Church of Scotland

The first General Assembly of the Church of Scotland was held on December 20, 1560.  Sir Walter Scott's view on religion, as expressed in his novels, has been less than expressly stated.  One perspective on his treatment of religion is contained in a note in "A Handbook of the Church of Scotland", by James Rankin.  'While Sir Walter in many passages has done the Church of Scotland injustice, and religion itself harm, by caricaturing the Covenanters, faithfulness has prevailed in such instances as the character of a moderate minister of the eighteenth century above quoted [good Mr. Morton]; and still more notably in the character of Dr. Erskine, given in "Guy Mannering", chap xxxvii, and in that of Rueben Butler, in "The Heart of Midlothian", chap li.'