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 1 
 
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 1 
 
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 '< 4 
 
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I 
 
 ) 
 
 ) 
 
DIVINE WORSHIP 
 
 UNDER ALL CONDITIONS 
 
 IN CONNECTION WITH 
 
 THE 
 
 PRESBYTERIAN 0HUR0H 
 
 IN 
 
 CANADA 
 
 EDITION FOR LAYMEN 
 
 'Vorottiir: 
 Th« Wbstminstwi Co., Ijmitbd 
 
 r< 
 
 IW 
 
Entered accordingr to the Act of the Pariiament of Canada, in the year 
 one thousand nine hundred, by The Wbstminstir Co., Lunited, Toronto, 
 in the office of the Minister of Agriculture at Ottawa. 
 
EDITION l-OK LAYMEN. 
 
 DIVINE WORSHIP 
 
 IN CONNECTION WITH 
 
 The; Pre;$byte;rian Church 
 
 IN CANAOA. 
 
 INCLDDING PAPERS BEARING ON THE SUBJECT 
 
 BY 
 
 STH SAXnFOUD KLEMING, C. E.. Ll D., K V. M G., Ottawa. 
 REV. T. F. FOTHERINGHAM, M. A.. St. John, \. B. 
 REV. ALLAN POLLOK, D. D., Halikax. N. S 
 REV. GP:0RGE DANA BOARDMAX. D. I) , Li,. D., I'iiila. 
 REV. THOS. S. HASTINGS. I). I).. Lr,. D., Nkw Yokk. 
 WILLIAM MORTIMER CLARK. E.S^., Q. C Toronto. 
 
 FrniJsnEKS: 
 
 The Westminster Co., Li.miteo, Toronto. 
 
 inoo. 
 
contp:nts. 
 
 I'AOR 
 
 Introductory Remarks addressed to Presbyterian Laymen Ill 
 
 Letter to Professor Ross, D. D., Convener of the Committee of the 
 
 General Assembly, by Sir Sandford Fleming i 
 
 Lecture on " The Improvement of the Services of the Church," 
 delivered at the Summer School of Theology of the Presby- 
 terian College, Halifax, 1898, by Rev. T. F. Fotheringham, 
 M. A., of St. John, N. B 22 
 
 Lecture on "The Book of Common Order and the Directory of 
 Worship," by the Rev. Allan PoUok, I"). D., Principal of the 
 Presbyterian College, Halifax, Moderator G. A., 1900 49 
 
 Lecture on " Worship in Non-Liturgical Churches, ' by the Rev. 
 George Dana Boardman, D. D. , LL. D., Honorary Pastor 
 of the First Baptist Church, Philadelphia 62 
 
 Lecture on " The Ideal of Christian Worship," by the Rev. Thomas 
 S. Hastings, D. D., LL. D., President of the Faculty of Union 
 Theological Seminary, N. Y 66 
 
 Paper on "Public Worship." Prepared at the request of the Toronto 
 Presbyterian Council, by Mr. William Mortimer Clark, Q. C, 
 Chairman of the Board of Management of Knox College. ... 72 
 
 Reference to " A New Directory for the Public Worship of God," 
 
 in connection with the Free Church of Scotland, 1898 82 
 
 Reference to the Directory of the Presbyterian Church of England, 
 
 adopted by the Synod, 1898 88 
 
 Paper on " Congregational Prayer," with four Letters on Public 
 Worship, by Sir Sandford Fleming, addressed to Rev. Dr. 
 Laing, lately Convener of the Committee of the Assembly on 
 Worship 90 
 
TAOR 
 
 Ill 
 
 of the 
 
 I 
 
 ijirch," 
 'resby- 
 jfham, 
 
 22 
 
 ;ory of 
 of the 
 49 
 
 e Rev. 
 Pastor 
 
 ...... 62 
 
 rhomas 
 f Union 
 
 ... 66 
 
 Toronto 
 
 gc., 
 
 ge.... 72 
 God," 
 
 %2 
 
 ngland, 
 
 88 
 
 Public 
 ev. Dr. 
 
 nbly on 
 qo 
 
 INTKOUUCTOKV 
 
 ADDKKeSKD TO 
 
 PRESBYTERIAN LAYMEN. 
 
 The thirteen appended letters and papers on the 
 subject of Divine Worship were sent, two years a^o, to 
 each of the eleven hundred and fifty ministers on the 
 roll, and to the Principals, Professors of Divinity and 
 others in the Presbyterian Colleges at Winnipeg, Tor- 
 onto, Kingston, Montreal, Quebec and Halifax. The 
 purpose was to make a special and respectful appeal to 
 the learned and faithful men who guide and control the 
 destinies of our Church in the Dominion, on a subject 
 of vital importance to our people. It was to point out 
 to ministers, from the standpoint of laymen, that Family 
 and vSocial Worship are inadequately provided for; and 
 that the ordinary manner of observing public worship 
 in our congregations is in some respects imperfect and 
 not always satisfactory to the worshippers. The further 
 object was humbly to suggest in the interests of the 
 people throughout the land that some change, in har- 
 mony with Presbyterian principles, would promote the 
 usefulness of the Church and greatly extend its influence. 
 
 An examination of the letters and papers, reproduced 
 in the present form, will indicate the means taken to 
 bring the important subject, in its several pha.ses, 
 to the attention of the Church. Early in 1894, an 
 
appeal was made J^c^^in^ ministers to direct their 
 attention to the circumstances and needs of congrejj^a- 
 tions, and to the rij^litful claims of the people who 
 occupy the pews. On that occasion the pastors were 
 asked to consider how far it may be expedient to intro- 
 duce into the ordinary Sabbath services such a change 
 as would remove the people from the position of passive 
 listeners to the devotions, and admit of their having as 
 full a share as practicable in the act of worship to which 
 as worshippers, in common with the minister, each 
 individual is rightfuily entitled. 
 
 From that day until the present the appeal has been 
 renewed on suitable occasions. In June, 1897, a mem- 
 orial on the subject was placed in the hands of the 
 Moderator of the General Assembly at Winnipeg. On 
 this memorial the Assembly took action by referring its 
 consideration to a committee. In the following year a 
 second committee was appointed. Since then the subject, 
 in part, has been remitted to Presbyteries. 
 
 Means having thus been taken to bring the matter 
 before the highest "church courts, as well as to the notice" 
 of ministers and kirk sessions, the time appears to have 
 come when it may with great propriety and advan- 
 tage be considered by laymen throughout the Church. 
 Obviously it is desirable and essential that the great 
 body of the Presbyterian people should be fully con- 
 sulted in a matter which so much concerns them. 
 
 As the papers herewith submitted present views from 
 various sides, a careful examination of each is requested. 
 The general conclusions of the writer, are stated in a 
 communication addressed to the Convenor of the 
 Assembly's Committee on Worship, (page i to 21); his 
 views more in detail are presented in pages 90 to 114. 
 In these it will be found that he has no conflict with any 
 
T 
 
 -ect their 
 :ongrej^a- 
 ople who 
 tors were 
 t to intro- 
 a chanj^e 
 of passive 
 laving as 
 ) to which 
 iter, each 
 
 I has been 
 7, a mem- 
 ds of the 
 ipe^. On 
 iferring its 
 ing year a 
 lie subject, 
 
 the matter 
 
 the notice 
 
 irs to have 
 
 nd advan- 
 
 e Church. 
 
 the great 
 
 tully con- 
 
 lem. 
 
 views from 
 requested, 
 stated in a 
 or of the 
 to 21); his 
 90 to 114. 
 :t with any 
 
 Presbyterian doctrine and he recommends no departure 
 fromany fundamental principle. I le advocates, however, 
 on behalf of the people iliat they no longer be prac- 
 tically excluded from active worship, that they be given 
 opportunities and helps to devotion not now provided, 
 and that they be granted a fuller share in congregational 
 worship than is now vouchsafed to them by the usages 
 observed in the ordinary services of the Church. 
 
 Referring to the characteristic features of Divine 
 service in our congregations, it consists practically of 
 two parts, (i) Teaching, and (2) Worship ; it is the 
 function of the minister to preach and teach, to expound 
 the Word of God and inculcate vital truth ; the people 
 on their part assemble to hear the Word and to worship. 
 Of the two great divisions of the service the Jin/ may be 
 regarded as God speaking to the congregation, the 
 second as the congregation speaking to God. 
 
 In this definition we have presented to us the true 
 ideal of Presbyterian Divine service. It is a lofty 
 ideal, and it is in order to approach it more closely than 
 at present in public worship, that some change in our 
 ordinary usage is suggested as desirable and necessary. 
 
 Opinions naturally will differ as to what is needed, 
 and on this point, before any actual change will become 
 possible, the mind of the whole Church should be 
 definitely understood. This will take time, and, more- 
 over, it may be expected that even when a majority shall 
 have reached a conclusion, there will be some worthy 
 members of the Church who will continue to regard the 
 change agreed upon as an innovation. Past experience 
 goes to show that any change, however desirable, may 
 be so characterized. We all know that the use of 
 instrumental music in public worship was at one time 
 
(vl) 
 
 held by many of our people to be " a dangerous innova- 
 tion." In Scotland it is on record that such music was 
 re^'arded as "the wile of the evil one to lead people 
 astray." So also with respect to hymns. Within living 
 and comparatively recent memory, the service of praise 
 was confined to the Psalms of David and the F'ara- 
 phrases. At an earlier day the former were the only 
 expression of praise. Xothinjjf else was permitted. In 
 time the paraphrases received partial assent, but they 
 failed to obtain the approval o( a majority of Presbyteries 
 and, it is an historical fact, that they were never formally 
 sanctioned. The use of hymns in our Church is quite 
 modern ; at first they were much opposed and those 
 who attempted to introduce " human hymns," as they 
 were designated, were strongly condemned, and held 
 to be " in the front rank of heretics and innovatoro."' 
 
 Taking a retrospective view we see tli advance 
 which has been made ; few objections are now offered 
 to instrumental music, and still fewer to the use of the 
 large number of beautiful metrical verses collected in 
 our new Book of Praise. Reason and common sense 
 have prevailed, and no one can doubt that they will 
 continue to prevail. The present generation of Presby- 
 terian people in the Dominion are quite competent, 
 calmly and wisely to determine what is best, and, if 
 need be to bring it into practice. 
 
 The reasons why some reform should be brought 
 about in our ordinary services of Divine Worship are 
 set forth in the papers to which the attention of Presby- 
 terian laymen is now specially invited. It will suffice 
 to stale here that we must always recognize the minister 
 to be the pastoral guide and leader of the congregation, 
 whose great function is to preach and teach, and he is 
 under special obligations to consecrate his gifts and 
 
 I 
 
(vll) 
 
 i 
 
 intellectual culture as a teacher in the province o( 
 religious knowledge. VVe must claim at the same time, 
 that, in the matter of conjj^rejjjational worship, all the 
 worshippers, including the minister, have a common 
 and equal interest. This is indisputahic, and we further 
 submit that the needs of the people as joint participants 
 in the devotional portion of the services should he duly 
 considered. To meet these claims satisfactorily, may, it 
 is true, involve an interference with lon^ observed 
 practices, but if reform be desirable, and if the tram- 
 mals of " use and wont" be the onlv obstacles in the 
 way, it seems not ui. nsonable to suj^j^est that they be 
 set aside, precisely a^ in the matters of music and 
 hymns, in the service of praise. 
 
 The movemci.i to amend our usaj^jes in Divine Wor- 
 ship has already made - >me advance. Two committees 
 appointed by the (perioral Assembly have each with 
 diligence and zeal labonred to accomplish the wt)rl< 
 assigned to them. One has been engaged in connection 
 with " Aids for Family Worship," the otiier on " Aids 
 for Social Worship." Both have made some progress 
 in preparing for publication devotional manuals which 
 are desigiifd to supply the wants of tiiose needing them. 
 There remains to be considered the need of " Aids for 
 Public Worship," for the regular use of fully organized 
 congregations. In considering this branch of the sub- 
 ject we have before us a satisfactory example and 
 precedent in our "Book of Praise." In this excellent 
 work the Assembly has made ample provision for 
 congregational praise. If we regard Prayer as equal 
 in importance to Praise, the question arises, should the 
 Assembly make similar provision for congregational 
 prayer? If the answer be in the affirmative, such pro- 
 vision, whatever its form, should be the wise result of 
 
■f^- 
 
 (vlli) 
 
 matured judgment. There is nothing to be gained by 
 haste. We must make it reasonably certain before any 
 determination is finally reached that such further " Aids 
 for Public Worship," when adopted, will have the 
 intelligent approval of the mass of our people. 
 
 It will be apparent from these remarks, introductory 
 to the papers which follow, that the movement has for 
 its chief object the more complete development of 
 Presbyterian practice in unison with Presbyterian 
 principles. Manifestly this object has a vital bearing on 
 the usefulness, the influence, and the future position of 
 the Church in the Dominion. 
 
Letter on the Subject of Family, Social, and 
 Public Worship in connection with the Presbyterian 
 Church in Canada, addressed to the Convener of the 
 General Assembly s Committee on Worship, by 
 Sir Sanford Fleming. 
 
 Ottawa, August 26th, 18^8. 
 Professor James Ross, D. D. 
 
 Dear Sir, — I ask your permission to address you on 
 a subject of profound importance to the Church to which 
 you and I belong. I ask your leave for the reason that you 
 have recently been appointed by the General Assembly, 
 Convener of the Committee, in the place of Dr. Laing, 
 whose services have been of so much value, and whose 
 retirement, owing to impaired health, we all so much 
 regret. 
 
 I claim no special right to address you. I am not 
 and never have been a commissioner to the General 
 Assembly ; I have never taken a prominent part in ecclesi- 
 astical business nor held any office in the Church ; I have, 
 however, been a regular attendant at the services of the 
 Church since my infancy, about three score and ten years 
 ago, and during these years I have had opportunities of 
 judging of the needs of my fellow worshippers under 
 all circumstances, and of the merits and defects of the 
 ordinary services of our congregation -j. 
 
 It is simply as a pew-holder and humble member of 
 the Presbyterian Church in Canada that I take upon 
 myself to address you on a subject which I hold to be 
 essential to the advancement and .permanent well-being 
 of our Church. 
 
Last year I took means to place in the hands of the 
 
 Moderator of the General Assembly at Winnipeg, the 
 
 following Memorial : 
 
 "Ottawa, Jlne 4TH, 1897. 
 
 " To the Venerable the Moderator of the General Assembly: 
 
 " Sir, — I bejf leave to ask your permission to brin^ under your 
 " notice a subject which must be held to be of deep interest to the Pres- 
 "byterian Church in Canada. 
 
 ** In 1895, on an overture from the Synod of Hamilton and London, 
 " a Committee was appointed to consider the subject of Public Worship 
 " with the view of securing its r.-verent and edifying' observance. 
 
 " At the last General Assembly the Committee asked for further 
 " instructions. 
 
 " I beg leave respectfully to submit the opinion that it would greatly 
 *' tend to the advantage of the Church to enlarge the scope of the duties 
 •'of the Committee. In my judgment it wo\ild be advisable to recom- 
 " mend to that body as follows : 
 
 " Recognizing that Divine Worship is essential to Godliness, and its 
 " regular and proper observance under all conditions of society through- 
 '♦ out the Dominion, is much to be desired, — Therefore : — 
 
 " I. We should seek to encourage worship in the family among 
 " members and adherents of the Church. 
 
 " 2. We should, as far as practicable, provide the means of conduct- 
 " ing social worship among settlers and others who are deprived of the 
 "ordinary services of a stated ministry, 
 
 "5. We should avail ourselves of every proper means to improve 
 " the ordinary services of public worship in our congregations. 
 
 " Be it therefore remitted to the Committee on Worship, earnestly to 
 " consider the needs of all classes of our people in the matter of Divine 
 " Worship, and, if the Committee see cause, to prepare such aids for 
 "family, social, and congregational worship as may appear to them 
 "advisable, in order that the opinion of the Church may be maturely 
 " formed respecting the suitability of such aids. And for the better 
 "ascertaining such opinion, the Committee may take means to publish 
 " such aids to worship as may be prepared, it being understood that 
 "such publication shall carrj' no higher sanction than that of the Com- 
 " mittee until the deliverance of the Assembly on their merits be made 
 "known. And provided also that such publication shall involve no 
 " charge on the general funds of the Assembly, 
 
 " Permit me to add as /ny apology for venturing to address you, 
 " that I have long and earnestly considered the subject, that early in 
 
8 
 
 Is of the 
 peg, the 
 
 , 1897- 
 
 jnder your 
 to the Fres- 
 
 nd London, 
 )lic Worship 
 ince. 
 for further 
 
 ■ould greatly 
 of the duties 
 )le to recom- 
 
 iness, and its 
 iety through- 
 
 ■amily among 
 
 ,ns of conduct- 
 eprived of the 
 
 ins to improve 
 .tions. 
 
 ip, earnestly to 
 atter of Divine 
 ; such aids for 
 ppear to them 
 ly be maturely 
 for the better 
 eans to publish 
 inderstood that 
 hat of the Com- 
 ments be made 
 hall involve no 
 
 to address you, 
 t, that early in 
 
 " 1894, as a humble member of the Church, I submitted my views to the 
 "Theological Alumni of Queen's I'niversity ; thai these views were 
 " printed and a copj- sent to each minister on the roll in the Dominion ; 
 " that some months afterwards, four open letters addressed to the 
 " Convener of the Committee, appeared in the Presbyterian press ; that 
 " in these published papers (copies of which acompany this) I alluded 
 " chiefly to what appear to be defects in the ordinary services of our 
 " congregations, and suggested means of rectification; and that I likewise 
 " referred to the needs of new settlers and others remote from centres 
 " of population and deprived of the services of a minister. Not less 
 " important in my judgment is the subject of family worship. I cannot 
 " too plainly state the fact that this Christian duty needs every encour- 
 " agenient, and that the want of proper aids, to its regular observance, 
 " is much felt by those who require them and desire to use them. 
 
 " Much reflection, and consultation with fellow-members have 
 "satisfied me that it would greatly conduce to the advancement of 
 " the church, and the advantage of our people, were such aids to 
 " Family, Social and Public Worship prepared, and their use eventually 
 " authorised. , 
 
 " I am venerable sir, • 
 
 " Your obedient servant, 
 
 "Sandforij Fleming." 
 
 The foregoing memorial was duly submitted to the 
 General Assembly at Winnipeg on June 17th, 1897, and 
 the following placed on record. 
 
 "The Assembly called for the report of the Committee on the 
 " Uniformity of Worship, which was presented by Dr. Laing, the 
 " Convener. Along with this there was read a memorial from Mr. 
 " Sandford Fleming bearing on the same matter. 
 
 " Dr. Laing moved as follows, seconded by Mr. R. Murray : — 
 " That the memorial of Mr. Sandford Fleming be received, and be 
 " sent to the Committee for its consideration, to report to next Assembly, 
 " and that the name of Mr. Fleming be added to the Committee and 
 " that he be instructed to take part in their deliberations." 
 
 Extract from the Records. 
 
 (Signed) Robert Campbell, 
 
 Clerk of the Assembly. 
 
 The General Assembly met this year in Montreal, 
 when the Comm.ittee reported as follows : — 
 
 " In December last a circular was sent to every member of the Com- 
 " mittee, asking for an expression of opinion regarding the memorial of 
 
" Sir Sandford Fleniintf, which was referred to this Committee by the last 
 " General Assembly. A copy of that circular is appended to this report. 
 " Out of the whole Committee, thirty-three in number, twelve have 
 " sent answers. These have been carefully collated, and it is found : that 
 " one thinks no recommendation on the subject should be made to the 
 *' Assembly, as there seems to be no demand for such helps ; and if these 
 " were provided it is more than doubtful whether they would be used ; 
 " also, inasmuch as there is already an abundance of such helps available, 
 " which are or may be used by any who desire to use them. The other 
 " eleven, of whom six are not ministers, approve either wholly or in part 
 " of the sug'g'estions contained iii the memorial of Sir Sandford Fleminjj. 
 
 " The following more particular statement may be of use : — 
 " I. All of these eleven approve of the appointment of a Committee 
 " to prepare aids as proposed in the memorial. 
 
 " 2. All disapprove of publishing anything until it has been approved 
 " by the Church and can be issued with its imprimatur; but they think 
 " that in order to due consideration, the Committee should be empowered 
 " to priiy^ what they recommend to the General Assembly, so that it may 
 " be c6nsidered by the lower courts with fulness and care. 
 
 " 3. Two think that the expense of this printing should be in the first 
 " instance borne by the Church. But it seems to be the general opinion 
 " that arrangements can be made, by which ultimjitely such publications 
 " would pay for themselves. Three suggest that the means may be 
 " obtained by an Association and voluntary contributions from individuals. 
 
 "4. \o answer suggests the use of a Liturgy; but two refer to a 
 " revision of the Westmnister Directory as desirable ; and one who takes 
 "strong ground against the preparation of services for the Church 
 "generally is desirous of providing approved forms for Baptismal, 
 "Catechumen or Confirmation, Licensure and Ordination services, alscx 
 " for Marriage and Burial and a consecration Prayer for the Lord's 
 
 " Supper. 
 
 " Respectfully submitted 
 
 "John Laing, Convener." 
 
 After discussion, the following was entered in the 
 Records of the Assembly at the Montreal meeting June 
 17th, 1898 : — 
 
 " It was moved by Dr. Laing, seconded by Mr. D. McCrae : — 
 " That a Special Committed be appointed to consult with Sir 
 "Sandford Fleming regarding a Manual entitled 'Short Sunday Services 
 "for Travellers,' and to aid in revising it, if that be deemed desirable, 
 " also to send a copy to all the ministers of the Church for their informa- 
 "tion, and to report to next Assembly. Anything done by this Com- 
 
by the last 
 this report, 
 welve have 
 found : that 
 lade to the 
 and if these 
 Id be used ; 
 ps available, 
 The other 
 lly or in part 
 )rd Fleming. 
 
 a Committee 
 
 een approved 
 ut they think 
 te empowered 
 <o that it may 
 
 be in the first 
 eneral opinion 
 :h publications 
 neans may be 
 om individuals. 
 
 two refer to a 
 I one who takes 
 tor the Church 
 for Baptismal, 
 n services, alsa 
 for the Lord's 
 
 Convvner." 
 
 itered in the 
 neeting June 
 
 McCrae :— 
 •onsult with Sir 
 : Sunday Ser\'ices 
 eemed desirable, 
 for their informa- 
 one by this Com- 
 
 " mittee is not to be held as in any way committin^f the Assembly 
 ' thereto." 
 
 At the subsequent sederunt this motion was carried 
 and a sub-committee nominated. 
 
 " It was thereupon moved by Dr. Cochrane, seconded by Or. 
 " MacVicar : — 
 
 " That the Report be received and the dilijjence of the Commit- 
 " tee durinj^ the past year commended: The General Assembly re- 
 " ajipoint the Committee, with the Rev. Prof. James Ross, I). D., as 
 " Convviwr : and direct them to prosecute their labors in the prepanition 
 " of a Directory for Public Worship, ;ind report to the next General 
 " .Assembly. 
 
 " The Assembly greatly regret that the Rev. Dr. Laing, who for so 
 " many years acted as Convener of the Committee, is unable longer to 
 " continue in that position ; and tenders him its sincere thanks for the 
 " signal service he has rendered the Church in this important depart- 
 " ment." 
 
 Some doubts having been raised as to the duties of 
 the Committee and the extent to which they are called 
 upon to deal with the subject of the Memorial, I have felt 
 constrained respectfully .o submit these explanations, 
 and I ask that you will kindly overlook any informality 
 on my part in taking this course. 
 
 The memorial refers to the need for aids for Divine 
 Worship, and it divides the whole subject into three 
 parts, viz.: Aids for (i) Family, (2) Social, and (,^) 
 Public Worship. 
 
 I propose to submit explanations in the order given. 
 
 (l) AIDS FOR FAMILY WORSHIP. 
 
 I have long held the extreme importance of having 
 suitable provision made for the regular observance of 
 family worship under all circumstances in the homes of 
 our people. I have felt that it is a duty incumbent on 
 every minister, and every man, in and out of authority, 
 in our church, as far as in his power to promote and 
 enable the head of every Presbyterian family to observe 
 daily household wrrship. 
 
The experience of a lonp life, suggests the following 
 reasons for action by the church in a matter of so much 
 general importance. 
 
 1. Prepared forms of prayer are indispensable to 
 those of our people who have not the gift of utterance, 
 or who feel a disabilty of expression to such an extent 
 as is too frequently the case, that family worship 
 becomes neglected. 
 
 2. The forms of prayer to be had at the booksellers 
 however excellent in some respects, are unsuitable 
 for the regular use of many of our people, owing to 
 their length and other reasons. "The conditions of 
 " modern life make it difficult, in many instances, to 
 " unite the members of families in lengthy Readings 
 " and Prayer. In busy households it is not easy to find 
 "a common time of leisur for all the members to 
 " assemble around the family altar. In the morning 
 " some may be hurried to leave for work or school. In 
 " the evening they may be fatigued with the occupations 
 " of the day, and a feelinr of restlessness or weariness 
 " too often accompanies attempts at the solemn offering 
 "of Prayer and Praise. The consequence is that 
 " Family Worship, even it earnestly attempted, not 
 " seldom becomes intermittent and irregular, and the 
 " daily united recognition of God's presence and good- 
 " ness and grace by and in the household, as such, is 
 " often overlooked, and is apt to be systematically 
 " neglected " 
 
 The words quoted I read in the introduction to an 
 unpretending little manual before me, " Daily Prayers 
 for Busy Households," issued privately to try and meet 
 the needs of our time. In this little work the forms are 
 designedly much abridged and in this respect resemble 
 the models found in Holy Scripture. So brief are the 
 
lUowing 
 so much 
 
 sable to 
 
 Iterance, 
 
 in extent 
 
 worship 
 
 )oksellers 
 nsuitable 
 owing to 
 ditions of 
 tances, to 
 Readings 
 Lsv to find 
 jmbers to 
 morning 
 ;hool. In 
 cupations 
 weariness 
 m offering 
 ;e is that 
 npted, not 
 r, and the 
 and good- 
 is such, is 
 tematically 
 
 iction to an 
 ily Prayers 
 y and meet 
 le forms are 
 ;ct resemble 
 )rief are the 
 
 prayers that even in the busiest households a few quiet 
 moments may be found for their use in united family 
 worship, as a primary duty before the bustle of the day 
 begins. 
 
 There can be no objections to longer prayers by 
 those who desire them and have time to use them. We 
 are warranted however in the belief that acceptance with 
 our Heavenly Father is not determined by much speak- 
 ing but by the attitude of one's mind and spirit towards 
 Him. We feel nevertheless that it is of vital interest to 
 the individual, the Church and the State, that domestic 
 religion should be maintained. We feel that "we 
 should acknowledge God in all our ways " and that 
 devotion in the family should be fostered by every 
 means. Experience has proved the utility of these short 
 prayers in many instances, and the question may fairly 
 be asked, would not the highest interests be served, if 
 the Church supplied our people with similar brief forms 
 for daily devotion clothed in direct and simple language? 
 
 Would not a little book containing such prayers, 
 one for each day of the month, with directions or sug- 
 gestions for their use, be an appropriate and graceful 
 gift from the church, by the hands of the minister, to 
 each young couple on the occasion of their marriage ? 
 
 That there is nothing more important to our church 
 than this subject, is fully established by the report on 
 Church Life and Work presented to the Assembly in 
 June last. The replies to questions sent to all Presby- 
 teries and Sessions throughout the Dominion caused the 
 Committee to be " deeply disappointed and perplexed." 
 The report states " To a large extent the family altar is 
 in ruins. In thousands of professedly Christian homes 
 this light of the dwelling is entirely quenched, and in 
 thousands more it burns with a fitful and feeble ray." 
 
!l 
 
 Hall ■ 
 
 After discussion the Assembly adopted the following 
 recommendation : — 
 
 "That in vifw ol" tlu* saiTcd aiul (ar-roat-liinj; inniu'iu-f i>r llu" lloiiu', 
 and ol i-arly I'l'livrious impn'sssinns, llii»i A^si-inhly I'xpri-^M's iK-op 
 si>rri)\v at tin- I'umparativi'ly low romlition of family rt'ii^'ion, ami would 
 oariu'stly iirjfi* MinistiTs ami Kldi-rs to iisi- all wiso nu'ans in hriiiijinjkf 
 Christian paivnts to ri-ali/.i- llu-ir donu'stii- diitii-s ami rt-sponsihilitifs ; 
 ami fiirtlu'r, that sonu' slt-jis hi- taki-n to ivoonumMul or pri-pari' a Hook 
 of Family Di-volion fitti-d to assist parents in fstablishinjfand maintain- 
 iiiif family wi>rship, and in tlu" ri-lij^ioiis nurture' i-if tlu" younif." 
 
 (2) AIDS rOR SOCIAL WORSHIP. 
 
 In all the outlying parts of the territories of the 
 Dominion, and in some of the sparsely settled portions of 
 the older provinces, groups of individuals and families 
 are to be found completely isolated from regular church 
 services. A limited number of such districts may 
 receive for some weeks the services of students or other 
 missionaries, but even these few sections are left destitute 
 of the means of worship for much of the year. It is 
 strongly felt to be a duty of the church to provide 
 the means by which all Presbyterian people under 
 such isolated circumstances may be enabled to maintain 
 social worship amon^ themselves. The need of taking 
 steps to accomplish this object is very great, and its 
 advantages to the church will be manifest, for apart 
 from individual benefit to a large number of people 
 doing pioneer duty, centres oi worship will be consti- 
 tuted in many remote portions of the Dominion, to be 
 developed, eventually in many cases, into self-supporting 
 congregations with a settled minister. 
 
 The necessity of providing the means of social 
 worship has frequently come within my personal 
 knowledge in all parts of Canada, and in my humble 
 judgment, nothing would more contribute to the advan- 
 tage of pioneer settlers themselves, and eventually to the 
 
Following 
 
 f thf Iloim-, 
 
 1, jiml would 
 , in hriiiifiiiif 
 imnsiliilitii's ; 
 ■pail' a Hook 
 nd maintain- 
 Ill!:-" 
 
 ies of the 
 portions of 
 id families 
 lar church 
 tricts may 
 Its or other 
 eft destitute 
 
 vear. 
 
 It is 
 to provide 
 ople under 
 to maintain 
 d of taking 
 at, and its 
 for apart 
 r of people 
 
 be consti- 
 nion, to be 
 
 supporting 
 
 s 
 iiv 
 
 of social 
 
 personal 
 
 my humble 
 
 the advan- 
 
 tually to the 
 
 advancement of the Church. Our co-rcligionists who 
 go out to subdue the wilderness, ha\e claims upon the 
 church, and if those claims are ignored, if we fail to 
 provide the means by which they can be held together 
 as Presbyterians, we cannot be surprised if they 
 attach themselves to other denominations who with 
 greater forethought and greater enterprise, supply a 
 want felt by many. From my own knowledge, I can 
 sav that in the early settlements of the older provinces, 
 a very large number of scattered Presbyterian families 
 have been absorbed by other denominations from the 
 cause to which I allude. It is true that we make an 
 effort to send ministers and missionaries to the North- 
 West, but it is not possible to cover more than a limited 
 portion of the vast field, and unless we take other means 
 to hold within our fold all who have a legitimate claim 
 on the church, through force of circumstances, left to shift 
 for themselves, they will be attached toother denomina- 
 tions; and if they have no opportunity of doing so, they 
 and their families are apt to lapse into a condition of 
 semi-barbarism. In listening recently to the Rev. Dr. 
 Robertson describing the condition of new settlers, 
 miners, prospectors and pioneers generally in the remote 
 territories, I was struck with the statements made by him. 
 On so good an authority the numbet of persons destitute 
 of the services of ministers or missionaries is very great. 
 If my memory serves me, I think he estimated that there 
 can not be less in the aggregate than 30,000 of our 
 people so situated. Can nothing be done to help those 
 people to help themselves ? Some private efforts have 
 been made to supply a much felt want, but they are 
 feeble, being without the advantage of authority. Some 
 time ago a little manual entitled, " Short Sunday Ser- 
 vices for Travellers " was issued, and it has been used 
 
10 
 
 under various circumstances for the last quarter of a 
 century in many parts of the Hominion, and at sea. 
 It was prepared primarily for surveying and exploring; 
 parties ; its use has been extended to Hudson Ray Posts 
 and other out of the way places; recently it has been 
 carried into the Klondike region by the Victorian Order 
 of Xurses, and by the Oflicer in command of the troops. 
 This little work, although far from beinj^ as complete as 
 it mi^ht be, has been j^ratefully accepted wherever it 
 has been used, and on many occasions it has served an 
 excellent purpose as an aid to worsnip under peculiar 
 difficulties. It is now, however, out of print, and a new 
 edition is in demand. Must its supply be left to private 
 effort? 
 
