THE RECONSTRUCTION OF THE SCOTTISH CHURCH, 1560.
The meeting of Parliament, provided for in the Treaty of Leith, was
opened with great ceremony on the 1st of August, 1560, and was attended
by an unusually large number of members. Knox "improved" the occasion
by preaching from the cathedral pulpit a series of expository sermons
on the prophecies of Haggai, with special application to the
circumstances of the country at the time. On his own showing he was
"vehement," and as he inveighed strongly against those who had been
enriched with the revenues of the Church, his words gave great offence
to many. Maitland sneeringly said, "What! we must now forget ourselves
and bear the barrow to build the house of God,"--words which already
showed that spirit of insincerity which afterwards took him into the
opposite camp. The great matter before this Parliament, after it had
approved the articles of the treaty, was the settlement of religion,
and as a preliminary to that the ministers were requested to draw up a
summary statement of "that doctrine which they would maintain as
wholesome and true, and only {137} necessary to be believed." This
work was done by them in four days, at the end of which they produced
the Confession which Knox has given at full length in his history. It
is all but certain that he had a considerable hand in its preparation,
and it has been described by the younger McCrie as "remarkably free
from metaphysical distinctions and minutiae," and as "running in an
easy style, and in fact reading like a good sermon in old Scotch." It
is, of course, Calvinistic, but in the article on election, there is
nothing of either reprobation or preterition. In that on the Lord's
Supper it repudiates alike the doctrine of transubstantiation, and that
of those who believe it to be "nothing else but a naked and bare sign,"
insisting on some mystical influence as connected with it, but yet
confessing that such influence is given "neither at that only time, nor
yet by the proper power of the sacraments only," so that it is
exceedingly difficult to get from it a definite statement of what
precisely the "grace" in the sacrament is; but that difficulty is felt,
in our judgment, as seriously by those who desire to reduce to plain
language the words of the Westminster standards on the same subject.
In the section which treats of the authority of Scripture, there is no
attempt to formulate any theory of inspiration, but simply a
declaration that "in those books which of the ancients have been
reputed canonical, all things necessary to be believed for the
salvation of mankind are sufficiently expressed," and an affirmation
that "such as allege the Scriptures to have no other authority, but
that which is received from {138} the Kirk (Church) are blasphemous
against God, and injurious to the true Kirk, which always heareth and
obeyeth the voice of her own spouse and pastor, and taketh not on her
to be mistress of the same." On the subject of the civil magistrate
its words run thus: "That to kings, princes, rulers, and magistrates,
we affirm that chiefly and most principally the reformation and
purgation of the religion appertains; so that not only they are
appointed for civil policy, but also for maintenance of the true
religion, and for suppressing of idolatry and superstition, as in
David, Jehoshaphat, Hezekiah, Josiah, and others highly commended for
their zeal, in that case may be espied," a statement which amply
confirms what we have just said regarding the position taken by the
Reformers on this matter. We ought to add, however, that according to
Randolph, the representative of the English Court, who was present on
the occasion of the ratification of the Confession, the section on the
civil magistrate had been expunged by Maitland, to whose revision, as
well as that of the Lord James Stuart, it had been submitted, and by
whom certain strong phrases in other parts of the document had been
softened. In Knox's history we have no word of anything like that, but
simply the Confession as it was actually ratified, and in that a
paragraph on the civil magistrate stands with the rest. But as there
is in that paragraph a good deal about the prerogatives of rulers, and
the duty of obedience to them, while there is no word of the limits of
allegiance to them, and the right of {139} resisting them when they
violate either the laws of the realm or the dictates of conscience, on
both of which points we know that Knox and his brethren held strong
convictions, it is probable that at first the article contained some
things on these aspects of the question, which were afterwards stricken
out, by the two men whom we have named, as being likely if retained to
imperil the acceptance of the document as a whole. This is only a
conjecture of our own, but it is not inherently improbable, and it
serves to harmonize the statement of Randolph with the appearance in
Knox's history of a chapter on the civil magistrate in the Confession
as adopted.
