_Item_, It is statute and ordaynit that a Catechisme be made,
easie, short, and compendious, for instructing the common sort in
the articles of religione, qwhilk all families shall be subject to
have, for the better informatione of their children and servants,
qwho shall be halden to give accompt thereof in the examinationes
before the communione: and for the better effectuating heirof, the
Assemblie hes ordaint Mr Pat. Galloway and Mr John Hall, ministers at
Edinburgh, and Mr John Adamsone, minister at Libbertone, to forme the
said Catechisme, and to have the same in readiness before the first
day of October nixt to come, to the effect the same may be allowit
and printed with the King’s Majestie’s licence; the qwhilk Catechisme
being so printed, it is statute and ordainit that no uther hereafter
be printed within this realme, nor used in families for instruction
and examinatione of their bairnes, servants, nor the people, in all
tyme coming.
_Item_, It is statute and ordaynit that ane uniforme order of
Lyturgie or Divine Service be sett doune to be read in all Kirks on
the ordinarie dayes of prayer, and every Sabbath day before the
sermone, to the end the common people may be acquainted therewith,
and by custome may learne to serve God rightlie: and to this intent,
the Assemblie hes appoyntit the saids Mr Patrick Galloway, Mr Peter
Elliot, Mr John Adamsone, and Mr W^m. Erskine, minister at {blank
space}, to revise the Book of Common Prayers contenit in the Psalme
Book, and to sett doune ane common forme of ordinary service to
be used in all tyme hereafter, quhilk shall be usit in all tyme
of common prayers in all Kirks quhere there is exercise of common
prayers, as lykewise be the minister before the sermone quhere there
is no reader.
_Item_, It is statute and ordaynit that in all tyme hereafter, the
holy Communion be celebrate in all Kirks within this realme at
the tymes following, viz. in Burrowtownes, the Communion shall be
celebrate four tymes in the year, and twyse in the year in landward
Kirks, so that ane of the tymes alseweel in Burrowtounes as landwart
shall be at the tyme of Eister yearly; and if any persone shall not
communicat ance in the year at ane of the foresaid tymes, that it
shall be humbly requyrit of his Majestie that the penaltie of the Act
of Parliament may be exactit of such persones with all rigour.
_Item_, It is thoucht most necessare and expedient that there be
ane uniformitie of Church discipline throughout the whole Kirks of
this Kingdome; and to that effect it is statute and ordaynit that a
Book of Cannons be made, published in wreit drawn furth of the Books
of formall Assemblies, and quhare the same is defective that it be
supplied be the Cannons of Counsell and Ecclesiasticall Conventiones
in former tyme, the caire quherof the Assemblie be thir presents
committs to the Richt Reverend James Archbishop of Glasgow, and
W^m. Struthers, minister at Edinburgh, quho shall put in forme the
said Ecclesiasticall Cannons, and present them to the Commissioners
appoyntit be this Assemblie; to quhom power is given to try, examine,
and after their allowance and approbatione thereof, to supplicat to
his Majestie that the same may be ratified and approved by his Royal
authoritie, with priviledge to put the same in print.
_Item_, It is statute and ordaynit, that for the help of posteritie,
and to continue the light of the Gospell with ages to come, the
Divinitie Colledge foundit at St Androis, quhilk sould be the
seminarie of the Kirk within this realme, be maintainit and upholden,
and ane speciall care taken thereof; and because the rent thereof
is meine for the present, it is ordaynit that for the provisione
of some students in divinitie every diocie shall intertaine two,
or according to the quantitie of the dioces so many, as the number
may aryse to twenty-sax in haill--respect being had to the mienness
of some diocies, and greatness and powers of wthers, so that the
leist diocies in their contributione shall be helpit and easit be
the greater: in the qwhilk number it is ordaynit that the halfe at
the leist be the sonnes of poor ministers, and be presentit be the
Bischops of the diocies to the place.
