgy were read statedly under his ministry in the
ordinary services of the Church. When banished
to Inverness early in the seventeenth century,
for faithfulness to conscience and for opposing
the innovations of the Court and the prelatic
party, " he remained there four years," Calder-
wood writes, " teaching every Sabbath before
noon, and every Wednesday, and read the
prayers every other night at even." "He ex-
horted at the prayers," another account says,
" every evening while there." The result of his
work and iafluence at Inverness was a general
revival of spiritual religion in the whole town
and neighbourhood. " That poor dark country
was marvellously enlightened. Many were
brought to Christ by his ministry ; and a seed
was sown in these places which to this day is
not worn out.^ Yet it is the universal testimony of
his contemporaries, that Robert Bruce's own free-
dom and power in prayer w^ere most striking and
unusual. "He had a very majestic countenance,"
says one very competent witness who saw and
heard him often ; " and whatever he spake in
public or private, yea, when he read tli^ Word,
I thought it had such force as I never dis-
^ Calderwood, Histoid, vi. 291f. ; Bruce, Sermons and Life
(Wod. Soc), 125, 144.
ALEXANDER HENDERSON. 73
cerned in any other man. ... No man in his
time spake with such evidence and power of the
Spirit ; no man had so many seals of conversion.
He had a notable faculty in searching deep in
the Scriptures, and of making dark mysteries
plain, but especially in dealing with everyone's
conscience. . . . He was both in public and pri-
vate very short in prayer with others ; but every
sentence was like a strong bolt shot up to heaven.
I have heard him say, he hath w^earied when
others were longsome in prayer ; but being alone,
he spent much time in prayer and wrestling." ^
Or take the case of one who always regarded
Robert Bruce as in a special sense his spiritual
father, one whose name stands deservedly beside
those of John Knox and Andrew Melville in the
love and reverence of the Scottish people, —
I mean Alexander Henderson. We have seen
already how strongly opposed he was to the
innovators who, under English influences,
'* discountenanced read prayers," and would have
needlessly given up other usages of the old
Scottish Liturgy or Book of Common Order.
But none of his contemporaries, aftdr Robert
Bruce had passed away, was more eminent than
he himself was in the gift and grace of prayer.
All must have been struck with the evidence of
this, who have studied the history of that
^ Livingstone in Select Biogra'phies (Wod. Soc), i. 306f.
74 PRA YER A T GLA SGOIV A SSEMBL V.
memorable Glasgow Assembly of 1638, whose
proceedings Henderson guided with such singular
wisdom, dignity, and success. " We ended that
day," Baillie says, after telling how some difficult
business had been disposed of at one of the
earlier sessions of the Assembly, " with the
Moderator's prayer. Among that man's other
good parts, that was one, — a faculty of grave,
good, and zealous prayer, according to the matter
in hand; which he exercised without flagging to
the last day of our meeting." ^
Among the many striking incidents in the
scene of the deposition of the prelates in the
High Church of Glasgow, one of the most imj^res-
sive is connected with the prayer in which
Henderson, as Moderator, led the Assembly
before pronouncing sentence. " It rests now,"
he said, " before pronouncing the sentence of
this reverend and honourable Assembly, that we
should call upon God, that He may be pleased to
join His Divine approbation to that which we
are to pronounce ; that it may be seen by the
world to be ratified in heaven : —
" Great Lord of the heavens and of the earth,
who doest in them both what seemeth good in
Thy sight : Great King and Lawgiver in Thine
own Church ; God eternal and glorious in Thyself,
but merciful and compassionate to Thy people ;
1 Baillie, i. 128.
WALDENSIANS AND MORA VIANS. 75
we, Thy servants and children, do again present
ourselves before Thy majesty." (" Tlie concern of
the congregation increasing," the old chronicler
says, ''as the awful part drew near, the amanuensis
— evidently sharing in it — could not distinctly
transcribe more of this very fervent prayer.")^
So much regarding the practical fruits in
Scotland of the old Scottish Liturgy after it had
been in regular use in the Church for nearly a
century.
Again, some of the Churches on the Continent
and elsewhere, which from the first have been
most noted for evangelical warmth and mission-
ary zeal, use now, and always have used, to a
greater or less extent, an optional liturgy. I
may refer, for example, to the Waldensian Church
and to the '' Unitas Fratrum " or Church of the
Moravia,n Brethren. The same thing is true of
other members of the family of Reformed Churches,
well known alike for their success in missions
and their soundness in the faith, such as the
Dutch Keformed Church in America.^
I have spoken hitherto of risks and objections,
and of how these may be met. In conclusion,
I may point out, in a few words, several positive
advantages which can hardly be gained, I think,
^ Records of the Kirh of Scotland, 180.
^ Compare the Author's Grounds and Metliods of Admission to
Sealing Ordinances : Edin, 1882, p. 83.
76 ADVANTAGES OF OPTIONAL LITURGY.
except by the plan of an optional liturgy or Book
of Common Order, prepared and recommended by
the authority of the Church as such.
1st. It would raise the general standard of
devotional taste, if one may so speak, in public
prayer.
To have some high and chaste model service,
framed on the principles and in the spirit, and to
a large extent in the words, of the Reformed
Church in her best days, and set before ministers,
elders, and people with the approval of the Church
of the present, would tell gradually but steadily in
this direction. It would at once aid, stimulate,
and guide those entrusted with the conduct of
public worship, or called upon to lead in meet-
ings for prayer. Surely the Church owes some
help of this kind to her younger ministers when
first launched upon the full charge of a congre-
gation. I have a strong persuasion that if you
asked somewhat less from them, in such circum-
stances, in the way of extempore prayer, what
you did get would be better in point of quality.
It is surely the duty of our Church, while
jealously guarding the freedom and elasticity of
her present system, to do all that she can to
remove whatever might reasonably offend the
more refined and cultured among her worshippers,
and hinder their edification in the common
service.
PEOPLE'S SHARE IN WORSHIP. 77
2nd. An optional liturgy, rightly framed,
would give the people a more direct and manifest
share in the devotional part of the worship, as
distinguished from the service of praise, — the
congregational character of which has, as a rule,
been such an admirable feature in the worship of
the Presbyterian Church.
This would add perceptibly to the warmth and
interest of the whole service. I do not enter
here upon the question of " responses," about
which a good deal may be said on both sides.^
What I mean is that the members of the congre-
gation should be encouraged to repeat the Lord's
Prayer with the minister, and to say " Amen " at
the end of all the prayers. The latter is beyond
question both a Scriptural and a primitive usage. ^
It prevails to this day in several of the Reformed
Churches, as, for example, in the congregations of
the Waldensian Church in Italy, with great advan-
tage to the heartiness and life of the service, as
all who, like the writer, have had the privilege
1 See, for instance, on the one side, Professor Lorimer, A
National Church demands a National Liturgy, 34-8 ; and on the
other, Dr. K,. M. Patterson, Presbyterian Worship in Presby-
terian Revieiv, iv. 756f., 769-71 ; and as holding a middle position.
Dr. Shields, Liturgia Expurgata, or the Prayer-booh as amended
by the Westminster Divines, New York, 4th ed. 39f.
2 See above, p. 19f. ; Deut. xxvii. 15-26 ; 1 Chron. xvi. 36 ;
Ps. cvi. 48 ; Neh. viii. 6 ; 1 Cor. xiv. 16. See also Ebrard's
extracts from the Preface to the Liturgy of the Church of Neuf-
chatel, Reformirtes Kirchenhuch, xxvii.f.
78 Si:RVlCE-l]OnK FOR SPECIAL OCCASIONS.
of vv()r.shi|)|»iM^^ i'(!L;ula,ily witli llioiii, even for a
few weeks, must 1im,V(! fell-.
