as an ensample to their brethren in England, the mere skeleton of the old form appears to have been retained.
In other respects, it is remarkable to observe the gradual dereliction of the ancient forms; thus, Zuingli retained from the old Church the introductory portion of the prayer, although he changed its doctrinal portion, as no longer believing it; and so also (from him) the Belgic Service; the latter Services dropped even this portion of the ancient form, and so became entirely new. They were consistent in so doing; for this portion of the prayer referred to the Scriptural types of Baptism, when God had delivered His chosen by water; and these naturally had no place in their system. Again, Zuingli (with the old Church) retained the Gospel; Alasco and Polanus incorporated it into their introductory exhortation as a sort of proof of Infant Baptism; the Belgian, Genevese, French, the old Scotch, and the modern Directory altogether omitted it; and again consistently, on their system, since Baptism in their sight occupied the place of circumcision only. A corresponding variation is observable even in the ceremonies of Baptism, in that Zuingli's parting benediction implies that the rite of investing the new-baptized person with a white garment was yet retained by him; by the rest it is abandoned: so that in three several instances Zuingli appears to have been the least innovator in the Reformed Churches.
Another slight but remarkable peculiarity in the outward arrangements of the Reformed Churches, is the place which Baptism occupies, as an appendage to the preaching of the word, in that it is placed after the sermon, whereas our Church, by prescribing that it should take place after the second lesson, connects it with the promises of God in the Gospel itself. This regulation is also mentioned by Beza[1]:
"This is the custom of our Churches, that always after the sermon (and there is a sermon every day, and on Lord's days it is four times repeated in the city in the several Churches) infants to be baptized are brought to the pulpits, and are baptized in the congregation of the whole Church." Baptism occupies the same position in the Scotch Liturgy.
In the following Tables, the ancient Liturgies, and those upon the ancient model, are arranged according to their age: that of Edward the Sixth's reign is inserted, as in some places adhering, in words also, more closely to the ancient model: those of Denmark, Norway, and Mecklenburg, in order to show the general agreement of this portion of the Church, amidst occasional variation.
The Services, on the "reformed" scheme, are arranged according to the several modifications of that scheme; they, as well as the more ancient, are framed upon one and the same model, and agree together, for the most part, almost in words, only that (as was before observed,
- ↑ Abstersio calumuiarum T. Heshusii, Tract. T. i. p. 333.