 Should we not reco^ni/e the fact that a responsibility 
 rests upon the church ? As a church should we not take 
 means to supply the want as far as it may be possible to 
 do so ? I respectfully submit that in order to promote 
 common worship where the worshippers are few in num- 
 ber, and unable to obtain the services of a minister, a book 
 of model services with forms of prayer and instructions for 
 their use, should be provided and duly sanctioned by 
 authority. I further submit that such provision would 
 be a boon to thousands of our people, and materially 
 advance the interests of the Church in Canada. 
 
 (3) AIDS FOR PUBLIC WORSHIP. 
 
 In considering this branch of the subject, I iiivite 
 your attention to several papers appended, viz.: — 
 
 1. "The Improvement of the Services of the 
 Church," a lecture delivered at the Summer School of 
 Theology of the Presbyterian College, Halifax, 1898, 
 by Rev. T. F". Fotheringham, M. A., of St. John, New 
 Brunswick. 
 
 I 
 
ll 
 
 •ter of a 
 I at sea. 
 xplorin^ 
 Jay Posts 
 las been 
 ian Order 
 le troops, 
 itnplele as 
 lercver it 
 served an 
 ;r peculiar 
 and a new 
 to private 
 
 ponsibility 
 ,ve not tal<e 
 possible to 
 to promote 
 e\v in num- 
 ster, a book 
 ructions for 
 ictioned by 
 ision would 
 i materially 
 .la. 
 
 ject, I i'lvite 
 \'\a. : — 
 ices of the 
 IV School of 
 alifax, 1898, 
 t. John, New 
 
 2. " Should the l^resbyterian Church in Canada 
 " return to the Liturj^')- oi the time of Knox, or adopt 
 in Public Worship a Liturgy in anv form." An Ivssay 
 received hv the Senate ofOueen's Tnixersitv, Kini/ston, 
 in competition for the Ciiancellor's pri/e. Motto o( the 
 writer, " l^erseverance."* 
 
 3. " Christian Worship," extracts from Lectures 
 delivered in the I'nion Theoloj^ical Seminary (Presby- 
 terian) New ^'ork, in the Autumn of iSc/x 
 
 (1) On "tin; liook !)f Common Order and tin- I)ir('<t()ry for 
 
 Worship," by the Kcv. Allan I'ollok, I). I)., principal 
 of the Presbyterian L'o!le>;e, Halifax, N. S. 
 
 (2) On " Worship in Xon-l.itur^ical Churches,'' h\ the Kev. 
 
 (.jeorge Dana lioardnian, I). I)., I.l,. 1)., Honorary 
 I'.istor of the First Ha])tist Church, Philadelphia. 
 
 (3) On "the Ideal of Christian Worship," liy the Kev. 
 
 Thomas .S. Hastinj,'s, 1). U., 1. 1.. 1)., President of the 
 Kacully of the Union Theological Seminary, N. V. 
 
 4. " I^ublic Worship." l^xtraets from a paper 
 prepared at the request of the 'I'oronto Presbyterian 
 Council by Mr. William Mortimer Clark, O. C, Chair- 
 man of the Board of Management of Knox College. 
 
 5. " A Xevv- Directory for the Public Worship of 
 God." Kxtracts from the preface of this work issued in 
 connection with th.; Free Church of Scotland, i.Sc^S. 
 
 6. The Directory, agreed upon, i8g8, for I'ublic 
 Worship in the Presbyterian Church of Hn.ijland ; 
 Preface, etc. 
 
 7. "Congregational Prayer." A paper read at 
 the annual Conference of the Theological Alumni oi 
 Queen's University, 1894. Likewise four letters on 
 the same subject by Sandford Fleming, addressed 
 to Rev. Dr. Laing, lately Convener of the Committee. 
 
 ' Ij) to the time of KoiiiK to press tlio writer reKrcts tliat he has been unii))le 
 to arrange for the publieation of tliis Essay in the appeiulix, as designed by him- 
 
'i 
 
 ICacli of tlK'se several papers h^'ars on a subject of the 
 hi^Miest interest and iinportanee to I'resliyterians, and it 
 will be nianilest to wni that j;:reat eare and deliberation 
 will rei|iiire to be exercised by the Committee in dealinj^^ 
 with it. A j^'rave priiblem is presented to the Church ; 
 I cannot but think, however, that our people are c|uite 
 equal to its solutiiMi. I will «.>nly say that while there is 
 no need for haste in solving it, there is 1^cc{.\ for unani- 
 .nity, and to i>btain unanimity the subject should be 
 calmly viewed from all sides, ai'.d the fullest opportunity 
 ^iven to reach a reasonable and wise conclusion. 
 
 The movement for an improvement in the service of 
 Public Worship appears to be an outcome of revival 
 forces now quicUenin^ the Church and tendintj to nds 
 the devotional spirit of the atje of the Reformation. The 
 movement is of recent development in Canada, but it is 
 by no means new in .Scotland. So lon^ a^o as 1S62, 
 the Moderator of the General Assembly of the Established 
 Church acknowledi^ed the risinij^ desire to remove defects 
 and j^enerally to improve the public worship of God. 
 He explained that there are many who "are disatisfied, 
 not with our doctrine, but w ith our external forms of 
 worship." He slated, "The complaint is, that our 
 " services are bald and cold ; that they are ill fitted to 
 " evoke and sustain the feelin>4^s and emotions which 
 " become worshippers ; that we come together rather as 
 "an audience to hear a lecturer or teacher, than to pour 
 '* forth our confessions, and desires, and prayers for 
 " mercy and forjLjiveness throuijfh the blood of Christ ; 
 " that when prayer is made, it is rather that of presidinj^ 
 " ministers than of the assembled people ; that they are 
 " wholly at the discretion of one man, however mediocre 
 " may be his ^ifts ; that this is in no reasonable sense 
 " common prayer, for that they often toil after him in 
 
joct iif the 
 ms, aiul il 
 .•libcralii>n 
 in dcaliii); 
 e Church ; 
 
 arc cjuitc 
 
 lile there is 
 
 for iinani- 
 
 shoukl he 
 ipportiinity 
 ion. 
 
 i service of 
 of revival 
 11^ U> lids 
 lion. I lie 
 la, hut il is 
 ^o as 1S62, 
 Kslahlished 
 ovc defects 
 lip of God. 
 disatisficd, 
 al forms of 
 that our 
 ill fitted to 
 ions which 
 ler rather as 
 lian to pour 
 prayers for 
 1 of Christ ; 
 of presidinjjf 
 lat they are 
 er mediocre 
 I n able sense 
 after him in 
 
 " in \ain ; that throuj^Mi our present system thev are 
 " nKule passive and silent rather than livinj^^ wi>r- 
 " shi, ,.ers." 
 
 'I'he ModeratiMciMitinucd, " We cannot ci>nceal from 
 " ourselves that reli^'ioiis opinion (or if yi>u will, taste, 
 " sentiment, i^r feelinj,0 is in a state of r.ipid transition, 
 " transition ultimately traceable, perhaps lo the convic- 
 " tion that men owe ti> the Lord, in everv respect, the 
 " best of all they possess; that a larj^'e proportion of 
 " our people si^h for, at least, a practical resumption of 
 " what was in use a hundred \ears amon^^st us after the 
 " Keformed faith was introduced, and what, in perfect 
 " harmony with free prayer, lon^ itperated mi>st 
 " benelicially." 
 
 This utterance from the hi^^hest functionary of the 
 Church of Sci>lland, proclaimed thirty-six years a^M, that 
 the subject demanded and was even then recei\ int^ the 
 earnest consideration of our brethern in Scotland. 
 Since that date the movement has extended lo the hVee 
 Church, and the L'nited Presbyterian Church, and many 
 publications bearinj;^ on the improxcmcnt of the public 
 service have been issued bv intluential associations con- 
 nected with these three ^reat divisions of Presbyterianism 
 in the l'nited Kingdom. 
 
 « 
 
 It is only within the last few years that the matter 
 has been seriously considered in Canada. The Com- 
 mittee of which you are now convener, was first 
 appointed in S95 to examine and report on thecojj^nate 
 subject of uniformity of worship. The Committee has 
 been continued from year to year, and its duties have 
 been enlarged as I have explained, so that it has the 
 question of improving the public services of the congre- 
 gations fully before it. 
 
w^ 
 
 l''< 
 
 t 
 
 I 
 
 14 
 
 \Vc all recojji^nize Divine Worship to be one of the 
 primary designs of the public ordinance of the Sabbath. 
 The people assemble for the express purpose of uniting 
 in the Divinely appointed duty. They come to*;ether 
 at stated hours, not simply to listen to the exhortations 
 of the minister, but chiefly to unite in paying homage 
 to the Most High God. The preaching of the word is 
 one part of the public service, and worship as distin- 
 guished from the sermon, is distinctly another part. 
 Preaching is necessarily a function of the minister. 
 VV^orship should be an act of the whole congregation. 
 Let us ask ourselves the question — do the people take 
 part, — are they permitted to take part, to a sufficient 
 extent, in any of our ordinary services of public worship? 
 
 The fathers of the Reformed Churches sought to 
 make the people actual participants in the public 
 worship, instead of mere spectators and listeners. It was 
 a general Protestant principle that public worship should 
 be common to the whole body of the congregation, but 
 we must acknowledge that our Church has drifted or 
 lapsed into usages not in complete accord with that 
 principle, and the question now arises, how shall the 
 people have restored to them what they have lost ? 
 How shall they be given a fuller opportunity of taking 
 part collectively in the common devotions? 
 
 Mr. Fotheringham, in his lecture, a copy of which he 
 has kindly placed at my disposal, sets forth the particular 
 defects of our present services, and points out that those 
 societies which I have mentioned, connected with the 
 various churches in Scotland have grappled with the pro- 
 blem and have issued service books for public worship, 
 and that the service books designed for the United Pres- 
 byterian Church, the F^ree Church of Scotland and the 
 Established Church, are more or less liturgical. A 
 
one of the 
 ; Sabbath, 
 of uniting 
 p together 
 :hortations 
 g homage 
 he word is 
 I as distin- 
 :)ther part. 
 i minister. 
 Tgregation. 
 people take 
 a sufficient 
 lie worship? 
 sought to 
 the public 
 ers. It was 
 rship should 
 egation, but 
 LS drifted or 
 d with that 
 )w shall the 
 have lost? 
 ity of taking 
 
 \,- of which he 
 the particular 
 3ut that those 
 :ted with the 
 
 with the pro- 
 iblic worship, 
 
 United Prcs- 
 :lat^d and the 
 
 iturgical. A 
 
 perusal of Mr. Fotheringliam's lecture, wliich accom- 
 panies this, is strongly recommended. He gives ample 
 historical details bearing on the present question and 
 sugg'^sts means by which the services of the CanaJian 
 Church might be greatly beautified and improved. He 
 clearlv presents the case so that each person may form 
 his own judgment ; and he furnishes the latest informa- 
 tion respecting the movement in Scotland. 
 
 To the same gentleman we are likewise indebted for 
 a lecture on " The John Knox Liturgy or Scottish Hook 
 of Common Order." This lecture published a few 
 months ago in pamphlet form, evinces a careful exami- 
 nation of the best authorities. It should be read by all 
 who desire to become acquainted with the minute and 
 interesting details, brought into this comprehensive form, 
 by the author. Other papers appended, to which I ask 
 your attention, speak for themselves. They present 
 views on the subject under discussion, from different sides 
 and gi\'e testimony from various authorities, the weight 
 of which supports the claim made ir. favour of Aids for 
 Public Worship in our Presbyterian congregations. 
 
 In New York, less than two years ago there was a 
 remarkable exposition of the methods of worship in use 
 in the chief religious bodies in Christendom. Ten 
 carefully prepared lectures were delivered by chosen 
 representatives of different religious denominations, five 
 of whom were Pre:;byterian. These lectures were 
 delivered in the Union Theological Seminary, in the 
 autumn of 1896, and attracted great attention. i'hey 
 have since been published by Charles Scribner & 
 Sons, and I avail myself of this publication to append 
 copious extracts from three of the lectures, in order to 
 interest a wider circle. As stated in the preface to the 
 volume, the general result of ihese lectures " is a remark- 
 
 i 
 
10 
 
 1i! 
 
 
 able consensus of opinion on the great subject and a 
 substantial unity in the midst of a rich variety of form 
 and method." 
 
 There can be no doubt that all the Reformed Churches 
 were ori«j^inally liturgical. The evidence of history goes 
 to show that the church of our fathers did not differ in 
 this respect from the other Reformed Churches, and it 
 must be acknowledged that the use of a liturgy is in no 
 way out of harmony with the spirit and principles of 
 Presbvterianism. But our branch of the Christian 
 Church, has been so long non-liturgical in practice, that 
 it cannot be supposed, that any proposal to adopt a fixed 
 and inflexible liturgv, would find favour with manv, or 
 indeed with any of us. It is not proposed in Scotland. 
 The proposal is to have a carefully epared Directory, 
 with freedom to introduce extemporary prayer, at the 
 discretion of the minister. Obviously, an optional 
 liturgy, such as that contemplated, would simply be the 
 revival of an old usage introduced by the founders of 
 our Church, and practised by our fathers for generations. 
 The annals of Presbyterianism are perfectly clear on this 
 point ; the Scottish Service-Book adapted by Knox from 
 the liturgy of the French Protestants at Geneva, was 
 used by the Scottish people in public worship for nearly 
 a century after the Reformation. John Knox's liturgy 
 had become dear to the hearts of congregations, and its. 
 disuse was owing, not to any dislike to it on the part of 
 ministers or people. It was due to the action of the king 
 at the beginning of the covenanting age. The king 
 enacted that the use of the Scottish Service-Book was 
 illegal, the Scottish people would use no other, :'nd 
 from that stormy period to the present day it has never 
 been re-introduced into our worship. 
 
 " The feeling now is, with many well-informed 
 people, that the time has arrived when the primitive 
 
ect and a 
 ;ty of form 
 
 i Churches 
 istory ^oes 
 ot differ in 
 hes, and it 
 iTV is in no 
 rinciples of 
 : Christian 
 ractice, that 
 dopt a fixed 
 th many, or 
 n Scotland. 
 1 Directory, 
 lyer, at the 
 an optional 
 imply be the 
 
 founders of 
 jTcnerations. 
 
 clear on this 
 y Knox from 
 jeneva, was 
 lip for nearly 
 iiox's liturgy 
 ;ions, and its. 
 jn the part of 
 >n of the king 
 ;. The king 
 ice-Book was 
 \o other, .^nd 
 y it has never 
 
 well-informed 
 the primitive 
 
 17 
 
 Service Book or an equivalent, might, with great advan- 
 tage to worshippers, be again brought into use ; that it 
 would add to the decorum, the beauty, the simplicity, 
 and the impressiveness of the services of the sanctuary, 
 and bring us back to the usages of the Church in its 
 best days." 
 
 Such is the opinion of many interested in the move- 
 ment, and it will be for the Committee to consider how 
 far-the proposal would be applicable to the Church in 
 Canada. Notwithstanding the fact, that we belong to a 
 Church which used a liturgy for generations, and that so 
 many well able to judge think that advantages would 
 result from a return to the early practice, we have long 
 been unaccustomed to that practice, and I doubt if we in 
 Canada, are prepared to accept the proposals which have 
 been reached by some of our brethren in Scotland. My 
 own views have been expressed elsewhere. (See papers 
 appended.) I am inclined to the opinion, that it would 
 best suit our needs and circumstances to follow a middle 
 course. In the letters I addressed to vour predecessor, 
 Dr. Laing, I made an appeal on behalf of the people, 
 simply that they should be allowed a fuller participation 
 in congregational worship. Our service consists of 
 preaching, prayer and praise. Important and essential 
 though it be, preaching in itself is not worship, although 
 in the contemplation of the Almighty, it is an element of 
 worship. The public worship of the congregation is 
 chiefly in prayer and praise, and the latter is provided 
 for by the recent introduction of our excellent Book of 
 Praise. There is, however, no adequate provision for 
 the vitally important service of prayer. Our people 
 are passive, while the minister has thrown upon him a 
 grave and difficult task, an ever recurring weighty 
 responsibility. It can be no easy duty for any man. 
 
18 
 
 however jTJfted, however devout, however accomplished, 
 to plead hefore God the cause of hundreds of his fellow- 
 beings ; to ^ive expression extemporaneously in appro- 
 priate words to the wants of his flock. Moreover, the 
 difiiculty is immensely increased by a custom which 
 involves the necessity of attemptinjr to ^ive utterance, on 
 each occasion of devotion, to fresh thoughts in new and 
 fitting words. Let us examine this practice, as it obtains 
 throughout the Dominion. Xo minister is supposed to 
 repeat himself ; each of the half dozen prayers he oflers 
 up on any one Sabbath must be fresh from the heart. 
 The same throughout the year. Moreover, no two min- 
 isters are expected to use the same prayer, so that we have 
 from our looo pulpits, in theory at least, no less than 
 200,000 or 300,000 different prayers in a year, not one 
 of which is known before it is spoken. No wonder that 
 members of congregations do not, and cannot always, 
 follow their minister in prayer. No wonder that their 
 minds often wander, or are thrown into an attitude 
 of criticism rather than devotion. It cannot be sup- 
 posed that these two or three hundred thousand 
 prayers are all equally good, all equally appropriate. 
 I ask, would it not be an advantage to many congrega- 
 tions if the best of them were collected, say the very 
 best of each thousand, and made available to the Church 
 generally? 
 
 To my mind the devotional service of the congrega- 
 tion is of supreme importance and calls for the most 
 careful preparation and calm premeditation. It has long 
 seemed to me that in the interest of true congregational 
 worship, the prayer of the people, should be made 
 known in advance to the people themselves. Naturally 
 the voice of the minister would continue to be the voice 
 of the congregation, but every one present should have 
 
)mpli.shed, 
 his fel low- 
 in appro- 
 eover, the 
 tom which 
 terance, on 
 n new and 
 s it obtains 
 apposed to 
 rs he offers 
 1 the heart. 
 ^o two min- 
 hat we have 
 o less than 
 ar, not one 
 wonder that 
 mot always, 
 r that their 
 an attitude 
 lot be sup- 
 d thousand 
 appropriate. 
 ly congre.c:a- 
 ay the very 
 othe Church 
 
 ie con^rej^a- 
 for the most 
 It has long 
 )n4irc£xational 
 Lild be made 
 s. Naturally 
 ) be the voice 
 t should have 
 
 m 
 
 the printed forms in his hand so that his eye as well as 
 his ear could easily follow, without any of the difficulties 
 which more or less are always experienced in listening, 
 or in trying to listen, to the extemporary devotional 
 utterances ordinarily spoken from our pulpits. Does 
 John Knox say anything bearing on this point? " In 
 the congregation should be made common prayer, such 
 as all men hearing might understand ; that the hearts 
 of all subscribing to the voice of one, might with 
 unfeigned and fervent sound, say Amen." 
 
 In considering this subject it is proper not to ignore 
 objections, and I freely admit that some of the staunchest 
 friends of the church express a decided preference for 
 extempore prayers ; they speak of the free devotional 
 exercises of such men as Spurgeon as being everything 
 that could be desired, and they entertain fears that the 
 reading of prayers might tend to formalism and ritualism. 
 I have dealt with this objection in my letters to your pre- 
 decessor Dr. Laing. To my mind such fears are ground- 
 less and are far outweighed by other considerations. I 
 shall only now remark that while some of our ministers 
 have been given in a high degree the grace of extempor- 
 aneous prayer, there are others to whom the rare gift has 
 been denied. Whether the proportion of the latter be 
 large or small does not touch the rightful claims of every 
 one of our people that they should be allowed a fuller 
 share in public worship. Readily I grant that there 
 would be less need for written prayers if we were sure 
 of having a Spurgeon in every pulpit, but I ask in all 
 seriousness should many congregations be obliged con- 
 tinually to suffer because some few pastors are so divinely 
 favored as not to require the aid of prepared forms? 
 
 General prayers have always been in use in some of 
 the Reformed Churches ; these give expression to the 
 
'.•r- 
 
 20 . 
 
 petitions and thanksj^ivin^s of all classes and conditions 
 of men ; their purpose is that through them the congre- 
 gation may directly and collectively address the 
 Almighty Being ; they are not prayers of the officiating 
 minister for the congregation, but prayers of the congre- 
 gation itself. " They are the common prayers of the 
 whole people expressing in simple well known words, 
 and free, as far as possible, from such individual pecu- 
 liarities as by invoking criticism, would interfere with 
 the intelligent adoption of all the petitions by every man, 
 woman and child." Moreover as they invite no criticism, 
 they do not interfere with a devout attitude of mind. 
 Having regard to what is due equally to the people and 
 the minister, would it not be desirable to have a collec- 
 tion of general prayers for congregational use ? One or 
 two such prayers in each ordinary service would add 
 greatly to the beauty and solemnity of our worship. 
 We have a model and the very highest authority for 
 general prayers in that given by our Saviour, " In this 
 manner pray ye." 
 
 I cannot but think that a service embracing general 
 or people's prayers, with occasional prayers of the min- 
 ister, such as varying circumstances may call for, would 
 have a most beneficial tendency. It would unite the 
 congregation in the solemn act of common worship far 
 more than our present practice. The people in their 
 devotions would be less dependent on the varying 
 moods of the minister's mind, and the minister himself 
 would be relieved of an enormous responsibility, and be 
 in a better position to throw all his powers into his dis- 
 course. 
 
 The view I take is, that we have much need of 
 " Aids for Public Worship " in some form, possibly in a 
 Service-book or Directory, or by whatever name it may 
 
 
21 
 
 onditions 
 
 e congre- 
 
 ress the 
 
 .ifticiatinj; 
 
 e congre- 
 
 rs of the 
 
 vn words, 
 
 ual pecu- 
 
 rfere with 
 
 very man, 
 
 criticism, 
 
 of mind. 
 
 ■teople and 
 
 e a collec- 
 
 ? One or 
 
 would add 
 
 r worship. 
 
 thority for 
 
 •, " In this 
 
 ing- general 
 of the min- 
 1 for, would 
 d unite the 
 worship far 
 3le in their 
 he varying 
 ster himself 
 ility, and be 
 nto his dis- 
 
 ich need of 
 jossibly in a 
 ame it may 
 
 be known ; that we should have at least a collection of 
 people's prayers sanctioned by the General Assembly in 
 each pew ; that these prayers should give expression to 
 tile confessions, the supplications, the adorations, the 
 thanksgivings, the intercessions of the peoplecollectively ; 
 that thev should be clothed in the best words which we 
 can offer to our Heavenly Father, and that the ministers 
 of our church should be authorised and instructed by the 
 Assembly to use such prayers at their discretion. United 
 praver must by universal consent be recognized as one of 
 the highest acts of Christian worship. In the way 
 pointed out, united prayer of the congregation and of 
 the whole church is possible. 
 
 The foregoing explanations will, I trust, make it clear 
 that the subject of the memorial presented to the Assem- 
 blv last year, vitally concerns, in each of its three 
 branches, the highest and best interests of the church. 
 As a humble layman I have endeavored to point out that 
 indisputable fact. The Assembly has asked your Com- 
 mittee to deal with the memorial and has nominated a 
 Sub-Committee specially to assist in one branch of the 
 subject referred to therein. The Assembly has com- 
 mended the Committee for diligence and directed definite 
 action to be taken. It now rests with vour Committee 
 to consider the whole matter with wise deliberation and 
 so far as deemed expedient to prepare and recommend 
 such aids for h^amily, .Social, and Public Worship as 
 may appear to them needful and likely to be useful. 
 The General Assembly has done well to take this action. 
 It cannot, I think, fail to result in equipping our church 
 more fully than ever before, with the means of accom- 
 plishing effectively the great mission set before her in 
 the Dominion. 
 
 Yours very faithfully, 
 
 Sandforp Flkmin'g. 
 
1f« 
 
 APPENDIX I. 
 
 "THE IMPROVEMENT OF THE SERVICES OF 
 
 THE CHURCH." 
 
 A Lecture delivered at the Summer School of Theology of 
 the Presbyterian College, Halifax, 1898, by Rev. T. F. 
 Fotheringham, M. A, of St. yohn, Nezv Brnnsivick. 
 
 In speaking of the improvement of the services of the 
 church I shall confine my attention to the regular Sabbath 
 day worship. To include the administration of the Sacra- 
 ments would compel me to deal too briefly with the 
 important doctrinal questions involved in them. 
 
 That the services of our church require improvement is 
 denied by some. At least they urge that any change must 
 confine itself to the subjective conditions of worship and 
 avoid a serious disturbance of use and wont. One who 
 holds this view very strongly, writes to me as follows : — 
 " I could not suggest or approve any change in the form 
 of public worship in the church. It is fair to suppose that 
 the form which has been used for over 250 years, and loved 
 by the Scottish people, must have suited their national 
 character. That character has not been changed. For 
 thirty or forty years now a strong effort has been made by 
 a small party in the Scottish church to change all this, and 
 with almost no result. This would go to shew that it is 
 not wanted by the people. The changes that have come 
 about in this generation, have really been very small and 
 do not affect any principle. The fact that Knox assisted 
 in compiling a Prayer-book, and that he and the early 
 Scottish reformers used it while the church was in process 
 of reformation, may be used to combat the statement, that in 
 now adopting one we would be copying liturgical churches, 
 that it is a reason for changing a form under which the 
 Presbyterian church has grown and expanded into one of 
 the greatest churches in Christendom, I cannot see." My 
 
 I 
 
/ICES OF 
 
 TJicology of 
 Rev. T. F. 
 insivick. 
 
 vices of the 
 liar Sabbath 
 if the Sacra- 
 y with the 
 
 jrovement is 
 change must 
 worship and 
 C. One who 
 s follows : — 
 
 in the form 
 suppose that 
 irs, and loved 
 leir national 
 inged. For 
 een made by 
 
 all this, and 
 ;w that it is 
 t have come 
 ry small and 
 !nox assisted 
 id the early 
 as in process 
 ;ment, that in 
 cal churches, 
 :r which the 
 d into one of 
 ot see." My 
 
 correspf)ndent then goes on to emphasize the necessity of 
 simplicity in worship and the danger of laying emphasis 
 upon the beauty of the form to the withdrawal of the atten- 
 tion from the spirit of prayer ar.d praise. Also the proba- 
 bility that the sermon would be depreciated in proportion 
 as a so-called " hearty " service was insisted upon. He 
 appeals to the fruits of our present mode to shew that it 
 has not been found wanting and concludes by saying, 
 " Attempt to change this in any of its fundamental features 
 and you will have for peace and progress, dissention and 
 strife." 
 
 Coming, as this does, from a prominent layman in one 
 of our city churches, it probably expresses the views of the 
 majority of pious and inlelligent members of our churches. 
 But we cannot ignore the fact that the movement, to which 
 he refers is not a cause, but an effect. Il is the response 
 to a demand for greater reverence, decorum and good taste 
 in church services. It is not confined to one section of the 
 church but is found in all, and embraces amongst its sup- 
 porters some of the most eminent for piety, learning and 
 judgment. Its influence has not been insignificant. It 
 has modified the worship of the church in almost as 
 remarkable a manner as did Puritanism in an opposite 
 direction two centuries and a half ago It is a matter of 
 history, that in many parts of Scotland and in this country, 
 the reading of Scripture had been almost abandoned as a 
 part of religious worship ; psalmody was little cultivated; 
 during prayer a variety of attitudes were assumed, and few 
 thought it necessary to close their eyes ; the " preliminaries " 
 were despatched as speedily as possible, and the whole 
 stress of the service was placed upon the sermon. In many 
 cases the prayers were a string of Scripture sentences 
 without logical connection and often misquoted, or grotes- 
 quely applied according to the idiosyncracy of the individual 
 — not a few ministers repeated the same prayer from 
 Sabbath to Sabbath from one end of the year to the other. 
 Very few pastoral charges wouM tolerate such practices at 
 the present time. The movement in favor of a more 
 edifying service, has pervaded the whole church and the 
 various societies which have for their object the advance- 
 ment of this end, are only the organized expression of the 
 spirit of the time. Unless this movement is guided by a 
 
24 
 
 careful study of the true principles governing churcli 
 services and tlie genius and iiistory of our own church our 
 congregations will break loose from all control, and frame 
 services based u|)on purely carnal considerations and 
 exhibiting the liturgical variations and absurdities so often 
 met with already in some parts of this continent. 
 
 Hesides the necessity for guiding wisely a tendency 
 which cannot be arrested, there are defects in our present 
 services which must be remedied if the church is to receive 
 the maximum of spiritual benefit from the exercises of 
 public worship These are grouped by Prof. Shields, in 
 his Litntgia Expurgata under two heads, Ministerial and 
 Congregational Neglects. Amongst the former he enumer- 
 ates a lack of careful preparation so that the several parts 
 of the service may be performed with dignity and propriety. 
 The selections of Scripture, and the materials of praise, are 
 made upon no fixed principle, or centre around the text of 
 the sermon — a custom whicn leads eventually to a very 
 limited range of reading and the entire neglect of large 
 portions of the Sacred Volume. I know an old pulpit Bible 
 whose leaves in the Gospels are actually worn out with 
 handling and the whole New Testament is loose from the 
 binding, but the Psalms, Proverbs and Ecclesiastes are the 
 only portions of the Old Testament which shew signs of 
 wear. — The Minor Prophets are almost as clear and clean 
 as when the volume first came from the press over sixty 
 years ago. If " Every Scripture inspired of God is also 
 profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for 
 instruction which is in righteousness ; that the man of God 
 may be complete, furnished completely unto every good 
 work " then the whole Bible should be read through in the 
 audience of the people, and the lessons of all its parts 
 should in due course, be brought before them. The congru- 
 ity of the lessons with the text is not appreciated while these 
 are being read unless the latter is known beforehand. The 
 people are not edified by it so much as the minister is, the 
 attention of some is even diverted by the irresistible 
 impulse to guess from the selections what the sermon will 
 be about. In regard to the prayers, these are often '• long 
 and rambling effusions of what happens to come uppermost 
 in the mind. All is vague, crude and unedifying ; and the 
 congregation, sympathising with the preacher, are glad to 
 
ing church 
 church, our 
 , and frame 
 •ations and 
 ties so often 
 It. 
 
 a tendency 
 our present 
 is to receive 
 exercises of 
 . Shields, in 
 inistcrial and 
 r he enumer- 
 several |.arts 
 ,nd propriety. 
 of praise, are 
 [id the text of 
 lly to a very 
 ;lect of large 
 d pulpit Bible 
 orn out with 
 3ose from the 
 jiastes are the 
 shew signs of 
 lear and clean 
 -ess over sixty 
 f God is also 
 correction, for 
 he man of God 
 to every good 
 through in the 
 f all its parts 
 . The congru- 
 .ted while these 
 orehand. The 
 minister is, the 
 the irresistible 
 the sermon will 
 ire often '• long 
 ome uppermost 
 ifying ; and the 
 ler, are glad to 
 
 f 
 
 despatch their devotions and come to the sermon where 
 thc-y can have something more orderly and intelligible " 
 We have heard many pulpit prayers in which the s|)irit of 
 humble reverence was conspicuous by its absence, the 
 language colloquial and commonplace, and the terms used 
 in addressing the Deity such as would be considered un- 
 warrantable familiarity as between man and man. A sober- 
 minded, devout worshipper must experience more pain than 
 edification when he hears the Supreme lieing addressed 
 vociferously in s-tentorian tones, as if He were deaf or asleep, 
 while the so-called prayer cMsplays its lack of premeditation 
 by frequent reiteration of the same thoughts abundantly 
 interspersed with interjections and ejaculations I do not 
 think that Presbyterians are the chief offenders against 
 good taste in this matter, but we are frequently called to 
 assist at religious meetings where this style of devotional 
 oratory is deemed characteristic of unction and fervor, and 
 we need to be on our guard against unconscious imitation. 
 