'IMk^ recitation of tin; " l^aief" or "Apostles'
Crce(l " on eert;iin oceasions by tin; wliole con-
jjcref^'atioii was a commendable uya^^e of the old
Scottish (ylmrcli, wliicli miL,dit well be revived
when; Sessions regard it as for (m1 ideation. It
forirHul a, part, ibr instance, of tlie "Order of the
Election of KId(;rs and Deacons in the Church of
l^]dinbnr;^di," drawn up by John Knox, which was
approvcil ol' by tlici^'iieral Assembly of 1582,
a,nd ordered to l)o of nst; in tlie whole Church at
tlie ordination and admission of Elders.^
3rd. Sn(;h a l)Ook of Common Order would
supply wha,t is often greatly needed — a service-
book foi- rresbyteria,n worship on special occasions,
at sea,, in India, in the (U)lonies, &c., where no
minister is available, but where there is a strong
desire for some kind of religious service, and
espc^cially for one which will remind the
worshi[)pers of home and of tlio Church of their
fathers.
•I'di. Such an o|)tional liturgy would be
a practical defence of " the rights of the Christian
])(M)pK» " in connection with the administration
of l»a,j)tism and at marriage.
'I'he nature and variety of the vowsMaid upon
' l)unlo|), Collection of Confessions, ii. OoO ; Knox's Works, ii.
li;5, 101-5-4.
BAPTISM AND MARRIAGE. 79
parents from the pulpit at the Baptism of their
children sometimes constitute a serious practical
abuse. A man has really a right to know dis-
tinctly beforehand what he is to be asked to
assent to in such circumstances, where he has no
chance of objection or reply. Then, on the
other hand, the Church has to guard her own
responsibility in the administration of this Sacra-
ment as well as in that of the Lord's Supper.
She has a right to see that the main points in
the Scriptural and Confessional doctrine of
Baptism, in its practical bearing both on the
children and on the parents, shall be plainly
and briefly brought before the minds of the wit-
nessing congregation, young and old, as well
as of the parents who take the vows upon them-
selves.
oth. Such a service-book would open to us
the stores of devotional feeling and expression
which lie hid in the early Christian liturgies and
in those of the Reformation period.
We lose much by not studying these more than
is commonly done, and seeking to catch some-
thing of their warmth, simplicity, and reverence.
Why should not our ministers and people know,
for instance, as well as our forefathers did in
the days of Knox and Melville, that noble
''' Confession of Sins," which is ascribed to
CEcolampadius, the friend of Zwingli, and the
8o THE ''OFFNE SCHULD'' OF 1525.
Reformer of Basel ? It appears in the Liturgy of
the Protestant Church of Ziirich, in 1525.-^ It
is the second " Confession of Sins " in Calvin's
" Book of Geneva " ; the first in the Scottish
Book of Common Order. It is used in the
Waldensian Valleys, and in all the various
branches of the Church of Holland, and of the
Church of the Huguenots in the Old World and
in the New. It stands in all the Swiss, all the
French, all the Rhineland Liturgies to this day.
For well-nigh four hundred years that Confession
has been on the lips and in the heart of the
Reformed Church all over the world. Yet we
have forgotten it in Scotland since the West-
minster Assembly. We have equally forgotten
those Scottish Collects and other prayers of the
sixteenth century of which Alexander Henderson
thought so highly.
6th. Such a service-book, embodying some of
these historic prayers and other ancient materials
of devotion, would make our people realise, more
practically than they do, the true unity of the
1 See Appendix C.
The fine " General Confession " in the morning and evening
service of the Church of England is taken, like much else in the
Prayer-book, from Presbyterian sources. It comes from Calvin's
Strassburg Service-Book of 1545, through the liturgies of Pol-
lanus and A Lasco. See Shield's Lit. Expurg.^4th. ed. 77f.,
87-90 ; Daniel, The Prayer- BopJc, 8th ed. 83 ; Baird, Chapter on
Liturgies, Lend. 1856, 22, 34f.
THE COMMUNION OF SAINTS. 8i
Church of Christ in what is best and highest in
all ages of her history.
The voice of prayer, as well as of praise, is
really one throughout all time in the Church
Catholic. Prayers like that of Chrysostom, like
that great Reformation Confession of Sins, never
lose their power by repetition. They keep the
dew of their youth through all the centuries.
We " believe in the Holy Catholic Church,
the Communion of Saints." I know no better
commentary on that phrase in the Apostles'
Creed than the 26 th chapter of the Westminster
Confession of Faith, '^ of the Communion of
Saints." But there has come to be an excess of
individualism in our Church life. There is among
us a great deal of — so to speak — doTmant
brotherly feeling of a really genuine kind towards
each other and towards all the Churches of Christ.
But it fails to find sufficient embodiment in prac-
tical ways. There is often a want of visible and
practical expression of that sense of common
Christian fellowship in the one Church of Christ
which is in itself such a power for good. " Those
long unbroken melodies of praise and prayer " -^
help us to realise and, to some extent, to express it.
The Church of England has no more exclusive
right to the " Te Deum," to the " Prayer of St.
Chrysostom," or to the Litany, than she has to
^ Hitchcock, Proceedings of Council at Philadelphia, 74.
G
82 THE COMMUNION OF SAINTS.
the Apostles' Creed and the Lord's Prayer. Such
hymns and prayers form part of the common
heritage of Christendom. They hand down to
us the best thoughts and words of some of the
holiest of Christ's servants, and the nearest to
God in prayer and praise. Why should not our
people get the good and feel the power of them,
if it can be done without losing the spiritual
freshness and freedom, the elasticity and sim-
plicity which characterise our present system in
good hands ?
^*
DEATH-BED OF JOHN KNOX. 83
APPENDICES.
APPENDIX A.— CoMP. p. 5lF.
Last Prayer in which John Knox joined on
HIS Death-bed.
rPHERE are few more striking and touching
-*- scenes in tlie records of Church history, than
those connected with the last days of John Knox.
Happily a full account of them has been pre-
served for us in the words of two eye-witnesses,
— Richard Bannatyne, the faithful servant of the
Reformer ; and " a pious and learned man who
sat with him in his sickness until his latest
breath," and who, as Dr. Laing shows, was in all
likelihood Mr. James Lawson, Knox's colleague
and successor in St. Giles. I give the following
extracts from their narratives, as illustrating
Knox's use of the Apostles' Creed and of the
prayers of the Book of Common Order : —
" He earnestly desired," Bannatyne says, " the
Kirk — I mean the elders and deacons — that he might
bid them his last good-night, as he had done before in
the pulpit at the inauguration of Mr James Lawson^
84 " THE PRA YER FOR THE SICK:'
saying, that lie would never enter that place again.
Upon Monday the 17th day (of November, 1572), the
Kirk came according to his desire. . . . And so with
exhortation unto them all, he commendeth them to
God: who, after the prayer read 'for the Sick,' as it is
in the Psalm-Book, departed with tears. . . . Sunday
the 23rd day — which was the first Sunday of the Fast
— at afternoon^ all being at the Kirk except them
that waited upon him, after that he had lain a good
space very quiet, as we thought, he says : * Gif any be
present, let them come and see the work of God,' for
then he thought to have departed, as we judged. At
what time I sent for John Johnston he bursts forth
in these words : ' I have been in meditation thir two
last nights of the troubled Kirk of God, the spouse of
Jesus Christ, despised of the world, but precious in
His sight. I have called to God for her, and have
committed her to her Head, Jesus Christ. I have
been fightand against Satan, who is ever ready to
assault ; yea, I have f ochten against spiritual wicked-
ness in heavenly things, and have prevailed. I have
been in heaven and have possession; and I have tasted
of these heavenly joys, where presently I am ! ' And
thereafter said the Lord's Prayer and the Belief, with
some paraphrase upon every petition and article of
them ; and in saying, ' Our Pather which art in
heaven,' he says: 'Who can pronounce so holy words?'
