WORSHIP. 



in my clofet as in a cathedral ; ftill lefs can I tliink myfelf 

 obliged to fit out a tedious fermon, in order to hear what is 

 known already, what is better learnt from books, or fiig- 

 gefted by meditation." They, whofe quahfications and 

 habits beil fupply to themfelves all the efFeii of public ordi- 

 nances, will be the laft to prefer this excufe, when they ad- 

 vert to the general confequence of fetting up fuch an exemp- 

 tion, as well as when they confider the turn which is fureto 

 be given in the neighbourhood to their abfence from public 

 worfhip. You ftay from church, to employ the fabbath at 

 home in exercifes and ftudies fuited to its proper bufinefs : 

 your next neighbour ftays from church, to fpend the feventh 

 day lefs religioufly than he paiTed any of the fix, in a fleepy, 

 ftupid reft, or at fome rendezvous of drunkennefs and de- 

 bauchery, and yet thinks that he is only imitating you, be- 

 caufe you both agree in not going to church. The fame 

 confideration ftiould over-rule many fmall fcruples concerning 

 the rigorous propriety of fome things, which may be con- 

 tained in the forms, or admitted into the adminiftration of 

 the public worfhip of our communion ; for it feems impof- 

 fible, that even " two or three fhould be gathered together" 

 in any aft of focial worfliip, if each one require from the 

 refl an implicit fubmiflion to his objeftions ; and if no man 

 will attend upon a religious fervice, which in any point con- 

 tradifts his opinion of truth, or falls (hort of his ideas of 

 perfeftion. 



We may add, that there are other valuable advantages refult- 

 ing from rehgious affemblies, that are not immediately defigned 

 in the inftitution, or contemplated by the individuals who com- 

 pofe them ; e.g. i . Joining in prayer and praifes to their com- 

 mon Creator and governor has a fenfible tendency to unite 

 mankind together, and to cherith and enlarge the generous 

 affeftions. 2. Affemblies for the purpofe of divine worfhip, 

 placing men under impreffions, by which they are taught to 

 confider their relation to the Deity, and to contemplate thofe 

 around them with a view to that relation, force upon their 

 thoughts the natural equality of the human fpecies, and 

 thereby promote humility and condefcenfion in the highell 

 jorders of the community, and infpire the loweft with a fenfe 

 of their rights. Thus, things are made to appear little, by 

 being placed befide what is great. In which manner, fupe- 

 riorities, that occupy the whole field of the imagination, will 

 vanifh, or fhrink to their proper diminutivenefs, when com- 

 pared with the diflance by which even the higheft of men 

 are removed from the Supreme Being : and this comparifon 

 is naturally introduced by all afts of joint worfhip. If ever 

 the poor man holds up his head, it is at church : if ever the 

 rich man views him with refpeft, it is there ; and both will be 

 the better, and the pablic profited, the oftener they meet in 

 a fituation in which the confcioufnefs of dignity in the one is 

 tempered and mitigated, and the fpirit of the other erefted 

 and confirmed. Moreover, the pubhc worfhip of Chriftians 

 is a duty of divine appointment. (Matt, xviii. 20. Heb. x. 

 25.) Independently of thefe pafTages of Scripture, a 

 difciple of Chriflianity will hardly think himfelf at liberty 

 to difpute a praftice fet on foot by the infpired preachers of 

 his rehgion, coeval with its inftitution, and retained by every 

 feft into which it has been fince divided. Paley's Philof. 

 vol. ii. 



As to the manner in which public worfhip fhould be con- 

 du6led,if we advert to the hiftory of the primitive church, we 

 fhall find, that when the congregation was alfembled, the firft 

 aft of divine fervice which they performed was the reading 

 of the Holy Scriptures. ( See Tertullian de Anima, c. 3. 

 Juftin Martyr, Apolog. ii. ) When the reading of the 

 Scriptures was ended, then followed the finging of pfalms. 

 (See Tertulhan, aijya^ra. Pliny Epift. ad Trajan. Cle- 

 mens Alex. Stromal. 1. 6. Origen, De Orat. § 6.) The 



Vol. XXXVIII. 



pfalms or hymns which were fung by the primitive Chriftians 

 were either taken out of the Holy Scriptures, and particu- 

 larly out of the book of Pfalms, or fuch as were of their 

 own private compofition. (Tertulhan, Apolog. c. 39.) 

