III. Religion

At the beginning of the eighteenth century the Presbyterian Church of Scotland, which had been confirmed as the only lawful church in the country by the Act of Union of 1707, was still a most powerful institution. It remained the basic frame of reference in the religious sphere but it also played an important function in relation to education, social order, social welfare and morality. The minister was supported by a kirk session, a permanent body of elected elders who were usually individual..