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“BOOKE OF THE UNIVERSALL KIRK.”

The printing of this, the earliest Record of the Reformed Church in Scotland, has now reached a period in the history of that Church, which renders it fitting that this impression should be accompanied with a more precise statement than has yet been given of its character and its fate.

For many years past, Dr Lee, Principal Clerk of the General Assembly, made strenuous, but ineffectual, exertions, to recover for the Church, the original Record of the period extending from 1560 to 1616. That Record, which is known to historians by the title of the “Booke of the Universall Kirk,” had been surreptitiously purloined, and found its way into the hands of the Trustees of Sion College, in London; and although hopes were latterly entertained that their restoration to the Church might be effected, these hopes are now at an end. During the investigations which were instituted by a Committee of the House of Commons, on the subject of Church Patronage in Scotland, in the year 1834, three volumes of the Record were produced by the official custodier of them, for the consideration of that Committee. Their authenticity was established by the testimony of Dr Lee, and other competent judges; and the Committee having suspended its investigations, and made a report of the evidence which it had obtained, these Books were left in the keeping of the clerks, and perished in the great conflagration by which the Houses of Parliament were consumed, on the 16th of October 1834.

Such is briefly the history of the valuable Record of which these pages contain many of the earlier Acts and proceedings in the Church of Scotland.

It is natural to suppose, that, during the first century of its existence, the political and ecclesiastical revolutions which took place in Scotland subsequently to the year 1560, the Records of the Church could not escape unscathed amid the turmoils of conflicting factions in Church and State. It appears from the MS. Abbreviates[1] still extant, that, betwixt the years 1580 and 1587, the earlier portions of the General Assembly’s Registers, filling five volumes, had passed into the hands of Adamson, Bishop of St Andrews, and had suffered mutilation (were “mankit”) by him, or, as has been alleged, by his Royal Master, King James VI., in order to destroy the proofs of submission by certain Prelates to the jurisdiction of the General Assembly. During a certain space, however, it is proved that they were not in possession of the Church or its Officers; and when, in the years 1586 and 1587, the custody of the Books was reclaimed by the Assembly, they were allowed by the King’s Commissioner to be exhibited to that Judicatory,—but with a proviso, that at the close of each sederunt, they were to be redelivered to the Lord Privy Seal.[2] There is no satisfactory evidence known to us with respect to the custody of these Books during the space which elapsed till the year 1638, when they were again recovered by the Presbyterian Church—fully authenticated—and once more restored to the custody of the Clerk of Assembly as the legitimate custodier.[3]

The subsequent history of these volumes—the best, perhaps, that can now be given—is to be found in a “Statement” concerning them, drawn up by Dr John Lee, the present Clerk of the General Assembly, in 1828, and printed in 1829, with the view of effecting the recovery of these Registers from the Trustees of Sion College, who, as already stated, had obtained possession of them. Dr Lee having kindly communicated a copy of that “Statement,” we gladly avail ourselves of the opportunity of embodying it entire on this occasion.

“Statement concerning three Volumes of the Earliest Records of the Church of Scotland, now deposited in Sion College, London.

“A few years ago, a Committee of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland was appointed for the purpose of collecting and recovering the various Manuscripts, connected with their Ecclesiastical Establishment; and, among other objects to which this Committee were desired to direct their attention, they were specially instructed to print the ancient Record, entitled, ‘The Book of the Universal Kirk of Scotland.’

“It has been discovered that this Book, extending to three volumes, is extant in the Library of Sion College, London. But after much correspondence, and repeated applications, not only do the Governors of the College refuse to restore the volumes upon any terms, but even to permit a copy of the work to be taken, or allow a collation with the partial Abbreviates of it preserved in Scotland; the College stating, that they would not be justified in so doing, under the Deed of Trust by which the possession of these volumes was acquired by the College.

“There is no difficulty in proving that the volumes in question were laid on the table of the General Assembly which met at Glasgow in 1638; and that they were pronounced by that Assembly to be true and authentic Registers of the Kirk of Scotland. The reasons proving their authenticity are inserted in the manuscript journals of that Assembly, and also, in a very satisfactory form, in the printed Acts of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, of that year. The descriptions are so minute as to establish the identity of all the volumes which are still extant. The attestation of the Clerk is superscribed at the beginning, and subjoined to the end of the first volume, in these words:—‘This is the great Volume aprovin be the General Assemblee at Glascow, in November, 1638. A. Jhonston, Cl^s. Eccl.’ The autograph of this Clerk is to be seen on various documents in possession of the General Assembly, and particularly on the copy of the printed Acts of the Assembly of 1638, in the custody of the present Clerk. The other volumes have the well known signature of a Clerk, named ‘Thomas Nicolson.’

