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with our hands, and conftantly affirm before God and the whole world, that this only is the true Chriftian faith and religion, pleafing God, and bringing falvation to mar, which now is, by the mercy of God, revealed to the world by the preaching of the bleffed Evangel; and is received, believed and defended by many and fundry notable Kirks and realms, but chiefly by the kirk of Scotland, the king's Majefty and three eftates of this realm, as God's eternal truth,and only ground of our falvation; as more particularly is expreffed in the Confeffion of our Faith, established and publicly confirmed by fundry acts of Parliaments, and now of a long time hath been openly profeffed by the king's majefty, and the whole body of this realm both in burgh and land. To the which confeffion and form of religion we willingly agree in our confcience in all points, as unto God's undoubted truth and verity, grounded only upon his written word. And therefore we abhor and deteft all contrary religion and doctrine; but chiefly all kind of Papistry in the geheral and particular heads,even as they are now damned and confulted by the word of God and Kirk of Scotland. But in fpecial we deteft and refuse the ufurped authority of that Roman antichrift upon the fcriptures of God, upon the Kirk, the civil magiftrate, and confciences of men: All his tyrannous laws made upon indifferent things against our Christian liberty; his erroneous doctrine against the fufficiency of the written word, the perfection of the law, the office of Chrift and his bleffed Evangel: his corrupted doctrine concerning original fin, our natural inability and rebellion to God's law, our juftification by faith only, our imperfect fanctification and obedience to the law; the nature, number, and use of the holy Sacraments: his five bastard facraments: with all his rites, ceremonies and falfe doctrine, added to the miniftration of the true facraments without the word of God: His cruel judgment against infants departing without the facrament: his abfolute neceffity of baptifm; his blafphemous opinion of Tranfubftantiation, or real prefence of Chrift body in the elements, and receiving of the fame by the waked, or bodies of men; his difpenfations with folemn oaths, perjuries, and degrees of marriage forbidden in the word: His cruelty against the innocent divorced; his devilish mass; his blafphemous Priesthood: His profane fa

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crifice: for fins of the dead and the quick: His canonization of men; calling upon angels, of faints departed: Worshipping of imagery, relicks and croffes; dedicating of kirks, altars, days; vows to creatures his purgatory, prayers, for the dead; praying or fpeaking in a ftrange language; with his proceffions and blafphemous litany, and multitude of advocates or mediators, his manifold orders, au ricular confeffion his defperate and uncertain repentance; his general and doubtfom faith, his fatisfactions of men for their fins, His juftification by works, Opus operatum, works of fupererogation, merits, pardons, peregrinations, and ftations; his holy water, baptizing of bells, conjuring of fpirits, croffing, fayning, anointing, conjuring, hallowing of God's good creatures, with the fuperftitious opinion joined therewith; his worldly monarchy, and wicked hierarchy; his threefolemn vows, with all his fhavellings of fundry forts; his erronious and bloody decrees made at Trent, with all the fubfcribers or approvers of that cruel and bloody band, conjur ed against the kirk of God: And finally, we deteft all his vain allegories, reits figns, and traditions brought in the kirk, without or againft the word of God, and doctrine of this true reformed kirk, to the which we join ourfelves willingly, in doctrine, faith, religion, difcipline, and ufe of the holy facraments, as lively members of the fame in Chrift our head: promifing and fwearing by the great name of the LORD our GOD, That we fhall continue in the obedience of the doctrine, and difcipline of this Kirk ‡, and fhall defend the fame according to our vocation and power all the days of our lives; under the pains contained in the law, and danger both of body and foul in the day of God's fearful judgment,

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And feeing that many are stirred up by Satan and that Ro man Antichrift, to promife,fwear, fubfcribe,and for a time ufe the holy facraments in the kirk deceitfully, against their own confcience; minding hereby, firft, under the external cloke of religion, to corrupt, and fubvert fecretly God's true reli gion within the kirk; and afterward, when tim nay ferve

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The confeffion which was fubfcribed at Halyrudhouse, the 25th of February 1587-8. by the King, Lennox, Huntly,the Chancellor,and about 95 other perfons, hath here added, agreeing to the word, Sip John Maxwell of Pollock hath the original parchment.

to become open enemies and perfecutors of the fame, under vain hope of the Pope's difpenfation, devifed against the word of God, to his greater confufion, and their double condemnation in the day of the Lord Jefus: We therefore, willing to take away all fufpicion of hypocrify, and of fuch double dealing with God and his Kirk, proteft, and call the fearcher of all hearts for witnefs, that our minds and hearts do fully agree with this our Confeffion, promife, oath, and hfubfcription; fo that we are not moved with any worldly re. .fpect, but are perfwaded only in our confcience, through the knowledge and love of God's true religion imprinted in our hearts by the holy fpirit, as we fhall anfwer to him in the day when the fecrets of all hearts fhall be difclofed.

And becaufe we perceive, that the quietnefs and ftability of our religion and kirk doth depend upon the fafety and good behaviour of the King's Majefty,as upon a comfortable inftrument of God's

maintaining of his mercy granted to this country, for the

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kirk, and miniftration of juftice amongst us: we proteft and promife with our hearts,under the fame oath, hand-writ, and pains, that we fhall defend his perfon and authority with our goods, bodies and lives, in the defence of Chrift his Evangel, liberties of our country, miniftration of justice, and punishment of iniquity, against all enemies within this realm or without, as we defire our God' to be a strong and merciful defender to us in the day of our death, and coming of our Lord Jefus Chrift: To whom with the Father and the holy Spirit, be all honour and glory eternally Amen.

