Acts of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland 1638-1842. Originally published by Edinburgh Printing & Publishing Co, Edinburgh, 1843.
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'Acts: 1769', in Acts of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland 1638-1842, (Edinburgh, 1843) pp. 777-779. British History Online https://www.british-history.ac.uk/church-scotland-records/acts/1638-1842/pp777-779 [accessed 25 April 2024]
In this section
The principal acts of the general assembly, convened at Edinburgh, May 18, 1769.
I. Sess. 1, May 18, 1769.—The King's Commission to John Earl of Glasgow produced, and ordered to be recorded.
The General Assembly, &c.
II. Sess. 1, May 18, 1769.—The King's most gracious Letter to the General Assembly, presented to them by his Majesty's Commissioner.
George, R., &c.
III. Sess. 3, May 20, 1769.—The General Assembly's Answer to the King's most gracious Letter.
May it please your Majesty, &c.
IV. Sess. 5, May 23, 1769.—An Address by the General Assembly to his Majesty.
Most Gracious Sovereign,
We, your Majesty's most dutiful subjects, the ministers and elders met in the National Assembly of the Church of Scotland, consider it as our duty, at this juncture,
to approach your throne with the warmest professions of our sincere attachment to
your royal person and family. As the Church of Scotland is indebted for its preservation, in times of danger and persecution, to the Divine protection, it owes its civil
establishment to the principles of liberty. Under the same Illustrious Monarch who
secured the succession of the British Throne to the House of Hanover, the protection
of law was obtained for the Church of Scotland; and the members of this Church
have uniformly distinguished themselves, no less by the love of liberty, which the
genius of our ecclesiastical constitution tends to cherish, than by their attachment to
your Majesty's royal ancestors, the faithful guardians of the rights of their people.
Animated with the warmest sentiments of loyalty and affection to our Sovereign, we embrace the first opportunity that hath offered to us of expressing our hearty concern at that spirit of licentiousness, and those unhappy dissensions which have disturbed your Majesty in the seat of your government, and begin now to alarm the minds of good citizens in the most remote parts of your dominions. Fully sensible of your Majesty's paternal goodness, and constant endeavours to promote the public happiness, we cannot sufficiently lament that this gracious purpose should be obstructed by any part of your subjects.
It is, however, with much satisfaction that we assure your Majesty, that the great body of the people under our care, sensible of the blessings which they enjoy under your auspicious reign, are actuated with zeal for our happy constitution, and with respect and love for their Sovereign. No pains shall be wanting on our part to cherish and improve those happy dispositions. At the same time that we inculcate upon them a supreme reverence for the doctrines and precepts of Christianity, we will omit no opportunity of impressing them with loyalty to our King, veneration for the constitution, and obedience to the laws of our country.
We offer, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, our prayers to Almighty God,
that he may long preserve your Majesty to be the guardian of our civil and religious
rights:That he may comfort your heart under the cares and burdens of government;
and guide your councils by his unerring wisdom: That there may ever surround the
throne men of approved ability and integrity, possessing the confidence of their Sovereign, and the esteem of their fellow-subjects; and that these lands, ruled by your
Majesty and your royal descendants, may continue to the latest ages to be the happy
seat of religion, liberty, and the valuable arts of life, are, and shall be, the constant
prayers of,
Most Gracious Sovereign, your Majesty's most faithful, most obedient,
and most loyal subjects, the Ministers and Elders met in this National Assembly of the Church of Scotland.
Signed in our name, in our presence, and by our appointment,by
James M'knight, Moderator.
V. Sess. 9, May 27, 1769—Commission to some Ministers and Ruling Elders for Reformation of the Highlands and Islands, and for Managing his Majesty's Royal Bounty for that end.
The General Assembly, &c.
VI. Sess. ult May 29, 1769.—Commission to some Ministers and Ruling Elders for discussing Affairs referred to them
The General Assembly, &c.
VII. Sess. ult., May 29, 1769—Act appointing the Diet of the next General Assembly.
The next General Assembly of this National Church is appointed to be held in this place, on Thursday, the 24th day of May, in the year 1770.
Collected and extracted from the Records of the General Assembly, by
George Wishart, Cls. Eccl. Scot.
Former Overtures again transmitted.
Sess. ult., May 29, 1769.—The Act of Assembly, 1732, anent the Method of Planting Vacant Churches, transmitted as an Overture to Presbyteries (fn. 1)
(See Act 8th, 1732.)