"After the sermon many come in to see him ; and
some seeing him draw his breath so shoi^ly, asked,
' Gif he had any pain % ' Whilk when he understood,
he answered and said : ' I have no more pain than he
LAST WORDS OF JOHN KNOX. 85
that is now in heaven, and I am content, gif God so
please, to lie here for seven years ! ' Thereafter he
said oft and sundry times : ' Live in Christ, and let
never flesh fear death.' His meaning was, that gif
we live in Christ, no man shall fear death.
"When he would be lying, as we supposed on a
sleep, then was he at his meditation, as his manifold
sentences may well declare ; as this, that I have before
said, wherein he would often burst forth : * Live in
Christ,' and, ' Lord, grant us the right and perfect
hatred of sin, as well by the document of Thy mercies
as of Thy judgments.' ' Lord, grant true pastors to
Thy Kirk, that purity of doctrine may be retained ;
and restore peace again to this commonwealth, with
godly rulers and magistrates.' ' Ance, Lord, make an
end of trouble ! ' ' Lord, I commend my spirit, soul,
and body, and all, into Thine hands.' With innumer-
able sic like sentences.
"Monday, which was the 24th of November, he
departed this life to his eternal rest. . . . Being
asked by the guidman of Kinzeancleuch. ' Gif he had
any pain % ' said : ' It is no painful pain; but sic a pain
as, I trust, shall put end to this battle.' He said also
to the said Robert: 'I maun leave the care of my
wife and bairns to you ; to whom ye maun be a
husband in my room.'
" A little after noon, he caused his wife read the
15th chapter of the First Epistle to the Corinthians, of
the resurrection ; to whom he said : * Is not that a
comfortable chapter % ' A little after he says : '■ Now,
for the last, I commend my soul, spirit, and body ' —
86 " THE EVENING PR A YERP
pointing upon his three fingers — ' into Thine hands, O
Lord.' Thereafter, about five hours, he says to his
wife : ' Go, read where I cast m^^ first anchor.' And
so she read the 17th of John's Evangel; quhilk
being ended, was read some of Calvin's Sermons upon
the Ephesians. We, thinking that he was asleep,
demanded gif he heard ^ Answered: 'I hear; and
understand far better, I praise God.'
"About seven hours at even, we left reading,
thinking he had been asleep, so he lay still till after
ten hours, except that sometimes he would bid wet his
mouth with a little weak ale. And half-an-hour after
ten or thereby we went to our ordinar prayers, quhilk
was the longer or we went to them, because we
thought he had been sleepand ; quhilk being ended.
Dr. Preston says to him, 'Sir, heard ye the prayers?'
Answered : ' I would to God that ye and all men
heard them as I have heard them ; and I praise God
for that heavenly sound.' After the said doctor was
risen up, Robert Campbell sits down before him on a
stool ; and suddenly thereafter he says : ' Now it is
come ! ' for he had given a long sigh and sob. Then
Richard, sitting down before him, said: 'Now, sir, the
time that ye have long called to God for, to wit, an
end of your battle, is come. And seeing al] natural
power now fails, remember upon those comfortable
promises which oftentimes ye have shown to us of
our Saviour Jesus Christ. And that we may under-
stand and know that ye hear us, make us soiijie sign.'
And so he lifted up his one hand, and incontinent
thereafter rendered the spirit, and slept away without
" THE EVENING PRA YERP 87
any pain, the day aforesaid about eleven hours at
even." ^
The Latin narrative of Knox's last illness and
death published by Smeton in 1579, and
written, as there is every reason to believe, by
Lawson, gives a similar account of the incident
above mentioned in connection with the evening:
prayer. It says : —
" In the meantime evening prayers were read.
Being asked if he heard them, he answered : ^ I wish
that you may have heard them with the same ears,
and understood them with the same mind with which
I heard and understood. Lord Jesus receive my
spirit ! '
"As there now appeared certain indications of
immediate death, those who stood by requested him
that he would give some certain sign that he closed
his life in that eternal truth of God which he had
taught, and in the steady assurance of a blessed im-
mortality through Jesus Christ, which he had so often
thirsted for. Wherefore, acquiring as it were new
strength when he was just dying, he raised his hand
towards heaven, and giving two sighs, his soul de-
parted from the mortal body at eleven o'clock of the
night of the 24tli of November — without any motion
of the feet or of any other part of his body, so that he
rather seemed to fall asleep than die. Surely, what-
ever opprobrious things profane persons may say, in
1 Knox's Works, vi. 637-44.
88 " THE PRA YER FOR THE SICK:'
him God hath set us an example both of living and
dying well."-'^
I subjoin part of the '' Prayer for the Sick,"
which was evidently intended to be used in
different parts, according to the circumstances of
the sick person, and the concluding petitions of
the " Evening Prayer " in the Book of Common
Order, ed. 15 64.
" A Prayer to be said in Visiting the Sick.
******
"Receive him, Lord, into Thy protection, for he
hath his recourse and access to Thee alone. Make
him constant and firm in Thy commandments and
promises. And also pardon all his sins, both secret
and those which are manifest ; by the which he
hath most grievously provoked Thy wrath and judg-
ments against him ; so as, in place of death, — the
which both he and all we have justly merited, — Thou
wilt grant unto him that blessed life, which we also
attend and look for by Thy grace and mercy.
"If the time by Thee appointed be come, that he
shall depart from us unto Thee, make him to feel in his
conscience, O Lord, the strength and fruit of Thy
grace, that thereby he may have a new taste of Thy
fatherly care over him from the beginning of his life
unto the very end of the same, for the love of Thy
dear Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. Give ''him Thy
1 Knox's Works, vi. 660. Comp. M'Crie, Life of Knox, 5th
ed. ii. 221f., 227-32.
" THE PRA YER FOR THE SICK:' 89
grace, that with a good heart, and full assurance of
faith, he may receive to his consolation so great and
excellent a treasure, to wit, the remission of his sins
in Christ Jesus Thy Son, who now presenteth Himself
to this poor person in distress, by virtue of Thy
promises revealed unto him by Thy Word, which he
hath exercised with us in Thy Church and congrega-
tion.
" Also, 0 Heavenly Father, vouchsafe to have pity
on all other sick persons, and such as be by any other
means ajOaicted; and also on those who as yet are
ignorant of Thy truth, and appertain, nevertheless,
unto Thy kingdom. Have mercy in like manner on
those that suffer persecution, tormented in prisons, or
otherwise troubled by the enemies of the verity for
bearing testimony to the same; finally, on all the
necessities of Thy people, and upon all the ruins or
decays which Satan hath brought upon Thy Church.
" Grant these our requests, 0 our dear Father, for
the love of Thy dear Son our Saviour Jesus Christ \
who liveth and reigneth with Thee in the unity of the
Holy Ghost, true God for evermore. So be it." ^
A Form op Prayees to be used in Private Houses
EVERY Morning and Evening.
Evening Prayer.
* * -^ * * ^
"And because Thou hast commanded us to pray
one for another, we do not only make request, O Lord,
for ourselves, and them that Thou hast already called
1 Knox's Works, vi. 330f.
90 THE EVENING PRAYER.
to the true understanding of Tliy heavenly will, but
for all i^eople and nations of the world. As they
know by Thy wonderful works that Thou art God over
all • so may they be instructed by Thy Holy Spirit to
believe in Thee their only Saviour and Redeemer.
But, forasmuch as they cannot believe except they
hear, nor can they hear but by preaching, and none
can preach except they be sent; therefore, O Lord,
raise up faithful distributors of Thy mysteries, who,
setting apart all worldly respects, may both in their
life and doctrine only seek Thy glory.
