t as little support, too, can those find who
would impose upon the ministry of the Church the use of set forms from
which no deviation is to be allowed either in the conduct of public
worship or in the administration of the Sacraments. The most that can
be argued from this ancient regulation of worship, which is much more
accurately described as a Directory rather than as a Liturgy, is the
desirability of a uniform order of service for the whole Church, of a
due proportion of attention to each part of worship, and of the
conformity by all ministers to a uniform method in the administration
of the Sacraments. The Book of Common Order clearly indicates the
conviction of the Scottish reformers that all things in connection with
the worship of God should be done "in seemly form and according to
order," and it quite as clearly indicates their purpose to acknowledge
and rely upon the operation of the free Spirit of God, in the exercise
of that worship and in the performance of the public ordinances in the
sanctuary.

A Diet of Public Worship in the Time of Knox.

"What I have been to my country, albeit this unthankful age will not
know, yet the ages to come will be compelled to bear witness to the
truth."--JOHN KNOX.

Chapter IV.

A Diet of Public Worship in the Time of Knox.

A diet of worship on a Sabbath day in Scotland in the days of Knox, or
in the period immediately succeeding his death, had for the people of
that time a profound interest. It was a period of storm and upheaval,
and the Church, with its worship and teaching, was the centre around
which, in large measure, the struggles of the age gathered; and
although for us these struggles are simple history, and the subjects of
debate are, many of them, forever laid aside, still it is of interest
to learn how a service in connection with the public worship of the day
proceeded in this formative period of Presbyterian practice, when order
and method were less matters of indifference than they are now.

Happily we are not left without abundant material for forming an
accurate picture of a Sabbath-day service at that time, for in addition
to the explicit directions contained in the Book of Common Order, there
have come down to us descriptions of public worship by participants
therein.

As early as seven o'clock a bell was rung to warn the people of the
approach of the hour of worship, and this was followed an hour later by
another bell, which sum