and in the judicatories, and contributed greatly to heal the fchifm that was among us.

This church having been long overwhelmed with ruins, this Affembly 1690 had much work to do, to remove fome of the rubbish, and establish some order: They had multitudes of curates remaining in the churches ftill to deal with; they had civil rulers urging a coalition with, or comprehenfion of, many of them; they had rents among themselves to heal and many other difficulties to grapple with. Amidst all these they did a great many good things, fuch as appointing all minifters, elders, and probationers, to fubfcribe the Confeffion of Faith; making acts for keeping the Lord's day, and for applying the Parliament to alter markets from Saturdays and Mondays, for erecting schools in the Highlands, providing them with Irish Bibles, for refcinding the sentences paft by the public refolutioners and protestors against one another. They appointed large committees or commiffions for vifiting feveral parts of the national church, with inftructions how to manage; they also appointed two of their number to repair to London, to wait upon the king concerning the affairs of this church. And for further healing of their rents, turning away the wrath of God, and imploring his mercy, they appointed a national faft to be obferved on the fecond Thursday of January thereafter: In the caufes whereof, they enumerate a great many fins of the land, both in the former and present times; fuch as, "Ingratitude for mercies, treacherous dealing with God, unitedfaftrefs in his covenant, falling from their first love, open defection of all ranks from the ways of God, by horrid immoralities, and facrificing the interest of Chrift and privileges of his church to the will and lufts of men, introducing Prelacy, imposing and taking unlawful oaths, fhedding innocent blood, the general fainting under the late perfecutions, and even of eminent minifters, by either yielding to the defections and evils of time, or not giving feasonable and neceffary teftimony against them; ignorance and neglect of Christ, and of living by faith on him; contempt of the gofpel, and barrennefs under it; want of holiness and piety VOL IV. towards

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towards God, and of love and charity towards men; the most part being more ready to cenfure the fins of others, than to repent of their own." Thefe, and a great many other evils, they mention as a ground of fafting. It has indeed been complained of, that the hints given of fome of thefe evils are too general.

doubt, if the drawing of the act had been put in fome hands, thefe had been more particularly and fully expreffed, and the Affembly would not have fcrupled to have approven the act in that fhape. It is wished the act had been more full and explicit, with refpe&t to the fhedding of the blood of God's faints and martyrs under prelacy, the king's ecclefiaftic fupremacy then advanced to a moft blafphemous height, the felf-contradictory oath of the abominable teft, and the fearful indignities done to our covenants, which we find mentioned by fubfequent affemblies, and for which there is caufe of mourning and humiliation to this day. Likewife we wish they had done more to retrieve the honour of thefe broken and burnt Covenants, by openly afferting the lawfulness and obligation of them, and applying to the civil powers for their concurrence to renew them, or rather of one made up of both, with accommodation to their times and circumstances. doubt they were well apprifed of the oppofition that would be made to fuch a motion, as they found made to other fuch defigns, and particularly to that of purg ing the church, and keeping out of judicatories thofe who were enemies to it; in which they met with strenuous oppofition from statesmen and great men in power, and even from the throne itself; as appears from the king to the Commiffion of Affembly 1690, and his letter to Affembly 1692, wherein he preffes ftrongly their uniting with the Epifcopal minifters then in churches. His commiffioner, the Earl of Lothian, feconded the king's letter; and, because they fell not in with it, he faid he had orders to diffolve the Affembly, which he did, without naming a diet for another.

No

And here we cannot but obferve the noble spirit and difpofition of the Affembly 1692, which they fhewed upon that occafion. The moderator, Mr William

Crichton,

Crichton, in his fpeech to the Commiffioner, delivered himfelf as follows: "May it please your Grace, this Affembly, and all the members of this national church, are under the greatest obligations poffible to his Majesty:: and, if his Majefty's commands to us had been in any or all our concerns in the world, we would have laid our hands upon our mouth and been filent; but they being for a diffolution of this Affembly, without indicting another to a certain day, therefore, having been moderator to this Affembly, I in their name, they adhering to me, humbly crave leave to declare, that the office-bearers in the houfe of God have a fpiritual intrinfic power from Jefus Chrift, the only Head of his church, to meet in Affembly about the affairs thereof, the neceffity of the fame being first reprefented to the magistrate; and further, I humbly crave, that the diffolution of this Affembly, without indicting a new one to a certain day, may not be to the prejudice of our yearly General Affemblies granted us by the laws of the kingdom." Here the members rose up, and with one voice declared their adherence to what the modera tor had faid. Whereupon, the moderator turning him.. felf to the Affembly, as if he was to pray, the members, by a general cry, preffed to name a diet for the next General Affembly. The moderator thereupon faid, That, if they pleafed, the next General Affembly. might meet here at Edinburgh, upon the third Wednesday of August 1693 years. And the members did again with one voice declare their approbation thereof. Wherefore those who knew the difficulties our ancestors had then to struggle with, will rather be inclined to pity than cenfure them, and to blefs God that helped. them to do fo well; though still it must be owned, it would have been much for the church's exoneration, that matters had been more plainly and clofely laid to the door of the ftate, that the world might have seen where the ftop was.

