The annals of King James and King Charles the First ... containing a faithful history and impartial account of the great affairs of state, and transactions of parliaments in England from the tenth of King James MDCXII to the eighteenth of King Charles MDCXLII : wherein several material passages relating to the late civil wars (omitted in former histories) are made known.

A Direction for Presbyteries.

THat every Presbytery have a Copy of the Act made at Dundy the seventh of March, 1597. concerning the number of Commissioners; the tenour whereof followeth.

Because there hath been no order hitherto anent the number of Commissioners to be directed from every Presbytery to the General Assembly, therefore it is statuted and ordained, that in all time coming three of the wisest and gravest of the Brethren shall be di∣rected from every Presbyterie at the most, as Commis∣sioners to every Assembly, and that none presume to come without Commission: And likewise, that one be directed from every Presbytery in name of the Ba∣rons, and one out of every Burgh, except Edenburgh, which shall have power to direct two Commissioners to the General Assembly.

2. That every Presbytery have a Copy of the Com∣mission to be given to the Commissioners; the tenour thereof follows.

T. T. the day of The which day after calling upon the Name of God, We the Members of the Presbytery of having diligently considered the manifold corruptions, inno∣vations, and disorders, disturbing our peace, and tending to the overthrow of our Religion, and Liber∣ties of the Reformed Church within this Realm; which hath come to pass, especially through the want of the necessary remedy of General Assemblies, as well ordi∣nary as pro re nata, injoyed by this Church for many years, and ratified by Act of Parliament. And now expecting shortly by the mercy of God the benefit of a free General Assembly, do by these Presents nominate and appoint Minister of as also in name of the Burroughs, con∣junctly and severally our lawful Commissioners, giving and granting unto them our full Power, Commission, and express Charge, to repair to the said Assembly at the day and place, when and where it shall happen to sit, in any safe and commodious place within this King∣dom, and there with the rest who shall be authorized with lawful Commission, in our name to propone, treat, reason, vote, and conclude, according to the Word of God, and Confession of Faith approved by sundry Ge∣neral Assemblies, and received throughout the whole Kingdom in all Ecclesiastical Matters, competent to a free General Assembly, and tending to the advance∣ment of the Kingdom of Christ, and the good of Religion, as they will answer to God; and his Church thereupon, and to report to us their dili∣gence therein. In testification of this our Commission and Charge, we have subscribed these Presents with our Hands, and which they have accepted with the lifting up of their Hands.

3. That every Church-Session send one of the most qualified Elders unto the Presbytery the day of chu∣sing Commissioners to the General Assembly: That by common consent of the Ministers and those Elders present in the Presbytery, there may be chosen both the Commissioners for the Ministers, and also some well affected and qualified Nobleman, or special Gen∣tleman, being an Elder of some particular Church-Session within that Presbytery, in name of the Ba∣rons: For this is the constitution of the Presbyteries, (otherwise called Elderships) appointed by the Church in the Books of Discipline, Acts of the General Assem∣bly, practised for many years after the Reformation, and ratified in the Parliament, the twelfth of King James the Sixth, and never since altered nor rescind∣ed; neither can be with reason altered, seeing that same is the constitution of the Supream and General Assem∣blies, and of the Inferiour and Church-Sessions, as is at more length cleared by some Reasons.

4. That such as are erroneous in Doctrine, or scan∣dalous in Life, be presently processed, that they be not chosen Commissioners; and if they shall happen to be chosen by the greater part, that all the best affected, both Ministers and Elders, protest and come to the As∣sembly to testifie the same.

5. To send to every Presbytery a Copy of the printed Reasons for an Assembly.

6. That Moderators by vertue of their Office be not Commissioners to the Assembly, except they be cho∣sen.

7. That the Presbyteries in one of the ordinary Meetings, appoint to conveene solemnly after the twen∣tieth of September, either upon the 21, 22, 23, 24, or 25. for chusing of their Commissioners to the Assem∣bly, and for to send them hither to Edenburgh before the first of October, or so soon as they can, that with common consent, they may receive the King's last answer, and advise upon the next lawful remedies, in their extream necessities of Church and State.

8. That in the Fast to be observed on the sixteenth day of September, the second day preceding their E∣lection, they may crave God's direction therein.

TO these eight Articles they joyned (by way of Information) a very impertinent, long and tedious Discourse of Ruling Elders, too long and too simple to be here inserted, which was ad∣ded no doubt only to perswade the Ministers to admit Lay-men to have voices in their Presbyteries at the Election of the Ministers who were to be Commissioners for the Assembly; or in case of their refusal, to perswade the Lay-men to put themselves in possession, and give their voices in these Elections whether the Ministers would or no, as shall appear afterwards, both by that intru∣sion which these Lay-Elders used in many Presby∣teries, where the Ministers refused to admit them, and by some of the Tables more private instru∣ctions, by which they were ordered so to do.

