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ACT 
 
 FOR 
 
 RENEWING OUR COVENANTS 
 
 IN AN 
 
 ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF SINS, 
 
 AND 
 
 ENGAGEMENT TO DUTIES : 
 
 TOGETHER WITH A 
 
 FORMULA OF QUESTIONS 
 
 FOR ORDINATION AND LICENSE. 
 
 BY 
 
 THE ASSOCIATE SYNOD OF ORIGINAL SECEDERS. 
 
 EDINBURGH : 
 
 SOLD BY GUTHRIE AND TAIT, AND WILLIAM DON, EDINBURGH ; 
 
 WILLIAM M f CARTER, AYR J WILLIAM TROUP, ABERDEEN; 
 
 ROBERT DICK, DUNDEE ; AND JAMES DEWAR, PERTH 
 
 1828. 
 
At Edinburgh, the 15th of May 1828, 
 
 X he Associate Synod having read and corrected an Overture of 
 an Acknowledgment of Sins and Engagement to Duties, suitable 
 to the present circumstances of this church and land, unanimously 
 agree in adopting it ; and they appoint that, agreeably to the order 
 which has hitherto been observed in this work, our Covenants, the 
 National Covenant of Scotland, and the Solemn League and Cove- 
 nant of the three nations, shall be renewed, by all such as shall 
 willingly offer themselves, in the different Congregations under their 
 inspection, in the said Acknowledgment of Sins and Engagement 
 to Duties ; the tenor whereof follows, viz. ' 
 
 THE ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF SINS. 
 
 We all, and every one of us, seriously considering the great 
 goodness of God towards these lands in bringing our fathers, at an 
 early period, out of pagan darkness, and afterwards scattering the 
 thick clouds of antichristian idolatry and superstition by the light 
 of the glorious gospel of Christ ; — in disposing all ranks of persons 
 in Scotland, by a National Confession, Oath and Covenant, ex- 
 pressly to abjure the errors and corruptions of Popery, and by the 
 same covenant, frequently renewed, to bind themselves and their 
 posterity to continue in the faith, profession, and obedience of the 
 true Reformed Religion, as held forth from the word of God, in our 
 first Confession of Faith and Books of Discipline ; — and in bring- 
 ing forward all ranks of persons in the three kingdoms, by the So- 
 lemn League and Covenant, to abjure not only Popery, but also 
 Prelacy, and to engage, through the grace of God, sincerely to en- 
 deavour, in their several stations, the preservation of the said re- 
 formed religion in Scotland, and the reformation of religion in 
 England and Ireland, that so the Churches in the three kingdoms 
 might be brought to the nearest conjunction and uniformity in doc- 
 trine, worship, discipline and government, according to the Scrip- 
 tures, while every one also bound himself to personal reformation ; 
 — and that, in pursuance of the above engagements, the Assembly 
 which met at Westminster, with commissioners from the Church of 
 
Scotland, by the good hand of God upon them, agreed upon a 
 Confession of Faith, Larger and Shorter Catechisms, a form of 
 Presbyterial Church Government, and a Directory for Public 
 Worship ; all which were received and approved by the General 
 Assembly of the Church of Scotland, as parts of the covenanted 
 uniformity, while many important steps were taken at the same 
 time in England and Ireland for the reformation of religion agree- 
 ably to these standards : And considering, farther, the course of 
 defection, by which all ranks in Britain and Ireland, both in for- 
 mer and present times, have treacherously departed from the Lord, 
 by transgressing his laws, changing his ordinances, and violating 
 their covenant engagements to be the Lord's people ; and that we 
 are at present suffering under the many spiritual plagues, which 
 are the ordinary forerunners of desolating strokes both upon 
 churches and nations : — Therefore, being warranted by the com- 
 mand of God, and the approved example of his Church recorded 
 in Scripture ; and being encouraged by the example of our reli- 
 gious ancestors, and by the consideration that the public confession of 
 sin, when practised according to the word of God, and in the faith 
 of his promise of forgiveness, hath in former ages received the di- 
 vine countenance, and proved a means of the remarkable revival of 
 religion, — we desire, in a sole dependence upon promised grace, and 
 in the faith of pardon through the blood of Christ, whom God hath 
 exalted a Prince and Saviour, to give repentance and the forgive- 
 ness of sins, to acknowledge, and We hereby do acknowledge 
 and confess, as in the sight of the great Searcher of hearts, our 
 own, and the transgressions of all ranks in these lands. 
 
 We, with our fathers, have sinned — we have done wickedly — our 
 kings, our princes, our nobles, our judges, our magistrates, our 
 ministers, and all classes of persons in these lands, have been in a 
 great trespass, Though the Lord hath spoken long and clearly to 
 us in his word, yet we have not hearkened to his voice ; though we 
 have made a profession of the name of Christ, we have not been 
 careful to receive him into our hearts, nor to walk worthy of him 
 in our lives ; and in this respect we have, in a heinous degree, trans- 
 gressed the covenant of the Lord our God. Our consciences, and the 
 many judgments, both spiritual and temporal, which we are under, 
 may convince us of our manifold and wilful breaches of our solemn 
 engagements to be the Lord's people. 
 
 We acknowledge with sorrow the public defections of these 
 lands from a covenanted work of reformation. England soon dis- 
 covered a disposition to draw back and violate the engagements 
 
she had come under. Her representatives in Parliament, after ha- 
 ving sworn, along with their brethren, to " endeavour the preserva- 
 tion of the reformed religion in Scotland, in discipline and govern- 
 ment, r> and to " bring the Churches in the three kingdoms to the 
 nearest conjunction and uniformity ;" accompanied their approba- 
 tion of the presbyterial form of church-government, drawn up by 
 the Westminster Assembly, with such exceptions and restrictions 
 as rendered it in a great measure abortive in that country, and 
 as opened the way to the introduction of new sects, errors, heresies, 
 and blasphemous opinions, which till then had been unknown in 
 Britain. In Scotland, so early as 1650, in consequence of the Pub- 
 lic Resolutions, a deep wound was given to the covenanted interest, 
 by the introduction of the avowed and active enemies of the Re- 
 formation into places of power and trust. These defections from 
 the covenanted cause speedily led to the overthrow of all that had 
 been done in the late reforming period. 
 
