record which is not less interesting to the historical inquirer, than to those who trace the civil and religious privileges which the Presbyterian Church enjoys, to the ardent and pious exertions of those Christian patriots who laid the foundation of civil and religious liberty in the land which we inherit from our forefathers. The following notices from Dr Lee's letter to the editor (7th April 1830) are pertinent to our present purpose: "The books in Sion College form the whole of the existing Record of the Assemblies of the Church, prior to the year 1638. Nothing of that period is extant in Scotland, with the exception of an abstract, of which there are two copies in the Advocates' Library, one in possession of the Church, and one at Glasgow. "The reprinted acts from 1638 to 1649 have not been preserved. Some fragments remain, but they are unauthenticated. I obtained a number of them about twelve years ago in Fife, and I had no difficulty in tracing them to Bishop Paterson,* as part of his family papers were mixed up with them. "Bell's Abridgment of the Acts of Assembly is far more meagre than Dundas'. It extends to 88 pages 12mo, or rather 18mo, and it is printed in a large type. It goes back to 1638. ⚫ JOHN PATERSON, son of John Paterson, Bishop of Ross, was first a minister at Ellon, in Aberdeenshire, afterwards minister of the Tron Church, and Dean of Edinburgh, and was appointed Bishop of Galloway, 23d October 1674, in which see he continued till 29th March 1679, when he was translated to that of Edinburgh, where he continued till 1687. He was promoted to the archiepiscopal see of Glasgow, of which he was deprived at the Revolution in 1688. He died at Edinburgh, 8th December 1706, in the 76th year of his age.—ED. "You are aware that there is no convenienc at present for consulting the books of the Assem bly, such as they are. These particulars are necessary to be stated, i submitting to the public any Abridgment of the Acts of the General Assembly of the Church o Scotland; and it is by gleaning the scattered materials from the sources now alluded to that the following Abridgment has been made up. It is only necessary further to explain, that, in making up that portion of this Abridgment which embraces the period betwixt 1560 and 1638, it has been considered expedient to give the substance of the acts, in their chronological order, under the head "ACTS OF ASSEMBLY," rather than in detached shreds, arranged alphabetically, with reference to the different subjects of them-leaving it to the reader, by consulting the index, to trace out the acts upon any particular subject on which he may desire information. With this exception, the more prominent subjects of the acts will generally be found in an alphabetical order, somewhat similar to the classification in Dundas' Abridgment. Edinburgh, 22d April 1831. ALEX. PETERKIN. PREFACE TO THIS EDITION OF THE ABRIDGMENT. THE first edition of the "Compendium of the Laws of the Church of Scotland" having been exhausted, a reprint of the first volume sometime go became necessary; and now a new edition of the second volume being called for, the Editor bas availed himself of the opportunity thus sented of incorporating in this portion of the work a great variety of minute additions to it, furnished by the legislation of the Church itself, and other sources of information. pre The last ten years have produced considerable changes on the internal frame-work and external position of the Church. To these it is not necessary particularly to refer. But the Editor may briefly remark, that, during that period, time has evolved many facts and events which give to this period a marked character, as a distinct era in the history of the Church. The earlier records of the Church have perished by fire; the Act of Assembly anent Calls, and its results, have in a great measure remodelled the constitution of the establishment; and the recent decisions of the Civil Courts, with regard to ecclesiastical affairs, have produced at the present day such a state of matters, that it were rash and unwise to predicate aught of the consequences which may thence aris On such topics, however, it would be unsuitabl even in the slightest degree, to enter. The Editor, however, may venture to stat that, within the last two years, he has laboured preserve, or rather to give to the Church, in a accessible form, a considerable portion of the ear laws of the Presbyterian Church of Scotlan He has transcribed and published the remainin fragments of "THE BOOKE OF THE UNIVERSAL KIRK," extending from 1560 to 1602. And, "THE RECORDS OF THE KIRK," he has reprinte the Acts of the Assemblies from 1638 to 1649, wit copious illustrations of that remarkable period in th history of the Church and country. These hav to some extent, been duly appreciated by the pul lic; and if the compiler should never receive an other requital for his labours, than the satisfactic which he derives from having thus collected, withi a narrow compass, a body of valuable information that is likely, for a season at least, to be his onl reward. The present reprint will be found to contain more extended Abridgment, than the former ed tion, of the earlier acts of the Church; and th new chapter on Commissions of Assembly wil it is hoped, supply some useful information on the subject. Edinburgh, 21st May 1840. A. P. CONTENTS. I. ACTS OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE CHURCH 1. Chronological Summary of Acts from 1560, when |