The H 1ST 0 R Y of the PuRITANs. VoL. II. K. Charles 1." very much embarraJTed, and that they were !lill in a chaos of confufion . ~" [the kif1g being now taken out of the hands of the parliament, and i~ "cuil:ody of the army] he takes notice what diilreffes the parliament " were in, while the common enemy was high and ilrong; and adds, '' that their extraordinary fucceJTes hitherto, were owing to the prayers of " their brethren of Scotland, and other proteilants abroad, as well as " to their own. He then mentions with concern fome other reil:raints " the aifembly lay under, but that this was not a proper feafon for " red re fs." <Ihey appoint The commillioners went home under a very heavy concern for the a foJI f~r the ilorm that was gathering over England, and for the bard!hips the prejbydiJlraDrom . I d . h r .o. h . d. r . I. d b . b . if E al d tenans ay un er wit re1peu to t e1r IJCtp me; an avmg o tamed 0 n, an ' the eilablifhment of the direEfory, tbe confifsion qffaitb and catechifms, Repin, p; ,:su. the prejbyterian diji:ipline, andRoufe's pfalms in metre, for the fervice of their kirk, they appointed a general fail:, to lament their own defection from the folemn league and covenant, and the diilreifed condition of their brethren in England, who were zealous for carrying on the work of God, but were now oppreifed, under pretence of liberty, when no lefs was aimed at than tyranny and arbitrary power. If the parliament bad diifolved the aifembly at this time, as they ought to have done, they had broke up with honour and reputation, for after. this they did little more than examine candidates for the miniilry, and fquabble about the jus divinum of preibytery; the grand confultations con– cerning public affairs, and praClifing upon the new eilablilhment, being tranflated to the provincial aJTemblies, and weekly meetings of the Lon– don clergy at Sion college *. * That the reader may form a judgment of what was intended to be ellablilhed in Eng• fond, it may not be improrer to fet before him in one l'iew, the difcipline that was then fettled in tile kirk of Scotland,. and fubfills at this time. " In Scotland there are eight " hundred and. ninety parilhes, each of which is divided, in proportion to its extent, into " particular dif!rich, and every dillriCi has its own ruling elders and deacons; the ruling " elders :ue men of the principal quality and intere!t in the parilh, and the deacons are " perfHns of a good character for manners and underflanding. A confiftory of minillers, " eldero, and deacons, is called a kirk fefiion, the loweft ecclefiaftical judicatory, which " meets once a week, to confider the affairs of the parilh. tThe miniller is always mode· " rator, but without a negative; appeals lie from hence to their own prefbyteries, which are the next higher judiEatories, Scotland is divided into fixty-nine prefbyteries, each " conf1fling of from twelve to twenty-four contiguous parilhes. The minillers of thefe pari01es, with one ruling elder, chofen half yearly out of every kirk fefiion, compofe « a prefbytery. They meet in the bead t•wll and chufe t!ieir moderator, who mufi be a " minifier, half yearly; from hence appeals lie to provincial fynods, which are compofed· " of feveral adjacent prefbyteries. T-wo,. three, four to eight; there are fifteen in all. " The members are a minifier and and a ruling elder out of every parilh. Thefe fynods " meet twice a year, at the principal town of its bounds. They chufc a moderator, " who is their prolocutor. The aCis of the fynods are fubjeCi to the review of the general " alfembly, the dernier rcfort of the kirk of Swland, It con!ifis of commifiioners from " prefbytenes,
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