 To the custom of making the whole service a mere foil 
 for the sermon, Dr. Shields traces, I believe correctly, the 
 craving for " sensational " preaching. ' Mere intellectual 
 entertainment is substituted for devout communion with 
 with God," '■ The discourse is elaborated at the expense of 
 the scFvice." A man is pushed into prominence instead of 
 the Divine Being in whose holy presence all worshipi:)ers 
 stand. The remedies for these two ministerial defects are 
 the adoption of a definite lectionary by which the ancient 
 custom of our church and the instructions of the Directory 
 shall be carried out, and ' the canonical books read over in 
 order, that the people may be better acquainted with the 
 whole body of the Scri[)tures ;" and a careful study of the 
 admirable summaries of prayers in the same too-mnch- 
 neglected symbol, so that adoration, confession, supplication, 
 thanksgiving, &c., may receive their due place and proper 
 expression in the common prayers of the church. 
 
 On the part of the congregation there is a tendency to 
 assume the place of spectators and critics rather than 
 active participants in the worship. When the function of 
 prayer is relegated to the preacher, and that of praise to 
 the choir, the words " Let us pray," or " Let us sing," are 
 too apt to become, as Dr. Shields expresses it, " dead 
 formulas — hints of a duty, echoes of a reality." The devo- 
 
211 
 
 tions are criticised as freely as the sermon, and a depraved 
 taste for the striking and impressive rather than the simple 
 and devout is fostered. "The worshipper, from bein;i a 
 passive auditor, easily becomes a mere critic of the whole 
 performance, and craves only what shall pleasantly affect 
 his ear or his imajii nation, or readily fall in with his tastes 
 and prejudices. According as the choir do their part well 
 or ill, he approves or disapproves. If his devotional feel- 
 ing is sometimes stirred by the preacher, it is at f)ther 
 times hindered, ami thus he becomes more regardful f)f the 
 human agents in worship than ot the Divine Majesty and 
 Presence, an<l loses that sense of individual responsibility 
 which would be sustained and kept awake, were he express- 
 ing his own feeling by actually taking part, auilil)ly and 
 intelligibly, with others iti common acts of demotion." It 
 is quite true that faithful remonstrance and prayer for a 
 quickening of the congregation's spiritual life will do much 
 to remedy this unedifying attitucle of mind, but with all 
 our teaching we must join the use of such means as tend 
 to effect the object in view. Not .leglecting the former, it 
 wculd conduce to a more correct appreciation of the true 
 relations in which the various participants stand to one 
 another and to the whole service if more care were given 
 to the development of the musical talent of the congrega- 
 tion ; the psalms mii^^ht be read respousively, as is done in 
 at least two of our churches in the Maritime Provinces ; 
 some of the prayers, at least, might be after fixed forms, 
 and, according to the custom of primitive times and, almost 
 certainly, of our own church in former days, an audible 
 '* Amen " might be added at the close of all prayers. 
 The Lord's Prayer recited in unison would give the 
 youngest child present an opportunity of taking personal 
 part in the service. We shall return to some of these 
 point?, agiin. 
 
 Neaj-iy all the English-speaking Presbyterian churches 
 are earnestly grappling with the difficulties which beset 
 any proposed radical change in the public worship of the 
 church. Some, acting through the church courts, aim at 
 such a moderate measure of liberty as will sati^ify the views 
 of the more advanced while not putting too great a strain 
 upon the conservatism of others. In this way it is hoped 
 that uniformity may be preserved. The Presbyterian 
 
S7 
 
 Church of Kiisland, for example, has issued a revision of 
 the Directory, by which those who " despise tiie 'Amen 
 would be still more utterly filled with contempt, for it 
 recommends an audible " Amen " at the close of every 
 prayer, chanting; ol the prose psalms, consecutive Scri|)ture 
 lessotis, recitation of the Apostles' Creed, that the Lord's 
 Prayer ' should be reverently said by all," and calls the 
 " Collection " an " Olt'ertory ! " The Scri|)ture quotations 
 and sentences are taken from the Revised Version, definite 
 jiturijical formuhi; are provided in connection with i| ccial 
 services, and prayers in fiill are given in the chapters 
 relating Id ' The iJedication of a Church," " Solemnization 
 of Matrimony ' and ' Jiurial of the Dead " A Lectionary 
 covering the whole Hible in three years is appended. This 
 has now obtained the sanction of the Synod and has 
 become the law of the church. We venture to predict that 
 it will not be long before a complete service book, on the 
 lines laid down in this Directory will be in use in some of 
 the churches in I'jigland Those who wi.sh more than is 
 here granted will base their warrant for additional liberty 
 upon the concessions made to the liturgical movement. 
 
 I do not know of any other Presbyterian Church that 
 has gone further than to recommend a uniform order of 
 service,, but the various churches in Scotland have volun- 
 tary societies connected with them which have issued 
 service-books more or less fully liturgical, and all of them 
 conceding everything that moderate liturgists would desire. 
 
 Of these, " Presbyterian Forms of Service," is issued by 
 the Devotional Service Association in connection with the 
 United Presbyterian Church. It contains a Lectioirary 
 and full forms of service for all occasions, including 
 Christmas, Good Friday, and Faster It recommends the 
 audible " Amen " at the close of prayers, either " said or 
 sung;" singing of the prose psalms; the chanting or 
 repeating by the congregation of the Lord's Prayer ; and 
 the Apostle's Creed is to be used at the Dedication of a 
 church. 
 
 " A New Directory for the Public Worship of God, 
 founded on the Book of Common Order (1560 64) and the 
 Westminster Directory (1643-45), and prepared by the 
 Public Worship Association in connection with the Free 
 Church of Scotland," contains only materials for services 
 
 V'fl 
 
 ' 1 1 
 
 
 14. 
 
 m 
 
m 
 
 i\\ 
 
 prefaced by admirable introductions pointinor nut tbe true 
 character of each portion of the exercises In the order 
 of service suggested in it we have, chantincr of the prose 
 psalms; the Lords Prayer; and the ■Offertory." The 
 Apostles Creed is recommended to be used at the Baptism 
 of Adults, the Admission of Young Communicants and the 
 Dedication of Churches 
 
 The " most advanced " of all the service books prepared 
 for the use of Presbyterians is that published by the 
 Church Service Society of the Established Church, under 
 the title of the old liturgy of the reformation. " The Book 
 of Common Order" It is both a Directory and a Liturgy 
 and exhibits in complete form the kind of service which 
 reflects most correctly the principles of the Reformed 
 Churches. The book is familiar to most of us and does 
 not call for any lengthened description. Of all such com- 
 plications it displays the truest liturgical instinct and the 
 greatest freedom from unenlightened prejudice. It is 
 loyal throughout to the traditions of our church, while at 
 the same time it claims for us a share in the rich devotional 
 treasures of the church catholic. Only those who have 
 given some attention to such subjects can fully appreciate 
 the learning and taste of its compilers. Were it adopted 
 as an " Optional Liturgy " the Presbyterian Church would 
 have a Prayer-Book which should satisfy the most fastidi- 
 ous, while it wearied none by monotonous repetilions. 
 
 To many, the proposal to frame a liturgy with prescribed 
 prayers and congregational responses will appear a com- 
 plete departure from genuine " Presbyterianism," but this 
 erroneous view is becoming gradually dispelled. The 
 Church of our fathers was, like all the Reformed churches, 
 a liturgical church. That the conduct of Divine service 
 should be left to haphazard, or placed at the mercy of the 
 caprice or incompetency of the minister would have been 
 considered most improper by the men who cast out the 
 burdensome and heartless mediceval ceremonial Calvin 
 prepared a liturgy for the Church at Geneva ; Knox and 
 others drew up one vvlsich was modified, enlarged and 
 adopted by the Church of Scotland and used for nearly a 
 hundred years. Not o le of the churches which renounced 
 the heresies of Rome ever counted it a heresy to worship 
 God according a prescribed form. The Church of Scot- 
 
6 
 
 2J) 
 
 land and her daughters are the only ones of the great 
 national churches ot the i6th century which are non- 
 liturgical to-day. This change has taken place wholly by 
 the operation of foreign influences and in spite of the 
 earnest remonstrances of her saintliest men, such as 
 Rutherford, Henderson, Baillie and others. The com- 
 missioners to the Westminster Assembly strove hard to 
 secure a revised liturgy rather than a Directory and 
 succeeded in securing that the instructions regarding 
 prayer were so worded that " by changing the phrase here 
 and there" they could be turned into a suitable form for 
 use. An edition of the Directory was even published in 
 which this change was made. The Presbyterians in 
 England were quite willing to accept the Prayer-Book at 
 the Restoration if certain changes were made in it, some 
 of them in a decidedly " High Church " direction. That our 
 liturgy fell inco disuse is due to several causes, (i) The 
 inherent defects of the book itself It breathed too much 
 the spirit of the Old Testament. This was in accordance 
 with the fierce enthusiasm of men who were battling with 
 spiritual enemies as unscrupulous and relentless as the 
 ancient Canaanites. (2.) The narrow, fanatical spi"it of 
 Puritanism which developed a type of religious life, lofty 
 indeed in its spiritual aspirations, but sell-assertive and 
 pretentious. This rapidly spread thoughout Scotland and 
 was much strengthened by the nine years occupation of 
 Cromwell's army, during which his preaching troopers 
 often usurped the pulpits of parish churches and did not 
 hesitate to treat with scant courtesy any person who 
 ventured to contradict theii narrow iheology or reprove 
 their irreverent conduct. (3.) The mad attempts of the 
 Stuart kings to force upon the country a " cast-iron 
 liturgy" modelled after the English fashion and containing 
 CApressions which the popular mind could not distinguish 
 from rank Romanism. This produced a revulsion against 
 all prescribed forms and drew the n3f''';v Mito closer affinity 
 with English Independents. (4) 1 ne prescription of the 
 Directory, in consequence of the English alliance, effectu- 
 ally barred any revision of the old liturgy, and it fell into 
 gradual disuse. (5.) The dreary period of Moderatism, 
 which soon followed, reduced public worship to a cold 
 formality, worse than a liturgy ever produced. The read- 
 
:iO 
 
 ing of the Bible was almost dropped from the order of 
 service ; singing was lifelessly performed ; prayers lost 
 their unction and sermons degenerated into moral essays. 
 The influences which we feel to-day are merely the 
 legitimate outcome of the revival forces which quickened 
 the church and which tend towards the restoration of the 
 old forms and the devotional spirit of the Reformation age. 
 Those who desire to see the adoption of a partial liturgy 
 are not in any true sense innovators. Not nearly so much 
 so as those who have introduced the organ and the hymn 
 book. In contradistinction from the English " Book of 
 Common Prayer," the " Book of Common Order," drawn up 
 by Knox and his confreres, left abundant room for free prayer 
 and the minister was at liberty to lay it wholly aside if at 
 any time he thought it best to do so, indeed, the book was 
 chiefly used at the Reader's service and the minister 
 prayed extemporarily. 
 
 The grand argument against printed prayers is that 
 they have a tendency to formality and also to the loss 
 eventually of the gift of extempore prayer altogether. 
 But there may be formalism of the worst kind, as in the 
 £ige of Moderatism, where no written or printed prayers 
 are used. To the congregation at large any prayers must 
 be the composition of another, and in principle it can 
 matter nothing whether they are the premeditated utter- 
 ances of the minister himself, or carefully compiled and 
 printed in a book. The latter have the same advantage 
 of being known beforehand and arc the utterances of the 
 whole church in all its congregations, while the former 
 may or may not be such as the worshipper can assent to, 
 he cannot tell anything about them until he hears them, 
 and then it is too late to dissent. In comparison with 
 unpremeditated orayers in general, there can be little dis- 
 pute on which side the advantage lies. To say that those 
 who pray extempore are specially moved by the Holy 
 Spirit would be a daring assertion. No doubt, the devout 
 mind, accustomed to the exerci o, can, in a few minutes 
 arrange its thoughts and compose itself into a suitable 
 frame, but the ability to pray even then with edification 
 depends upon the richness with which the mind is furnished 
 with appropriate language either from Scripture, or by the 
 study of published prayers. Liturgical work of a sub- 
 
:^i 
 
 stantial character must lie at the back or all acceptable 
 public prayer — acceptable, that is, to those who are to join 
 mentally with the leader. Mere fluency of speech requires 
 neither intellectual endowment nor spiritual graces, and 
 those most " gifted in prayer " are not always those of most 
 exemplary piety. Readiness in public prayer is best 
 cultivated by communion with God in the closet. The 
 use of forms, to some extent, in the regular services of the 
 church would not hinder, but rather help, the minister in 
 leading the devotions of the prayer-meeting and the sick 
 room. 
 
 To the minister, a partial liturgy would be an immense 
 relief I think I am not astray when I assert that " lead- 
 ing in prayer '' is one of the duties which we perform with 
 a most profound sense of our incompetency and in which 
 we gladly give way to one another. " For," as Dr. Robert 
 Lee says. " to pray extempore in a congregation demands 
 qualifications which few men possess. It requires an 
 intimate familiarity with Scripture, a perfect command o^ 
 language suitable for such exercises, i. f., of the simplest 
 language, which yet must never degenerate into vulgarity, 
 familiarity, or even commonplace ; the most solemn and 
 sublime language, which yet must not swell into turgidity, 
 or bombast, or savor of rhetorical exaggeration, or wear 
 any appearance of labor, or artifice. And this reaches 
 deeper than a mere literary accomplishment. It implies a 
 highly accomplished mind, a refinement of character, and 
 a pitch of spirituality which never have been found, and 
 cannot be expected, in any body of clergy whatever I do 
 not say that this attainment is impossible, but experience 
 demonstrates thajt it is difficult and uncommon." How 
 often the minister is compelled to enter the pulpit in a 
 depressed state of mind, or pre-occupied with the sermon 
 he is about to preach. He cannot lift up his heart with 
 that joy and freedom which are necessary if he would be 
 the mouthpiece of the people to God. The " personal 
 equation " cannot be eliminated and the whole congrega- 
 tion suffer in consequence. Rut if he could turn to suit- 
 able and comforting words prepared beforehand, his own 
 disturbed spirit would be calmed and the hearts of all 
 would be opened to the Divine influences shed forth upon 
 them. 
 
yS2 
 
 No one, I presume, would contend for a fixed and 
 inflexible liturgy, like the Anjilican. One incident related 
 by the late Bishop Philips Brooks sufficiently illustrates 
 its grave want of adaptability to a sudden emergency. An 
 episcopal convention or synod was in session when the 
 news reached it that the City of Chicago was in flames. 
 It was at once unanimously agreed that business should be 
 suspended and prayer offered up for the unhappy city. 
 But right here a grave difficulty arose. There was no 
 collect in the Prayer Book exactly suited to the circum- 
 stances, and of course no other prayers were lawful. The 
 matter was finally settled by all solemnly reciting the 
 Litany and thus deprecating almost every woe under 
 heaven except those suffered by the inhabitants of the 
 burping city. It is needless to say that Presbyterians will 
 o^^ver submit to such bondage. But a book which shall 
 gi'r ►he "common order" of Divine service and be used 
 either as a directory or liturgy as the minister may judge 
 best, or the harmony of the congregation requiie, would 
 conserve ministerial liberty, promote substantial uniformity, 
 and afford to those desiring it the solemn and stately 
 forms which are so consonant with the dignity of Public 
 Worship. 
 
 In order to ascertain the order generally followed in 
 our churches, I addressed a circular to all our ministers 
 in this Synod. The following is a summary of the facts 
 elicited. 
 
 Of the 38" who replied to my circular five did not give 
 their order of service, but said that it was " the usual 
 order," that there was " nothing peculiar, about it," or that 
 it was " the simple order generally practiced in the Presby- 
 terian Church." What this " common order " is we find it 
 difficult to determine from the remaining thirty-three. 
 
 With regard to the opening of Divine service : — 
 
 14 begin with an invocatory prayer. 
 II " "a doxology. 
 
 5 " '• singing a psalm or hymn. 
 
 I begins with an anthem by the choir. 
 
 I " " chanting the Lord's Prayer. 
 
 I " " recitation of scripture sentence by the 
 
 minister. 
 
With regard to the use of the Lo'd's Prayer :— 
 
 22 state that it is used, but we cannot say that it is 
 omitted in all the remaining ii, for they simply 
 do not mention it. 
 
 In 13 cases it comes immediately before the sermon. 
 
 In 4 of these it concludes the preceding prayer. 
 
 " 3 it follows singing, and in 3 the offertory and intima- 
 tions immediately precede. 
 
 In 3 it concludes the first prayer. 
 
 immediately follows the opening doxology. 
 closes the second prayer after lessons, 
 follows the New Testament lesson and immedi- 
 ately precedes prayer, 
 is chanted at the opening of the service, 
 is chanted at the close of the prayer between 
 the Scripture lessons and while the people retain 
 the attitude of prayer. 
 
 In 20 the offertory and intimations precede the sermon 
 and in 10 they follow, in three their place is not mentioned. 
 
 In 20 the order following the sermon is prayer, praise, 
 benediction. In but four does praise come before prayer. 
 
 Twenty-seven of my correspondents favor me with 
 suggestions regarding the improvement of our services, 
 but the majority indicate that there is no desire among 
 their people for any change. The following are the chief 
 " innovations " which have been mentioned. 
 
 Twelve approve of an optional, or partial, liturgy for 
 ordinary Sabbath services as well as for special occasions. 
 
 Eleven desire the recitation of the Lord's Prayer, and 
 four of these add the response of '' Amen " to every 
 prayer, 
 
 Nine mention responsive reading, or chanting, of the 
 prose psalms. Three recommend the frequent singing of 
 the TV Deiim and ancient canticles. 
 
 Three are in favor of the recitation of the Apostle's 
 Creed, and one adds the Ten Commandments. 
 
 I recommends kneeling during prayer. 
 I " standing during the anthem. 
 
 I " more frequent observance of the Holy 
 
 Communion. 
 % 
 
 m 
 
I 
 
 iii 
 lii: 
 
 84 
 
 2 recommend the observance of the five chief Chris- 
 tian festivals. 
 
 3^ " prayer in connection with the ofTertory. 
 
 5 ** the more general use of <i;ovvn and bands 
 
 and the promotion of a more ecclesiastical style of archi- 
 tecture than the " music hall " Three think that the con- 
 duct of public worship should be taught in college, along 
 with the study of ancient liturgies. 
 
 The suggestions were all spontaneous, and many of the 
 writers did not know what line of thought would be 
 pursued by the lecturer. Had it been known that he 
 was going to advocate such " advanced " views, no doubt 
 some of them would have been much fuller. 
 
 Let us next consider what order a service should 
 follow which would be self-consistent and at the same time 
 loyal to the Directory and the Book of Common Order. 
 
 According to the Directory, when public worship is 
 held "all are to enter the assembly, not irreverently, but in 
 a grave and seemly manner, taking their seats or places 
 .i^ithout adoration, or bowing themselves towards one place 
 or another." This has reference to the custom at that time 
 in some parts of England of bowing towards the communion 
 table, but the practice of private prayer is taken for granted, 
 for it is said further on, " If any through necessity, be 
 hindered from being present at the beginning, they ought 
 not, when they come into the congregation, to betake 
 themselves to their private devotions, but reverently to 
 compose themselves to join with the assembly in that 
 ordinance of God which is then in hand." This evidently 
 concedes that private devotions were common and seemly 
 before the service began. Gillespie in his notes tells us 
 that this paragraph was added at the request of the 
 English, because with them, many ignorant and superstiti- 
 ous people would not join in the worship until they had 
 said over the Lord's Prayer, In Scotland it was the 
 universal custom to kneel for private prayer on entering 
 the church, and thereafter to occupy the mind with read- 
 ing the Bible or Psalm book. It is only within a short 
 period that the former practice has been resumed in some 
 of our churches and very many have yet to learn how to 
 employ profitably the interval between arrival at church 
 and the commencement of the service. 
 
Nothing is said in the J)irectory of the minister's 
 deportment on entering the pulpit, but in Scotland it had 
 been customary for him to kneel for a few moments in 
 private prayer before addressing the people. A keen dis- 
 cussion arose in the Westminster Assembly upon this 
 matter resulting in a victory for the Independents. I^aillie 
 explains the reason of this by saying that " besides the 
 vehemency of the Independents against it, there is no such 
 custom used here (i. e , in England) by any." The omission 
 was not unnoticed when the Directory came before the 
 General Assembly for ratification, but it was recommended 
 that "although a lawful custom in this Kirk, it be hereafter 
 laid aside Tor satisfaction of the desire of the reverend 
 divines in the Synod of England, and for uniformity 
 with that Kirk so much endeared to us." There was 
 already a divided opinion on the subject in Scotland. A 
 numerous party, affected with the narrow scruples of the 
 English Puritan sects, were much opposed to what they 
 termed "the three nocent ceremonies." These were, the 
 minister bowing when he entered the pulpit, the singing 
 of the Doxology at the close of the Psalms, and the reciting 
 of the Lord's Prayer. Considerations of internal peace 
 doubtless influenced the Assembly as much as love to 
 English allies and regard for their prejudices. When the 
 minister ceased to bow in the pulpit, the people ceased to 
 bow in the pew. It is only in recent times that the " lawful 
 custom " has been revived. I can remember the remarks 
 that were made in the congregation to which I belonged 
 when a youth, when its minister, now the honored head of 
 one of our colleges, followed this practice. It was regarded 
 as a piece of pharasaic ostentation. But when he went 
 further, after a visit to the motherland, and requested the 
 congregation to bow for a few moments in silent prayer 
 af':er the benediction had been pronounced, some of those 
 who "seemed to be pillars in the church," bolted from their 
 pews as soon as the " Amen " was uttered, and by their 
 noisy exit rudely protested against the innovation. Dr. 
 Sprott tells us that so startling was the novelty in some 
 parts of Scotland, that a beadle, seeing the minister bow 
 his head, thought that he had been taken suddenly ill, and 
 rushed to the pulpit with a glass of water. It is now so 
 common amongst all denominations that our ministers may 
 
 
:« 
 
 reintroduce this seemly and helpful custom without exciting 
 any adverse comment whatever. 
 
 Divine worship, according to the order of the Directory 
 begins with the minister calling on the people "to the 
 worshipping of the great name of God." This " Preface " 
 is common to all the liturgies In the Anglican it is very 
 full and couched in chaste and appropriate language. In 
 the John Knox liturgy the precise words are left to the 
 minister who is " to exhort the people diligently to examine 
 themselves," and follow " in their hearts the tenor of his 
 words" in the general confession following. In all the 
 reformed liturgies passages of Scripture were recited, and 
 the call to worship was founded upon them. The restora- 
 tion of this most protestant custom is much to be desired. 
 In most- of our churches the " prefacing " is reduced to the 
 abrupt words 'Let us pray." or the minister silently raises 
 his hands as a signal for the people to assume the attitude 
 of prayer. There was a simplicity and dignity in the old 
 formula ' Let us begin, (or resume) the public worship of 
 God by singing to his praise &c." but it is no longer used. 
 In some churches the " Preface" is sung by the choir in 
 the form of a doxology or invitatory psalm. It does not, 
 however, come so appropriately from them as from the one 
 who is to conduct the service. 
 
 The opening act of worship is prayer, and the themes 
 suggested in the Directory, are invocation, confession of 
 sin, and prayer for a blessing upon the reading of the 
 Word. The absence of invocation formed one of the 
 Puritan objections to the Book of Common Prayer, but 
 neither is it found in the other reformed liturgies. In " the 
 Office for Morning Prayer" of the " Holy Catholic Apostolic 
 Church" (Irvingite) which is thoroughly Protestant, and is 
 framed upon the best ancient models, the " Invocation " is 
 in the words ' In the name of the Feather and of the Son, 
 and of the Holy Ghost,"(Response) "Amen,"and follows the 
 recitation of the Scripture invitation to worship, "O come 
 let us worship and bow down ; let us kneel before the Lord 
 our Maker ; for he is our God ; and we are the people of 
 his pasture and the sheep of his hand," This is also the 
 form used by the German Reformed Church, but the 
 Scripture sentence is not used. The deepest impression 
 of the worshipper when approaching into the Divine pre- 
 
m 
 
 sence being consciousness of sin, confession of it should 
 , take precedence of all other acts. Only when we have 
 washed our hands in innocericy may we approach God's 
 altar. To Calvin belongs the credit of having first suggested 
 the General Confession at the opening of divine worship 
 and the form given in the Anglican liturgy is copied from 
 his service book of 1545, through intermediate sources. 
 The first form given in the John Knox liturgy is. in sub- 
 stance, the one common to all the continental reformed 
 churches, including the Waldensian. It is in use amongst 
 them to the present day, and is also found in the Anglican 
 communion ofifice. For nearly 400 years this has been 
 uttered Sabbath by Sabbath by millions of our brethren of 
 the General Alliance, would it not be a new bond of more 
 than mere sympathy if we should rejoin them in this 
 venerable "form of sound words." But whether a form be 
 audibly repeated or not, the opening prayer should begin 
 with a full confession of sins in general. 
 
 Immediately after confession, Calvin suggests that 
 " some striking promise of Scrioture should follow, whereby 
 sinners might be raised to the hopes of pardon and recon- 
 ciliation," and this hint is adopted in "the comfortable 
 words " of the Anglican Communion office and in some 
 other liturgies. The " New Directory ot the Free Church 
 Society " gives a number of sentences suitable for this 
 purpose. Prof Lorimer tells us that in " the practice of 
 the Lord's Supper, as used in Berwick by John Knox," 
 after the confession we have the following rubric : " Some 
 notable place of the Evangel, wherein God's mercy is most 
 evidently declared, should be read, plainly to assure the 
 penitent of full remission of all offences ; and thereafter 
 ought the minister openly to pronounce such as unfeignedly 
 repent and believe in Jesus Christ, to be absolved from all 
 damnation, and to stand in the favor of God." This 
 " Absolution " is founfl in some place in all the reformed 
 liturgies. In none is the authority of the Minister of Christ 
 to speak in his Master's name and declare His pardon more 
 definitely asserted than in the Scottish " Book of Common 
 Order," the ancient liturgy of our Church. That " God 
 hath given power and commandment to his ministers to 
 declare and pronounce to His people, being penitent, the 
 absolution and remission of their sins," is not a " rag of 
 
 
 hf 
 
m 
 
 Popery " but the sound church doctrine of Calvin and 
 Knox. I need not point out that this differs /o/o avlo from 
 the Romish sacrament of absolution as defined by the 
 Council of Trent. The canon of that council says, " If any 
 one saith that the sacrament of absohition of the priest is 
 not a judicial act, but a bare ministry of pronouncing and 
 
 declarino; sins to be forgiven to him who confesses 
 
 let him be anathema. " The view thus banned by Rome is 
 that of the Reformers without exception. Most generally 
 we find the Absolution in its simpler and more ancient 
 precative form, as in the Anglican communion service. 
 
 Upon the declaration of forgiveness and acceptance 
 most naturally follows the self-dedication of the worshipper. 
 He responds to the divine mercy by presenting himself a 
 living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is his 
 reasonable worship. (R. V. margin.) 
 
 In the daily services of the Church of England the 
 Lord's Prayer is introduced immediately after the absolution, 
 and this would seem to be the most fitting place for its 
 insertion, the divinely appointed and model prayer being 
 the first offering of the lips presented by the pardoned and 
 accepted worshipper. In the Dutch Reformed church the 
 Lord's Prayer concludes the opening invocatory prayer. 
 In the Liturgy of the German Reformed Church, it is con- 
 nected with the prayer after sermon as in the " Book of 
 Common Order." It was universally recited at some part 
 of the service in all the churches of Christendom, until 
 about the year 1640, when some who arrogated to them- 
 selves the title of the " godly party" began to 'sounder it " 
 and called it a "threedbare prayer." Their influence so 
 prevailed that the leading lights of the church preached 
 against it as unsuitable for Christian worship, and it was 
 wholly cast out of the public services of the Scottish 
 churches. Whether we regard the use of it as obligatory 
 or not. certainly no one but will now welcome its restoration 
 to a place in divine worship As we might expect, the 
 Westminster Directory has little to say regarding it. The 
 sole reference is contained in the following short paragraph, 
 "And because the prayer which Christ taught his disciples 
 is not only a pattern of prayer, but itself a most compre- 
 hensive prayer, we recommend it also to be used in the 
 prayers of the church." In the majority of our churches it 
 
 
is said immediately before the sermon. In two. it is repeated 
 audibly by the people, and in two it is chanted by the choir. 
 The subdued voices of the people are much more impressive, 
 to my mind, than the most artistic music. There is no 
 reference in the Directory to the respondingj of' Amen " 
 at the close of prayer. The frequent use of " So be it," 
 instead of "Amen," in the John Knox Liturjjy, rather 
 indicates that this was said by the minister as wi'll as the 
 prayer. The absence of distinguishing type- -capitals or 
 Italics — confirms this suspicion. I have read somewhere, 
 but cannot recall my authority, that the ancient Scottish 
 custom was to follow all the prayers in a scarcely audible 
 undertone, or with a mere motion of the lips, and if this be 
 true the " Amen " would not be treated otherwise than the 
 prayer to which it was appended. Some of us will remem- 
 ber to have seen this muttering of the prayer on the part 
 of aged people of a past generation. About the time of 
 the Westminister Assembly there seems to have been a 
 great dislike to responses of any kind Dr. Leishman 
 tell us that in a Scottish pamphlet of 1690 it is stated that, 
 even under the Episcopal ystem, " Amen " gave great 
 offence, though neither the clerk nor people used it, bur, 
 only the minister "shut up" his prayer with it. That, it 
 is meant for a higher use than merely to '' shut up" a 
 prayer with, needs no proof. Until it is passed down from 
 the pulpit to the pew we cannot give it its effective place 
 in worship All the recently published guides to Presby- 
 terian worship, direct that it be uttered by the people. It 
 is surely inconsistent to sing it with our hymns and refuse 
 to say it with our prayers. 
 
