He had to give up his scheme of abolishing the
Presbyterian Church courts, and contented himself with engrafting on to
the existing system the institution of Episcopacy, which had practically
been in abeyance since 1560, although Scotland was never without its
titular prelates. Bishops were appointed in 1606; presbyteries and
synods were ordered to elect perpetual moderators, and the scheme was
devised so that the moderator of almost every synod should be a bishop.
The members of the Linlithgow Convention, which accepted this scheme,
were specially summoned by the king, and it was in no sense a free
Assembly of the Church. But the royal power was, for the present,
irresistible; in 1610 an Assembly which met at Glasgow established
Episcopacy, and its action was, in 1612, ratified by the Scots
Parliament. Three of the Scottish bishops[88] received English orders,
to ensure the succession; but, to prevent any claim of superiority,
neither English primate took any part in the ceremony. In 1616, the
Assembly met at Aberdeen, and the king made five proposals, which are
known as the Five Articles of Perth, from their adoption there in 1618.
The Five Articles included:--(1) The Eucharist to be received kneeling;
(2) the administration of the sacrament of the Lord's Supper to sick
persons in private houses; (3) the administration of Baptism in private
houses in cases of necessity; (4) the recognition of Christmas, Good
Friday, Easter, and Pentecost; and (5) the episcopal benediction.
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