 On the restoration of Charles II. to the throne, the Presbyterial 
 order and government of the house of God was overturned, and 
 Prelacy, which had been abjured by our covenants, was set up in 
 the three kingdoms. In Scotland, particularly, the famous Assem- 
 bly which met at Glasgow in 1638 was declared, by the Parliament, 
 an unlawful and seditious meeting ; all that was done for promot- 
 ing reformation between that period and the year 1 651 was pro- 
 nounced treasonable and rebellious; the National Covenant, as 
 sworn in the year 1638, together with the Solemn League and Co- 
 venant, were condemned as unlawful oaths, and declared not to be 
 binding ; and so great was the height of wickedness, that the So- 
 lemn League was ignominiously burnt in some considerable places 
 of the nation. The overthrow of Presbytery, and the restoration 
 of Prelacy in the three kingdoms, were accompanied with most sin- 
 ful and wicked invasions of the royal prerogatives and sole head- 
 ship of Christ over the Church, by several Parliamentary acts and 
 deeds, which asserted the king's supremacy in all causes whatso- 
 ever, and declared, that the regulation and external government of 
 the Church belonged properly to the king, as an inherent right of 
 the crown. These enactments were followed by the imposition of 
 many sinful oaths, declarations, and bonds, by which the king's 
 usurped supremacy over the house of God was recognised and ac- 
 knowledged, and a covenanted reformation renounced and abjured; 
 so that persons of all ranks in these lands who submitted to these 
 sinful encroachments, were involved in the heinous crimes of per- 
 jury and apostasy. 
 
It is to be lamented that, in this hour of trial, there was a ge- 
 neral fainting among the friends of the Reformation, which led to a 
 tame, and for some time almost universal, submission to the wicked 
 and tyrannical measures of the Court, and prevented any judicial 
 testimony being given against them. The indulgences granted bv 
 Charles II. to some ministers who had not conformed to prelacy, 
 to exercise their ministry under certain conditions, restrictions and 
 limitations, proved a snare to a number of them, who, by accept- 
 ing these, virtually acquiesced in the usurped supremacy over the 
 free and independent kingdom of Christ. And although the un- 
 limited toleration granted by the Duke of York, when raised to the 
 throne, was plainly designed for the introduction of popery and 
 slavery, and was expressly derived from a power which he claimed 
 of dispensing with the laws of the land, yet, instead of bearing tes- 
 timony against this toleration, the great body of the Presbyterian 
 ministers throughout the kingdom thankfully accepted of it. 
 
 The national apostasy was also accompanied with a grievous per- 
 secution. The witnesses for the cause of Christ became a prey, 
 especially in Scotland, to the greatest tyranny and cruelty. They 
 were not only subjected to the spoiling of their goods, to imprison- 
 ment, to banishment, and to the most cruel tortures, but their 
 blood was shed in our principal cities under colour of law, and also 
 in the high places of the field without any legal process. Thus, 
 in our skirts is to be found the blood of those who suffered for 
 the testimony of Jesus, which is crying to Heaven for vengeance to 
 this very day. 
 
 As the beautiful order, and scriptural government and discipline 
 of God's house were overturned, so in this period of treading down 
 in the valley of vision, the doctrines of religion were perverted by 
 a great influx of Arminian and other errors. This was followed 
 by a course of irreligious profaneness and oppression among all 
 ranks, which has seldom been exemplified in any country. Judg- 
 ment was turned away backward, justice stood afar off, truth failed, 
 and he who departed from evil made himself a prey, till the Lord 
 saw it, and his arm brought salvation. 
 
 While we desire to acknowledge with gratitude the great deliver- 
 ance the Lord wrought for us in these lands, at the memorable Re- 
 volution in the year 1688, by freeing us from the yoke of tyranny 
 and arbitrary government under which we then groaned, yet we 
 have to confess with sorrow, that we have not, to this day, ren- 
 dered to Him according to the benefits that we have received. We 
 understood not his wonderful works nor remembered the multitude 
 of his mercies; and instead of waiting for his counsel, we have fol- 
 
lowed the counsels of flesh and blood. We turned not to him with 
 the whole heart, by a free confession of our numerous transgres- 
 sions, and by the renovation of our solemn covenant engagements. 
 
 When we consider the evils themselves, and their baneful con- 
 sequences as to religion to this day, we have deeply to deplore, 
 that, in the year 1690, the Parliament of Scotland, at their first 
 meeting, settled Presbyterial Church-government, according to its 
 establishment in the year 1592, overlooking all the steps of refor- 
 mation attained to in the covenanting period between 1638 and 
 1650, and leaving untouched all that was done against a covenant- 
 ed reformation in the first session of Parliament after the Resto- 
 ration. Particularly the infamous act called Rescissory, which de- 
 clared null and void all the acts and deeds of the covenanting pe- 
 riod, remains unrepealed ; and that impious and wicked act de- 
 claring null and void the proceedings of that faithful Assembly at 
 Glasgow in the year 1638, stands in the body of our Scottish law 
 to this day. Thus, that great work which the Lord wrought, with 
 an outstretched arm, in the days of our fathers, lies buried under 
 several Parliamentary acts and deeds, — an iniquity which continues 
 loudly to testify against us. 
 
 And as the Estates of the nation shewed no disposition to return 
 to the Lord, so when the General Assembly of this church met the 
 same year, they sat down under the above civil establishment, with- 
 out remonstrating against what was defective in it. Though, in an 
 act for a national fast, they enumerated the heights to which the 
 supremacy had been advanced, the introduction of prelacy, the ge- 
 neral compliance with it, and the persecutions which followed, 
 among the grounds of humiliation; yet they did not, by any formal 
 act, assert the divine right of Presbytery, nor the intrinsic power of 
 the church to call her national assemblies, which are two special 
 branches of the Redeemer's glorious headship over his people. 
 They did not expressly approve our covenanted reformation, at- 
 tained between the years 1638 and 1650; nor plainly justify the 
 faithful contendings, testimonies, and sufferings of the Lord's wit- 
 nesses in the late persecuting times. They did not, by any parti- 
 cular act of Assembly, assert the obligation of our Covenants, Na- 
 tional and Solemn League, and their binding force upon posterity ; 
 nor did they particularly condemn the sinful oaths, declarations 
 and bonds, formerly mentioned ; and they admitted some into mi- 
 nisterial communion, many into the office of elders, and multitudes 
 into full communion with the church, who had taken these oaths 
 and bonds, and who were deeply involved in the guilt of persecu- 
 
8 
 
 tion, and the defections of that period of apostasy, without requir- 
 ing any evidence of their repentance. 
 