 The next feature of the service is the reading of the 
 Scripture lessons. This the Westminster divines dis- 
 tinctly held to be a ministerial act, and to be performed 
 only by a minister or licentiate. This is decidedly a 
 "higher" view than had obtained in Scotland, but it was 
 one which was readily assei'pd to by the Scottish com- 
 missioners. It was quite . i .accordance with the high 
 estimate which the church had always put upon the read- 
 ing of the word of God. Henceforth this portion of 
 the service was to be regarderj as God speaking to his 
 people by the voice of his accredited ambassador. The 
 text was to depend upon the portion of Scripture appointed 
 
HI 
 
 for the clay, and that was not to be regulatecl by any artificial 
 arrangement of sacred seasons, but by the order of the 
 canonical books themselves. It was enjoined that ' all 
 the canonical books of the Old and New Testaments shall 
 be publicly read in the vulj^ar t()n;;ue out of the best 
 allowed translation, distinctly, that all may hear and under- 
 stand," and also " that ordinar''" one chapter of each 
 Testament be read at every mee' .md sometimes more, 
 
 where the chapters be short, or tlie coherence of matter 
 requireth it." " All the canonical books were to be read 
 over in order, that the people may be better acquainted 
 with the whole body of the Scriptures, and ordinarily, 
 where the reading in either Testament eiulelh on one 
 Lord's day, it is to begin the next." To this rule we would 
 respectfully call the attention of our ministers The 
 almost universal custom is to select a brief passage in 
 some way connected with the text. Of the evils of this 
 method I have already spoken. Were we to follow a c are- 
 fully prepared lectionary framed on the principles of our 
 Directory and find our texts in the lessons read, we would 
 j)lace more honor on the Divine Word and furnish our- 
 selves with a perennial source r "aried and interesting 
 topics of discourse. The perp ' which is so often 
 experienced in selecting a te:.. ^ald be reduced to a 
 minimum, if not overcome altogether. 
 
 In addition to the two chapters, the Directory recom- 
 mends the more frequent reading of such portions of 
 Scripture as the Psalms. Chanting was not in favor with 
 the Puritans and was unknown in Scotland, It is not a 
 form of praise suited to a congregation. The rapid articu- 
 lation of the first part of the clause cannot be followed by 
 a mass of untrained singers, and the result is that the per- 
 formance is left to the choir and organ. A much better 
 result is obtained when the beautifully respons've Hebrew 
 poetry is read by the minister and the people alternately. 
 To do this efTectively the parallelism of structure should 
 be followed, not the mechanical division into verses In 
 our Bibles the answering clauses are generally indicated by 
 a colon or semicolon, so that with a little practice any 
 ordinary congregation would have no difficulty in adopting 
 this method. There are, however, books published with 
 
 
the rcspDnsive parts printed in Italics, whii,h may be 
 obtaineil at a very small cost. 
 
 At't»»»' tlif n'iuliMj,M»f the ScrijitiU't' loHsons nmst litiir<,'ifs 
 iiitroiliu'c t.lif rt>(;it)itii)ii nf tlit" Apostli's' ('iTfil In the 
 .lollll Knox litMr<,''y it whs plilCfil lirjir tlir« close r»|' the 
 s<'r\ ice, iii'h'V tlif Loiil's PrayiT imil Itt-foi-f the last psalm, 
 pr('t"Ht'('(| liy the w'ocils " Aliiiii^lity and f\ crlivinj; (Jod, 
 vonclisatV we 1m's»>o('I\ TIicc, to^rant lis perfect continuance 
 ill tliy lively t'aitli, au/^niientitiLT the same in us ilaily, tdl we 
 ifVuw to the full measure of oui* pei-t'e('tion in ('hrist, 
 whereoi' we make confession saviu<: : / Jul ifri\ l^v." Tlu} 
 use of the creed is not fort>idden in the Directory, indeed, 
 at one point the Westminster Assend'y proposed to 
 retl'unslute the thl'ee ci'eeds and to explain the harsher 
 clauses of the Athanasian. They actually sui,'ifesh'd to 
 |»ai'lia,ment the f(»llo\vini,' emendatinn nf the \' 11 1 Article 
 of the I'rayer l)ook : " The creeds that jj^n under the name 
 (tf the Nice ('reed, Athanasian Creed, and that which is 
 commoidy called the A])()st,les' ('reed, ai'e thorou;,ddy 
 to he recii\ed and Itelieved, for that the mattei- of 
 them may he proved hy most certain wairants of 
 Holy Scripture" The-y also ordered the Apostles' Creed 
 to h(! appende(l to th(! Cateehisuis with an explanation 
 of the clause, " He deseende(| into Hell." It is surely 
 ri^ht and proper that a (jhristian con^'refration should, 
 at st)nie i)art of its service, (h-clare the faith which 
 it pi'ofesses. We have a Confession of Vnhh to which our 
 othce-hearen •il»sci"ihe, hut we j)ut no creed in the mouths 
 of our people. 1V) a student of litur^fies tiiis is the most 
 serious defect of oin* Directory and of the prevalent forms 
 of worship. There can he no church without a creed. 
 Every society has its pled^'e to which all meml)ers sub- 
 scribe — is it reasonable or proper that the hijjhest and best 
 of all should have none. The faitli which makes us (Chris- 
 tians should be uttered In* every Christian assembly. 
 Inasmucii as (Christianity' is based upon historic facts, and 
 lives in the hope of events yet to occur, the recital of 
 these, as in the Apostles' Creed, declares in the most concise 
 form the founchition on which it rests and the future to 
 which it looks forward. An increasing numV)er of churches 
 in the United States, of all denominations, have introduced 
 the creed into their worshiji and all the proposed services 
 
 i^'i 
 
 I .(' 
 
 m 
 
42 
 
 lis 
 
 published by the British churches recognize it at some one 
 or other of the public functions. Following the reading of 
 Scripture the Directory appoints a psalm to be sung. 
 This is the first exercise of praise mentione*!, but a psalm 
 of adoration, or pure praise, might well follow the Lord's 
 Prayer and precede the Ies.sons, and another come between 
 the Old and New Testament selections where the psalms 
 are not chanted. The singing of the ancient canticles 
 should be encouraged. As a branch of the church catholic 
 we ought not to cast away our heritage of sacred song. 
 The noble Tc Dcitm: the Song of the Virgin Mnrv, or the 
 Maf/niticat : The Song of Simeon, or the Nunc Diiuittis ; 
 and the Sonu' of Zacharias, or the liencdicfas ou^ht to tind 
 some place in our services as well as in those of churches 
 which are less pure and scriptural in their worship. They 
 were appended to the Psalter which was used before the 
 Westminster Assembly, and were discontinued in deference 
 to Puritan scruples. Tlie Song of the Tiire(^ Hebrew 
 Children, the apocryphal utterance of Azarias in the Fiery 
 Furnance, called the Bcncdlcite, which has been sung fi-om 
 a very early period, and is us much inspired as any of our 
 modern hymns, and is as historical as '' Scott's wha hae," 
 has also a claim upon our attention. One of these might be 
 sung either before or after the New Testament lesson 
 instead of a Hymn or metrical psalm. Thn Anthem, being 
 in some senses the most perfect form of pi-aise, would 
 appropriately close the service before the collection of the 
 offerings of the people. While the old 'Psalm Book ' wjis 
 in u.se it was customary to sing the " Lesser Doxology," as 
 the "Gloria Patrl" was called in distinction from the 
 "Gloria in Exci'Ixik" at the close of every ]>salm. This 
 and not the '' Amen " would be the -jiroper Presbyterian 
 " conclusion " to our hymns. It is always appropriate, 
 which the " Amen" .sometimes is not. It wasr. with great 
 reluctance laid aside. Speaking in the (Jeneral Assembly 
 against a proposal to discontinue its use, the aged historian 
 Calderwood cited the authorit}' of St. Basil to shew that 
 it had been sung from the time of the apostles and added 
 pathetically, " Moderator. I entreat that the doxology bp 
 not laid aside, for I hope to sing it in heaven." The last 
 verse of the fourth Hymn, that used to be printed at the 
 end of the paraphrases, was not written by Dr. Watts, the 
 
' 
 
 m 
 
 author of the hyiun, but was added seeniinfjly to indicate, 
 like tlie rudimentary organs of some animals, a useful- 
 ness that has passed away, Seeinj,' that the English 
 alliance, for the sake of which our church permitte<l herself 
 to be shorn of so much of Iier glory, has long since Vteen 
 departed from, why should we hold ourselves so bound by 
 the fetters of the past as to refuse to resume the use of 
 what was so dear to the "great and divine reformers " of 
 the Scottish branch of the Catholic ("hurch. " (llory be to 
 the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy (Jhost : As it 
 was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world 
 without end. Amen," might again be said or sung 
 wherever the psalms are read responsivel}' or chanted. 
 The following ncjble pa.-^sage from Hooker's lu'clcsiasfical 
 Polity/ is worth (putting in this connection. " Touching the 
 Hymn of (jllory, our usual conclusion to psalms, the f;ioiy'of 
 all things is that wherein their highest pei'fection doth con- 
 sist ; and the glory of God, that divine excellency whereby 
 he is eminent above all things, his omnipotent, infinite, and 
 eternal Being, whichangels and gloritied saints do intuitively 
 behold ; (this) we on earth apprehend principally by faith, 
 in part also by that kind of knowledge which groweth 
 from experience of those ett'ects, the greatness whereof 
 exceedeth the powers and abilities of all creatures, Ijoth in 
 heaven and earth. God is glorified when such, his excel- 
 lency above all things is with due admiration acknowledged, 
 which dutiful acknowledgement of Go<rs excellency by 
 occasion of s[)ecial effects, being the very propei* sulject 
 and almost the only mattei- pur|)Osely treated of in all 
 Psalms, if that joyful hymn of glory have any place in th<» 
 Church of (iod, whose name we herewith extol and 
 magnify, can we place it more fitly than where it now 
 serveth as a close or conclusion to the P.salms." The 
 psabns or hynms which are sung in cotinection with the 
 Scripture lessons should express joy and gratitude for 
 niercies received, especially for the (Jospel and Salvation. 
 The prayer before the sermon, as given in the Directory, 
 is too long for modei-n patience. We would prefer to con- 
 fine its topics to Thanksgiving, Supplication and prayer for 
 
 Ilium 
 place 
 might 
 
 ination, assigning to the general Intercession its old 
 le Jolni Knox liturgy, after the sei-mon. It 
 Mowed by the Anthem and the Offertory. This 
 
 a 
 
 m 
 
 tM 
 
\r 
 
 44 
 
 latter should always be rofjardod as an act of worship, and 
 mi'j[ht be accompanied by the r citinij or sin<jing of appro- 
 priate Scripture sentences, closinfj witli a brief piaj-er of 
 dedication after the collection plates have been placed on 
 the communion table. 
 
 The prayer after the sermon should refer suitaViIy to 
 the theme of discourse, and then be occupied chieHy with 
 the pfeneral intercession. The psahn or hymn which 
 follows will either connect itself with the sermon, or be a 
 simple ascription of praise, or a <lismission hymn. The 
 Benediction closes the whole service. According to the 
 teachinjj of our standards the pronou'^ "'^g of the benedic- 
 tion is a ministerial act and ought i . to be done except 
 l)y an ordained mini.ster. To him it belongs ' to bless the 
 people from God." It is God's voice from man's lips speak- 
 ing peace to his people.. So solemn and important a part 
 of the service has this appeared to me that I am 
 accustomed to restrict the use of the direct form (using 
 the second personal pronoun) to the regular diets of 
 worsiiip, the Sabbath School, the prayer-meeting, and any 
 specially solemn service, using the precative form (that 
 with the first per.sonal pnmoun) on all other occasions. I 
 have also requested that all meetings at which a minister 
 is not present and asked to pronounce the benediction l)e 
 closed with prayer or recitation of the Lord's Prayer. 
 The leaders of the Christijin Endeavor movement have 
 recegnized the special character of the Itenediction by 
 introducing one of an unobjectionable character for all 
 meetings of C. E. societies. 
 
 One topic connected with our subject has not yet been 
 touched upon, and a very brief notice must now suffice. I 
 refer to attitudes in worship. Tn singing it is now the 
 almost universal custom to assume the natural position of 
 standing ; in reading or listening, that of sitting, but what 
 that commonly taken in prayer is called, I confess I do not 
 know. The old word of scorn, " hunkering," seems the most 
 appropriate. That kneeling was the practice in the church 
 of Scotland is proved from the " Book of Common Oj-der," 
 and several historical references and ecclesiastical injunc- 
 tions. The practice of sitting began during the " irrever- 
 ent times of the commonwealth " and is another of the 
 "deformations" imposed upon our church from the south. At 
 
 If 
 
45 
 
 the time ot' the Revolution, Episcopal inns stood, anr] 
 Presbyterians sat, at prayer, and thus the unbecoming 
 posture became characteristic of '^ur church. In the 
 Orkney and Shetland Islands, however, the custom has 
 alwaj's been to stand. This was eventually adopted by 
 most churches from a sense of propriety rather than from 
 any ecclesiastical enactment. The Westminister Directory 
 is significantly silent upon the subject. It is a great 
 reproach to us that we do not conform to the dictates of 
 reverence and common propriety in our attitude during 
 prayer. The common objection is that our pews are not 
 wide enough for kneeling. But any pew that is wide 
 enough for sitting in jomfortably, is wide enough for 
 kneeling in. If it is not, then we should build our churches 
 to suit a decent mode of worship, and not sacrifice reverence 
 to the wish to economize floor room. The attitude of the 
 body more or less affects tiie attitude of the mind. There 
 are few who cannot really praj' better on their knees, than 
 awkwardly doubled up with their heads on the back of the 
 seat before them. We kneel instinctively in our closets 
 and at family and social prayer, why should we appear less 
 devout in public worship ? 
 
 The following is an outline of a .service such as would 
 conform to the foregoing suggestions. 
 
 On arriving at the House of God, the worshippers 
 should repair to their accustomed seats without unseemly 
 loitering around the entrance, or in the vestibule. After a 
 few moments spent in private prayer, they should occupy 
 their minds with Bible or Hymn Book until the service 
 begins. Any salutations to friends entering contiguous 
 pews should be of the briefest and most unobtrusive char- 
 acter. All should deport themselves as those who realize 
 that they are awaiting an audience with the King. 
 
 After a brief prayer with the choir in their room the 
 the minister should follow them into the church, all pro- 
 ceeding to their places in a grave and reverent manner. 
 Consciousness of an unseen Presence should impo.se a quiet 
 restraint upon the movements and behaviour of tho.se 
 especially who are to lead the devotions of the people in 
 praise and prayer. Both minister and choir reverently 
 kneel as the people have done each to supplicate the special 
 
 k 
 
40 
 
 blessing an«l ^race needed for the right perforniunce of 
 their sacred duties. It is now customary in many churches 
 to begin the sei-vice witli the spontaneous, or unannounced, 
 singing of tiie long metre doxology, or some other lirief 
 ascription of praise, and, after following the custom for 
 many years, 1 conf(!ss that it commends itself to my own 
 taste. There cannot be a more suitable IiHroit. 
 
 Prefacing his words with suitable texts of scripture, the 
 minister calls upon the people to engage in the public 
 worship of God, and the service proper begins with the 
 opening prayer, consisting of a brief invocation, followed 
 by th general confession. This .should be after a fixed 
 form, and the audible participation of tne people in it is 
 desirable. In this and all other prayers, the minister and 
 people should assume the true attitude of prayer, kneeling. 
 Immediately after the confes.sion, the minister, who now 
 acts, not as one of the worshippers, but as the mouthpiece 
 of God, rises from his knees and after reciting "comfortable 
 words " of scripture as the warrant for his action, pro- 
 nounces the words of pardon to the penitent either in their 
 declarative or precative form. Resuming the attitude 
 which the rest of the congregation have retained through- 
 out, he leads tiiem in the prayer of self-dedication and the 
 Lord's Prayer. 
 
 After singing, which should be the expression of 
 adoring thankfulness, the Old Testament lesson is read 
 followed by the responsive reading or chanting of a psalm 
 closing with the " doxology," sai<l or sung. If the psalms 
 have been read, a metrical psalm, a hynm, or a canticle 
 might next be sung. I would reserve the Gloria in Excehis, 
 for this place on Christmas day and communion Sundays. 
 The New Testament lesson would next follow succeeded by 
 praise, and the recitation of the Apostles' (Jreed. On 
 Communion Sundays the Nicene Creed may be appropri- 
 ately sulistituted. This would be followed by a prayer 
 consisting of thanksgiving, supplication and prayer for the 
 illumination of the Holy Spirit. The anthem would then 
 be sung, and the offerings of the people collected. During 
 this hitter the choir might sing, or the minister recite 
 suitable texts of scripture. The gifts should l)e laid upon 
 the " table " and pnisented to God in a brief prayer. During 
 
47 
 
 ' 
 
 the siiif^in^ij of the anthem the peoph' shouhJ stand to 
 si(i;iiit*y that they make the words tlieir own, and that they 
 are taking part in an act of adoration to (Jod, not listeninjj 
 t(^ a musical perforn)ance for their delectation. At the 
 close of all prayers the Amen should he said by the people, 
 or sun^ by the choir. By this the conjfiv^ation appropriate 
 the prayer and it becomes theii-s — not the minister's only. 
 
 It is better to make all announcements Viefore proceedin^j 
 to the sermon in oi'der that there should be as little inter- 
 ruption to the current of thought awakened as possible. 
 The pi'actice of uttei"inf( a devout ascription of praise 
 immediatel}'^ after the sei'mon is a very seemly one, and is 
 cominj^ more and more into vogue where a reverent and 
 impressive mode of worship is sought after. At this the 
 congregation shouhl rise, as at the anthem, to signify that 
 they concur in the action. The pray^er following the scr- 
 mf)n should contain the general intercession, and the service 
 would close with praise and the benediction. After kneel- 
 ing for a few moments in private prayer, during which 
 there is perfect stillness, the organ may give the signal for 
 quiec dispersion b3' playing softly some music which shall 
 be in harmony with the sentiments awakened by the sermon. 
 
 In the foregoing lecture I have aimed at expressing the 
 views of those who desire a partial and optional liturgy, 
 but it may be safely^ said that there are none of our cf)n- 
 grcgations that would consent to such a complete change 
 of their present practice as would l>e involved in carrying 
 out fully the suggestions I have made. My object will 
 have been obtained if I have succeeded in awakening a 
 deeper interest in the improvement of our service and have 
 .shown how lich and varied it may be made without our 
 being disloyal to our historic position, or mere imitators of 
 others. Any minister would be guilty of egregious foll^' 
 who would sacrifice the peace and edification of h.is con- 
 gregation for the sake of chanting the j)salms, oi reading 
 them responsively, or repeating the Lord's Frayei-, or the 
 Apostles' Creed; but where these and other ancient anil 
 appropriate acts of woi-ship can be introduced with the 
 consent of all it will not be lonn' before their effect will be 
 seen in a more reverent and hearty participation in the 
 whole service. The chief defect of our present services is 
 
 «'!' 
 
 I':" 
 :■. -i.i 
 
 i 
 
48 
 
 that the people have too little audible part in them. In 
 our Sabbath Schools we fjive the school much to (' We 
 have recitation of the Lord's Prayer, of the Apostles' 
 Creed, of the Ten Commandments, and responsive reading 
 of Scripture. Our specially f)repared services for Christ- 
 nias, Easter, Flower Sunday, Children's Dav, &c., are simply 
 so many litui-ijical services. What our children are learn- 
 ing to like ill the Sabbath School they will demand to have 
 in the Church when they come to have a voice in the 
 regulation of its worship. If we are to have a liturgy, 
 and we may as well make up our minds that it is coming as 
 surely as came organs and hymns, then let it be one 
 founded upon the traditions of our own and other reformed 
 churches ; one authorizeil b}' the church and so containing 
 the common prayers of the church, one that will, in 
 literary form and devotional fervor, worthily express the 
 simple and spiritual worship which has always been 
 belovetl of the Scottish people. 
 
 \i 
 
APPENDIX III. 
 
 EXTRACTS FROM LECTURES DELIVERED I\ THP 
 ^vMM,f ™^^^L^''ICAL SEMLVARV, (PRESBYTERLAV) 
 .NEW YORK, IX THE AUTCMX OF 1896. 
 
 i 
 
 "The Book of Common Order and the Directory for the 
 Public Worship of God." 
 
 Bj^ the Rev. Allan Pollok, D. D., Principal of the 
 Presbyterian College, Halifax, N. S. 
 
 " '^u^^'l ^"?'''^ ''"'^'''^ °" ^^'^ «ut.ject of public worsliin 
 may be found in a letter written lo the Protastan o? 
 Scot and from France m 1556 - four years before the 
 Scottish Retormation. In this he advised for their ordi! 
 nary assemblies.- ^^rst. Prayer with confession of sins and 
 nvocation ot the Spirit of the Lord Jesus : then the re Td 
 mg ot the Scripture, plainly and distinctly 't en th^ 
 interpretation. In reading the Scripture, he adcS • 'I 
 would ye should join .some books of the Old and .some of 
 Uie.Nevv le.s^ament together, as Genesis and one oT the 
 Evangelusts, Exodus with another and .so forth, ever end^ 
 ing such books as ye begin : for it shall great y comfort 
 you to hear that harmony and well-tuned song of the HoK 
 Spirit speaking in our fathers from the beg'innincr ' H^ 
 then recommends that common prayers and interce,s"ion be 
 n ale tor princes, rulers and_ magistrates, for the ' liberty 
 of the Gospel, the comfort of the atHicted, and the delivei^ 
 ance of persecuted churches.' This letter contains the fir t 
 rough sketch of the worship of the Reformed Chu.^h ; f 
 Scotland. We must not suppose that this subject was new 
 to he Scottish reformer, or that in the enthusiasm of h s 
 anti-Romish iconoclasm he had entirely overlooked public 
 
 I 
 
 S( 
 
 if 
 
 «i 
 
50 
 
 
 worship. On his release from the French pfalleys, he had 
 been employed l»y the Enfjiish Privy Council preachinjj in 
 the north ot" Enji^land. After two years' service there he 
 was appointed one of King Edward's chaplains-in-ordinarj' 
 — a most important oftice, which he retained till the King's 
 death in 1553. Thus, during foar years he must have 
 been familiar with the liturgy of Edward VI., hoth in its 
 first form and subsetjuent revision. Such an important work 
 as the revision of i\\e pr»t book could not but have occupied 
 mucli of his attention. As a matter of fact, Knox was 
 called up to London and consulted on the subject, and by 
 his inHuence significant changes were made in the com- 
 munion office of the Book of Common Prayer. It is 
 important to notice that the Scottish refo)-mer had formed 
 opinions on this subject before he made the ac(iuaintance 
 of Calvin or the Continental divines. In the beginning of 
 l')54 besought safety and found leisure in Geneva, which 
 he described as ' the most perfect school of Chiist tiiat 
 ever was upcm earth.' There Calvin had fully estal)lished 
 the Reformed doctrine and worship, and here he directed 
 the movement all over Europe. But soon Knox was in* ited 
 to take charge of a congregation of Englisli exiles, who 
 had been permitted to worship in Frankfort upon condi- 
 tion of conforming as nearly as possible to the worship of 
 the French Church. These Englishmen accordingly agreed 
 to omit the surplice, the litany, audible responses, and 
 other ceremonies of the Book of Common Prayer, but dis- 
 cord had begun when Knox arrived, and, notwithstanding 
 all his efforts, it continued till he left, and with even 
 increased veiiemcnce after his departure. In the course of 
 these disputes V)etween those who were /or and those who 
 were against the use of Edward's book, Knox, along with 
 some others, had composed what was afterwards known as 
 the Book of Geneva — a service not the .same as the Gene- 
 van order but closely resembling it. The name — the Book 
 of Geneva — was derived from the fact that, upon Knox's 
 return to ( Jeneva, it was printed and used by the English 
 Kirk of Geneva, of which John Knox was minister. The 
 title of the first edition states that it was approved b^^ the 
 famous and learned man, John Calvin. From the preface, 
 as given in Dunlop's Confessions, we find that the date of 
 this first edition is the 10th of February, 1556. This is 
 the book afterwards known as the Book of Common Order, 
 
51 
 
 s 
 4i 
 
 Imt commonly and not very iniiccurately called, Knox's 
 Liturffy. We thus tind that, in the rough sketch addressed 
 to the Scottish Protestants in l5o6, Knox wrote from long 
 and sometimes unpleasant familiarity with the subject. 
 As was conspicuously the case with Calvin, we tind in all 
 Knox's writings carefully compose<] prayers. Neither of 
 these great n»en could have had the least objection to writ- 
 ten prayers, and hotli were familiar with liturgical compo- 
 sition. How could they be otherwise when the Bible is so 
 full of prayers i 
 
 Knox returned to Scotland in 1.559, and the Scottish 
 refc)rmation was accomplished in 1500. In the interval 
 between I-toG and 1500, and for four years afterwards, the 
 Book of Common Prayer was used in meetings of the 
 Reforming party. In 1557 the Scottish Lords of the Con- 
 gregation resolved : " That the Connnon Prayers be read 
 weekly on Sunday and other festival days, publicly in the 
 parish kirks with the lesiions of the Old and New Testa- 
 ments, conform to the Book of Common Prayer.' The 
 book referred to here was un(juestional)ly the second book 
 of Edward as resumed and slightly amended at the acces- 
 sion of Queen Elizabeth. This was afterwards disputed. 
 However, not only does the wording of the resolution 
 imply it, but it is established by contemporary testimony. 
 There is not the least doubt that they would have pre- 
 ferred the Book of Geneva, but fjw copies of this were 
 available and copies of the other could easily be procured 
 from England. In the First Book of Discipline, prepared 
 by the famous Jive Johns — John Winram, John Spottis- 
 wood, John JJouglas, John Row, and Jolin Knox, and 
 embodying the Church principles of the Scottish Reform- 
 ers, the Order of (Jeneva is si)oken of as ' used in our 
 churches.' In 15G2 the General Assembly enjoined its 
 uniform use in the administration of the saci'aments, 
 solemnization of marriage, and burial of the dead. In 
 15G4 it was enlarged and the I'salter completed, in this 
 form its use was enjoined upon every nunister, exhorter, 
 and reader. In loG7 it was by order of the General 
 Assembly translated into Gaelic for the use of the High- 
 landers. Probably it was thus the first book printed in 
 the Gaelic language. It is constantly referred to in Acts 
 of Assemblies as the settled and legalized form of worship 
 
52 
 
 i:i 
 
 down to the year 1645, when the Directory was authorized 
 by the Scottish Estates. 
 
 In a copy of this book, printed at Aberdeen in 1685 — 
 that is, shortly before the St. (iiles's riot in 1637—1 Hnd the 
 following contents : a calendar of the movable feasts, a 
 short and admirable Confession of Faith, used in the Enpf- 
 lish congregation of Geneva, an extract from the First 
 Book of Discipline concerning; ministers, their election and 
 duties and the a.ssemblies of the Church, the form of ordi- 
 nation of ministers, the order of di.scipline in excommuni- 
 cation, repentance and absolution with all the prayers 
 prescribed for such .services, the order for the visitation of 
 the sick, confessions and godly prayers for the daily ser- 
 vice and special occasions, forms for the communion, bap- 
 tism, and marriage, a treatise on fa'^ting, with Scriptures 
 and prayers to be used at such feasts. The prayer for the 
 whole e.state of Christ's Church, as in all the liturgies, 
 folloxLis the sermon. It is concluded with the Lord's Prayer. 
 Then followed the recitation of the Apostles' Creed, after 
 the following preamble : ' Almighty and everlasting Cod, 
 vouchsafe we be.seech thee to grant us perfect continuance 
 in the lively faith, augmenting the same in us daily, till we 
 grow to the full measure of our perfection in Chri.st, 
 whereof we make our confession, .saying, I believe in God, 
 the Father Almighty,' etc. This was followed by the bene- 
 diction, either from Numbers or from 2 Corinthian.s. The 
 Psalms in metre, along with a music score in four parts 
 and marginal notes to aid the worshipper in singing with 
 the understanding, occupy two-thirds of the book. Thus 
 it must be seen that a worshipper in the Scots church, for 
 nearly a hundred years after the Reformation, went to 
 Church well provided for its services. So far as congrega- 
 tional worship is concerned, we have, in losing the.se forms, 
 not advanced but retrograded. 
 
 On the special features of this form of service, I must 
 re.strict myself to but a few observations. The peculiar 
 title, ' Book of Common Order,' was well chosen for vari- 
 ous reasons. Ordo is a word which, from the eighth cen- 
 tury, was applied to rubrical directions for the guidance 
 of priests in the administration of the saci'aments. It 
 accurately describes services which were sometimes discre- 
 tionary in their parts but never in their order. The term 
 
' Common ' mipht sufjgest a comparison, porlmps a contrast, 
 witli the Hook of Common I'rayer, previously in use. It 
 was ' comnion ' because it was not onl}' a service Inj the 
 people and not hy priests alone, hut because it was for the 
 people in every church throufjhout the nation. The word 
 expresses the meaninf» which, in th<? following century, 
 was conveyed by the wonl ' vnifonn.' The churches 
 throughout the land were to have a service connnon to all. 
 The wlK)le form is in close conformity with thedenevan 
 liturgy f)f 1543, which became the model for all the 
 Reformed lituri^ies except tiuit of the Kn^lish Church. 
 Tlie Book of Common Prayer borrowed much from them, 
 but they borrowed nothinjj from it. Calvin was preceded 
 in (Jeneva by Farel, who had swept away every vestige 
 of the ancient worship, so that his successor was able to go 
 directly back to the Holy Scriptures for guidance and 
 authority. The (lenevan morning service for the Lord's 
 day began with the reading of the oppoinfed chapters of 
 Holy Scripture tuid the Ten Connnandments : then, after a 
 very brief formula of invocation and a single sentence of 
 exhortation, with the Cfmfession. After a psalm had been 
 sung, a prayer for illumination followed. For this the 
 minister might take a form provided or one composed by 
 himself. The sermon was followed by the prayer for all 
 conditions, the Lord's Prayer, the recitation of the Apostle's 
 Creed, and the benediction. The service was long neither 
 as a whole nor in any of its parts. The minister was 
 rigorously tied down to this service once a week, — that is, 
 on Sundaj^ mornings ; but ample provision for free prayer 
 was made by the rubric that ' On week days the minister 
 useth such words in prayer as may seem to him goofl, suit- 
 ing his prayer to the occasion and the matter whereof he 
 treats in preaching.' Such is substantially the service now 
 maintained in all the Reformed churches of the European 
 continent. All this was reproduced in the Book of Com- 
 mon Order ; except that the prayer after sermon might be 
 varied, according to a rubrical permission, — a liberty of 
 which Knox often availeil himself in his conflicts with the 
 Court. In the service tor baptism, the communion, and 
 marriage, everything is prescribed, and no latitude is given 
 to the minister. The communion was to be ministered 
 once a month, or as oft as expedient, and baptism and 
 
 t|| 
 
 I '!l;i 
 
 li 
 
inarria^'c were to be in chureli on the Sabbuth day in 
 presence of tlie con^repition. 
 
