OF DOCUMENTS ILLUSTRATIVE OF THE PROCEEDINGS OF THE FIRST FIFTEEN
GENERAL ASSEMBLIES.
The period of time referred to in this _First Part_ of the Booke
of the Kirk, extending from the year 1560 to the end of 1567,
embraces the earliest era of its existence as a National
Church, recognized in the first instance, and ultimately
established by the law of the State; and it has been deemed
expedient, in this special portion of the present publication,
to annex the various acts of Privy Council and Parliament,
applicable to that period, as an Appendix to the actings of the
first fifteen General Assemblies of the Church, many of which
bear reference to these enactments of the civil authorities.
These civil and ecclesiastical proceedings throw mutual
light on each other, and, conjoined, they afford the most
satisfactory view of its progress from the time that it was
first sanctioned, until it was finally settled and endowed as
the Established Church of Scotland. During the period referred
to, it can only be viewed as a tolerated Christian society,
but partially countenanced by the State, and struggling to
obtain a permanent place among the settled institutions of
the land. Thenceforward it is to be regarded as one of the
integral elements of the constitution, blended and united with
the monarchy and the supreme authority of the State in the
Legislature. And hence arises the propriety of thus conjoining
the civil and ecclesiastical proceedings during this, the first
epoch of its history as the Kirk of Scotland.