 Our public guilt was increased by the Treaty of Union with 
 England, [by which, in opposition to our covenant-union with 
 it, the maintenance of the hierarchy and ceremonies of the Church 
 of England, is made a fundamental and essential article of the 
 Union of the two kingdoms; and thus that antichristian form of 
 government and superstitious worship in the neighbouring country 
 has all the security which human laws can give it, and that 
 with the consent of Scotland, in direct violation of our solemn cove- 
 nant engagements. At a later period the consent of Scotland was 
 a second time given to the perpetual establishment of Episcopacy, 
 by the incorporating union between Great Britain and Ireland ; 
 which sealed the public apostasy of these lands. 
 
 Immediately after the Union between England and Scotland, 
 our land was brought under a load of guilt, by the imposition of 
 unlawful oaths. The oath of Abjuration was appointed to be taken, 
 first, by all in civil and military trust, and afterwards by the mi- 
 nisters of the church of Scotland ; which oath we acknowledge as 
 one of our national sins, in so far as the united constitution, re- 
 pugnant to our covenant-union, is thereby acknowledged and ap- 
 proved. In like manner, the Sacramental Test, or receiving the 
 Lord's Supper according to the superstitious usage of the Church 
 of England, was imposed on the inhabitants of Scotland, when serv- 
 ing the supreme magistrate in England, which has long continued 
 to be a national sin and snare ; and though this test has been re- 
 cently superseded, yet the legislature, in their act repealing it, have 
 renewed and increased the securities formerly given for the perpe- 
 tual preservation of the episcopal church. A superstitious form of 
 swearing was also introduced, by laying the hands upon and kiss- 
 ing the gospels. Moreover, the sinful practice was at that time in- 
 troduced, of repeatedly administering oaths to persons, even on the 
 same day, to qualify them for different offices, by which the name 
 of the Great God is profaned, and the impression which a solemn 
 oath is calculated to make upon the consciences of men, is in dan- 
 ger of being worn off. 
 
 Our provocations were greatly increased by the deep injury done 
 to many precious and important truths contained in the Scriptures, 
 and stated in our Confession of Faith ; and that not by individuals 
 only, but also by the judicatories of the Established Church. 
 
 Particularly, in a process brought before these judicatories, 
 
9 
 
 it was clearly proved that the Professor of Divinity * in one 
 of our universities, had taught a number of dangerous errors : 
 Among others, that " nothing is to be admitted in religion but 
 what is agreeable to reason, and determined by reason to be so ;" 
 and that " there was not a proper covenant made with Adam and 
 his posterity." But this process the Assembly dismissed without 
 any censure inflicted upon that teacher, and without any particular 
 and express testimony against his dangerous errors. In the right- 
 eous judgment of God, the same teacher was permitted in a few 
 years to impugn the Deity of the great God our Saviour ; for, in 
 another process against him, it was found proved at the Bar of the 
 Assembly that he had taught that " our Lord Jesus Christ is not 
 necessarily existent ;" and that " the terms Necessary Existence, 
 Supreme Deity, and the title of the Only True God, may be taken 
 in a sense that includes the personal property of the Father, and so 
 not belonging to the Son ;"" yet the judicatories of* the Nationa 
 Church neither inflicted any other censure upon the teacher of these 
 errors, but a mere suspension, nor expressly condemned the errors 
 themselves as contrary to the word of God, nor asserted the truth 
 in opposition to the terms in which it had been impugned and de- 
 nied. 
 
 In another university, one of the professors * was convicted at the 
 bar of the judicatories of having vented errors, by which the super- 
 natural operations of the Holy Spirit were indirectly traduced, and 
 the peculiar doctrines of the Gospel, as well as the fundamental 
 principles of natural religion, were subverted ; — and particularly of 
 having taught that " self-love, interest, or pleasure, is the sole and 
 universal motive to virtuous actions ;*" — yet the General Assembly 
 dismissed this teacher without any censure. 
 
 At a period considerably later, another minister of the Esta- 
 blished Church -f- published a book, in which Christ is represented 
 as a person of our own order, the necessity and reality of the atone- 
 ment made by his death are denied, repentance is taught to be the 
 proper atonement for past transgressions, and faith and sincere 
 obedience made the foundation of the hope of future happiness ; and 
 in another publication, he made a violent attack upon Confessions 
 of Faith, as subordinate standards of orthodoxy. But though this 
 cause was brought before the Presbytery to which the author of 
 these books belonged, and also before the Synod and General As- 
 sembly, he was dismissed without any censure, merely upon his con- 
 fessing that " there are in his publications ideas which may appear 
 
 * Mr Simson. f Mr Campbell. £ Dr Macgill. 
 
10 
 
 improper, and modes of expression, with respect to some things, 
 ambiguous and unguarded, which he disclaims, and for which he is 
 heartily sorry." 
 
 Our iniquities have also increased by the conduct of the established 
 judicatories, in exercising a lordly power and authority over the heri- 
 tage of God, and in grossly perverting the ordinance of discipline. The 
 right of presentation to vacant churches, claimed by patrons, and abo- 
 lished at the Revolution, was, in the year 1712, again restored by 
 act of Parliament ; and though patronage is contrary to the word 
 of God, and the principles of the reformed church of Scotland, yet 
 the judicatories of the National Church began, not many years af- 
 ter, to countenance and support that antichristian usurpation, by 
 intruding presentees upon reclaiming congregations. Not satisfied 
 with enforcing the law of patronage, the Assembly violated the 
 rights of the people, in cases where they were left at complete li- 
 berty, as appears from their act 1732, respecting the settlement of 
 parishes in which patrons did not exercise the right of presentation ; 
 and although this act was afterwards repealed, on account of its in- 
 formality, yet the church courts persevered in their violent mea- 
 sures, till, at length, the opposition, at first made to them both by 
 ministers and people, gradually died away. When a number of 
 ministers, being driven by the tyrannical proceedings of the judica- 
 tories from the communion of the Established Church, had formed 
 themselves into a Presbytery, and published a Testimony against 
 these and other corruptions, the General Assembly, instead of be- 
 ing reclaimed, condemned that Testimony, and proceeded against 
 the ministers to deposition, by which they declared their determi- 
 nation not only to persist in their course of defection, but also, by 
 perverted authority, to suppress all opposition to it. 
 