IKEAS many acts of parliament, not only in general do Labrogate, acts,con abrogate, anull, and refcind all laws,ftatutes, acts,conftitutions,canons civil or municipal,with all other ordinances, and practique penalties whatfoever made in prejudice of the true religion and profeffors thereof; or of the true Kirk: difcipline, jurisdiction and freedom thereof; or in favours of idolatry and fuperftition, or of the papiftical kirk; As act 3. act 31. parl. 1. act 23. parl. 11. act 114. parl. 12. of King James VI. That papistry and fuperftition may be ut terly fuppreffed, according to the intention of the acts of parliament,repeated in the 5. act, parl. 20. King James VI, And to that end they ordain all papifts and priefts to be puni

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shed with manifold civil and ecclefiaftical pains, as adver faries to God's true religion, preached, and by law established within this realm, Act 24. Parl. 11. K. Ja. VI. as common enemies to all chriftian government, Act 18. Parl. 16. King. Ja. VI. as rebellers and gainftanders of our fovereign Lord's authority, Act 47. Parl. 3. King. Ja. VI. and as idolaters. Act 104. Parl. 7. King. Ja. VI. But also in particular, by and attour the confeffion of Faith, do abolish and condemn the Pope's authority and jurifdiction out of this land and ordains the maintainers thereof to be punished, Act 2. Parl.1. Act 51. Parl, 3.Act 106. Parl. 7. Act 1 14. Parl.12. King Ja. VI.do condemn the Popes erroneous doctrine, or any other erroneous doctrine repugnant to any of the articles of the true and Christian religion, publicly preached, and by law established in this realm; and ordains the spreaders and makers of books or libels, or letters or writs of that nature, to be punished. act 46. parl. 3. act 106, parl. 7. act 24. parl. 1. K. Ja VI. do condemn all baptifm conform to the Pope's Kirk, and the idolatry of the mafs; and ordains all fayers, wilful hearers, and concealers of the Mafs,the maintainers and refetters of the priests, Jefuits, trafficking Papifts, to be punished without any exception or restriction, act 5. parl. 1. act 120. parl. 12. act 164. parl. 13. act 193. parl. 14. Act 1. parl. 19. act 5. parl. 20. K. Ja. VI. do condemn all erroneous books and writs, containing erroneus doctrine against the religion presently profeffed or containing fuperftitious rites and ceremonies papistical, whereby the people are greatly abufed; and ordains the homebringers of them to be punished, Act 25. Parl. 11, K. Ja, VI. do condemn the monuments and dregs of bygone idolatry, as going to croffes, obferving the feftival days of Saints, and fuch other fuperftitious and papiftical rites,to the difhonour of God, contempt of true religion, and fostering of great error among the people; and ordains the users of them to be punished for the fecond fault, as idolaters, Act 104. Parl. 7. K. Ja. VI.

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Likeas many acts of Parliament are conceived for maintenance of God's true and Chriftian religion, and the purity thereof, in doctrine and facraments of the true church of God, the liberty and freedom thereof, in her national, fyr nodal afiemblies, presbyteries, feffions policy, difcipline

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and jurifdiction thereof; as that purity of religion, and liberty of the church was ufed, profeffed, exercised, preached, and confeffed according to the reformation of religion in this realm. As for inftance the 99. act, parl. 7. act 25. parl. 11. act 114. parl. 12. act 160. parl. 1 3. of K. Ja. VI. ratified by the 4. act of K, Cha. So that the 6. act parl. 1. and 68. act. parl. 6. of K. Ja. VI. in the year of God 1579. declares the minifters of the bleffed Evangel, whom God of his mercy had raised up, or hereafter should raife, agreeing with them that then lived, in doctrine and administration of the facraments; and the people that professed Christ, as hẹ was then offered in the Evangel, and doth communicate with the holy facraments (as in the reformed kirks of this realm they were prefently adminiftrate) according to the confeffion of Faith; to be the true and holy Kirk of Chrift. Jefus with in this realm. And decerns and declares all and fundry,who either gainfays the word of the Evangel received and approved, as the heads of the Confeffion of Faith,profeffed in Parliament, in the year of God 1560, fpecified alfo in the firft parliament of K, Ja. VI. and ratified in this prefent Parliament, more particularly do exprefs; or that refufes the adminiftration of the holy facraments, as they were then ministrated; to be no members of the faid Kirk within this realm, and true religion prefently profeffed, fo long as they keep themfelves fo divided from the fociety of Chrift's body. And the fubfequent act 69. parl. 6 of K. Ja. VI. declares, That there is no other face of Kirk, nor other face of religion, than was prefently at that time, by the favour of God, efta blished within this realm: Which therefore is ever ftiled God's true religion, Chrift's true religion, the true Chriftian religion, and a perfect Religion: which, by manifold acts of Parliament,all within this realm are bound to pro fefs, to fubfcribe the articles thereof, the confeffion of Faith, to recant all doctrine and errors repugnant to any of the faid articles, act 4. and 9. parl. I, acts 45, 46, 47. pari. 3. act 71. parl. 6. act 106. parl. 7. act 24. parl, 11. act 123. parl, 12. act 194. and 197. parl. 14. of K. Ja. VI, And all magiftrates, Sheriffs, &c on the one part are ordained to fearch, apprehend, and punish all contraveeners; For inftance, act 5. parl. 1. act 104. parl. 7. act 25. parl. 11. K. 74. VI, and that notwithstanding of the King's Majefty's

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