"Finally, forasmuch as it hath pleased Thee to
make the night for man to rest in, as Thou hast
ordained him the day to travel ; grant, 0 dear Father,
that we may so take our bodily rest that our souls
may continually watch for the time that our Lord
Jesus Christ shall appear for our deliverance out of
this mortal life. And in the mean season, grant that
we may fully set our minds upon Thee, love Thee,
fear Thee, and rest in Thee.
" Furthermore, may our sleep be not excessive or
overmuch after the desires of our flesh, but only
sufficient to content our weak nature, that we may be
better disposed to live in all godly conversation, to
the glory of Thy holy name and profit of our brethren.
So be it." ^
1 Knox's Works, vi. 352. Comp. Liturgical Services of the
Eeign of Queen Elizabeth (Parker Soc), 259-63.
APPENDIX B.—SCO TTISH COLLECTS. 9 1
APPENDIX B.— See pp. 64-6.
Scottish Collects of 1595.
These Collects, or '' Prayers on the Psalms,"
are, as stated above, one hundred and forty-nine
in number, the prayers on Psalm cvii. and Psalm
cviii. being the same. They are all framed
according to the approved liturgical rules for the
construction of a Collect, with an " Invocation,"
" Petition," and " Conclusion," except the last
ten, which are short prayers of a simpler form.
Two of these are given below : '' Deliver us, O
Lord, from the wicked," and '' Most worthy art
Thou of all praises." The original text may be
seen in Dr. Livingston's "Scottish Metrical Psalter
of 1635," Appendix, ix-xviii. I give at the foot
of the page, verbatiTn et literati'm, the text of the
first Collect of those selected.-^
In the English Psalter, usually known as that
of Archbishop Parker (who died in 1575), there
1 * ' A prayer upon the fortieth Psalme : — ' 0 Lord, that be
Thy Providence gydis and governis all thingis, and that hes send
to us Thy weil belovit Sonne, for to delyver us from sinne and
deith be the oblatioun of His bodie on the Croce. Graunt that
wee continuallie may acknawledge this Thy great and inestima-
bill benefite, and that wee ever haif our heartis and mouthes
open to pronounce Thy praises amang all men be Thy selfsame
Sonne, Jesus Christ our Saviour. So be it.' "
92 SCOTTISH COLLECTS OF 1595.
is a ''Collecte" added after each Psalm. This
which, as Dr. Livingston observes, is " the only
known precedent " — may have suggested the
Scottish Prayers on the Psalms. But the prayers
themselves are altogether different ; the Scottish
ones being, so far as I have compared the two,
decidedly superior in simplicity, fervour and
power of expression.
In the last will or inventory (1578) of Thomas
Bassandyne, a famous Edinburgh printer, there
occurs the entry: ''1280 Prayers upon the
Psalms, the piece lOd." These may be the
Collects which we are now considering. If so,
they must have been printed separately, previous
to their admission into the authorised " Psalm-
book." The case of Bassandyne, by the way,
furnishes another illustration of the close super-
vision exercised by the General Assembly over
everything printed in, or in connection with, their
" Psalm-book " or Book of Common Order. It
was reported and proved to the Assembly of 1568
that Thomas Bassandyne had published an edition
of the Psalm-book with a song called *' Welcome,
Fortune," printed at the end, and that he had
also published another book with a title which
seemed to imply the king's supremacy in spiritual
things ; '' whilk books he had printed without
licence of the magistrate or revising of the Kirk.
Therefore, the hail Assembly ordained the said
THOMAS BASSANDYNE. 93
Thomas to call in again all the foresaid books
that he has sold, and keep the rest unsold
until he alter the foresaid title ; and also that
he delete the said song out of the end of the
Psalm-book ; and further, that he abstain in all
time coming from printing anything without
licence of the supreme magistrate and revising
of sic things as pertain to religion by some of
the Kirk appointed for that purpose. Attour,
the Assembly appointed Mr. Alex. Arbuthnot to
revise the rest of the foresaid tractate, and report
to the Kirk what doctrine he finds therein."^
In editing this little selection of Scottish Collects,
I have followed the rule on which I have acted in
quoting from old writers in the preceding chapters ;
that is to say, I have generally modernised the
spelling and punctuation, but retained the words
of the original. The language of these Collects
of 1595 is more distinctively Scottish than that
of the prayers in the Book of Common Order.
In the latter, John Knox's style may be more
seen, and he Avas accused by his contemporaries
of " knapping Southron."^ But in these Collects
there are a number of purely Scottish words, most of
which I have reluctantly translated, although the
nearest English equivalent is often a very inade-
1 Livingston, Scottish Met. Psalter of 1635, p. 37 ; Booh of
Univ. KirTc, lOOf.
2 M'Crie, Life of Knox, 5th ed. ii. 277f.
94 SCOTTISH COLLECTS OF 1595.
V
quate substitute. Thus I have put ''looking
for," or " awaiting " in place of the fine Scots
word '' abidand ; " '' frailty " for " bruckilness,"
" overthrow" for '' dounthring," &c. I have
also occasionally made such trifling changes as to
substitute " who " for " that," " heavenly " for
"celestial/' and "Church" for its Scottish
equivalent "Kirk;" and have sometimes omitted
half of a double phrase, as in the " Prayer for
defence of Christ's kingdom," " destroy [and
dissipate]," " devised [and addressed] against
Him." Short headings have been added to
indicate the nature of the prayers, and they
have been grouped according to their subject-
matter.
I. Prayers relating to Individual Christian
Life and Experience.
1. A prayer that we may glory in Christ's
Cross : —
" 0 Lord, who by Thy Providence dost guide and
govern all things, and hast sent unto us Thy well-
beloved Son to deliver us from sin and death by the
oblation of His body on the Cross : Grant that we
may continually acknowledge this Thine unspeakable
gift, and that we may ever have our hearts and
mouths open to proclaim Thy praises among all men,
by the selfsame Jesus Christ our Saviour. Amen."
PRA VERS OF THE CHRISTIAN LIFE. 95
2. A prayer for the forgiveness of sins : —
" O pitiful Father, who art full of mercy and dost
never reject the prayers of them who call upon Thee
in truth : Have mercy upon us, and take away the
multitude of our sins, according to the truth of Thy
promises which Thou hast given us, and wherein we
put our whole trust, even as we are taught by the
Word of Thy Son our only Saviour. Amen."
3. Confession of sins and prayer for grace : —
*' Father, most pitiful and gracious, albeit through
our unthankfulness and wickedness we cease not to
provoke Thee to anger against us by loosing the bridle
to all our evil affections, yet notwithstanding, since it
hath pleased Thee to take us into the holy covenant
which Thou hast made with our fathers, we beseech
Thee punish us not according to the rigour of Thy
justice, but deliver us from sin and trouble, that we
may give praise and thanks unto Thy holy name,
through Jesus Christ our only Saviour. Amen."
4. For forgiveness and consecration to God's
service : —
" Father of all mercies, who delightest not in the
death of a sinner, have compassion upon us, and wash
us from all our sins that we have committed against
Thee since the time we first came into this world.
Create in us a clean heart, and strengthen us continu-
ally with the power of Thy Holy Spirit, that we, being
truly consecrated to Thy service, may set forth Thy
praises, through Jesus Christ our Saviour. Amen."
96 SCOTTISH COLLECTS OF 1595.
5. That we may do God's will : —
" Almighty God, of whom cometh all our sufficiency,
assist us by Thy Holy Spirit, that we neither think,
nor say, nor do anything that is against Thy holy will.
Hear our prayers. Defeat our enemies. And comfort
us by the selfsame Spirit, that we may continually
feel Thy fatherly favour and goodwill, which Thou
showest unto Thine own children, through Jesus
Christ Thy Son. Amen."
