Having, through the kindness of Mr Kinloch, obtained a Selection of Extracts made by him from the Records of the Presbytery of Lanark, I have found it so curious, and so illustrative of that much lauded period when the Solemn League and Covenant was in the zenith of its power, that I conceive I may throw additional light on a very interesting portion of Scotish History, and perhaps moderate the zeal of such as have expressed a wish to see the discipline of those days re-established, by presenting it to the Abbotsford Club.
The formidable and anomalous authority assumed by this Presbytery, in common with the other Church Courts, often in open and direct opposition to the law of the land, and the inquisitorial power exercised over individuals, is a remarkable feature of those times, and shows how little the principles of civil and religious liberty were understood or recognised, even by those who professed to array themselves under its banner.