_Item_, The Assemblie ratifies and approves the former Act made in
the Assemblie holdin at Halyrudehouse the tenth day of November
1602 anent the sacrament of baptisme, that the same be not refusit
if the parent crave the same, be giving ane Christian confessione
of his fayth upon any uther particular pretence of delay to tyme of
preaching, with this extentione and additione, that baptisme shall
no wayes be denyit to any infant quhen ayther parents of the infant,
or ony uther faithfull Christiane in place of the parents, shall
requyre the same to the infant, and that the same be grantit ony tyme
of day, butt ony respect or delay till the hour of preaching.
_Item_, It is ordaynit that every minister have ane perfect and
formall register quherin he shall have registrat the particular
of every baptisme of every infant within his paroche, and quha
wer witness thereto, the tyme of the marriages of all persones
within the same, and the speciall tyme of the buriall of every ane
deceisand within their parochine, and that they have the same to
be in readiness to be presentit be every ane at their next Synod
Assemblie, under the paine of suspensione of the minister not
fulfilling the same, from his ministry; and it is declared that the
saids Commissioners in their supplicatione direct to his Majestie,
wald crave humbly that his Majestie wald ordaine the extract furth
of the said registres to make faith in all tyme comeing; and quho so
observes this Act, the Archbischops and Bischopes shall let them have
their qoats of their testaments gratis.
_Acta Sessione Ultima._
The quhilk day, in presence of the whole Assemblie, compeirit the
noble and potent Lord, George Marques of Huntlie, and declareit
that he had direct before, John Gordoune of Buckie to present his
supplicatione to this present Assemblie, quhereof the tenor is insert
before: Lykeas of new, he reiterat the said supplicatione, declaring
the sorrow and grieff he had conceivit, in that he had lyen so long
under the fearfull sentence of excommunicatione, and, therefore,
most humbly desyrit to be absolvit from the same, as he faithfully
promised in face of the haill Assemblie to performe and fulfill the
conditiones and heads under specifeit, viz.:
First, The said noble Lord faithfully promised before God, his hand
holden up, to professe and abyde be the trew religion presently
profest within this realme, and allowit be the lawes and acts of
Parliament within the same.
2. He faithfully promised to communicat at the first occasione he
should be requyrit, and so to continow, conforme to the order of the
land.
3. He should cause his children, servants, and whole domesticks, be
obedient to the Kirk and discipline thereof, and sould cause them
haunt the kirk at ordinar tymes of preaching.
4. He shall not receave Papists, Jesuites, Seminarie Priests, in his
house, nor nane of his lands, but put them out of his bounds with all
diligence.
5. He allows the Confessione of the Faith presently sett downe be the
said Assemblie; and in token of his constant confessione thereof, he
hes subscrivit the samen in face of the Assembly.
Qwhilks haill premisses above specifeit the said noble Lord protests
and declares that he hes made and subscrivit truely and with
ane honest heart, butt any equivocatione, mentall reservatione,
or subterfuge qwhatsoever, devysit be the Romish Kirk and their
supposts. Attour, the said noble Lord faithfully promised to plant
his whole kirks qwhereof his Lordship hes the teinds in tack
positiones or utherwayes, at the sicht and conclusione of my Lord
Archbischop of St Androis, the Bischop of Murray, and the Laird
of Corse, unto qwhois modificatione the said noble Lord submitts
himself; be the tennor of thir presents, givand them power to
modifie compleit steipends to the saids kirks, and as they shall be
modified be them he oblisses him to make payment of the same to the
ministers provydit or to be provydit to the saids kirks.
And in respect of the premisses, the Assemblie ordaynit the said
noble Lord to be absolvit from the sentence of excommunicatione led
and deducit against him before conformyng hereto, the Right Reverend
Father, John Archbischope of St Androis, moderator, in face of the
Assemblie, absolves the said George Marques of Huntlie from the said
sentence, led and deducit against him, and receavit him againe into
the bosome of the Church.