This summary of doctrine was laid before Parliament, and carefully read
over article by article. Then, that no one should have a pretext for
complaining of undue haste, its further consideration was adjourned to
another day, the 17th of August, on which it was almost unanimously
accepted, and "ratified by the three estates of the realm." This was
followed on the 24th of the same month by the passing of Acts
abolishing the jurisdiction of the Pope in Scotland, repealing all
former statutes passed in favour of the Roman Catholic Church, and
ordaining that all who said mass, or heard mass, should for the first
offence be punished with confiscation of goods, for the second with
banishment, and for the third with death. Thus on the very threshold
of their undertaking they manifested the same intolerance from which
they had themselves suffered so much.
{140}
With a view to the proper organization of the Protestant Church, the
Lords of the Privy Council appointed Knox, along with five other
ministers, to draw up a plan of reconstruction which in their judgment
should be both agreeable to Scripture and practicable in the
circumstances of the country at the time. The outcome of their labours
was that scheme of Church government and order, which is known in
Scottish ecclesiastical history as "The First Book of Discipline." It
specifies the officers of the Church, permanent and temporary,
describes the manner of their election and appointment, particularizes
their duties, and gives principles for guidance as to general
discipline, while it also furnishes directions as to the celebration of
marriages and the conducting of funerals. At the same time it outlines
with great fulness a magnificent system of national education, such as
Scotland is only now beginning to realize, though for centuries it has
enjoyed something of an approximation to it.
This "Book" is one of extreme interest, and is worthy of far more
attention from the mass of the people in these days than it has
received, or perhaps is likely to receive; but to whet the appetites of
our readers for the enjoyment of the work itself, we shall give some
general notion of its contents. The permanent officers in the Church
were ministers, elders, and deacons. The ministers were to be elected
by the people, but in case they neglected to do that duty within forty
days the Church of the superintendent with his council was to {141}
"present" to them a man whom they judged apt to feed the flock, yet it
was always to be avoided "that any man be violently intruded or thrust
in upon any congregation." Thus Knox and his brethren were
"non-intrusionists;" yet we doubt if in the famous controversy which
ended in 1843, they would have come up to the party standard, for the
"Book" says: "But violent intrusion we call not, when the council of
the Kirk, in the fear of God, and for the salvation of the people,
offereth unto them a sufficient man to instruct them, whom they shall
not be forced to admit before examination." Then elsewhere it is said,
"If his doctrine is wholesome and able to instruct the simple, and if
the Kirk can justly reprehend nothing in his life, doctrine, or
utterance, then we judge the Kirk which before was destitute
unreasonable if they refuse him whom the Kirk did offer, and _they
should be compelled by the censure of the council and Kirk_, to receive
the person appointed and approved by the judgment of the godly and
learned." Where was "the veto without reasons" then? And on whose
side was the First Book of Discipline? or was it on both sides? The
minister so chosen or appointed was to give proof of his gifts by
interpreting before the men of soundest judgment in the neighbourhood,
some place of Scripture selected by his brethren in office. He was
also to be examined openly "before all that list to hear," by the
ministers and elders of the Kirk, "in all the chief points that now lie
in controversy betwixt us and the Papists, {142} Anabaptists, Arians,
or other such enemies of the Christian religion." Next he was to
preach to the congregation calling him, that in open audience of his
flock he might give confession of his faith in full. Then public
"edict" was to be proclaimed, not only in the church where he was to
serve, but also in other places, especially in those in which he had
formerly lived, that if there was known any reason why he should not be
appointed to the ministry it should be shown. If everything were
satisfactory, the manner of his installation to office was to consist
in the consent of the people to whom he was appointed and the
approbation of the learned ministers by whom he was examined. The
admission was to be "in open audience." After a sermon by some
"especial minister" on the duty and office of ministers, exhortations
were to be given to minister and people, and this paragraph follows:
"Other ceremony than the public approbation of the people and
declaration of the chief minister, that the person there presented is
appointed to serve that Kirk, we cannot approve; for albeit the
apostles used the imposition of hands, yet seeing the miracle is
ceased, the using of the ceremony we judge is not necessary." Most
evidently John Knox believed in "_order_," but just as evidently he did
not believe in "_orders_," and there is no place here for the doctrine
of "succession."