 Although we consider ourselves called upon gratefully to ac- 
 knowledge the kindness of God to the ministers who were forced to 
 make a Secession from the judicatories of the National Church, and 
 who erected themselves first into a Presbytery, and afterwards into a 
 Synod, — in giving countenance to their labours, and support to the 
 Testimony which they published, and particularly in bringing them 
 forward to the Renovation of our Covenants in a Bond suited 
 to their circumstances ; yet it is matter of deep lamentation that 
 the seeds of contention were early sown in the Secession. They had 
 no sooner formed themselves into a Synod than they found it ne- 
 cessary to take under consideration the religious clause of some 
 burgess oaths, the swearing of which was judged inconsistent with a 
 state of secession from the Established Church, as the swearer re- 
 
11 
 
 cognised the religion presently professed within this realm, and au- 
 thorised by the laws thereof, as the true religion. A mournful dis- 
 pute ensued, which issued in the rupture of the Synod. It is also 
 to be deeply lamented, that, by the late union between the two 
 great branches of the Secession, this hurt of the daughter of Zion 
 has been healed slightly ; that, instead of candidly meeting the ques- 
 tion, or making provision for preventing the taking of an oath, when 
 still imposed, which, as sworn by Seceders, had all along been view- 
 ed by one of the parties as sinful, they consigned the whole contro- 
 versy to oblivion ; and that, along with this, they dropped a testimo- 
 ny for the proper and continued obligation of our covenants, and some 
 other principles connected with the work of reformation in our native 
 land, which had hitherto been considered by the Reformed Church 
 of Scotland, and particularly in the Secession, as belonging to the 
 word of Christ's patience. 
 
 It is to be lamented that the unfaithful and corrupt manage- 
 ments of the established judicatories have been followed by a flood 
 of errors, by which the Lord's name is dreadfully dishonoured, — 
 the doctrine of justification by grace is wofully corrupted — the 
 proper imputation of the righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ 
 for our justification before God is denied, thousands of precious 
 souls are destroyed, and wide steps taken towards Popery and Pa- 
 ganism. More particularly, we have to lament a dreadful preva- 
 lence of Deism, by which all revealed religion is rejected, and the 
 lioht of corrupt nature is exalted in its room ; of Arianism, by 
 which the true and supreme Deity of the Son of God, and of the 
 Holy Spirit, is denied ; of Socinianism, by which Christ is repre- 
 sented as a mere man, and his atonement for sin is denied ; and of 
 Arminianism, by which it is maintained, that God's act of election 
 and reprobation depends on his foresight of the good or evil works 
 of men ; that Jesus Christ, by his death, has merited grace for all 
 mankind ; that, notwithstanding the fall, man retains a freedom of 
 will to that which is spiritually good ; that the grace of God is not 
 irresistible and efficacious of itself ; and that believers in Christ may 
 fall totally and finally away from a state of grace. 
 
 It is further to be lamented, that some who formerly distin- 
 guished themselves by zeal for our reformation and covenanted 
 principles, have turned aside to latitudinarian, independent and 
 sectarian extremes, whereby the unity of the true Catholic Church 
 is denied, and the Presbyterial order and government, the only go- 
 vernment which Christ has instituted in his house, is subverted ; — 
 the warrantableness of Confessions of Faith and Catechisms, as tests 
 
12 
 
 of soundness in the faith, is denied, and a wide door is opened for 
 the admission of all sorts of error and heresy into the church, un- 
 der the specious pretence of liberty of conscience ; — and, under a 
 pretence of catholic love, a scheme is laid for uniting parties of all 
 denominations in church communion, in a way destructive of any 
 faithful testimony for the declarative glory of Immanuel, as King 
 and Head of Zion, and for the covenanted uniformity in religion 
 according to our standards. 
 
 To these public evils we have to add a fearful increase of wicked- 
 ness, which has spread over the whole kingdom. All classes of men 
 have corrupted their ways. Our nobility and gentry have, for the 
 most part, burst the Lord's bands asunder, and cast away" his 
 cords; our ministers, burgesses, and commons of all sorts, have 
 turned away backward, and forsaken the Holy One of Israel. 
 Many heinous sins and provocations, both against the first and se- 
 cond table of the moral law, are to be found among us ; such as gross 
 ignorance of God, atheism, infidelity, profane mockings at the mys- 
 teries of religion, and employing some of the sublimest passages of 
 Scripture for the purpose of musical entertainment. The errors and 
 abominations of Popery are spreading ; Popish chapels are erected 
 in the principal towns and cities of the country ; the idolatrous 
 mass is openly frequented ; public countenance has been given in a 
 number of instances by the government of the country to the man 
 of sin, and the clamorous and pertinacious demand of his followers 
 to be admitted to all places of power and trust under the Crown, so 
 dangerous to the civil and religious liberties of these realms, is 
 strenuously defended by many who call themselves Protestants, 
 both in and out of parliament. The name of God is profaned, by 
 rash and ordinary swearing in common conversation ; and by per- 
 jury and false swearing, especially in trade and commerce. The 
 Lord's day is profaned, even by those in public authority and high 
 station, in many different ways, particularly by frequent and unne- 
 cessary travelling, and by public entertainments and amusements. 
 Many are without natural affection, unruly, disobedient. The land 
 is also defiled with murders, drunkenness, prodigality and vanity 
 in dress, foolish jestings, rioting and wantonness, and even with 
 undisguised adulteries and uncleanness of all kinds ; and some 
 profane and sinful customs, which were little known and practised 
 in former times, are countenanced and encouraged, both at court 
 and in many places of the country ; as the profane diversions of the 
 stage, masquerades, lascivious balls and dancings, and other semi- 
 naries of lewdness and dissipation. Fraud and injustice, in deal- 
 
13 
 
 ings between man and man, are to be found among us, together 
 with oppression, lying, envy, malice, evil-speaking, backbiting, 
 falsehood, dissimulation, and covetousness which is idolatry. 
 
 We desire, through grace, to turn our eyes inward to our own 
 hearts, to search and try our ways, to declare our iniquity, to be 
 sorry for our sin, and to turn again to the Lord. For, " who gave 
 Jacob for a spoil, and Israel to the'robbers ? Did not the Lord ? he 
 against whom we have sinned/' 1 by our unbelief, selfishness, for- 
 mality, earthliness, carnal security, and falling from first love, — by 
 want of tenderness, watchfulness, and spirituality, in the frame and 
 disposition of our heart, and in our walk and conversation. 
 