“It is understood, that, in 1649, the Books were transferred to the charge of Mr Andrew Ker, Clerk of the Assembly; and that, in 1652, most, if not the whole, of the originals were for some time entrusted to Lord Balcarras. During the troubles of the succeeding period they were concealed in the house of a private individual till the year 1677, when they were put into the hands of Bishop Paterson (of Edinburgh), who retained them till after the Revolution. The account of their discovery and subsequent fate may be seen in Keith’s History of the Church and State of Scotland; but it appears from a paper preserved in the Advocates’ Library in Edinburgh, and published in the Appendix to Dr M‘Crie’s Lives of William Veitch and George Brysson, that Keith’s narrative is not altogether correct in every particular.

“After the Revolution some of the volumes and papers were delivered up to a son of the former Clerk, Mr Secretary Jhonston, who lent some of them to his cousin, Bishop Burnet, and others to Mr George Ridpath, who, about that time, undertook to write a history of Scottish affairs. Three volumes fell into the hands of a person whose grandfather had been the intimate friend of Sir Archibald Johnston, and had, like him, been executed as a traitor. This person was the Honourable and Reverend Archibald Campbell, grandson of the Marquis of Argyle, and son of Lord Neil Campbell. Mr Campbell was several years known as an Episcopalian Clergyman, and subsequently as one of the non-juring Bishops in Scotland. During the latter part of his life he resided chiefly in England, without being in communion with the Church of England, and without maintaining any intercourse with the Episcopalian body in Scotland, to which he had been originally attached.

“About the year 1733, a correspondence was opened between him and Mr William Grant, Procurator and Clerk of the Church of Scotland (afterwards Lord Prestongrange), on the subject of the records in Mr Campbell’s possession. Mr Campbell offered to surrender these records on certain terms, which did not appear to Mr Grant to be reasonable or equitable. He demanded a large sum of money for the restitution of the volumes to which he never had acquired any right of property, and even this sum he would not accept till the Books had been published, as was proposed, under his superintendence, on the understanding that no member of the Church of Scotland was to be suffered to revise the sheets as they passed through the press.

“It could scarcely be expected that these and other humiliating conditions would be acceded to without hesitation; and while the negotiation was still in progress, Mr Campbell, as he had sometimes threatened to do, took a step which was intended to put the Books for ever beyond the reach of the Church of Scotland, by entering into a deed of trust or covenant with the President and Fellows of Sion College, the terms of which do not appear to be accurately known to any member of the Church of Scotland, but the effect of which has undoubtedly been to detain these Records from their lawful owners for nearly a century past.

“It is unnecessary to add, that the hardship is deeply felt by all the members of the Church of Scotland, who are aware of the importance of these Books, not merely as the only sure and satisfactory memorials of the course of Ecclesiastical affairs in the times immediately succeeding the Reformation, but also because they are capable of shedding additional light on a most interesting and instructive portion of our Civil history.

“In these circumstances, the General Assembly have deemed it necessary, as a last resource, to make an application to Parliament by petition, in the hope that some means may be devised by the wisdom of the Legislature, for relieving the Members of Sion College from the restraint under which they feel themselves, and enabling them to do that which they must, as an act of justice, wish to do,—to restore to the Church of Scotland these ancient Records, which, however acquired by the College, the Church of Scotland still consider to be their own property.

“John Lee, Cl. Eccl. Scot.

“55, Parliament Street, Westminster,

June 20, 1828.”

The authenticity and authority of “The Booke,” as now for the first time fully printed from the copies in the Advocates’ Library, (so far as it exists in a continuous and connected form,) becomes, since the originals are lost, a subject of grave inquiry. It is our purpose, in the Notes and Illustrations to be appended to the present Edition, to collect and point out all the evidence attainable on this point—to supply from other sources the portions which are wanting in the text—and to note any seeming discrepancies among the several transcripts and Abbreviates. This must necessarily be a work of careful research and considerable labour; requiring some time for its accomplishment. In the meanwhile, however, we may state briefly some of the leading evidences of authenticity on which we rely, in concluding, that what is now printed possesses a character of authenticity.

1. The Acts of Assembly, 1638, and subsequent years, (which are of unquestioned authenticity,) approve of, reiterate, and re-enact many of the most important statutes contained in the old Registers, which those Assemblies had in their possession; and these, as re-enacted, coincide, so far as they go, with the terms of the original Acts as now printed.[4]

2. In Collier’s Ecclesiastical History of Great Britain, we find a most important corroboration to the same effect. He was a contemporary of Archibald Campbell, already referred to, and had access to the original Registers recently burnt, as appears from numerous marginal references to and quotations from them. Thus (vol. ii. p. 700) he refers to “MS. Acts of the Assembly, penes Mr Archibald Campbell, Armig.;” and there are very many other references to the same MS. record,[5] as the source whence he derived numerous Acts and documents embodied in his work. These, too, substantially and closely, coincide with the text as now published.

