monies: which being buried, the
Minister, if he be present and required, goeth to the Church, if it be
not far off, and maketh some comfortable exhortation to the people
touching death and resurrection; then blesseth the people and so
dismisseth them."

This is but one of many instances that show that the early reformers
accorded to the Church, in matters not absolutely essential to the
preservation of sound doctrine and Scriptural practice, the greatest
liberty. With regard to the administration of the Sacraments and the
public worship of God, they laid down well-defined regulations and
outlines to which conformity was required; in matters that might be
looked upon as simply edifying and profitable, liberty was allowed to
ministers and congregations to determine according to their discretion,
as Knox himself declared with respect to exercises of worship at
burials:

"We are not so precise but that we are content that particular Kirks
use them in that behalf, with the consent of the ministry of the same
as they will answer to God and Assembly of the Universal Kirk gathered
within the realm."

We have thus presented in brief outline the contents of the Book of
Common Order, commonly used in Scotland from 1562 to 1645, in so far as
its regulations refer to public worship and the administration of the
Sacraments. The book is itself so simple and clear in its statements
that it is not difficult to discover the spirit of its compilers, and
their understanding of what was required for the seemly and Scriptural
observance of the different parts of Divine worship. The results of
our survey may be summed up in a few words.

The Scottish Church gave a prominent place to prayer, to the reading of
Holy Scripture, and to praise, in the public worship of God on the
Lord's Day. Not in any sense do these exercises seem to have been
regarded as subordinate in importance to the preaching of the Word; the
congregations assembled for Divine worship, of which preaching was one
important part. But even where there was no preaching, the people
nevertheless came together for Divine worship, in which they were led,
in the absence of any minister, by persons duly appointed for that
purpose.

The service in public worship was not in any of its departments a
responsive one. The only audible part shared by the people was in the
praise; they did not respond in prayer even to the extent of uttering
an audible "Amen," nor did they j