The elders and deacons were to be chosen by the people _annually_, from
among a list given by the minister, and if Churches be of smaller
number than that such {143} office-bearers can be chosen from among
them, they may be joined to the next adjacent Church. We have here
therefore the "rotatory" eldership, as it has been called by some in
America, recognised in principle, and the reason given for it is "lest
that by long continuance of such officials men presume upon the liberty
of the Church." Those holding the office were eligible for
re-election, but they must be appointed yearly "by common and free
election." In another place he says: "This order has been ever
observed since that time in the Kirk of Edinburgh, that is that the old
session before their departure nominate twenty-four in election for
elders, of whom twelve are to be chosen, and thirty-two for deacons, of
whom sixteen are to be elected, which persons are publicly proclaimed
in the audience of the whole Kirk, upon a Sunday before noon, after
sermon, with admonition to the Kirk, that if any man know any notorious
crime or cause that might unfit any of these persons to enter in such
vocation they should notify the same unto the session the next
Thursday; or if any know any persons more able for that charge, they
should notify the same unto the session, to the end that no man, either
present or absent, being one of the Kirk, should complain that he was
spoiled of his liberty in election." The duty of the elders was to
assist the minister in the oversight and discipline of the flock; and
that of the deacons was to superintend the revenues of the Church and
to take care of the poor.
Besides these permanent offices, two others were {144} recommended for
the meeting of present emergencies. There were first a class of men
called Readers, whose duty it was to read the Common Prayers and the
Scriptures, in places still destitute of properly qualified ministers,
and which otherwise would have had no service of any sort for public
worship or instruction. They were restricted to the function of
reading, and hence their name; but they were encouraged to prosecute
their studies, and if they advanced satisfactorily they were permitted,
after examination, to append some exhortations to their readings, and
then they were called Exhorters. In addition to these, and at the
other end of the scale, the Book recommended the appointment of ten
Superintendents, each of whom was to have the supervision of a district
over which he was required regularly to travel for the purpose of
preaching, planting Churches, and inspecting the conduct of ministers,
exhorters, and readers. Some have maintained that in this there was a
recognition of Episcopacy, but as Dr. Laing has shown, the office was
merely temporary, and the number never exceeded the five who were first
appointed. Like other ministers the superintendent was subject to the
Assembly, and might be censured, superseded, or deprived of his office
by its decision. These office-bearers were to be appointed in the
first instance by the Privy Council, or by a commission appointed by
that body for the purpose; but, afterwards, by the whole ministers of
the district to be superintended, from a list of names already
proclaimed by the ministers, elders, {145} and deacons with the
magistrates and council of the chief town in the province; and for his
installation a form is given, with a list of the questions to be
proposed to him, and the answers to be given by him. It is added that
"the superintendent being elected and appointed to his charge, must be
subjected to the censure and correction of the ministers and elders,
not only of his chief town, but also of the whole province over the
which he is appointed overseer."
It may be added here, that "The Book of Common Order" makes mention of
still another class of office-bearers, called Teachers or Doctors, who
were to be men of learning for the exposition of God's word, and whose
nearest modern equivalent seems to us to be the professors in
theological seminaries, but it is said "for lack of opportunity we
cannot well have the use thereof."
In regard to the sacraments the "Book of Discipline" lays down that the
Lord's Supper should be observed after the manner already described by
us when we were treating of Knox's ministry in Berwick. In great towns
it was recommended that it should be observed four times in the year,
and in order to keep off Easter, the first Sundays in March, June,
September, and December are suggested, because "we study to suppress
superstition." It was also specified that in large towns there should
be daily sermon, or else common prayer, with some exercise of reading
the Scriptures; and in smaller places there should be at least one day
besides the {146} Sunday appointed for sermon and prayer. Baptism
might be administered wherever the word was preached, but it is alleged
to be more expedient that it be on the Sunday, and never in private
unless accompanied by the preaching of the word; for as the Book of
Common Order says, "The sacraments are not ordained of God to be used
in private corners as charms or sorceries, but left to the congregation
and necessarily annexed to God's word as seals of the same." We admit
the clause about "charms," but with the household baptisms of the
Scriptures before us, and the other baptisms, which were
administered--as it were "extempore"--by the apostles in the house of
the jailer and the house of Cornelius, we are not quite so sure about
the rest of "the rubric." Marriages were not to be entered into
secretly, but in open face and audience of the church; the place for
their celebration, therefore, was the church, and the time recommended
was Sunday before sermon. It was suggested that there should be no
service of any sort at funerals; but it is added, "Yet we are not so
precise but that we are content that particular kirks use services in
that behalf, with the consent of the ministry of the same, as they
shall answer to God, and to the assembly of the Church gathered within
the realm."