3. Archbishop Spottiswood, in his History, (and he had full access to the original records,) in like manner transfers many extracts to his pages.

4. Bishop Keith, in his History of the Church and State in Scotland, incorporates a great portion of the “Booke,” during the first seven years of the existence of the Reformed Church—all agreeing (except trifling variations in orthography) with the extant MS. Abbreviates; and Knox’s History coincides substantially with Keith’s.

5. But David Calderwood, who had full access to the Registers, in his larger History and Collections, (MS.) gives the most ample transcripts from the originals that are any where to be found; and he further supplies many particulars from those Registers which the Abbreviates do not contain, but which are of material importance to the elucidation of the proceedings in the Assemblies of the Church.

6. Petrie, in his History of the Church (Universal) from 600 to 1600, embodies a very great portion of the Booke of the Kirk from the first Assembly downwards; and he refers expressly, as his authority for so doing, to “An Extract of the Acts of the Nationall Assemblies,” (p. 242,)—the Acts, which he embodies very copiously, being identical in all respects with those in the present Edition. The copy of his work now before us was printed at the Hague in 1662, immediately after the Restoration of Charles II.;—Petrie being “Minister of the Scots Congregation at Rotterdam,” when his History was published. That work is one of the most conclusive vouchers of the authenticity of the “Booke,”—his transcripts being given from an Extract, authenticated, of course, by the Clerk of Assembly.

We have thus, what is next to the best evidence (viz. the Registers themselves) in support of the authenticity of our publication—the concurrent testimony of three Episcopalian and two Presbyterian Historians, in proof of the general fidelity of the transcripts which remain; and the force of such evidence is strengthened by the consideration, that all their works were published while the originals were yet in existence, and could have been resorted to for the correction of any errors, whether wilful or accidental.

In justice to the Church of Scotland and to Dr Lee, the Editor of this publication feels himself called on to add such particulars with regard to the attempts made for the recovery of the Registers, as are to be found in the recent Acts of the General Assembly, within the last twenty years. Without pretending to enter into any detail of the great and zealous exertions of Dr Lee for the recovery of our Church Records, (exertions for which it owes him a deep debt of gratitude,) we shall merely note a few of the Minutes of the Assembly referable to this matter since the year 1820.

At the Assembly of that year, the “Report of the Committee upon the Manuscripts belonging to the Church [was] called for, which was given in at great length by Dr Lee, Convener of the said Committee. The Assembly highly approve of the Report, and of the zeal and diligence of the Committee. They renewed the appointment of the Committee, and recommended to their attention the written Report now laid upon the Assembly’s table.”—“Upon a motion, the unanimous thanks of the Assembly were given from the chair to Dr Lee, for the extraordinary labour to which he had submitted in prosecuting the inquiries of the Committee.”

The year following a similar approval took place; and in 1822, the Assembly “renewed the appointment of the Committee, and direct them to continue their labours; and in particular, they authorised them to continue their correspondence with the members of Sion College, respecting access to certain manuscripts in the said College, formerly belonging to the Church; and they direct the Moderator to convey to the Lord Bishop of London an expression of the sense which they entertain of his Lordship’s polite attention to the communication made to him by the Committee on this subject.”

At the Assembly of 1823, the Committee was approved and renewed; “and the Assembly instructed the Committee to get printed what is usually called ‘The Book of the Universal Kirk,’ if they shall find, upon inquiry, it can be done without encroaching upon the funds of the Church.”

Passing over some of the intermediate years, we find in the Acts of 1828, that the Report of the Committee on the MSS. of the Church was called for, and given in by Dr Lee, the convener. “The Assembly approve of the Report, and re-appoint the Committee. It was moved, seconded, and unanimously agreed to, that with a view to the recovery of the ancient Records of this Church, which have long been deposited in Sion College, London, a Petition be presented to both Houses of Parliament, stating the claims of the Church to the property of these volumes, and praying that, in the wisdom of Parliament, some means may be devised, of securing either the restitution of the originals, or at least a complete and authenticated transcript of the whole. The draft of a Petition having been produced, was approved, and ordered to be extended, subscribed by the Moderator, and sealed with the seal of the Church,” &c.

In 1829, “it was moved, seconded, and unanimously agreed to, that, in addition to the former Committee, which is hereby renewed, the Assembly appoint a small Committee, to watch over and prosecute the very important object of recovering the interesting record, entitled ‘The Buik of the Universall Kirk of Scotland,’ and to take what steps they may find necessary for this purpose. It was also moved, seconded, and unanimously agreed to, that the Moderator be instructed to return the thanks of the General Assembly to Dr Lee, for the great and unwearied zeal, attention, and exertions which he has bestowed on the subject of the MSS. of the Church, and in regard to the claims made for the Records in Sion College.”