Now, we desire the Reader to consider, whe∣ther the Conference which the Lord Commission∣er desired for debating of what Members the As∣sembly was to be constituted, and the matters

which were principally to be discussed there (with so much bitterness exclaimed against by them) could in any construction or sense be taken for such a prelimitation of the Assembly, either in the Members, Matter, or Manner of it, as these eight Articles composed and commanded by their Ta∣bles. In the second Article, they set down to every Presbytery, a set form of a Commission to be made to their Commissioners, which was never done before; and at the Assembly, when the several Commissions were read, it was obser∣ved that all the Commissions were the same ver∣batim, except a very few from some Presbyteries who would not be ruled by the Table; and gave power to their Commissioners to continue no lon∣ger in the Assembly, than his Majesty or his Com∣missioner in his name should continue it: In the same Article, they will have the Presbyteries in their Commissions to take it pro confesso, that the pretended and complained of Innovations are, corruptions and disorders disturbing the peace, and tending to the overthrow of their Religion and Liber∣ties within the Reformed Church of that Realm: If this be not to pre-judge and take that for grant∣ed, which was to be tried by the Assembly, whe∣ther it was so or not, viz. whether these things complained of were Innovations and Corruptions introduced in Religion, We must leave it to the Reader to judge. In the third Article they ap∣point Lay-men to sit in Presbyteries, which had not been done for above Forty years ••••fore; Nay, and these Lay-men to be equal in number with the Ministers, which is contrary to their own Book of Discipline alledged by them, which did then order that the Ministers should always exceed the number of the Lay-Elders; so that before this time they never were equal in number: Nay, that these Lay-men should have voices, not only in the chusing of their own Lay-Elder, but, which is insufferable, should have suffrage in the Election of the three Ministers Commissioners for the Assembly, which they themselves do know was never heard nor practised in that Church be∣fore, in the very first and strictest times of Re∣formation, nor ever since. In the fourth Article they order a notable trick and device of their own to be put in practice, whereby they were as∣certained, that no Minister should be chosen Com∣missioner in any Presbytery where they had any power, but such as did undoubtedly concur with them in their rebellious courses: For they ap∣pointed (and accordingly it was practised) that every man suspected to be of a different Judg∣ment from them, should presently be proceeded against and brought under the scandal of errone∣ous Life or Doctrine, and so made uncapable of being chosen Commissioner; according to which Article there were very few Ministers in the King∣dom, who had not subscribed their Covenant, but they were presently suspended by their Presbytery, where they had voices to do it, or at the least put under Process by some one or other, which could not be prevented; for no man can be de∣nied an original Process against any man whom he will implead: But yet this Article left no eva∣sion, if it should happen that such a one should be chosen Commissioner, for in this case they ordered, that the rest who gave not voices should protest against the Election, and complain of it to the General Assembly, where they were sure enough to proceed against him there, and lay him aside until his Process should be discussed, which they did put in practice upon some Mini∣sters, who did not concur in Judgment with them at the first sitting down of the Assembly. The sixth Article is directly against the Constitutions of their Church then in force, and till then pra∣ctised; the Moderator of the Presbytery being constantly one, as being most able to give an ac∣compt to the Assembly of all Presbyterial actions. The seventh Article gives order for practising the above-mentioned equivocation, and enjoyn∣eth them to make their Elections before they re∣ceived the King's Answer, and that they repair to Edenburgh immediately after their Election, that all the Commissioners elected may consult before hand upon what was to be said or done at the Assembly; which is in effect neither more nor less, than to receive direction from their Tables how to carry themselves at the Assem∣bly, and indeed to preconvene and hold the As∣sembly at Edenburgh before their meeting at Glascow.

These were their publick Instructions which they were not ashamed to avow and send abroad from their Tables, as it were by publick Autho∣rity, to the several Presbyteries of that King∣dom; and whether they do not contain prelimi∣tations of the Assembly, we shall leave it to the Reader to judge: But whether, if his Majesty, Commissioner, or Council, had sent any such di∣rections and instructions to the several Presby∣teries, they would not have exclaimed against them as unsufferable prelimitations of that As∣sembly, and pre-judgings of the Liberties of the Church of Christ in that Realm, the King did ap∣peal even to their own Consciences. And yet these publick instructions are nothing to the pri∣vate ones, which they durst not communicate to all their Party, but only to some one Laick, and one Minister, their special Confidents in every Presbytery, of which you shall hear more after∣wards in their due place.

Notwithstanding all these discouragements, arising from the disorderly proceedings of the Covenanters in the time of his absence, the Lord Commissioner the day after the time prefixed for his return, viz. the 22. day of September, 1638. assembled the Council at the Palace of Holy-rood-house, and there first delivered unto them this Let∣ter from his Majesty, as followeth.