The quhilk day, the Generall Assemblie of the Kirke of Scotland
presently convenit, having interest in consideratione of the cause
of the defection and falling away of many from the trew religione,
and having found the laike of the competent maintainance to ministers
not to be the leist cause of the evills quhilks lyes upon the Kirke
presently, the ground and fundament quhairof for the maist pairt
hes proceedit from the dilapidatione of benefices, with the quhilk,
if some solide order be not taken in tyme, the same is apparent to
bring furth greater evill and desolatione in this Kirke: And seeing
the King’s Majestie hes requyrit that order may be taken with the
saids dilapidationes, Therefore, in respect the same cannot suddenly
be done, but will requyre ane lang tyme and mature deliberatione,
the Assemblie hes given, granted, and committed, lykeas they, be
the tennor heirof, gives, grants, and committs their full power
and commission to the brethren underwritten; they are to say, the
Reverend Father in God, John Arch Bischop of St Androis, James Arch
Bischop of Glasgow, Alex^r. Bischop of Dunkeld, Alexander Bischop
of Murray, Patricke Bischop of Ross, Wm. Bischop of Galloway,
Andrew Bischop of Brechine, Andrew Bischop of Dumblaine, Andrew
Bischop of Argyle, Andrew Bischop of the Isles, Patricke Forbes of
Corse, Mr George Douglass, minister at Cullen, John Reid, minister
at Logybuchan, George Hay, minister at Turreffe, Doctor Henry
Philipe, minister of Arbroath, David Lindsay, minister at Dundee,
William Scott, minister of Coupar, Doctor Robert Harvie, Rector of
St Androis, John Mitchellsone, minister at Bruntisland, Patrick
Galloway, John Hall, Wm. Struthers, ministers at Edinburgh, Robert
Scot, minister at Glasgow, Edward Hepburne, minister at Hawick,
Doctor John Abernethie, minister at Jedburgh, William Birnie,
minister at Air, William Erskine, minister at {blank space}; Givand,
grantand, and committand to them, or the most part of them, their
full power and commission to conveen at Edinburgh the first day of
December nixt to come, in this instant year of God 1616, and there
to take order with the dilapidatione of benefices, and to sett downe
solide grounds how the progresse of that mischief might be stayed,
and to advyse upon some meanes to recover and restore the estate
of these benefices qwhilks be iniquitie of tyme hes been lossit;
and if need beis to call and persew before them qwho hes made the
saids dilapidationes, and punische them therefore; and as they
shall conclude, the same to be inactit, and have the force of this
present Assemblie; with power lykewayes to the saids commissioners,
or maist part of them, as said is, to take order anent the planting
of sufficient and qualified pastors in burrowtownes presently
vaickand, and are not plantit at this present Assemblie; with power
also to receave from the Richt Reverend Father, James Archbishop
of Glasgow, and Mr William Struthers, minister at Edinburgh, the
cannons of church discipline committit to their charge, to revise the
same, allow and disallow thereof, and to direct ane supplicatione
to his Majestie desyring that it wald please his Heines to ratifie
and approve the samen, and to warrant the printing thereof be his
authoritie royall.
* * * * *
We have now accomplished the main part of the task in which for some
months past we have been engaged, namely, to print for the first
time, in a complete and connected state, all that now remains of
the earliest record of the Reformed Church of Scotland. That record
extends from 1560 to 1616 inclusive. And as stated in previous
notes, the proceedings in the Assemblies, during the period now
referred to, constitute what has been long denominated “The Booke
of the Universall Kirk of Scotland.” The concluding part of our
undertaking still remains to be performed in such illustrative notes
and documents as are requisite for giving coherence and full effect
to these important fragments of our ecclesiastical records; and this
portion of our labours shall hereafter be prosecuted as speedily
and comprehensively as the nature of the case admits of, with a due
regard to fidelity in its accomplishment. In the meanwhile, “The
Booke,” forming of itself a volume of sufficient size, it is now
given in that shape to the public.