In 1833, the Committee was renewed, “with instructions to use their best endeavours to find accommodation for the Books and MSS. belonging to the Church under the roof of St Giles’s Church, if possible; and to use all diligence to recover the Records in Sion College.” And in the Assembly of 1834, Dr Lee, as convener, on giving in its Report, stated, “That there is now a near prospect of obtaining the restitution of the three volumes of the early records of the Church, which have long been deposited in the library of Sion College.”

Only a few days previously to this favourable report being made, (viz. May 2, 1834,) the Assistant Librarian of Sion College, who had been summoned by a Committee of the House of Commons, appeared before it, and was ordered to produce the Books. On the 5th he produced them—Dr Lee, Principal Macfarlan, and others, having previously, in April, inspected and borne evidence to their authenticity.[6] They were burnt on the 16th of October following.

It were idle now to indulge in unavailing regrets and reflections on this unfortunate result; and the present attempt is made, in as far as that is possible, to repair the loss which has thus been sustained by the Church and the country. We take the liberty of deducing a practical inference from this calamity—that no time should be lost in securing for the remaining Records of the Church a place of safe deposit. This surely is attainable in the metropolis of Scotland; and we trust it will be one of the first acts of the ensuing General Assembly, to adopt the requisite measures for this purpose, and to order the List of MSS. in the repositories of the Church (which was given in by Dr Lee some years ago) to be printed, for the information of all its members, before the Assembly be dissolved.

We cannot conclude these notices more appropriately than by transcribing the following testimony, borne by Dr Lee to two distinguished Prelates of the Church of England, in connexion with this subject, and subjoining an extract from one of his admirable Reports:

“The late Bishop of London, now Archbishop of Canterbury, and the present Bishop of London, through whom I made many applications, did all that was in their power to forward the object; and if their advice had been promptly followed by the College, we would have had the Books in our possession ten years ago. Indeed, the conduct of these Prelates reflected on them the highest honour.”

In concluding his Report to the Assembly in May 1820, in reference to these ancient Registers of the Church, Dr Lee thus remarks—

“They exhibit the real character of the internal government of this national church. They display the operation of the principles by which the first Reformers and their immediate successors were actuated. They demonstrate that these men were not more distinguished by zeal for truth, than by loyalty to the head of the government, attachment to true principles, (I do not say of toleration—for that was a term which they certainly did not employ or approve)—of religious liberty and civil subordination. They bear testimony to the strictness and impartiality of ancient discipline. They vindicate the character of those illustrious men whose names have been unjustly aspersed, but who, both by their doctrines and their lives,—by their unwearied exertions and their patient sufferings,—left an example, not indeed of faultless excellence, but assuredly of the most noble, magnanimous, and fearless adherence to the standards of our constitution.

“These Registers also contain much that is capable of correcting erroneous representations of historical facts with regard to the internal state of the kingdom—the institutions, habits, and customs, as well as the morals of the people, and the spirit which was most prevalent at particular periods in various districts of the land. They prove, beyond all controversy, that our Reformers, instead of having been at first actuated by an unrestrained spirit of innovation, were rather, in some respects, disposed to retain too much than to reject too much of the practices of the church from which they had separated, and that this very circumstance prevented them from ever attaining that independence at which they aimed. At the same time, they prove, that from the very first moment, it was the determined object of the leaders of the Reformation, to establish such a Presbyterian Government, as was at last, with the utmost difficulty, completed;—and that even when the name of bishop was introduced, the persons holding that title sat in the General and Provincial Assemblies in no higher rank than the humblest presbyter, and in the Kirk-Sessions were named after the parochial minister, under the designation of elder.

“In addition to all this it may be stated, that, though these documents were less productive of instruction than they are, they well deserve to be preserved with care, as the most venerable remnants of a distant age—as the earliest annals of our infant church, as the (almost sacred) relics—not of canonized saints indeed—but of confessors and martyrs, who counted not their lives dear to them; and who, when they thought it necessary, never shrunk from sealing their testimony with their blood. And if I am again asked—What is the use of attending to these perishing monuments of a period of little refinement?—I have only to answer, that with all my antiquarian propensities, and all my admiration of what is great and magnificent in the works of art, and all my reprobation of the violence which impelled some of our Reformers to demolish the solemn temples which they considered as the shrines of idolatry, and the receptacles of antichristian intruders,—I would much rather share in the disgrace of these acts of violation, than destroy or deface one shred or fragment of these frail memorials of despised and almost forgotten worth, which bear the impress of zeal for piety and learning, loyalty and patriotism, liberty and truth,—and which more conspicuously than even the uplifted banner of the Covenant, present the seal and superscription of glory to God, and good will to man—peace to the church, and happiness to the state.”