 We desire, in a particular manner, to be humbled before God, 
 for our unbelief, which we acknowledge to be our greatest sin, and 
 the chief ground of the Lord's controversy with the land in which 
 we live. We have not suitably profited by the glorious gospel of 
 the Son of God, either as the ministration of righteousness for our 
 justification, or as the ministration of the Spirit for our sanctifica- 
 tion. We have not obeyed the voice, nor received correction ; we 
 have not trusted in the Lord, nor drawn near to our God. We 
 have been obstinate; our neck has been an iron sinew, and our 
 brow brass. We have dealt very treacherously, and have been 
 called transgressors from the womb. We confess our ignorance, 
 and great deficiency in the knowledge of Jesus Christ our Lord, 
 his person, offices, and benefits, — of the covenant of grace, as made 
 and ratified with him, — and of the way of deriving spiritual benefit 
 from both. 
 
 We desire to be humbled for undervaluing Christ, his spiritual 
 benefits, and communion with him. We have often preferred other 
 things to him and his interests, and have not given him the pre- 
 eminence in our hearts. We have been little exercised in medita- 
 tion, searching the Scriptures, self-examination, fervent and fre- 
 quent prayer — these means of secret communion and fellowship 
 with him. We have not been duly concerned to receive him into 
 our hearts, nor to look to him, as we ought, for those purposes for 
 which he is exhibited in the gospel, nor to improve him by faith, for 
 wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption. We have not 
 suitably rested upon his righteousness, as the sole ground of our 
 justification ; nor have we, as we ought, depended upon him, as made 
 of God unto us sanctification, in all our religious exercises, in the 
 duties common to all christians, or in those of our particular voca- 
 tions, for direction, reviving, and strength to mortify our corrup- 
 tions, and to carry us through our Christian course, against all dis- 
 
14 
 
 couragements and temptations ; but have frequently attempted the 
 performance of duty in a legal rather than in an evangelical man- 
 ner. We have not drawn near to God as our Father, in prayer and 
 supplication, and in thanksgiving, with that humble boldness, and 
 full assurance of faith, which are warranted by the sacrifice and in- 
 tercession of Christ. 
 
 We have not been duly careful to sanctify the Lord's day ; par- 
 ticularly, by avoiding carnal conversation, in our own families, in 
 coming to public worship, during the intervals of it, and in return- 
 ing to our homes. In attending on the preaching of the gospel, we 
 have not been duly concerned to find communion with the Father 
 and his son Jesus Christ, to taste of his goodness, and to be built 
 up in holiness and comfort, through faith unto salvation. We have 
 not duly prepared our hearts in secret, to draw near with holy fear 
 and reverence, humility, and vehement desire for the kingdom of 
 God and its righteousness, as new-born babes, desiring the sincere 
 milk of the word, that we may grow thereby. We are little ac- 
 quainted with receiving the word, not as the word of men, but, as 
 it is in truth, the word of God. We have not, with due frequency 
 and earnestness, applied to the Lord, that he might teach us in- 
 wardly, by accompanying the outward means with the effectual 
 operation of his Holy Spirit. We have not mixed the word with 
 faith, as we ought to have done, believing it with our hearts, and 
 applying to ourselves the truths that were delivered ; nor have we 
 been duly careful to lay up the words of Christ in our hearts for 
 our spiritual benefit, to supplicate his Spirit to bring them to re- 
 membrance, or to meditate upon them in secret. 
 
 We desire to be humbled before the Lord, that we have not duly 
 made use of the Sacraments, as seals of the covenant of grace, and 
 of the promises therein made to us in Christ. In offering our chil- 
 dren to the Lord in baptism, we have not been suitably affected 
 with our own and our children's defilement by original guilt and 
 corruption ; we have not duly considered and esteemed the free 
 love and grace of God, which has opened to us, and to our seed, a 
 fountain for sin and uncleanness ; nor been duly concerned that they 
 might be regenerated and united to Christ. We have not suitably 
 applied the covenant and the promises of it to ourselves and to our 
 offspring, nor this sacrament as a seal of it. When present at 
 the administration of this ordinance to others, we have not em- 
 ployed it as we ought, for the confirmation of our faith, and for 
 strengthening the impression of our baptismal engagements, nor have 
 we been duly concerned that God would bless his own ordinance 
 
15 
 
 to the baptised, and receive them into the number of his children 
 in Christ. We have not been duly careful to instruct our children 
 when they came to the years of capacity concerning the nature, use 
 and ends of their baptism, and the obligation which it imposes upon 
 them, as devoted to Christ. Nor have we made a due use of this 
 sacrament, through the course of our life, for encouraging us to 
 take hold of God's covenant, for increasing our faith and comfort 
 in God, as our God and Father in Christ, and for strengthening 
 our resolutions and endeavours, through the grace of Christ, to 
 mortify corruption, and to walk in newness of life. We desire to 
 be humbled, that we have not been at more pains, in preparing for 
 the solemn ordinance of the Lord's Supper, by self-examination, 
 meditation and prayer, and by renewed actings of faith upon the 
 Lord Jesus Christ for righteousness and strength. We have not 
 approached the table of the Lord with a proper degree of spiritual 
 thirst and longing for Christ, and with due contrition of heart. We 
 have not been sufficiently exercised in remembering the Lord's 
 death till he come again ; and in deriving virtue from it, for 
 strengthening our graces, and mortifying our corruptions ; nor 
 have we walked worthily after communicating. 
 
 We have not valued the discipline appointed by our Lord Jesus 
 Christ, as we ought to have done ; and when others, by reason of 
 their falls and offences, have become objects of censure, we have 
 not, as we ought, mourned for the dishonour done to God, pitied 
 and prayed for the offenders, and been humbled under a suitable 
 sense of our own sins. 
 
 We desire to be humbled for our great formality in prayer, both 
 in secret and in our families ; and that we have not been suitably 
 concerned to join with our hearts in public prayers and praises, to 
 offer up all our supplications in the name of Christ, to depend upon 
 the help of his Spirit, to observe these ordinances as a means of 
 communion with God, and of confirming our faith and every other 
 grace, and, when we have addressed our prayers to God, to look 
 up to him for a gracious answer. 
 