But the most interesting portion of the Book of Discipline, perhaps, to
us in these days, is that which refers to education, contemplating as
it did the erection of a school in every parish for the instruction of
the {147} young in the grammar of their own language, in the Latin
tongue, and in the principles of religion; the setting up in every
notable town of a "college" for the teaching of "the arts, at least,
logic and rhetoric, and the tongues;" and finally the establishment in
the "towns accustomed,"--that is Aberdeen, St. Andrews, and
Glasgow,--of Universities with full appointments which are minutely
described. These were to be supported, stipends were to be furnished
for the superintendents, ministers, and readers, and suitable provision
made for ministers' widows, and orphan children, out of the confiscated
revenues of the Church, the bishops, and the cathedral establishments,
together with the rents arising from the endowments of monasteries and
other religious foundations.
The "Common Prayer" so frequently referred to was no doubt "the order
of Geneva which is now used in some of our kirks," as the words within
inverted commas quoted from the Book of Discipline make clear. That
book had been prepared for the English congregation of Geneva during
Knox's pastorate there; and with such changes as the difference of
circumstances made necessary, it came to be adopted by the Scottish
General Assembly in 1564. Our reference to it here, therefore, is a
little premature, as we are now writing of events that occurred in
1560; but it may be convenient, as we are treating of the organization
of the Scottish Church, to dispose of the matter, once for all, in this
place. As we have already incidentally {148} recorded, it was agreed
by those who entered into the "Godly Band," that "common prayers" be
read in the parish churches on Sundays by the curates if they
consented, or if they refused, by such persons within the bounds as
were best qualified to do so. This probably was meant to specify the
second Prayer-Book of King Edward VI., yet as Dr. Laing remarks, and
the reasoning of Dr. McCrie on the subject tends to confirm his
statement, "the adoption of that book could only have been to a partial
extent, and of no long continuance." He proceeds thus: "But this,
after all, is a question of very little importance, although it has
been keenly disputed, for it is well to remember that at this period
there were no settled parish churches, and as there were no special
congregations either in Edinburgh or in any of the principal towns
throughout the country, no ministers had been appointed. The lords of
the congregation and their adherents were much too seriously concerned
in defending themselves from the Queen Regent and her French
auxiliaries, and more intent for that purpose on obtaining the
necessary aid from England, than to be at all concerned about points of
ritual importance. In the following year, when the French troops were
expelled from Scotland, and the Protestant cause was ultimately
triumphant, we may conjecture that, in some measure swayed by the
avowed dislike of Knox to the English service book, the preference was
given to the forms of Geneva. We hear at least no more word of the
English Prayer-Book, and {149} in the "Book of Discipline," prepared in
December, 1560, the only form mentioned is "Our Book of Common Order,"
and "The Book of our Common Order, called the Order of Geneva." There
is also in existence a copy of an edition of that book printed in
Edinburgh in 1562, which shows its actual use at that time. Afterwards
it was found needful to have it enlarged, and the metrical version of
the Psalms, taken in large proportion from Sternhold and Hopkins, and
accompanied with appropriate tunes, was appended to it. We cannot go
into all the details of each part of the service here, but will content
ourselves with giving the order which it follows. It begins with a
confession of faith of considerable extent, but following the lines of
the Apostles' Creed of which it is an expansion; then come sections in
the order in which we name them, and respectively entitled--Of the
Ministers and their Election, Of the Elders and as Touching their
Office and Election; Of the Weekly Assembly of the Ministers, Elders
and Deacons; Of the Interpretation of the Scriptures. After these
comes the sanctuary service proper, consisting first of a prayer of
confession, of which a choice of one or other of three forms is given,
or perhaps it may have been intended that all three should be used, for
the book is not so explicit here as elsewhere; second, a psalm to a
plain tune sung by the people; third, a prayer by the minister for the
assistance of God's Holy Spirit, for which no form is given, and the
minister is to offer it as the Holy Spirit shall move his heart;
fourth, the {150} sermon; fifth, a prayer for the whole state of
Christ's Church, and for the Queen and her council, and the whole body
of the commonwealth; sixth, the Apostles' Creed; seventh, a psalm sung
by the people; eighth, the Benediction, after one or other of two
forms, to wit, that of Aaron and his sons, or that of the apostle at
the end of the first Epistle to the Corinthians, but in both instances
"us" is substituted for "you;" and so the congregation departeth. To
this are appended the Genevan form of prayer after sermon; and another
form to be used after sermon, on the week-day appointed for common