 Tlie fundamental principle of all tlie Reformed litur- 
 gies, the An^'liean expe|)ted, is tlie conjunction of free with 
 prescribe<l prayer. The advaTitaj,'es and disadvantages in 
 each wer«! balaneed \>y usin^ both. Hut there was a com- 
 mon Order; so that in the substance and succession the 
 worshipper always knew what was coming', and confusion 
 ami surprise were prevtuitc*!. At th'.- same time, as it was 
 not accordant with ])rimitive Christianity to restrain all 
 expression of the free spirit, free prayer was allowed in 
 one part of the daily service and eneoura^'ed in all other 
 meetintjs of the Church. The rubrical directions for bap- 
 tism, tlie conununion, and nuirriafje, allowed no deviation ; 
 because these were of the nature of vows or enpi^'ements. 
 A very special feature was the extensive use made of the 
 pudlms. Calvin clearly perceived that the psalms were 
 the Church's response to the Divine messajje. This response 
 burst from human hearts in a warm tide of emotion diver- 
 sitied by all kinds of experience. The psalmist might 
 speak in the j^rs^ person, but he spoke as a representative 
 believer and an orjjan of inspiration. The psalms are the 
 voice of the Church. They everywhere l»reathe achurchly 
 spirit, and they were written not to be read or recited but 
 to be sunjT, and if possible sunff responsively. It may be 
 confidently affirmed that this collection of sacred song can 
 never with propriety be omitted from tlie services of the 
 Church of that God wliom its devout aspirations bring so 
 near to the human soul, or that anything can be found on 
 earth to take its place. When we hear it merely read by 
 the minister, the psalm strikes the ear with a kind of 
 inverted majesty. It must in some way be uttered bj' the 
 Church which has been divinely furnished with this voice 
 in which to call upon and cry out to the living (jod. The 
 minister's part in the service was eonfes'-ion, intercession, 
 and preaching, to whicli th< peop . cplj.-d in the psalms 
 by adoration, praiso ' 'xhortation. The minister's 
 
 prayers contain onl >sinn and i *<'rcession, and with- 
 
 out the psalms woui ive t'uniishe« ii incomplete service. 
 Calvin wholly rejects . ndil' responses without musical 
 expression as fitted not t<» a> aken but to disturb devotion. 
 The psahns were translated into metre by Clement Marot 
 
Sfi 
 
 iind Tlu'odore Ho/ii and set to plain tunes which couM 
 easily lie followed liy the whole iicople. Knox aijopted the 
 siiine method, usiii^' for this purpose the version of Stern- 
 hold and Ho|)kins. This psalm sin^inj^ was so marked a 
 feattire that the whole Hook of C'iunmon Order was usually 
 called 'The I'snhn Hook ' not only in conunon speech l»ut 
 in Acts of Asseinhly. The litur;,'y and the psalms in 
 (Jeneva and Scotland were invarial»ly hound toi,'ether. All 
 the prayers in tlu; Hook of Common Order and in the 
 Geneva litur^'y are models of simplicity an<l comprehen- 
 siveness, hut the daily oHices are especially heautiful. The 
 morning prayer was beinj^ heard by Coliijny when the 
 assassins hurst into his cluunher; and the oveiiinj^ jirayer 
 was read to John Knox two hours before he expired. 
 When asked if he had ht'ird it, he replied, ' Would that 
 you antl all men had heard as I have heard it. I praise 
 (jod for that heavenly .s(aind. 
 
 The last edition of the Hook of Common Order was 
 issued in 1644, and the Directory was adopted by the 
 General Assemblj' in 1645. In a work, known to be by 
 Alexander Henderson, published in 1641, and intended to 
 correct an impression prevalent in England that the Scots 
 had no settled forms of worship, he describes the worship 
 in his day. The churches were open every day for the 
 reading of prayers, and on one day of each week there 
 was a rej;ular service with sermon. On Sundax'^s at 7 
 o'clock a bell was run<:j to warn the people to prepare for 
 public worship. Anotlier bell at 8 o'clock served to assem- 
 ble the confjre^ation. Each person on entering the church 
 bowed in silent prayer. As there were no pews, the men 
 stood while the women sat on chairs or stools. The reader 
 read from the lectern the common prayers and jjave out 
 psalms to be sunj^. The singinr,' was always concluded 
 with the ' (Jloria Patri.' He then read chapters from the 
 Old and New Testaments. After another hour another bell 
 announced the entrance of the minister, who bowed as the 
 people had done. Many have wondered at the rin<,'in<f of 
 three bells in Scotch churches on Sunday morninrfs and 
 in(|uired what it is done for. It is simply a survival of the 
 old worship. We have lost the prayers, and for our >iii- 
 fort or vexation we have the bells. The minister '»e^an 
 with a conceived prayer, which was understood to be for 
 
 i 
 
 ' I'l, 
 
r 
 
 56 
 
 it 
 
 wt 
 
 illumination. Then followed the sermon, the prayer for all 
 estates, the Lord's Prayer, the Creed, and the benediction 
 — all forming a service, scriptural in character, logical in 
 structure, and in harmony with the ordei - f all Reformed 
 churches on the European continent. It was not tedious, 
 as the ae[e of lonjf sermons and long prayers had not 
 arrived. The Scots church would have retained it sub- 
 stantially till now but for the violent interference of the 
 authorities of another church and another people. 
 
 At the accession of James I., a Presbyterian King, the 
 Puritan members of the Church of England hoped for 
 some relief from obnoxious ceremonies ; but their most 
 reasonable requests were contemptuously rejected. He told 
 them that they must conform, or he would harry theui out 
 of the land. Under Charles I., persecution more and more 
 increased till the meeting of the Long Parliament, when 
 the situaticm w' as reversed, and Laud was sent to the prison 
 to which he had consigned so many conscientious men. 
 The Scots, in defence of their despised and insulted wor- 
 ship, had invaded England, and when their Commi.ssionei"S 
 were treating with the king at Ripon, Commisi.'*oners from 
 the Long Parliament arrived for a similar purpose. It was 
 at this point that the S';ots and English began toco-operate. 
 In 1643 — a year after the civil war had begun — Enq-Hsh 
 Commissioners appeared at the General Assembly in Edin- 
 burgh and proposed a league between the two kingdoms. 
 As the Scots desired a religious covenant also, the Solemn 
 League and Covenant was subscribed by both nations. It 
 was in consecjuence of this conjunction that Scottish Com- 
 missioners went to the Westminster Assembly — an English 
 Council called by the Long Parliament to reform the Eng- 
 lish Church. We do not know what reforms the English 
 divines might have made in the Church of England, nor 
 what kind of polity or worship or discipline they woul(t 
 have established without the aid of the Scots, but we do 
 know that it was in conse(|uence of this treaty that the 
 Scots gave up their ancient Book of Common Order and 
 adopted the Westminster Dii'ectory. 
 
 The Preface of the Directory, which sets forth the 
 views and aims of the Divines, should be carefully studied 
 by all who would understand this formulary. It refers 
 
67 
 
 almost solely to England and the English Church. They 
 say, ' We have resolved to lay aside the former liturgy with 
 the many rites and ceremonies formerly used in the wor- 
 ship of God, and have agreed upon this following Directory 
 for all the parts of public worship at ordinary and extra- 
 ordinary times," etc. It is called a ' Directory ' to distin- 
 guish it from a liturgy, wherein all is set down to be 
 followed without change and no discretion i:; allowed. 
 Here the general heads, the sense and scope of the prayers, 
 are given ' that there may he a consent of all the churche'i 
 in those things that contain the substance of the service 
 and worship of God.' The meaning of this is that, though 
 the majority desired a fixed order in all the churches, the 
 Independents did not wish even a Directory, but entire 
 and iT^.restricted liberty — which some may think to be the 
 heait kUal of public worship and of which we now have 
 enough and to spare. The name ' Directory ' implies that 
 the rubrics and forms were to be strictly followed, except 
 in parts where latitude is allowed. 
 
 m 
 
 m 
 
 Betwixt 1645 and the Restoration, all was confusion, 
 and the book was only imperfectly brought into use. From 
 the Restoration to the Revolution, matters were worse, and 
 neither prelatists nor Presbyterians had any fixed form. 
 Thty were in that happy state which many think the best. 
 Both prajed entirely without book as long or as short and 
 in whi tevor order they pleased. The Directory was not 
 legally sanctioned at the Revolution, which was a compro- 
 mise in all respects. Only the confession was adopted, and 
 the Church was left without even a catechism or a form of 
 worship. By repeated Acts, however, dow^n to 18-56 the 
 General Assembly has endeavored to strengthen the author- 
 ity of the Directory ; so that it is at this time the only 
 proper standard of public worship. As all this took place 
 before the divisions in the Church of Scotland, the Direc- 
 tory of»cupies the same position in, the non-established 
 Churches iu Scotland and England, two of which have 
 marked their desire for improvement by authorizing forms 
 for special services. Tlie book issued by the United Pres- 
 byterian Church is of such a character that it must be 
 a great help to ministers and people of that large and 
 respectable body of Christians. The Euchologion, or Book 
 
 
 m 
 
 f'm 
 
 'M 
 
 m 
 
rf: 
 
 y i. 
 
 li'r. 
 
 
 
 s!f 
 
 
 68 
 
 of Common Order, first published by the Church Service 
 Society in 1865, and now in its sixth edition, has wrought 
 a reformation in the worship of the Church of Scothmd, 
 as well as other Presbyterian churches. The professed 
 object of this Society has been not innovation upon the 
 present, but restoration of the past. It has been denomi- 
 nated by a spirit of reverence for old Presbyterian forms. 
 The existence of associations in all the three Presbyterian 
 churches in Scotland and the Presbyterian Church in Eng- 
 land, having similar ends in view, and discussing such 
 subjects as not only an amended Directory but also an 
 optional liturgy with some responses, the rehearsal of the 
 Lord's Prayer and the Apostles' or Nicene Creed, and the 
 reading of the Ten Commandments, shows plainly how the 
 current of opinion is flowing. In the United States the Direc- 
 tory was adopted in 1729, and recommended to be used ' as 
 near as circumstances will allow.' The Rev. Charles W. 
 Baird, in his most instructive little book on liturgies, men- 
 tions that when the Synod of Philadelphia revised its Con- 
 stitution in 1788 it renewed the adoption of the Directory, 
 with the instruction that it was to be followed as each min- 
 ister * shall think meet,' and threw out a number of forms of 
 prayer — for the invocation before sermon, before and after 
 baptism, at the Lord's table, upon exercising discipline, at 
 the solemnization of marriage, in the sick room, at ordina- 
 tions, and nine prayers for the family, which had been 
 drafted by its own committee. He gives specimens of these 
 rejected forms, which are fine liturgical compositions and 
 show that the Synod's committee were men of taste as well 
 as devotion, and were well acquainted with that kind of 
 literature. We may speculate upon what effect the adop- 
 tion of their draft might have had upon the pul)lic worship 
 of the Presbyterian Church of the United States. In 
 Canada the Directory is part of the basis on union in 
 1875, and it is similarly part of the constitution of the 
 Irish Presbyterian (.'luirch. The acceptance is universal, 
 and so also are the'deviations from its explicit dir'^ctions. 
 
 Thus the Refonners in all countries declai-ed for fixed 
 forms combined with free prayer. These forms Vioth in 
 Knox's book and the Directory were suppler.. ented by the 
 
 Psal 
 
 ms, w 
 
 hich 
 
 are an 
 
 Mrec 
 essen 
 
 tial part of Presbyterian wor 
 ship. As the AssemVily of li)45, in their zeal for the 
 
ancient worship, resolved to retain whatever was not 
 otherwise ordered in the Directorj^ it would only be ri^ht 
 and lawful in our present circumstances to restore the use 
 of the Apostles' Creed, the Ten Commandments, and the 
 Lord's Prayer as the most concise expression of the ele- 
 ments of the Christian Religion, — doctrine, duty, and 
 devotion. For the daily service the Directory provided 
 regularity of order, and for special services a prescribed 
 form. By this method the divines, though they have sig- 
 nally failed, honestly endeavored to control the love of 
 novelty and to check the presumption of ignorant and 
 thoughtless men. They sought to keep a middle place 
 between the rigorous monotony of the Book of Common 
 Prayer and that unbridled license in worship which was 
 the delight of the sectaries. Indeed, experience proves 
 that without sacramental forms the true doctrine of the 
 sacraments will be perpetually misstated or misapprehended, 
 and their benefits may be lessened or lost to the partakers. 
 To adopt any Directory with the proviso that it is to be 
 followed as far as circumstances allow, is to defeat its pur- 
 pose. When any latitude is given, more will be taken than 
 was given. For proof of this, we have merelj' to point to 
 the aspect of all Presbyterian Churches at the present time. 
 A Directory compiled by the most representative divines 
 of their age, assisted by lay-a.ssessors, revised by both 
 Houses, and accepted by the Scots civil and ecclesiastical 
 authorities, might well claim some attention ; but all its 
 provisions are systematically violated. Infinite diversity 
 prevails, and confusion extraordinary. The Directory does 
 indeed require enlargement ; but as far as it goes, its order 
 is simple, scriptural, and free from all ambiguous anJ 
 unautb^'-ized symbolism ; but all this diversity means 
 not. cni ihat we differ from the formular}', but that we 
 have a most depraved delight in differing from one another. 
 It would be too tedious to enumerate these profuse and 
 unprofitable variations. Any one who pleases may do this 
 for himself to some extent — but only to some extent, for 
 such knowledge is too wonderful for any one individual. 
 This diversity ranges through all degrees, from sheets dis- 
 tributed among the pews for each service, to the cuitailed 
 worship of the last generation. A partial remedy is com- 
 monly sought by a written order being kept in each pulpit 
 
 l| 
 
 m 
 
 H4 
 
n^ 
 
 1^ 
 
 M 
 
 it 
 
 60 
 
 for the use of the occasional supply, — an arrangement very 
 trying to the preacher for the day, who has to learn a new 
 ritual ; and who, when he has enough to think about, is 
 haunted with the fear that he may be breaking through an 
 order which he does not know. This irregularity may be 
 expected to increase by ministers using different manuals 
 of their own selection ; and all the while the Church does 
 nothing but gather hymns and hymn-tunes of all kinds, 
 and bind them for our use in volumes larger than our 
 Bibles ; and when any attempt is made to reform matters, 
 some of our most devoted ministers and laymen are met 
 with all sorts of dark suspicions calculated to excite pre- 
 judice and prevent people from arriving at a correct opinion 
 on a most important subject, and with the well-known cry 
 for what is called the good old way. It may be well to 
 ask, What is that way [since there are so many ways] ? 
 The Book of Common Order is one way, and the Directory 
 is another. A way might be good without being old, and 
 it might be old without being good. Probably such com- 
 plainers, by ' the good old way ' mean their own way. 
 They think that it is old. and, because it is theirs, it must 
 be good, not only for themselves but for'* all others. But 
 it is not always good for people to have their own way, — 
 especially when it is not very old and may not be very 
 good, and when so many love it, not so much for its own 
 sake as for the delightful sensation of forcing it upon other 
 people. But Church-rulers should always remember that 
 the people have an option ; and that they can take their 
 own way too. When persecuted in one city they can flee 
 to another. When they do not find, and cannot get, what 
 they want in one church, they can seek it elsewhere. 
 Under ordinary circumstances, the Presbyterian Church 
 must appeal very strongly to the sympathies of religious 
 people who are reasonable and don't delight in extremes. 
 It looks for its polity where it finds its doctrine and dis- 
 cipline, — nowhere but in Scripture. In polity it stands 
 between Prelacy and Independency, and in worship it 
 ought to stand, where it stood long ago — both in the six- 
 teenth and seventeenth centuries, — between Ritualism and 
 Radicalism. It ought to allow sotne freedom, but it ought 
 to be a regulated freedom, lest it may fail in securing 
 such respect for its ordinances as may produce respect for 
 
61 
 
 itself and for religion. Extempore prayer being allowed, 
 it might be well to interpose such questions as the follow- 
 ing : Can it ever be a prayer not offered to but by an 
 ordinary congregation ? Can the people supplicate before 
 they know or feel the want ? Can such an exercise rise 
 higher than a meditation ? Can the people ever be more 
 than hearers ? Are they not often critics ? and, since the 
 exercise stimulates curiosity, can they well help this urde- 
 vout attitude of mind ? Is not the pleasure experienced 
 in such an exercise rather the delight of being witness to 
 a succession of pious reflections and emotions in another 
 without any participation of these in themselves, or any 
 thought of this ? Does not the leader in this exercise suc- 
 ceed best when he forgets the presence of others, and, 
 becoming wrapt in himself, pours forth his own rapturous 
 experience or desires to God ? — that is, forgets or ignores 
 the true nature of an exercise in which he is supposed to 
 be representative and to express the average wants and 
 feelings of human beings and of Christians ? Does not all 
 this give too much a mediatorial character to the Christian 
 ministry ? Can such prayer ever be the voice of the 
 Church ? Is there, or can there be, in this world any 
 exercise so difficult for any mortal man ? Prayer is not a 
 string of Scripture passages, but the highest result of 
 faith, — the rich flower and fruit of pious thought and 
 experience, — a holy secretion of digested thought and life. 
 These are questions of immense moment. I hope American 
 Presbyterians, with their predominating good sense, are 
 destined to answer them and practically solve them for us 
 all as they have done in many other cases ; and I cannot 
 but think that a lecture course on this subject, in this, one 
 of the greatest and most progressive of the American 
 theological schools, is a bright augury of some change 
 which may be an improvement in our worship, by which 
 Presbyterians all over the world will be gainers." 
 
 
62 
 
 (2.) 
 
 Worship in NoN-LiTtmcicAi- Churches. 
 
 :i! ■■ ■ 
 
 t n 
 
 By the Rev. George Dana Boardman, D. D., LL. D., 
 
 Honorary Pastor of the First Baptist Church, 
 
 Philadelphia. 
 
 " How then shall we as a congregation of worshippers 
 express our worship ? Unitedly, as one congregation ; or 
 isolatedly, as a congregation of one ? Before undertaking 
 to answer this question, permit me to say that I have the 
 paintul conviction that the worshippers in our non-liturgi- 
 cal churches are allowed too small a part in the public 
 worship of Almighty God. With the exception of the 
 responsive Bible readings now prevailing in some of our 
 chu'.ches, and also of the singing (alas, even this privilege 
 is in many instances artistically denied us), everything is 
 done by a vicarious worshipper. No voice but the preach- 
 er's is heard in adoration, thanksgiving, confession, suppli- 
 cation, intercession, aspiration, communion. So far as the 
 vocal act of homage goes, the preacher alone worships. 
 Should some angelic visitor enter one of our sanctuaries 
 and observe the silence of the congregation, I am not sure 
 but that he would imagine that some calamity like that 
 which befell ancient Zacharias in the temple had befallen 
 Christ's church ly priesthood to-day, and he would wonder- 
 ingly ask what sin this people had committed that they 
 should thus be struck dumb. Enter any Roman Catholic 
 sanctuary while the service is going on. The priest is 
 everything ; the laity is nothing. From beginning to end- 
 ing, excepting the organist and choir, it is the priest who 
 carries on the entire worship ; the congregation remaining 
 as voiceless as an asylum of mutes or a graveyard of the 
 dead. Enter one of our non-liturgical churches, and the 
 same scene in its essential features is re-enacted. From 
 beginning to ending, with the exception of the singing, and 
 it may be of the responsive reading, it is the minister who 
 is everything ; the congregation is nothing. It is the min- 
 ister who does the preaching ; and this of course is right. 
 But preaching is not, strictly speaking, a part of worship. 
 
Preaching means exposition, instruction, warning, entreaty, 
 comforting, building up of the body of Christ. As such, 
 and in its own place, preaching is of supreme importance, 
 and indeed indispensable. But preaching in itself is not a 
 part of worship. The addressing men on the subject of 
 their duties and privileges is not worship. 
 
 But prayer, not less than praise, is a part of worship. 
 Indeed, to praise without praying is to worship as wor- 
 shipped Cain and the Pharisee. And now our question is, 
 — How shall we as a congregation of worshippers express 
 our prayers, our service of confessions, supplications, inter- 
 cessions, aspirations ? Shall each worshipper pray silently, 
 following tiie minister as he prays for the congregation ? 
 Or shall the minister aiid the congregation pray together, 
 joining their voices in '^amiliar and appropriate formula.s ? 
 In brief, shall the cont,iegation pray directly ; or shall it 
 pray by proxy ? Both directly and by proxy is my answer. 
 
 On the one hand, we need extemporaneous prayers. 
 Observe, however, that when I say 'extemporaneous,' I do 
 not mean unpremeditated. For no minister has a right to 
 undertake to lead his people in their devotions, and at the 
 same time to allow hinifself to drift before God in liis pray- 
 ing. If ever a pastor should carefully arrange his thoughts 
 beforehand, asking the Spirit's guidance in his prepaiation, 
 it is when he undertakes to present his flock before the 
 Chief Pastor, voicing tor them their manifold desires and 
 needs. No; by extemporaneous prayers I mean prayers 
 that are unwritten, or at least unread, And such prayers, 
 when duly premeditated, are apt to be fresh, specific, appro- 
 priate, sympathetic, fervent, unctional. Just here, as I 
 venture to think (may my dear brethren of the liturgical 
 churches forgive me for saying it I), is one of the serious 
 defects in their noble form of woVship. Profoun<IIy con- 
 vinced as I am of the need and the beauty of liturgical 
 forms of worship, I would never sunender the precious 
 privileges and spiritual worth of extemporaneous prayers, 
 in the house of God. But as this is aheatly one of our 
 established usages, I need not descant on it further. 
 
 On the other hand, we need forms of devotion as well 
 as the spirit of devotion. Young brethren, the older I 
 grow, the more imcompetent I feel for attempting to lead 
 
 "I I, 
 
 m 
 
 
 i.m 
 
I . 
 
 ii 
 
 64 
 
 the people's devotion extemporaneouslj'. As the flyinjj 
 years brinjr with them more of experience and observation, 
 the more I shrinlv from the possible disasters incident to 
 extemporaneous prayers, — for instance, grammatical 
 blimdors ; tortuous movements; forced retreats ; explanatory 
 parentheses; ill-timed allusions; unfortunate reminiscences, 
 and oblivions as unfortunate ; unintentional exajjirerations ; 
 personal idiosyncrasies ; capricious moods ; theological pro- 
 cesses ; conscious mentalities ; in one word, eijoism. And 
 therefore I thank the Master of Assemblies that He has at 
 sundry times and divers manners moved saintly men of all 
 communions to provide prayers for the use of His Church, 
 — prayers which are choice in thought ; brief in statement ; 
 comprehensive in range ; manifold in variety ; specific in 
 details; reverent in expression; hallowed in associations ; 
 reverend in antiquity. For prayers, like hymns, are the 
 common heritage of all Christ's people in all Jands and all 
 times and all communions. Our brethren of the Creek 
 Church have no more right to monopolize the Prayer of 
 St. Chrysostom than our brethren of the Methodist 
 Church have the right to monopolize Charles Wesley's 
 " Jesus, Lover of my Soul." If it is right to praise God by 
 singing together the same hymns, why is it not right to 
 pray to God by joining together in the same prayers ? Is 
 prayer less solemn than praise ? Oh, brothers, why take 
 such pains to elaborate our written .sermons before finite 
 and sinful men, and yet piesume to extemporize our 
 prayers before infinite and sinless God ? Of whom shall 
 we be the more afraid, — them who kill the body, and 
 after that have no more that they can do ; or Him who has 
 power to destroy both body and soul in Gehenna ? Yea, I 
 say unto you. Fear Him. 
 
 But while all this is t;rue, we must take care lest in our 
 use of collects and liturgical prayers we allow ourselves to 
 become slaves to ritual. Laws which alter not may have 
 become heathen Medes and Persians: they hardly become 
 the followers of Christ ; for where the Spirit of the Lord 
 is, there is liberty. Appropriate, beautiful, tlevout, uplift- 
 ing as many of the collects are, they must not be allowed 
 to supplant liberty of conscience or freedom of emotion 
 and expression. Minister and people must stand fast here 
 in the liberty wherewith Christ set us free, lest we be 
 
65 
 
 entanjjle«l again in some yoke of bonda^re which onr 
 litnrf,Mcal fathers or our non-liturgical contemporaries may 
 have imposed. Havinjjj thus insisted on the right of Chris- 
 tian liberty here, I feel free to say that while extempor- 
 aneous prayers and liturgical prayers are both allowal)le, 
 they are hardly equally allowable, my judgment leaning, in 
 the majority of cases, to the use of appropriatt; and 
 hallowed fornnilas. Doubtless the wisest course here is to 
 liave a liturgy which is tiexilile, judiciously blending the 
 stateliness of ancient formulas and the tenderness of 
 modern adjustments. 
 
 Glancing back at the territory througli which we have 
 sped, let me re-indicate some of the points where we halted 
 for special inspections. We have seen that worship is a 
 divine instinct; that the God of Revelation made provision 
 for this instinct in His liturgy for ancient Israel ; that 
 Israel's liturgy was abolished under and in Christ ; that, 
 notwithstanding this abolition, forms of worship are still 
 indispensable ; that liturgy is a question of degree rather 
 than of substance ; that devotions are the chief parts of 
 worship ; that worship in non-liturgical churches tends to 
 be vicarious ; that we must guard against vain repetitions; 
 that the " Lord's Prayer " is f)ur model for worship ; that 
 the two chief elements of worship are praise and prayer ; 
 that music is the natural outlet of praise ; that the Psalter 
 is the Cvhurch's chief praise-l)ook ; that chanting is the 
 noblest form of church music ; that extemporaneous prayers 
 have certain inniiense advantages of freshness, adaptedness, 
 personality, sympathy, fervor, unction; that liturgical 
 prayers have also certain immense advantages of variety, 
 brevity, speciality, reverence, preciousness, and above all, 
 concord. 
 
 To sum up as compactly as possible : Worship in non- 
 liturgical churches should have a liturgy that is Hexible ; 
 thus joining the stability of the golden altar with the 
 mobility of its soaring incense. 
 
 ,i 
 
(Mi 
 
 (3.) 
 
 Thi: Idkai, ok Christian Worshii'. 
 
 By the Rev. Thomas S. Hastings, D. D., LL. D , President 
 of the Faculty of Union Theological Seminary, X. Y. 
 
 Two types of worship have cliaracteiized Protestantism, 
 — litui'fjical and non-litur^'ical services. All wh(j desire the 
 unity of the Church shoidd seek to blend these two types 
 in one. That is the ideal. Some one has said, "The 
 Gospel edition of Leviticus is comprised in a siiii,de verse, 
 'God is a Spirit, and the}- that worship Him must worship 
 Him in spirit and in truth." All will a<i;ree with that. 
 Worship is a matter of spirit rather than of form. But form 
 and spirit are not antay;onistic. They beloiij; together, and 
 form may serve and help spirit, and spiiit may subsidize, 
 beautify and glorify form, transfiguring it as on the mount 
 of vision. My limits forbid a full review of the history of 
 what the Presbyterian (^hurch has done with reference to 
 this subject. Only some necessary points shall be touched. 
 In 17^7, a committee, appointed the year before to revise 
 the " Book of Discipline and Directory for Worship," 
 reported to the Synod of New York and Philadelphia, a 
 collection of devotional forms, specimens of what the 
 public prayers should be. A majority of the Synod, how- 
 ever, decided that only direct iuns, and not forms, should be 
 given. Against this action some of the ablest and wisest 
 men in the Church at that time — Doctors Rogers, 
 McWhorter, Ashbel Green, and others — protested, desiring 
 that at least some forms should be given to the churches. 
 It should be noted that forms of prayer were not forbidden, 
 but they could not be imposed or evjoined I quote the 
 language of the Directory : "But we think it necessary to 
 observe that, although we do not approve, as is well 
 known, of confining ministers to set or fi.xed forms of 
 prayer for public worship ; yet it is the indispensable duty 
 of every minister, previously to his entering on his office, 
 to prepare and qualify himself for this part of his duty, as 
 well as for preaching. He ought by a thorough acquaint- 
 ance with the Holy Scriptures, by reading the best writers 
 
07 
 
 on the snTiject, by meditation, and by a life of comniunion 
 with <iod in secret, to endeavor to acquire both the spirit 
 and the i^it't of prayer." (Joirij^ l)ack still further, I would 
 emphasize the fact that in l')4'i, Melancthon and Bucer 
 prepared the Colo<^ne Liturgy, a translation of which was 
 published in London four years later. From this C()loj,'ne 
 Liturffy, says Archbishop Fjaurence, in his work on the 
 Thirty-nine Articles, pp. M77, .S7<S, " Our offices bear evident 
 marks of havin<;; been freely borrowed, liberally imitating, 
 but not servilely copying it." This is the Anglican state- 
 nient of the ca.se. The Presbyterian statement is more 
 definite and comprehensive. It is claimed that tlie whole 
 Lord's day service, as usually celebrated, '• contains but a 
 .single prayer (and even this exception is iloubtful), that 
 can be traced to a distinctively Episcopaliaji origin. In the 
 occa.sional offices of baptisu), matrimony, visitation of the 
 sick, and burial of the dead, the question of authorship lies 
 between the Calvinist and the JjUtheran, or between the 
 French and the German Protestant, rather than between 
 the Presbyterian and the Episcopalian." The Book of C'«j/i- 
 tnon Order, prepared by John Knox (|.')(J4), had much in 
 common with the Anglican Liturgy, and was fornuilly 
 adopted by the General Assembly. The Scooch Prayer 
 Book, substantially agreeing with the Anglican Liturgy, 
 was authorized by the General Assembly in l(i37. This 
 would doubtless have been generally acceptable, but for the 
 attempt of (^harles I. to force the Liturgy upon the church. 
 This attempt led to the Solemn League and Covenant, 
 which was the bold and decisive assertion of .such liberty 
 as Presbyterians have always loved and maintained. 
 After the Bestoration, the Book of Common Prayer wouM 
 have been adopted by the Presbyterians if it had been 
 changed in some particulars, as (Jharles IL promised that it 
 should be. The Savoy Conference failed to bring about an 
 agreement, and then followed the famous Act of Uniforuiitv 
 in l(i02. Two thousand Presbyterian clergymen thereupon 
 at once surrendered their livings, went forth penniless and 
 homeless, because they would not be coinpellcd to use a 
 liturgy. The lessons are obvious. The Book of Common 
 Prayer cannot be considered as the exclusive property of 
 any one branch of the Church ; it really belongs to the 
 Church Catholic. It is a legacy, not from Cranmer alone, 
 
 'I 
 
[!> 
 
 m 
 
 but also from Calvin and Melancthon and Biicer and John 
 Knox. Preshyterinns have a historic rij^ht to use a liturj^y, 
 but its use nmst l»«! <liscretionary, and not re(iiiir«d. 
 
 Whether prayer he free or prescribed, its quality and 
 character will correspond with the (piality and character of 
 the ('hurch and of her ministry. So Van Oosterzee says, 
 speaking of (jerniaiiy : " As re^'urds the contents, we see 
 rt'tlected also iti the (Jhurch prayer, whether free or pre- 
 scribed, the differerit periods which were passed throuijh in 
 the sphere of (,'hurch and theolo;,'y. Orthodoxisin petrified 
 it ; Formalism len;(thened it ; Rationalism diluted and 
 watered it ; Crypto-Catholicism restored it in a form 
 harmonizin<,' with its own aspirations ; but happily also, 
 sincere devotion animated and raised it, in accordance with 
 the wants of the time, to be the worthy expression of the 
 hi'^hest life of the f-.oul." 
 
 In recent years there has been a growing uneasiness, 
 with reference to this subject, both in the liturgical and 
 in the non-liturgical churches. The former want more 
 liberty, — at least .some room for free prayer ; the latter 
 want le.ss liberty and more uniformity. In 1880. in his 
 brilliant paper read before the Presbyterian alliance in 
 Philadelphia, the late President Roswell D. Hitchcock, 
 D. I). L. L. D., .said : — " Now in all liturgical churches, or 
 nearly all, the liturgy is no longer servant, but master. 
 There is too much of it for constant repetition. Liberty 
 of omitting portions not always apposite, is unwisely 
 denied. 'J'he alisolute exclusion of extemporaneous peti- 
 tions is equally unwise. And the overshadowed, dwarfed 
 tliscourse would be a great ndsfortune were go )d discourse 
 otherwise more likely to be had. . . . One of these 
 days, though probably not till we are all gone, there will be 
 a form of public service, which shall suit the matured and 
 cultured none the less for suiting the immature and 
 uncultured. . . . No existing Prayer Book satisfies 
 any good Presbyterian. Still less would any good, wise 
 Presbyterian ask to have a new Prayer Book made out of 
 materials that are new. The materials mostly are old ; 
 some of them very old, such as the ' Gloria in Excelsis,' 
 the ' Tersanctus,' and the ' Te Deum.' Christendom could 
 better spare any treatise of Athanasius than the prayer 
 ascribed to Chrysostoni : ' Fulfil now, Lord, the desires 
 
s 
 
 1 
 
 and petitions of thy Hervnnts as may he expedient for 
 them, "(nintinjf us in tliis world knowledj{»! of thy truth, 
 iu)d in the world to come life evorlastinij." The farther wo 
 pet down tlie centuries, the more precious will ho to us the 
 lon<; unbroken njelodies of praise and prayer." 
 
