100 Tue Union oF 1707 In DUMFRIESSHIRE. 
fries the twenty-ninth day of October, one thousand seven hun- 
dred and six years.”’ 
ATTITUDE OF THE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND. 
The printing of the treaty made the terms of it public pro- 
perty for the first time, and a storm of opposition to it arose 
throughout the country. The Church of Scotland was first in the 
field; an address by the Commission of the General Assembly 
“for establishing and confirming the true Protestant religion and 
government of the Church as by law established ’’ was presented 
to Parliament, and read on 17th October, “ And thereupon the 
Parliament declared that before concluding the union they would 
take the said address to their consideration, and would do every- 
thing necessary for securing the true Protestant religion and 
Church government presently established by law in this king- 
dom ;’’ but the Church in general does not seem to have been 
altogether satisfied with this promise. The Synod of Dumfries 
was then divided into four Presbyteries, viz.:—Dumfries, Pen- 
pont, Lochmaben, and Middlebie. The Presbytery of Middlebie 
has since been split up into the Presbytery of Langholm and the 
Presbytery of Annan. ‘The Synod at that time held regular half- 
yearly meetings, which extended over several days in May and 
October, and at the meeting on 10th October, 1706, they passed 
an Act respecting the Treaty of Union, which they considered 
might concern the liberties and future happiness both of the 
Church and nation (Appendix II.). In this Act the Synod record 
their thankfulness “for the restoring of the rights and privileges 
of this National Church by the late happy Revolution,’’ but 
express the fear “That impenitency in sin and slackness of 
reformation may provoke the Lord to remove the blessings we 
enjoy,’’ a fear which seems to them to be rather confirmed by the 
fact of “the present threatening season, whereby the fruits of the 
ground have been and are in a great measure endangered, to- 
gether with many other calamities and distresses, as tokens of the 
Lord’s holy displeasure, which both Church and nation groans 
under ;”’ they therefore judged “ it incumbent upon them to excite 
themselves and one another, and the people under their inspec- 
tion and charge to the great and necessary duties of unfeigned 
repentance, of active and zealous reformation and returning to 
the Lord, and of pouring out our most serious and fervent 
phar hae 
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