 As to their manner of finging, it was, fays Origen, (De 

 Orat. J 6. ) in good tune and concert, all the people bearing 

 a part in it. With refpeft to church-mufic, organs, and the 

 like, they were not known in the primitive ages to which we 

 now refer ; for it cannot be rationally conceived that in thofe 

 days of continual perfecution or violence they could either 

 ufe or preferve them. The finging of pfalms was followed 

 by the preaching of the word. (See Tertulhan de Anima, 

 c. 3. ) The fubjeft of the fermon was ufually a commentary 

 or exphcation of the lefTons that had been juft before read. 

 (See Juft. Martyr, Apolog. ii. Origen contra Celfum, 

 lib. ill. ) As for the length of the fermon, it ufually lafted 

 an hour. It began with an exordium, and then explained 

 verfe after verfe, and fentence after fentence, fhewing the 

 natural and literal fignification of the words, and then the 

 fpirituaUzed or myftical meaning of them, and concluded 

 with a fuitable application of all, either by way of exhorta- 

 tion to piety and virtue, or by way of dehortation from vice 

 and impiety ; always accommodating the difcourfe to the 

 capacitiesof the hearers. (Origen contra Celfum, lib. iii.) 

 The preacher was ufually the bilhop of the parifh. (Juft. 

 Martyr, Apolog. ii. ) Or, the bifhop decreed a prefbyter, or 

 fome other fit perfon, to preach in his room. When the fer- 

 mon was finifhed, the congregation rofe up to prefent their 

 common and public prayers unto Almighty God (Juft. 

 Martyr, Apolog. ii. ) ; Handing being the ufual pofture of 

 praying, at leaft the conftant one on Sundays, on which 

 days they efteemed it a fin to kneel ; and the preacher fre- 

 quently concluded his fermon with an exhortation to his 

 auditors to ftand up and pray to God, which is found to be 

 the cafe in Origen's fermons. When the congregation ftood 

 up, all turned their faces towards the eaft, which was their 

 ufual cuftom (Tertulhan, Apolog. c. 16.) ; for which 

 praftice they alleged the following reafons : i. Refpeft 

 and reverence to their lord and mafter Jefus Chrift ; this being 

 the title given to him in the Old Teftament, according to 

 an erroneous tranflation of the word Branch in the Septua- 

 gint. So that the eaft was called by Tertulhan a type of 

 Chrift. 2. The fimilitude (Zach. vi. 12. ) of thearifing of 

 the fun to our fpiritual ariling out of the darknefs of fin 

 and corruption, as Clem. Alex, exprefles it. (Stromat. 

 lib. vii.) 3. The advice of Origen to pray towards the 

 eaftern chmate, as denoting our dihgence in the fervice of 

 God, in bemg more forward to arife and fet about it than 

 the fun is to run its daily courfe, for which he produces the 

 authority of an Apocryphal text, Wifdom, xvi. 28. ( Orig. 

 de Orat. § 20. ) 4. The opinion they entertained of the 

 excellence of this quarter above others. (Orig. De Orat. 

 J 21.) The congregation being thus turned towards the 

 eaft, they put themfelves into a pofture of prayer, ftretch- 

 ing out their hands, and hfting up their eyes towards heaven. 

 (Clem. Alex. Stromat. lib. vii. Tertull. Apolog. c. 30.) 

 The minifter then began to pray, his ufual garb being a 

 pallium, or, as we call it, a cloak ; which was deemed a 

 more fimple and plain garment than the toga, v/hich was ufed 

 through the whole Roman empire. But it does not appear 

 from any authority of ancient writers, that they put a fur- 

 plice or any other kind of linen garment over their cloaks. 

 The prayer was pronounced, as Cyprian fays (De Orat. 

 Domin. § 2.), with a modeft and bafhful voice, that being 

 moft proper for thofe who came to acknowledge the multi- 

 tude and heinoufnefs of their fins, and to beg God's pardon 

 and grace, which is the end and defign of prayer. The 

 people did not vocally join with the minifter in the prayers, 

 4U bu- 



