kingdom of God is not in meat and drink, but in righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost."

Preaching has its place under the Gospel, but it does not suffocate worship. Our word is a prism which decomposes the light; but this decomposition should only be a transition. Here, moreover, are all the ritual elements of the New Testament:

The Lord's Day.-The primitive Church had a sacred day, that of the Savior's resurrection. The Sabbath is abolished, but Sunday is sacred. It was not added to Christianity, it was born of it. God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: That was to bless his work, to crown it. Sunday is a summary of Christianity, gives it a moment in time, as a temple gives it a place in space. Internal necessity is the true law, the best authority for Sunday; it speaks more strongly within us than a written ordinance. This necessity determines the mode of observing Sunday. Nothing binds as much as Christian liberty and conscience: this has consecrated a day, it ought then to be holy.

Assemblies.-Hebrews, x., 25: " Neglect not the assembling of yourselves together, as the manner of some is."

1 Cor., xiv., 26: "What is it then, my brethren? when ye come together, every one hath a psalm, hath a doctrine, hath a revelation, hath an interpretation. Let all things be done to edification.'

Verse 40: "Let all things be done decently and in order." James, ii., 1-3 (Poor and rich).

1 Cor., xi., 4, 5: "Every man who prays or prophesies, having his head covered, dishonors his head; but every woman who prays or prophesies with her head uncovered, dishonors her head; for that is the same as if she were shorn."

1 Cor., xi., passim (on the way of employing time in these assemblies).

* Has the Sabbath been abolished? See Appendix, note H, by the Translator.

PASSOVER-SINGING--BAPTISM-UNCTION.

Passover.-Matt., xxvi.; Luke, xxii.

183

1 Cor., v., 7, 8: "Christ our passover is sacrificed for us. Therefore let us keep the feast, not with the old leaven of malice and of wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth."

1 Cor., xi., 23-29 (rules for the celebration of the Lord's Supper).

Singing. Mark, xiv., 26: "When they had sung an hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives."

Eph., v., 19: “Speaking to one another in psalms, and hymns, and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord.”

Rites which do not appear to have made a part of ordinary Worship.

Baptism.-John, iii., 22: "Jesus went then with his disciples into the land of Judea; and there he tarried with them, and baptized."

Acts, viii., 36-38 (Eunuch of Queen Candace).

Acts, ii., 44: "Those who received the word joyfully were baptized."

Acts, X., 47, 48: Peter said, "Can any man forbid water, that these should not be baptized, who have received the Holy Ghost as well as we? And he commanded them to be baptized in the name of the Lord."

Acts, xvi., 33: "The (jailor) washed their stripes (of Paul and Silas) and was baptized, he and his household."

Unction.-James, v., 14: " Is any sick among you? let him call for the pastors of the Church, and let them pray for him, anointing them with oil, in the name of the Lord." Compare Mark, vi., 13.

Imposition of Hands.-Acts, xiv., 23: "And when they had ordained them elders in every Church (by imposition of hands), and had prayed with fasting, they commended them to the Lord."

2 Cor., viii., 19: "He (Titus) was chosen (with imposition of hands) of the Churches to travel with us."

2 Tim., i., 6 "C : Stir up the gift of God which is in thee, and which you have received by the putting on of my hands."

1 Tim., iv., 14: "Neglect not the gift which is in thee, which was given to thee by prophecy, with the laying on of the hands of the Presbytery."

The imposition of hands was then more than a symbol: it was an act to which a supernatural efficacy was attached.

It is in all this to be remarked that we see more a community than its head: We do not see in these assemblies that one man was all, and did all.

Laying aside now all discussion and all parallels, and placing ourselves on the Protestant stand-point, let us characterize appropriately the worship which is in spirit and in truth. A Liturgy should,

1. Express religion, the whole of religion; give a summary, not an abridgment of it. An abridgment divides, a summary combines and incorporates the different elements of an idea or a fact. In one sense, religion has no parts, can not be divided. Every hour of worship should present an entire Christ to the soul of the believer.