6. For the right ordering of our lives : —
" Good Lord and God Almighty, who according to
Thy promises has sent unto us Thy dear Son, our
King and Redeemer : Grant that we so order our lives
under the obedience of Thy holy Word that we may
renounce ourselves and all our carnal affections, and
that we may be an occasion to all people to glorify Thy
holy name throughout all the earth, and that through
the self-same Jesus Christ our only Saviour. Amen."
7. For a steadfast faith and an upright life.
" Most potent King of kings and Lord of lords,
whose glory is unsearchable, whose majesty is sove-
reign, and whose power is infinite : maintain Thy
servants in quietness. And grant that we may be so
settled on the certainty of Thy promises, that whatso-
ever thing may come upon us, we may abide firm in
Thy faith, and may live uprightly and without
reproach in the midst of Thy Church, ftvhich Jesus
Christ Thy Son hath bought with His precious blood.
Amen."
PRA VERS OF THE CHRISTIAN LIFE. 97
8. For quietness and thankfulness of heart.
" 0 eternal God and most merciful Father, who
quickenest things that be dead : Of Thine infinite
goodness give unto us quietness of heart, to the intent
that we, not being overthrown with the heavy
burdens of affliction that lie upon us, may in our
consciences rejoice in Thy salvation. And grant, we
beseech Thee, that we may continually addict our-
selves to praise and magnify Thy most holy name,
through Jesus Christ, Thy dear Son, our Redeemer.
Amen."
9. For the right use of affliction.
" Good Lord, who art a just Judge and chastenest
Thy children as a Father to drive them to unfeigned
repentance : Grant unto us of Thine infinite goodness
that the afflictions, which we justly sufier for our
ofiences, may serve us unto the amendment of our
lives ; and that in the midst of them we may have a
perfect feeling of Thy fatherly mercy, to the intent
that, our enemies being put to shame, we may praise
Thee with thanksgiving all the days of our life,
through Jesus Christ, Thy Son. Amen."
10. For deliverance out of trouble.
"True and ever-living God, the only Help of all
Thy poor afflicted people : Disappoint, we pray Thee,
the devices of our enemies ; and let all who trust in
Thy promises feel Thy fatherly goodness. Despise
not our prayers, but be helpful to us in the time of
H
98 SCOTTISH COLLECTS OF 1595.
our troubles ; that we may give Thee continual praises
for delivering us out of all dangers, through Jesus
Christ, Thy dear Son. Amen."
11. That we may walk uprightly in this
present evil world.
*' Heavenly Father, who hast adopted us to be Thy
children : Grant that we, passing through this corrupt
world in such integrity and cleanness that none have
any just occasion to plaint of us, may in the end be
participant of that blessed heritage which is prepared
for Thy people in the heavens, through Jesus Christ,
our only Saviour. Amen."
12. That we may follow Christ in taking up
the Cross.
" Eternal God, who hast appointed Thine only Son
our King and Priest, that we might be sanctified by
His sacrifice of Himself upon the Cross : Grant that
we may in such sort be participant of His benefits
that we may renounce our own selves, and serve
Him in all holiness and purity of life, and may offer
up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable unto Thee, through
the self -same Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen."
13. That we may keep God's commandments.
" Most merciful God, Author of all good things, who
hast given unto us Thy holy commandments, whereby
we should direct our life : Imprint them iniour hearts
by Thy Holy Spirit. And grant that we may so
renounce all our fleshly desires, and all the vanities of
PRA VERS OF THE CHRISTIAN LIFE. 99
this world, that our whole delight may be in Thy law ;
that we, being always governed by Thy holy Word,
may in the end attain unto that eternal salvation
which Thou hast promised through Jesus Christ Thy
Son, Amen."
14. For humility.
*' Almighty Lord, who resistest the proud, but givest
grace to the humble : Suffer not that we be lifted up
in any proud opinion or conceit of ourselves in any
good thing. But may we think humbly of ourselves
before Thy Divine Majesty, without feigning. And
may we mortify daily the deeds of the body, in such
sort that in all our doings we may continually feel
Thy fatherly favour, mercy, and assistance, through
Jesus Christ Thy Son. Amen."
15. Against worldliness and unthankfulness
of spirit.
" O God, the Creator of heaven and earth : Thou
seest how the cares and business of this world do
oftentimes greatly trouble and turn us from rendering
to Thee that honour and obedience which are most
due. Yet we beseech Thee that, forgetting all other
things, we may learn aright to praise and glorify
Thee all the days of our life, for the great benefits
which we continually receive at Thy hands, through
Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen."
16. For holiness of life.
" Almighty God, the only Deliverer of the poor
and wretched, who hast delivered us from the servi-
loo SCOTTISH COLLECTS OF 1595.
tude of sin and the tyranny of Satan through Thy
Son Jesus Christ, the Saviour of the world : Grant
that we, rightly acknowledging this Thy so great
redemption, may walk safely under Thy government
in all holiness of life, until we attain to the full pos-
session of the true land of the living, where we may
continually praise Thee, through the self-same Jesus
Christ our Lord. Amen."
17. That we may be steadfast in God's ser-
vice, and find mercy in the Day of Judgment.
" O God, the Author of all goodness, who governest
the whole world by Thy marvellous wisdom : Suffer us
not to be in anywise moved by the prosperous success
of the ungodly ; but may we the rather give ourselves
wholly to Thy service, and to meditation on Thy
Word ; that in the end we may effectually find Thee
to be our Saviour and Redeemer, when Thou shalt
come to judge the world through thy well-beloved Son,
Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen."
18. That we may rightly acknowledge God in
His works of Creation and Providence.
" 0 dear Father, whose Providence reacheth over
all Thy creatures in such sort that Thy marvellous
wisdom is uttered through them all : Grant that we
may exalt Thy glory, and sing praises and psalms to
the forthsetting of the same ; to the intend that, the
wicked being banished from off the earth, we may
rejoice in Thee, and in the end may be participant of
PRA VERS RELA TING TO MEANS OF GRA CE. loi
that eternal life and felicity which are promised unto
us through Jesus Christ Thy Son. Amen."
19. For light and strength in the Lord.
" Father of lights and Fountain of all goodness : Be
helpful unto us in time of our affliction ; and when
we are in greatest danger hide not Thy face from us ;
yea, whatsoever thing fall unto us, strengthen our
hearts, that we may have a continual esperance of
al] the good things which Thou hast promised to us
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen."
IL Prayers for Blessing in the Use of the
Means of Grace.
1. For the right use of God's Word.
" Mighty God, to whom all glory and honour do
justly appertain : Since it hath pleased Thee to make
us understand Thy will by Thy holy Word, grant
likewise that we may receive the same with all
reverence, and that we may have a feeling of the
force and strength thereof ; that thereby we may be
reformed in all holiness of life ; that in the end we
may enjoy the heritage promised to all them that
are adopted in Thy well-beloved Son, Christ Jesus.
Amen."
2. For blessing in God's House.
" O loving God, who hast promised to be nigh unto
all them that call upon Thee in truth : Grant unto us
now that we may so call upon Thee, in open assembly,
I02 SCOTTISH COLLECTS OF 1595.
that we may find Thy grace and fatherly favour more
and more ; so that, being kept in the kingdom of Thy
Son Jesus Christ, we may obtain full victory over all
things that are against us. Amen."
3. A prayer for the public assemblies of the
Church.
" Most merciful Father, without the knowledge of
Whom we can in no wise attain unto life everlasting,
seeing it hath pleased Thee of Thy mercy to grant us
freedom to convene ourselves together, to call upon
Thy most holy name, and to hear healthsome and
sound doctrine as out of Thine own mouth : Continue,
we beseech Thee, this Thy goodness toward us and
our posterity ; and defend the cause of all who walk
before Thee in innocency and cleanness of life ; that
we may be encouraged more and more to put our
whole trust and confidence in Thee, and that through
the merits of Jesus Christ, Thy dear and only Son
our Saviour. Amen."