Nevertheless, by that wonderful Revolution, all perfecution was ftopt, and the church enjoyed the freedom of gofpel ordinances; the Lord gave large teftimony to the word of his grace, and there were great days of

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the "Son of man" in many places of the land, and multitudes of fouls were brought in to Jefus Chrift their Saviour. Likewife judicatories did many good things, fome of which we fhall inftance.

The General Affembly, in the years 1694, 1697, 1698, and fubfequent years, fhewed great zeal for fuppreffing profanenefs and immorality, by making many acts to that purpose, and by applying to the Parliament to concur with them by the civil authority; who were pleased to revive former acts, and make feveral excellent new acts for that end, which the Affembly appointed to be read, together with their own acts, frequently from the pulpits. Likewife, it was the care and bufinefs of the General Affembly, for many years, to get the North and Highlands fupplied and planted with proper minifters; they fent diverfe committees of the most experienced minifters to purge and plant the North, and tranfported many of the beft minifters of the South to that country.

Thefe firft Affemblies, and feverals fince, have made ftrict laws with refpect to licensing preachers, not only about their learning, orthodoxy, and prudence ; but have appointed prefbyteries "to make narrow enquiry into their moral character and piety, and what fenfe and impreffions they have of religion upon their own fouls; and they declare that fuch as are esteemed to be vain, imprudent, proud, or worldly-minded, by the generality of fober intelligent perfons who converse with them, fhall be kept back from that facred work." Happy were it for the church, if these excellent rules were ftrictly observed by all the prefbyteries of this church!

They made acts against the Atheistical opinions of the Deifts and others. They condemned the errors of Madam Bourignon, and depofed Dr Garden for efpoufing them. They ftrictly appointed all ministers and preachers to fubfcribe the Confeffion of Faith. And for preferving of truth, and for preventing the corrupting of youth with error and immorality, they appointed all schoolmafters, chaplains, and governors. of youth, to fubfcribe the Confeffion of Faith; and

those

those who do not fo, or are guilty of negligence, errɔr or immorality, they appointed prefbyteries to apply to magistrates, heritors, &c. to get them removed from their offices. They also enacted, That those who fhould receive licence or ordination from any of the late prelates, fhould be incapable of minifterial communion with this church, till they give evidence of their repentance.

They made excellent barrier acts, for preventing all innovations in our doctrine, worship, or government, by appointing that all thefe acts which are to be binding rules and constitutions to the church, shall first be propofed as overtures to the Affembly, and be tranf mifted by them to the feveral prefbyteries of this church, that they may fend their opinions or consent to the next Affembly, who may then pafs the fame into acts, if the more general opinion of the church, thus had, agreed thereunto. They made many acts and frequent applications to the government, for fuppreffing and preventing the growth of popery; and encouraged ftudents and preachers having Irish, that they might be useful in those parts; and do ftill continue to fend fuch to aflift the minifters where popery abounds, by preaching, catechifing, and inftructing of the people, for counteracting the trafficking priests among them: In which defign our Sovereign now concurs, by the yearly bounty of a thoufand pounds Sterling. Alfo the Affembly have been at great pains to get fchools erected in every parifh throughout the land, and appoint minifters to fee that none be fuffered to neglect the teaching of their children to read, and that the poor be taught upon charity.

The commiffion of Affembly 1699, according to their inftructions, fent four worthy minifters, Meffrs Shields, Boreland, Stobo, and Dalgliesh, with the Scots colony to America; and one great defign was for propagating the gospel, and converting the Heathen in thofe parts. The Affembly 1700 appointed a national faft, and one fpecial ground was for their fuccefs. Of which they acquainted them by a letter, in which they directed them, upon their landing and fettling in America,