CHAPTER II.

THE INSTINCT OF WORSHIP―analyzed.

1. Its Nature.-2. Its Power.-3. Its Authority.

THE investigation upon which we are entering is greatly complicated, and the difficulty of rightly conducting it is much increased, by the fact that the Instinct of Worship is not always true to itself. It is not an infallible, nor even a consistent guide. In common with other Instincts, it has been disordered by the Fall. We cannot accept all its products as genuine products of its original and higher self. We must test them; and we must devise some means by which this testing may be done effectually; by which spurious and corrupt products of the Instinct of Worship may be eliminated from those which are true and good.

With this in view, I shall, in the present chapter, describe briefly the Nature, Power, and Authority of the Instinct of Worship. This will, I trust, clear the way for a further step, namely, the Interpretation of this remarkable Instinct: which I shall discuss in the next chapter (III.) Then our Argument or Method will be illustrated in another short chapter (IV.), by applying it to the case of Musical and Congregational Worship.

1.-The Nature of the Instinct of Worship.

It is not my intention to attempt an exhaustive analysis of the Instinct of Worship. There may be

several parts in it. There are, however, two of its constituent elements which are so much more prominent than the others, that, speaking in general terms, we may describe its Nature as, in the main, twofold. The Instinct of Worship is, in part, an intuitive spiritual perception of God; and, in part, a blind but mighty impulse of the heart, which superadds to our joys and sorrows, to our hopes and fears, and to almost all our higher emotions and aspirations, something of infinitude, transcending this world, tending towards God, and expressing itself in worship.

To illustrate this twofold character of the Instinct of Worship, let us consider, for a moment, the obviously duplex nature and action of some of the other instincts.1 They each contain an element of perception, and also an element of impulse, emotion, craving.

(a) For example, omitting minor points, the Instinct of Nutrition may be described as made up of two parts: first, the craving of hunger and thirst; and, secondly, the perception that certain external objects. will satisfy that craving. We see this very clearly in the lower orders of creation, whose perceptions of suitable objects for food are often as intuitive, or automatic, as are the cravings of their hunger. These two parts of the Instinct coöperate for the same end. The perception of the object stimulates the craving, and the craving stimulates the perception; and both together constitute a powerful and necessary instinct. The Will and the Reason, with Education and Experience, develop and guide this instinct; but they do not create it.

(b) So, again, with the Instinct of Language. It is universal in mankind, and is dual in its nature. First,

1 The Will, which is the great Executive Power, is set in motion by the Instincts, and to a considerable extent it controls them; but it is not one of them, nor a part of any of them.

there is the strong impulsive desire to communicate with our kind. Secondly, there is the intellectual light which guides the impulse in the use of expressive signs. 'The child crying in the night' marks the automatic beginning of this Instinct. It grows with his growth: it is developed and perfected by circumstance and education; and how intellectual it ultimately becomes we all know.

(c) The universal instinct of Ornamentation lies dormant for a time; but, sooner or later, it makes its presence felt in every human being. Here, there is the strong instinctive desire to be noticed, to be beautiful, to be attractive. There is also the intellectual perception of beauty, grace, art. These two, the desire to be attractive, and the perception of beauty, are not altogether wanting in the lower animals. They appear in the human race at a very early period of infancy; and they are afterwards developed rapidly, and fill the worlds of civilization and barbarism with ornamentation, of various degrees of rudeness or excellence. Education does much for this Instinct, but does not create it.

(d) Education itself-which is the School Master of all our other instincts and powers-is instinctive. Education is now, in civilized countries, so scientific and elaborate in its methods, so completely in the hands of professional experts, so diligently fostered by multitudes of Schools, Colleges, Universities, Acts of Parliament, and Red Tape, that we are apt to forget that this elaboration of instrumentalities is but the livery of a powerful instinct. The element of intellectual light in this instinct is obvious. The impulsive element is not so obvious until we pass beyond the boundaries of civilization, or study the habits of the lower animals. Among Negro, Red Indian, and New Zealand tribes,

the instinct of Education is as really at work as amongst ourselves, although in simpler fashion. Savage men teach their children, with no small care, their own rude arts of domestic life, war, and the chase. So in the lower ranks of creation. The hen teaches her chickens to pick up their food: the cat teaches her young to catch their prey: the eagle teaches her eaglets to fly. Here the automatic or impulsive element in the instinct of Education is prominent; although the element of perception is not wanting.

Some instincts exhibit a remarkable independence of experience. The Gallinaceous Birds are well-known instances of a wide range of instinctive impulses and perceptions, before experience. Some species of these birds come forth from the egg perfect miniatures of their parents: their bodies fully equipped with feathers, and their minds with parental and other instincts. Prior to all experience of injury, they exhibit fear, and not only fear, but fear of the proper objects. They will flee when they see a hawk, and they will carefully avoid a stinging insect. In Europe, the young of the Woodgrouse are able to fly from the moment they break the shell. It would be easy to multiply instances of instincts prior to education and experience in the individual. Such instincts are evidently not caused by education, although they may be ripened and perfected by it.

The instincts, equally with the vital organs and limbs, are fundamental and original parts of the complex. nature which God has given to His sentient creatures. Education (itself an Instinct) is, I repeat, the School Master, but not the Parent, of itself and the other Instincts.

1 The Duke of Argyll, The Reign of Law, p. 298.

To deny the existence of instincts, because, in many instances, we can trace their development, would be like denying the existence of a flower because it was once a seed, or of a man because he was once a boy. Instincts cannot cease to be instincts, any more than men can cease to be men, by being developed and matured.

The Creator has filled our bodies with automatic or involuntary contractions of the muscles. Such are the motions of the heart, lungs, and many other organs, upon which the most vital processes in our animal nature depend. We have no difficulty in believing that these movements are independent of the will and of experience. There is abundant evidence that the Creator has also impressed upon our minds and hearts automatic perceptions and emotions-intuitions and cravings-which we call Instincts. The noblest and most wonderful of these Instincts is the Instinct of Worship, to the consideration of which we must now return.

The Instinct of Worship, as stated above, is, like so many other instincts, twofold in its nature: it is, in part, intuitive spiritual light; and, in part, automatic spiritual heat in part, a perception of God; and, in part, a blind impulse of the heart, guided towards God by the light of that perception. Education and experience may develop and perfect the Instinct of Worship: or they may dwarf its growth, and cripple and mislead its. action but they cannot create it, nor can they altogether destroy it. It may seem to be destroyed, and yet be only slumbering, in full power, and ready to make its power felt. Some of the most earnest worshippers that

1 The animal instincts are given for the preservation and maintenance of the animal life. The religious instinct, which is peculiar to men and angels, ministers to the spiritual life. It is the noblest instinct, and has the noblest function.