__ 4. For blessing in Christ's kingdom on earth.
*' Eternal God, the only Author of all good things,
since it hath pleased Thee to receive us into the
fellowship of Thy well-beloved Son our Lord Jesus
Christ : Sufier us not in any wise to be overcome of
our enemies ; but grant that, His king(^m being
established in the midst of us, we may triumphantly
sing and magnify His praises both now and evermore.
Amen."
PRA YERSRELA TING TO MEANS OFGRACE.io^
5. For the defence of Christ's kingdom, and
for growth in grace.
" Almighty God and heavenly Father, who hast
given unto us Thy dear Son to be our Lord and
King : We beseech Thee that Thou wouldst destroy
by Thy marvellous wisdom all enterprises devised
against Him throughout the whole world. And make
us so to profit and grow in His holy law and doctrine,
that in all fear and reverence we may serve Thee ;
that in the end we may attain to that endless joy
which we hope to receive through the same Jesus
Christ Thy Son. Amen."
6. For the spirit of prayer and the fruit
thereof.
" Eternal God, who makest all things to turn to
the best for them that love Thee, and who preservest
all those who give themselves into Thy keeping : Grant
us, of Thy bountiful grace, that we may continually
call upon Thee with our whole hearts ; that we, being
delivered from all dangers, may in the end enjoy that
salvation which is purchased for us by Jesus Christ,
Thine only Son, our Saviour. Amen."
7. For blessing in the Church through the
Word and Sacraments.
" 0 Eternal God, the only Founder and Keeper of
Thy Church : Grant that we, being placed under the
government of Jesus Christ, the only Chief and Head
thereof, may be comforted by Thy most holy Word,
and strengthened and confirmed by Thy Sacraments ;
I04 SCOTTISH COLLECTS OF 1595.
to the intent that we all, with one heart and mouth,
may glorify Thee, and edify one another in holiness
of life and godly conversation through the selfsame
Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen."
8. A prayer after the Communion.
" 0 loving Father, who by Thine oath hast pro-
mised unto us a Saviour, Jesus Christ Thy Son :
Thou hast not deceived us, but hast indeed given
Him unto us, as Thy Word hath declared; and by
Thy Sacraments Thou hast confirmed it unto us this
day; yea. He hath further promised that He will
abide with us even unto the end of the world. There-
fore, dear Father, we beseech Thee that Thou wilt bless
us in all our ways, govern us, and replenish us with
joy. Let thy Crown and Kingdom abide above us ;
and preserve us in peace through the same Jesus
Christ Thy Son. Amen."
9. For peace and good- will among Christ's
people.
" Gracious Lord, who art not a God of confusion,
but the God of concord and of peace : Join our hearts
and affections in such sort together that we may walk
as brethren in Thy House, in brotherly kindness and
love, and as members of the Body of Christ. Let the
grace of Thy Holy Spirit enkindle us, and the dew of
Thy blessing continually fall upon us, that we may
together in the end obtain life eternal through the
same Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen."
PRA VERS FOR THE CHURCH. 105
III. Prayers for the Church.
1. That Christ's kingdom may prosper and
we therein.
*' Almighty God, the Help and Defence of all them
that fear Thee : Grant that we may ever live under
the safeguard of Thy well-heloved Son Jesus Christ.
Grant also that His kingdom may prosper, and be
advanced daily more and more j and that we, being
settled upon Thy promises, may render unto Thee the
sacrifices of praise and thanksgiving, both now and
evermore. Amen."
2. That the Church and truth of God may be
upheld in purity.
" Most puissant God of hosts, who upholdest and
keepest all them that trust in Thee : Bend forth Thine
invincible force against the enemies of Thy truth.
Make feeble the strength of the proud. Turn our
troubles into prosperity. And grant that in the
midst of our assemblies the praise of Thy holy name
may so be celebrate as shall be most in accordance
with Thy Word, declared unto us by Thy Son Jesus
Christ our Lord. Amen."
3. For the defence and purity of the Church.
" O mighty King and Lord, the Rock and Fortress
of all them who put their trust in Thee : Undo the
force and break down the pride of those who afflict
Thy Church. Suffer not the simple to be overthrown ;
but stablish them as Mount Zion, that they may abide
io6 SCOTTISH COLLECTS OF 1595.
in the New Jerusalem, which is Christ's Church.
Suffer us not to shake hands with unrighteousness ;
but let peace be upon Israel, even upon all them who
walk not after the flesh but after the Spirit, through
the selfsame Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen."
4. That the Church of God may be gathered
into one and fed from His Word.
" O Lord, marvellous are Thy might and power,
whereby Thou castest down the proud, and liftest up
such as be humble and meek : We beseech Thee of
Thy great mercy to restore and rebuild Thy Church,
which was founded by Thee only. Gather together
Thy scattered sheep. As Thou feedest all creatures
with temporal food and pasturage, make us to feel
inwardly the effect of Thy holy Word : and grant
that we, following Thy will declared therein, may in
the end enjoy the heritage prepared for Thy people in
Christ Jesus. Amen."
5. For the Church under the Cross.
" Eternal Father and God of all comfort, who, for
satisfaction of our sins, didst cast down Thine only
Son to extreme anguish and dolour, and hast ordained
Thy Church to pass by the same way of afiliction :
We beseech Thee most fervently that, forasmuch as
we are destitute of all help of men, we the more be
assured of Thy mercy and goodness, that we may
praise the same before all creatures both now and
evermore. Amen."
PRAYERS FOR THE CHURCH. 107
6. For succour to Christ's flock in perplexities.
" Lord God, who canst put in order things confused
and out of order : Arise and stretch forth Thine arm
to cast down the proudness of such as lift up them-
selves against Thee and persecute Thy little flock ; to
the intent that, all resistance trodden down. Thou
mayest be acknowledged as the Saviour and Protector
of all them that trust in Thee through Jesus Christ
our Lord. Amen."
7. That the Church may be freed from enemies
and follow Christ only.
** Almighty God, who of Thy goodness hast placed
us in the sheepfold of Thy Son Jesus Christ, that we
should be governed by Him as the only Shepherd and
Bishop of our souls : Turn not away thy face from us ;
but look down from heaven and behold how these our
enemies seek our destruction. Frustrate their fury,
we beseech Thee ; and defend us from all evils, that
we may render Thee perpetual praises through the
selfsame Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen."
8. For deliverance to the Church in time of
peril.
" O Lord, the Kuler and Governor of the whole
world, teach us to praise Thy holy name perpetually.
Preserve Thy poor Church from destruction. Repress
the pride and boldness of her adversaries. Bring down
the despisers of Thy blessed Word ; to the intent that,
when the ungodly are casten down and the godly
exalted, all men may give unto Thee due honour,
io8 SCOTTISH COLLECTS OF 1595.
praise, and glory through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen."
9. That we may remember all the way by which
God hath led His Church.
"Eternal God, the only Refuge of comfortless
creatures : Hear now our prayers and petitions, and
turn not away Thy mercy from us. Give us grace so
to acknowledge Thy marvellous works, which Thou
hast shown to Thy people in times past, that we may
be daily more and more confirmed in the assurance of
Thy goodness, by the which Thou hast freely elected
and adopted us in Thy well-beloved Son Jesus Christ.
Amen."
10. For the spread of the Gospel, and the
good of the Catholic Church.
" 0 Lord God, the only Founder of Thy Church :
Increase daily the number of the faithful by the preach-
ing of Thy holy Evangel. May the darkness of ignor-
ance be chased out of the world, and Thy name be
known over all. May all men resort out of all places
to render themselves under the obedience of Thy
Word \ and may they reverence Thee with their whole
hearts, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen."
11. For the spread of the Gospel among all
nations.