 I hrtvt) (|Uoted these wonls of my honored predecessor, 
 because with liis main positions I heartily aj^jree ; but I 
 cannot quite aj^ree witli what he said about existing 
 Prayer Hooks, an«l this may be because, in Dr. Hitchcock's 
 view, I am not a good Presbyterian. I certainly do not 
 want all that is found in any existing Prayer Book, or 
 Ordinal, but as certainly I could find in the Hook of Com- 
 mon Prayer all the forms which I would crave for the use 
 of our non-liturgical churches. And I would far rather 
 have the selections made fi'om that venerable and beautiful 
 liturgy, than to have new forms made by any ecclesiastical 
 body, or by any association. I am not unmindful of the 
 excellent work which has been done by the " Church 
 Service Society " in Scotland. That Society was forjued 
 in Cxlasgow in 1805. The first edition of its liouk of Com- 
 mt))i OkIpv was published in 1807, and the sixth edition in 
 1800, at which time it was reported that there were five 
 hundred and si.x ministers and one hundred and thirty lay- 
 men in the membership of the Society, representing more 
 than sixty difii-ient Presbyteries. The Editorial Conjinittee 
 of tills Society has .searched the libraries of the great 
 Universities to draw from all the liturgical literature of the 
 centuries contributions for their work. Their methods 
 have been scholarly, their labors abundant, and the results 
 are of exceeding value. A similar society bearing the 
 same name, has been organized in this country. Hut is it 
 wise to multiply forms of prayer? In his Introduction to 
 his SyHtciKKttic Theolo(i]i, Dr. Charles Hodge .says : " So 
 legitimate and powerful is this inward teaching of the 
 Spirit, that it is no uncommon thing to find men having 
 two theologies, — one of the intellect, and another of the 
 heart. The one may find expression in creeds and systems 
 of divinity, the other in their prayers and hymns. It 
 woulfl be safe for a man to resolve to admit into his 
 theology nothing which is not sustained by the devotional 
 writincfs of true Christians of every denomination. It 
 would be easy to construct from such writings, received 
 
r~ 
 
 70 
 
 and sanctioned by Romanists, Lutherans, Uofonned, and 
 Remonstrants, a system of Pauline or Auirnstinian tlieolojjjy, 
 sneli as would satisfy any intelliifent and devout ('hristian in 
 till' V\'orl('.' "rids statement may be assumed to be orthodox. 
 Aecordiiiiifly, Chiistians of "every denomination " may be 
 askftl and expected to unite with a jjfood de<fre(! of uniformity 
 in their " pravers and hj'mns." So the historical spirit, the 
 tradition of the churches, the common lonnrit)(ir foi' church 
 unity, the sacredness and the beauty of the affluent 
 liturtjioal literature which we inheiit from the centuries, 
 and the confessed deficiency and inadecpuicy of the avera<j;e 
 extemporaneous piayer, — all these thin<i;s uiute in a com- 
 mon demand for some prescriV)ed forms of worship. The 
 Lord's I'rayer, all will ajriee, should have place an<l pro- 
 minence, and it shoulu be repeated in unison by the whole 
 congreLfation. In Rhenish Prussia, and elsewhere, the 
 beautiful custom has prevailed of toUiufif tiie bell when the 
 Lord's Prayer is 'ipeHted in the public worship, so that 
 those who are detrjined from the house of God by sickness 
 or other causes may join in the couimon .service. The 
 Commandments should be read, combininrj duty with 
 devotion, and, as 1 said bv>foie, the Apostle's Creed should 
 be repeated in unison. To the.se should be added the 
 " Te Deum," the " Tersanctus," and the " Sursum Corda," 
 the latter in o.nnuection with die Communion service. So 
 far as 'his mixst arc willin^r tv g^o. The ideal, however, 
 demands something ujore. The opponents of all foinvs of 
 pray<^r assume that one man can be lar^e enough to com- 
 prehend and to represent five liundred men. This seems a 
 monstious assuuipiion. No (^ne man can reasonably be 
 expected to be laif^e enough or elastic enough to compre- 
 hend so mud', 'i A'i priesthood of the people must not be 
 overshadowed and si^ppressed by the excessive and false 
 assumption of prie.sinood by t^w. uiinister who is only a 
 minif^h')'. So the id<Hii of proyer calls us further. Nothing 
 could be more bt'autit'id and apprc/priate for the beginning 
 of the Sabbntli wot ship than such Scriptures as introduce 
 the " C)rder for J)aily ilorning Prayer " : — " The Lord is in 
 His holy temple ; let all the earth keep silence before Him. 
 i was glad wlien they said unto me We will go into the 
 house of the Lord. Let the words of my mouth and the 
 meditation of niy heart, be always acceptable in th}' sight, 
 
71 
 
 Lord, inv strenjijth and my redeeiucr. Grace he unto you. 
 and peace from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus 
 Christ." Then a fornt of confession, anotlici- of (ifeneral 
 thar.ksgivin^j;, a prayer for the l'resi(hmt of the United 
 States and for all in authority, and another foi' " ail classes 
 and conditions of men," mij^ht he used in common by all 
 the churches of all denominations, and such unison and 
 uniformity y.vr.m to me ideal. It may not lie hest tliat 
 these forujs should l)e taken from the Jiook of CJommon 
 Prayer, though this would he my preference ; it may be 
 better that they shoidd be compiled from that and also 
 from otiier existintf litur^des. The important thintj is n^t 
 to add to tlivisivetiess and confusion by making 7ie?f fornvs. 
 Added to these forius tlusre should be free jirayer, in whicli 
 the pastor's heart may interceile for his people under the 
 pressing consciousness of their immetjiate and characteristic 
 wants. It would be the ideal of worship if all Christians 
 of all denominations could be outwardly one at least in 
 song and in prayer. Thus on the one hand might be 
 avoided the (hmger which freedom in public worship 
 involves, — the danger of lawlessness, disorder, and narrow 
 inadequacy ; and on the other hand might be avoided the 
 danger which fixedness in public worship involves, — 
 namely, the danger of formality, monotony, and restraint. 
 The ideal must be the combination or the interblendinf' of 
 the two methods which have obtained so long, the liturgical 
 and the non-liturgical. The best things in each method 
 should be adopted and unified. Then and thus the real 
 oneness of all believers would be proclaimed and empha- 
 sized ; then and thus the churches which differ in polity or 
 in doctrine would be visibly one before the throne of 
 grace. 
 
 m 
 'M 
 
 : 
 
APPENDIX IV. 
 
 I 'J 
 
 PUBLIC WORSHIP. 
 
 A Paper prepared at the request of the Toronto Presbyterian 
 ConnciL by Wm. Mortimer Clark, Q. C, Chairn.au of 
 the Board of Management of Knox College, Toronto. 
 
 The obligation of Cliristians to assemble together for 
 worshi, and instruction in divine truth is expressly im- 
 posed u.i them by the liivine command. " Forget not the 
 assembling of yourselves,'' is tlie injunction of the Spirit, 
 speaking through the apostle Paul; and we all know from 
 personal experience and observation, how beneficial is the 
 faithful observance of the injunction on spiritual life, ami 
 how disastrous to the maintenance of religion the failure 
 to obey the divine precept. 
 
 From the New Testamf"it, and such records as > inni i 
 to us of the practice of the eu.-ly Church, we learn that la 
 apostolic times, on the first day of the week, at least, (Jhi'is- 
 tians met together for prayer, the singing of hymns, the 
 reading of the apostolic epistles, the breaking of bread, and 
 to listen to the preaching of the Word and the voices of 
 the prophets. The service was of a very simple chaiacter, 
 and anything like ritual was absolutely unknown, for the 
 circumstances of the church prevented anj'thing else at the 
 time. Such a worshi{> will always afford ejijoyment to a 
 spiritual man, and nothing more is needed by him. He 
 asks no moie. The psvchical or natural man, however, 
 derives no delight from such a service. He may expei ience 
 enjoyable sensations in the incidents of worship, and an 
 intellectual gratification in listening to an eloquent and 
 interesting preacher ; but spiritual satisfaction is entirely 
 absent. There may be the gratification of the bodily .sen- 
 sations, and pleasurable efl^ects on the soul, ,/hiIe at the 
 same time, the true spiritual delight is wholly wanting. It 
 is as true now as of old, that the natural man, or as might 
 be said the "soulish ''' man, understands not the things of 
 
78 
 
 the Spirit. Such persons, are ready enough to (iiscuss 
 ([uestions re^ifarcling forms of worship or kindred topics, and 
 freunently manifest considerable zeal in dealing with such 
 sni)jects. Tlie value of the opinions of men of this order 
 may be determined however by the f'postolic statement 
 regarding their altility to understand sucli matters in their 
 true relation to spiritual life. 
 
 While it is maintained that the worship of God in the 
 assemblies of His people is a purely spiritual act, and its 
 true nature is not apprehended by persons not spiritually 
 enlightened, yet we are not warranted in disregarding the 
 effect which the conduct of our worship may have on those 
 who are not so eidightened, whether within the pale of the 
 Church visible or not. It will be remembered that Paul in 
 his first epistle to the Corinthian Church, when treating of 
 spiritual gifts, recognizes the general principle, that regard 
 must be had to the effect which the proceeding in the 
 assemblies of the Church might have on the unlearned and 
 unbelievers. It seems thei'efore, to be the duty of trie 
 Church to obey the apostolic injunction, " Let all things be 
 done to edifying," not only in relation to doctrine, but also 
 in regard to the regulation and oi'der to be observed at its 
 meetings for public worship. The consideration of the 
 subject or the form and manner of pul)lic service, is there- 
 fore one which merits our careful attention. 
 
 In treating of this it will be C(.)nvenient to consider it 
 in its various departments, and as prayer is usually the 
 beginning of our sei-vice, it may be first considered. In 
 some churches public worship is begun by the reading of a 
 few sentences of the Word, but it seem preferable to open 
 the service by a brief prayer, invoking the divine blessing 
 and the illurnination of the Holy Spirit to accompany the 
 reading of the Word itself. One of the gieatest defects in 
 our form of worship lies in the excessive length of the 
 prayers generally offered. The express command of our 
 Saviou' , regarding the length of pVnyer, seems to be wholly 
 disregai ded, and the words, not being few, are too frequently 
 not well chosen. Instead of consisting of ascriptions of 
 praise to God, confession of sin, and thu offering of petitions 
 they become diffuse, discursive, and often times sermonizing. 
 The attention of the worshipper is sometimes called to 
 watch, with something of apprehension, whether the leader 
 
 !?!| 
 
TW^ 
 
 il, 
 
 li I 
 
 74 
 
 of his devotions will be able successfully to escape from the 
 entanglements of some long an<l involved sentence, or will 
 fail in the attempt. Ordinary worshippers coniplain greatly 
 of the undue length of our public prayer, and confess to 
 inability to maintain due attention, while strangers to our 
 forms are, to say the least, not attracted by this feature in 
 our service. The remedy is simple, and if our prayers were 
 shorter, more numerous and inoro sp^citically confined to 
 special subjects the advantage to minister and people alike 
 would be very great. The question is sometimes t. ked 
 whether it might not be expedient to have some liturgical 
 form of prayer. This is a wide subject and gives rise to 
 diversity of opinion. Any suggestion even of such a thing 
 is usually met with the cry that it is not Presbyterian, 
 Those who raise this objection forget, what is often over- 
 looked, that Presbyterianism is neither an order of service 
 nor a system of doctrine, but a form of (;ove'nment. Thev 
 display ignorance of the fact that the use ( f liturgies is a 
 very ancient custom, so ancient indeed thi.t expressions 
 from some of them have found their way into the received 
 text of the Sciiptures, and that in Scotland, for upwards of 
 100 years, a liturgy was in daily use. They seem unaware 
 that Knox had much to do with its preparation and that 
 many godly men were greatly attached to it. It must be 
 remembered that the historical opposition in Scotland was 
 not to a liturgy but a particular one. The Scottish liturgy, 
 or Book of Common Order, permitted, and indeed expressly 
 enjoined, extempore prayers, or" conceived" prayers, as they 
 were then quaintly called, to be offered by the minister at 
 certain places in the service. That several churches holding 
 the Presbyterian system use liturgies to this day seems to 
 be unknown to many Presbyterians, and while they allege 
 that the use of any set form of prayer is unspiritual, they 
 condemn such churches as the VValdensian, the Moravian 
 and the Dutch Reformed. One thing is certain, that the 
 want of a liturgy has lost thousands of members to the 
 Presbyterian Church. Our service is too much dependent 
 on the gifts of one man, and our people, confessedly, have 
 too little part in public worship. When a church is pro- 
 vided with a liturgy its members can meet together for 
 worship, at home or abroad, in the absence of a minister, 
 and many who would not venture to otter extempore 
 
 
.■i,':| 
 
 i,i 
 
 prayer could yet use a lituri^ical service with propriety and 
 advantage. In many places, and at many times, public 
 worship is celebrated by means of the use of the liturgy of 
 the English ('hurch when otherwise it would never be 
 performed, and many Presliyteiians who have lived abroad 
 or been in foreign service hy land or sea, have thus become 
 familiarized with it, and on their return have not icMiewed 
 their connection with onr Church. Those who have 
 travelled somewhat can bear 'estiniony to the truth of this, 
 and to the fact that a continual drain on our members is thus 
 going on. So much is this realized that the Presbyterian 
 cliurches in Britain have unitedly established services on the 
 continent of Europe, during the season of travel, at points 
 most frequenteil by tourists. Some of the older Presby- 
 terian divines suggested the propriety of ministers some 
 times writing out prayers and reading them. It is to be 
 presumed that our uunisters premeditate the subject and 
 order of their public prayers, and to some e.xtent connnit 
 them to memory. Such being the case, it is ditiicult to 
 understand what objection can be raised to any minister 
 preparing special prayers and reading them. The duty of 
 a minister is to conduct the prayers of others, and it is sub- 
 mitted that the use of a carefully prepared manuscript 
 prayer would be greatly for the benefit of the congregation. 
 An avoidance of repetition, of an irreverent use of Ood's 
 name, and the insertion of dogmatic statement, sometimes 
 of a questionable accuracy, would be secured, and probably 
 the fact that prayer is petition might be more likely to be 
 remembered. It must be regarded as unfortunate that the 
 antipathy of Presbyterians against prelacy and popery 
 should have led them to deprive themsulves of these rich 
 stores of devotional assistance which are found in many of 
 the ancie -t and modern liturgies, and which have no 
 necessary connection with one or the other. The conclusion 
 arrived at by many thoughtful persons in bturgical and 
 non-liturgical churches is that a union of the digniHed and 
 reverential forms of ancient prayer, with the use of fiee 
 prayer would be superior to any existing methods. The use 
 of a rigid cast iron liturgy, -uch as that in tise in the F^nglish 
 Church, cannot be advocated, for its etiect f)n th • clergy 
 themselves is deteriorating. Having no practice in free 
 prayer they are apt to loose the faculty. The writer once 
 
 ■■■If 
 
76 
 
 
 saw an experienced Arifjlican divine breaic down in an 
 attempt to pronounct! the benediction, and appeal to a 
 despised disseiittM- to help him out of his difficulty, and on 
 another occasion witnessed another of the same communion 
 fail in an effort to repeat the Lord's prayer It may 
 irici<ientally be remarked that if anythin<r be more distaste- 
 ful than another in prayer, and more unbecoming to public 
 worship, is what may be termed the " coi iplimentarj' 
 prayer," in which the virtues and services of a visiting 
 brother minister are duly extolled hefjre the con^fregation, 
 and >iometimes before himself. The breach of this custom 
 woidd be more honored than its observance. 
 
 The reading of the Word of (Jod must ever form a very 
 important part of the service, aiid large portions both from 
 the old and New Testament ought to be read at every 
 service. As we are instructed in Luke i. 1^7 (Revised 
 Version.) "No word from God shall be void of power;" 
 and when it is considered that a very large proportion of 
 those present at otdinary church services never hear or road 
 the Scriptures from one weeks end to another, the necessity 
 for careful attention being given to this part of our public 
 service, i^^ very olivious. Matiy instances are within the 
 observation of office-bearers in our churches of persons 
 being convinced and brought to the knowledge of the truth 
 liy the sinrmle reading of some passage ot Scripture in the 
 house of <G )d. Sometimes running comments are given bv 
 the readtar. li»nt it, may l)e worthy of consideration whether 
 it wniild fioi: he better during this part of the service that 
 the Woni of '♦jiod should be permitteil to exercise its divine 
 etHcacv ■writhiifTt human conjuient. Ample opportunity is 
 given duT^ng t I'e time allottdl for prwaching to enter into 
 expo.sitiom, if -lesired or deemed necessary. It would be of 
 advantage, aim"! ades'raVile practice that at some time during 
 the .service, thi*' Ten Commandments be read, and it would 
 greatlv^ emiphftsiate these precepts if a few words should be 
 said l.> the congregation lietween each commandment in 
 tit-*- fomti of a lirief prayer for divine strength to keep the 
 ]mm Tb*- r^^ading of tbe law, apart from its great impor- 
 M '(lit '■he introduction of additional short 
 
 'e- li. -rvi«M' by dividing it into smaller portions. 
 
 inifv WO' id also le jriven for the introduction 
 
 iM or jD«* ui> and some extension of the m jsical part 
 
77 
 
 of the service. In connection with the matter of Scripture 
 readitipf, it may not be inappropriate at this point to .su<,'fjest 
 that (luriiiff tlie collection of the ottering pussaj^'es of Scrip- 
 ture he read by the minister appropriate to the subject of 
 Christian liberality. The effects of a few chords of music 
 from the orj^an between eacii text, 'Meatiy intensiHes the 
 foice of the respective passafjes. Thi.s practice seems more 
 becomint; and suitable than to a.sk the con'jremition to 
 listen to the peiformance of a piece of music on tlie orfjan 
 during tiiis part of the service. Anything, in fact, which 
 tends to impress the people with the truth that the offering 
 of our means to (Jod is an act of worship is desirable, as 
 this part of our service is too often regarded as a secular 
 interruption. 
 
 It may be not out of place to refer hen to the manner 
 of reading the Scripture during our service. It is "deeply 
 to be regretted that so frecpiently we find but little atten- 
 tion paid to this very important matter. Of late years 
 there has \)een an i.iiprovenient in this direction, but much 
 yet requires to be accomplished. The spread of education 
 has rendered the occupants of our pews more generally alive 
 to the defects of the Scripture reader. Poor reading, added 
 to failure to attend to punctuation in such verses for 
 e.xampitt as Heb. x. 12, and the mispronunciation of words 
 and proper names are flies which spoil the apothecary's 
 ointment and lessen to a very considt'ral)le extent tlie con- 
 fidence of educated persons in the knowledge and accuracy 
 of preparation of the pastor. When one hears a minister 
 floundering about among the natues of those saluted by 
 Paul, or tripping over the foundation stones of the heavenly 
 city, we may know what to expect from the seru)on. How 
 often have we seen, for example, the quantity of the pen- 
 ultimate of the word which was applied as a test to the 
 Ephraimites of old prove tis hard a pr ibletn to the modern 
 preacher as the Hrst syllabU; did to the fugitives from 
 Giiead. Grave doubts too me sometiuu's rai.ed in the mind 
 of the hearer if the > adei knew whether the Ur'oane of 
 Rom. xvi. 9. was a man v»i* woma«> or what was the sex of 
 Junia (v. 7.) The wrestlings of some readers with the 
 Scripture names are positively painful. They have not 
 always the same ingenuity as had tlio Highland mniister 
 who after one brave but inditter-ent Ktteiupt with Shadiach, 
 
mi 
 
 ! .1' : 
 
 
 l^s 
 
 78 
 
 Meshac and Ahcflnei^o, evaded any further difficulty by 
 referring; to thein as " tlie satne three boys," or a pastor to 
 the south of the Border who ^rapplin<; with the same 
 wortliies took refu<,'e more eie<,'antly in the speakinjr of 
 them as " the said three gentlemen." Such foxes spoil the 
 grapes, and "svhen a minister on a Monday morninjj receives 
 on his table soinethin<^ like the following: 
 
 " Ldst iiiKliI yoii Miiid your wonl^ did puiii lis, 
 You know the lioiisfliold of Stcplmiius, 
 Hti'i'liiiiiii"* !■< t'ln "I'l" w know 
 And may \vc liopr you'll call liini so." 
 
 he will know that to some of his hearers his sermon \vas as 
 as water spilt on the ground. 
 
 The responsive reading of passages of Scripture would 
 form agreatimprovement in our worship and would increase 
 the interest of the people in our service, as well as tend 
 to impi'(!ss the truth on their minds. As before mentioned 
 one of the great defects in our order of worship is the 
 srnallness of the part taken by our people in it. Anything 
 which would serve to secure the congregations taking a 
 share in the proceedings, would enure greatly to enliven 
 the service as well as awaken a closer attention to the 
 contents of the Scripture itself. The parallelisms of many 
 of the Psahns evidently show that they were intended to 
 be said or sung by way of response. Such responsive read- 
 ing; is common enough in our Sabbath schools, and there 
 appears to be no reason for not introducing it into our 
 churches. 
 
 Opinions may greatly differ as to the manner of con- 
 ducting the musical part of the service, but there seems to 
 be little doubt that an increased use of music would be 
 regarded as a much needed improvement. The general 
 increase of musical knowledge and the attention paid to 
 culture in this branch of education, imperatively calls for 
 a radical chanije in our ecclesiastical mu-^ic. Our vountr 
 people call for it, and when we consider how powerful is 
 the etf'ect for good on body, soul and spirit is music of a 
 sacred character, it is desirable that their wish be gratitied. 
 It is, in fact, necessary, if we intend to keep our young 
 p(^ople with us. Nothing could be further from the mind 
 of the writer than to advocate an elaborate musical service 
 or anything approaching to a musical performance. Every- 
 thing tending in this direction ought to be rigorously 
 
70 
 
 excluded. The introduction of solos and anthetiis, sunp; 
 only hy an individual or a choir must l)e very carefully 
 ret^ulatod l)y our sessions for unless this he done there is 
 usually hut one result, and that sucred (?) concert, the 
 orj^'an recital, and the atlvertised musical proLCiammos follow 
 in due course. In face of the fact patent to all ohservers 
 that the sinfjjin^^ of some beautiful hynui by the sinj.fle voice 
 of some Christian tnan or woman has often most powerfully 
 effected individuals and audiences, it would be idle to con- 
 demn Holo sintrin^ in tvtu. Jf. however, it is to be employed 
 it! our services care nuist be taken that the sin^'er be one 
 of pronounced Christian character. In fact no leader of 
 our church music or chorister ouifht to occupy that position 
 unless they are members of some Christian church. In 
 view of the impoitance of the service of praise, it is 
 extraordinary that coni,'re<fations are found employinjjf 
 precentors and singers who are confessedly without Chi'is- 
 tian profession. 'J'he revival of the chant would atlbrd a 
 pleasin*,' and deii^ditful variation in our worship. This has 
 been auain brou'dit into use in the Free (Jhurch of Scotland 
 and the Enirlish Presbyterian ('hurch and some of our own 
 con<:frerfations with advanta<^e. Something of this kind 
 appears to have been the method in use amonif the Hebiews 
 in their musical seivice in the 'I'emple, when anything akin 
 to our tunes could ceitaiidy not have been practised. It is 
 very strange that in the face of the knowledge of this fact, 
 and that tlie very structure of some of the Psalms shows 
 that they must have been composed fortius style of music, 
 such an unreasoning opposition should exist in some 
 quarters to the use of this very ancient and impressive form 
 of praise. 
 
 " The pi'eaching of the cross " being " the power of (lod " 
 is necessarily the chief part of the pi'oceedings in a Clu'is- 
 tian assembly. No reader of the New Testament can fail 
 to observe the great pron)inence given to preaching by the 
 apostles. Although in a paper like the present, which only 
 attempts to suggest topics for discussion, it is impossible to 
 enter into a careful consideration of such an important 
 subject, it may be permissable to refer to it particularly, 
 as all lectures and discourses on preaching have, so far as 
 the writer lias observed, been deliveied by preachers them- 
 selves, while the occupants of the pews have kept silence. 
 
 
 l.'ll 
 
m 
 
 In thft early chtircli thf» preachinjjf was of a very .iifferent 
 character from that nf a modern sermon, or theoloj^ical 
 or moral essay. The prenalier (li<l not take a sinj^le 
 verse as a text and descant on that, surroundinfj it with 
 nmch that lias hut a nominal connection with it. The 
 ancient preacher was rather a teacher than a preacher, in 
 the modern acceptation of the term. It appears to the 
 writer that a rtitiirn to the former practice, to some extent 
 at least, would he de';irahle. Were our elders, who iahour 
 in woi'd and doctrine, to devote more attentirm to expository 
 teachin<; it wouUl enure ^'really to the increase in spiritual 
 knowled<^e of the hearers. 'JMie compaiison of Scripture 
 with Scripture in the face of the cijn<;ref];ation tends to 
 awaken inteiest, and increase attention in divine things. 
 This puhlic hreakiui,' of the word of life invariably lead.s to 
 a desire to study the Scripture in private as well as in puhlic. 
 Such confi[re<ifationHl study of the word of (Jod has always 
 had the etfect of quickening' spiiitual life, and bears much 
 fruit in Christian activit}'. Men feel more in this way 
 that the Word is indeed spirit and life, than they do when 
 listening to a modern sermon constructed on the mechanical 
 regulation methods of a threefold division. They feel more 
 that Christ is speaking in His Word to them, and that they 
 are listening to the Word of God rather than to the expres- 
 sion of human opinion. (Consecutive expositions of books 
 of Scripture are eminently instructive and beneficial. They 
 are advantageous also, inasmuch as in the course of such, 
 they permit ministers to address their congregations 
 inci<lentally on matters regarding which any special sermon 
 might give offence without accomplishing any benefit. It 
 nmy be said in reference to this that denunciations from 
 the pulpit of certain social practice.s are woise than useless. 
 They awaken hostility among those aimed at, and are not 
 needed by spiritually minded persons. Such diatribes are 
 too fretiuently based on very inaccurate information on 
 the part of the preacher who might more profitably devote 
 his attention to awakeninj; an intelliirent interest in the 
 Word of God. Any social usages not in keeping with 
 Christian life would gradually be abandoned. The " world" 
 gets larger as spiritual life increases. The introduction 
 into pulpit discourses of vulgar expressions and words 
 savouring of slang is deeply to be regretted. If any 
 preacher imagines that this takes the common people he is 
 
81 
 
 profourxlly niixtakon. The (.ornmoii folk anions,' Presliy 
 teriaiis liiivf no taste for this son, of thini,'. They are too 
 intelli;,'ent, atxi a [)astor's irUltieiice ntnoii;,' thciii s|i«eililv 
 goes when he so far forjjets himself ami hiin;,'.s the pulpit 
 into oriternpt. 
 
 These few su.;<,'estions aie oH'enMl as to tin; direction in 
 which ref(jrm.s may he effected which rnii^ht tend to render 
 our services more attractive without affectin;,' their spirit- 
 uality, and which mi<,dit aid in retainiti;,' amon^' us imuiy 
 persons vvfio diift away to otfier connection where the 
 Gospel of Cfwist and tiie Doctrines of (Jrace are not so 
 faithfully proclaimed as in that (.'hurch which is so dear to 
 us, and for which wo may in the words of the old Presby- 
 terian litur<,'y unite in prayin<; — 
 
 " Let thy mighty hand and outstretched arm, () Lord, 
 he still our defence. Thy mercy and lovini^-kindnes.s in 
 Jesus Christ, Thy dear Son, o(tr .'<(//?'a^/()7i. Thy true and 
 holy Word our insfriiction. Thy (irace and Holy Spirit 
 our comfort and consoUdion unto the end and in the end." • 
 
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 APPENDIX V. 
 
 
 A NEW DIRECTORY FOR THE 
 
 OF GOD. 
 
 PUBLIC WORSHIP 
 
 Founded on the Book of Common Order (1560-64) and the 
 Westminster Directory (1643-45) and prepared by the 
 Public Worship Association in connection zvith the Free 
 Church of Scotland. 
 
 This volume published Hnring the past f.unnner, is of 
 great interest, and for several reasons of much value. Its 
 origin, aim and object may best be described in the words 
 of the preface by the Rev. Dr. Bannerman, President of 
 the Free Church Public Worship Association, as follows: — 
 
 " The Association by which this Directory for Public 
 Worship has been prepared, was formed at a Conference 
 of Ministers and Elders of the Free Church of Scotland, 
 held at Edinburgh in May 1891. The objeot of the 
 Association, as stated in its Constitution, is ' to promote the 
 ends of edification, ovler and reverence in the public 
 services of the Church, in accordance with Scripture prin- 
 ciples, and in the light especially of the experience and 
 practice of the Reformed Churches holding the Presbyterian 
 .s)'stem.' The suggestion tliat such an Association should 
 be formed, and the invitation to the Conference, were con- 
 tained in a Circular signed by eighteen ministers, namely : 
 — Drs. Banneiman, Blaikie, Bruce, A. O. Johnston, Laidlaw, 
 Macmillan, Keith, Ross Taylor, Salmond, Walter C. Smith ; 
 Messrs T. Crerar, Lewis Davidson. J. T. Ferguson, W. A. 
 Gray, T. B. Kilpatrick, D. AL Ross, David Somerville, and 
 George Steven, 
 
 In this Circular, those who signed it said they felt that 
 the subject of the Public Worship of the Church called for 
 special consideration at the present time, and that in con- 
 nection with it there was room and need for improvement 
 in various directions Their desire was that all efforts for 
 such improvement " should proceed upon lines in harmony 
 
IB 
 
 that 
 
 I for 
 
 con- 
 
 ment 
 
 with the past history, and best traditions of the Scottish 
 Church in the matter of worship, and should be — to use 
 the language of the Solemn League and Covenant — ' in 
 accordance with the Word of God, and the example of the 
 best Reformed Churches,' as represented, for instance, in 
 the General Presbyterian Alliance. In particular, all of us 
 hold strongly that the duty and privilege of freepniyer in 
 the public Worship of God should be jealously guarded and 
 maintained, and that nothing in the least approaching to a 
 compulsory Liturgy, as in the Anglican and Roman Com- 
 munions, should be even proposed. 
 
 On these lines, the work of the Association has gone 
 . forward in a very harmonious and encouraging way for the 
 past seven years. It has sought to call attention, — and has 
 done so, it is believed, with good results — on the one hand, 
 ; to the danger of hasty and ill-considered action, and of 
 / merely imitative movements in the direction of Anglican 
 forms and usages ; and on the other hand, to the need of 
 improvements in various respects in the ordinary Public 
 Worship and in the Special Services of the Church, and to 
 the lines on which such improvements may best be carried 
 out, in accordance with Spiritual and confessional principles, 
 and in the light of the practice and experience of sister 
 Reformed Churches both in Great Britain, America, and 
 th< Continent of Europe. Papers have been issued yearlj' 
 for private circulation among the members of the Associa- 
 tion ; bui this " Directory for Worship " is its first publica- 
 tion for geneial use. 
 
 The two well-known Service-books of the Scottish 
 Church, on which this little work is based, may be described 
 respectively as an optional Liturgy and a Directory for 
 Worship. 
 