The reader of the preceding pages is already aware, that all the
proceedings of the Episcopal Assemblies (subsequently to that of
1602) were rescinded by the Presbyterian Conventions which took
place during the reign of Charles I. in 1638 and 1639. Even in the
proceedings of the Assemblies soon after 1592, when Presbyterianism
was established, there are various indications of the intentions
of King James VI. to insinuate Episcopacy into the constitution
of the Church; and after his accession to the throne of England,
in March 1603, his policy in this respect became more manifest.
Indeed, by an act of Parliament in 1597, (19th December,) the
insidious propositions which had been made in the Assemblies, for
the introduction of clergymen into Parliament, were given effect
to, and formed the first step in the series of encroachments on the
Presbyterian polity. Without at present going minutely into the
detail of events which followed, it may be noticed, with reference
to the rescinded acts of Assembly, that even before the Assembly
of 1602, Prelacy was virtually introduced into the Church, and
after that date it was openly established by a series of acts of
Parliament. The Assemblies of 1606, 1608, 1610, and 1616, were all
Episcopalian, as is evinced by the whole course of procedure in those
Conventions, which were one and all convoked and packed by the King,
and were held merely for the purpose of registering his edicts, and
giving a colourable aspect to these as clothed with ecclesiastical
sanction. There were two other Assemblies of like character held
in the years 1617 and 1618--in the latter of which the celebrated
Articles of Perth were adopted by the Bishops and subservient
Clergy; but of the proceedings in these two Assemblies, there is
no fragment in the MS. copies of “The Booke” to which we have had
access; nor, although the nature of these proceedings is described
by Calderwood and other historians, have we been able to discover
any detailed record similar to that which has been preserved of the
preceding Assemblies of the Church. After 1618, General Assemblies
were entirely discontinued for the space of twenty years, until, in
1638, in consequence of the great revulsion which then took place
in Scotland under the guidance of the Covenanters, another General
Assembly was convoked by authority of King Charles the First.
In conformity with the course which we have already adopted with
reference to particular epochs of our Church history, and in order
to illustrate the relation which subsisted betwixt the Church and
the State, we shall now, at the close of “The Booke,” subjoin in
an Appendix the principal Acts of Parliament which were passed in
regard to the Church, betwixt 1592 and 1638, when Presbyterianism was
re-established--thus presenting, in connexion with the Acts of the
Church, all the leading statutory enactments of the State by which
the Church polity was established, modified, and subverted, during
a period of seventy-eight years. And with these few explanatory
remarks, we commit “The Booke of the Kirk” into the hands of our
countrymen, being well assured that its pages contain much important
matter, which merits careful examination and study at the present day.
_July_ 1839.
* * * * *
And now the most grateful part of our task (for the present) only
remains--to record our thanks for the friendly assistance we
have received while engaged in the present undertaking. We owe
our acknowledgments especially to Thomas Thomson, Esq. Deputy
Clerk-Register; to the Rev. Dr Lee; and to Messrs A. M‘Donald of the
Register House, D. Laing and Ferguson, Librarians for the Writers
to the Signet; Mr Haig of the Advocates’ Library; Mr Rowan of the
Theological Library in the University of Edinburgh; to the Rev. W. B.
Smith, Chaplain of Edinburgh Castle; and to the Rev. Thomas M‘Crie,
for many facilities and much useful information, without which the
present publication would have been altogether impracticable at
present.
It was our purpose to have included in the present Volume, a Copious
Index and Glossary of obsolete words, and also to give a list of
_errata_ which we have discovered, arising unavoidably from the
frequent obscurity of the MSS. and discrepancies in orthography,
besides slips of the pen and the press; but on further reflexion,
it appears expedient to combine these useful addenda with the
_Notes_, which will be found the more satisfactory corrective of any
imperfections in the text of the Booke itself.