" Almighty and everlasting God, who, after a mar-
vellous manner, hast wrought the redemption of man
in sending Thine only Son to fulfil the promises made
PRAYERS FOR NATIONS AND RULERS. 109
unto our fathers : Open up more and more the know-
ledge of that salvation ; that in all parts of the earth
Thy truth and puissance may be made known ; to the
intent that all nations may praise, honour, and glorify
Thee through Thy selfsame Son, Jesus Christ our
Saviour. Amen."
lY. Prayers for the Nation and its Kulers.
1. For deliverance in time of national danger.
" O Lord God, King of kings, who holdest all nations
under Thy subjection : Deliver us out of the danger of
them who seek our wrack and destruction ; to the
intent that all men may know the care and love which
Thou hast of Thy heritage ; that we may sing psalms
unto Thee through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen."
2. For our rulers and judges.
" Eternal God, by whom kings rule, and princes
ordain justice : May it please Thee so to enlighten the
hearts of all judges and magistrates whom Thou hast
given us, that, without exception of persons, they may
uphold the righteous, and punish the wicked ; to the
intent that, under their protection, we may lead a
quiet and peaceable life, according to the precepts
given us by Jesus Christ Thy Son, our only Saviour.
Amen."
Y. Prayers bearing on a Christian's Eelations
TO others.
1. That we may confess Christ before men.
" O loving and merciful Father, who never lea vest
them that put their trust in Thee, and who sendest
no SCOTTISH COLLECTS OF 1595.
fatherly chastening on Thy children for their own
health : Grant that we may be built as lively stones
upon Jesus Christ, the true and only Foundation of Thy
Church ; that, forasmuch as He was rejected and
dispraised of men, we may acknowledge Him always
for our King and Saviour ; that we may enjoy the
fruit of Thy mercy and goodness for evermore, through
the same Jesus Christ our Lord."
2. That we may remember the poor.
" Most loving Father, without whose blessing we are
altogether poor and miserable : Imprint Thy holy
"Word on all our hearts, in such sort that our whole
delight may be to serve Thee in all fear and reverence.
Grant that we may be so merciful towards our poor
neighbours, that we also may have a sure feeling of Thy
mercy and goodness when Thou shalt come to judge
the world in Him whom Thou hast ordained to be our
Lord and Sovereign, Jesus Christ. Amen."
8. For help in the troubles of this world.
" Eternal Father, who art the only true God and the
Deliverer of poor captives and prisoners : We beseech
Thee of Thy plentiful bounty to relieve us from the
bondage of our adversaries ; that we, passing through
the miseries and calamities of this troublesome world,
may in the end enjoy the fruit of our faith, which is
the salvation of our souls, bought by the blood of Thy
dear Son Christ Jesus. Amen." ,
4. That we may be kept from evil company.
" O loving Father, unto whom all the inward secrets
PRA VERS ON O UR RE LA TIONS TO O THERS. 1 1 1
of our hearts are known : Grant that we may so walk
before Thee in uprightness of conscience, that we keep
no company with mockers and contemners of Thy holy
Word. But may we be so circumcised in heart and
mind that, renouncing all worldly friendship, we may
never wander from the right way which Thou hast
shown us in the Evangel of Jesus Christ Thy Son, our
Saviour. Amen."
5. For deliverance from the wicked.
"Deliver us, O Lord, from the wicked and the un-
godly, who in their hearts devise mischief, and delight
in strife and contention. Let us not fall into their
snares, nor suffer them to handle us at their will. Hear
the voice of our complaint ; for Thou art our God.
Take the defence of our cause in Thy hand, that we
may with all our hearts render unto Thee praises and
thanks through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen."
6. That God's will may be done by us and ours.
" Almighty and eternal God, who by Thy providence
dost conduct and govern all creatures in this world :
Suffer us not to enterprise anything but that which is
according to Thy will ; that we, altogether discontented
with ourselves, may wholly depend upon Thy blessing ;
and that our only care may be that Thou mayest be
glorified in us and our posterity through Jesus Christ
Thy Son. Amen."
7. That God would prosper us in our affairs.
"O heavenly Father, the Creator of heaven and
earth, in whom our help is : Suffer not our afflictions
112 SCOTTISH COLLECTS OF 1595.
so to overcome us that we cast off our confidence in
Thee. But do Thou guide and prosper all our enter-
prises, and give a happy end and issue to all our
businesses, so that we may be the more assured that we
are of the number of them whom Thou hast chosen
unto salvation through Jesus Christ Thy Son. Amen."
8. For family blessings.
"Gracious Lord, who art the Well-spring of all
felicity, grant that we may always fear Thee, and
walk in Thy ways. Bless us, and all ours, that it may
be well with us and all who appertain to us. May we
see many generations and children of faith. May we
see peace upon Israel. And so may we glorify Thee
all the days of our lives, through Jesus Christ Thy
Son. Amen."
9. A prayer for all men that they may be
saved.
" 0 good Lord, who wiliest all people to be saved
and to come to the knowledge of Thy truth : Show forth
Thy power and excellent Majesty unto the wh cle
world, that every one may sing Thy praises and show
forth Thy salvation, which Thou hast promised to all
them that give themselves to Thee and to Thy service ;
that Thou mayest be praised in all Thy creatures,
through Jesus Christ Thy Son. Amen."
YI. Thanksgiving and Praise to God.
"Most worthy art Thou, 0 good and gracious God,
of all praises, even for Thine own sake. Thou art the
THE RE FORM A TION CONFESSION OF SINS. 1 1 3
Most High and Holy One, and by Thee only are we
made holy. We praise Thee for our glorious redemp-
tion, purchased for us in Thy dearly beloved Son,
Christ Jesus. Give us, we pray Thee, Thy Holy
Spirit to govern us. And grant that all things which
have breath may praise Thee, who art the true life of
all creatures, through the same Jesus Christ, our
Lord, who reigneth with Thee and with the Holy
Ghost, One God, for ever and ever. Amen."
APPENDIX C— See pp. 79 f.
The Refokmatton Confession of Sins, 1525.
*' Heavenly Father, merciful and everlasting God, we
acknowledge and confess before Thy Divine Majesty
that we are poor miserable sinners, conceived and
born in sin and corruption. We are prone to all evil.
We are unable, without Thee, to do any good. And we
daily, and in many ways, transgress Thy holy com-
mandments. Thereby we provoke Thine anger against
us, and purchase to ourselves, by Thy just judgment,
death and ruin.
" But, O Lord, it repenteth and grieveth us that
we have so displeased Thee. We condemn ourselves
and our misdoings, and pray that Thy grace may
bring help to our distress and misery.
" Be pleased, therefore, to have mercy upon us, 0
most gracious God and Father. Forgive us all our
sins, through the holy sufferings of Thy dear Son,
Jesus Christ our Lord. Take away our sins ; and
I
114 THE REFORMATION CONFESSION OF SINS.
grant us the daily increase of the gifts of Thy Holy
Spirit, that we, acknowledging from the bottom of
our hearts our own unrighteousness, may truly repent
us of the same ; that sin may be destroyed in us ;
and that we may bring forth the fruits of righteous-
ness and a pure life, well -pleasing unto Thee, through
Jesus Christ. Amen."
I translate from Ebrard's German text of
1525, but follow in one or two cases the read-
ings of Knox and Calvin's Book of Geneva
(15 54-56), and lean to its phrases so far as
consistent with faithfulness to the original. I
give the German below, and give also one speci-
men from the many liturgies of Churches of the
French tongue in which this ancient confession
is still in constant use.
After " bring forth such fruits as may be
agreeable to Thy blessed will," the Book of
Geneva, and the Scottish Book of Common
Order (1564) add :—
" 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 persuaded that Thou wilt deny us nothing
that we shall ask in His name according to Thy will.
For Thy Spirit doth assure our consciences that Thou
art our merciful Father, and so lovest us Thy
children through Him, that nothing is able to
ITS HISTORY. 115
remove Thy heavenly grace and favour from us.