 We humbly confess that we have not walked as becometh the 
 gospel of Christ, but have greatly failed in our duty both to God 
 and man. In particular, we desire to be humbled for our vain 
 thoughts, our idle words, and our lukewarmness in the matters of 
 God. Our conversation has savoured too much of the earth, and 
 too little of heaven and things above. The impressions of the love 
 of Christ, and of the free grace of God, have not been so lively up- 
 on our hearts, as was necessary to keep them watchful and tender, 
 
16 
 
 and zealous for God and his glory. We have often resisted the 
 Spirit of holiness, when he stirred us up to duty ; and have put away 
 his reproofs, which lead to repentance and humiliation. We have 
 often grieved him by undervaluing his presence, refusing his con- 
 solations, and slighting his counsel. We have not watched with 
 becoming tenderness against carnal company and conversation, nor 
 have we been studious to recommend religion to others, by a holy, 
 convincing, and edifying behaviour. We have not been duly 
 faithful in watching over and admonishing one another with meek- 
 ness and love ; but have been too ready to speak of the infirmities 
 and failings of others behind their backs, instead of observing the 
 scripture rule. Nor have we diligently sought and embraced op- 
 portunities of religious fellowship, and particularly of social prayer 
 and conference. 
 
 All these sins, declensions, and apostasies, are highly aggravated, 
 as having been committed against great gospel-light, and many re- 
 markable appearances of God among us, both in mercy and judg- 
 ment, in former and in later times, against sacramental vows, and 
 our indispensable engagements, by the National Covenant of Scot- 
 land, and the Solemn League and Covenant of the three nations ; 
 while the sins of those belonging to the Secession Body are further 
 aggravated by their being committed against our distinguished 
 profession, and the explicit engagements contracted by that solemn 
 covenanting which has been so long practised among us. We de- 
 sire, therefore, to confess unto the Lord our iniquities, with all 
 their aggravations ; to be deeply humbled, and to lie down in shame 
 before him, acknowledging that he would be righteous and holy, 
 though he should plead his controversy with us, on account of our 
 apostasy and breach of covenant, by casting us out of his sight for 
 ever. But since the Lord is still waiting to be gracious, we desire 
 to flee to the blood of Jesus for the remission of our sins, and to 
 pray that he may return to us, and heal our spiritual diseases, that 
 glory may yet dwell in our land. 
 
 And as it is the duty of a sinning people, not only to confess 
 their iniquities, and be humbled for them, but also, by faith, to 
 take hold of God's gracious covenant revealed to us in the glorious 
 gospel, avouching the Lord to be our God, according to the tenor 
 of this his covenant, devoting ourselves to him as his people, and 
 returning to him from whom we have revolted : And, in the faith 
 of his free mercy through Jesus Christ, and trusting in him for 
 the grace and strength which are promised in his covenant, to en- 
 gage unto and pursue after reformation and the advancement of his 
 
17 
 
 kingdom, which is in, but not of, this world : And being convinced 
 in our minds, and confessing with our mouths, that as well by 
 the word of God, as by the National Covenant of Scotland, and 
 the Solemn League and Covenant of the three nations, the present 
 and succeeding generations in these lands are bound firmly and con- 
 stantly to adhere to the doctrine, worship, presbyterial church-go- 
 vernment, and discipline of the house of God, as contained in the 
 Holy Scriptures, summed up in our subordinate standards, and 
 sworn to in these solemn covenants : — 
 
 Therefore, in obedience to the command of God, conformably 
 to the practice of the godly in former times, and according to the 
 laudable example of our worthy and religious progenitors, in the 
 said covenants, 
 
 [THE ENGAGEMENT TO DUTIES.] 
 
 We all and every one of us, though sensible of the de- 
 ceitfulness and unbelief of our own hearts, and frequently 
 perplexed with doubts and fears about our actual believing ; 
 yet, desiring in the Lord's strength, and in obedience to his 
 command, to glorify God, by believing his word of grace, 
 contained in his covenant of promise, and in the faith of his 
 promise, to devote ourselves to the Lord in a Covenant of 
 Duty : We Do, with our hands lifted up to the Most 
 High God, hereby profess, and, before God, angels, and 
 men, solemnly declare, That, through the grace of God, 
 and according to the measure of his grace given unto us, we 
 desire, with our whole hearts, to take hold of our Lord Je- 
 sus Christ, as the only propitiation for our sins ; his 
 Righteousness, as the only foundation of our access to God, 
 and acceptance with him ; his Covenant of free and rich pro- 
 mises, as our only charter for the heavenly inheritance ; his 
 Word, for our perfect and only rule of faith and practice ; 
 his Spirit for our sole guide, to lead us into all truth re- 
 vealed in his Holy Word, to which nothing is at any time 
 to be added, either by new revelations of the Spirit, or tra- 
 ditions of men. We avouch the Lord to be our God ; 
 and, in the strength of his promised grace, we promise and 
 
 B 
 
18 
 
 swear, by the great name of the Lord our God, 
 That we shall walk in his way, keep his judgments and 
 commandments, and hearken to his voice ; and, particularly, 
 that we shall, by the Lord's grace, continue and abide in 
 the profession, faith, and obedience of the true reformed re- 
 ligion, in doctrine, worship, presbyterial church-government 
 and discipline ; and that we shall, according to our several 
 stations, places, and callings, and according to the measure 
 of our knowledge, contend and testify against all contrary 
 evils, errors, and corruptions ; particularly Popery, Deism, 
 Socinianism, Arianism, Arminianism, and every error, sub- 
 versive of the doctrine of grace, as also Prelacy, Indepen- 
 dency, Latitudinarian tenets, and the other evils mentioned 
 in the preceding Acknowledgment of Sins. 
 
 In like manner we 'promise and swear, That, by all 
 means which are lawful and warrantable for us, according 
 to the word of God, the approved and received standards of 
 the reformed Church of Scotland, and our known principles, 
 we shall, in our several stations and callings, and according 
 to our opportunities in Providence, endeavour the reforma- 
 tion of religion in Britain and Ireland, in doctrine, worship, 
 discipline, and government, according to the word of God ; 
 and to promote and advance our covenanted conjunction 
 and uniformity in religion, Confession of Faith and Cate- 
 chisms, Form of Church-government, and Directory for 
 Worship, as these were received by this Church. We like- 
 wise engage, by all lawful means, and according as a door 
 may be opened to us in Providence, to promote the genuine 
 interests of the kingdom of Christ in every part of the 
 world. 
 