 The Book of Common Order arose out of the form of 
 
 .service drawn up by John Knox, Whittingham, and others 
 
 for the use of the English exiles at Frankrort in 1554. It 
 
 • was tirst published at Geneva in 1556, and used in the 
 
 Church there, in which both Knox and Wittinghatu were 
 
 ministers. After Knox's return to Scotland in 1559, " if 
 
 not earlier, the BooR of Geneva began to be used by some 
 
 , of the Reformed Congregations in this country. In the 
 
 , First Book of Discipline, adopted by the Church in 15G0, 
 
 it is said to be 'already u^ed.in some of our Churches,' and 
 
 !-!l|! 
 
 :i 
 
ri 
 
 
 "1 
 
 3 .i: 
 
 is spoken of as ' the Book of Our Common Order, called 
 the Order of Geneva.' In 1562 the General Assembly 
 enjoined its uniform use in ' ministration of the Sacrament^ 
 and solemnisation of marriages and burial of the dead.' It 
 was reprinted in Edinburgh in that year wich some additions. 
 Between 1562 and 1564 it was modified and enlarged ; new 
 prayers were added from Continental sources, others, which 
 had been used in Scotland previously, were incorporated 
 with it, and the Psalter was completed, in this form it 
 was printed in Edinburgh in 1564; and the As.sembly of 
 that year ' ordained that every Minister, Exhorter, and 
 Reader shall have one of the P.salm books, lately printed in 
 Edinburgh, and une the Order contained therein in Prayers, 
 Marriage, and Ministration of the Sacraments.' 
 
 " The Book of Geneva, thus remodelled, is known as 
 Knox's Liturgy or Book of Common Order; and it 
 embodied the law of the Church as to worship from 1564 
 to 1645." 
 
 The "Book of Common Order," however, is a better and 
 more accurately descriptive name for the first Service-book 
 of the Scottish Reformed Church than " Liturgy," which is 
 apt to suggest a fixed and compulsory form of ritual. In 
 .' " The Book of Our Common Order," the place and rights of 
 '' free prayer are carefully vindicated and guarded, an outline 
 of the order of worship is given, with specimen forms of 
 prayer, confession of sins, thanksgiving, and intercession, 
 which, '■ or such like," the minister is to use. We have an 
 ," Order of Baptism," " The Manner of the Administration 
 of the Lord's Supper," ' The Form of Marriage," etc., with 
 examples of suitable exhortations, and pia}ers: and the 
 officiating minister is enjoined to use " either the words 
 following, or like in efi'ect." " The minister exhorting the 
 people to pray, saith in this manner, or such like." " The 
 minister prayeth for the assistance of God's Holy Spirit, as 
 the same shall move His heart, and so proceedeth to the 
 sermon." After sermon he either useth the 'Prayer for all 
 Estates,' or else prayeth as the Spirit of God shall move 
 his heart." 
 
 It is unnecessary to refer here in detail to the contents 
 of the Westminster Directory, which may be assumed to 
 be in the hands of our ministers generally. We may 
 venture to say, in passing, that it deserve-s, and will repay, 
 
 '-^■! 
 
8B 
 
 much more careful study on their part than it often receives. 
 It is not indeed of full authority in the Church, and has 
 no direct place in the Ordination vows of her otKce-bearers 
 but it contains a great deal that is of very high and perman^ 
 ent value, both in the way of guidance and suggestion in 
 matters of worship. The Westuiin'^ter Directory traverses, 
 so far, the same ground as the Book of Common Order, but 
 does not give the same amount of help as regards special 
 services. It says nothing whatever, for example, of Ordi- 
 nation Services, — a lack which is somewhat inadequately 
 supplied in the reference to the subject in the other West- 
 minster document known as " The Form of Church 
 Government." As regards the ordinary public worship of 
 the Lord's day, however, the Directory furnishes a con- 
 siderable amount of valuable material and suggestion for 
 Confession, Adoration, Thanksgiving, Petition, and Inter- 
 cession, so prepared and arranged that they can, with very 
 little difficulty, be turned into direct forms of prayer, 
 
 In the Directory for Public Worship now issued, we 
 follow the Book of Common Order in giving specimen forms 
 for certain parts oi the ordinary service, e. g., Prayers of 
 Invocation, of Thanksgiving, and " for all Estates," giving 
 also somewhat fuller forms for such special services as 
 Baptism, the Lord's Supper, Ordination of Ministers, Elders, 
 and Deacons, Church Dedication, Marriage, and Burial of 
 the Dead. In accordance with the example of the West- 
 minster Director}, a large amountof space has been devoted 
 to materials and suggestions for Confession, Thanksgiving, 
 Petition, and Intercession. It would, of course, have been 
 comparatively easy to provide set forms of prayer under 
 these various head.s. To provide and arrange suitable 
 material, which, while not repre.ssing or hampering free 
 prayer, .should .serve to guide and stimulate it, was a much 
 more difficult task. 
 
 The Committee wish to draw special attention to the 
 Confe.ssion of Sins, the Prajer i)f Thanksgiving, the Litany, 
 and the Marriage Service, taken from " Hermann's Con.sul- 
 tation." These have been specially translated from the 
 original Latin of this volume. ♦ ♦ * • 
 
 In the Westminster Directory, which, under English 
 Puritan influences as to worship, went further in the 
 direction of freedom than the earlier Service-book of the 
 
 !i 
 
 1?! 
 
 !;Ji 
 
 I 
 
 m 
 
Ilf- 
 
 m 
 
 Scottish Church, the impertance of general uniformity of 
 order, and of meeting the stated spiritual necessities of the 
 congregation in the prayers of the ordinary Lord's Day 
 Service, were distinctly recognised and provided for. "Our 
 meaning is," the Westminster Divines say in their Direc- 
 tory, " that the general heads, the sense and scope of the 
 prayers, and other parts of public worship being known to 
 all, there may be a consent of all the Churches in those 
 things that contain the substance of the Service and 
 Worship of God ; and the ministers may be hereby directed 
 in their administrations, to keep like soundness in doctrine 
 and prayer, and may, if need be, have some help and 
 furniture ; and yet so as they become not hereby slothful 
 or negligent in stirring up the gifts of Christ in them ; but 
 that each one, by meditation, by taking heed to himself 
 and the flock of God committed to him, and by wise 
 observing the ways of Divine Providence, may be careful 
 to furnish his heart and tongue with further or other 
 materials of prayer and exhortation, as shall be needful 
 upon all occasions." 
 
 The new Directory is in three parts. The first refers to 
 Public Worship on the Lord's Day and embraces the Order 
 of Service at an ordinary Diet of Worship; directions 
 respecting the services with forms of prayer of invocation 
 and confession ; forms of petitions and of thanksgiving; 
 prayers of intercession and illumination, with more than 
 one litany. 
 
 Part 11 refers to the Sacraments of Baptism and the 
 Lord's Supper, with forms of prayer to God and model 
 addresses to the congregation. 
 
 Part III refers to services on special occasions such as 
 Marriages, Burial of the Dead, Ordination of Ministers, 
 Admission of Elders and Deacons, Licensing of Probationers, 
 and Dedications of Churches with various forms of prayer 
 for such occasions. 
 
 The publication within the past few months of this 
 book denotes a marked advance in the movement for 
 improving public worship in Scotland. The Free Church 
 has njt hitherto identifier! itself with this movement, at 
 least not in the same way or to the same extent as the 
 United Presbyterian Church, and the Ei-tablished Church 
 of Scotland. Now it mav be said that all the Churches 
 
87 
 
 are in line, that they each and all practically assume the 
 same attitude in this great question. Our brethren on the 
 other side of the Atlantic have opposing views on some 
 subjects but obviously after long consideration unanimity 
 has been reached as to the necessity of a new Directory 
 and improved Service-book for Public Worship on the 
 Lord's Day. 
 
 We have now placed before us three model Service-books 
 prepared in connection with the three great branches of 
 Presbyterianism in Scotland. 
 
 (1.) The last issued from the Press is the first edition 
 of the Free Church Directory, it contains 238 pages, replete 
 with useful forms and directions 
 
 (2.) In connection with the United Presbyterian Church 
 the secon<l edition of " Presbyterian Forms of Service," 
 appeared in 1894. This is an excellent work of the kind, 
 consisting of 218 pages. 
 
 (3.) In 1890 the sixth edition of the Service-book pre- 
 pared for the Established Church of Scotland was issued 
 under the title " A Book of Common Order." The work 
 contains 412 pages and in most respects is admirable. 
 
 These three fine model service-books worthily represent 
 the Scottish Churches in connection with which they have 
 been prepared. In Canada the three Churches are happily 
 united, and as we require aids for the proper conduct of 
 public worship it may be found possible to combine in one 
 book the b»»st features of the three. When the proper time 
 comes the General Assembly's Committee on Worship will 
 do well to examine the three books thus provided ; they 
 will find much excellent material in the Scottish models 
 which ma}' be considered as entirely at the service of the 
 Canadian Church. 
 
1 I 
 
 APPENDIX VI. 
 
 THE DIRECTORY FOR THE PUBLIC 
 
 OF GOD. 
 
 WORSHIP 
 
 Adopted 1 898, and recommended for use in the Presbyterian 
 Church of England. 
 
 The Directory now formally authorized by the Synod 
 of the Presbyterian Church of England is based upon that 
 agreed upon by the Assembly of Divines at Westminster, 
 A. D. 1644. The origin and character of this new Service- 
 book are explained in the preface dated March 23rd 1898, 
 in the following words : " The Synod of the Presbyterian 
 Church of England which met in London in 188(i appointed 
 a Committee " with instructions to proceed with due care 
 and deliberation in the direction of revising the West- 
 minster Director}' for the Public Worship of God, and pre- 
 paring forms or specimens of Service adapted to special 
 occa8?ons." 
 
 Since chat date, with slight intermission, the Committee 
 has been prosecuting its labours, reporting from year to 
 year its diligence therein to the Synod. 
 
 The result of those labours is now presented to the 
 Church. As the closing words of the original preface to 
 the Westminster Directory fitly express the aim which 
 has been kept in view and the spirit in which the work 
 has been carried on, they are here reproduced : 
 
 " Our care hath been to hold forth such things as are 
 of divine institution in every ordinance; and other things 
 we have endeavoured to set forth according to the rules of 
 Christian prudence, agreeable to the general rules of 
 the Word of God ; our meaning therein being only, that 
 the general heads, the sense and scope of the prayers, and 
 other parts of public worship, being known to all, there 
 may be a consent of all the Churches in those things that 
 contain the substance of the service and worship of God ; 
 
8B 
 
 and the Ministers may be hereby rlirected, in their admini- 
 strations, to keep like soundness in doctrine and prayer, 
 and may, it' need be, have some help and furniture, and 3'et 
 80 as they become not hereV>y slothful and nejnrlitrent in 
 stirrinjj up the gifts of Christ in them ; but that each one, 
 by meditation, by taking heed to himself and the Hock of 
 God committed to him, and by wise observing the ways of 
 Divine Providence, may be careful to furnish his heart and 
 tongue with further or other materials of prayer and 
 exhortation, as shall be needful upon all occasions." 
 
 The Synod met at Liverpool on April 27th of this year, 
 when the report of the Committee submitting the Directory 
 which they had prepared was received. After discussion 
 the report of the Committee was approved. The publication 
 of the Directory was authorized and its use in the services 
 of the Church recomended, leaving it to Ministers and 
 Sessions to adopt it .so far as they may judge it to be 
 desirable and expedient. The book is limited to 117 pages 
 and embraces the following contents : 
 
 1. Of the As.«embling of the Congregation. 
 
 2. Of the Order of Worship on the Lord's Day. 
 
 3. Of the Preaching of the Word. 
 
 4. Of the Administration of Baptism. 
 
 (1.) Of the Baptism or Adults. 
 (2.) Of the Baptism of Infants. 
 
 5. Of the Celebration of the Lord's Supper. 
 
 6. Of Admission to full Communion. 
 
 7. Of the Ordination of a Minister. ^ 
 
 8. Of the Induction of an Ordained Minister. 
 
 9. Of the Ordination and Induction of Elders. 
 
 10. Of the Ordination and Induction of Deacons. 
 
 11. Of the Dedication of a Church. 
 
 12. Of the Solemnization of Marriage. 
 
 13. Of the Burial of the Dead. 
 
 Appendix : 
 : (1.) Table of Order of Service in Public 
 
 Worship. 
 (2.) The Twenty-four Articles of the Faith. 
 (3.) Appendix to the Articles of the Faith. 
 (4.) Preparatory Note on the Lectionaries. 
 (5.) Lectionaries. 
 
 m 
 m 
 li;! 
 
 ■'ilfj 
 
rr 
 
 APPENDIX VII. 
 
 CONGREGATIONAL PRAYER. 
 
 A paper read at the Annual Conference of the Theological 
 Alumni of Queens University; together with four letters 
 on Public Worship, by Sir Sandford Fleming, addressed 
 to Rev. Dr. Laing, (lately) Convener of the Committee 
 of the General Assembly on Worship. 
 
 As a layman an<l life-lonfj Presbyterian, I ask per- 
 mission to submit some thoughts on the subject of conj^re- 
 gational prayer. I vrnturo to do so for the reason that it 
 appears to me a subject which ministers and laymen alike 
 should consider. It is a subject which cannot but be of 
 profound interest to those whose privilege it is to conduct 
 public worship, and obviously it concerns every man and 
 woman in every congregation within the bounds; of the 
 Dominion. 
 
 In the Presbyterian Church we are in the habit of hear- 
 ing froMj the pulpit oidv ; the pew seldom finds utterance. 
 I make bold to break through the rule established by usage 
 and give vent to thoughts long pondered on and long 
 unspoken. In this voice from the pew to the pulpit, not a 
 word will be heard or thought discernible in any way 
 wanting in the '^'ghest respect for the ministerial office. 
 
 I shall first state a proposition to which all will assent: 
 Public worship is a divinely appointed duty, and congrega- 
 tional prayer is an essential part of public worship. Joint 
 prayer is one of the principal objects designed by Christian 
 people in coming together for the worship of God. 
 
 VVe are all familiar with the ordinary services, in which 
 extemporaneous prayer by the minister on behalf of the 
 congregation is the universal practice. It is not necessary 
 to enter at any length into the origin and history of this 
 usage. It is well known that Calvin, Knox, and other 
 reformers, held the opinion that there should be pre- 
 arranged forms of prayer, with provision during some part 
 
n 
 
 of the service for extemporaneoiis prayer on special occa- 
 sions ; that there shouKl in fact he what may be teriiie<l a 
 discretionary liturjjy, and that while restrained by no 
 undue strictness the minister should use the written forins. 
 
 These were the views held by the fathers of the Presby- 
 terian Church, and their ideas were carried into practice 
 for many years after the Reformation. It is only neces- 
 sary to refer to "The Look of Common Order of the 
 Church of Scotland," a liturgy prepared by Knox himself 
 after the Geneva model, and commonly known as John 
 Knox's liturgy. This prayer bo^k was used in the Presby- 
 terian congregations of Scotland for generations. 
 
 The first General Assembly was held in 1500. At that 
 date Knox's liturgy was in use, and four years later, in 
 1564, this liturgy was formally accepted by the Church. 
 For a period of at least 82 years — being from 15(j4 to 1G15 
 — the law of the Church enjoined the use of this liturgical 
 work at the principal services eacli Sabbath. Indeed it 
 does not appear that it was ever fornuilly abolished. In 
 the IGth and 17th centuries twenty editions of the old 
 Presbyterian liturgy were issued from ttie press, of which 
 sixteen editions were printed in Edinburgh and four in 
 Aberdeen. 
 
 Some of the records of the Kirk sessions in the first 
 half of the l7th century refer to the I'egular " reading of 
 prayer-s in the morning and the evening services in the 
 public audience of the people." At this period there was 
 generally in each congregation a Reader, often the Parish 
 Schoolmaster. He read regularly the prayers, the Scrip- 
 tures and the psaluis, the minister preaching the sermon. 
 Afte* the Westminster Assernl)ly the office of the Reader 
 gradually disappeared and the whole service was conducted 
 bv the minister. 
 
 There is abundant evidence therefore to establish that 
 in the early days of the Church, prayers were read in the 
 assemblies of the people, and that the people were familiar 
 with them and assented to them as their own, is obvious 
 from the fact that for convenience they were frequently 
 bound up with their Bibles. 
 
 Ic is e(iually true that considerable latitude was allowed, 
 and that during some portion of the service the minister 
 was not tied to set forms and words ; yet generally he was 
 enjoined to use the forms prescribed. 
 
n^ 
 
 >2 
 
 Such was the law of the Church and the practice of 
 PreHbyterian conj^rejjations before the middle of the 17th 
 century. At that period in the history of ScniUnd politi- 
 cal exif^encies aroHe which caused the liturgical Nurvice to 
 fail into disuse. We all know that the aversion to forin-^ 
 of prayer which set in was a reaction against the efforts of 
 Charles I. and Laud, to force upon the Scottish people, a 
 hated episcopacy witha liturgy repugnant to thorn, described 
 by Macaulay as being a step taken in mere wantonness of 
 tyranny and in criminal ignorance and more criminal con- 
 tempt of public feeling" a step, which, if in its effect,! it 
 produced a change in the Presbyterian service, was also 
 one of the events which led to a change of dynasty. What- 
 ever the cause of the change, the fact that pre-arranged 
 forms were used to a greater or less degree for the greater 
 part of a century establishes, that set foims of prayer are 
 in no way inconsistent with, or antagonistic to. the funda- 
 mental principles of Presbyterianism. The change from a 
 liturgical to a lon-liturgical service simply proves that 
 Presbyterianism is characterized by great freedom and 
 flexibility, and as the same freedom obtains to-day, I think 
 I am warranted in saying that there is nothing in our 
 principles to prevent us modifying or amending our present 
 usages, .should it be deemed expedient. In the first Scotch 
 Confession (loOO), it is pointed out in Article XX. that 
 freedom and flexibility are desirable, and men's judgments 
 are not infallible, and as human ideas may change, matters 
 of human action may and ought to change likewise — that 
 while " in the Church or in the house of God it becometh 
 all things to be done decently and in order" ; it is useless 
 to pre-determine what every practice shull be in the future, 
 or attempt to make appointments for all age.s, times and 
 places. Pi-esbyteriat.s do not recognize any cast iron forms 
 and rules incompatible with reason and common .sense, and 
 they have from the first felt at liberty to institute change 
 when circumstances .so demanded. The political forces 
 which operated in the Mother county nearly two and a 
 half centuries ago, are non-existent in this western conti- 
 nent in this age. The political conditions in Canada to-day 
 are altogether ditterent from those which prevailed in the 
 United Kingdom, when extemporaneous prayer was sub- 
 stituted for written forms, and we are free to consider, 
 indeed it is our duty to consider, the extent to which we 
 
Hhould R<lh«re to preNont iisai»eK, or how far it rimy l>e 
 expedient to return the views iimi pruetices of the t'ounderH 
 and fathers of our Church. 
 
 The historical evidence jroes to show that there is notic- 
 ing to re(|uire a rigiii adherence to one practice or another. 
 In the " Scotch Confession " of lofiO rjo particular mode of 
 worship is hiid down as binding. With the exception of 
 the Lord's Prayer, given us an exaniple, there is little we 
 find in Scripture to prescribe whether written or unwritten 
 prayers should he used. We are left, therefore, to consider 
 the merits of each systen) and ascertain on which side the 
 weit^ht of advantage preponderates. 
 
 Extempore prayer pure and sini()le, unless by a rarely 
 gifted person inspired by the Holy Spirit, is apt to abound 
 in crude unpremeditated thoughts and imperfect utter- 
 ances. True, it can be said, that the minister in the 
 quietness of his study may well consider the subject of the 
 piayer to be offered, that he may revise his thoughts arid 
 give the intended prayer more earnest and deeper reflec- 
 tion, that he may even carefully arrange the solemn words 
 with which he is to approach the Throne of (Jrace. If the 
 minister so prepares himseil, i<s he undoubtedly should, his 
 prayer practically C'nses to be extemporaneous, and from 
 his place in the pulpit he recites the thoughts and words 
 already rehearsed in private. But, the words remain 
 unwritten ; and would it not be far better that they should 
 be reduced to writin^^ and placed in the hands of every 
 person in the congregation, in order that all might join the 
 officiating minister in the con)mon petition addressed to the 
 Great Author of otir being ? 
 
 If we feel called upon to petition Parlianient are we 
 not extremely careful to have our wants expressed in 
 well chosen words ? If a Royal Prince, a Governor-General, 
 or other high personage, comes amongst us, whom we wish 
 to address, what course do we follow ? Is it not customary, 
 in anticipation of his pre.sence, to induce a capable person, 
 or a committee of persons, to draw up with care and deliber- 
 ation the address in fitting terms ? Is it not frequently the 
 case that the text is amended, revised and re-amended so 
 that it may accurately and properly express the views of 
 tho.se on whose behalf it is to be read ? If we are so care- 
 ful in thus arranging our words so that they shall not be 
 wanting in order, propriety, respect, and even elegance, how 
 
irrr 
 
 04 
 
 much inoro lu'cilfnl is it whwn a body of Oiiri.stian people 
 Hpproiu'l* tln> intinito l)i»ity -Uii> Kiiitj of Kinjjs — that tlu>v 
 should prostMit thoir th^'post thoU|a;htN in words Htly chosen, 
 and not lpav«» all to tln» iinpnlse of th«« nionn^nt as if spcak- 
 injr to frail and iniperfoct croatureH like ourselves ? Is it 
 not ahovo all things soeinly thnt in addressing; our Heavenly 
 Father our speech he well ordered and give expression to 
 our most reverential adoratioJi, and penitential emotions. 
 
 Therc^ U ajiother point of great importance. According 
 to the (isage ofoTM? (.Church th(> officiating minister addresses 
 the Deity in words \Tmch up to the moment they are 
 utter(>d are unknown to any wiu^le occupant of the pews. 
 The sentinjents spoken may he unexeaptionahle, they may 
 he devout, they nuiv he appropriate aiuf fnlifying, or they 
 may l>e the v«'ry o}>po^ite ; whatever their chtwacter, the 
 tl\e people present are simply listeners, the words sfniken 
 from the pulpit cannot he called in any correct sense tlip 
 prayer of the congregation. The congregation at hest can 
 only follow the minister in ^ira^'er as they attend to him 
 wheji preaching, and it wouhl he as correct todesigmite the 
 .sermon, the sermon of the congregation, as to consider the 
 onlinary prayt-r fron\ the pulpit, the prayer of the congre- 
 gation. 
 
 In some city (^hurches, anthems hy the choir and .sacre<l 
 solos iiio attempted ; thes»> performances may he the most 
 renowtied musical couipositions, they may [w most pleasing 
 to the music;\l ear, they may 1)3 edifying to all pi(>sejit, hut 
 tliev cannot be co)isidered the praises of the congregation, 
 e^peci;\lly if the words of the sacred song are withheld fronj 
 the congregation until they are sung. 
 
 So good an nuthorit\ as I'aley, in his treatise on " Duties 
 ttuvartls Ciod," discusses the suhjeot of puhlic prayer. Me 
 isays " it (a written form of prayer) prevents the confusion 
 of extemp«>re pn\yer. in which the congregation, being 
 ignorant of each petition before they hear it, and having 
 little or no tiuie to join \n it after they have heard it, are 
 confoundeil between their attention to the minister and to 
 their own devotion. Tlie devotion of the hearer is neces- 
 sarily suspended until a petition be concluded ; and before 
 he can assent to it, or properly adopt it, that is before he 
 can address the same request to God for h'mself, and from 
 himself, his attention is called otf' to keep pace with what 
 
05 
 
 snccoeds. Adil to this, (lint tlio inintl of tlic hcnrrr is lipid 
 in contiiiuul ('xpectutioii. find fN'tftincd I'roin its proptr 
 Imsintvss, liy tlie very novelty with wliicli it is jjintified. A 
 coni:rcj,'M,tion may !»<' plensed nnd nflrcted with tin- prayfrs 
 nnd devotion of tlu-ir minister witlmnt joiiiin;jf in tli«!m, in 
 lik»; manner as an audience ofteti times are with the repre- 
 sentations of d(>votion upon the sta^e, who, nevertheless 
 come away without heirij; conscious of Imvinff exercised any 
 act of dm'otion themselves. Jolvt prayer, which atiionj»st 
 all denominations of ('hristians is the declared «l(!sijrn of 
 " cominjr to^'ether," is prayer in which all y'o/n ; and not 
 that which one alone in the contjre^'ation conceives and 
 (hdivers, and of which the rest are merfdy hearers. This 
 ohjection seems fundamental, and hcdfls even where the 
 minister's oMice is discharj^ed witliev«Ty possihle advantage 
 atid accomplishment. The lahorinj; recollection and emhar- 
 ras.sed or tumultuous delivery, of many extempore speakers, 
 form an additional olijection to this mode of pulilic worship ; 
 for tln!se imperfections are very ^'erieral and ^ive great pain 
 to the serious part of a congregation." 
 
 Dr. Isaac VVatts who lived half a century after the old 
 Preshyterian liturgy fell into <lisus(! and who disapproved 
 of a liturgical service, strongly recommended, whenever 
 
 Iio.ssihle, i^xtemporajieous prayer. In his " (itiide to I'rayer" 
 le advised all " to cidtivate the holy skill of speaking to 
 (iod." 'JMie ( Jift of pray(!r he said " is one of the nohlest 
 and most useful in the (Christian life atui therefore to ho 
 souidit with (earnest desire and dili;'(!nce." I^>ut, this vener- 
 able theologian concedes that forms of [)rayer may he useful 
 and in some cases nticcssary when ministers are unable to 
 attain in a high degree the Divine (lift. 
 
 It is claimed by souh; that the principal end of extem- 
 por«; prayer is to move the hearts ()f tin; congregation and 
 that this is a purpose which no written forms however 
 admirably composed can successfully accomplish. (Granting 
 all that can be said in this regard when some rarely gifted 
 man gives expression in prayer to his devotional thoughts, 
 it will readily be conceded thut many of our most worthy 
 ministers are not so gifted arul it would be more desirable 
 for them to use good written forms than to speak extem- 
 poraneously in an imperfect manner. 
 
 If we turn to another branch of public worship — the 
 service of praise — we find a recognition of set-form.s of 
 
 i 
 
 
 'Jl 
 

 111 
 
 li- 
 
 06 
 
 woidi'. Joint prayer is prayer in which all join — and so it 
 is with praise, and from the earliest days, means have been 
 taken to admit of all joininu^ in the common service of 
 praise. The psalms and paraphrases were put in verse, and 
 in the time of our forefathers the minister " read the line," 
 as it was termed, in order that every individual in the con- 
 gregation, learned or unlearned, with or without the printed 
 verses, might join in the sacred song. The advance of 
 education and of printing has simplified the service of 
 praise and rendered " reading the line " unnecessary. The 
 verses to be sung are in the hands of all, and so the whole 
 assembled people may thus " with understanding " join in 
 congregational praihje. 
 
 The Apostle Paul places the two acts of worship — prayer 
 and praise — on the same plane " I will pray with the spirit, 
 and I will pray with the understanding also ; I will sing 
 with the spirit, and J will sing with the understanding 
 also." If we have set forms of sacred verse in psalms, 
 paraphrases and hymns, why should we not have set forms 
 of prayer ? lb woultl seem to be a calm common sense 
 conclusion that as a book of praise is found necessary a 
 book of prayers is likewise required for the public worship 
 of God in the Presbyterian Church in Canada. 
 
 During a long residence, almost half a century, in my 
 adopted country, with opportunities of attending public 
 worship under all conditions, in all parts of Dominion, the 
 opinion has been forced upon me that we should have a book 
 of prayers, and that each prayer should be known by some 
 distinctive name or number so that the minister could 
 readily intimate to the congregation the prayer to be used. 
 In arranging the service for the day the minister would 
 select such prayers as appear to him appropriate for the 
 occasion, and he would make known his selections to the 
 congregation precisely as he now indicates the psalms and 
 hymns to be sung, and the chapter and verses of the Scrip- 
 ture to be read. By no means do I advocate that a 
 written liturgy should be used to the exclusion of extem- 
 pore prayer. There should be no such restriction. The 
 written forms should be used at the discretion of the 
 minister and he should be at liberty to substitute or 
 introduce during the service, whenever it seemed to him 
 desirable, special prayers for special occasions. 
 
 ! I 
 
87 
 
 I am unable to see any well founded objection to the 
 mode of distinguishing the prayers by niimbers The 
 method would undoubtedly ba"*^ the advantaije of simplic- 
 ity, and it would enable each person present without doubt 
 oV confusion to know the prayer to be followed. In some 
 chuiches the hymns to be sung are made known to the 
 congregation by a tablet placed on the wall, on which the 
 numbers of the hymns are set forth. This is a plan which 
 might with advantage become general, and the information 
 given on the tablet could be extended so as to con»prise the 
 whole service which the minister has arranged for the dav. 
 If, for example, a tablet containing .such information as 
 follows, were placed in full view of the congregation, each 
 indivi.lual would be enabled to follow with "ease, either 
 audilily or inaudibly. every portion of the service in which 
 he is expected to take part; the irdnister introducin*», as 
 circumstances may require, extempore prayer, notices to 
 the congregation and other matters. 
 
 MORNING SERVICE. 
 
 Opening Prayer \o. 
 
 Hymn \o 
 
 SCRIPTURE REAniNO. 
 
 Psalm \q 
 
 Prayer before Sermon No . 
 
 SER.VION. 
 
 Prayer after Sermon \o . 
 
 Hymn xo. 
 
 BENEDICTION. 
 
 Our hymns of praise are culled from every .source and 
 from every age. We have striven to collect in our books 
 of praise the best hymns which can be found. Should we 
 not follow a similar course with respect to prayers ? In my 
 mind, the Book of Prayeis for our Church should be a 
 collection of solemn appeals to our Heavenly Father 
 expressive of our every want and pure desire. In it should 
 be gathered the most suitable prayers of all liturgies, the 
 prayers of devout men of all ages adapted to our worship 
 to which would be added the most appropriate prayers of 
 7 
 
 i\ 
 
 m 
 
f} 
 
 88 
 
 modern Presbyterian divines, to make the collection 
 complete. 
 
 The preceding observations have had reference to public 
 worship in organized congregations with a minister. 1 may 
 point out that a book of prayers is perhaps even more 
 required in places where there are no settled ministers. 
 There are many Presbyterians scattered throughout the 
 vast regions in the North West and other outlying parts of 
 the Dominion, remote from the services to which they have 
 been accustomed, and who are apt for want of such aid to 
 devotion to become estranged from the church of their 
 fathers. There are fields unoccupied by missionaries, and 
 there are mission stations which at times are vacant. In 
 such places well disposed ujen are frequently found who, 
 however willing the heart, are not gifted with ready utter- 
 ance to lead others in Divine .service. To such men in such 
 places written prayers would be a needful help; to the 
 small groups of people it would be an acceptable boon, and 
 would enable them to carry out what otherwise would be 
 neglected. It will be obvious that in all such circumstances 
 a book of prayers, placed in the hands of a lay-reader, with 
 instructions for its proper use, would greatly aid in main- 
 taining social worship until the appointment of a mission- 
 ary, or until the settlement increased sufficiently to admit 
 of the regular services of a minister being obtained. 
 
 In concluding these remarks on a subject of so much 
 importance, I appeal to the reverend and learned men whom 
 I address, earne.stly to consider the expediency of introduc- 
 ing some change in the service of prayer in public worship. 
 In Canada we Presbyterians are happily placed in circum- 
 ciimstances the very opposite of what prevailed in the 17th 
 century in the fatherland of many of us. There is nothing 
 to becloud our views or to influence our passions one way 
 or the other. The prejudices which afl'ected our forefathers, 
 and indeed at an earlier day some of ourselves, have mostly 
 passed away ; in Canada they have no proper place, and 
 we are free to take the course which appears to us in this 
 new generation most expedient. VV^hila there are men in 
 our Church who can address God with a flow of divine 
 ^eloquence to move the hearts of all who hear them, it is not 
 to be denied that some of our must worthy ministers are 
 unable to exercise the gift of prayer impressively. In the 
 
latter case it is felt that & book of prayers would be helpful 
 and profitable. 
 