prayer; prayers used in the churches of Scotland during the time of
their persecution by the French; the thanksgiving after their
departure; and a prayer for the general assemblies of the Church. It
will be observed that nothing is here said of the reading of the
Scriptures, but this was not because that was under-valued, but because
the reader, who was in many cases the minister's assistant, had
already, before the commencement of the service proper, attended to
that duty in the hearing of the people. So far were Knox and his
friends from slurring over that exercise, that in the Book of
Discipline this characteristic passage occurs: "Further, we think it a
thing most expedient and necessary that every church have a Bible in
English, and that the people be commanded to convene to hear the plain
reading or interpretation of the Scriptures as the Church shall
appoint, that by frequent reading this gross ignorance, which in the
{151} accursed papistry hath overflown all, may partly be removed. We
think it most expedient that the Scriptures be read in order, that is,
that some one book of the Old and the New Testament be begun and
orderly read to the end. And the same we judge of preaching, where the
minister for the most part remaineth in one place; for this skipping
and divagation from place to place, be it in reading, be it in
preaching, we judge not so profitable to edify the Church, as the
continual following of one text."
The order for baptism follows: the father, or in his absence the
godfather, is to rehearse the articles of his faith (this mention of
the godfather is interesting, and some may be surprised to learn, that
at the baptisms in Geneva of Knox's two sons, who were born there,
Whittingham was godfather to the one and Miles Coverdale to the other);
the minister follows with an exposition of the Creed; after that comes
a prayer; then the minister taketh water in his hand, layeth it on the
child's forehead, repeating the words of the formula of baptism, and
closes with an offering of thanks. The Book of Discipline had already
disallowed the sign of the cross, all anointings, and the like. This
is followed by "the manner of the Lord's Supper," into which we need
not go, as that has been already described. Then there is a single
sentence on burial, discouraging services at the grave; but after
burial "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 {152} people touching death and resurrection." The book concludes
with "The Order of Ecclesiastical Discipline," pointing out the three
causes of discipline--the two kinds of discipline private and public,
and the like. There is in it no form for marriage; but that could be
supplied from the "Order of Geneva," which in this respect follows the
lines of other ecclesiastical books.
This "Book of Common Order" has often been called "John Knox's
Liturgy," and within due limitations it is not inaccurately so
denominated; but the term is apt to be misleading, and it needs to be
added that the forms contained in it are not prescribed for constant
and exclusive use, but are given more in the way of a directory to
ministers as to the conduct of the service. The "Readers" of course
were restricted to them; but ministers were left free to use them or
not at their discretion. Thus we find in what we may call the
"rubrics" such expressions as these: "When the congregation is
assembled at the hour appointed, the minister useth one of these two
confessions, _or like in effect_;" "the minister after the sermon useth
this prayer following, or _such like_." Similar liberty is given as to
the prayers in the forms for baptism and the Lord's Supper; and at the
end of the form for the service on the Sunday we have this general
statement: "It shall not be necessary for the minister daily to repeat
all these things before mentioned; but beginning with some manner of
confession, to proceed to the sermon, which ended, he useth either the
prayer for all estates before mentioned, or else {153} prayeth as the
Spirit of God shall move his heart, framing the same according to the
time and manner which he hath entreated of." Thus the position of the
book, as concerns the debate between liturgy proper and free prayer, is
one of liberty, furnishing forms to those who wished to use them, and
leaving those who did not to pray as the Spirit moved them; but showing
to both alike what order was to be observed in the service as a whole,
what subjects were to be introduced into the prayers, and in what order
and connection they were to be brought into them. It ought to be noted
also that this book gave a great impulse to congregational singing of
psalms, which was adopted instead of that of choral anthems; and the
fashion now so universal, of printing the tunes in connection with the
Psalms, was followed, if not indeed introduced, so far as Scotland is
concerned by it. But though Knox had undoubtedly a hand in the
preparation and sanction of this so-called Liturgy, Dr. Laing has
unqualifiedly affirmed "that in no instance do we find himself using
set forms of prayer." The importance of the subject in itself, and the
general interest now felt in it by most of the Presbyterian and
Congregational Churches alike in Great Britain and America, must be our
apology for going so fully into this interesting history, and for
setting, as far as we may, the exact truth about it before the reader.