 And in regard we are taught by the word of God, and 
 bound by our covenants, National and Solemn League, to 
 live together in the fear of God, and in love one to another, 
 and to encourage one another in the work and cause of the 
 Lord ; and that, denying all ungodliness and worldly lusts, 
 we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in this pre- 
 
19 
 
 sent world: Therefore, in dependence upon the Lord's 
 grace and strength, We, in the same manner, do promise 
 and swear, That we shall, in our several places and callings, 
 encourage and strengthen one another, in pursuing the end 
 and design of this our solemn Oath and Covenant ; and 
 shall endeavour a life and conversation becoming the gospel 
 of Christ : And, in our personal callings and particular fa- 
 milies, we shall study to be good examples to one another 
 of godliness and righteousness, and of every duty which we 
 owe to God and man : And that we shall not give up our- 
 selves to a detestable indifference and neutrality in the cause 
 of God ; but, denying ourselves and our own things, we shall 
 seek first the honour of God, and the good of his cause and 
 people : And that, through grace, forsaking the counsels of 
 flesh and blood, and not leaning upon carnal confidence, we 
 shall endeavour to depend upon the Lord, to walk by the 
 rule of his word, and to hearken to his voice in the dispen- 
 sation of the gospel. In all which, professing our own weak- 
 ness, we earnestly pray to God, who is the Father of Mer- 
 cies, through his Son Jesus Christ, to be merciful unto 
 us, and enable us by the power of his Holy Spirit, that 
 we may do our duty, unto the praise of his grace in the 
 Churches. Amen, 
 
FORMULA OF QUESTIONS, 
 
 AGREED TO BY THE 
 
 Rd&aciatt i*>jmirtr rrf Original &ttctftvti f 
 
 FOR BEING PUT AT THE 
 
 ORDINATION OF MINISTERS AND ELDERS; 
 
 AS ALSO AT THE 
 
 LICENSING OF YOUNG MEN TO PREACH THE GOSPEL. 
 
 FOR MINISTERS, PROBATIONERS, AND ELDERS. 
 
 QUESTION I. 
 
 Do you believe the Scriptures of the Old and New Testament 
 to be the Word of God, and the only rule of faith and manners ? 
 
 QUESTION II. 
 
 Do you sincerely own and believe the whole doctrine contained 
 in the Confession of Faith, compiled by the Assembly of Divines 
 who met at Westminster, with Commissioners from the Church of 
 Scotland ; — as the said Confession was received and approved by 
 the Assembly of that Church in the year 1647 ; and likewise the 
 whole doctrine contained in the Larger and Shorter Catechisms, 
 compiled by the said Westminster Assembly ; — to be founded up- 
 on the word of God : And do you acknowledge the said Confes- 
 sion as the confession of your faith ; and will you, through grace, 
 firmly and constantly adhere to,— and, to the utmost of your power, 
 
22 
 
 assert, maintain and defend the doctrine of, — the said Confession 
 and Catechisms, against all Deistical, Popish, Arian, Socinian, Ar- 
 minian, Neonomian, Antinomian, and other doctrines, tenets and 
 opinions whatsoever, contrary to, or inconsistent with, the said Con- 
 fession and Catechisms ? 
 
 QUESTION III. 
 
 Are you persuaded that the Lord Jesus Christ, the alone King 
 and Head of his Church, hath appointed a particular form of go- 
 vernment to take place therein, — distinct from Civil Government, 
 and not subordinate to the same ; and that Presbyterial Church- 
 government, without any superiority of office above a teaching 
 Presbyter, in due subordination of Judicatories (such as of Kirk- 
 sessions to Presbyteries, of Presbyteries to Provincial Synods, and 
 of Provincial Synods to General Assemblies), is the only form of 
 government laid down and appointed by the Lord Jesus Christ in 
 his Word, to continue in his Church to the end of the world un- 
 alterable ; — which, accordingly, has been owned and received by 
 the Church of Scotland, as the only government of divine institu- 
 tion and appointment ; as is evident from the Second Book of Dis- 
 cipline, and from the Propositions concerning Church-government, 
 as the said Propositions were received and approved by an act of 
 Assembly 1645, session 16: And do you promise to submit to 
 the said government and discipline, — and never to endeavour, di- 
 rectly or indirectly, the prejudice or subversion thereof; but that 
 you will, to the utmost of your power in your station, during all 
 the days of your life, maintain, support, and defend the same ; 
 together with the purity of worship received and practised in this 
 Church, against all Erastian, Prelatic, Sectarian, or other tenets, 
 opinions, or forms of worship and government whatsoever, — con- 
 trary to, or inconsistent with, the said worship, government and 
 discipline, — sworn to in our Covenants, National and Solemn 
 League ? 
 
 QUESTION IV. 
 
 Do you own and acknowledge the morality of Public Covenant- 
 ing : And do you own and acknowledge the perpetual obligation of 
 the National Covenant, frequently sworn by persons of all ranks in 
 Scotland, and particularly as explained by the General Assembly 
 1638, to abjure the hierarchy and five articles of Perth : And 
 
23 
 
 also the perpetual obligation of the Solemn League and Covenant, 
 for maintaining and carrying on a work of Reformation in the three 
 kingdoms, sworn and subscribed by ail ranks in Scotland and Eng- 
 land in the year 1643, and particularly as renewed in Scotland in 
 the year 1648 ; And do you promise, through grace, to adhere to 
 these Covenants, and, according to your station and opportunities, 
 to prosecute the ends of them : And do you likewise acknowledge 
 that the renewing of these Covenants, in a bond suited to our cir- 
 cumstances, is a duty seasonable at the present time ? 
 
 QUESTION V. 
 
 Do you approve of the Testimony enacted and emitted by the 
 Associate Synod of Original Seceders, as a suitable and seasonable 
 Testimony for the Doctrine, Worship, Discipline and Government 
 of the Reformed Church of Scotland ; and do you, in your judg- 
 ment, disapprove of the several steps of defection, both in former 
 and present times, condemned in the said Testimony ; as contrary 
 to the word of God, the Confession of Faith, and our Solemn 
 Covenants ? 
 
 QUESTION VI. 
 
 FOR MINISTERS AND PROBATIONERS. 
 
 Do you promise that you will submit yourself willingly and 
 humbly, in the spirit of meekness, — unto the admonitions of the 
 brethren of this Presbytery, agreeable to the Word of God ; and 
 be subject to them in the Lord, and to the other Presbyteries of 
 the Association, as the Lord in his Providence shall cast your lot, 
 and to the Associate Synod : And do you promise that you will 
 maintain the spiritual unity and peace of, and that you will follow* 
 no divisive course from, the reformed and covenanted Church of 
 Scotland ; either by falling in with the defections of the times, or 
 by giving yourself up to a detestable indifferency and neutrality 
 in the foresaid covenanted cause ; — and this you promise, through 
 grace, notwithstanding whatever trouble or persecution you may 
 meet with, in essaying the faithful discharge of your duty herein ? 
 
