could be had presently" the
Common Prayers and Scriptures should be read by the most suitable
persons that could be selected. These suitable persons came to be
known as "Readers," and they form a distinct class of ecclesiastical
officers in the Reformation Church of Scotland. The need of such an
Order was evident, for the Church found great difficulty in securing
men of the requisite gifts and graces for the office of the ministry.
The Readers therefore, formed an important and numerous order in the
Church for many years, numbering at one time no less than seven
hundred, while at the same time there was less than half that number of
ordained ministers. These men were not allowed to preach or to
administer the sacraments, and they formed only a temporary order
required by the exigencies of the times, as is evident from the fact
that the General Assembly of 1581, in the hope that all parishes would
soon be supplied with ordained ministers, forbade any further
appointment of Readers.

In the mind of Knox, these men were the successors to the _lectors_ of
the early Church, and corresponded in Scotland to the _docteurs_ of the
Swiss Reformed Church, a Church whose organization he regarded as but
little less than perfect. Although they conducted a part of the
service in parishes where ministers regularly preached, yet in the
original idea of the office the intention was that they should conduct
public worship, in its departments of prayer and praise and reading of
the Scriptures, only in parishes where a minister could not be secured.
It is necessary to understand their office and their position in the
Church, inasmuch as the existence of such an order has a bearing upon
our appreciation of the form of public worship at this time adopted in
Scotland.

In the exercise of public prayer the greatest freedom was granted the
minister by the Book of Common Order. Calvin had prescribed a form of
confession, the uniform use of which he required, but the general
confession with which the service of the Book of Common Order opened,
was governed by this rubric:

"When the congregation is assembled at the hour appointed, the Minister
useth this confession, _or like in effect_, exhorting the people
diligently to examine themselves, following in their hearts the tenor
of his words."

Similar liberty was also allowed the minister in the prayer which
followed the singing of the Psalms and preceded the sermon; the rubric
gover