2. Express it in a form the most suitable to all, in symbols and words. Every thing should be quickly comprehended and vividly seized. In respect to symbols, Christ has given us a model, in the simplicity of baptism and the Lord's Supper. To attain this end, we need, more than all things, a biblical worship.

3. Have a character the most appropriate to awaken and elevate the soul, not to distract and amuse it: little ceremony, but significant and simple. Our Liturgy would be improved if it had certain characteristics which belong to the worship of other Churches. The Litany, for example, may seem ridiculous; but, in truth, there is something in it which represents the normal state of a soul which recollects itself in the Divine

presence.

The Christian should be a child, and consequently should speak the language of a child. The simpler, the more child-like the means, the better are they. The Litany is something child-like: This is its excellence, its truth. Every Liturgy should be somewhat lyrical.

4. Be adapted, as to its extent, to the capacity of the greatest number, be adjusted to the nature of worship in general, which is admiration, and raising the soul above itself to an unaccustomed height. As soon as this just measure is transcended, fatigue begins.

The element of antiquity, which gives gravity even to a Liturgy composed of sacred elements, does this yet more to a Liturgy essentially of human composition. It should not, therefore, be retouched by the Church, except at long intervals and with great care; and these intervals should be prolonged the more if the Liturgy was conceived as a true Liturgy, and not as a dogmatic treatise. It ought certainly to express the faith of the Church, but, if I may so say, in a contemplative state. Much more should a preacher abstain, except from real necessity (such as public events, calamities, &c.), from making changes on his own authority. A minister is bound to the Liturgy, which is not his own, which, indeed, is the voice of the flock, and to which he does but lend his individual voice.*

We should not desire, we should fear, to see the people confined to forms which have lost their sense; still, it is useful that there should remain in worship something fixed and immutable. The people, to a certain extent, should be kirchlich,† that is to say, attached to the forms of their worship: There seems to be no necessity that this should lead to formalism.‡ Costume.-Harms gives a singular, explanation of cos

* See Appendix, note I, On Liturgies, by the Translator.

† A German adjective, formed from the word Kirche, église, to which the derivation ecclésiastique, according to French usage, does not correspond.-Edit. "Wine congealed on the lees."

tume, as being, according to his idea, intended to conceal either the too great advantages or the too great imperfections of the person. Our idea of costume is, that it is to efface (to cover) the individual and the man of the times. In proportion as the spirituality of the flock increases, costume becomes less necessary; it may even become disagreeable. In this matter, I think we ought to follow the rules of the Church to which we prefer to belong, and to follow them freely.

Celebration of Rites.-The minister should be on his guard against performing certain rites, such as baptism and marriage, in a too perfunctory and familiar manner. That which to us is a daily occurrence, is often a solemn one to another. All this is more impressive in other Liturgies than in ours, which, in this particular, is poor. The more defective are the text and the form of the Liturgy, the more of his own spirit must the minister put into them, to give accent and rhythm to all things, to animate all rites by an internal life corresponding to them.* Bengelt recommends in these cases great exactness, as the hearers readily reason from variableness in these external acts to variableness in doctrines. This care is not inconsistent with liberty and familiarity. Some, from aversion to an affected or formal gravity, have on their part affected an indecent familiarity. They would not have God harangued as an earthly king, and so they undertake to talk with him. Prayer is the medium. be presented.

"Avec la liberté d'un fils devant son père,

It should

Et le saint tremblement d'un pécheur devant Dieu."‡ Reception of Catechumens.-The statutes allow of receiving them privately, provided it be done in the presence of the pastor's colleagues, if he have any, and of the assessors of the consistory.

* "Enliven these solemnities," says Bossuet.

+ BENGEL'S Leben, by Burk. Stuttgard, 1831, p. 112, § 30.

‡ Cantique de A. M. ADOLPHE MONOD, No. 102, des Chants Chrétiens.