24 
 
 FOR ELDERS. 
 
 Do you promise that you will submit yourself willingly and 
 humbly, in the spirit of meekness, unto the admonitions of the 
 brethren of the Session in this Congregation ; and do you promise 
 that you will maintain the spiritual unity and peace of, and that 
 you will follow no divisive course from, the reformed and cove- 
 nanted Church of Scotland ; either by falling in with the defec- 
 tions of the times, or by giving yourself up to a detestable indif- 
 ferency and neutrality in the foresaid covenanted cause ; — and this 
 you promise, through grace, notwithstanding whatever trouble 
 or persecution you may meet with, in essaying the faithful dis- 
 charge of your duty herein ? 
 
 QUESTION VII. 
 
 FOR MINISTERS. 
 
 Are not zeal for the honour and glory of God, love to the Lord 
 Jesus Christ, and desire of being instrumental in edifying and sa- 
 ving souls, — your great motives and chief inducements to enter in- 
 to the function of the Holy Ministiy ; and not any selfish views, 
 or worldly designs or interest ? 
 
 FOR PROBATIONERS. 
 
 Are not zeal for the honour and glory of God, love to the Lord 
 Jesus Christ, and desire of being instrumental in edifying and sa- 
 ving souls, — your great motives and chief inducements to accept of 
 a Licence to Preach the Gospel as a Probationer for the Holy Mi- 
 nistry ; and not any selfish views, or worldly designs or interest ? 
 
 FOR ELDERS. 
 
 Are not zeal for the honour and glory of God, love to thejLord 
 Jesus Christ, and desire of being instrumental in the edification of 
 his body, — your great motives and chief inducements to enter into 
 the office of Eldership in this Congregation ; and not any selfish 
 views, or worldly designs or interest ? 
 
25 
 
 QUESTION VIII. 
 FOR MINISTERS. 
 
 Have you used any undue methods, either by yourself or others, 
 in procuring this call to the Ministry ? 
 
 FOR ELDERS. 
 
 K > Have you used any undue methods, either by yourself or others, 
 in procuring your call to the office of Eldership in this Congrega- 
 tion ? 
 
 QUESTION IX. 
 FOR MINISTERS. 
 
 Do you engage, in the strength and grace of our Lord and Mas- 
 ter Jesus Christ, to rule well your own family [if it shall please the 
 Lord to give you one *] ; and to live an holy and circumspect life, 
 — following after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, 
 meekness: And do you engage in the strength of the same grace, 
 — faithfully, diligently and cheerfully, to discharge all the parts of 
 the ministerial work, to the edification of the body of Christ ? 
 
 FOR PROBATIONERS. 
 
 Do you engage, in the strength and grace of our Lord and Mas- 
 ter Jesus Christ, to live an holy and circumspect life, — following- 
 after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness ; and 
 to preach the Gospel, wherever you shall be called, faithfully and 
 honestly, — not with the enticing words of man's wisdom, but in the 
 purity and simplicity thereof, not ceasing to declare the whole coun- 
 sel of God ; — as also to catechise the people and visit the sick, as 
 you shall have access and opportunity : And to perform whatever 
 other duties are incumbent on you from the word of God, as a Pro- 
 bationer for the Holy Ministry ; in order to the convincing and re- 
 claiming of sinners, and the edifying and building up of the body 
 of Christ ? 
 
 * The inclosed words are to be used as there is occasion. 
 
26 
 
 FOR ELDERS. 
 
 Do you engage [each of you *] in the strength and grace of our 
 Lord and Master Jesus Christ, to rule well your own family, [and 
 you — if it shall please the Lord to give you one *] ; and to live an 
 holy and circumspect life, — following after righteousness, godliness, 
 faith, love, patience, meekness ? 
 
 QUESTION X. 
 
 FOR MINISTERS. 
 
 Do you accept of and close with the call to be Pastor of this 
 Associate Congregation ; and promise, through grace, to perform 
 all the duties of a faithful Minister of the Gospel among this peo- 
 ple, — in preaching the Gospel among them, not with the enticing 
 words of man's wisdom, but in the purity and simplicity thereof, 
 — not ceasing to declare unto them the whole counsel of God ; as 
 also in catechising, exhorting from house to house, visiting the sick, 
 and performing whatever other duties or means are incumbent on 
 you from the word of God, as a faithful minister of Jesus Christ — 
 for the convincing and reclaiming of sinners, and for the edifying 
 and building up of the body of Christ ? 
 
 FOR ELDERS. 
 
 4* Do you accept of and close with your call to the office of Elder- 
 ship in this congregation : And do you engage, through grace, dili- 
 gently and cheerfully to discharge all the parts of the office of El- 
 dership ; as to whatever duties or means are incumbent upon and 
 competent unto you in that office, for the edifying and building up 
 of the body of Christ in this Congregation ? 
 
 QUESTION XI. 
 FOR MINISTERS, PROBATIONERS, AND ELDERS. 
 
 Are you satisfied with, and do you purpose to adhere unto, and 
 maintain, the principles about the present Civil Government, which 
 are declared and maintained in the Associate Presbytery's Answers 
 
 * The inclosed words are to be used as there is occasion. 
 
27 
 
 to Mr Nairn's Reasons of Dissent, with the Defence thereto sub- 
 joined ? 
 
 QUESTION XII 
 
 % Do you acknowledge and promise subjection to this Presbytery, 
 in subordination to the Associate Synod, [as to Elders it runs, — 
 the Session of this Congregation, in subordination to the Associate 
 Presbytery of , and to the Associate Synod], as pre- 
 
 sently constituted in a way of testifying against the sinful manage- 
 ment of the prevailing party in the Synod, at some of the first 
 diets of their meeting at Edinburgh in April 1747 ; or other Pres- 
 byteries in that subordination, as you shall be regidarly called, 
 [This clause is omitted as to Elders] ; and do you approve of, 
 and purpose to adhere unto, and maintain, the said testimony, in 
 your station and capacity ; and do you approve of, and purpose 
 to adhere unto, and maintain, the sentence of Synod in April 1746, 
 concerning the religious clause of some Burgess oaths, and that in 
 opposition to all tenets and practices to the contrary. 
 
 And all these things you promise and engage unto, through 
 grace, as you will be answerable at the coming of our Lord Jesus 
 Christ, with all his saints ; and as you would desire to be found 
 among that happy company at his glorious appearing ? 
 
 Extracted by 
 
 P. M'DERMENT, Syn. Clk. 
 
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