 As a layman I invite the ministers of our Church to 
 give their consideration to some means by which we ma}' 
 obtain in our congregations a nearer approach to congrega- 
 tional prayer than we now possess. I ask that the men 
 and women who gather together for Divine service in 
 Presbyterian public assemblies be permitted to take part 
 in the public worship of God, to a greater extent than at 
 present. 
 
 On behalf of the pew, I make bold to raise my humble 
 voice to the pulpit, in the earnest hope that I have not in 
 vain called its attention to the subject. 
 
 FOUR LETTERS ON PUBLIC WORSHIP. 
 
 No. L 
 
 Rev. Dr. Laing, Convener of Committee on Public Wor- 
 ship : 
 
 Sir, — With your leave I desire to !4ubmit the following 
 remarks on the important subject now under the considera- 
 tion of the Committee appointed by the General Assembly 
 of the Presbyterian Church in Canada. 
 
 A distinctive feature of public worship in our Church 
 is the absence of participation by the congregation in the 
 service. Exclusive of the musical portion, the whole ser- 
 vice devolves upon, or is performed by, the minister alorie. 
 There are many persons, both laymen and ministers, who 
 entertain the opinion that whatever may have been the 
 causes which determined the present usages, the time las 
 arrived when, in the interests of the Church in Canada, it 
 is desirable to consider the extent to wliich these usages 
 may be modified, so that a larger participation may be 
 accorded to the congregation in the service of divine worship. 
 
 As worship is now ordered, the people enter their pews, 
 and, throughout the whole service, until the benediction is 
 pronounced, no opportunity is vouchsafed to them, except 
 to a very limited extent, to take part in the service. All 
 present are at liberty to join in the psalms and hymns when 
 they are sung, but if the music selected be unfamiliar, 
 
 m 
 
 -J ii 
 
 i 
 
n 
 
 w 
 
 100 
 
 or if any present feel their own incapacity, or for any rea- 
 son soever take no part in this portion of the service, such 
 persons, from the moment they enter the buildinp- to the 
 time they leave it, continue to he silent listeners to what- 
 ever may he said or sung. Except by their presence they 
 take no active part in the service other than by assumin<i;an 
 erect or sitting posture as custom prescribes. 
 
 The minister offers the prayers and delivers the dis- 
 course. The thoughts to which he gives expression, both 
 in the prayers and in the sermon, are his own. They are 
 t'orn)ulated in his own words and until so expressed are 
 unknown to any individual. Memoersuf the congregation, 
 outwardly at least, take no part in the fulfilment of the 
 purpose for which they have come together. It is difficult 
 to recognize this service, partaking of the character of a 
 monologue, as the highest development of united congre- 
 tiona! worship under Presbyterian polity. 
 
 I submitted some thoughts on this subject at a meeting 
 of the Theological Alumni of Queen's University last year. 
 My remarks had special reference to congregational 
 prnyers — they appeared in Queen's Quarterly for July, 
 1894. On that occasion I pointed out that public worship, 
 as a divinely appointed duty, was incomplete without 
 united supplications or joint-prayers; that such form of 
 prayer, although essentuil to congregational worship, is 
 practically unknown in the Presbyterian system, that the 
 congregation merely listen to the minister praying, as of 
 nec»',ssity they listen to him preaching. On that occasion 
 I Ventured to submit facts and arguments which to my 
 mind lead to the irresistible conclusion that chanj^e is 
 desiiable, that prayers ought to be joined in by the con- 
 gregation to the fullest extent possible, and consequently 
 they should be congregational prayers de facto ; that they 
 should be prayers familiar to the congregation and assented 
 to by the Chuich Courts on behalf of congregations; that 
 precisely as we have foi- public use a book o'f praise with 
 selections of sacred verse from many sources, we should 
 likewise have a book of prayers for congregational use, 
 and that it should be in the hands of eveiy member; that 
 this book of prayers should not be a liturgy as commonly 
 understood, but a collection of appropriate appeals of every 
 kind to our Heavcr.Iy Father ; not a mere manual of for- 
 mal devotions to be constantly used without variation, but 
 
101 
 
 an ample repository of solemn and earnest supplications in 
 the name of Christ, to the Great Author of our heinj?, to 
 be drawn upon by the minister as he may consider expedi- 
 ent. 
 
 To prHBch, to expostulate, and to exhort are the func- 
 tions and hirfh privileges of the minister. It is recognized 
 to be his duty likewise to offer up special prayers when 
 circumstances call for them. These functions should remain 
 unchanged, but in ordinary circumstances it must be obvi- 
 ous that every member of the congregation ought to have 
 a foreknowledge of the prayer ottered ; that they should 
 have the words before them, in order that all present, even 
 those who hear imperfectly, may readily fi)llow the minis- 
 ter. They may do so inaudibly, the minister lending his 
 voice to the congregation's prayer. 
 
 In suggesting the use of a book of prayers, there is no 
 wish to diminish the simplicity of our worship. The 
 object is to enable the whole congregation to unite " in 
 praying with the understanding ;" to promote reverence 
 and to rivet attention ; to lessen the tendency of any wan- 
 dering of mind arising from imperfect hearing or other 
 causes. The desire is to maintain sincerity of worship 
 while increasing its propriety and solemnity. It is my 
 opinion that these results will not be diminished by collect- 
 ing for the use of the ministers the most solemn, earnest 
 and fervent examples of devotion expressed in words. 
 These prayers being familiar to congregations, each person 
 would hear them from the pulpit as their own acknow- 
 ledgment of the blessings they enjoy and the petitions they 
 offer to heaven. 
 
 In another part of the service congregations might with 
 propriety be allowed to take a fuller part. I refer to read- 
 ing the Scriptures. I cannot but think that there should 
 be placed in the hands of every member of the congrega- 
 tion a collection of passages both from the Old and the 
 New Testaments, selected for the purpose of responsive 
 reading. The Psalms are, generally speaking, peculiarly 
 appropiiate, and fitting passages will be found throughout 
 the Sacred Volume. The collection should be full and com- 
 plete and it \vould rest with the minister to .select for each 
 service the passages to be read. I can see no reason why 
 the alternate verses should not be read in a clear voice by 
 
 'VA 
 
 ■M 
 
 to 
 
 ■ '■'I 
 ■■it 
 
100 
 
 one of the elders, the congrefjation following, audibly or 
 inaudibly, as may be most agreeable to each individual. I 
 respectfully submit that responsive reading in our Church 
 could thus be made a siniple, effective and profitable part 
 of common worship. 
 
 These several sujjgestions put in force, the books required 
 for divine worship in the congregations would embrace the 
 following : 
 
 1. The Holy Scriptures. 
 
 2. Selections for Responsive Reading. 
 
 3. The Book of Prayers. 
 
 4. The Book of Praise. 
 
 It may be found convenient to bind Nos. 2, 3 and 4 
 together so as to form one volume 
 
 ■•In my address at Queen's University, I took upon 
 myself to explain that a Book of Prayers for divine wor- 
 ship would be of special benefit in the outskirts of the 
 Dominion. I now desire to add that, until the larger book 
 be ready for use, some means should be provided of aiding 
 devotions in the new vSettlements and elsewhere, I would 
 respectfully submit to the consideration of the committee 
 the expediency of at once publishing a small manual con- 
 taining several forms of service, with a collection of prayars 
 and instructions for their proper use by lay readers. A 
 work of this kind would be a boon to each of the many 
 widely separated small groups of Presbyterians in the North 
 West Territories and other remote districts, who for the 
 time are without a minister. It would be of great utility 
 in maintaining worship and in building up young congre- 
 gations. Such a manual issued under the sanction of the 
 General Assembly would contribute to the advantages of 
 pioneer settlements. It would equally tend to the advance- 
 ment and extension of the Church. 
 
 Ottatva, Nov. 26th, 189o 
 
 Sandford Fleming. 
 
103 
 
 .No. II. 
 
 Rev. Dr. L\ing, Convener of Committee on Public Wor- 
 8i)ip : 
 Sir, — I must express the deeply felt satisfaction I 
 entertain that the General Assembly has appointed a Com- 
 mittee to deal with the subject of Public Worship. It 
 cannot be unknown to tiie Committee that the movement 
 for effectinjr an improvement in Presbyterian Worship is 
 enframing the attention of many earnest friends of the 
 Cluirch in other lands. In Scotland three Associations of 
 Ministers and laymen have been organized in connection 
 with the three great branches of the Church to improve 
 Public Worship. They have already made substantial 
 progre.ss. 
 
 1. 'The Church Service Society " was formed in 1805 
 in connection with the Established Church of Scotland. 
 The objects as defined being " the .studies of the liturgies, 
 ancient and modern, of the Christian Church with a view 
 to the preparation and ultimate publication of certain 
 forms of prayer and service for the administration of the 
 Sacraments, the celebration of marriage, the burial of the 
 dead, etc." 
 
 This Society has brought out the " Eucologion " which 
 has passed through six edition.s — the last, published in 
 1890, consists of 412 pages and bears the title of ' A Book 
 of Common Order, being forms of Prayer and Administra- 
 tion of the Sacraments and other Ordinances of the 
 Church." 
 
 2. " The United Presbyterian Devotional Service Asso- 
 ciation " was formed in 1882, the object being to promote 
 the edifying conduct of the devotional services of the 
 Church, to foster an interest in the history and literature 
 of Public Worship, to consider the practices of other 
 denominations, indicate defects in existing usages, discuss 
 proposals in the direction of improvement, and by such 
 means to promote the devout and orderly expression of the 
 Worship of the Church. 
 
 This Association i3s<ied last year, its second edition of 
 " Presbyterian Forms of Service," containing 217 pages 
 and comprising excellent forms for the Services of Public 
 
 I. 'I 
 
 U 
 
 i 
 
 •■■Tu 
 '4: 
 
 if 
 
 ■illl 
 
 !- I'M m 
 
 '.'\M 
 
 \M 
 
104 
 
 :i 
 
 I 
 'i'i 
 
 Worship on the Lonl's Day with selected prayers. The 
 AsHociation trusts that this publication " may lead to such 
 reverent and earnest discussion as shall prepare the Supreme 
 Court for wisely and eH'ectually dealing with the whole 
 8uV>ject." 
 
 3. " The Public Worship Association " orij^'inated 
 within the Free Church in 18')1. Its general object is 
 " to promote the ends of edification, order, and reveience 
 in the public services of the Church, in accordance with 
 Scripture principles and in the light especially of the 
 experience and practice of the Reformed Churches hold- 
 ing the Presbyierian system." 
 
 This is the youngest of the three Scottish Societies. It 
 is now completint,' the task of gathering and piinting 
 material fitted to be of use in the conduct of Public Wor- 
 ship. In the report presented at the annual meeting in 
 June last, the hope was expressed " that by another year 
 the Committee may be in a position to publish the results 
 of their labours in the form of a Revised and Enlarged 
 Directory, both for special services and for the ordinary 
 Worship on the Lord's Day." 
 
 The Presbyterian (Jhurch of England has entered upon 
 the work of adapting the Service Book of the 17th cen- 
 tury to the requirements of our times. In 188.), the 
 Synod referred the subject to a Committee which reported 
 year by year and in 1889 submitted to the Supren)e Court 
 the Draft of a Revised Directory which was regarded with 
 general approval ; judgment respecting it was however 
 reserved and as yet no Hnal decision has been declared. 
 
 In the Australian Colonies an endeavour has been made 
 to improve the Presbyterian forms of worship, and pro- 
 gress has been made in bringing the Westminster Directory 
 into harmony with the requirements of the pre.sent daj'. 
 The Federal Assembly appointed a Connnittee in 1891. 
 The Committee has suhmitted a Revised Directory which 
 has been unanimously approved and recommended for 
 adoption by the Ministers and congregations. 
 
 In the United States several books of forms for the 
 use of Presbyterian Ministers have appeared. There has 
 also been published the Book of Common Prayer and 
 administration of the sacraments and other rites and cere- 
 monies of the Church as amended by the Presbyterian 
 
105 
 
 Divines in the Royal Conin)is,sion of 10()1, and in agree- 
 ment with the Directory for Public Worship of the Fres- 
 hj'terian Church in the United States. This is the liturgy 
 recoujmended at the Savoy conference hy the twenty-one 
 Presbyterian commissioners and rejected Ity the Bishops. 
 It is edited by the Rev. Dr. Shields of Princeton Collt'ge, 
 who has added a tieatise on the liturgical question in the 
 American churches. " In order to meet the growing inter- 
 est that is felt in liturgical, as distinguished from extent- 
 poraneoiis worship and especially to aid in solving the 
 problem of a liturgy that shall be in accordance with the 
 history, doctrine and genius of the Presbyterian Church." 
 
 On all si«les a general conviction has arisen that the 
 conduct of Public Worship is a subject which demands 
 much greater attention than has been hitherto given to it, 
 and as pointed out by the " United Presbyterian Devo- 
 tional Service Association," it is felt that Ministers should 
 be authoritativel}' guided in their solemn duties as leaders 
 of the people's devotions. While it is essential that nothing 
 fundamental in our worship should be changed, the new 
 circumstances of the age have rendered modifications in 
 subordinate matters desirable, wisdom and judgment being 
 appealed to in any change. 
 
 Sandford Fleming. 
 
 Ottawa, Nov. ?6th, 1896. 
 
 No. III. 
 
 Rev. Dr. Laing, Convener of Committee on Public Wor- 
 ship : 
 
 Sir, — In my previous communications I referred to the 
 usages of the Church now followed in conducting public 
 worship, and I have pointed out what, in common with 
 many others, I feel to be in need of amendment. I have 
 alluded to the action which is being taken in other lands 
 to remove objections and to effect changes iiot out of har- 
 mony with the principles of the Reformed Churches, or 
 with scriptural requirements. J shall now more particu- 
 larly refer to the direction which modifications may take 
 in Canada. 
 
 The principles of Presbyterianism are unalterable, but 
 the history of the Church establishes that the system 
 
 ■■'^1 
 
 !:i^ 
 
 1;4! 
 
 -'1 
 
 m 
 
1(10 
 
 a<lmtts of changes in practico when such are rofjuirefl. 
 The intro.iiictioii of inHtruiuental nnHic may he cit«.M| as an 
 illustration. Forty years ago the proposal to place an 
 origan in a Pn'sl)yterian church created alarm ; it was 
 (leolarefl hy sucli men as Kov. Dr.C'andlishto he incompatil)le 
 with and subversive of the principh^s of Preshyterianism. 
 Thirty years ajj[o the actual introduction of instrumental 
 music in Old Oreyfriars, Kdinhtir^h, startled and shocked 
 many of our people ; such a thinjr had heen unkrjovvn in 
 tlie Church of Scotland from the era of the Reformation. 
 To-day, the orjjan or other instrument is generally wel- 
 comed in all our places of public worship. 
 
 There are far fewnr objections to forms of prayer than 
 were entertainerl to the introduction of fnusic.il instruments. 
 The latter were not ieco(xni/,»iil by the fathers and founders 
 of the Church, while the former were sanctioned bv them, 
 and prayers were ref,'ularly read in [)ublic worship for 
 generations after the Reformation. 1'he introduction of 
 the one was an innf)vation not warranted by any tradi- 
 tional standard, while that of the other would be merely 
 the restoration of an ancient recoffnized mode of worship. 
 The re-introduction of written prayers is perfectlyjustiHalile 
 on historical {jjrounds and would simply be the revival of 
 an old practice which has lain dormant in the Mother Lund 
 since the time of enactment bv the civil ruler, as absurd 
 as it was cruel, that the use of the old Scottish Service 
 Book was ille(;al. The use of that .Service Hook, althotij^h 
 dear to the hearts of Presbyterian conj^reyations, having 
 been made an offence against the laws, the Scottish people 
 were forced to abandon it. They would, however, use no 
 other Liturgy, and from that day the mode of worship 
 became non-liturgical an.l has so remained. 
 
 I do not advocate the re-introduction of the Scottish 
 Service L jok known as the John Knox Liturgy, or indeed 
 the invariable use of any Liturgy, although it must be 
 recognized that such an aid to devotion would enable con- 
 gregations to participate in public worship to a much 
 greater extent than at present. Were such a mode of 
 worship desirable, before arriving at any conclusion it 
 would be well to consider other Presbyterian Liturgies 
 which have continuously remained in force since the time 
 of the Reformation, several of which rank higher in some 
 
1(17 
 
 respects than the old Scottish Service Book, Bmides the 
 Scottish type of Preshyteriauisin, we have the Dutch, th« 
 German, the French, the Swiss and the Knfjlish : am' in 
 addition to the Ijitur^'y of Knox there are availahlu i'or 
 consideration the Liturgies of Calvin, of Laseo, of I'ohuuiM, 
 of Bucer, of Mehmehthon and Baxter, the hitter hcin^ 
 reniarkahle for its simplicity, appropriatertess and fulness, 
 and held by some autlioritics to be perhaps th»' best 
 Liturffy known. Kven the Church of Kn/LTlantl Prayer 
 Book mi^'ht with advanta^'«» be consulted, for wi- caiuiot 
 t'orpet that some of its linest pass!i«(es owe their origin to 
 Presbyterian snurces. In Ifjol John Knox was appointed 
 Chaplain to Kdward VI. and assist<>d In pi'<'f)arin<,' the 
 Book of (yotiimod I'rayer issued the followin<,' y»'ar. 
 Calvin, too, was invited to assist, and his mind and influ- 
 ence are traceable in several of its forms. It would be of 
 especial advantaj^e to consult t'>e Book of Common Prayer, 
 revised and amended by the i • '.ity-one orthodox Presby- 
 terian divines in the Savoy Conference (1661), a Litur^jy 
 containinfij the choicest formulas of the Reformation, freed 
 from everything; to which exception was taken by the 
 fathers of our Church. 
 
 All liistorical evidence establishes that the Presbyterian 
 Church is not anti-litur^ical, but the Scottish branch of 
 the Church and its descendants have been so lonff non- 
 liturgical, that it would be futile to impose upon congrejru- 
 tions the inflexible verbal routine of an ordinary Liturgy. 
 It may be argued that we have <»nly to recede to the pericxl 
 when our forefathers were compelled to abandon the Liturgy 
 which they cherisheil, and begin afresh : it is doubtful, 
 however, if any real advance can be made by going back, 
 and if it be held to be inexpedient to revert to the usages 
 of our own Church two and a half centuries ago, it must 
 V)e still less expedient to imitat(; other branches of the 
 Christian Church in their practices of to-day. If our wor- 
 ship is to be reformed, in my judgment the best reform 
 will partake of the character of a development, sjiringing 
 from the usages we now follow. While the princi))les of 
 our Church in no way conflict with liturgical forms, to 
 attempt the restoration of a Liturgy would in my view be 
 unwise and ill-advised. The effect would be to postpone 
 indefinitely the adoption of improvements in our .services 
 
 m 
 
 iM 
 
 m 
 
108 
 
 greatly more important than the re-introduction of an_y 
 formal Liturgy. Approaching the 20th century it is not 
 strange that w<^ h ive out-grown the comlitions of tlie Kith 
 century when Calvin and Knox and those associated with 
 them found Litui'gies expedient. The new conditions 
 demand something hetter than a Liturgy, thej' point to a 
 remodelling of the present observed form of worship and 
 suggest the substitution of duly authorized congregational 
 devotions in place of the minister's extemporaneous pray- 
 ers. We require for the services of the Church a Book of 
 Prayers in which would be found not one Liturgy, but the 
 cream of all liturgies. From a rich and copious devotional 
 literature we could brinj; into the services of tiie sanctuary 
 a full and complete collection of prayers of every class — 
 prayers of confession, supplication, thank.sgiving and inter- 
 cession — pra\'ers for the Holy Spirit, Divine Grace, help 
 and guitlance — prayers for rulers and those in authorit}' — 
 prayers for pardon and peace— prayers for various times 
 and seasons The contemplated Book of Fi-ayers would be 
 a J^'-easury of common Christian devotions, and in using it 
 there should be full scope for ministerial freedom. Guided 
 by the directory of the Church it would lie the minister's 
 function to arrange the service for the day, selecting 
 such psalms, hymns, readings and prayers most appro- 
 priate and effective in connection with the sermon to be 
 delivered, adding such special prayers and exhortations as 
 circumstances may call for. As the sermon has nUvays 
 been the central feature of our service, distinguishing 
 Presbyterian worship from the ritualistic type of Christi- 
 anity, the minister would continue to give his best powers 
 to the sermon. Each Sabbath day would bring such new 
 combinations in the devotion as the minister may deem 
 desirable, and all would be characterized by solemnity, 
 simplicity ami beauty. While the repetitions and other 
 objections to an invariable liturgical service would be 
 avoided, the people would have their allntted part, not in 
 psalmody alone but in reading and in supplications ; 
 they would no longer be auditors merely : they would be 
 in a position to follow the minister's voice in the devotions 
 with a fully assenting mind, and their own voice would be 
 heard at times in an assenting Amen, in the repetition of 
 the Lord's Pi-ayer, or as may be arranged. 
 
1()9 
 
 I will only fuM to these remarks tliiit I appreciate to 
 the tullest extent the important work to be performed by 
 the Connnittee. I cannot but think that the time has 
 arrived for giving full consideration to the Cjuestion of 
 chan<j;e and modification in our mode oi worship. [ am 
 profoundly convinced that it would be in the interests of 
 the (.'hurch, on the one hand, to lessen the extent to which 
 ministers are called upon to oH'er extempore prayers, as the 
 prayers of the congregation, and, on the other hand, to 
 admit congregations to a fuller participation in the act of 
 public worship than they now enjoy. 
 
 It is with diffidence that I submit tiiese suggestions for 
 consideration. It is a sense of duty that itnpels me to bring 
 tiiem to the attention of the Comndttee. I am Hrndy of 
 opinion that Presbyterian polity is in harmony with the 
 spirit of the age, and that we owe it to ourselves and to 
 the community to divest public W(jrship of its defects, to 
 maintain its simplicity and increase its solemnity, while 
 satisfying the reasonable desires of those who are now 
 members and adherents of the Church or who may here- 
 after join its services. 
 
 Sandford Fleming. 
 
 Note. — The reader who desires more fully to en(|uire 
 into the historical facts and dates alluded to in the fore- 
 going, is referred to the following works .• 
 
 1. " Public Worship of Presbyterian Scotland." — 
 (McCrie.) 
 
 2. " Scottish Liturgies of the Reign of James VI." — 
 (Sproat.) 
 
 3. " The Presbyterian Church : its Worship, etc. — 
 (Wright.) 
 
 4. " Eutaxia, or the Presbyterian Liturgies." — (Baird.) 
 
 5. " Presbyterian Book of Common Prayer." — (Shield.) 
 
 6. " Liturgia Expurgata. ' — (Shield.) 
 
 7. " Life of John Knox."— (McCrie.) 
 
 'i,i 
 

 110 
 
 No. IV. 
 
 Ottawa, March 7th, 1896. 
 
 To Rkv. JoffN Laino, D. D , Convener of Committee on 
 Public Woi'sliip : 
 
 Sir, — From the circurastance that the three letters 
 which 1 ventured to address you last November on the 
 subject of Public Worship iiave been somewhat criticised, 
 I feel it a duty to trouble you with a few remarks on some 
 of the objections which have been raised. 
 
 A dislike has been expressed to a liturgy. My third 
 letter deals with this point; it is therefore unnecessary to 
 repeat the facts 1 submitted. I do not feel myself called 
 upon to justify the use of an inflexible liturgy for I do not 
 advocate its introduction. I alluded in my letters to a 
 liturgical service mainly for another purpose ; my object 
 was to give prominence to the fact that such a service is 
 related historically to our own branch of the Presbyterian 
 fami*ly, that it is, and always has been, the form of wor- 
 ship in other Reformed Churches, and that there is nothing 
 in our principles, traditions or standards to prevent the 
 reading of prepared prayers. 
 
 My aim has been to point out defects not in Presby- 
 terian principles or doctrine, but in the form of our 
 worship, as at present prevailing. My hope has been that 
 we should find a remedy for these defects, not by revolu- 
 tionary change, not even by reverting to the practices of 
 the fathers of our Clmrcli, in the first century of its 
 existence, but rather by a ])roce.ss of evolution or well 
 considered adaptation to present needs in complete har- 
 mony with the .spirit and polity of Presbyterianism. 
 
 My appeal has been that of a layman pleading that the 
 people be allowed as fellow worshippers a larger partici- 
 pation in the public service of tiie congregation than they 
 now exercise. 
 
 In my former letters I endeavored to express the views 
 entertained by many like niy.self. We are convinced that 
 Public Wor.ship is a Divinely appointed duty in which all 
 the people should have an opportunit}'^ of taking a full 
 part. Under the present system, only a limited sliare is 
 
Ill 
 
 vouchsiifetl to the conffrofjation ; too much is alotted to one 
 person — the otficiutin^ minister, and too little to tiie peo- 
 ple. We recognize tlwit it is the proper i'uncticm of the 
 minister to preacii, to exhort and to lead in the exercise of 
 devotion ; V»ut, we ask, is it necessary or desiralile that the 
 people should be excluded from participation in the service 
 so niucli as they now are ? Those who think with me, are 
 of the opinion that some (jf the prayers ottered by the 
 (ninister should be, what for want of a better name, may 
 be termed, congregati(jnal prayers or prayers of the people , 
 that is to say they should not be extempore prayers pre- 
 viously unknown to any individual present; on tlie con- 
 trary that they should be familiar compositions expressing 
 the comnum wants and supplications of the worshippers ; 
 and whatever our views on other points, all must acknow- 
 ledge that these wants and supplications of our common 
 humanity do not vary from week to week or from year to 
 3 '. We hokl it to be desirable that every member of 
 i ".ongregation should be as well ac(|uainted with the 
 prayers as the minister himself ; such praj^ers should there- 
 fore be in printtd form, after having received the approval 
 of the Church as a whole, and they should be in the pos- 
 session of every individual. 
 
 Some persons object, I think most unreasonably, to 
 forms of any kind. One minister thus expre.s.ses himself : 
 " By reading prayers, worship would become mechiinical 
 and those taking part become unti^ue to self and to (iod." 
 
 I remind those who hold the.se opinions that many of 
 the Psalms and hymns are forms of prayer, and I ask what 
 objections can there be to the u.se in a Christian congrega- 
 tion of .such piecomposed forms of prayer as Psalms 8, 16, 
 25, 34, ()7, 72, 86, 108, and many others? or take the 
 common ])araphrases and hynnis, those beginning with the 
 following lines for example : 
 
 (1) 
 
 " Spirit Divine attend our prayers, 
 And iiKiiie lliis iioiise Tliy home." 
 
 (2) " O God of Bethel by whose hand 
 
 rh> people still are fed." 
 
 (3) " Safely through another week 
 
 God has brought us on our way.' 
 
 (4> " O Lord of Heaven and earth and ,sea, 
 To Thee all praise and glory be." 
 
TTT- 
 
 112 
 
 (5) • Lord of the Sabbath hear us pray 
 
 In this Thy house, on this Thy day, 
 
 6) •' Great King of nations hear our praytTH, 
 VVliile at Tliy foot wo fall. " 
 
 All will acknowledfife that such verses are forms of con- 
 gretjational prayer, that they have a perennial freshness 
 and that most of the finest hymns in common use in our 
 Church are of the same character. Who amonp; our people 
 would discard from public worship the Psalms, paraphrases, 
 and hymns on the f^round that they are forms of devotion 
 familiar to every individual and not extemporaneous utter- 
 ances from the pulpit ? Who amon^ our most learned and 
 gifted miinsters could furnish extemporaneous substitutes 
 for these metrical forms of devotion, not on occasion merely, 
 but at every diet of worship throughout the year ? 
 
 In an ordinary diet of worship the minister otters two, 
 three, or more extemporary prayers. Tho.^e pravers, 
 although framed on behalf of, and for the benefit of the 
 congregation, express only the minister's thoughts and feel- 
 ing.s. They are his prayers, and from being extempore 
 ditter continually in their context .so that no person pre.sent 
 can be familiar with them. Although some few may be 
 able to follow the varying utterances of the minister or 
 considerable portions of his prayer, others frequently have 
 difficulty in so doing, and thus it is not alvva3's possible for 
 the latter to join in the devotions in a proper spirit. 
 
 If the prayers were written out and printed and placed 
 in the hands of each wf)rshipper, the cause of any such 
 difficulty would be removed and every member of the con- 
 gregation would be aided in his devotions by ear, eye, and 
 memory, and thus enabled to follow the voice of the minis- 
 ter with an assenting mind. In every congregation there 
 are men and women whose hearing through advancing 
 years or other causes is defective; such persons cou'd with 
 the printed prayers before them, attentively take part with 
 their fellow members of the congregation in the common 
 devotions. 
 
 The discu.ssion has confirmed me in the opinion that the 
 Church ought seriously to consider whether the opportunity 
 of joining in public prayer should not be extended to the 
 people. If half the prayers at each diet were read it would 
 
 •l/« 
 
« 
 
 l.e a lMK)n to many present in the eon^M-e^atioii. Even if 
 tor one of the extempore prayers a con^M-e^'ational prnyer, 
 from a prescribed collection, were snbstituterl it would be 
 an improvement on the present system. 
 
 Those laymen who thiidc as I do, fire satisfied that it is 
 in the interests of the Church that a concession should be 
 made to congregations in the direction indicated ; we are 
 decidedly of the opinion that its effect wouM bi; t<> 
 mak public worship more rt!al, more reverent and more 
 edifying, without lessening its simplicity. 
 
 We retain full sympathy with the wish to maintain 
 primitive Presbyterian simplicity. We desire neither 
 elabori'.te ceremonial nor prescribed chant ; no inflexible 
 service, no rigid liturgy. We desire, it is true, uniformity, 
 but it is a voluntary uniformity in general order, a uniform- 
 ity in excellence, in reverence, in purity as well as sim- 
 plicity. To these we aspire, and while we earnestly aim 
 at some modittcation in our mode of worship, in order better 
 to attain these ends we deem it inexi)edient to introduce 
 any change which would not commend itself to the Church 
 as a whole. 
 
 In response to an overture from the Synod of Hamilton 
 and London the General Assembly has appointed a com- 
 mittee to consider how best to afford direction to the 
 Church, to secure the reverent and edifying ol)servance of 
 public worship, with du.j regard to Christian liberty and 
 general uniformity. Such being the case it seems desiraWe 
 that ministers and elders should take steps to ascertain the 
 mind of the Church on points which may thus be formu- 
 lated. 
 
 ].— Is the present mode of observance of Public Worship 
 in our congregations entirely satisfactoiy ? 
 
 2._Have the people a sufficient opportunity to partici- 
 pate in Public Worship under our present system ? 
 
 3 —What means can be best taken to give the congre- 
 gations a fuller share in the service of Public Worship ? 
 
 4.- Would it be desirable to substitute printed congre- 
 gational prayers, for extemporary prayers, during some 
 portion of the service ? 
 
 |i 
 
 ' I 111 
 
 ill 
 
 1 ".I 
 
'*'S 
 
 I 
 ii 
 
 114 
 
 i 
 
 5. — What proportion of congregational prayer would it 
 be advisable to introduce in any one diet of worship ? 
 
 G. — Should forms of service be prepared for administer- 
 ing the sacraments, solemnizing marriage, and the burial of 
 the dead ? 
 
 7. —Should a manual of suitable services be provided 
 which may be used as aids to devotion in new settlements 
 and in localities where there is no settled minister or 
 missionary. 
 
 Respectfully submitting these suggestions for wise con- 
 sideration, I leave the matter with conHdence in the hands 
 of our Christian people and ciiurcli courts. 
 
 Sandford Flemincj.