Acts: 1776

The principal acts of the general assembly, convened at Edinburgh, May 23, 1776.

I. Sess. 1, May 23, 1776.—The King's Commission to Charles Lord Cathcart produced and ordered to be recorded.

The General Assembly, &c.

II. Sess. 1, May 23, 1776.—The King's most gracious Letter to the General Assembly, presented to them by David Dalrymple, Esq.

George, R., &c.

III. Sess. 3, May 25, 1776.—The General Assembly's Answer to the King's most gracious Letter.

May it please your Majesty, &c.

IV. Sess. 5, May 28, 1776.—The General Assembly's Address to his Majesty on the present situation of Affairs.

May it please your Majesty,
We, your Majesty's most dutiful subjects, the ministers and elders met in the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, animated with the same sentiments of loyalty which prevail among the people under our care, embrace this first opportunity of joining with them in declaring, that, at this interesting juncture, our attachment to your Majesty's person and government, and our zeal for the constitution and rights of Great Britain, continue firm and unshaken.

Under a constitution founded on the principles of liberty, and governed by a Sovereign whose reign has been uniformly distinguished by a sacred regard for the rights of his people, we have enjoyed a felicity which our forefathers struggled and prayed for, but did not obtain; and we daily bless that God, by whom kings reign, for your mild and equitable administration. Sensible of our own happiness, and reposing with confidence on your Majesty's attention to the welfare of all your people, it is with no less astonishment than regret that we have beheld those alarming events which disturb the tranquillity of your reign.

But while we deeply bewail the progress of that spirit which hath prompted our fellow-subjects in North America to take arms in opposition to your Majesty's anthority, and the supremacy of the British legislature, we contemplate, with peculiar satisfaction, that striking proof which your Majesty now gives of your paternal affection, by vesting in the same respectable persons whom you have entrusted with the command of your formidable fleets and armies, the power of displaying the extent of your Majesty's clemency, and of conciliating the alienated minds of your subjects.

We consider ourselves as called upon, in the present situation of public affairs, to exert our utmost diligence in discharging the important functions of our sacred office, in order to confirm the people committed to our charge in their reverence for the laws of their country, in their attachment to the system of legal government established by the glorious Revolution, and in their loyalty towards your Majesty, whom they have experienced to be the faithful guardian of those liberties which your illustrious House was called to maintain.

These endeavours shall ever be accompanied with our servent prayers to Almighty God, that he may go forth with the fleets and armies of our country; that he may bless the humane means employed by your Majesty to recal our fellow-subjects to a sense of their duty, and to put a speedy period, without effusion of blood, to the present dangerous and unnatural rebellion; that he who stilleth the tumults of the people, and ruleth the spirit of man, may, in his good time, turn the hearts of the children unto their fathers; that out of confusion order may arise; that in place of anarchy and civil discord, submission to legal authority may return; and the union between Great Britain and her Colonies may be happily re-established, so that both may long rejoice under the government of your Majesty, as their common parent and benefactor.
May it please your Majesty, 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 at our appointment, by
John Ker, Moderator.

V. Sess. 6, May 29, 1776.—The General Assembly's Congratulatory Address to his Majesty on the Birth of another Princess.

May it please your Majesty, We, your Majesty's most dutiful subjects, the ministers and elders of the Church of Scotland, embrace with pleasure the opportunity which our meeting in a General Assembly affords us of approaching your throne with respectful congratulations on the birth of another Princess.

Animated with the principles of loyalty and inviolable regard to your royal person and family, we cannot fail to rejoice in an event which adds to your domestic felicity.

Possessed as we are with reverence and gratitude towards the illustrious House of Hanover, to which, under God, the nation is indebted for the full enjoyment of the Protestant religion, and of public liberty, we must consider the increase of your royal family as an happy pledge of the security of our civil and religious rights, which our ancestors were solicitous to establish, by calling your august family to the throne of these kingdoms. On that throne may it flourish to the latest posterity.

With our fervent prayers for the blessing of the Most High' to rest on your Majesty, on your illustrious Consort the Queen, and on all your royal progeny, we are,
May it please your Majesty, 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 at our appointment, by
John Ker, Moderator.

VI. Sess. 9, June 1, 1776.—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.

VII. Sess. 9, June 1, 1776.—Commission to some Ministers and Ruling Elders for discussing Affairs referred to them.

The General Assembly, &c.

VIII. Sess. 5, May 28, 1776.—Act disjoining the Parish of Nenthorn from the Presbytery of Lauder, and annexing the same to the Presbytery of Kelso.