But we must now resume the thread of our narrative. The Book of
Discipline never was so ratified as to become the law of the land. Its
general outlines, {154} indeed, were followed in the organization of
the Church; but though it received the signatures of many members of
the Privy Council, it was bitterly opposed by others--by some because
they were unwilling to disgorge the share of the Church's patrimony of
which they had taken possession, and by others because of their
aversion to the strict moral _surveillance_ to which it would have
subjected them. Knox puts the matter in a nutshell when he says:
"Everything that impugned to their corrupt affections was called in
their mockage a 'devout imagination.' The cause we have already
declared: some were licentious; some had greedily gripped to the
possessions of the Kirk; and others thought that they would not lack
their part of Christ's coat, and that before ever He was hanged, as by
the preachers they were oft rebuked." The final arrangement of the
temporalities was made later, when the ecclesiastical revenues were
divided into three parts, two of which were given to the ejected popish
clergy for their lives; and the other was divided between the court and
the Protestant ministers.
As to the conduct of public worship the General Assembly of the Church
passed an Act in December, 1562, which enacted that "one uniform order
shall be taken in the administration of the sacraments, solemnization
of marriages, and burial of the dead, according to the Book of Geneva";
and in December, 1564, it was ordained by the same body "that minister,
exhorter, and reader shall have one of the psalm books lately printed
in Edinburgh and use the order contained {155} therein, in prayers,
marriage, and ministration of the sacraments."
In the latter part of 1560 Knox entered upon his ministry in Edinburgh,
with the Cathedral of St. Giles as his parish church, and John Cairns
as his assistant or reader. The city council provided for his lodging
a house at the Netherbow Port, which had been that of the Abbot of
Dunfermline, and which is now the property of the Free Church of
Scotland, by whom it is preserved as a memorial of the Reformer. The
council assigned him at first a stipend of L200, besides discharging
his house rent. After the settlement by the Privy Council above
alluded to, he received at least a part of his stipend from the common
fund of the ministers--for there was an "equal dividend" of the portion
given to the Protestant clergy--and the city council added to that what
was necessary to bring it up to the sum originally given. An
interesting illustration of their care for his comfort is furnished in
the Act of council of date 30th October, 1561, which runs thus: "The
same day the provost, bailies, and council ordains the Dean of Guild
with all diligence to make a warm study of deals to the minister John
Knox, within his house above the hall of the same, with light and
windows thereunto, and all other necessaries." But before that time a
dark shadow had fallen upon his dwelling, for toward the end of
December, 1560, his wife died, leaving him with his two boys to mourn
her loss.
Public affairs just then also had a threatening aspect. {156} Mary and
her husband, the King of France, persistently refused either to ratify
the Treaty of Leith, or to confirm the settlement of the Reformed
Church, and were preparing a French army for the invasion of Scotland;
while agents of the Roman Catholic Church were sent over to rally the
adherents of the old faith. But "man proposes and God disposes," for
before the projected invasion could be carried out Francis II. died (on
December 5th, 1560), and Lord James Stuart was sent by a convention of
the nobility to France, not, as some have alleged, to invite Mary to
Scotland, but as Lord James himself wrote to Cecil, "for declaration of
our duty and devotion to her highness." Before his departure he
was--we quote from Knox's "History"'--"plainly premonished that if ever
he condescended that she should have mass publicly or privately said
within the realm of Scotland, that then betrayed he the cause of God,
and exposed the religion even to the uttermost danger that he could do.
That she should have mass publicly, he affirmed that he never should
consent, but to have it secretly in her chamber, who could stop her?
The danger was shown, and so he departed." He left Edinburgh on the
18th of March, and on the 19th of August, 1561, Mary arrived in
Scotland, where she was received with every demonstration of
enthusiastic welcome.
{157}