To Thee, therefore, 0 Father, with the Son and the
Holy Ghost, be all honour and glory, world without
end. So be it." ^
This Confession of Sins — " Die offne Schuld,"
as it is called in German-speaking Keformed
Churches — occurs in the French Liturgy which
was published by Calvin at Geneva, in 1541,
but which had been drawn up by him previously,
and had been used by the Protestant pastors of
Geneva for several years before it was printed.
Calvin's Service-Book, republished in Latin in
1545, was the chief source from which this Con-
fession passed rapidly into use in the Reformed
Church Catholic, and even in several of the
Lutheran Churches.^ It appears in English, among
other prayers, at the end of an edition of Stern-
hold and Hopkins' Psalms, in 1566, under the
title of " A Confession for all Estates and Times."
It has been sometimes erroneously ascribed to
Beza, who used it in a striking scene at the
Colloquy of Poissy, in 1561.^
^ Knox's Works, iy. 181f. ; Book of Common Order (Sprott
and Leishman), 80.
2 It is used, for example, in the Liturgy of the National
Church of Wiirttemberg as the first Confession of Sins for Days
of Fasting, being taken from the Servdce-Book of the Church of
the Palatinate. — " Kirchenbuch fiir die Evang. Kirche in VViirt-
temberg," Stuttgart, 1843, 256f.
^ Ebrard, Reformirtes Kirchenbuch, xxvi. Baird, Chap, on
ii6 GERMAN TEXT.
The '' General Confession " in the Anglican
Communion Service, which aj^pears in the first
Prayer-Book of Edward YI. (1549), is closely
akin to the Reformation Confession of Sins,
especially in the form in which it appears in the
document known as '' Hermann's Consultation,"
which was compiled by Bucer and Melanchthon,
at the request of Hermann, the Protestant Elector
and Archbishop of Cologne/ The "General Con-
fession " of the morning and evening services in
the English Prayer-Book is taken, as stated above,
more directly from the Liturgy drawn up by
Calvin in 1543 for the Church at Strassburg,
whose minister he had been during his temporary
banishment from Geneva, 1588-41.
Die offne Schuld, 1525.
"Himmlischer Vater, ewiger und barmherziger Gott,
wir erkennen und bekennen, vor deiner gottlichen
Liturgies, 34f. 77-79. Sprott and Leishman, Book of Common
Order, 240. Liturgical Services of reign of Queen Elizabeth
(Parker Soc), p. 265.
^ This "Consultation of us, Hermann," was to devise "by what
means a Christian Reformation, and founded on God's Word, of
doctrine, administration of the Divine Sacraments, of ceremonies,
and the whole cure of souls, and other ecclesiastical ministries,
may be begun among men committed to our pastoral charge."
It first appeared in German in 1543, and in Latin ^ 1545. An
English edition was published in 1547, and a second in the
following year. — Shields, Lit. Expurg, 4th ed., 79f. ; Daniel,
The PrayerbooJc, 8th ed., 318.
FRENCH VERSION. n?
Majestat, dass wir arme, elende Sunder sind, emp-
fangen und geboren in der Yerderbniss, geneigt zu
allem Bosen, untuchtig olme Dich zum Guten, und
dass wir deine heiligen Gebote taglich und mannig-
faltig iibertreten ; dadurch wir deinen Zorn wider
uns reizen und nach deinem gerechten Urtheil auf
uns laden den Tod und das Yerderben.
" Aber, O Herr, wir tragen Reu' und Leid dass wir
Dich erziirnet haben, und verklagen uns und unsre
Sunden, und begebren dass deine Gnade zu Hiilfe
komme unserm Elend und Jammer.
" Wollest Dich derhalben Uber uns erbarmen, O
allergiitigster Gott und Yater, und uns verzeihen alle
unsere Sunden, durch das heilige Leiden deines lieben
Sohnes, unseres Herrn Jesu Christi. Yergieb uns
unsere Sunden, und verleihe und mehre in uns taglich
die Gaben deines Heiligen Geistes, dass wir unsere
TJngerechtigkeit von ganzem Herzen erkennen, und
einen aufrichtigen Schmerz in uns empfinden, der die
Siinde in uns zerstore, und Friichte bringe der Unschuld
und Gerechtigkeit, die Dir angenehm seien um Jesus
Christi willen. Amen." *
La Confession des Pj^chi^s.
According to the present Liturgy of the French
Reformed Church, at morning service, after an
introductory sentence of prayer, a psalm or hymn
is sung. Then the Ten Commandments are read.
Thereafter the minister proceeds as follows : —
^ Ebrard, Reformirtes Kirchenbuch, 2f.
ii8 LA CONFESSION DES PECHES,
*' Maintenant que nous avons lu la loi qui condamne
nos iniquites, mes fr^res, que chacuD de nous se
presente devant le Seigneur, pour Lui faire une
humble confession de ses peches en suivant du coeur
ces paroles :
"Seigneur Dieu, P^re Eternal et Tout-puissant, nous
reconnaissons et nous confessons, devant Ta sainte
Majeste, que nous sommes de pauvres pecheurs, nes
dans la corruption,^ enclins au mal, incapables par
nous-memes de faire le bien,^ et qui transgressons
tous les jours et en plusieurs manieres Tes saintes
commandements ; ce qui fait que nous attirons sur
nous, par Ton juste jugement, la condamnation et la
mort.
*' Mais, Seigneur, nous avons une vive douleur ' de
T'avoir offens6. Nous nous condamnons, nous et nos
vices, avec une serieuse repentance, recourant humble-
ment a Ta grace et Te suppliant de subvenir a notre
mis^re.^
" Yeuille done avoir pitie de nous, Dieu tr^s-bon,
P^re de misericorde, et nous pardonner nos peches,
a cause de Ton Fils J^sus Christ notre Sauveur.
Accorde-nous aussi et nous augmente continuellement
les graces de Ton Saint Esprit, afin que, reconnais-
sant de plus en plus nos fautes, et en etant vivement
touches, nous y renoncions de tout notre coeur, et que
^ The Waldensian Liturgy keeps the original readings : " con-
cus et nds dans le p^cM et dans la corruption " ; 'Hncapables . . .
d'aucun bien."
^ Wald. : "un grand ddplaisir, . . . une vraie repentance,
d^sirant que Ta grace subvienne k notre misfere."
LA CONFESSION DES PECHES. 119
nous portions des fruits de saintet§ et de justice, qui
Te soient agreables par Jesus Christ notre Seigneur.
Amen." -^
^ La Liturgie ou I'Ordre du Service Divine selon I'nsage des
]feglises R^formdes de France : Paris, 1859, 7f. (ed. Frossard).
Compare the very beautiful liturgy drawn up by M. Bersier, and
used in his church in Paris, which is largely taken from the
most ancient service-books of the French Reformed Church, —
" Liturgie k I'llsage des !l6glises Eeformdes," Paris, ed. 1881,
39, 238, 251.
LORIMER AND GILLIES, PRINTERS, 3I ST. ANDREW SQUARE, EDINBURGH.
BY THE SAME AUTHOR.
Fcap. 8vOj clothf price Is.
GROUNDS AND METHODS
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ADMISSION TO SEALING OKDINANCES;
OR,
WHO SHOULD BE KECEIVED TO THE LOED'S TABLE?
WHOSE CHILDREN SHOULD BE BAPTISED ?
HOW SHOULD WE RECEIVE YOUNG COMMUNICAI^TS ?
OPINIONS OF THE PRESS.
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*' We commend the work as containing much thoughtful
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ministers." — Belfast Witness.
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all the more welcome because it is Catholic in its scope, and
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being specially manifest in its references to Plymouthism." —
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EDINBURGH : ANDREW ELLIOT, 17 PRINCES STREET.
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