The History of the Reformation of Religion in Scotland / With Which Are Included Knox's Confession and The Book of Discipline

by John Knox

(4) The Superintendent of Aberdeen; whose diocese is betwixt Dee and Spey, containing the sheriffdom of Aberdeen and Banff. His residence to be in Old Aberdeen.

(5) The Superintendent of Brechin; whose diocese shall be the whole sheriffdoms of Mearns and Angus, and the Brae of Mar to Dee. His residence to be in Brechin.

(6) The Superintendent of St. Andrews; whose diocese shall comprehend the whole sheriffdom of Fife and Fotheringham to Stirling; and the whole sheriffdom of Perth. His residence to be in St. Andrews.

(7) The Superintendent of Edinburgh; whose diocese shall comprehend the whole sheriffdoms of Lothian, and Stirling on the south side of the Water of Forth; and thereto is added, by consent of the whole Church, Merse, Lauderdale, and Wedale.[253] His residence to be in Edinburgh.

(8) The Superintendent of Jedburgh; whose diocese shall comprehend Teviotdale, Tweeddale, Liddesdale, with the Forest of Ettrick. His residence to be Jedburgh.

(9) The Superintendent of Glasgow; whose diocese shall comprehend Clydesdale, Renfrew, Monteith, Lennox, Kyle, and Cunningham. His residence to be in Glasgow.

(10) The Superintendent of Dumfries; whose diocese shall comprehend Galloway, Carrick, Nithsdale, Annandale, with the rest of the Dales in the west. His residence to be in Dumfries.

Those men must not be suffered to live as your idle bishops have done heretofore; neither must they remain where gladly they would. They must be preachers themselves, and such as may make no long residence in any one place, until their churches be planted and provided with ministers, or at the least with readers.

Charge must be given to them that they remain in no one place above twenty or thirty days in their visitation, until they have passed through their whole bounds. They must preach thrice every week, at the least; and when they return to their principal town and residence they must be likewise exercised in preaching and in edification of the Church there; and yet they must not be suffered to continue there so long, as that they seem to neglect their other churches. After they have remained in their chief town three or four months at most, they shall be compelled, unless by sickness they be detained, to re-enter upon visitation. They shall not only preach, but also shall examine the life, diligence, and behaviour of the ministers, the order of their churches, and the manners of the people. They must further consider how the poor are provided for, and how the youth are instructed; they must admonish where admonition is needed, restore order where by good counsel they are able to appease; and, finally, they must note such crimes as are heinous, that by the censure of the Church the same may be corrected.