eign Evangelization, a work that has especially
claimed attention during this century, have found the simple worship of
our fathers well suited to the cultivation of the spiritual life that
must of necessity lie behind all such efforts, and to the development
of the reverent and devotional spirit so characteristic of an
aggressive Christianity. The Church has been true to the traditions
and principles so loyally maintained in the days of her heroic
struggles in the past, and along these lines she has found in her
public worship blessing and inspiration for her peaceful toils, even as
our fathers in their day found in similar worship strength and revived
courage with which to meet their difficulties and to endure persecution.

Modern Movements in Presbyterian Churches Respecting Public Worship.

"All who desire to manifest an intelligent appreciation of what is
distinctive in Presbyterian ritual would do well to guard against
attaching undue importance, or adhering too tenaciously, to details of
a past or present usage, as if these constituted the essentials from
which there must never be the smallest deviation, of which there may
never be the slightest modification or adaptation to altered
acquirements and circumstances."--McCRIE.

Chapter IX.

Modern Movements in Presbyterian Churches Respecting Public Worship.

The earliest indication of any general desire in Scotland for a more
elaborate service than that in general use in the Church at the time of
the Revolution was seen in the proposal to enlarge the Psalmody and to
improve the Service of Praise. As early as 1713 the General Assembly
of the Church of Scotland called the attention of congregations to the
necessity that existed for a more decent performance of the public
praise of God, in a recommendation that was exceedingly desirable and
necessary if the accounts of the service of praise at that time are to
be believed. This was followed, not long afterward, by the
introduction of paraphrases, styled "Songs of Scripture," and later of
hymns, and finally of instrumental music. In this matter of the
improvement of worship in the department of praise, the Secession
Churches in several cases were more forward than the Established
Church, the revived interest in religion and worship which had been in
a measure the cause of their existence lending itself to such measures.
In all sections of the Church the conflict concerning praise in worship
was f