The which day, the General Assembly had transmitted to them, by their Committee for Bills, a petition for Mr Abraham Kerr, minister at Nenthorn, setting forth, that the removal of the Presbytery of Lauder from Earlston to Lauder, which is at a considerable distance from Nenthorn, made it extremely inconvenient for him (especially in winter) to attend the meetings of the Presbytery of Lauder; and as Kelso is much nearer, it would be more convenient for him and his parishioners that the parish of Nenthorn be disjoined from the Presbytery of Lauder, and united to the Presbytery of Kelso. That both the Presbyteries and the Synod of Merse and Teviotdale had agreed thereto; and along with the petition he produced a letter, addressed to the Moderator of this Assembly, signed by all the heritors of the parish of Nenthorn, agreeing to the disjunction, and craving that the General Assembly would disjoin the said parish of Nenthorn from the Presbytery of Lauder, and unite and annex the same to the Presbytery of Kelso. Which petition and letter being read and considered by the General Assembly, they unanimously did, and hereby do, disjoin the parish of Nenthorn from the Presbytery of Lauder, and unite and annex the same to the Presbytery of Kelso; and declare Mr Kerr, and his successors in office, constituent members of the Presbytery of Kelso in all time coming.

IX. Sess. 6, May 29, 1776.—Act Reponing Mr Robert Dalrymple to the Office of the Holy Ministry.

The General Assembly, taking into consideration a petition of Mr Robert Dalrymple, late minister at Dallas, presented to the Synod of Moray, and referred by them to this Assembly, craving that he might be restored to the ministerial character, of which he was deprived by a sentence of this Church more than twelve years ago, in the justice of which he acquiesced; at the same time, that it had been unspeakably distressing to him, had borne so hard upon his mind, and given him so deep concern, that nothing appeared to him of such importance, and so comforting, as to be restored to his former character. And the Assembly having had laid before them, together with the above petition, a representation from the Synod of Moray, bearing, That they had unexceptionable evidence, both from the testimony of their own members, and from the places where Mr Dalrymple had resided, of his decent and useful behaviour since he was deposed, and were, therefore, unanimously of opinion, that it would be in no respect hurtful to the interests of religion, but otherwise, to agree to his petition; but that as the Assembly had affirmed the sentence of the Synod deposing him, they submitted it to the Assembly, whether, upon what is above represented, it would not be proper to take off the said sentence? The General Assembly, considering the above petition and representation, did unanimously, and hereby do, take off the sentence of deposition passed upon the said Mr Robert Dalrymple, and repone him to the office of a minister of the Gospel.

X. Sess. 6, May 29, 1776.—Act altering the Day of Meeting of the Synod of Fife.

The which day, the General Assembly had transmitted to them, from their Committee for Overtures, an overture from the Synod of Fife, craving that the Assembly would alter the day of the Synod's meeting, from the first to the second Wednesday of October: Which being read and considered by the General Assembly, they unanimously did, and hereby do, change the day of meeting of the Synod of Fife from the first to the second Wednesday of October yearly; and appoint the said Synod to meet on the second day of October next.

XI. Sess. ult., June 3, 1776.—Act Changing the Place of Meeting of the Synod of Galloway.

The which day, the General Assembly had transmitted to them, by their Committee for Bills, a petition for the Synod of Galloway, craving, that the Assembly would be pleased to change the place of the Synod's meeting from Wigton to Newton-Stewart; and along with the petition there was produced an extract of the Synod's proceedings relative to this matter: Which petition and extract being considered by the General Assembly, they unanimously did, and hereby do, change the place of the Synod of Galloway's meeting from Wigton to Newton-Stewart; and appointed the ordinary and stated meetings of that Synod to be held at Newton-Stewart in all time coming, allowing the Synod to adjourn occasionally to Kirkcudbright, Wigton, Stranraer, or elsewhere.

XII. Sess. 5, May 28, 1776.—Act anent the Age of Ruling Elders.

The General Assembly, upon the report of their Committee for Overtures, finding that a considerable majority of the Presbyteries of this Church have now agreed to an overture anent the age of ruling elders, and the electing them to represent sessions in Presbyteries and Synods, did thereupon agree, without a vote, to turn the said overture into a standing act. And, accordingly, the General Assembly did, and hereby do enact,—1mo, That no person shall be ordained an elder of this Church before he is twenty-one years of age complete; 2do, That all Presbytery elders shall be elected, within two months after the sitting of Synod, to attend the Presbytery and ensuing Synod of that bounds, and in case of death or demission, a new election shall be made within one month of the same; 3tio, That every elder so chosen shall produce an extract of his election, under the hand of the session-clerk, before he be received on the roll either of Presbytery or Synod.

XIII. Sess. ult., June 3, 1776.—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 22d day of May, in the year 1777.

Collected and extracted from the Records of the General Assembly, by GEORGE WISHART, Cls. Eccl. Scot.

Sess. 5, May 28, 1776.—Overture anent Persons going to be Licensed and Ordained without the Bounds of this Church.

(Re-transmitted.)

Sess. 9, June 1, 1776.—Overture anent Licensing Probationers. (fn. 1)